December 4, 2007
NEWTON
The city's finance board is pursuing an automated trash collection system that officials say could save taxpayers $2.5 million over the next five years.
"It's more financially responsible and ecologically a better way to go," said Sydra Schnipper, chairwoman of the Public Facilities Committee, which approved the contract 5-2 this week.
The proposed system would provide each household with a single 64-gallon trash container that would be collected each week by a truck with a single driver and automated arm. Currently, there is no limit to the amount of trash residents can dispose of each week and two drivers are required to collect it.
The new contract must be approved by Dec. 31, Finance Committee chairman Paul Coletti said.
-- Rachana Rathi
Posted by Ralph Ranalli at 12:29 PM
November 30, 2007
NEWTON
Mayor David Cohen will meet with the Newton Board of Aldermen Monday night at 7:15 p.m. to address their questions about the $154 million Newton North High School building project.
President Lisle Baker made the request to the mayor last week, after many aldermen expressed frustration at the lack of communication and accountability from the executive office about additional costs and delays associated with numerous problems encountered at the building site and in the project management.
The issues that will be discussed include the discovery of asbestos and an underground ledge that must be removed through blasting -- both of which were not accounted for in the project's budget or timeline -- as well as the date the city will negotiate a guaranteed maximum price for the project with the contractor.
-- Rachana Rathi
Posted by Ralph Ranalli at 10:48 AM
November 14, 2007
NEWTON
Gov. Deval Patrick has nominated Peter J. Rubin, a 44-year-old Newton resident, constitutional scholar, and Georgetown University law professor to fill one of three vacancies on the Massachusetts Appeals Court, the administration announced today.
Rubin, former law clerk to Supreme Court Justice David H. Souter, represented, with others, Vice President Albert Gore Jr. in the two Florida election cases heard by the Supreme Court, Bush v. Gore and Bush v. Palm Beach County Canvassing Board.
Rubin, who is a counsel at the law firm O'Melveny & Myers, teaches constitutional and criminal law, and focuses his writing on equal protection, due process and voting rights. In 2001, he founded the American Constitution Society for Law and Policy, a national legal organization with chapters at 155 law schools in the United States and in 26 cities around the country.
"Peter Rubin is a dynamic collaborator whose brilliance as both a constitutional scholar and appellate counsel will be appreciated fully by his fellow jurists at the Appeals Court and all of the citizens of the Commonwealth," said Patrick. Rubin will replace Associate Justice Gordon L. Doerfer, who retired in September.
Patrick nominated Superior Court Judge Francis R. Fecteau, 60, a Holy Cross graduate and longtime Worcester resident, and Gabrielle R. Wolohojian, a 46-year-old Boston resident who is a senior partner at the law firm of Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale & Dorr, for the other two slots.
-- Ralph Ranalli
Posted by Ralph Ranalli at 03:01 PM
November 12, 2007
NEWTON
After fighting for a decade with an Italian company that MBTA officials once accused of supplying defective Green Line trolleys, the T said yesterday that it has solved past problems and will take an additional 10 cars from the company.
For riders on the T's most-crowded line, that will mean more trains available for service, resulting in fewer delays, said Daniel A. Grabauskas, general manager of the MBTA, Globe transportation reporter Noah Bierman reports in today's City & Region section.
"It's easily the largest fleet size in the last 25 years, maybe ever," Grabauskas said.
The first of the new trains went into service last week. Once the T gets the last of 10 new cars, by the middle of next year, it will have a total of 209 cars to carry the 200,000 passengers who ride the Green Line each weekday.
Posted by Ralph Ranalli at 02:18 PM
November 8, 2007
Demolition began on the Newton North campus in June
(Globe staff photo by Bill Polo)
NEWTON
The city announced today that contractors have halted work at the new Newton North High School construction site after workers uncovered a pipe covered in asbestos insulation earlier this week.
The insulation contains a kind of asbestos that can become airborne and pose a health risk said Jeremy Solomon, a spokesman for Mayor David B. Cohen. He said workers at the site had already been taking precautions against airborne asbestos by controlling dust and monitoring the air quality at the site and inside the existing high school building. Newton North High School has been in session during the construction project.
Solomon said "the entire operation shut down" when a worker found the pipe Monday.
Solomon said he did not know the size of the pipe or the amount of asbestos on it. It was then sent for testing and state officials at the Department of Environmental Protection were notified when it was found to contain asbestos, he said.
"Public safety is our primary focus here," Solomon said.
