Folksinger Catie Curtis has done it all, musically. She started in Saco, Maine, where she was born, singing and playing (the guitar) the music of folk legends like James Taylor, and evolved into a folk music legend in her own right. In high school, and especially at Brown University, she…
Posts published by “Martina Jackson”
On Thursday, December 1st, Barney Heath, Director of Newton’s Planning Department, joined by members of his staff, launched the third in a series of seven community presentations on the proposed Village Center Overlay Design. This meeting, focused on Newton Center and Thompsonville, was not meant to be a public hearing,…
“Music is such a central part of my life,” said Lisa Wong, violinist, pediatrician, and long-time Newton resident. “For me, balancing music and medicine is not a choice, but a necessity.” She began playing the piano at age three and violin at eight, and also learned guitar and ukulele. Lisa…
Allison-Yoshie Eldredge is a world-renowned cellist, founder and director of the new Cherry Street Players, and the first Artist in Residence at the Allen Center, on Webster Street in West Newton. In 1854, Nathaniel Topliff Allen, a disciple of Horace Mann, Massachusetts Secretary of Education, opened the West Newton English…
Last week, Fig City News reported that State Representative Ruth Balser’s nearly quarter-of-a-century effort to protect public lands came to fruition when the Legislature voted in favor of her Public Lands Preservation Act. Governor Charlie Baker has signed the bill and made it the law of the Commonwealth. Under the…
Just after the 2022 midterm elections, Congressman Jake Auchincloss (D, MA-CD4) hosted a climate summit at Needham’s Olin College of Engineering with experts in climate and energy. (See video.) Opening the summit, Olin College President Gilda Barabino highlighted the current climate emergency and noted that Olin students are taught to…
On November 10th, the Massachusetts Legislature voted to pass the Public Lands Preservation Act (PLPA, H.5381), designed to preserve open space in the Commonwealth. For Rep. Ruth Balser (D, Newton) it was the successful culmination of a twenty-four-year legislative journey, with roots in her service on the Newton Board of…
On November 4th, Jenn Adams marked her 20th anniversary as News Director at NewTV, Newton’s Community Media Channel (now celebrating 30 years serving the Newton community since 1992). She and her staff of interns have covered local elections, community events, Newton School Committee meetings, Newton City Council meetings (when she…
Jayne Colino, departing Director of Newton’s Department of Senior Services, began her career in Newton in 1990 as Director of Senior Services in the basement of Newtonville’s branch library at 345 Walnut Street. At that time, Senior Services facilities consisted of the children’s reading room, bathroom and two closets —…
Newton’s Auxiliary Police have been a familiar, integrated part of large community events since the 1950s, when they were organized to serve as Civil Defense officers. Under the leadership of Deputy Chief of Auxiliary Police Jeff Silton, this all-volunteer force has assisted Newton Police in traffic and crowd control, monitoring…
Since 1930, the Waban Library — now Waban Library Center — has been “a place to browse books and browse ideas,” says Chris Pitts, President of the Waban Improvement Society, which oversees the Waban Library Center. The land and building were donated as one of Newton’s branch libraries by generous…
“We’ve waited a lifetime for this day,“ Annawon Weedon, master of ceremonies, told the crowd of approximately 800 people gathered on October 10 at Albemarle Park for Newton’s Second Indigenous Peoples Day event. Weedon noted that there are holidays celebrating Italian, Jewish, and other cultures, but until now, there had…











