Chickens go missing from Newton Community Farm
These weren’t just chickens.
They were beloved by the children and grownups who visited them weekly at Newton Community Farm. The Globe’s Steve Annear has the story.
MBTA board approves preliminary funds for Newton’s commuter rail stations
The MBTA’s Fiscal and Management Control Board voted Monday to approve a $5 million architectural and engineering contract for major renovations at three commuter rail stations in Newton, targeting construction of platforms and accessibility improvements as key...Lasell College becoming Lasell University.
Lasell College in Auburdale is converting to a university, the Boston Globe reports.
Here’s a video announcement from Lasell….“The change of name makes people recognize that the institution has graduate programs who might not have known otherwise. And it probably is done in part hoping that this designation confers prestige,” said Virginia Shapiro, a Boston University political science professor who is working on a history of US higher educations. “Whether that is true is dubious.”
Alert: Crystal Lake is closed
Swimming at Crystal Lake is closed at least for a week due to heightened levels of algae in the water. No one – humans or pets – should have contact with the water. • Do not swim in Crystal Lake • Do not swallow water from Crystal Lake • Keep animals away from Crystal...The 413 on the Newton commuter rail and ward 2 politics
There may not be much local news converge of Newton and our city council races these days but Western Massachusetts Politics & Insight is a Springfield-based political blog has just posted a piece that looks at Newton commuter rail and even the ward 2 city...Ward 5 city council contest: Share your thoughts here.
Lawns signs have started showing up across Ward 5 for the Sept.10 run off election between Bill Humphrey, Rena Getz* and Kathy Winters, who are running to fill the ward council seat currently held by Councilor John Rice, who chose not to seek reelection.
This is the only run off in Newton this year. Only registered voters in
Raccoon rescued!
A raccoon stuck in a storm grate was rescued Thursday morning by Newton Firefighters, the Globe reports.
City of Newton is — finally — looking to upgrade its website!
Finally, here’s something we can all agree about: The city’s website leaves a lot to be desired.The good news is the city leaders are finally planning a major redesign with a planned upgrade. The project will probably take just over a year to complete. And they say they “really want to know what you expect and need out of the city website.”So they’ve created this survey for input. Responses will be collected through Aug. 6. Vote early and often.
Sometimes Armageddon never arrives
The predictions were dire. Anxious residents packed community meetings; panicked about endless gridlock, cars choking their quiet residential neighborhoods, a parking free-for-all on neighborhood side streets and that perception that no was listening to them.
The fear is understandable. Whenever something big moves into an underutilized site of old parking lots and vacant buildings, it’s hard to imagine how the surrounding vicinity will handle the new-found influx of new workers, residents and customers.
So it’s understandable that when
Is this really the NewCAL ‘process?’
I received a report from an attendee that here was an event last night for city council candidates to ask questions of department heads. One of the candidates was told that the list for NewCAL was narrowed to six locations yesterday, with an announcement coming...Fuller acknowledges Newton’s ‘poor grades on a housing report card’
This just in from Newton Mayor Ruthanne Fuller’s weekly email newsletter …
The Boston Foundation recently released its Greater Boston Housing Report Card 2019 looking at housing affordability and housing production in the 147 cities and towns in the five counties surrounding Boston.
We’re expensive. More specifically, the Report found that metro-Boston, which includes Newton, is one of the nation’s most expensive places to buy (4th in the U.S.) or rent (3rd in the U.S.). The authors highlighted that the limited supply of housing stock and high cost contributes to persistent racial segregation.
The Report evaluated each city and town. Newton had low scores except for
Globe: 15 communities help address housing crisis (spoiler: Newton not on list)
From Sunday’s Boston Globe…
A recent report highlighting the need for more local housing production found that from 2013 to 2017, 15 municipalities issued more than half the building permits in the state. Boston led the way, followed by Cambridge, Plymouth, Watertown, Everett, Weymouth, Somerville, Burlington, Chelsea, Framingham, Hopkinton, Middleborough, Quincy, Arlington, and Canton.
and here’s a key quote:
The recent report “demonstrates the power that local communities have to