Last May, city officials discovered old floor tiles containing asbestos were buried on the construction site and hired a remediation firm to deal with it. At the time, they minimized health concerns, saying the asbestos was of a "nonfriable" [non-airborne] type.
McPhail Associates, the licensed site professional overseeing the asbestos removal, has submitted an amended work plan to state DEP officials, but work at the site cannot continue until state officials review the amended plan. The overall cost of the new school project is currently estimated at $155 million.
-- Megan Woolhouse
Posted by Ralph Ranalli at 02:46 PM
November 8, 2007
Governor's Councilor Marilyn P. Devaney, right, leaves the courthouse with Rev. Emmanuel Metaxas following her arraignment on assault charges in May at Waltham District Court.
(Globe staff photo by Lisa Poole)
WATERTOWN/NEWTON
Watertown residents bid adieu to a long-serving and embattled town councilor and Newton voters ousted a pair of incumbent aldermen in this weeks election, staff writer John C. Drake reports in the online edition of today's City & Region section.
Watertown Town Councilor Marilyn Petitto Devaney, who faces felony charges in a recent confrontation at a Waltham beauty supply store and has been an aggressive critic of town administration, came five votes short of maintaining the at-large council seat she has held for 26 years.
Barring a recount, her 1,816-vote tally placed her fifth in a race for four at-large seats, a stunning reversal of fortunes for the 69-year-old, who outpaced challengers by a wide margin in previous elections. Her closest competitor, incumbent John Donohue, finished with 1,821 votes. Devaney could not be reached for comment.
Read more about local election results in today's City & Region section online.
Posted by Ralph Ranalli at 10:46 AM
November 6, 2007
Anti-Defamation League national director Abraham Foxman
(AP photo)
NEWTON
With the recent decison by the Anti-Defamation League's national board to take no further action on a Congressional resolution acknowledging an Armenian genocide, Newton Mayor David Cohen must decide whether to sever ties with the ADL's No Place for Hate Program permanently.
Earlier this fall, Cohen dropped the program, as a matter of "conscience" and asked ADL National Director Abraham Foxman to unequivocally acknowledge the Ottoman Empire's World War I massacre of Armenians by supporting a Congressional resolution calling it a genocide.
The ADL did not publicly acknowledge the deaths as a genocide until last summer when Foxman, under pressure from ADL members, issued a statement calling the massacre "tantamount to genocide."
Many criticized his statement as unclear and seven communities including Newton discontinued the ADL No Place for Hate program, awaiting a more concise explanation by Foxman. Foxman has said he feared international repercussions by Turkey, a key ally in US efforts against terrorism and Islamic extremism.
Jeremy Solomon, Cohen's spokesman, said the mayor will discuss the national ADL's decison at the city's next Human Rights Commission meeting. A date has not yet been scheduled, he
said.
"We're going to evaluate the actions taken in their entirety," Solomon said. "Perhaps it is not as black and white as it was when we issued the demand."
-- Megan Woolhouse
Posted by Ralph Ranalli at 10:06 AM
October 24, 2007
The view from there.
(Photo courtesy of the Steve Glidden Foundation)
NEWTON
If you just have to see the Sox in the World Series in person but the thought of lining some greasy ticket scalper's pockets makes you ill, the Steve Glidden Foundation may have the ducats you've been looking for.
The foundation is named for Steve Glidden, a 7th grader who was one of four Oak Hill Middle School students killed in 2001 when their bus overturned during a school band trip to Nova Scotia. The foundation raises money for a summer camp, scholarships, and for other organizations and projects that "foster leadership and advocacy capacity in young people."
The foundation is offering 2 obstructed view tickets to the Thursday night's Game 3 in Section 23, Row 10. The opening bid is $750 per ticket (they have a $150 face value) but the first person offering $2,500 for the pair takes them away, according to an e-mail sent out yesterday by Elaine Alpert, Steve's mother.
Bids are usually taken on the foundation's "Steve-bay" auction site, but anyone interested in buying the World Series tickets is instead urged to bid by sending an e-mail to the foundation. Anyone seeking more information is urged to call either 617-527-0172 or 781-929-5136.
The foundation also said that any amount paid that is over face value is considered a charitable donation and that a receipt would be provided for the buyers' taxes.
-- Ralph Ranalli
Posted by Ralph Ranalli at 09:41 AM
October 23, 2007
NEWTON
Mayor David B. Cohen called for a property tax increase through an override in his State of the City address last night, less than a year after voters approved construction of the most expensive high school in state history.
