Fuller: Why I will vote ‘yes’ on Northland on March 3

Fuller: Why I will vote ‘yes’ on Northland on March 3

In an oped in today’s TAB, Mayor Ruthanne Fuller shares her concerns and, ultimately, her enthusiasm for the Northland Newton project.

We should do something better with these 22.6 acres. The site now consists of an empty parking lot, decaying industrial warehouses, a single-story retail big box store, and a charming but deteriorating historic former piano mill. Drive or walk around this aging industrial complex (put 275 Needham Street into your GPS) and see for yourself.

A significant portion of the 22.6 acres (perhaps as much as 40% of the site) will be transformed from concrete to parkland, greens and a spray park/playground with 750 new trees and a restored and daylighted South Meadow Brook..

Breaking news: The TAB publishes an actual editorial!

For perhaps the first time since Julie Cohen became the TAB’s editor (but at least for the first time in a long, long, time) the TAB has published a local editorial! I don’t agree with it (and that’s not just because Cohen takes a shot a me, I’m more troubled by how unfair she is to Brenda Noel) and Jerry Reilly did a better job saying something similar here the other day.  But I hope this is a

Newton’s ‘hiring crisis’ weighs heavily on our local businesses

Newton’s ‘hiring crisis’ weighs heavily on our local businesses

Here’s a column I wrote for the TAB about how a very tight labor marking may impact Newton businesses in 2019. And here’s one excerpt…

The good news is local business is booming. Generally speaking, our merchants, restaurants owners and many other businesses operating in our village centers and commercial districts report that 2018 was a good year.

The bad news is that an alarmingly large number of those same employers say their ability to be successful in 2019 will largely hinge — not on their ability to attract enough customers — but their ability to find enough employees.