To the editor:
Last Wednesday’s Conservation Commission hearing on the Jet Aviation expansion plans at Hanscom Civil Airport went from 7:45 p.m. to midnight with the decision to bring the hearing to a close tonight (April 15) at 7 p.m. at Lincoln Town Offices.
[Read more…] about Letter to the editor: Jet Aviation hearing closes tonight
The Middlesex Tick Task Force will present experts on tick-borne diseases and landscaping ideas to reduce tick exposure at “Let’s Talk About Ticks: One Bite Can Change Your Life” on Wednesday, April 30 from 7-9 p.m. in Brooks auditorium.
Dr. Alfred de Maria, an epidemiologist with the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, who will answer questions about awareness and prevention of tick-borne diseases such as Lyme disease as well as babesiosis and anaplasmosis, two other preventable tick-borne illnesses. Kurt Upham, president of ohDeer Inc., which offers safe spraying for deer, tick and mosquito control, will discuss ways to landscape your yard to cut down on tick exposure.
Also at the event, Dr. Stephen Rich of the UMass Laboratory of Medical Zoology will discuss a new tick-testing program for some Massachusetts residents. Depending on what town you live in, if you’ve been bitten by a tick, you can submit the tick for free or low-cost testing to see if it carries the pathogens that cause Lyme disease, babesiosis or anaplasmosis. For more information, call the health department at 781-259-2614 or Lincoln Public Health Nurse Maureen Richichi at 781-259-9407.
The Middlesex Tick Task Force formed in 2012 with representatives from Acton, Bedford, Carlisle, Concord, Lexington, Lincoln, Waltham, Wayland, and Weston. The group’s goals are to increase awareness of tick-borne diseases in our towns, to educate residents about effective prevention measures, and to promote inter-town collaboration about these diseases in Middlesex County. The Task Force recognizes that tick-borne diseases are now endemic in our towns and that residents need information about effective prevention measures they can take to protect themselves, including knowing the signs and symptoms of disease, the life-cycle of the deer tick, how to do a “tick check” after being outside and to safely remove an embedded tick, and the importance of self-advocacy and early medical treatment for tick-borne diseases.
One of the earliest known depictions of the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus (Rabbula Gospel illuminated manuscript, 6th century). Source: Wikimedia Commons
Here is a list of Holy Week/Easter services at Lincoln’s churches.
There are many opportunities to help with the services of Holy Week and Easter such as foot washing, lighting candles for the procession of the Eucharist to the repository, setup of certain services, etc. If you’re interested in helping, call the parish office or visit www.stjulia.org/lent.
St. Anne’s welcomes everyone to join one of their two worship services Sunday mornings: Holy Eucharist at 8 a.m. and Holy Eucharist with choir at 10 a.m. Nursery care is available from 9-11 a.m.
AKA Bistro co-owner Christian Touche inside the restaurant, which is being renovated after a flood.
By Alice Waugh
AKA Bistro expects to reopen by the end of this month with an all-new menu and other improvements.
The restaurant has been closed since December, when an overhead water pipe ruptured and caused extensive water damage. Most of the dining room interior as well as much of the kitchen equipment has been torn out and replaced.
It’s been a battle for co-owner Christian Touche, who has had to fight for compensation not just for the renovations but also for business-interruption insurance payments. He said his insurance company was initially reluctant to compensate him for what his staff would have earned in tips as well as their $2.63 hourly salary while the restaurant was closed. Touche decided to pay them out of his own pocket while discussions were going on so he could keep the staff available to return to work when the restaurant reopens.
“We’ve developed a really nice team,” Touche said. “It sounds like a cliché, but we’re really like a family.” AKA Bistro has 25 employees, 12 of whom are wait staff, he added.
When customers return, they’ll notice a few changes, such as a menu that now lists traditional French and Japanese dishes together, rather than on separate pages. There will also be lots of salads and new dishes, Touche said.
Other changes were made for the comfort of diners. The biggest complaint before the closing was the conversation noise level, so workers have installed sound-absorbing foam beneath the new floor, custom-made cloth wall panels, thicker ceiling tiles and even soundproofing behind the pictures on the walls. There will also be better window shades and improved air flow, Touche said.
“We took the time to reinvent ourselves,” he said.