Cohen, who once insisted he would not ask for a tax hike to pay for the $155-million school, said an override is needed to pay for rising city expenses and improvements to public buildings. Cohen said his administration would calculate the cost of an override to taxpayers by Jan. 15, in time for a possible vote next spring.
"The choice before us is to make deep cuts in the level of services we are providing today or to raise the necessary revenue that will allow us to move forward," he said. "Now is the time to seek an operating override."
Judging from what has happened recently in other municipalities in Massachusetts, Cohen will have his work cut out for him. A majority of cities and towns across the state have rejected similar tax increases through overrides. In December, the Globe found that two-thirds of overrides in 2006 were rejected and that 2007 was on track to be the second-straight year in which more override requests failed than passed.
Newton voters approved an $11.5 million override that permanently raised city taxes in 2002. It won by 709 votes.
-- Megan Woolhouse
Posted by Ralph Ranalli at 08:41 AM
October 22, 2007
Expect backups at Exit 17
(Globe staff photo by Lane Turner)
NEWTON/TRAFFIC
From the Globe's "Starts and Stops" column:
Until late 2007, reconstruction work will take place on the Church Street Bridge on the Mass. Pike in Newton.
Lane closures, daytime and nighttime, will be in place at various times in that area on the Mass. Pike east and west. Expect periodic Exit 17 ramp closures.
Also, Church Street traffic near the bridge has been reduced from four lanes to two lanes (one in each direction).
For a complete listing of recent commuter updates, read Starts and Stops online.
Posted by Ralph Ranalli at 09:49 AM
October 20, 2007
NEWTON
Kathy Glick-Weil has announced she will retire as director of the Newton Free Library in January, with plans to move to Pennsylvania with her dog, Nino to volunteer at hospitals and nursing homes.
Glick-Weil, the library's director for 14 years, also served as president of the Massachusetts Library Association last year. She made headlines last year when she made FBI anti-terrorism agents wait nearly nine hours to seize three computers by insisting that they get a warrant.
Glick-Weil will remain in her position until Jan. 2, when she will move to Bethlehem, Pa., to join her husband, Gordon, who on July 1 began serving as vice president for academic affairs and dean of the faculty at Moravian College.
A celebration in her honor will be held from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. Dec. 2 in the Newton Free Library's main branch, at 330 Homer St.
-- Megan Woolhouse
Posted by Ralph Ranalli at 11:17 AM
October 17, 2007
NEWTON
The creation of new regional cultural arts center in Newton took a step forward last week when the Newton Cultural Alliance received an $18,750 grant to conduct a feasibility study of the project.
The money came from he Massachusetts Cultural Council's Cultural Facilities Fund and will be matched with $31,250 in private donations raised last spring for the project. The city's current Cultural Center is housed in the former Carr School in Newtonville, a building that is being reclaimed by the school department.
State Representative Kay Khan, who has championed the project, noted in a press release that "Newton is a community of artists."
A regional arts center will, Khan said, "enrich the quality of life in the city, while stimulating the creative economy and raising revenue for the entire western suburban Boston region."
The Newton alliance applied for the grant and was one of 62 winners out of 201 applicants. Cultural officials urged anyone seeking more information or looking for ways to get involved in the push for a new cultural center to contact them via e-mail.
-- Megan Woolhouse
Posted by Ralph Ranalli at 01:44 PM
October 10, 2007
NEWTON/FRAMINGHAM
The Massachusetts Turnpike Authority will hold a public hearing tonight in Newton on its recent vote to increase the tolls at both the Weston and Allston-Brighton toll plazas by 25 cents each for 2008.
The authority board took its preliminary vote on the hike last week, passing on proposals to raise the tolls even higher. Globe West reported Sunday that western commuters who use the pike will still end up paying more than nine times as much in gas taxes and tolls -- the state's two user fees for drivers -- as commuters on the South Shore or in the northwest suburbs.
Under the law, the board must hold public hearings before taking a final vote on the 25 cent toll increase. The meeting will be held from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Veterans War Memorial Auditorium at Newton City Hall.
A similar meeting will be held tomorrow night from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. in Framingham at the Memorial Building at 150 Concord St.
-- Ralph Ranalli
Posted by Ralph Ranalli at 01:25 PM
October 9, 2007
Hizzoner and hiz hybrid, fer shizzle
NEWTON
Newton Mayor David Cohen traded in his gas-guzzling Crown Victoria this week, in favor of a new Toyota Prius hybrid. The city bought two of the cars, at $20,800 a piece, unveiling the purchase today.
