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State grant will help town look at options for street safety

September 14, 2016

Lincoln residents can learn and offer ideas on how the town can best use a Complete Streets state grant at several public forums starting on October 19.

The Complete Streets program provides funding from the Massachusetts Department of Transportation that support projects providing safe and accessible transportation options for all travel modes—including walking, biking, transit and motor vehicles—for people of all ages and abilities. The goal is to improve the livability of communities by designing streets that contribute toward the safety, health, economic viability and quality of life in a community by improving the pedestrian and vehicular environments.

The town applied for a $50,000 grant last spring, before a series of bicycle/vehicle accidents resulted in two deaths over the summer. Wayland cyclist Eugene Thornberg was fatally struck by a vehicle on Route 126 just south of Hillside Road on June 16, and Westford cyclist Mark Himelfarb, 59, was killed in an August 17 accident on Virginia Road about 200 feet north of intersection with Old Bedford Road.

A third accident on August 19 occurred when a vehicle struck and injured a 30-year-old Somerville bicyclist whose name was not released by police. The accident happened on Route 117 near the entrance to the Mt. Misery hiking area when a vehicle allegedly crossed the white line on the right-hand side of the road and struck the bicyclist going in the same direction. Alexandros Kontsas, 48, of Lynn was charged with negligent operation of a motor vehicle and operating with a suspended license. He was also issued civil citations for failure to stay within marked lanes and improper passing. He is scheduled to be arraigned on the criminal complaints in Concord District Court on October 6.

The two fatal accidents are still under investigation by various agencies, and official determinations of the causes of the accidents may not be released for several months.

Residents have also voiced concern in the past few years about overall roadway safety and congestion. Late last year, selectmen approved a new stop sign configuration at Five Corners next to the library at the recommendation of the Roadway and Traffic Committee.

“There has been a tremendous increase in both cars and bicycles,” Selectman Peter Braun observed at Monday’s Board of Selectman meeting. At that meeting, resident Edward Morgan asked the board to appoint a committee on bicycle safety “to see what actions can be taken to improve safety in a cost-effective and reasonable way.”

“This is a regional issue, not just a Lincoln issue,” Selectman Renel Fredriksen said. “I would like to talk to other communities and see what their needs are and what they’re thinking.”

Planning for Complete Streets projects

Lincoln learned earlier this year that it had received the Complete Streets grant, which will pay for a study to look at existing conditions of roadways and roadside and come up with an improvement plan. The town may also apply to have construction work funded by a separate grant (the maximum available is $400,000). Residents can learn more and make suggestions at any of the following forums:

Wednesday, Oct. 19 (7:30-9:30 p.m., Town Hall Donaldson Room) — Learn about the Complete Streets program and the type of projects that can be funded. Residents are invited to bring their ideas, participate in a panel discussion and take part in a breakout working session.
Saturday, Nov. 12 — Brief presentation at the State of the Town meeting
Wednesday, Dec. 7 (7:30-9:30 p.m., Town Hall Donaldson Room) — Presentation and discussion of the summary of ideas and recommended project list as a result of public forum in October
January/February 2017 — Presentation of prioritization project list to the Board of Selectmen

The town is eligible to apply for a separate Complete Streets grant of up to $400,000 for construction of whatever project(s) it decides to pursue. The list of potential projects will probably include some that are not eligible for funding under the Complete Streets program, however.

“I think we’re going to open up some eyes in town that if there is a real desire to make progress in a way that we’re hearing anecdotally from town, it’s going to be an expensive proposition,” Town Administrator said. “We’re going to have to step up as a community and think about public funds in that process also.”

Images capture drought in Lincoln

September 14, 2016

Evidence of the long drought is everywhere in Lincoln, and residents have taken photos showing the unusual conditions. Several local experts will talk about the drought on Wednesday, Sept. 21 at 7 p.m. in Bemis Hall (click here for details).

The pond in Pierce Park. (Photo: Susan Taylor)

This formerly submerged tree stump was photographed in the Farrar Pond area by Alaric Naiman. This is one of a series of remarkable closeup photos of wild animals and plants affected by the drought that Naiman posted on his website, farrarpond.org.

Greenery is growing in ares that used to be underwater in the Cambridge Reservoir off Old County Road.

