Arlington to residents: hit mosquitoes now where they breed
Health officials in Arlington are urging residents to take action now to prevent the breeding of mosquitoes that carry disease.
The town’s health department issued an advisory Friday asking that residents take steps to mosquito-proof their homes by draining standing water because mosquitoes lay their eggs in standing water.
The town is suggesting residents check rain gutters, drains, empty flowerpots and wading pools and to change the water in birdbaths frequently.
The town is also suggesting that residents install or repair screens on windows and doors, and avoid mosquito bites with the use of insect repellent.
Much of the Boston area has received nine or more inches of rain this month, according to the National Weather Service, and Arlington has had mosquitoes that tested positive for West Nile Virus in recent years, including last summer.
The virus is most commonly transmitted to humans through bites by infected mosquitoes. Arlington treats storm water catch basins to prevent mosquito breeding.
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Former karate coach in Arlington pleads guilty to assaulting a child
A karate coach who worked at a martial arts studio in Arlington has pleaded guilty to indecently assaulting a young student, according to Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan’s office.
Thomas Donahue, 53, of Lexington, pleaded guilty Tuesday in Middlesex Superior Court in Woburn to indecent assault and battery on a child under the age of 14 and enticement of a child under the age 16, Ryan’s office announced Wednesday.
Middlesex Superior Court Judge Kathe Tuttman sentenced Donahue to 2 ½ years in jail to be followed by three years of probation.
In a statement released Wednesday, Ryan said Donahue took advantage of his authority as a coach by sexually assaulting a young student and violating the trust placed in him by the victim and her family.
“We commend the victim for coming forward to disclose what happened to her and we will continue to aggressively investigate and prosecute crimes committed by offenders that target vulnerable children,” Ryan said.
Donahue was arrested in August 2011 after authorities said he sexually assaulted a 7-year-old girl several times that spring while she was enrolled in his karate class at T & P Martial Arts in Arlington.
At the time, authorities said Donahue repeatedly asked the girl to stay after class to help him remove his leg brace in his office, where the alleged assaults occurred.
After each assault, Donahue would thank the girl and ask that she not tell anyone, the Middlesex District Attorney’s office said at the time. Ryan's office said Wednesday that Donahue also gave the girl candy.
During Donahue’s probation, he has been ordered to have no contact with the victim or her family, no unsupervised contact with children under the age of 16, and is not to work or volunteer with children. He must also undergo sex offender evaluation and treatment and comply with the requirements of the sex offender registry, according to Ryan’s office.
Arlington: It's lights out on High Pressure Sodium bulbs
Arlington began this week installing 2,000 new energy-efficient bulbs that will complete an overhaul of street lights that officials say will cut the town’s electric bill in half.
Town Manager Adam Chapdelaine said the town is using $625,000 appropriated by Town Meeting and utility incentive dollars to replace the remaining High Pressure Sodium bulbs in Arlington street lights with new light-emitting diode, or LED, bulbs by the end of July.
The LED lights use half the electricity of the current High Pressure Sodium lights and last twice as long, Chapdelaine said.
Arlington used town and state Green Communities grant to install the LED bulbs in 1,000 East Arlington streetlights in 2011 and the beginning of 2012. The new bulbs emit a white light, compared to the yellowish tone of the older bulbs.
Arlington cyclist found dead along Minuteman Bikeway in Bedford
Police are investigating the death of an Arlington cyclist whose body was found along the Minuteman Bikeway in Bedford near the Lexington line Sunday.
Perry Stone, 52, of Arlington, was found dead down an embankment along the bikeway Sunday just before 7 p.m., said Bedford Police Detective Lt. Scott Jones.
Jones said a jogger called 911 after seeing Stone along the path near Wiggins Avenue. Bedford Police and State Police responded along with the state Medical Examiner’s office.
Police said there were no signs of trauma. Police are awaiting a determination by the medical examiner’s office for a cause of death.
Towns issue new map of Minuteman Bikeway
Bicycle advisory committees in Lexington, Arlington and Bedford have issued a new map of the Minuteman Bikeway using funding from a state grant and private funding.
The free map includes the bikeway, along with major roadways, connecting trails, and points of interest along the 11-mile trail from Bedford to Alewife Station in Cambridge.
Peggy Enders, the chair of Lexington’s Bicycle Advisory Committee, said the map was created using about $6,000 of a $37,000 grant from the state Department of Conservation and Recreation for signage and other improvements for the path.
Enders, who managed the project for Lexington, Arlington and Bedford, said donations from Vistaprint and Friends of the Lexington Bikeway were also used for the map, which was designed by Russ Brami, of SnowyOwlMaps.com. Copies of the map are available at public buildings in the three Bikeway towns, or you can download it at www.minutemanbikeway.org.
Arlington's Reservoir Beach opens for the season today
Arlington’s Reservoir Beach opened for the season today and daily and season passes are now available.
The beach on Lowell Street in Arlington Heights has a filtered and chlorinated swimming area and is supervised by certified lifeguards and other beach staff.
The daily beach hours are 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. in June and July and from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. in August.
Daily fees for Arlington residents are are $5 per person on weekdays and $7 per person on weekends and holidays. Fees for non-Arlington residents are $8 on weekdays and $10 on weekends and holidays.
Seasonal passes are also available. More information is available online here.
MBTA to make its 15 busiest bus routes faster, more reliable; work includes moving, eliminating stops
The MBTA says it will make its 15 busiest bus routes faster, more reliable, and more accessible through a series of changes this summer, which include relocating some stops and eliminating others.
Construction on some of the bus routes will begin this week and upgrades to all of the effected routes are expected to be made by the end of August, officials announced Monday.