Cohen receives use of a city car as mayor, not to mention a parking spot close to the entrance to City Hall. The other Prius will be used by the city's inspectional services department.
Jeremy Solomon, the mayor's spokesman, said the Crown Vic got about 18 miles to the gallon. The new car gets 46.
-- Megan Woolhouse
Posted by mwoolhouse at 04:52 PM
October 7, 2007
NEWTON
Ward 5 Alderman at-Large Brian Yates may not have any opponents in this fall's elections, but he has re-launched his website anyway.
On it, he notes that the city's Design Review Committee, which he served on, helped keep the main library construction project "on time and under budget." He also said the committee's current influence over the Newton South High School project was "limited."
Yates, who lives on Chestnut Street, also offers links to his other pet issues, like the effort to restore chestnut trees to Chestnut Hill.
-- Megan Woolhouse
Posted by Ralph Ranalli at 09:03 AM
October 5, 2007
(Globe staff photo by Bill Brett)
NEWTON
Setti Warren, U.S. Senator John Kerry's deputy state director, possible 2009 Newton mayoral candidate, and a Navy reservist, is headed to the war in Iraq.
Warren, 37, has been a Navy reservist since 2002 and he learned last week that he will be deployed to Iraq on Oct. 26. An intelligence specialist, Warren said he had few details about where he will be assigned in Iraq, only that he ill be "on the ground." He is scheduled to return home to his wife, Tassy Warren, in late 2008.
And as for his run for mayor?
"I'm still seriously considering this," he said.
-- Megan Woolhouse
Posted by Ralph Ranalli at 01:28 PM
October 5, 2007
NEWTON
Newton Superintendent Jeff Young will hold a press conference at 2:30 p.m. today to unveil a new "five-year strategic plan" for the public schools.
The school department normally sets one-year goals but undertook a long-range planning process last spring. The district hired the Interaction Institute for Social Change in Cambridge to create the plan. Staff, teachers, and parents also participated.
More details to come this afternoon.
--Megan Woolhouse
Posted by mwoolhouse at 12:20 PM
October 4, 2007
NEWTON
A suspect is back behind bars after making a brief escape from police at the Newton District Courthouse and injuring a court officer while on the run yesterday.
The suspect, Todd Corcoran was in court for a detention hearing. During the hearing, Corcoran learned he was going to have to spend a night in jail and then bolted out of the courtroom, WHDH/Channel 7 television reported on its web site.
Corcoran allegedly threw a court officer to the ground, and then did the same to another, giving him a head laceration. Corcoran then ran into a nearby neighborhood, confronting an elderly man.
"He waved some money at the elderly male asking for his help," Lt. Bruce Apotheker of the Newton Police Department said. "This elderly gentleman raised up his cane and told the suspect to back off."
Corcoran then attempted to carjack a truck with two men inside.
"This suspect jumped into the passenger side of the pickup truck," Lt. Apotheker said. "And an officer, approaching the scene on his motorcycle, observed what was going on, got off his motorcycle and went up to the red pickup truck."
Corcoran fled again, however he was apprehended after a 30 minute manhunt, police said.
Posted by Ralph Ranalli at 08:53 AM
October 2, 2007
WATERTOWN/NEWTON
A bar patron who was allegedly assaulted by an off-duty Massachusetts State Police sergeant and two Boston College football players was charged yesterday with punching the sergeant during the altercation.
Sean Maney, 28, a software engineer from Watertown, was charged with assault and battery against Sergeant Joseph J. Boike during a melee July 1 at The Greatest Bar near North Station. Assistant Magistrate Francis X. Cunningham issued the complaint after a hearing in Boston Municipal Court, staff writer Robert Hohler reports today.
Witnesses for Boike supported the sergeant's assertion that Maney started the fight by punching Boike after the sergeant, a part owner of the bar, asked Maney and his friends to vacate their seats to make room for a group of Boston College players.
"This gives the public a much better, clearer view of what really went on in terms of who started the physical confrontation," said Boike's lawyer, Timothy M. Burke.
Boike, 52, sought the complaint after he was charged with assaulting Maney and Christy Osborne, the girlfriend of Maney's brother Brian, during the brawl. State Police have suspended Boike without pay pending the outcome of the court case. BC players Gosder Cherilus and DeJuan Tribble also were charged with assaulting Maney, who suffered a broken neck and other injuries in the altercation.
"We have faith that justice will prevail," his mother, Maureen, said. "Anybody who knows Sean knows he would never do what [Boike] said he did."
