Collaborative scales back plans

Chelsea Collaborative officials are suspending their capital campaign to purchase a new space because of the tough economy, said executive director Gladys Vega. The collaborative is scheduled to lose its home at 300 Broadway when the 10-year lease ends in November because the landlord wants to use the space for an office. With $350,000 in savings, organization officials were hoping to attract contributors to help raise money to purchase a commercial space in Chelsea. A 20th anniversary celebration/fund-raiser last month yielded roughly $10,000 in donations. Vega said she hoped for more, but understands the economy is making fund-raising difficult for all organizations. For that reason, she said it would be best to suspend the search for a location to purchase and focus on a location the group can lease for about five years. Vega said she is looking at three lease opportunities in the city and hopes to move out of 300 Broadway sometime in August. - Katheleen Conti

TALK TO THE MAYOR - Mayor Carlo DeMaria Jr. is hosting a community meeting Thursday from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the Sammy Gentile Recreation Center, on Elm Street. The session is another in a series of meetings in which the mayor talks with residents and answer questions. Police Chief Steven Mazzie and City Services director Brian Zaniboni will take part in Thursday's meeting, which is open to all Everett residents. Meanwhile, DeMaria will present his first midterm address to the Board of Aldermen and Common Council tomorrow at 7 p.m. in the City Council chambers. - John Laidler

DELIVERING THE MESSAGE - Police chiefs Steven Mazzie of Everett and Kenneth A. Coye of Malden are featured in public service announcements about prescription drug abuse airing on two Boston area radio stations, WAAF (107.3 and 97.7 FM) and WMKK-FM (93.7). The announcements are the result of a collaboration among the Partnership for a Drug-Free America, Boston Entercom - owner of the two radio stations - and the Everett and Malden police departments. The messages began running last week and will air through Jan. 9. They can also be heard on the stations' Internet sites through Jan. 16. Mazzie taped two announcements, while Coye taped one. "The ultimate goal is to catch parents," said Kristen Wolcott, account executive with Entercom Boston. The spots also can be heard on the police department websites, www.everettpolicema.com and maldenpd.com. - John Laidler

LICENSE HEARING - The Zoning Board of Appeals on Tuesday will hold a public hearing on a request to allow a restaurant with a liquor license at 2-6 Essex St., which now has a restaurant with only a beer and wine license. Other hearings will be held on requests to allow home-based businesses. They include a doctor's office on the first floor of 318 Essex St.; a high school hockey website business at 266 Parkland Ave.; and a nonprofit office at 185 Washington St. The meeting will be held at 7:30 p.m. in Room 302 at City Hall. - Kathy McCabe

LEADERSHIP ROLE - School Committee chairwoman Dorothy Presser Thursday began a one-year term as secretary-treasurer of the Massachusetts Association of School Committees. Presser was elected by the association's delegate assembly at its recent annual meeting. With her new post, she begins her third year on the association's board; her first two were as Northeast division chairwoman. She also serves on the Legislative Committee of the association, an organization that represents 2,400 school committee members and 300 school districts across the state. - John Laidler

LECTURES DRAW CROWD - The Northeastern University Marine Science Center Evening Lecture Series enjoyed the largest turnouts in memory during 2008, according to center outreach program coordinator Tracy Hajduk, with average crowds of 50 to 60 people. The next lecture in the series is "Geology of Iceland," delivered by Malcolm Hill, who took a group of Northeastern University students to the country on a research trip in spring 2008. The free lecture is scheduled for Jan. 13 at 7 p.m. at the center, on Nahant Road. - David Rattigan

TREE DISPOSAL - The Department of Public Works will be picking up Christmas trees across the city until Jan. 31. Residents should place the trees curbside on their regular trash day. Trees should not be in a plastic bag and all tinsel should be removed. Residents also may drop trees off from 7:30 a.m. until 4 p.m. weekdays at the DPW, 356 Commercial St. For information, call 781-397-7160. - Brenda J. Buote

DOG PARK CONSIDERED - City dog owners are voicing support for a fenced-in dog park. Despite a leash law that carries fines of up to $150, city officials have had a difficult time getting dog owners to keep their pets on a leash. Several aldermen said they receive frequent complaints about unleashed dogs in Hesseltine Park. The aldermen, at their Dec. 15 meeting, said they plan to explore the dog park idea further with Park Superintendent Joan Bell before scheduling a public meeting on the issue. - Brenda J. Buote

RIZZO EXPECTED TO LEAD COUNCIL - The City Council is scheduled to meet tomorrow at City Hall for its annual election of officers. At-Large Councilor Daniel Rizzo, who served as vice president last year, is expected to be elected the council's new president. This would be Rizzo's first term as president.

