ARLINGTON
Police say after completing an investigation into teen drinking at the home of Selectwoman Annie LaCourt, they found no criminal conduct on her part. Lieutenant Robert Bongiorno said after interviewing LaCourt, the teens, the teens’ parents, and others about the June 13 incident, they did not believe LaCourt “knowingly or intentionally’’ furnished alcohol to the teens or allowed them to drink. LaCourt told police she had been home while her 17-year-old daughter held a party at their Chatham Street residence, but was not aware that teens were drinking beer or playing “beer pong’’ there. The Middlesex district attorney’s office, which was asked by police to investigate, also concluded there was no misconduct by LaCourt, said Bongiorno. In an e-mail statement, LaCourt said she was “very appreciative of the thorough investigation that the APD did. I am hoping that the publicity surrounding this incident will lead to a conversation among parents about how we can best support each other in our efforts to keep our kids sober and safe.’’ - Christina Pazzanese
FINANCIAL OFFICER STAYING FOR SUMMER - Sue Mazzarella, chief financial officer for the town’s school district, said she will stay on without a contract through the summer to tie up loose ends and assist in a transition once her replacement is named. Mazzarella, whose three-year contract expired Tuesday with the end of the fiscal year, said she recently decided not to accept a new one-year deal from Interim Superintendent Kathleen Bodie, and instead opted to return to the private sector. Mazzarella said her decision is unrelated to the brouhaha over documents she gave to Town Meeting members last month about the findings of an independent audit report that omitted two key paragraphs. “It seems my name is getting tied to something with the audit report and it’s totally not true,’’ she said last week. Town Manager Brian Sullivan said an auditing firm, Powers & Sullivan, was asked to look at the district’s books after some residents raised questions about whether money designated for student spending was being used to pay for legal fees in the arbitration cases of former Ottoson School principal Stavroula Bouris and teacher Chuck Coughlin. Sullivan said the audit did not uncover any mishandling of funds by school officials, but, at the firm’s urging, the town comptroller is now overseeing some school fee accounts.
BELMONT
LOOKING AT BENTON LIBRARY’S FUTURE - A committee studying the reuse of the Benton branch of the Belmont Public Library met with the Board of Selectmen last week to discuss options for the building. The branch library was shut down early this year to save money. Since then, residents and town officials have looked into ways to reuse the space. Assistant Town Administrator Jeffrey Conti said the committee is interested in leasing the building for three to five years with the hope of eventually using it as a library again. One option being considered is using it for a preschool, said Conti, who added that the building will need some modifications if it is leased out, such as adding a handicapped-accessible bathroom.
BROOKLINE
ID PROTECTION PLANNED - Brookline officials are developing a policy to protect the identities of individuals who do business with the town. As part of a federal identity-theft-prevention effort, the town is securing databases and will soon train staff to keep identity information out of the hands of potential scammers. At issue are Social Security, bank routing, and credit card numbers that are used in various town transactions. The town’s finance director, Stephen Cirillo, said technology buff Kevin Stokes has been working to ensure all town databases are secure from Internet hacking. “The process is evolving now,’’ Cirillo said. - Andreae Downs
NEW HOME FOR CABLE-ACCESS STATION - “The walls are down’’ on the top floor of the high school’s Unified Arts Building, said Will Slotnick, board president for Brookline Access Television. “We are at the point of no return.’’ The local-access cable TV station plans to move from its temporary digs in the Old Lincoln School on Boylston Street to the high school building in November. As part of the move, the station is creating new art studios to replace studios it is displacing, and a new educational wing for students who want to learn broadcasting, webcasting, animation, and other media skills. Selectmen voted Tuesday to release access trust funds so that construction can finish by Sept. 4 for all of the school-related studios.
