By Alice Waugh
Community facilities needs, the future of Lincoln Station, and the possibility of Lincoln getting its own electrical utility are the topics that will be discussed at the annual “State of the Town” meeting on Saturday, November 9 from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in Brooks Auditorium.
[Read more…] about Meeting to look at community facilities, Lincoln Station, electricity
By Alice Waugh
Selectman Noah Eckhouse took a swipe at a recent Lincoln Journal column criticizing the absence of Wi-Fi in the recently refurbished town office building, saying the implied allegations are “just plain wrong.”
[Read more…] about Selectman disputes Feinberg column’s allegations
Scarecrows at StonegateBring the kids to the third annual Build-a-Scarecrow weekend at Stonegate Gardens on Saturday, Oct. 5 and Sunday, Oct. 6 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. to benefit the Lincoln School. For $15, Stonegate provides hay, twine, markers, stakes, instruction, and refreshments! You provide a pillowcase for the head and some old clothing and accessories to dress your scarecrow. 100% of the proceeds go to the Lincoln PTO. You can also browse through Stonegate’s wide selection of mums, pumpkins, fall perennials and a fabulous assortment of Halloween decorations.
Rain or shine. Parental supervision required.
The Lincoln Parks & Recreation Department is running “Trunk or Treat” on Wednesday, October 30 at 5 p.m. Individuals or groups can decorate their cars for Halloween and park them in the Codman lot behind the Brooks gym, where young children can trick or treat from car to car in a safe environment. Download this flyer for details.
Space is limited, so register soon. If you can’t participate but would like to donate candy, you can drop it off at the Parks and Rec office during normal business hours. For more information, call Stacey Mulroy at Parks and Rec at 781-259-0784.
Three children’s events are on tap at the Lincoln Public Library this week. These and many other children’s activities take place regularly; for more information, see the library kids’ activities web page.
Kids’ Lego Club
Wednesday, October 2 from 4:00–4:45 p.m.
Drop-in activity for kids ages 5 and up to build and create structures. We provide the Legos—you provide the creativity!
Sing-along with Ed Morgan
Friday, Oct. 4 at 3:30 p.m.
Singing and dancing for babies, toddlers and preschoolers. No registration necessary.
Super Saturday Stories
Saturday, Oct. 5 at 2 p.m.
Stories are read to children in grades K-1. No registration necessary.
All events sponsored by the Friends of the Lincoln Public Library.
Police report that scammers have been calling older residents in towns in the region saying they are from Medicare and trying to set up home visits. If you get such a call, try to get a phone number and report it to the Lincoln Police. Medicare does not call beneficiaries to set up home visits.
Learn more about Medicare and supplemental insurance coverage for 2014 at a Council on Aging informational session on October 25 at 10 a.m. in Bemis Hall with Don Milan and Anne Meade, Lincoln’s counselors from the Minuteman Senior Services SHINE health benefits counseling program. This is an especially important time to be sure you understand and are satisfied with your benefits. This year’s Medicare open enrollment period from October 15 to December 7, 2013 is your primary opportunity to change your plans, effective January 1, 2014. Representatives from the major supplemental health insurance plans serving Lincoln (Harvard Pilgrim, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Tufts, Humana, Fallon, and AARP/United Health Care) will give 2014 information. It’s a unique opportunity for you to learn about their products and get answers to questions. Also present will be representatives of Prescription Advantage (the state’s secondary prescription assistance program) and Priscilla Leach (Lincoln’s Veterans Service Officer). This program was very helpful to many Lincoln residents last year.
Seniors should also note that there will be a free flu shot clinic on Saturday, November 2 from 9-11 a.m. at Bemis Hall. In accordance with federal CDC and state Department of Public Health guidelines, this clinic is for those 60 and over. Please wear a short-sleeved shirt. Vaccine supplies may be limited, so come early. A $2 donation to the Friends of the Lincoln Council on Aging is requested. Those who attend are also invited to bring non-perishable food that is not past its shelf life expiration date for the St. Vincent de Paul Grocery Distribution Program at St. Joseph Church.
David Hubel
David Hubel of Lincoln, a Harvard scientist and Nobel Prize winner, died of kidney failure on September 22 at the age of 87.
Hubel and two other scientists won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1981 for discoveries in visual processing and development that ushered in the modern study of the cerebral cortex and changed the way childhood cataracts and strabismus (“cross-eye”) were treated, according to his obituary in the Harvard Crimson. A news release from Harvard Medical School discusses his work in more detail.
Obituaries for Hubel have also appeared in newspapers including the Boston Globe (which has a 1981 photo of him with his wife Ruth and son Eric), the New York Times and the Washington Post. Ruth Hubel died earlier this year at the age of 83.
The Nobel Prize website includes Hubel’s autobiographical essay and a 2009 video interview with him.
Editor’s note: The Lincoln Squirrel is happy to publish letters to the editor. Letters must be signed and sent to lincolnsquirrelnews@gmail.com by a verifiable Lincoln resident. Letters containing personal attacks, profanity, gross distortions of fact or other inappropriate material will not be published. The editor reserves the right to correct spelling, grammar, capitalization and punctuation, etc.
On October 15, voters will elect Democratic and Republican candidates in a special primary election to fill Ed Markey’s seat from Massachusetts’ Fifth Congressional District.