- Katheleen Conti

NEW BUSINESS PROPOSED - The Board of Selectmen on Tuesday will hold a public hearing on a special permit application filed by Esthetics, a skin care, makeup, and massage therapy business proposed for 38 Main St. The hearing will be held as part of the board's regular meeting, scheduled for 7:30 p.m. in the auditorium at Town Hall. - Kathy McCabe

GASS TO LEAD HOUSING AUTHORITY - The Wakefield Housing Authority's board of commissioners recently appointed Sandra P. Gass as the new executive director. Gass, who had been assistant director, succeeds Rita McNamara, who retired last Wednesday. A Wakefield resident, Gass, 54, has worked for the housing authority for two years. Prior to becoming assistant director last summer, she was housing manager. She previously worked for six years as facilities administrator for the Peter Sanborn House, a nonprofit supportive housing complex in Reading. A 1972 graduate of Wakefield High School and a 1979 graduate of UMass-Amherst, Gass was selected from among eight candidates for the director's job. "I'm looking forward to the challenge," she said, noting that the need for public housing is growing due to difficult economic times. The housing authority manages just over 200 public housing units and 331 federal housing vouchers. - John Laidler

YOUNG ANGELS - Artwork created by 10 children and former Red Sox reliever Mike Timlin is helping to raise money for the Angel Fund, a Wakefield-based nonprofit that supports research into amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Known as Lou Gehrig's disease, ALS is a fatal neuromuscular disease. Through the HOPE (Helping Our Parents Erase) for ALS project, artist Lainey Hunter led a workshop at the Americal Civic Center in Wakefield in which the 10 children (including a son and a daughter of Timlin) and the ex-Red Sox hurler each created a reverse glass painting. Hunter added finishing touches. Digital images of the paintings were then used to create note cards, which are being sold to benefit the Angel Fund. The cost is $27 for a set of 12 cards that includes one card for each painting plus one that contains a compilation of all the images. To purchase a set or for more information, go to www.theangelfund.org or call 781-245-7070. - John Laidler

HOLMES NAMED INTERIM MANAGER - Larry Holmes, the town's director of Veterans Services, will be Winthrop's interim town manager after Richard White's departure on Jan. 17. The Town Council unanimously approved president Thomas E. Reilly's nomination of Holmes on Dec. 23 to take over the town's top position. White accepted a town administrator position in Dennis last month. His contract would have been up in March, but a yearlong effort to extend his contract through 2011 failed to garner enough support within the council. Reilly already has begun putting together a town manager search committee and said he hopes the position is filled as soon as possible. - Katheleen Conti

DIVERSITY AWARDS - Jewish and Christian leaders will be honored during the Jan. 19 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. dinner sponsored by the Danvers Committee for Diversity. Andrew Tarsy, a former New England director of the Anti-Defamation League, will receive a Drum Major for Justice Award. Other Drum Major recipients are Wayne Burton, president of North Shore Community College, and local residents Joseph and Barbara Younger. The awards honor the late civil rights leader's commitment to racial and religious justice. The event begins at 5:30 p.m. in Danversport Yacht Club. Tickets are $30. Call 978-777-0001, ext. 3095. - Kathy McCabe

STAINED GLASS REPAIR - The Board of Selectmen, on the recommendation of the Historical Commission, recently awarded a contract to Murray Studios of Alford to renovate and protect the stained glass windows between the first and second floors at the south end of Abbot Hall. The project is being paid for with $30,000 from the Harold B. and Elizabeth L. Shattuck Memorial Fund, which is administered by the National Grand Bank of Marblehead. The private fund was established by the late Elizabeth Shattuck to benefit the town's Historical Commission, public library, Council on Aging, and Recreation and Parks Department, along with the Citizens Scholarship Foundation of Marblehead. - John Laidler

CONCERT HALL PROJECT RESUMES - Construction of the concert hall in downtown Rockport is expected to begin again tomorrow after a hiatus during the holiday shopping season. Thomas Burger, chairman of Rockport Music, formerly the Rockport Chamber Music Festival, said his organization has raised $15 million of the approximately $20 million needed to complete the project. Plans are to open the state-of-the-art facility in June 2010. - David Rattigan

FOOD PANTRY GRANTS - The Dominion Foundation, a charity run by the company that operates the Salem power plant, has donated $7,000 to two Salem food banks. St. Joseph's Food Pantry and the Salem Mission each received a $3,500 grant. The grants were part of a $1 million donation the charity made to food banks in the communities where Dominion runs power plants. - Steven Rosenberg