After months of speculation about whether Mayor Ruthanne Fuller would run for a third term, she announced on Tuesday, December 3: “I have decided not to run for reelection next year as Mayor of Newton.” Her announcement was in the Mayor’s Newton Update, an afternoon email to Newton residents. The…
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Fig City News provides local news, community announcements, and information to Newton – weekly since June 2022. Next year, we want to expand our reporting significantly, and we want to provide more information services to more readers across Newton. All of this requires funding. This is where you come in.…
December 2nd discussion follows recent debate on “multilevel” classrooms. The Monday December 2nd scheduled School Committee meeting took place at METCO headquarters in Roxbury, Boston. Committee Chair Chris Brezski began the meeting by thanking the well-respected Newton METCO director, Lisa Gilbert-Smith, as well as Superintendent Anna Nolin, for arranging the…
On Sunday, December 1, the Nonantum Children’s Christmas Party Association (NCCPA) lit the first lights of Newton’s annual holiday season. More than 2,000 people — including many children and many local elected officials — gathered at the Coletti-Magni Park on Watertown Street to greet Santa Claus and his reindeer, enjoy…
Shouting matches at public meetings are not uncommon in Newton. Debates over subjects as mundane as math make national news. At times, observers and participants seem mystified by the assumptions made, accusations thrown, and the ugly name-calling. After the teacher’s strike, the City Council acknowledged the need for “a renewed…
At a large, enthusiastic gathering on November 25 in Newton’s War Memorial Auditorium, Governor Maura Healey announced that the Newtonville Commuter Rail station, on the Framingham / Worcester Commuter line, is now slated for an upgrade that will make it fully accessible and able to handle bidirectional rail traffic. The…
The City took an important step in improving the health of Newton firefighters last week when the City Council approved the appropriation of $1 million to buy essential safety gear. The funds, proposed by Mayor Ruthanne Fuller to come from certified free cash, will go toward purchasing one set of…
Opinions differ over the pace of change, but broad agreement that prior systems were deficient. The School Committee and Newton Public Schools (NPS) administration met for over five hours on Monday, November 18, first at 5:30 in an executive session and leadership caucus, and then at 6:30 for the regular…
On Monday November 25, the School Committee and Newton Public Schools (NPS) administration, including Superintendent Anna Nolin, attended a nearly three-hour “Special Work Session” at the Education Center. Although this was a public meeting posted by the City Clerk and listed in Fig City News Local Government Announcements, the only…
The Newton Free Library was the site of a sometimes contentious meeting between Newton Highlands residents and the Newton Public Works Department (DPW) on November 14. This was the sixth community meeting addressing the Newton Highlands Village Enhancement Project, which could create substantial changes to Newton Highland’s center. The Project…
The proposed Building Emissions Reduction and Disclosure Ordinance (BERDO) was reported out of the Zoning and Planning (ZAP) Committee on Monday night, November 25, after two hours of contentious public comments. BERDO will now be discussed and voted on or amended at the full City Council meeting on December 2. …
It could have been awkward. Thirty-eight years ago, Fran Clancy was a born-and-raised Catholic, a parishioner at Our Lady’s, and the mother of two young daughters, and she needed a new job. When she applied for the advertised position of Secretary at the First Unitarian Society in Newton (FUUSN), she…