On Monday, December 16, the City Council passed the Building Emissions Reduction and Disclosure Ordinance (BERDO) in a near unanimous vote (23 Yea, and Councilor Micley absent). Two friendly amendments were approved: One by Councilor Gentile calls for the BERDO Administrator and Advisory Commission to meet with the Council 90…
Fig City News
Multilevel Classes are addressed again during public comment. The December 16 School Committee meeting was split into two sessions: a one-hour special meeting to receive feedback from community focus groups on the new Newton Public Schools (NPS) Strategic Planning Committee, followed by the regularly scheduled meeting’s agenda. The special meeting…
In the Massachusetts House session on Monday, December 16, State Representative Kay Khan and State Representative Ruth Balser bade farewell to their colleagues. They have been among the longest-serving members of the Massachusetts House and have represented almost all of Newton. They joined fourteen of their retiring colleagues in delivering…
Sharon Stout was one of the eleven electors of Massachusetts who convened at the State House on Tuesday, December 17, to cast ballots for President and Vice President of the U.S. in the 2024 election. That day, she was elected president of Electoral College and presided over the event, in…
Last week, Fig City News presented interviews with the four Ward Councilors newly elected a year ago, to learn about their first years on the Council. This week, Fig City News is checking in with two more first-year City Councilors, the two new Councilors-at-Large: Rena Getz in Ward 5 and Alan…
On December 11, at the Charles River Regional Chamber (CRRC) Real Estate Forum, an audience member asked, “If Wellesley may lose up to 15% of its population over the next five years, why do you need more housing?” “The housing crisis is a regional crisis,” replied Wellesley’s Planning Director, Eric…
Newton’s dual-high-school robotics team, the LigerBots, hosted the Massachusetts-East FIRST LEGO League (FLL) tournament at Newton North High School on December 14. This was a FIRST tournament (as in FIRST LEGO League) for the LigerBots, but not their first. The LigerBots have hosted at least seven FIRST LEGO League Qualifier tournaments…
Newton Community Pride’s 4th annual WinterFEST will present a free screening of the heartwarming, family-friendly, animated movie Happy Feet on Sunday, January 26, 10AM-11:30AM, at West Newton Cinema (1296 Washington Street, West Newton). Register here.
Responding to an invitation from Rep. Jake Auchincloss (MA 4th CD), approximately 400 people took seats in Newton North High School’s theatre to hear and engage with him. According to his staff, over 600 people had said they planned to attend the Sunday afternoon event, among them local elected officials…
At the end of last fiscal year (ending June 30), the City of Newton had $23,633,416 of Certified Free Cash available. So far, $6.5 million of that has been appropriated, and uses for another $4 million are proposed and pending, leaving $13.1 million unallocated. So as of today, December 10…
In November, 2023, Newton elected four new Ward Councilors: Now as they near the end of their first year in office, Fig City News checked in with all four to find what they learned, what surprised them, and who helped with their transitions in their first year in office. David…
All Over Newton has once again curated a set of themed activities for residents of Newton and beyond to enjoy the season and support local businesses. On Saturday, December 14, it’s the first-ever Newton Craft Crawl offering a range of fun crafting activities in various locations across Newton at times…