Posted by Ralph Ranalli at 08:00 AM
October 1, 2007
NEWTON
The city's Public Facilities Committee has voted 3-3 on a new rule requiring city contractors to sign a "verification clause" that they do not use undocumented or illegal workers when accepting city contracts.
The city is currently building a $154 million high school, the most expensive in state history. Alderman Ben Weisbuch, a former immigration lawyer who will not run for reelection this fall proposed the ordinance. He said he wanted to make sure the city does not facilitate illegal activity.
"This is a national issue played out on the local level," he wrote in an email. "Many of us would like to see immigration reform on the national level, which has stalled."
For the committee vote, there was one member absent and one member abstaining. The full board is scheduled to vote on the rule Oct. 1.
-- Megan Woolhouse
Posted by Ralph Ranalli at 08:11 AM
September 28, 2007
NEWTON
A Middlesex Superior Court judge ruled that the city of Newton could not spend $765,000 in Community Preservation Act funds for improvements to two parks in Nonantum because the spending violated the provisions of the law.
Monday's ruling is the first of its kind on the controversial CPA law. The law allows cities and towns to impose a surcharge on residential property tax bills and use the money for housing, open space, recreational enhancement and historic preservation. The state matches the funding dollar-for-dollar.
Associate Justice Bruce R. Henry ruled that the money could not be used to make improvements at Stearns and Pellegrini parks in Newton because they were not bought with CPA funds.
"While using CPA funds for the rehabilitation or restoration of recreational land is permitted under the CPA, it is permitted only for those recreational lands which were originally acquired or created with CPA funds," Henry wrote.
Jeremy Solomon, a spokesman for Newton Mayor David Cohen, called the ruling "a blow."
"The city is disappointed," Solomon said yesterday. "We believe that the [park] upgrades that were to be made under the proposal would have served the community well."
Solomon said its unclear whether the city can afford to make improvements to both parks without the funding. City officials are weighing an appeal.
Guive Mirfendereski(cq), the lawyer who represented the 10 city taxpayers who filed the lawsuit, said the law was clear about how the money could be spend. He and others also opposed a plan by the mayor to use CPA funds to install artificial turf fields at other city playing fields.
"The lesson of this case right now is if you want to spend CPA money on an existing playing field ... you'll be violating the law," Mirfendereski said.
-- Megan Woolhouse
Posted by mwoolhouse at 04:24 PM
September 28, 2007
(Globe staff photo by Pat Greenhouse)
NEWTON
Newton Alderman Ted Hess-Mahan recently proposed a ban on leaf blowers in the city, citing the noise and pollution they cause as a widespread problem. The Boston Globe received dozens of e-mails on the issue, mostly from residents concerned about noise and dust they kick up.
"Good for Newton for appreciating the effects of the noise, dust, and other particulate matter on health, quality of life, and safety, especially for children," Cambridge reader Stephen Tournas-Hardt wrote in an e-mail to the Cambridge City Council and the Globe.
National Public Radio also weighed in with a report on the controversy.
-- Megan Woolhouse
Posted by mwoolhouse at 01:55 PM
September 28, 2007
NEWTON
The Newton History Museum is offering free admission to all visitors during its Community Weekends, which are currently being held on the first weekend of each month.
The next Community Weekends will be held on October 6 and 7, November 3 and 4, and December 1 and 2. The Museum Ship is also holding a holiday sale in conjunction with the December dates, in which patrons will receive a 10% discount, and members will receive an additional 10% off in addition to their usual discount.The Museum is open from 12 noon to 5 pm on Saturday and Sunday.
Current exhibits at the Museum include "Four-Legged Newton," a family-oriented exhibit and play space that looks at the connections between people and animals throughout the history of Newton, and "Norumbega: Recreation and Romance by the River," which takes a nostalgic look back at Norumbega Park, which was one of the region's premiere recreation and entertainment destinations in the first half of the 20th century.
Museum officials are urging anyone interested in finding out more about community weekends to call 617-796-1450 or visit the museum online.
-- Ralph Ranalli
Posted by Ralph Ranalli at 11:23 AM
September 23, 2007
Tina Fisher holds a picture of herself, pre-surgery. (That's her on the right. Honest.)
(Globe staff photo by David Kamerman)
NEWTON/WELLESLEY/REGION
The findings - released last month from long-term studies of 20,000 dangerously overweight people in Utah and Sweden - were stunning.
Obese patients who had undergone stomach reduction surgery were up to 40 percent more likely to live longer, 56 percent less likely to die of heart disease, and 92 percent less likely to die from diabetes than those who tried diet and exercise alone.
