Following the unanimous recommendation by Newton’s nine-member Police Selection Committee, Mayor Ruthanne Fuller announced that George McMains, the Acting Chief of the Newton Police Department (NPD), will succeed John Carmichael as the department’s new chief. Former Chief Carmichael resigned at the end of August, after a three-month personal leave. Acting…
Posts published by “Martina Jackson”
On November 18, the City Council approved Mayor Ruthanne Fuller’s nominations of former City Councilor Deb Crossley and Charles Eisenberg for one-year terms as associate members on Newton’s Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA). The vote on Crossley’s nomination was inverted, in that Yes vote signified denial of the nomination and…
On November 18, the Newton City Council voted to shift more of Newton’s 2025 tax levy to the commercial/industrial/personal property owners to pay for the Mayor’s FY2025 budget approved last Spring. Since the amount of increase to last year’s budget allowed by law is 2.5%, the dollar amount is $10,521,712…
Across the Commonwealth and the nation, election turnout was lower in 2024 than in 2020. Notwithstanding the many options for voting available, nearly 3,000 fewer voters cast ballots in Newton this year compared with 2020. According to John Doyle, Newton’s Election Supervisor, 47,344 voted on in the November 2024 election,…
More than 300 Newton political leaders, veterans, their families and friends came to American Legion Nonantum Post 440 on Veterans Day for the City’s annual ceremony to honor veterans. The federal holiday was originally known as Armistice Day, marking the anniversary of the end of World War I, until Congress…
In anticipation of the scheduled court date in the case of Scott Hayes, charged with assault with a deadly weapon during a Newton pro-Israel demonstration in September, a group of protesters gathered in front of the Newton District Court on November 7. They were members of the Newton-based, pro-Palestinian organization,…
After months of sometimes contentious public hearings, on October 16, the Newton Zoning Board of Appeals approved a Comprehensive 40B project to be developed by Boylston Properties at 78 Crafts Street. The finalized decision provides for four buildings with 295 rental units, 59 of which will be rented to people…
In a first for the Newton Zoning Board of Appeals, the City Council filed an appeal to an Inspectional Services Department (ISD) ruling – in this case, a ruling stating that the current developer of the four-unit project at 16-22 Clinton Street was not in violation of the approved Council…
At the October 21 meeting of the City Council, twenty-one Councilors voted to approve a grant of $2 million in Community Preservation Act funding toward the restoration of the bell tower of the First Baptist Church in Newton Centre. In response to concerns raised in an earlier meeting of the City…
With both of Newton’s long-time State Representatives retiring at the end of 2024, local groups have sponsored debates and forums with the three candidates in each district running for their House seats. Generally, their debates have focused on health care, education, housing and development, and public transportation. But MASSCreative —…