TOWN IS HIRING - Help Wanted! Despite fiscal constraints, Brookline departments were given waivers of the town’s hiring freeze Tuesday, which means the Fire Department, which is operating with six fewer firefighters this year, will still be able to fill nine vacant positions. The new hires will most likely be people laid off by neighboring towns. The Department of Public Works has permission to hire three drivers, a civil engineer, three laborers, and a repair person. And the parks department will be able to hire two pool employees. Fire Chief Peter Skerry said his department cut overtime in the fiscal year that ended Tuesday by at least $150,000. - Andreae Downs
PROGRESS ON FISHER HILL - A developer for one of the largest affordable-housing projects in Brookline has been selected to work on the town-owned Fisher Hill reservoir property. New Atlantic Development Corp. of Boston proposes to buy the 5-acre site for $3.5 million and develop “Olmsted Hill’’ with 10 buildable lots for single-family homes of between 3,500 and 4,500 square feet. The sale of the property, plus $4.3 million in state, federal, and town affordable housing funds, will in turn finance demolition of the property’s two underground and rather antique reservoirs, installation of roads and utilities, and 24 two- and three-bedroom condominiums for purchase by income-eligible buyers. - Andreae Downs
FREE FILMS - With summer weather, free film showings start in Brookline. Puppet Showplace Theatre will screen puppet-related flicks including “The Muppet Movie’’ July 11; “Labyrinth’’ on July 18; and “Coraline’’ on July 25. All start at 6:30 p.m. at 32 Station St. The movies are free, but donations of $10 to $20 per family are welcome. If that isn’t enough for your family, the town’s Park and Recreation Department, along with the Coolidge Corner Theatre, is showing films at Larz Anderson Park in South Brookline. On a series of Mondays, “The Princess Bride’’ (July 13), “Some Like it Hot’’ (July 20) and “E.T.’’ (July 27) will start at dusk (about 8 p.m.). Picnics are welcome. If a showing is rained out, the movie will be rescheduled for the next day. - Andreae Downs
NEEDHAM
FIRM DESIGNING NEWMAN SYSTEM - An architectural firm has been chosen to produce a schematic design, including cost estimates, for renovation of the Newman Elementary School’s heating and ventilation system, according to an e-mail update sent to parents by Superintendent Daniel Gutekanst. Drummey Rosane Anderson Inc., with offices in Newton and Connecticut, is on a fast track to finish the schematic design because the school district hopes to secure an agreement for up to 40 percent reimbursement from the Massachusetts School Building Authority at its September meeting, said Gutekanst. More information about the project will be available at a public presentation this month. A proposed property-tax increase to pay for the project is slated to go before voters later this year. - Lisa Kocian
NEWTON
MARINI SALARY SET - V. James Marini, a former Newton educator who has been chosen to serve as the district’s interim superintendent for next school year, will make $215,000 under a contract approved by the School Committee on June 26. The 8-0 vote, with Mayor David Cohen absent, also gives Marini a $4,500 transportation allowance, as well as vacation time, sick leave, and dental care, but he won’t receive health insurance. The contract runs to June 30 of next year. The pay is the same as what the district’s outgoing superintendent, Jeffrey Young, will earn next year as head of the Cambridge school system. Young earned $248,000 for his last year in Newton. School Committee chairman Marc Laredo said Marini’s experience justified the salary, and noted that not paying for Marini’s health insurance would save the district around $12,000. Marini, who is officially retired, is finishing a two-year stint as interim superintendent in North Andover, where he earned $180,000 this year. Before that, he served as superintendent of Winchester schools. Marini started his career as a teacher at Day Middle School in Newton in 1970, and went on to serve as the school’s assistant principal, principal of Newton North High School, assistant superintendent for high schools and operations, and associate superintendent for secondary education for the school district. He also worked as a middle-school administrator in Concord for five years. School Committee members expect to appoint a permanent superintendent early next year and are in the process of appointing a search committee. Residents interested in serving on the committee should look for more information on the district’s website,
www.newton.k12.ma.us. - Calvin Hennick
WALTHAM
BIRDS OF PREY AT GORE PLACE - Gore Place is hosting Birds of Prey shows today at 11 a.m., and 12:30 and 2 p.m. Visitors will get a close-up look at hawks, falcons, owls, and a bald eagle from raptor demonstrator Tom Ricardi, who is retired from the state’s Division of Environmental Law Enforcement, according to an announcement by Gore Place. Admission is $5 and parking is free. Gore Place, the 1806 estate of Governor Christopher Gore, is at 52 Gore St., off Route 20 (Main Street). - Lisa Kocian
WATERTOWN
BUDGET MOVES - The Town Council wrapped up its hearings on this fiscal year’s budget by settling on spending for fire, police, and schools just hours before last fiscal year ended. During special meetings on Monday and Tuesday, the council reversed a decision it had made on June 23 to withhold $154,000 earmarked to help the school district cover an unexpected $638,000 gap caused by the state’s recent cuts to education funding. Council president Clyde L. Younger said the council initially held the funds back in order to send a message to the teachers union to get back to the bargaining table with the School Committee. After a closed-door session Tuesday night to discuss police and fire personnel budgets for the year that started Wednesday, the council voted to approve the town manager’s recommended figures of nearly $7 million for police and nearly $8 million for fire. Town Manager Michael Driscoll will continue talks with both unions in an effort to avoid layoffs in the Fire Department and police pay reductions because of state cuts to Quinn Bill reimbursements, said Younger. The program provides an annual bonus for police officers who hold college degrees. The Police Department will lose four positions - three of which are vacant and one due to a retirement - bringing the patrol staff to 47. The town will continue to provide full Quinn Bill payments for the next 60 days, said Younger. Firefighters are slated to lose six positions, bringing their head count to 83. Two vacancies will go unfilled and four firefighters will be laid off.
