Arlington
Special Town Meeting members tomorrow night could start the process of allowing liquor to be sold in local package stores, which now are limited to beer and wine. The warrant includes an article authorizing selectmen to seek the state’s permission for a townwide vote next year on whether to add liquor to the alcohol-sales licenses for the three package stores in town. A second article involves setting up a ballot question that would allow selectmen to issue two additional licenses covering all alcoholic beverages. Town Meeting will also vote on whether to enact a local-option tax on restaurant meals, and increase the local tax on hotel and motel rooms. The session starts at 8 p.m. in Town Hall, 730 Massachusetts Ave.
FLU VACCINE INFORMATION - The town’s Health Department is awaiting additional doses of the H1N1 vaccine after receiving 240 earlier this month. Health and Human Services director Christine Connolly said the first priority will be administering the vaccine to the 300 students at Thompson Elementary, which has a higher rate of swine flu than other schools in town, but it will be provided to the remaining schools, as well as other high-risk groups, as more shipments of the medicine arrives. Connolly said the town has received a shipment of seasonal flu vaccine, which is also in short supply, and will hold a clinic for residents ages 65 and older from 10 a.m. to noon Wednesday in the Senior Center, 27 Maple St. She said updates on seasonal flu and H1N1 vaccines will be posted on the department’s website, www.arlingtonma.gov/health, and the town’s flu clinic hotline, 781-316-3413. -Brock Parker
BELMONT
TOWN GETS SCHOOL BUILDING MONEY - The town got an unexpected bit of good news from the state last week. The Mass. State Building Authority delivered a payment of just over $537,000 to town coffers Thursday, about six weeks earlier than originally scheduled, said Emily Mahlman, an authority spokeswoman. The payment reimburses the town for construction work on the Winthrop L. Chenery Middle School completed in 1997. The reimbursement was made under an old repayment program run by the Department of Education that required cities and towns to borrow money for school repairs and then wait sometimes years for the state to contribute its share. Now, the authority makes payments as soon as invoices are submitted and approved. In all, 71 cities and towns statewide were repaid $70 million by the authority last week. -
Christina PazzaneseBrookline
ELDER CARE IS BREAKFAST TOPIC - How proposed health care reform may affect long-term care will be the focus of the Brookline Chamber of Commerce’s breakfast Thursday. Scott Plumb, with the Massachusetts Senior Care Association, will be joined by representatives of four Brookline nursing homes or assisted-living communities for the discussion. Plumb will also talk about how the health care overhaul may affect Medicare. Breakfast will be served at 7:30 a.m., with the talk starting at 8 a.m., in the 10th-floor dining room at Center Communities Brookline, 100 Centre St. The cost is $25, or $20 for chamber members. RSVP by calling 617-739-1330 or visit
www.brooklinechamber.com.
LONGER NIGHTS: 1ST LIGHT - The nights are getting longer, which means that Brookline’s merchants are gearing up for 1st Light, the annual kick-off to the holiday shopping season. The festival, from 5 to 8 p.m. on Dec. 3, will feature live performances, including a fire juggler, high school jazz groups, free food, a scavenger hunt, an online raffle, and a game in which participants try to snatch fan-blown cash at Brookline Bank in Putterham Circle. For more details, call 617-730-2050 or visit the town’s website, www.brooklinema.gov.
Lexington
TOWN MEETING RESUMES TOMORROW - Whether to impose a local meals tax on restaurants is among the issues facing a vote when Special Town Meeting resumes tomorrow night. Most of the fall session’s warrant remains up for discussion, after just three of its 14 articles were voted on last Monday. The meals tax would add .75 percent to the cost of restaurant meals, and would generate about $350,000 a year for the town. Town Meeting will also vote on whether to increase the local tax on hotel and motel rooms from 4 percent to 6 percent. Last week, Town Meeting members approved zoning changes to allow development of additional research and office space in Lexington Technology Park, and to allow Cubists Pharmaceuticals Inc. to expand its Hayden Avenue headquarters. They also voted to authorize the town manager to enter into a 20-year contract for the purchase of solar power. Town Meeting is to resume at 7:30 p.m. in Cary Memorial Hall, 1605 Massachusetts Ave.
VOTING DEADLINE - The last day for Lexington residents to register to vote in the state primary to fill the late US Senator Edward Kennedy’s seat is Wednesday. The primary will be held on Dec. 8 and the general election Jan. 19. The final day to register to vote for the general election will be Dec. 30.