Yet for Tina Fisher, program coordinator for the new Center for Weight Loss Surgery at Newton-Wellesley Hospital, the studies only confirmed what she already knew. In the six years since her own gastric bypass surgery, the 30-year-old nurse practitioner has lost 137 pounds. She exercises four times a week, can fit into a standard movie theater seat, and sometimes forgets what her old life was like, staff writer and web producer Ralph Ranalli reports in today's Globe West.
A roller-coaster enthusiast, Fisher used to watch her husband ride alone because she was worried whether the seat belt or safety bar would fit around her 297-pound frame. She also suffered from the litany of health woes common to the very overweight diabetes, joint problems, and sleep apnea, a disorder in which a person literally stops breathing repeatedly during sleep.
"Patients come back and tell me about their experiences, like the first time they didn't have to go into a plus-size clothing store," she said. "And I think, 'Oh yeah, I remember that.' "
Thanks to stories like Fisher's, officials at Newton-Wellesley said they were convinced that gastric bypass operations represent a sound medical option and were aggressively expanding their weight loss surgery practice even before the new findings were released. Last year, the hospital's bariatric surgery program was accredited to operate on even the most severely obese patients, and in June, the program was elevated to a full-fledged department and renamed the Center for Weight Loss Surgery.
As it turns out, the timing of the hospital's push could not have been better, officials said.
Read more about how bariatric surgery is changing lives in the online edition of today's Globe West. While you're there, you can also view an audio slide show about Tina Fisher's experience with the surgery and losing 137 pounds.
Posted by Ralph Ranalli at 10:48 AM
September 21, 2007
NEWTON
Mayor David Cohen's office will launch a $70,000 system next week that allows city officials to send personalized phone and text messages and e-mails to all city residents.
The system would automatically send messages to residents about weather and other emergencies and notify people about routine city business, like hydrant flushing. It could also be used to remind residents to vote.
The city has contracted with NTI Group Inc., a Sherman Oaks, Calif. company, to provide the service. Jeremy Solomon, the mayor's spokesman, said city officials will be responsible for deciding the type and number of messages.
"We have to strike a real balance between calling too much and getting out information people want to hear," he said.
-- Meg Woolhouse
Posted by mwoolhouse at 03:00 PM
September 18, 2007
NEWTON
Newton dropped out of the No Place for Hate program today, joining Watertown and Belmont in protesting the Anti-Defamation League's ambiguous stance on the Armenian genocide.
ADL National Director Abraham Foxman has said the mass killings were "tantamount to genocide,'' but a growing number of critics are dissatisfied with that response and with the ADL's refusal to endorse a congressional resolution acknowledging the genocide.
"The recognition of the Armenian Genocide is an important step along the path of freedom and justice, and crucial in combating other genocides now and in the future,'' Newton Mayor David Cohen said in a statement today. Cohen, who is Jewish, said Newton hopes "for the day when national ADL leadership fully and unequivocally embraces'' the effort to acknowledge the genocide.
The ADL, a non-profit established to fight anti-Semitism and bigotry, created the No Place for Hate program in 1999 as a vehicle for local municipalities to take a public stand against bias. In late August, the Newton Human Rights Commission voted unanimously to urge Cohen to end its participation the program.
Nancy Kaufman, executive director of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Boston, was critical of Cohen's decision. She said the council officially recognized the Armenian genocide two years ago on the anniversary of the deaths and that New England leaders have already sent a clear message to national ADL officials.
"I think it's unfortunate that a program that is designed to bring groups together to counteract hate against any one group is now the focus of the whole issue," she said today. "I think we're missing the forest for the trees."
-- Megan Woolhouse
Posted by mwoolhouse at 05:30 PM
September 17, 2007
(Globe staff photo by Pat Greenhouse)
NEWTON
Elm and maple trees rustled in the breeze on Highland Avenue in West Newton one afternoon last week. Spacious homes cast long shadows across carefully manicured lawns. Gardens brimmed with freshly planted asters.
And the shrill whine of leaf blowers filled the air.
"I hate them," said Lynne Bail, shouting over the noise made by a crew cleaning her neighbor's yard. "They go all day long. It really spoils the neighborhood and the peace and quiet we used to have."
It is a quintessential suburban problem. In the quest for a flawless yard, leaf blowers have become a modern necessity to get a job done efficiently. But with more homeowners and landscapers using them from spring to fall, critics say they have become an ear-shattering nuisance, robbing neighborhoods of cherished quiet. Now, a Newton alderman wants to outlaw gas-powered leaf blowers, joining Cambridge, Lincoln, and other communities around Boston that are considering leaf blower restrictions, Globe West staff writer Megan Woolhouse reports.