WESTON
CASE ESTATES MEETING - The Board of Selectmen will hold another public meeting on Wednesday to discuss the town’s planned acquisition of the Case Estates property. Last month, the board held two meetings to solicit feedback and to inform residents about the ongoing talks with Harvard University over how the school will remove contaminated soil from the 62-acre property. Harvard’s consultants, Haley & Aldrich, have collected the latest documents about the project for public review at the town library and in the Board of Health office at Town Hall. The papers are also available online at
www.haleyaldrich.com, under the user name “case_estates’’ and password “12775.’’ Town officials say many residents have expressed concern over long-term exposure to arsenic-tainted dust and soil on the property, dating from its agricultural uses, and whether the material will be spread across a wider area during the proposed cleanup effort. The meeting will be held at Town Hall at 7 p.m. - Christina Pazzanese
BEDFORD
WELCOMING THE TROOPS HOME - A group of 50 men and women who returned from active military deployment over the past six months received a heroes’ welcome at a homecoming ceremony at Hanscom Air Force Base. The participants included Colonel David Orr, commander of the 66th Air Base Wing; members of the New England Patriots cheerleading squad; the Patriot Guard Riders; and Lieutenant Governor Tim Murray. At the ceremony, three local organizations and two individuals were honored as Hanscom Community
Heroes in recognition of their support to deployed military personnel and their families. The awards were presented to Operation Troop Support Inc. of Danvers; Helping Our Troops of Stoneham; and Operation American Soldier of Watertown, along with citizens Jean Mallon and Bill Haas.
CONCORD
EMERSON HOSPITAL 5K - More than 300 people participated in Emerson Hospital’s ninth annual 5K Run-Walk for Cancer. Participants raised more than $8,000 for programs at Emerson Hospital’s Bethke Cancer Center. The event was sponsored by the Emerson Hospital Auxiliary. - Jennifer Fenn Lefferts
MARLBOROUGH
ELECTRIC BILL OVERCHARGE FOUND - Customers of Marlborough-based Colonial Power Group, which brokers the sale of electric power to city customers by aggregating residential and business users into block buying groups for lower rates, identified a price error in bills for the last two months. Group auditors on June 24 discovered residential customers had been charged 12.29 cents per kilowatt-hour for May and last month, approximately 2.6 cents over the accurate price. Business customers were similarly overcharged, by approximately 2.5 cents per kilowatt-hour. The error was the result of late reporting of a price change to power distributor National Grid by power supplier ConEdison Solutions, said Brian Murphy, president of Colonial Power Group. Sam Morgan, spokesman for ConEdison Solutions, acknowledged the mistake, and said the approximately 13,200 affected customers would receive credit for the overcharge on this month’s bill. For more information, contact Murphy at 508-485-5858.
MEDFIELD
LOCALS ABOARD TALL SHIP - When the US Coast Guard tall ship Eagle arrives at the Charlestown Navy Yard on Wednesday as part of the Sail Boston festival, a pair of cadets from Medfield will be on deck. Matt Malacaria, 21, is a cadet first-class in the Coast Guard, and has been aboard the Eagle since May 9, when the training vessel set sail from Spain. He is accompanied by cadet third-class Cory Pray, 20. On the leg of the Eagle’s journey from Bermuda to Charleston, S.C., Malacaria said, he was in charge of giving commands to the helmsman during a tricky change of course into the wind. “I got to call out the commands to all the guys on the lines,’’ Malacaria said from Charleston, shortly before getting underway to Boston on Monday. The voyage is Malacaria’s first aboard the 295-foot vessel. - James O’Brien
SHREWSBURY
GOVERNOR COMING TO TOWN - Governor Deval Patrick is scheduled to hold a town-hall style meeting Wednesday at the Dean Park bandstand. As part of a summertime program of 15 such meetings in communities throughout the state, Patrick will field questions from local residents. Previous meetings have drawn between 80 and 200 people, according to the governor’s office. Patrick appeared in Lynn on Monday, and is scheduled to stop next in Sharon on July 14. The Shrewsbury event Wednesday is scheduled to start at 6:30 p.m. - James O’Brien
SUDBURY
COMBATING INVASIVE PLANTS - Various invasive plants are becoming a problem in town, with the fast-growing plants beginning to overrun native species and landscaping. The town’s Conservation Commission is forming a group of volunteers to combat the invasive plants, with help needed to remove plants, survey the town for the troublesome vegetation, and educate residents about the plants, which are often imported as exotic landscaping elements and then spread into other areas. For further information or to help out, call Rebecca Chizzo at 978-505-1301. - John Guilfoil
© Copyright 2009 Globe Newspaper Company.