Greenery is growing in areas that were once underwater in the Cambridge Reservoir off Old County Road. (Photo: Alice Waugh)

Where water used to flow in the Cambridge Reservoir, deer footprints and a clam shell can now be seen. (Photo: Alice Waugh)

News acorns

September 13, 2016

Session on town’s hazard mitigation plan

The Lincoln Hazard Mitigation Plan is being updated to help the town reduce its vulnerability to natural hazard events such as flooding, hurricanes and blizzards. The Board of Selectmen is hosting a public meeting to provide an overview of the plan and an opportunity for questions and public input on Monday, Sept. 26 at 8 p.m. in the Town Hall’s Donaldson Room. For more information, please contact Martin Pillsbury at 617-933-0747 or mpillsbury@mapc.org, or Planning and Land Use Director Jennifer Burney at 781-259-2684 or burneyj@lincolntown.org.

Garden Club offers yoga and event for prospective members

The Lincoln Garden Club will host an informational coffee for prospective members on Thursday, Sept. 22 at 11 a.m. All Lincoln residents are invited. If interested, RSVP for the coffee’s lcoation to 781-259-0841 or 781-259-0276 or email membership@lincolngardenclub.org.

Melinda Bruno-Smith, certified hatha yoga instructor and Lincoln Garden Club member, will lead yoga sessions in the Station Park Garden (160 Lincoln Road, across from the train station) on Saturday, Sept. 24 and Saturday, Oct. 1 from 9-10 a.m. A $5 donation is suggested; bring a yoga mat, towel or blanket to practice on and wear loose clothing. Lincoln Garden Club volunteers created and maintain the garden, which includes a native plant bed designed by the New England Wildflower Society and installed with help from horticulture students from Minuteman High School. For further information about the yoga classes, email Melinda Bruno-Smith at melindabruno@hotmail.com.

Horse show in Lincoln

The Old North Bridge Pony Club will hold its annual horse show in the Browning Field Riding Ring (Weston Road near Conant Road) on Saturday, Sept. 24 from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. The deadline for entries is September 21. The schooling show will award numerous ribbons and trophies. Proceeds will benefit the Browning Field Riding Ring. For more information, see the club’s website or email vlochiatto@verizon.net.

Preschool open house

Lincoln Country Day Preschool is hosting a Fall Open House on Tuesday, Sept. 27 from 5:30-7:30 p.m. Our students range from 2.9 years of age in September through 5-6 years of age for pre-K. Parents and their children are invited to take a tour of the school, play in our Threes, Fours and Pre-K classrooms, and make a souvenir project to take home. Please RSVP to 781-259-8607. Lincoln Country Day is located at 147 Concord Rd. in St. Anne’s in-the-Fields Church.

Winter Street hospice construction underway

September 7, 2016

Artist’s rendering of the completed hospice facility.

Construction has started on the Greater Boston Hospice House at 125 Winter St. on the Lincoln/Waltham town line, with an opening expected in fall 2017.

The 18-bed, 27,500-square-foot inpatient hospice facility will provide a home-like setting for terminally ill patients who need hospital-level care for pain and symptom management where hospice physicians, nurses and support staff can provide 24-hour care.

“While the majority of hospice patients spend their final weeks in their own homes, a growing number have care needs that are simply too complex to be managed at home,” said Care Dimensions President and CEO Diane Stringer.

The hospice entrance as seen from the Lincoln/Waltham town line on Winter Street at the end of the white stripe (click any image to enlarge).

The Waltham side of the hospice construction site looking southwest.

Care Dimensions of Danvers originally proposed a 42,400-square-foot facility straddling the Lincoln/Waltham town line but scaled it back after residents and town officials said it was too big. The nonprofit company later submitted a scaled-down plan with 64 parking spots rather than the original 89.

Access to the facility will be from a new driveway on the Waltham side of the property where Winter Street is two-way. The Lincoln side of the property, where Winter Street becomes one-way heading into Lincoln, would have a gated emergency entrance that be opened only by Lincoln emergency vehicles. It’s currently being used as a second construction entrance.