NEEDHAM
SCHOOL COMMITTEE GOALS - The Needham School Committee recently adopted 2009-2010 goals for the district, according to an e-mail newsletter from Superintendent Dan Gutekanst. There are four goals that are further divided into multiple objectives and action steps. For example, the goal to “Promote Active Citizenship,’’ which is meant to help students “participate productively’’ in both local and global communities, includes an assessment of the current middle school foreign language program. To see all the goals and objectives, go to
www.needham.k12.ma.us. -
Lisa KocianNewton
MONEY FOR MAINTENANCE AND INFRASTRUCTURE PROPOSED - Aldermen will consider a proposal tomorrow that would set aside 25 percent of revenues from local option restaurant and hotel taxes in a special fund for maintenance and infrastructure. Aldermen in July voted to increase the tax on hotel rooms from 4 percent to 6 percent, and voted last month to implement a .75 percent local tax on restaurant meals. “We have been neglecting maintenance in the city for a long time,’’ said Alderman Ken Parker, who filed the item. “It makes sense to start taking better care of our facilities and infrastructure.’’
WATERTOWN
IMPROVEMENTS ON NONANTUM ROAD - Another accident on Nonantum Road last week has some asking when the state will finally sign off on financing for $8 million in planned safety improvements of the busy roadway along the Charles River. The money, earmarked from federal stimulus funds to be disbursed by the state, has been languishing on a list of transportation projects slated for approval by the Metropolitan Planning Office. State Representative Peter Koutoujian, a Democrat who represents Watertown and Waltham, said the accident is fresh evidence that the dangerous, winding road needs an overhaul “sooner rather than later.’’ Colin Durrant, a spokesman for the state transportation department, said he expects funding will be approved when the planning office next meets on Thursday. Durrant said he anticipates construction would start in the spring. In the accident last Monday, a 1994 Honda Accord driven by Rene Javier Selenas-lara of Allston, 19, hit a tree between Watertown Square and the Daly Skating rink, according to State Police. A passenger, Cynthia Cruz of Waltham, 19, was taken to Mass. General Hospital with minor injuries.
INTERSECTIONS TO BE UPGRADED - Three treacherous intersections in Coolidge Square will soon be in line for long-awaited safety upgrades, and it won’t cost the town a dime. State transportation officials recently announced they had accepted bids for the $1.9 million contract, and pending certification, P.V. Barone Corp. will be awarded the contract. The project will realign the East Watertown intersections, install new signaling, and put in new sidewalks, wheelchair ramps and curbs. It will also resurface Summer Street at both Spring and Mt. Auburn streets, and Arlington Street at Nichols Avenue, Coolidge Hill Road, and Crawford Street. Work is expected to get underway next spring and will take about 18 months to complete, said a spokesman for MassHighway. - Christina Pazzanese
WELLESLEY
ANOTHER FIRST FOR BABSON - Babson is big in blogs, according to the “Internet buzz ranking’’ released last week by Global Language Monitor, a Texas-based company that analyzes and tracks trends in language. The local college ranks number one among business schools in “media awareness and strength of a school’s brand,’’ and number 67 among schools overall. The rankings measured mentions and appearances in print and online media, including social networking outlets like blogs and Twitter. Babson’s lofty spot in the awareness rankings follows on the heels of its receiving the highest marks in Entrepreneur magazine’s recent lists of the best undergraduate and graduate programs in entrepreneurship. -
Adam J.V. Sell WESTON
REGISTRATION DEADLINE - Residents wishing to vote in the upcoming Special Town Meeting have until Friday to register. The town clerk’s office will accept registration forms throughout the week, and will be open for extended hours on Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. Those who choose to register by mail must have their registration forms postmarked by midnight Friday in order to vote. The Special Town Meeting will be held Nov. 30 in the Weston High School auditorium beginning at 7:30 p.m. For more information, call the town clerk’s office at 781-893-7320, ext. 303.
-Christina PazzaneseA WELCOMED EARLY PAYMENT - The town will be getting a check from the Massachusetts School Building Authority six weeks earlier than expected. Last week, the authority said Weston is in line to receive $637,787 for a $10.8 million renovation of the middle school in 1996-97. The reimbursement, which was slated to be in the town’s hands late last week, is part of an effort by the authority to step up payments to cities and towns that conducted school projects under a former reimbursement program run by the Department of Education that required municipalities to borrow money and then wait years to collect from the state, said building authority spokeswoman Emily Mahlman. The state now reimburses communities as soon as project invoices are reviewed and approved, a move that has saved communities $2.9 billion in interest payments so far, the authority said. “We are always happy to get money sooner than expected, but we don’t have a cash flow problem that needs to be solved,’’ said Town Manager Donna VanderClock. - Christina Pazzanese
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