It didn’t make sense to reopen the restaurant in a new location, Touche said. “I feel at home here, and I think people [in Lincoln] deserve a decent restaurant. I hope they’ll give us another shot.”
The reservation line at 781-259-9920 should be back in operation by next week, he said.
Children’s librarian Jane Flanders in the temporary home of the children’s department in the now somewhat crowded Farrar Room.
By Alice Waugh
Lincoln Public Library patrons are adjusting to some temporary changes resulting from work to install a sprinkler system in the library, which has relocated the children’s area and closed the reference department.
The children’s department has moved into its new “branch” in the Farrar Room on the main floor of the library. There are two computers in that area, but children get preference—if you’re an adult, please ask a children’s librarian if you can use one. There are also two public computers on the library’s lower level; each has a 30-minute time limit for users. For reference help, patrons can ask at the main circulation desk.
Some books have been moved onto temporary carts while others will remain covered in plastic, library director Barbara Myles said. A container outside the building is holding things from the attic such as holiday decorations and older issues of periodicals so workers can spray insulation in the attic.
The work is scheduled for completion by the end of the summer, Myles said.
Classic Jazz now on Thursday at BemisClassic Jazz has changed days and location due to construction at the Lincoln Public Library. The final two regular programs, including tomorrow’s, will now be held on Thursdays at 7:30 p.m. in Bemis Hall.
On Thursday, April 10, Nick Ribush presents”Australian Jazz: The Melbourne Sound Pt. II.” Vern Welch will present “Jazz Clips—Then and Now” on May 8. The annual live program takes place on May 28 with Dan Gabel’s High Society Orchestra.
The next “Live in Lincoln Center” concert, “Viva Vivaldi,” will feature the First Parish Church choir with guest vocal soloists and instrumentalists from the Handel & Haydn Society on Saturday, May 3 at 7 p.m. Period instruments will be featured for this all-Vivaldi program. First Parish Music Director Ian Watson will conduct from the harpsichord, and returning guest artists include Susanna Ogata, violin, and Guy Fishman, cello. Also on hand will be Handel & Haydn vocal soloists Erika Vogel, soprano, and Emily Marvosh, alto.
Seating is open to all but is limited and is first-come, first-seated. Doors will open at 6:30 p.m. A reception will follow the performance. The suggested donation is $20, but any amount is appreciated. Sponsored by First Parish in Lincoln.
Codman Community Farms maple syrup
This year’s CCF maple syrup should be called “liquid gold”—Farmer Eric says the taste is exceptional but supplies are very limited due to weather fluctuations and a couple of difficulties with the boiling operations. This “taste of Lincoln” is the result of some great work by the Lincoln Boy Scouts and Cub Scouts, Troop 127. For community service, the boys collected sap throughout February and March and helped Codman clean and repair its boiler. It was a great community effort and a good learning experience for the boys (and their dads)!
An attractive 3.5-ounce bottle costs $5. For sale in the Codman farm office on Mondays and Wednesdays from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.. Not a CCF member? Click here to learn about joining.
All Lincoln residents must pre-register by calling Elaine Carroll at 781-259-2614 or by visiting the Board of Health in the Town Office Building. Continuing the policy started in 2005, latex paint will not be accepted at this facility since it is not a hazardous product. Please contact the Board of Health office to learn how to properly dispose of latex paint.
Linda MacNeil, Joyce DiToro and Norma Barmakian of the Lincoln Garden Club create spring flower arrangements at Bemis Hall for delivery to Lincoln seniors as part of their Mission for Cheer project, conducted in association with the Lincoln Council on Aging.
The public hearing on Jet Aviation’s expansion proposal at Hanscom Field is still going on—the next session will be Wednesday, April 9 at 7:45 p.m. in the Lincoln Town Offices’ Donaldson Room.
The Conservation Commission has already held three sessions on the proposed plan to replace a hangar and build another, along with an access road and more parking. The plan requires a special permit from the ConsComm because it would impinge on a wetlands buffer zone.
Residents opposed to the expansion and Jet Aviation have both hired lawyers to bolster their arguments, “and that’s complicated the proceedings a little bit,” said Chris Reilly, Lincoln’s Director of Planning and Land Use. “The Conservation Commission is absorbing this information from various parties” and probably will not be ready to vote at this week’s hearing, he said.