News acorns

September 6, 2016

In-town soccer starts Saturday

The Lincoln In-Town Soccer program will start Saturday, Sept. 10 at Smith Field. Pre-K and kindergartners will begin at 8 a.m., and grades 1-2 at 9 a.m. There will be two instructors from the Revolution Academy soccer program present to assist us in implementing practice plans and for coaching guidance; parent volunteers are responsible for coaching the teams with instructors’ help. Please register your child before the first practice if possible at www.lincolnsoccer.com. If you’ve already registered, please double-check the website to confirm, as players must be registered in order to play. Parents, even those without soccer experience, who are interested in volunteering should contact Deepak Dibya at 515-203-5986 or dibyadeepak@gmail.com .

Lecture on Gropius-Breuer partnership

A talk titled “When Imitation is the Best Form of Flattery: Tracing Forms and Legacy in the Gropius-Breuer Partnership” will take place on Wednesday, Sept. 14 from 7-9 p.m. at the Gropius House (68 Baker Bridge Road). Join architectural historian Amy Finstein for an evening exploring the literal and figurative inspiration that Lincoln’s Gropius House provided for other architectural patrons and designers in the late 1930s and early 1940s. We’ll use one particular commission to explore how Walter Gropius and Marcel Breuer used their own homes as models for subsequent architectural commissions, and how the literal imitation of certain elements may have impacted public reception of finished designs.

Tickets are $5 for Historic New England members or $10 for nonmembers. For details, click here, call 781-259-8098 or buy tickets online.

9/11 commemoration details

The Veterans of Lincoln, Mass. (VOLMA), with the support of the Department of Recreation, are sponsoring a flag display and brief memorial ceremony on the 15th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks at 1:30 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 11. A flag to represent each person killed in the attacks in New York, Washington and Shanksville, Penn. (almost 3,000 in total) will be stationed on the lawn around the library on the corner of Trapelo and Bedford Roads before the anniversary and until a week later, when they will be returned to the town.

The event will include an official U.S. Army Color Guard, the singing of the national anthem, a rifle salute, bugle taps, and a group singing of Irving Berlin’s classic “God Bless America.” The veterans hope many Lincoln residents and other local citizens will be able to attend this solemn and dignified event. In the event of inclement weather, the ceremony will be held inside Bemis Hall.

Talks on Lincoln photographer, investing and retirement

The Lincoln Public Library will host the following guest speakers in September:

Passive Investing with Jerome Moisand

Thursday, Sept. 22 from 7-8:30 p.m. Learn the ins and outs of Boglehead investing, which follows the principles of Vanguard founder John Bogle.

‘Juxtapositions’ with Judy Polumbaum

Saturday, Sept. 24 from 2:30-4:30 p.m. As a photojournalist, the late Ted Polumbaum of Lincoln documented some of the most important news events and social movements of the second half of the 20th century, from Muhammad Ali to Ted Kennedy to the volunteers of Freedom Summer. Revisit his photographic works as his daughter Judy Polumbaum, Professor Emeritus at University of Iowa School of Journalism & Mass Communications, speaks about her new book Juxtapositions: Images from the Newsmuseum Photo Collection of Ted Polumbaum. All of Polumbaum’s 200,000 images are archived at the Newseum in Washington, D.C.; more information about the collection is available here.

Retirement Planning with Ahmet Atamar

Thursday, Sept. 29 from 7-8:30 p.m. With over 30 years of experience in investing, Ahmet Atamar of Morgan Stanley Wealth Management will lead a seminar in retirement planning and answer questions.

News acorns

September 1, 2016

Wellness clinic for all ages this fall

Lincoln residents of all ages are invited to meet with a nurse through a free town service. Come to get your blood pressure checked, ask questions, or learn about wellness resources. Clinics will be held at the Community Building at Lincoln Woods from 10 a.m. to noon on Fridays: September 2, October 7 and November 4. These clinics are funded by the Ogden Codman Trust. Additional clinics will be held at Bemis Hall from 9–11 a.m. on Tuesdays: September 20, October 18 and November 15. These are supported by the Pierce House. Services for all clinics are provided by Emerson Hospital Home Care. For more information, please call the Council on Aging at 781-259-8811.

Book sale on tap; Saturday hours resume at library

The Friends of the Lincoln Library will hold their monthly used book sale in the newly renovated basement of Bemis Hall on Saturday, Sept. 10 from 9 a.m. to noon. The sale takes place on the second Saturday of every month except August. Support the library and its many programs while finding great reading material. Hardcovers and CDs are $1, paperbacks are 50 cents, or fill a grocery bag with books for just $8.