Under the law, it would be "unlawful for any person, including a City employee, to operate any portable gasoline-powered leaf blower within the City limits." The ban would take effect in January 2009. Excluded are electric leaf blowers, which have less power than gas leaf blowers and run more quietly. Police, who would be responsible for enforcing the proposed ordinance, could issue warnings and fines of up to $300 to violators.
Newton Alderman Ted Hess-Mahan said he proposed the ban after hearing complaints from residents annoyed by the noise, dust, and exhaust created by the blowers. A lawyer who occasionally works from home, he said the coming and going of landscaping crews using leaf blowers seems to leave a constant cloud of dust, which aggravates his wife's asthma and covers their house and car.
How does he maintain his own yard?
"I have children," he said.
Read more about the dust-up over leafblowers in Newton in the online edition of today's City & Region section and listen to a bonus audio report filed by Meg Woolhouse.
Posted by Ralph Ranalli at 04:03 PM
September 14, 2007
NEWTON
The Newton public schools have launched a new website and it makes getting information about schools and the school committee easier.
Until recently, parents and students had to visit two websites, one for the school district and another for the school committee. The School Commitee website had been created and managed by volunteers since former School Committeeman Andy Vizulis created it years ago. Shelley Chamberlain, director of information technology for the schools, said the new site -- newton.k12.ma.us -- is now managed by a staffer in the school department.
We're really trying to update our look and make it easier for parents to get information quickly," she said.
The site offers information on curriculum, student assessments and evaluation reports, like a recent audit performed by Sun Associates of North Chelmsford. The report looks at technology in the schools and how well teachers are using it.
-- Megan Woolhouse
Posted by Ralph Ranalli at 07:22 AM
September 10, 2007
NEWTON
State auditor Joseph DeNucci will be honored at a Sept. 30 brunch hosted by the Newton Democratic City Committee.
Ex-governor Michael Dukakis, his wife Kitty, Secretary of State William Galvin, former attorney general Frank Bellotti, as well as Newton Mayor David Cohen and former mayor Tom Concannon are among the guests expected to attend.
The event, which is open to the public with a $20 donation, will take place at the home of Carol and Ken Krems at 55 Saint Mary Street in Newton Lower Falls.
DeNucci and his wife, Barbara, live in West Newton. He is a former professional boxer who served in the legislature 10 years in the 70s and 80s before becoming state auditor in 1987.
-- Megan Woolhouse
Posted by Ralph Ranalli at 11:21 PM
September 5, 2007
(Photo by Jodi Hilton for the Boston Globe)
NEWTON/NEEDHAM
Srdjan Nedeljkovic and James O'Connell have a plan, and they want to share it. The pair of Newton residents have teamed up to discuss the benefits of extending the MBTA's green line through Newton Upper Falls into Needham.
Nedeljkovic is a physician who has written an extensive proposal touting the environmental benefits of the possibility. O'Connell works for the National Parks Service and is a historian with an interest in street railways in Newton. Both advocate that a T extension in Newton is the most economically viable way to spend MBTA transportation dollars.
The cornerstone of their plan would reactivate a long-unused spur of the Riverside D line. The tracks run parallel to Needham Street and past the Depot bakery in Newton Upper Falls. Their ideas will be aired through Sept. 30 on The Environment Show, produced by the Green Decade Coalition on NewTV's blue channel.
-- Megan Woolhouse
Posted by Ralph Ranalli at 11:28 AM
August 30, 2007
Newton Alderwoman Victoria Danberg wants to end tax subsidies for "playgrounds for the wealthy."
NEWTON/REGION
The concrete steps leading into Newton's Cabot Elementary School are crumbling and the building has no handicapped access. Across town at Fire Station No. 7, the roof leaks water into the firefighters' bunk room.
Meanwhile, Charles River Country Club in Newton -- with its rolling fairways and carefully manicured putting greens -- received a $381,000 tax break last year under a state law that exempts private country clubs from paying 75 percent of their property taxes.
According to the Newton assessor's office, Woodland Golf Club also cut $301,000 on its tax bill last year and Brae Burn Country Club shaved $390,000 from its taxes. Counting Charles River, that's more than $1 million in taxes that Newton cannot collect from three private, local institutions. Framingham and Marlborough country clubs also take advantage of the tax break, as do many other private country clubs across the state, staff writer Megan Woolhouse reports in today's Globe West.
