Faded history on display

To inform residents about the condition of Town Hall, officials will offer a tour of the historic building from 5 to 7 p.m. April 9. Residents will have a chance to look around the building to get a sense as to why renovations are needed. A public hearing on the renovation project will immediately follow the tour at 7 p.m. in Town Hall. Officials also will conduct a tour of the Department of Public Works facility on Dedham Avenue from 9 to 11 a.m. April 12. - Laura Colarusso

FOUR NEW PRINCIPALS - Four Newton elementary schools will have new principals in the fall. The district is still searching for a principal at Cabot Elementary School to replace Marilynne Quarco, who is retiring. At Lincoln-Eliot Elementary School, Katie Charner-Laird will replace Vivian Swoboda, who leaves the school after 14 years. Loreta Lamberti was named principal of Angier Elementary School, replacing Pamela Appleton, who was the principal for six years. Amy Kelly will be the principal at Franklin Elementary School, taking over for interim principal Ruth Chapman. - Rachana Rathi

FINED FOR DIRTYING RIVER - The state Department of Environmental Protection has levied fines against three related Waltham businesses roughly 14 months after receiving reports of "oil odors and an oily sheen" on the Charles River, according to a statement released Wednesday by the agency. The DEP reported finding that that Pro Equipment Rental, Pro Waste Disposal, and Pro Cut, which are operated from a Calvary Street address, had violated a number of environmental regulations involving solid-waste management, air quality, hazardous-waste management, storm-water management, and the storage and handling of materials containing asbestos. The agency said Pro Equipment Rental is required to assess possible soil and ground-water contamination and install measures to control catch-basin runoff by June 30, in addition to paying a $23,020 penalty. Also, Pro Waste Disposal must pay a penalty of $23,070, and Pro Cut was fined $26,410, according to the announcement. The violations were found during an inspection in January 2007, after a passerby had alerted the DEP that an oily sheen on the river seemed to be coming from the companies' property. - Stephanie V. Siek

CALL TO CURB SPENDING - With money getting tighter, the town will have to scale back the number and scope of capital projects it undertakes next year, according to Councilor at Large Mark Sideris. He said the Town Council's Committee on Budget and Fiscal Oversight has spent the last several weeks reviewing wish lists from department heads, and after much deliberation has recommended that the town manager consider funding only some of the requests in the budget for fiscal year 2009, which starts July 1. Sideris, who chairs the budget panel and serves as the council's vice president, said the committee supported spending between $3.5 million and $5 million for road and sidewalk improvements, just a fraction of the $72 million said to be needed; and earmarked $500,000 for school technology upgrades for the next two years. Beginning in fiscal year 2011, the school district would have to find the money for additional upgrades in its operating budget, Sideris said. Other recommended capital-improvement projects include installing artificial turf and lighting at Victory Field, and lighting at Fillipello Park, as well as traffic and public-safety improvements in Coolidge Square. Plans for a downtown parking garage will have to be postponed at least a year, Sideris said, while town officials gather more information. - Christina Pazzanese

SUMMER HOURS - In what has become an annual tradition, Watertown officials may rearrange the hours that Town Hall will be open for business during the summer to allow workers to get a jump on their weekends. If approved, Town Hall would be open until 7 p.m. on Tuesdays and close at 2 p.m. on Fridays between May 20 and Aug. 29. The change would have to be approved by the Town Council, which has scheduled a public hearing on the plan for its April 8 meeting. - Christina Pazzanese

SPENDING DECISIONS - Town Meeting members may not have to face a budget deficit for the next fiscal year, but they have a high stack of financial concerns on the warrant for this spring's annual session, which opens tomorrow night. Among the issues is whether residents should spend more than $2 million for schematic designs for the new or renovated high school building, and more than $3 million to rebuild one of the town's most active playing fields, at Sprague Elementary School. Town Meeting convenes at 7:30 p.m. in the Wellesley Middle School auditorium, and will be carried on the local public-access television station, seen on Channel 9 on Comcast and Channel 39 on Verizon, according to the town's website, wellesleyma.gov. - Lisa Keen

RACE FOR PLANNING BOARD - Gary Lee has entered the race for a five-year term on the Planning Board against Diana Chaplin, who was nominated at the town caucus on March 10. Assistant Town Clerk Deborah Davenport said Lee had turned in his nomination papers with the required number of certified signatures. That means there will be two contested races in the town election on May 10, with Selectman Michael H. Harrity running for reelection against John J. Noone. - Stephanie V. Siek

