Teen string ensemble

A string ensemble for teen musicians meets Mondays from 3 to 4:30 p.m. at the 1870 Town Hall. Professional violinist Denice Djerassi leads the group in everything from standard classical arrangements to Finnish folk songs. Students with at least one year's experience playing violin, cello, viola, or string bass are welcome to join. The cost is $5 per session, no registration required. For more information, e-mail EvyDueck@charter.net or see www.townofberlin.com. - Julia Rappaport

ABATEMENT DEADLINE - With this fiscal year's bills sent out, the assessor's office is advising residents that they have until Feb. 1 to request an abatement on their property taxes. The abatement forms, which are used to seek a lower assessed value for a property and so reduce its tax bill, can be found on the town's website, townofbolton.com, or at the assessor's office in Town Hall. This year's tax rate is $15.91 per $1,000 of assessed value. - Matt Gunderson

INTERNET SAFETY WORKSHOP - The town's school district is hosting a workshop for parents on Internet safety on Wednesday. The workshop, presented by school guidance counselors, will introduce software that the district is preparing to use at select elementary and middle schools and possibly at the high school, according to Liz Simon, a guidance counselor at Hemenway Elementary. The software, which parents can download for free, addresses a range of issues, including online piracy, bullying, and sexual predators. "The purpose is to help parents develop awareness and strategies to keep kids safe on the Internet," Simon said. The workshop starts at 7 p.m. in the Desmarais Room at the King Administration Building, 424 Water St. Portuguese and Spanish translations will be provided. The snow date is Jan. 28. For more details, call Simon at 508-626-9150. - Tanya Perez Brennan

BUYING LAND TO PROTECT WATER - The Community Preservation Committee on Tuesday is slated to hear a proposal to purchase 16.9 acres of undeveloped land near to the town's Cranberry Well. "It would provide additional aquifer protection, could be a potential water supply area and would be passive recreational," said Tony Marques, director of the town's Department of Public Works, who is recommending the purchase. The land's owner, Gail Schofield, offered to sell the White Pond Road property to the town for $55,500 last July. In September, Marques applied for a state Department of Environmental Protection grant that would cover 50 percent of the cost, and he is asking to use Community Preservation Act funds for the balance. Marques had expected to hear from DEP officials last month, he said, but in light of the economic downturn, the state agency has delayed the awarding of grants. He does not know when the agency make a decision on Hudson's application. - Julia Rappaport

REVIEWING CPA REQUESTS - The town's Community Preservation Committee will hold a public hearing at 7 p.m. Tuesday in the basement conference room at Town Hall to review 10 applications for funding under the Community Preservation Act. Proposals include spending about $1.2 million toward renovating Town Hall, more than $600,000 for a fire-suppression system in the library, and $500,000 to support the Affordable Housing Trust. More information is available on the town website, www.lincolntown.org. - John M. Guilfoil

BOOST FOR PUBLIC HEALTH PROGRAMS - The MetroWest Community Health Care Foundation recently awarded a new round of grants and Marlborough will see the benefits. Advocates Inc., a social-services provider based in Framingham, has been awarded $77,000 to start a new program in Marlborough for people with mental illness or substance abuse issues who have had trouble with the law. The program will be the second of its kind in the state, modeled after a jail-diversion program that Advocates set up in Framingham. A second foundation grant will be going to Marlborough Hospital, which has been awarded $19,000 to support a citywide stroke education program. The healthcare foundation awarded $1 million in grants last month. - Julia Rappaport

OVERHAUL FOR GAS STATION - The owner of a Main Street service station is moving forward with plans to build a mixed-use residential and commercial project on the property, according to Marie Morando, assistant to the Planning Board. The development by Nick Dimopoulos at 170 Main St. would include six residential units and six commercial units, Morando said. The Planning Board has scheduled a hearing on the proposal for Jan. 27, she said. - Matt Gunderson

