Globe West community briefing
Farmers' market kickoff
June 7, 2009
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ARLINGTON
The Arlington Farmers' Market kicks off its 12th year Wednesday with an expanded array of local offerings. As in past years, it will offer fresh vegetables, fruit, Asian specialty greens, meat, fish, cheddar and goat cheeses, chocolates, coffee beans and teas, maple syrup and honey, as well as flowers and plants from Massachusetts farms that use organic growing techniques. New this year is fresh chicken and eggs from Golden Egg Farm in Hardwick, said Patsy Kraemer, the market manager. Arlington's Flora restaurant will return with panini and other prepared items, and the Danish Pastry House in Medford will sell baked goods, she said. The market runs every Wednesday through October from 1 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. at the Russell Common parking lot in Arlington Center. - Christina PazzaneseBELMONT
EARLY CLOSE ON FRIDAYS - Two town buildings have started closing early on Fridays for the summer. Town Hall and the Homer Building will close at 1 p.m. each week through Sept. 4. The buildings will be open for normal business hours, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Thursday. Assistant Town Administrator Jeffrey Conti said the move will save the town a minimum of $1,800 in air-conditioning costs, depending on the weather. He said the demand for town services on Fridays in the summer is typically low, so officials decided that closing early provided a good opportunity to save a few dollars. Conti said town employees will cut back on their lunch break each day in order to work the same number of hours for the week. - Jennifer Fenn LeffertsBrookline
ROSES FOR ALL THE SENSES - It's become a Brookline tradition this time of year to delight the nose and eyes by visiting the Minot Rose Garden at St. Paul and Browne streets. But if you arrive between 1 and 2:30 p.m. next Sunday (June 28 if there's rain), you can treat your ears as well. The Coolidge Corner Community Chorus will serenade neighbors and visitors (who can also indulge in refreshments). For more information, visit www.minotroses.org. - Andreae DownsLOVE THAT MUDDY MUSIC - Favorite patriotic, jazz, and rock tunes will roll along the Muddy River today from 2:30 p.m. until the Northeast Navy Showband runs out of oompah around 4. Presented by the Friends of the Muddy River to honor the memory of Isabella Callanan, a tenacious advocate of the parks along the waterway, the concert will be held at Riverway Park, between the Riverway, Brookline Avenue, and Netherlands Road. The venue is handicapped accessible via the Longwood MBTA station. - Andreae Downs
Lexington
POLICE DETAIL COSTS JUMP - As of Monday, the hourly rate for police officers working paid details jumped from $42 to $47, as voted by selectmen, according to Town Manager Carl Valente. He said the move was in accord with a new police contract signed last month. Since the details will cost more for the companies hiring the officers, selectmen decided to drop the town's administrative fee for organizing them, from $4.20 to $3. "We don't want to abuse what we can collect," Valente said. Police details, often used to direct traffic past roadside utility and construction projects, have come under criticism for their cost in comparison with details using civilian flaggers. But police say detail officers out in the street help stop crime without cost to the community. - Connie PaigeNEEDHAM
RECORD NUMBER APPLY FOR VOLUNTEER PROGRAM - Project VAN, for Volunteers Around Needham, had a record number of applicants for this coming summer, according to a June report from the Needham Youth Commission. With 35 on board and 10 on the wait list, the popular program is now booked. Project VAN provides volunteer opportunities for children ages 13 to 17, or who are at a minimum entering the 8th grade. This July, volunteers will help with the Town Hall relocation, plant tomatoes or play bingo with residents of Wingate at Needham, and help out with activities for younger children at the Needham Park and Recreation Department's summer camp. - Lisa KocianNewton
MEETING ON COSTS, SERVICES - Ward 6 Alderman at Large Kenneth Parker, who is running for mayor this fall, has organized a meeting Tuesday night to discuss the potential consolidation of some city services in hope of improving services and controlling costs. Parker said he expects participants to discuss combining the human resources and information technology departments now operated separately by the city and Newton's school district, as well as centralizing snow and ice removal, a responsibility shared by several municipal departments. Parker has invited elected officials and candidates for local office - including his opponents in the mayoral race - as well as residents to participate, he said. "It's a hard conversation to have within the formal constraints of the usual structure," Parker said in explaining the special session, to begin at 7:45 p.m. in Room 222 of City Hall. Those interested in participating should e-mail Parker at ken@kenparker.org. - Calvin HennickWALTHAM