Starting on September 3, the Lincoln Public Library will be open on Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., though it will be closed on Labor Day (Monday, Sept. 5). Click here for hours and services.

Memorial for bicyclist killed in Lincoln

There will be a memorial event for Eugene Thornberg on Saturday, Sept. 10 at 11 a.m. at the corner of Routes 117 and 126, where he died in a bicycling accident in June. Lincoln police have worked with his family on a plan to divert traffic and ensure the safety of cars and pedestrians. A “ghost bike” will be temporarily installed at the site as well. For more information, see the Lincoln Squirrel, Aug. 23, 2016.

Agricultural Day on Sept. 10

Celebrate Lincoln’s agricultural heritage and local farming activities at the town’s third annual Agriculture Day on Saturday, Sept. 10 at the Lincoln Mall from 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. The event will be hosted by the Rural Land Foundation and is sponsored by the Lincoln Agricultural Commission. Farmers, artists, therapeutic animals and agricultural educators will be on hand, accompanied by music and ice cream. This year there will be contests for best honey and best maple syrup from our backyards and local producers. There will also be a display of farming equipment. If you’d like to participate in the event as a farmer, artist or contestant, or if you have a truck or tractor to enter in the farming equipment show, please email agcom@lincolntown.org.

Church to hold Water Communion Sunday

The First Parish in Lincoln (FPL) will begin its church year with services on Sunday, Sept. 11 at 10 a.m. in the Parish House (14 Bedford Road) with its Water Communion Sunday service. On Water Communion Sunday, parishioners bring small amounts of water from a summer trip or favorite place, combining their water with that from other parishioners in a reverse communion. Water from FPL will be available for those who are unable to bring water with them. Rev. Manish Mishra-Marzetti will lead the worship service. All are welcome to attend.

The First Parish in Lincoln is also currently accepting religious education registrations for 2016-17. Religious education is available most Sundays starting September 18 for children in grades K-8. To register, please visit the FPL website or click here.

Trail’s End to open cafe, restaurant in two Lincoln Station locations

August 31, 2016

xxx and Elizabeth Akehurst-Moore sign leases for two restaurant properties in the Lincoln Station complex on Wednesday.

Geoff McGean of the Rural Land Foundation and Elizabeth Akehurst-Moore of Trail’s End sign leases for two restaurant properties in the Lincoln Station complex on Wednesday.

The suspense is over for the Lincoln Station restaurant situation. The owner’s of the Trail’s End Cafe in Concord will open new locations in not one but both Lincoln restaurant locations vacated by the closures of Aka Bistro and the Whistle Stop cafe.

The Rural Land Foundation (RLF), which owns Lincoln Station, announced in a press release Wednesday night that Jim and Carol White of Lincoln and their daughter Elizabeth Akehurst-Moore, who together own Trail’s End, had signed two separate leases. After renovating the Aka Bistro space, they plan to open Lincoln Kitchen, which will serve “high-end comfort food” for lunch and dinner along with cocktails, wine, and craft beer on tap and in bottles. Trail’s End Café, Lincoln will open in the Whistle Stop space as a “casual breakfast and lunch venue” that will offer homemade baked goods, sandwiches, salads, coffee and espresso drinks similar to what’s served at the Concord location, the release said.

The cafe is expected to open by the end of September and the restaurant by later in the fall.

“I am very excited to open two restaurants in my hometown,” Akehurst-Moore, a Concord attorney who has been operating Trail’s End since 2011, said in the release. “Both restaurants will maintain our commitment to serving delicious food, homemade from thoughtfully sourced ingredients, using local products when possible.”

Akehurst-Moore could not be reached for comment Wednesday night. Jim Moore deferred comment until Wednesday.

Lincoln resident Richard Card had hoped to lease the Aka Bistro space for Blazes, a combination bookstore, coffee shop/restaurant and cocktail bar. He made an offer but as of late July, he had started looking at other locations as he had not heard back from the RLF. Card could not be reached for comment Wednesday night.

“We had several really qualified candidates approach us about leasing both spaces, but in the end we think Lincoln Kitchen and Trail’s End Café will provide a great community experience with top-quality local food,” RLF Executive Director Geoff McGean said in the release. “Elizabeth grew up in Lincoln and her parents, Jim and Carol White, still live here, so they understand Lincoln and recognize the desire for a community-based restaurant that will appeal to all Lincolnites. We are so fortunate to have them share their Concord restaurant expertise and great food with Lincoln.”