IT WAS 'A PRETTY GOOD YEAR' - Brookline's finest saw a "pretty good year," with the number of incidents in most categories (other than thefts of GPS systems from cars) declining in 2007 from 2006, Police Chief Daniel O'Leary told selectmen recently. He added that police are giving more traffic and parking tickets, and that preliminary results of a Northeastern University study showed that the percentages of female and minority drivers stopped for traffic violations in Brookline corresponded to their percentage of drivers in town. For example, about 75 percent of the drivers in town were white, and about 75 percent of traffic stops were of white drivers. O'Leary highlighted commendations from the Suffolk district attorney for the department's persistent investigators, as well as internal commendations for officers Timothy Stephenson for tracking down graffiti artists, Sean Williams for his role in saving the life of a town employee who was having a heart attack, Doreen Gallagher for combating domestic violence, and Detective Carlos Crespo and several teams of officers who excelled in capturing suspects. - Andreae Downs

LIBRARIES BRACE FOR THE WORST - What impact would a failed override have on library users? That and other questions will be addressed in a public hearing sponsored by the library trustees at 7 p.m. Thursday in the Public Library of Brookline's Coolidge Corner branch. If voters in May reject a Proposition 2 1/2 override to raise property taxes, the library will be asked to cut $80,000 from operations. The board will also be asking patrons for feedback on services that could be trimmed. Options include fewer hours, curtailing the variety of programs and services, paring the book budget, or higher fines and fees. "The library's budget is already very tight," said board chairwoman Carol Axelrod. "If we are forced to cut $80,000, there will be a noticeable impact on the quality of service." - Andreae Downs

FOCUS ON HEALTH FOR A WEEK - Events as varied as classes on "TRANS-forming your pantry" (making an "oil change" to eliminate trans fats), and calculating your clothing, transportation, and dietary carbon footprint are the highlights of National Public Health Week in Brookline, which will begin Saturday. Strokes, sneezing, pandemic flu? All covered. Social walking groups? Check. Even rabies clinics for your dog or cat are in the mix. For a full listing, visit the Health Department's website, townofbrooklinemass.com/health. - Andreae Downs

COMPLEX TO RUN GEOTHERMAL SYSTEM - Hebrew SeniorLife has begun construction of what it describes as the largest geothermal heating and cooling system in New England at NewBridge on the Charles, a retirement community and K-8 school on its 162-acre property near the Charles River. Drilling is underway for 408 high-efficiency wells, each 500 feet deep, that will use the earth as a heating source in winter and for cooling in summer. The closed-loop piping network will ensure no water is discharged or withdrawn from the ground, or the nearby Charles, said Len Fishman, SeniorLife president and CEO. The project also includes a rainwater-collection system that will recharge the local aquifer and supply water for irrigation. "Young students can see we are leading by example," he said. "And our residents will know we are helping to protect the environment for future generations." When completed, the complex will offer age-restricted housing, with 256 cottages, villas, and apartments, supported with senior services, as well as 91 assisted-living units and beds, and 268 short-term rehabilitation and long-term care beds, as well as the Rashi Jewish Day School. - Michele Morgan Bolton

GARDEN CLUB SYMPOSIUM - The Chicatabot Garden Club on April 8 will hold a conservation symposium on "The Invasive Alien Plant Crisis." The event will feature Peter Alden, a noted naturalist and author of 15 Audubon plant and animal field guides. Alden will discuss why the spread of certain plants can threaten ecological systems. The program will begin at 7:30 p.m. at Boston College's Connors Family Retreat and Conference Center at 20 Glen St., and will be followed by a reception. For information or to reserve a seat at the event, contact Dorothy Boylan at 508-785-1980 or dlboylan@att.net. - Anna Fiorentino

WEIGHING DEVELOPMENT CZAR - Framingham Downtown Renaissance, a coalition of community groups working to boost the center's economic development, has hired consultants to do a feasibility study on creating a permanent, full-time position that would focus on redevelopment issues, said chairman John Steacie. The coalition would probably have to raise about $150,000 for the effort, said Steacie. The position would be one among many steps - including promoting the arts, streetscaping, and improving traffic congestion - that the coalition is working on to help revitalize Framingham's downtown, he said. - Tanya Pérez-Brennan