GRANT FOR GORE PLACE - Gore Place has won a $3,000 matching grant from the National Trust for Historic Preservation. The money will be used to help "conduct an archeological investigation of a household kitchen area" there, according to a press release from the Gore Place Society, which owns and operates the 1806 estate of Massachusetts Governor Christopher Gore. The grant comes from the trust's Cynthia Woods Mitchell Fund for Historic WATERTOWN
NO ABDUCTION ATTEMPT, POLICE SAY - Police have found no evidence to support a claim last week of the attempted abduction of a Watertown High School student. Officers responded to a report shortly after 11 a.m. Tuesday that a male in the vicinity of the school had tried to force a female student into his vehicle, said Lieutenant Michael Lawn in a written statement issued the next day. After a investigation by police and school officials, officers determined the incident was "a boyfriend/girlfriend argument," said Police Chief Edward P. Deveau. - Christina PazzaneseNEW ASSISTANT SUPERINTENDENT - The School Committee voted last Monday to approve the hiring of Jean Fitzgerald to serve as assistant superintendent. Fitzgerald, a principal at the Lincoln Street Elementary School in Northborough, was chosen by current assistant superintendent Ann Koufman-Frederick to replace her when she is elevated as the district's new superintendent July 1. Fitzgerald is "a good choice," said School Committee chairman Anthony Paolillo, adding the committee is still ironing out final contract details with her. Fitzgerald has a doctorate from Boston College in educational administration; a master's degree in instructional technology from Lesley University's graduate school; and a masters degree in applied mathematics from Worcester State College. - Christina Pazzanese
ROAD IMPROVEMENTS - Three intersections in East Watertown are in line to get a significant makeover. The Mass. Highway Department confirmed it has earmarked about $2 million to redo Spring Street at Summer Street; Mt. Auburn Street at Summer Street; and the sprawling crossroads of Arlington Street, Nichols Avenue, Coolidge Hill Road, and Crawford Street. District A Councilor Angeline Kounelis said many have called for safety improvements at these busy intersections for the last several years. Work would include realignment of intersections, new traffic signals at Mt. Auburn and Summer streets and at Arlington/Nichols Ave.; roadway resurfacing, and adding granite curbing and wheelchair ramps. The department hopes to put the project out to bid by early July, said Adam Hurtubise, spokesman for Mass. Highway. Construction could begin by late this year and will likely take between 18 months and two years, weather permitting, he said. - Christina Pazzanese
WELLESLEY
COMMENT SOUGHT ON STATE STREET PLAN - Time is running out to register your opinion on the town's State Street Master Plan. The town is soliciting public feedback through Friday on tentative plans to redevelop and improve several aspects of the small business district and neighborhood bordered by Fuller Brook, Hunnewell Field, and Morton Park. The short online survey is available on the town's home page at www.wellesleyma.gov. Paper copies are available at Town Hall or the library's main branch. The planning board is scheduled to review the plan, and public input gathered through the survey, at its June 15 meeting. - Erica NoonanWESTON
CASE ESTATE'S CLEANUP - The Board of Selectmen will host a public meeting Thursday to hear concerns from residents about a plan by Harvard University to remove contaminated soil from the Case Estates property. The town has been engaged in a lengthy negotiation with the university on getting a cleanup done since it first agreed to buy the 62-acre property in 2006. The board and Harvard have agreed on the scope of a cleanup, but the town has not yet approved how work will be carried out, said Town Manager Donna VanderClock. "It's Harvard's responsibility to clean up the land," she said, "not the town's." The meeting runs from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. at Town Hall. A follow-up meeting run by the selectmen will be on June 18 at the town library from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Also, after some residents filed a petition with the state Department of Environmental Protection, Harvard must now present what's called a public involvement plan on how it will keep people apprised of the project status. That meeting is slated for June 25 at 7 p.m. in the Town Hall auditorium. - Christina PazzaneseAROUND THE REGION
