Following an arrest for an alleged rape along the Charles River path in Newton, Newton and Waltham police will host a community meeting on October 19th at 7:00 at the American Legion Post #440.
For a while now people have reported that the area has deteriorated. More trash can be found in the river and along the path, some of it attributed to an increase in the homeless population. Police say that the rape reported there on September 21 was an isolated incident between two members of the homeless community that had set up camp there.
On this site and on several others, people reported that they have called police over the past several months complaining of issues along the river. This meeting is an opportunity for the police to hear directly from concerned residents and businesses, and for those people to hear from police about actions being taken about the issue.
When: October 19th at 7:00pm
Where: American Legion Post #440, 295 California Street, Newton
Who: Lt. Martin Gaughan and Capt. Kevin O’Connell from Waltham PD; Lt. Bruce Apotheker from Newton PD
State Rep. Kay Kahn and State Sen. Cynthia Creem may also attend, as well as representatives from the DCR. This meeting is a direct result of the work of Alderman Ted Hess-Mahan and Alderman Alison Leary.
Me and my wife love to walk this path as we did for our anniversary this past Monday. Looking forward to this meeting to make sure it stays a safe and beautiful option for Newton residents.
Just FYI…It’s the American Legion not VFW.
Fixed.
Chuck, thank you, first of all, for bringing this issue to my attention as well as for publicizing the community meeting on Village 14. Your perserverance paid off in getting state and local officials to focus on the problem. I also want to give a shout out to Terry Sauro of the Nonantum Neighorhood Association for arranging for the Postt 440 to host the meeting, Rep. Kay Khan, Rep. John Lawn and Sen. Cynthia Creem and their staff, Ward 1 Alderman Alison Leary, Aaron Goldman in the Mayor’s office, Lt. Bruce Apotheker of the Newton Police Department, and everyone else who has joined in this effort.