LIBRARY TO CLOSE TEMPORARILY - For the next month or so, town residents will be without a local library. Tomorrow has been scheduled as the Northborough Free Library's last day in its temporary space at 71 Lyman St., but its renovated and expanded building at 34 Main St. is not yet ready for all the books and visitors coming its way. "We're hoping to be in there by mid-to-late February," circulation supervisor Julie Brownlee said last week. "We've been giving the due date of Feb. 23 when people check things out." Until the library reopens, Brownlee said, Northborough members can use the public libraries in neighboring communities. For more details, visit www.northboroughlibrary.org. - Julia Rappaport

SEEKING FUNDS FOR ICE DAMAGE - The town has submitted a request for state and federal assistance to fund approximately $500,000 in cleanup and repairs following the Dec. 11-12 ice storm, which felled trees and damaged power lines across the region. Assistant Town Manager Michael Hale said he prepared a portfolio of photographs and videos showing the damage to the town. Historically, Hale said, the federal government has reimbursed 75 percent of poststorm recovery costs, the state has reimbursed 12.5 percent of the bill, and the town has covered the remaining 12.5 percent. Due to the scale of the damage last month, Hale said, some legislators have urged the state to contribute 25 percent. The date for a meeting with federal and state officials to review the town's application is still pending, said Hale. - James O'Brien

WATER FLOW AT ISSUE - The Board of Selectmen want the town's lawyer to seek mediation in a situation on Marlboro Road where officials believe that water from a residential property is flowing onto the road and creating dangerously icy conditions. The decision at the board's Tuesday meeting followed a hearing in which no agreement was reached about how to divert water reportedly flowing from Stephen Stanechewski's property. Stanechewski maintains that the water originates from other properties. While he said he is willing to run new piping to drains at the corner of his lot, he said he should not have to pay the cost of rerouting the flow. "The water is coming from his property," said Town Administrator Jean E. Kitchen. "How it's getting there is a secondary matter. He should divert so it does not go into the roadway." An initial date for mediation is pending, Kitchen said. - James O'Brien

SURVEY ON SCHOOL SCHEDULE - Officials at Nashoba Regional High School are asking for opinions on the school's schedule through a survey posted on the district's website, nrhs.nrsd.net. The survey asks seven questions from students about various features of the school system's block scheduling system, including the use of free periods and the longer classroom sessions. - Matt Gunderson

15 SLOTS UP FOR ELECTION - Town Clerk Rosemary Harvell has announced that 15 positions will be on the March 30 town election ballot. Candidates are required to file nomination forms by Feb. 9, with the available positions including slots on the Board of Selectmen, Board of Assessors, Board of Health, Planning Board and the Sudbury and Lincoln-Sudbury school boards. For more information, call Harvell's office at 978-639-3351. - John M. Guilfoil

WANTED: TOWN PLANNER - The town needs a new planner, with Joe Laydon resigning to take the same job for Stoughton. The change will take place as Wayland prepares for what may be its largest development project to date, the mixed-use Town Center complex. Laydon's salary was just under $77,000, and the town has posted a job notice in the salary range of $58,167 to $76,652. - John M. Guilfoil

FORUM ON STUDENTS, INTERNET - Parents, caregivers, and community members can learn about Internet issues confronting fourth- to 12th-graders at a forum, "21st Century Skills, Scandals, and Security - Everything a Parent Should Know About Their Child's Internet Use," on Jan. 22 from 6:30 to 8 p.m. at the Mill Pond School auditorium, 6 Olde Hickory Path. Topics will include cyber bullying, social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace, online ethics, personal safety, and school resources. Representatives from the Worcester district attorney's office, the Massachusetts Aggression Reduction Center, the town's Police Department, and the school system's technology department will offer presentations as part of the forum. - Megan McKee

FORUM ON TEEN DATING, VIOLENCE - The Ashland Youth Substance Abuse Prevention Initiative will hold a forum for parents on issues involving teen dating and violence at 7 p.m. tomorrow at Ashland High School. The session will include presentations by Rachel Singer, a counselor at Voices Against Violence in Framingham; Shawn McMaster, a representative of the Middlesex district attorney's office; and an Ashland police officer, Detective Joe Magnani. For more information, contact project director Robert Moro at 508-881-0177, or rmoro@ashland.k12.ma.us. - Rachel Lebeaux