NEW BUSINESS CHIEF FOR SCHOOLS - Town resident Miriam Goodman will be the school district's new business administrator, beginning April 29. The School Committee selected Goodman, who has been the business manager for the Woonsocket, R.I., school system for nine years, over three other candidates, and signed her contract at its meeting on Tuesday. "I was most impressed with the effectiveness of her ability to communicate with both the initial screening committee and School Committee," said chairman Jeffrey Roy. "In both settings, she combined a good command of public finance principles with an ability to speak about them in a manner that was both articulate and succinct." The previous school business administrator, Delores McCoy, was fired in January after town officials discovered a $580,000 deficit in last year's budget. An independent audit indicated she had made several accounting errors, underreported a deficit, and ordered illegal transfers of employee payroll accounts. Goodman will report to the School Committee rather than to the district's superintendent, Wayne Ogden, as recommended in the audit. - Rachel Lebeaux

RECALL RULES ADVANCE - Voters should have a mechanism to recall local elected officials, a committee set up to study the issue told selectmen Monday. The committee recommended that a recall election be triggered when 20 percent of the town's registered voters sign a petition requesting that one take place. Under the recommendation, officials could not be recalled during the first three months or last six months of their terms. Town Administrator Paul LeBeau said the issue isn't likely to go before Town Meeting for a vote until the fall. - Calvin Hennick

STATE REEXAMINING AUDIT - The state's inspector general, Gregory Sullivan; the commissioner of the Department of Revenue, Navjeet Bal; and the acting commissioner of the Department of Education, Jeffrey Nellhaus, have released a statement recommending that the Assabet Valley Regional Vocational Technical School District continue the accounting practices the inspector general criticized in a report last month. The report said the school district had improperly withheld $6 million from its seven member towns, Berlin, Hudson, Marlborough, Maynard, Northborough, Southborough, and Westborough. The inspector general's office has hired an independent accounting firm to review its report and has filed questions with the attorney general over state rules governing regional school districts. The results of those inquiries are pending, the statement said. Assabet officials have defended the district's financial practices, and rejected the findings of the inspector general's investigators. - John Dyer

TAKE A HIKE - Area residents are invited to explore the open spaces in town by taking a free trail walk at 10 a.m. every Wednesday through May 21, rain or shine. The excursions will begin this week, with participants meeting in back of the Town Office building for a walking tour of Pierce Park. Other destinations include Beaver Pond, Drumlin Farm, and Adams Woods. The walks are sponsored by the town's Conservation Commission, Land Conservation Trust, Council on Aging, and Recreation Department. More information may be obtained on the municipal website, www.lincolntown.org. - John M. Guilfoil

PRAISE FOR MEDICAL CENTER - The American Stroke Association has honored Milford Regional Medical Center for the rapid diagnosis and treatment of stroke patients by its emergency department. In announcing the hospital's Guidelines Stroke Silver Performance Achievement Award on March 19, the organization cited the facility's aggressive use of medications, anticoagulation therapy, DVT prophylaxis, cholesterol-reducing drugs, and smoking-cessation efforts in treating the patients. - Anna Fiorentino

BOOK TALK ON BLIZZARD - Author Michael Tougias will give a talk, "A Fight For Survival During the Blizzard of 1978," at 7 p.m. April 16 in the Millis Public Library. The talk is based on his book, "Ten Hours Until Dawn: The True Story of Heroism and Tragedy Aboard the Can Do," which recounts a ship crew's doomed mission to assist two other boats that were caught in the storm. - Calvin Hennick

TOWN WEBSITE LAUDED - Norfolk is one of 90 communities to receive an E-Government Award this month from Common Cause Massachusetts, a government watchdog group. Municipalities can achieve the designation by providing online access to key government records, including meeting agendas, minutes, budget information, bylaws, and Town Meeting warrants. Norfolk's website is virtualnorfolk.org. - Calvin Hennick

CHINESE CLASSES IN FALL - The town's school system is preparing to offer classes in the main Chinese dialect, Mandarin, to middle school students in the fall, according to School Committee chairman Rod Jané. The first class will be offered to seventh-graders and phased into higher grades as the years progress, he said. Chinese is an important language today and is set to become more important as the country's economic influence grows, he said. The school would hire one Chinese teacher, replacing a Spanish or French teacher who might be retiring, Jané said. Officials would seek funding from Chinese government grants to help pay for the new language program, he said. - John Dyer