The 15 “key” routes carry about 40 percent of the T’s total bus ridership. The routes run more often than other bus routes to serve high-density travel corridors, primarily in Boston, but also stretching to Arlington, Belmont, Brookline, Cambridge, Chelsea, Everett, Newton, Revere, and Watertown.
The T hopes to make each route about 10 to 15 percent faster by moving some stops and removing others. The goal is for there to be a bus stop every 750 to 1,320 feet, or about four to seven stops per mile. Many stops now are as close as 200 feet.
The agency also hopes to run more reliable bus service by better adhering to schedules and by trying to reduce “bunching,” when two or more buses on the same route are traveling close to each other.
More “passenger amenities,” including new bus shelters at 85 stops, as well as benches and trash barrels, will be installed. Some sidewalks will be improved and some curb extensions will be built.
New signs and pavement markings will be installed to provide better route-related details and to keep drivers from stopping or parking at bus stops.
Traffic signal improvements are expected to be made along some routes.
Work will include bringing bus stops into compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act to improve accessibility for seniors and people with disabilities, officials said. In some cases, that will mean lengthening the bus stop area.
The T also plans to install new "Park and Pedal" bike parking cages at Alewife Station and the Beverly Garage in July and at Wollaston, Back Bay, Dudley Square and Wonderland stations in August.
Funding for the program includes $7 million in federal stimulus money and another $3 million in federal transportation funding.
Over the past two years, more than 50 public meetings have been held about the “Key Bus Routes Improvement Program.”
“The MBTA is looking forward to improving the quality of amenities and service on some of our most utilized services,” General Manager Beverly Scott said in a statement Monday. “This aggressive and ambitious project will reduce trip times, enhance customer comfort, accessibility, convenience and safety, and make service more reliable and cost-effective.”
A list of the 15 routes and projected timelines for construction are as follows. The schedules are subject to change, T officials said:
Key Bus Routes
Route 1 – July 1st – July 25th
Route 15 – June 24th – July 12th
Route 22 – June 17th – July 17th
Route 23 – June 17th – July
Route 28 – June 17th – August 30th
Route 32 – June 24th – August 8th
Route 39 – July – August
Route 57 – July 15th – August 30th
Route 66 – June 24th – August 1st
Route 71 – August 1st – August 30th
Route 73 – August 1st – August 30th
Route 77 – July 25th – August 26th
Route 111 – August 9th – August 30th
Route 116 – July 19th – August 30th
Route 117 – July 19th – August 30th
For more information on the bus improvement program, click here.
E-mail Matt Rocheleau at mjrochele@gmail.com.
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Arlington Public Schools replace fired athletic director
After firing former athletic director Ted Dever in March, Arlington Public Schools announced Wednesday that it has hired a replacement to fill the post beginning this summer.
The new athletic director will be Melissa Dlugolecki, an assistant athletic director and a special education teacher at Holliston High School since 2009, according to a press release from Arlington Superintendent of Schools Kathleen Bodie.
“We are very pleased to welcome Ms. Dlugolecki to Arlington,” Bodie stated in the release. “She comes with a strong leadership track record as well as her high marks for her commitment to a high quality athletic program that supports and enhances school core values.”
Dlugolecki will permanently replace Dever, who was fired by the school district in March for reasons including a string of forfeitures that the district said was because of ineligible players allowed to participate on 12 different teams in the 2011-2012 school year during Dever’s tenure. His attorney, Rick Grundy, has said Dever is fighting his dismissal.
Before his dismissal, Dever had also been on paid administrative leave because of an ongoing criminal investigation about which police have disclosed few details.
Robert DiLoreto, the dean of students at the high school, has been serving as the interim athletic director and was praised by the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association for uncovering and acting on the athletic rule violations in Arlington.
Arlington Public Schools began looking for a permanent replacement for Dever this spring.
Dlugolecki has also been a varsity field hockey and softball coach at Holliston High School, was the captain of the field hockey team her senior year at Providence College and is working towards a Master’s degree in education at Framingham State University, according to Bodie’s office.
Her salary in Arlington is still being negotiated, said Robert Spiegel, the human resources director for Arlington Public Schools. The salary range included in the advertised job description is $78,000 to $88,000.
Section of Minuteman bike path closed during the day this week for cleanup work
A section of the Minuteman Bike Path in Arlington will be closed for much of Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, while the town clears debris from last summer’s microburst.
The path between Lake Street and Swan Place will be closed from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. beginning today.
Weather permitting, the work is expected to take three days. No pedestrians or cyclists will be allowed in the work areas.
Former Arlington Boys & Girls Club worker indicted
A former employee of the Arlington Boys and Girls Club has been indicted by a Middlesex Grand Jury on charges including rape of a child and indecent assault and battery stemming from crimes allegedly committed from the late 1970s to 1980.
Paul Collins, 62, of Centereach, New York, was indicted Thursday by the grand jury in Woburn on one charge of rape of a child by force, three counts of indecent assault and battery on a child under the age of 14, and a count of open and gross lewdness, according to Middlesex District Attorney Marian T. Ryan’s office.
Collins was arrested May 17 after an investigation by Arlington Police and the district attorney’s office that began in January when the Arlington Boys & Girls Club reported that it had discovered multiple allegations that a former and now deceased employee, William Sullivan, of West Roxbury, had sexually abused children at the club between the 1970s and 1990s. Arlington Police then learned of accusations against Collins, who had also worked at the club, from several male victims who are now in their 40s and met Collins through their membership at the club.
Collins was arrested in New York and extradited back to Arlington before he was arraigned in Cambridge District Court and held on $250,000 bail. An arraignment date in Middlesex Superior Court has not been set for the charges handed down by the grand jury Thursday.