FINANCIAL PLANNING WORKSHOP - The Bellingham Special Education Parent Advisory Council will host a financial-planning workshop tomorrow at 7 p.m. in the Bellingham High School library. The workshop will cover estate planning, wills, and other financial-planning matters of concern to parents of children with special needs. More information about the free session and the advisory council is available on the group's website, www.bellinghamsepac.org. - Rachel Lebeaux

CONCERT FOR THE TROOPS - The Holliston Veterans of Foreign Wars post will host a concert Saturday to benefit US troops serving in the Middle East. It is the fifth concert in two years organized by Holliston-based Strike a Chord Concerts for Charity. More than 20 folk, rock, and blues musicians from the Boston area will perform at the family-friendly event, from 7 to 11 p.m. at 310 Woodland St. There is no admission fee, but donations will benefit the Gulf 2 Fund, an effort by the American Legion that sends weekly care packages to military personnel overseas. There will be a raffle, cash bar, and a collection drive for personal-care products and nonperishable food items to send in the care packages. - Megan McKee

HISTORIC DISTRICT APPROVED - The National Park Service approved the Medway Village Historic District for a spot on the National Register of Historic Places last month, according to Medway Historical Commission chairman Robert Pomponio. The district encompasses more than 200 buildings, three churches, the Sanford Hill complex, and Sanford Hall (the current Town Hall), he said. - Rachel Lebeaux

DISCUSSION ON VETERANS BENEFITS - Representatives from the state Department of Veterans Services will hold an informal discussion for veterans and the widows of veterans Wednesday to discuss the benefits available to them. The benefits include full medical care reimbursement for households with monthly incomes below $1,800 for single people and $2,500 for married couples. The discussion will start at 3 p.m. in Room 229 of the Veterans Memorial Building, 900 Main St. Residents of surrounding towns are welcome. Call the Council on Aging at 508-376-7050 to reserve a seat. - Megan McKee

EXPO ON ENERGY SAVINGS - The town will hold an Energy Expo on Thursday at the Kennedy Senior Center, 117 East Central St., from 4 to 7 p.m. The program is designed to help residents save money on energy costs as well as determine eligibility for energy assistance programs. There will be many local, regional, and state organizations in attendance, as well as professionals offering tips for energy savings. Call Debbie Budd, Natick's outreach coordinator, at 508-647-6540 for more information. - Megan McKee

BUSINESS NETWORKING - The Needham Business Association is holding its first networking breakfast of the new year on Wednesday from 7:30 to 9 a.m., at the Wingate at Needham, 589 Highland Ave. The topic is "How to Grow Your Business." The fee is $15. To register, call 781-444-7980. For more details, visit www.needhambusiness.com. - Lisa Kocian

NEW POLICE CHAPLAIN - Selectmen have appointed the Rev. J. Garret Thomson, the new pastor at St. Martha Parish, to the post of chaplain for the town's Police Department. Thomson, better known as Father Gary, was recommended for the job by the department's recently retired chief, Edward Merrick, who stepped down on Dec. 31 after 14 years on the force. - Michele Morgan Bolton

NO RAISES FOR TOWN EMPLOYEES - After lengthy discussion, selectmen have voted against giving pay raises or cost of living increases to town employees next fiscal year. The vote was 2-1, with Selectman Paul DeRensis saying he would prefer to follow personnel board recommendations, which were to give the town's workers 2.5 to 3 percent increase for the year starting July 1. - Anna Fiorentino

POLICE OFFER RECREATION PROGRAMS - The Police Department is conducting a recreation program at Blackstone Valley Regional Vocational Technical High School for youngsters ages 9 to 15. Police officers, parents, and high school students are scheduled to provide basketball, floor hockey, and dodge ball games on the next five Saturday evenings, through Feb. 14. The program is free, funded by a state community-policing grant, but parents must submit a signed injury-waiver form. For details, call Police Officer Carl Ambrosino at 508-529-3200. - James O'Brien