Around Town

Series on Food Insecurity in Watertown Debuts on WCA-TV

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Jan Singer, left, the former Executive Director of the Watertown Community Foundation, discussed how the Foundation responded to food insecurity during the Pandemic with journalists Maya Shwayder and Charlie Breitrose. (Photo by Dan Hogan / WCA-TV)

The following announcement was provided by Watertown Cable Access Television:

In cooperation with the Watertown News and thanks to a generous grant from the Watertown Community Foundation, Watertown Cable News is producing a series of videos chronicling issues of hunger and food insecurity in the community. In part 1 of the series, we talk to a number of different stakeholders in the community from the Food Pantry, Famers’ Market, Wayside, and Community Foundation to find out how many people are struggling and where the gaps in service lie. Accompanying this series are articles written by WCN news anchor and local journalist Maya Shwayder as well as Watertown News Editor Charlie Breitrose. Read the Articles

Part 1: Watertown’s Hidden Problem: Food Insecurity Among Us

Part 2: Hunger Hits Home: A Watertown Teenager’s Struggle to Feed Herself

Part 3: Hunger in Watertown: Task Force Tackles Social Needs, Tries to Fills Gaps Left by State, Local Programs

Part 4: Through Pandemics & Collapsed Ceilings, the Watertown Food Pantry Stays Open

Part 5: Filling the Watertown’s Free Fridge is a Community Effort

Part 6: Food Insecurity in Watertown: Hunger is a Multi-Faceted Problem — It Won’t Magically Go Away

Roundtable Discussion

On February 12th, WCN and the Watertown News produced a live roundtable discussion at the Mosesian Center for the Arts to hear from representatives from the city, Food Pantry, Watertown Housing Authority, and Wayside to dive further into these issues.

Around Town

Watertown Cable Hosting Several Workshops This Spring

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The following announcement was provided by Watertown Cable:

WCA-TV is excited to announce the opening of our new location at 30 Common Street! With two brand new studios, including our first ever Podcast Studio, and other new spaces to learn and create, we can’t wait to welcome back the Watertown Community! Just in time for our opening is our Spring Workshop season! Learn the ins and outs of creating your own show or podcast, get hands-on experience with our field cameras, lighting kits, and more. Find the workshops with their dates and times below:

● Orientation Workshop: (Required free class to become eligible for all subsequent workshops) Monday, March 18th at 6pm● Intro to Field Lighting: (Prerequisite: Field Camera Production) Mondays, March 25th, April 1st and April 8th from 6:00pm – 7:30pm● Field Camera Production: Tuesdays, March 26th, April 2nd, April 9th, and April 16th from 5:30pm – 7:30pm.● Intro to Podcasting: Wednesdays, March 27th, April 3rd, April 10th from6:00pm – 7:30 pm● Studio Production: (Minimum of 4 people required to run this class) Wednesdays, April 17th, April 24th, May 1st and May 8th from 5:30 – 7:30pm

Head to wcatv.org/workshops to find out more about each session and learn how to register!

Around Town

What Watertown is Doing to Fight Hunger, What More Can be Done — See the Panel Discussion

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A live roundtable discussion about how hunger impacts Watertown took place on Feb. 12 at the Mosesian Center for the Arts. (Courtesy of Watertown Cable)

Nearly one-in-seven Watertown residents qualify for government food programs, but only about half have signed up for the assistance. Many more people living in town do not qualify for the programs, for one reason or another, despite being in a low-income household. And putting more stress on the situation is the increasing cost of housing in town.

Around Town

Watch Videos from This Week’s Council President Forums, Catch the School Committee Hopefuls Monday

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The candidates running for City Council President appeared in two candidate forums this week. Don’t worry if you missed them, you can watch the replays. Also, Monday night, the five School Committee candidates will appear in a live forum. On Wednesday night incumbent Mark Sideris and challenger Clyde Younger responded to questions on a variety of subjects during the candidate forum sponsored by Watertown News and Watertown Cable Access TV. The event took place at the Watertown Free Public Library and was broadcast by WCA-TV.

Government

NEW TIME: Two Chances to Hear from Council President Candidates

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(Note: The time of the Chamber’s debate has changed. See the new time below)

The two candidates for City Council President will appear in a pair of candidate events this week. WCA-TV & Watertown News Hosting Live Forum

On Wednesday, Oct. 11, Watertown Cable News, Watertown Cable Access Corp and Watertown News will host an election forum featuring the two candidates running for City Council President. Incumbent Mark Sideris is being challenged by former Town Council President Clyde Younger.

Around Town

WCA-TV Channels Have Changed for Comcast Subscribers

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The following information was provided by Watertown Cable Access Television:

Please be advised that WCA-TV’s channels on Comcast, also called Xfinity, have changed to the following:

Education – 8 and 1071

Public – 9 and 1075

Government – 22 and 1076

We currently are troubleshooting issues with channel 8, but you can still view the education channel on channel 1071. If you are experiencing any other issues or outages with these channels, please call 1-800-XFINITY.

Around Town

Watertown Cable Channels Going Off Air During Move

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The following announcement was provided by Watertown Cable Access TV:

WCA-TV channels will be off air from August 22 through August 25, 2023. What this means is that their channels will be down on cable as well as online through their Video on Demand (VOD) service. This is a planned outage due to WCA-TV’s relocation to the Phillips Administration Building at 30 Common St. While we will not be running programming 24/7 on cable or on demand during this time, any and all scheduled live programming will be streamed on our website at wcatv.org/government. Please keep an eye out on WCA-TV’s social media pages, newsletter, and website for up to date information regarding off air time.

Entertainment

Watertown Cable Show Celebrates Popeye’s 90th Anniversary

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The following information was provided by Fred Grandinetti:

To celebrate the 90th anniversary of Popeye the Sailor’s animated cartoon debut in July 2023 Drawing With Fred will be airing Popeye the Sailor Meets Ali Baba’s Forty Thieves. The Watertown Cable Access TV show, created by Watertown resident Fred Grandinetti, will show the special color cartoon produced in 1937 by The Fleischer Studios for Paramount Pictures. “It is twice as long as a regular short subject featuring multi-dimensional backgrounds,” said Grandinetti, who added that it was the second Popeye cartoon to be made in color, after 1936’s Popeye the Sailor Meets Sindbad the Sailor. The episode of Drawing With Fred will begin airing on July 10, and will run for two weeks on WCA-TV’s Public Channel (RCN Channel 3, Comcast Channel 9), and online (click here). Since his animated cartoon debut in 1933 Popeye has gone on to be featured in approximately 500 cartoons for both theater and television screens.