At a meeting on Monday, February 9, the City Council’s Zoning and Planning Committee reviewed the status of potential projects proposed under the Village Center Overlay District (VCOD) zoning ordinance, following a request by Ward 2 City Councilor Susan Albright for twice-yearly updates. Nora Masler Colello, the City’s chief of…
Posts published in February 2026
Timothy Cohoon, the current Braintree Police chief, will meet with the entire City Council on February 17, as part of the approval process for him to become the next leader of the Newton Police Department. In preparation for that meeting, Cohoon met with the Council’s Public Safety and Transportation Committee…
When METCO (the Metropolitan Council for Educational Opportunity) program began in 1966, organized opposition emerged in Brookline, Wellesley, Needham, and other neighboring suburbs, but not in Newton. METCO had “a smooth start here” without “incident or fanfare.” Instead of protesting METCO, Newton’s parents were protesting lunchtime. Between 1940 and 1970,…
At 3PM on Saturday, February 28, the halls of Grace Episcopal Church will echo with the sounds of Brahms, Britten, and Schubert as part of a joint program between the Newton-based New Philharmonia Orchestra and two emerging artists: 12-year-old Sofia Hernandez-Williams, cellist, and 10-year-old Valerie Bai, violinist. They come together…
A new zoning ordinance regulating the maximum frontage of a residential building is scheduled to take effect on March 1. It was passed by the City Council on October 20, 2025. The ordinance pertains to what is called the “Residential Facade Build Out Ratio,” which is the ratio of the…
When Tova Speter and Lily Weitzman began discussing ideas for creating a community art installation in celebration of Newton Free Library’s 150th anniversary, they knew they were on the same page when they came up with the idea for “Leaves in the Library.” Weitzman – the Library’s manager of programs…
Highlights this week… City Council City Council is not scheduled to meet this week. Zoning & Planning will meet on Monday on requests for: Finance Committee will meet on Monday regarding: Land Use Committee will meet on Monday regarding these requests: School Committee School Committee is not scheduled to meet this week. Negotiations Sub-Committee…
Twenty to thirty protesters weathered the weather on February 7 for the weekly Saturday noontime gathering at the intersection of Beacon and Centre Streets in Newton Center.
Dozens of residents braved a New England snowstorm February 7 to enjoy a Chestnut Hill dessert crawl benefitting the Newton Food Pantry. They walked a route spanning The Street shopping center, sheltering from the snow in sweetly-scented stores along the way. Standing inside the crawl’s last stop, The Half Cookie,…
In a press conference in Boston on February 5, Mayor Marc Laredo joined the chief executives of Boston, Cambridge, Chelsea, Lynn, and Somerville in announcing Executive Orders defining their cities’ policies and actions regarding federal immigration operations. This coordinated response from Greater Boston cities follows fatal shootings of two protesters…
Zoning & Planning will meet in person (Room 204) and virtually (Zoom link) on Monday, February 9 at 7PM. The agenda includes the following items: Finance Committee will meet in person (Room 211) and virtually (Zoom link) on Monday, February 9 at 7PM. The agenda includes the following items: Land…
School Committee is not scheduled to meet this week. Negotiations Sub-Committee of the Newton School Committee will meet in person (Education Center, Room 111) on Tuesday, February 10 at 9AM in Executive Session for the purpose of negotiations with collective bargaining units. The agenda includes: Negotiations Sub-Committee of the Newton…