Not so very long ago, playing music, exercising in gym class, and learning side-by-side with children from different racial backgrounds were revolutionary ideas in education. But at one trailblazing Newton school, those concepts were put into practice more than 160 years ago. “We do now take a lot of these…
The Charles River Regional Chamber has launched a 3-minute video — Get to Know Newton — highlighting many niche opportunities to shop in all parts of Newton. The video is featured in the Chamber’s Get to know Newton web page, which has a searchable directory of local shops, restaurants, and…
On September 26, the Zoning and Planning Committee heard comments about the most recent proposed Village Zoning Overlay District proposal, Version 3.0. (See NewTV video.) At one point, there were 290 people on the Zoom call, and at least 50 people had signed up to speak in person in the…
NTA Convocation Boycott Constitutes Illegal Strike, but Silent Meetings Are Permitted. On September 26, the Commonwealth Employment Relations Board (“CERB”) issued a ruling in response to the School Committee’s September 5 petition to the Massachusetts Department of Labor Relations regarding recent actions by the Newton Teachers Association. The 45-page ruling…
Newton’s Comptroller, Stephen Curley, has reported that on September 25 the Massachusetts Department of Revenue certified the amount of the City of Newton’s Free Cash — the amount of unrestricted funds available from operations in the previous year – to be $27,912,423. In late August, Mayor Ruthanne Fuller had announced that the…
Fifty-eight years ago, Mary Pohlman — who along with her husband, Scott, coaches the award-winning Newton Bluefish swim team — watched the excavation for the original Gath Memorial Pool. Last Friday, she was there for the groundbreaking for the new one. The reasons for a new pool are many –…
Newton resident Emmanuel Owusu was honored last week with a Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) Award from the Association for Developmental Disabilities Providers (ADDP), a statewide association representing community-based human services providers. Owusu is the Executive Director of Newton-based African Bridge Network, which he and four others co-founded in 2015 to build…
It indeed takes two days — September 29-30 — to complete All Over Newton‘s second annual Bakery Crawl, featuring almost two dozen bakeries in Newton. It’s a free, do-it-yourself event: Scan through the list of bakeries on the Bakery Crawl site to see which ones are participating on which days.…
Transformation Summer, Sean Smith’s first novel is, on its face, a “coming of age” story about sixteen-year-old Seth at a time when his divorcing parents are transforming his life – and theirs. The book is set in the late 1970s, when the changing social fabric of life was transforming American…
The City Council deferred its vote on the craft breweries ordinance and voted to adopt the plastic reduction ordinance amendments on Monday, September 18. Craft Breweries: The Council deferred its vote (until the next full Council meeting) on a proposed ordinance that would enable breweries, wineries, distilleries, and other similar…
Additional Post-Hearing Filing Submitted by School Committee on September 12 Despite expectations of both the School Committee and the Newton Teachers Association of a faster state ruling on the School Committee’s September 5th petition for the NTA to cease-and-desist “Work-to-Rule” activities, as of this writing, no determination has been made.…
The Mayor’s proposal to create an Operations Booster Stabilization Fund (OSBF) (see Fig City News article) is headed back to the Finance Committee. The Council began its discussion of the OBSF late on September 18, at approximately 10:25 PM — after the Council had received a presentation from the Mayor…
