In public comments, union demands full-time Kindergarten aides. The October 21 School Committee meeting began with an unusually long (45-minute) public comment period with 14 speakers — the majority of whom were Newton Public Schools (NPS) educators who spoke in favor of the restoration of full-time Kindergarten aides in Newton’s…
Fig City News
Perfect weather. Record crowds. Lots of good food, good music, and good times celebrating the harvest.
Eric M. Turner was inaugurated on October 18 as the tenth president of Lasell University. He has been involved in Lasell’s management for thirty years, serving as provost since 2020. (See Fig City News article on his appointment.) Laura Colarusso will become editor of the Commonwealth Beacon on November 4…
During Tracy Herman’s time in the corporate world, crafting was a way to unwind. “Scrapbooking was my first love,” says Herman. “I was fortunate to have many amazing experiences and got to travel all over the world for work, and it was a wonderful way to preserve those memories.” Over…
As the holiday of Diwali approaches, the Indian American Community (IAC) of Newton will be showcasing the subcontinent’s multiple languages in a dance extravaganza during a November 10 community celebration at American Legion Post 440. According to the Indian government’s Ministry of Education, the country has 22 official languages, although…
Newton Centre resident Daron Acemoglu was awarded the 2024 Nobel Prize in Economics Sciences on October 15. The Royal Swedish Academy of Science awarded the prize to Acemoglu and two other economists, Simon Johnson and James A. Robinson, for their insights into why there are such vast differences in prosperity…
This fall, Newton South High School won prestigious recognition as a National Banner Unified Champion School by the Special Olympics of North America, marking the second time the school has earned the designation, which is awarded to select schools every four years. In a newsletter to the community, Newton South…
As Courtney Ireland eagerly tried a sample of “Causa de Pollo,” a Peruvian dish made by food vendor Johanetts Kitchen, she marveled at the varied offerings at Newton’s Indigenous Peoples Day celebration on Monday, October 14. “It was worth the trek,” she said while offering her 16-year-old son, Cooper, a…
The Newton Cultural Alliance presented an Arts & Culture Candidate Forum on October 10 at the Allen Center in West Newton. The attending candidates for Massachusetts House of Representative seats were Amy Sangiolo and Vlad Yanovsky, Democratic and Republican nominees respectively, for the 11th Middlesex district, and Dr. Greg Schwartz,…
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 —…
Newton Centre resident Gary Ruvkun was awarded the 2024 Nobel Prize for Medicine on Monday for the discovery of microRNA and its role in post-transcriptional gene regulation. The Nobel Committee honored Ruvkun and Victor Ambros for their discovery of a fundamental principle governing how gene activity is regulated. Ruvkun was…
On October 7, Mayor Ruthanne Fuller and Chief Financial Officer Maureen Lemieux presented the City’s Long-Range Financial Plan and Five-Year Financial Forecast for FY2026-2030. The Mayor outlined what she called a “comprehensive, forward looking, financially stable, and fiscally disciplined” plan designed to: At the same time, the Mayor warned of…