That has outraged Newton Ward 6 Alderwoman at Large Victoria L. Danberg, who said the city could use the money for repairing city schools, fire stations, and other public buildings instead of subsidizing "playgrounds for the wealthy." She wants local elected leaders and the city's legislative delegation to toughen the law.
"We can take them on," Danberg said. "I can tell you very few people have sympathy for the poor golfers from these clubs who are crying poverty."
Read more about the controversy over Chapter 61B in the online edition of today's Globe West.
Posted by Ralph Ranalli at 12:20 PM
August 24, 2007
A historic image of the USS Grunion taken during its launch. Note the propeller guard visible above the waterline at the stern.
(Image courtesy of www.ussgrunion.com)
A photo taken by a deep-diving robot submarine yesterday of the stern of a sunken submarine. The configuration of the sunken sub's propeller guard, together with historic records, has convinced the sons of Commander Mannert L. "Jim" Abele that they have at last found their father's submarine.
NEWTON
The USS Grunion disappeared in July 1942, leaving 70 American families grieving and the three sons of skipper Mannert L. "Jim" Abele, a Newton native, without a father. Abele's boys, ages 5, 9, and 12 when their father disappeared, grew up and built their own lives, but they never forgot him.
For years, the sons Bruce, Brad, and John, pored over Navy documents, any shipping records of the area they could locate, and contacted others interested in the Grunion's fate. John Abele, the billionaire founder of Boston Scientific Corp., has paid for much of the search.
Yesterday, those sons received the first in a series of underwater pictures that they hope will very soon positively confirm that they have found the final resting place of their father's submarine.
"It's an amazing story," Bruce Abele said in an e-mail. "And it's still unfolding."
The Grunion, one of the Gato-class attack submarines commissioned in the early part of World War II, was on its maiden operational voyage when it disappeared while patrolling the seas between Alaska's tip and Japan, according to a Navy website. Almost exactly a year ago, the brothers discovered a wreck using side-scan sonar that matched the probably location of their father's sub. But it wasn't until yesterday that they could put a robot sub down on the wreck and take pictures.
Bruce Abele said the pictures have given his family great confidence that they have found the Grunion, although not yet definitive proof. The former crab-fishing boat that is carrying the robot sub has been forced back to port by heavy seas and 75-mile-per-hour winds.
"The evidence is very strong that it is the Grunion but we still don't know what caused its demise," Abele said.
For more information:
Read a story about the search for the Grunion.
Visit the Abele brothers' USS Grunion web site.
View pictures of:
Part of the sunken sub's periscope
An open hatch cover
A portrait of Commander Mannert L. "Jim" Abele
-- Ralph Ranalli
Posted by Ralph Ranalli at 02:35 PM
August 24, 2007
Sean Darcy holds his 22-month-old son Dylan, right, and 4-month-old Carolina, who the couple had also hoped to adopt.
(Globe staff photo by Essdras M Suarez)
NEWTON
They gave her a bottle, put her down for naps, snapped photographs. Over five days in June in Guatemala, Ellen and Sean Darcy lived like a family with Carolina, the 4-month-old baby they planned to adopt.
Back home in Newton, they bought a double stroller for Carolina and Dylan, 22 months, whom they adopted from Guatemala last year. Ellen Darcy sewed Carolina a pink quilt, and bought her pajamas.
Eight weeks later, armed officers seized Carolina's orphanage, confiscated paperwork, and detained orphanage lawyers. Guatemalan officials alleged that babies there may have been abducted or their mothers forced into giving them away, staff writer Michael Levenson reports in the Globe's City & Region Section today.
Now the Darcys fear they may never see Carolina again, and Ellen Darcy worries that authorities are neglecting Carolina. She searches for news from Guatemala. She cannot bring herself to set up Carolina's crib.
"It's been horrible; it's been heart-wrenching," Ellen Darcy said. "I don't think we can breathe easy until we go to pick her up and we have her back in the United States."
Forty-two US families, including four from Massachusetts, who are trying to adopt babies from the orphanage are caught in limbo. Unsure of the treatment the children have received and uncertain whether the allegations will be resolved, they have pleaded with members of Congress to send US officials to check on the babies' welfare. They have turned to one another for advice, solace, and any scraps of news.
Read more about the Guatemalan orphanage probe and the fallout for local families
in the online edition of today's Boston Globe City & Region section.
Posted by Ralph Ranalli at 01:14 PM
August 20, 2007
MBTA officials believe
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