We need progressive Democrat Peter Koutoujian to be our next representative to Congress. Whether it may be women’s rights in health care and the workplace, responsible gun violence prevention, public safety, protecting the environment and addressing climate change, education from preschool through adulthood, and building a strong 21st-century middle-class economy, Peter is hands-down the right person for the job.
[Read more…] about Letter to the editor: Vote for Koutoukian
A map showing the site of the proposed cell tower (click to enlarge).
By Alice Waugh
AT&T Mobility is investigating the possibility of building a new cell tower on property just east of Stonegate Gardens on Route 117.
“It’s an area where I think everyone knows cell phone signals are either very weak or nonexistent, and carriers are interested in trying to locate there,” said Larry Morgan, a site acquisition consultant for Tilson Technology Management. Tilson is under contract with several cell-phone service providers to investigate potential sites for new cellular antennas, which can be put on top of cell towers or existing structures such as rooftops or church steeples.
According to a legal notice, AT&T Mobility is proposing a 120-foot monopole tower inside a fenced leased area on property at 345 South Great Road on land owned by Ronald Christensen. However, Morgan said that there is no leasing or purchase agreement in place with the property owner. The idea is “very much in the preliminary stage—it’s not even close to being presented to the town,” he said.
“They would have to go through a pretty extensive process from A to Z to get that approved,” said Director of Planning and Land Use Chris Reilly. Among the requirements would be a permit from the Historical Commission to allow demolition of one of the buildings on the property, as well as town meeting approval, a special permit from the Planning Board, and a variance from the Zoning Board of Appeals. However, federal provisions might override some of the local zoning regulations, Reilly said.
The tower would be located about 100 feet south of Route 117, according to a preliminary drawing. Its 120-foot height would be sufficient to accommodate other cell-phone carriers in addition to AT&T Mobility, Morgan said.
By Alice Waugh
Lincoln will get a three-day taste of India next month during the inaugural Discover India! Lincoln Cultural Festival, which will include movie screenings, a food festival, folk and classical dance performances, an art exhibit and contemporary art lecture, a cooking class and many children’s activities. [Read more…] about India comes to Lincoln in October
Lincoln Police Department offices and staff salute the flag this morning on the 12th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
Hospice of the North Shore and Greater Boston purchased 12 acres of land in Lincoln and Waltham in hopes of building an inpatient hospice facility.
A Danvers-based hospice organization hopes to build a 20-bed inpatient hospice facility on Winter Street property straddling the Waltham city line, though there are no plans to alter the one-way status of the street.
In June, Hospice of the North Shore and Greater Boston (HNSGB) purchased the 12-acre parcel, which includes nine acres in Lincoln and three in Waltham. The Lincoln portion sold for $1.4 million. The only current structure is a single-family house on one of three Lincoln lots that were combined in the sale.
“This site is ideal for our purpose,” Diane Stringer, HNSGB president, said in a press release. “It is centrally located, close to Route 128 and easily accessible from the major cities and towns in our service area. It is also very serene and tranquil, as it is wooded, natural and offers views to the Cambridge Reservoir. Most importantly, it is more than large enough to accommodate the facility and have a large natural buffer from the road and neighbors.”
Winter Street in Lincoln is one-way heading north, but the hospice facility’s vehicular entrance and exit will be from the Waltham portion of the property. HNSGB representatives recently met informally at a pre-application “scoping session” with town officials to help plan the process of applying to the required town boards and commissions, “and they repeatedly said they have zero interest in making any change to that” one-way status, First Selectmen Peter Braun said at the September 9 Board of Selectmen meeting.
Inpatient hospice facilities offer a home-like setting where physicians, nurses and support staff provide 24-hour care, including pain and symptom management, and where visiting family members can spend quality time with their loved ones during the final weeks and days of life. Hospice care, which is covered by insurance and Medicare if the patient has a doctor’s prognosis of less than six months to live, can be an alternative to an expensive and disruptive hospital stay for many terminally ill patients.
“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 in the home setting,” Stringer said. “We’re also caring for more pediatric hospice patients, and there is no facility outside of a hospital that can provide the needed level of care for dying children and their families.”
The Lincoln/Waltham facility will be modeled on Kaplan Family Hospice House, HNSGB’s inpatient facility in Danvers. Staffing will include round-the clock nurses and nursing assistants, as well as a physician, social worker and chaplain on weekdays, according to a letter to the Lincoln Planning Board from Stringer.
HNSGB is the preferred hospice provider of the Partners Healthcare System, which includes Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Massachusetts General Hospital and Newton-Wellesley Hospital, as well as Emerson Hospital and three other hospitals. Since the company acquired Partners Healthcare’s hospice program in 2011, Kaplan House usually has a waiting list and is not easily accessible from many towns south and west of Boston that are now in HNSGB’s service area.
Because HNSGB is a nonprofit charitable organization, it would probably be exempt from paying property taxes on any Lincoln facility. However, selectmen expect there will be discussions with the company about payment in lieu of taxes (PILOT), such as Harvard University pays to the cities of Boston and Cambridge. “Large charitable institutions such an universities and hospitals know that’s something they have to discuss with local towns,” Braun said.
At one time, the Lincoln parcel (known as the “Kennedy property” in an 2005 analysis of six “at-risk” properties in town) was being considered for 40B affordable housing. According to that report, developing 135 affordable apartments on the site would have resulted in a net cost to the town of about $100,000 a year.