Ashland
AUTHOR FOCUS OF FILM - "James Baldwin: The Price of the Ticket" will be screened Thursday at 7 p.m. in the community room at Ashland Public Library as part of the library's documentary film & discussion series. Baldwin was a major 20th century American author and civil rights activist, and the film relies upon archival footage and newsreels to evoke his formative years in 1930s Harlem, his civil rights efforts in the 1960s, and beyond. The documentary is free; attendees are invited to stay afterward for a discussion. For more information, visit www.friendsoftheapl.com. - Rachel LebeauxHUDSON
TIME RUNNING OUT FOR CATHOLIC HIGH - The Friends of Hudson Catholic, seeking to stop the Archdiocese of Boston's plan to close the financially troubled high school, said its campaign was continuing last week, even as the school prepared to close its doors for the academic year, and possibly for good. The group of parents, alumni, and other supporters was waiting for an answer from archdiocese officials to its May 19 request for more time to raise money, increase enrollment, and reorganize finances for the school. "Time is of the essence," said Jack Drummey, a member of the Friends organization. Terrence Donilon, spokesman for the archdiocese, said a formal answer was forthcoming, but the message would be the same. "We are going to communicate this to them directly, we owe them that," Donilon said. "But it hasn't changed. The school is closing. We are past the 11th hour here. We're past midnight." - James O'BrienLINCOLN
DO-NOT-SOLICIT LIST - Town Meeting has approved an amendment to the town bylaws that regulate door-to-door solicitation. The measure requires solicitors to register with the town for a license and provide information about the people doing the soliciting. It gives the police enforcement power over solicitors, and provides residents with the option of being on a "do not solicit" list that the police will provide to all registered solicitors. - John GuilfoilMARLBOROUGH
ADDITIONAL FINE FOR SMOKING POT IN PUBLIC - Marlborough City Council is set to consider an ordinance that would allow city police to impose a $300 civil - or optionally criminal - fine on individuals caught smoking marijuana in public. The proposed city ordinance is meant to amplify current $100 state-mandated civil fines created by a statewide referendum last November - known as Question 2 - that decriminalized the possession of marijuana in quantities of one ounce or less. If passed, the ordinance would add to the state fine a citywide civil fine of $300 and allow city police the option to impose the $300 as a criminal fine. Mark Leonard, Marlborough chief of police, said the prospect of facing one's fine in district court - via the criminal option - would serve as a stronger deterrent to public marijuana use than written tickets alone. A Council vote on the ordinance could come as early as June 22. - James O'BrienMAYNARD
SWINE FLU CASE - A student at the Fowler Middle School was confirmed last month to have contracted the H1N1 virus, or swine flu, but school officials said last week there would be no school closures. Town Administrator John Curran said last week that the student was "still isolated at home, and recovering." Mark Masterson, superintendent of schools, said there had been no significant number of illness-related absences among students or teachers, and his office was coordinating the tracking of any suspect illnesses with the Fowler school nurse, the town Board of Health, and the state Department of Public Health. - James O'BrienMILLIS
COUNTRY CLUB PROJECT STILL A GO - The Glen Ellen Country Club , the site of a proposed 341-unit senior housing complex, is off the auction block. After an auction scheduled for last Thursday was cancelled, country club spokesman Greg O'Brien said the company that owns the club was able to secure financing from a private investor group, and is no longer indebted to GE Financing, which was attempting to foreclose on the property. The course is owned by a subsidiary of Corcoran Jennison Cos., and the senior housing plan was proposed by Corcoran Jennison. Some town officials have said that, despite its size, the senior housing plan was more desirable than a mixed-age housing development since it would provide no additional children in the town's school system. O'Brien said Corcoran Jennison plans to move forward with the proposal when market conditions improve, and the golf course will remain in full operation as housing is developed. - Megan McKee
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