If the commission gives its assent, Jet Aviation does not require any other permits from the town. The property is exempt from further local regulation because it is owned and operated by Massport, a state agency, and the expansion would not change the overall mission at the site.
The first annual “Celebrate Asia!” Festival on April 12 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. will celebrate the diverse cultures that enrich Lincoln-Sudbury school and town communities and will serve as a fundraiser for the L-S Memorial School, the high school’s sister school in Battambang, Cambodia.
Among the offerings at the festival: crafts activities for kids, cultural performances by diverse dance groups, martial arts exhibitions, henna tattoos, tai chi, yoga, Asian goods and gifts, and some of your favorite Asian foods.
The L-S Memorial School was the brainchild of Mira Vale, a 2009 Lincoln graduate of L-S, who worked with former history teacher Bill Schechter and others to create the school as a way to help the L-S community heal after the in-school murder of 15-year-old James Alenson in 2007 (see article in the Sudbury Town Crier). Community members raised money in partnership with American Assistance for Cambodia to build the 300-student school, which opened in 2009 with five classrooms furnished with desks, benches, chalkboards, school supplies, and English-speaking teachers.
The school commemorates the L-S students and young alumni who have died during the school’s 50-year history. Names of about 300 deceased students and alumni are listed on the L-S Memorial School website, along with this video of how the school became a reality.
The eighth-graders who fashioned a warrant article to request new bikes racks were (left to right) Janie Petraglia, Luke Belge, Zoe Belge, Anna Shorb, Cal Hamandi and (not pictured) Jacob Strock.
By Alice Waugh
Today’s children will govern the Lincoln of tomorrow—and they had a chance to practice at Town Meeting on March 29.
Six Lincoln School eighth-graders—Luke and Zoe Belge, Cal Hamandi, Janie Petraglia, Anna Shorb and Jacob Strock—worked since last fall with Town Clerk Susan Brooks on writing a warrant article for Town Meeting. But rather than dealing with zoning by-laws or property tax rates, their effort eventually focused on something more important to kids: new bike racks.
They started with a presentation by Brooks on how town government works and then brainstormed some ideas for a warrant article they could bring up for a Town Meeting vote with a citizens’ petition. “They thought broadly at the beginning,” Brooks said with a laugh. “Some of the ideas were pretty far out.”
One of the old bike racks outside Hartwell Pod C.
Eventually the kids hit upon the idea of a citizen’s petition seeking money for new bike racks. They did an informal poll of classmates and found that quote a few of them would ride their bikes to school if there was a better rack for locking their bikes. The decades-old models now at the schools were designed to lock only the front wheel, which doesn’t cut it with today’s fancier bikes with quick-release wheels.
The process, as is usually the case with getting things done in government, required talking to lots of people and doing research. They talked to Lincoln School facilities director Michael Haynes about where on the school campus the new racks might be installed. They went online and found a $125 bike rack online that will lock five bikes (how many they’ll eventually get will depend on the maximum dollar amount that will be requested, which hasn’t been finalized yet). And they gathered signatures. A citizen’s petition for a warrant article requires 10 valid signatures, but the bike-rack group collected 60 to 70.
And then there were the meetings. The students presented their idea to the School Committee, the Board of Selectmen (“they were really enthusiastic about it,” said Luke Belge) and finally the Finance Committee. The last session was “a more serious formal meeting, said Luke’s sister Zoe, who chaired the student group. “They had a lot of questions.” Finally, they had to make their case to voters before Town Meeting, so they divvied up the tasks of writing articles for the school newsletter, the Lincoln Review and the Lincoln Journal, and creating and rehearsing a PowerPoint presentation for the big day.
After patiently waiting for their warrant article to come up, the students took turns detailing the need for new racks. Shorb explained how the old bike racks are too small, especially on Wednesdays, when some of the older students bike from school to the Whistle Stop after school. Shorb and Petraglia explained how they aren’t really secure. And Hamandi assured any voters wary of hidden costs that there would be no sales tax for the tax-exempt school and no spending required for installation, since school custodial staff would do that as part of their regular duties.
Residents passed the measure unanimously and also gave the students a round of applause along with appreciative town officials.
“This really takes it to a new level to go through this process,” said Selectman Peter Braun.