42 watering warnings since sprinkler ban

August 29, 2016

Since Lincoln’s outdoor watering ban went into effect last week, the town’s Water Department has issued 42 warnings to residents for violating the ban—about 30 percent more than the usual total for an entire summer.

The sharp increase is a result of the complete ban on sprinklers and automatic watering systems necessitated by the severe drought. Normally, residents are allowed to water lawns two days a week during certain times of day during the summer, but this is the first time there’s been a total prohibition. Town officials informed residents about the ban with a reverse 911 call to all households as well as the town website, social media and news outlets.

Lincoln is not alone—many Massachusetts towns have instituted voluntary or mandatory watering bans as the dry conditions have only worsened as the summer has gone on. However, not everyone in the area has complied, some even going so far as to post bogus “Well Water” signs on their lush green lawns, according to an August 25 Boston Globe article.

Water Department Superintendent Greg Woods patrols the town several times a week looking for watering violators, knocking on doors and leaving notices on doorknobs for violations he can see from the road. The department also gets occasional phone calls from civic-minded residents who take to heart the dictum “see something, say something” when it comes to water conservation.

This summer has seen an uptick on the number of calls from “people reporting that their neighbors have unusually green yards and they suspect excessive watering is going on,” said Woods, whose department issues 20 to 30 warnings in a normal year for watering violations. “Irrigator violators” are slapped with a $50 fine for a second offense and $100 for subsequent offenses. Two or three residents a year incur fines for a second offense, “but we’ve never gone to a third notice,” he said.

Despite the public outreach (which will be augmented with sandwich boards this week), “there are still people that don’t know,” Woods said. One resident who was out of town and has an automated watering system called the Water Department to apologize. “We were about two hours away from mailing that warning to them,” he said with a smile.

Although the increased demand on the town water supply due to outdoor watering will drop off once the fall weather arrives, there’s no telling how long the drought will last. “The hope is that we have a wet fall, winter and spring,” Woods said. “I’ll be doing the rain dance a lot.”

Causes of bicycle fatalities still under investigation

August 24, 2016

The causes of the two fatal bike accidents this summer in Lincoln have not yet been officially determined, according to Lincoln Police Chief Kevin Kennedy, who urged both bicyclists and motorists to know the rules of the road to prevent further accidents.

Eugene Thornberg of Wayland died on June 16 and Westford resident Mark Himelfarb died on August 17 when they were hit by cars while bicycling in Lincoln. Police recently removed a “ghost bike” that was installed at the site of the Himelfarb accident, stirring questions among residents. Among those questions: who was at fault in each accident, and how often such accidents occur in Lincoln.

Both accidents are still under investigation and the cause or fault (if any) has not been officially determined, Chief of Police Kevin Kennedy said Wednesday. Accidents involving fatalities must be investigated by local police as well as the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office and state police, which includes an accident reconstruction team.

“I can appreciate everyone wanting to know results of investigations in a timely manner, but we owe it to the victims and their families to take the appropriate time to thoroughly examine all the facts and provide a complete and accurate account of what happened,” Kennedy said. “I urge people to withhold judgment on either the cyclists or the motorists until the investigation is complete.”

According to Massachusetts Department of Transportation accident reports gathered by Lincoln resident Joanna Schmergel, there have been 20 reported accidents involving cars and bicycles in Lincoln since 2005 (though probably have been more than were not reported to police, Kennedy noted). Six of them resulted injuries and two (both this summer) led to a fatality. Last week, another bicyclist was injured in an accident with a car on Route 117 near Mt. Misery, Kennedy said.

“A lot of times, motorists and bicyclists are not as educated as they should be about the rules of the road,” said Kennedy. He recommended that everyone review state law on bicycle operation as well as the right of way and the driver’s obligation to yield in certain circumstances, as outlined in the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles’ “Rules of the Road” starting page 95. Common sense on the part of both bicyclists and drivers is also important in situations such as deciding when it’s safe to pass a bike, or for cyclists to ride two abreast (which is legal, though they are always required to “facilitate overtaking” by cars).

‘Ghost bike’ removal stirs debate

August 23, 2016

A “ghost bike” in England (click image to enlarge). Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons.

The swift removal of a “ghost bike” in memory of a bicyclist killed in an accident on Virginia Road came as a surprise to some residents as well as the man who put it there. For public safety reasons, Lincoln police removed the ghost bike that had been attached to a stop sign near the spot where Westford bicyclist Mark Himelfarb died on August 17—though they will briefly permit another ghost bike at a different location in September.

“Ghost bikes” are old bicycles that are stripped down, spray-painted white, and locked to a sign or parking meter close to the site of a fatal bike accident. The bikes are usually installed anonymously by a fellow cyclist, though members of the bicycling community sometimes hold ceremonies at ghost bike sites to commemorate the dead cyclist, as described in the Boston Globe on June 30. The first ghost bike appeared in St. Louis in 2003 and the movement has spread internationally as a way to raise awareness about bicycle safety and sharing the road.

The Virginia Road ghost bike was installed by Concord resident Erik Limpaecher, according to an August 23 Globe article. The bike was attached to the stop sign along with a placard reading “M. Himelfarb, father of 2, 8-17-2016, Come to Full Stop.”

“I didn’t expect it to be taken down within hours,” Limpaecher told the Globe. “It was really disappointing… I assume they [took it down] because of some interpretation of the town’s laws. But I would hope that they would have empathy for the family of the cyclist, and for the cycling community.”

The ghost bike was removed mainly because of its location, where it was a distraction to drivers and ironically might pose a safety hazard, according to Town Administrator Tim Higgins. When police remove the bike, they didn’t know who had put it there, but Limpaecher, who did not request guidance or permission from the town about his idea, subsequently came forward and requested return of the bike, Higgins said.

“We understand that well-intentioned people may want to pay tribute to the deceased and may want to call attention to the tragedy in the hope of raising awareness and urging greater caution,” Higgins said. In a case like this, “we work closely with the family and attempt to be as accommodating as possible while being mindful of the need not to permit roadside memorials that may distract drivers and cyclists, or obstruct sight distances in a manner that may inadvertently make conditions less safe. The stop sign chosen as the location for the ‘ghost bike’ is at the corner of a heavily traveled intersection where the roadways meet at a sharp angle; a more inappropriate location could not have been chosen.”

While there is no specific town regulation governing this sort of situation, “it’s a public right of way and it’s the town’s responsibility to maintain it clear of obstructions,” Higgins added. “Things are not as simple as they may first appear, and town officials are generally thoughtful in trying to balance the interests of all of the parties out of respect for the people involved, but this well-intentioned person preempted that.”

Ghost bike for earlier victim

Himelfarb, 59, was the second person to die while bicycling in Lincoln this summer. Wayland resident Eugene Thornberg, 61, was fatally struck by a vehicle at the intersection of Routes 117 and 126 on June 16. According to a news item posted by the Massachusetts Bicycle Coalition (MassBike), a bicyclist advocacy group, a ghost bike memorial service hosted by Thornberg’s family is scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 10 at 11 a.m. at the accident site. Lincoln police will close the roads in the immediate area for the service and allow the ghost bike to remain on site for the rest of that weekend, according to a web post by Richard Fries, executive director of MassBike.

Lincoln Police Chief Kevin Kennedy could not be reached for comment on Tuesday.

Ghost bikes are often removed after a period of time, including one in memory of 18-year-old cyclist Fritz Philogene, who was killed in Dorchester last year. “Rumor was that his family, who lives nearby, had it removed because it’s a harsh reminder for the family when they pass the intersection,” said Peter Cheung, a member of a group that helps others make ghost bikes and plan memorial events. Cheung, who also leads the monthly Boston Bike Party ride, said his group was not involved in either Lincoln ghost bike installation.

“I have an emotional reaction to [ghost bikes] as a cyclist and find them a very poignant memorial and an effective reminder to drive consciously. There is much misconception about the rights of cyclists on public roadways,” said Lincoln resident John Mendelson, a cyclist who posted the August 23 Globe article on the LincolnTalk email list, sparking a range of reactions from residents.

Now that Lincoln officials know Limpaecher’s identity, “we will attempt to come up with an approach [for a memorial] that respects the interests of all parties, including those of the family of the deceased and those of the traveling public,” Higgins said.