By Alice Waugh
Faced with the possibility that the Lincoln Extended-day After-school Program (LEAP) might be replaced, parents and others turned out in force to protest at last week’s meeting of the School Committee, which voted to delay the decision until the fall.
[Read more…] about Emotions run high at meeting on after-school program
Are you a Lincoln resident with an interest in planning, zoning and land use? The Board of Selectmen and Planning Board invite you to apply before May 24 for one of two vacancies on the Planning Board.
Interviews will be conducted during a joint meeting of the two boards to fill one elected position (until the next annual town election in March 2014) and one associate position. Submit a letter of interest together with a completed application form (click here to download a form) to one of the addresses below by Friday, May 24.
For more information about the work of the Planning Board, please see the Planning Board website or contact Chris Reilly, Director of Planning and Land Use, at 781-259-2610. Interested residents are also encouraged to attend Planning Board meetings to learn about the board’s work.
Applications via email:
Selectmen’s Office, attn.: Debra Parkhurst, Administrative Assistant
parkhurstd@lincolntown.org
Applications via U.S. mail:
Office of the Board of Selectmen
Hartwell School Complex (Pod B)
Ballfield Road
Lincoln, MA 01773
Following are obituaries of current or former Lincoln residents as reported in the Boston Globe since February, listed in chronological order of their date of death. Click here to see previous obits in the Lincoln Squirrel.
Rose M. McMurtry, 97 (April 7, 2013) – Lincoln resident from 1958-1972, sang in St. Joseph’s Church choir
Ruth R. Walkey, 85 (April 1, 2013) – Old Town Hall Exchange volunteer, 50-year member of Valley Pond
Shirley G. Beaton, 88 (March 28, 2013) – secretary in Lincoln Public Schools
Wayne D. Mount, 85 (March 25, 2013) – atmospheric physicist and pioneer in chaos theory
William R. Cummings, 82 (March 25, 2013) – father of William R. Cummings Jr. of Lunenburg and Thomas R. Cummings of London
Lorraine S. Torode, 92 (March 11, 2013) – longtime physical education teacher in Lincoln Public Schools
Sean Collier
By Alice C. Waugh
Several members of the Lincoln Police Department were directly involved in the manhunt for the Boston Marathon bombing suspect—and they had extra motivation to find him, because slain MIT Police officer Sean Collier had worked with Lincoln police.
[Read more…] about Slain MIT police officer Collier had worked in Lincoln
A female cardinal in her nest. (Photo courtesy WIkimedia Commons)
First of all, a clarification on our earlier nature walks article: they take place from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m.
And now for nesting… Drumlin Farm is looking for volunteers to train in the fine art of nest-watching. The farm is a chapter of the Cornell University Lab of Ornithology’s NestWatch, a citizen science project that collects data on the breeding activities of birds across the country. Scientists use this data to track bird population trends and subsequently decide what conservation measures are most needed.
Volunteer training, which takes less than two hours, will teach residents how to look for bird nests, how to approach them and when to leave them alone, and how tor cord their findings in the NestWatch database, said Drumlin Farm volunteer coordinator Pam Sowizral. Nest-watchers don’t need to venture into the forest or scale trees; they can monitor nests that species including catbirds, cardinals, titmice, chickadees, and phoebes that build their nests close to houses and sometimes even on porches and other parts of buildings.
The collected information is useful for seeing how bird habitats and populations are altering over time, particularly in this era of climate change, Sowizral said.
“By recruiting volunteers all over the country in large numbers, we can do something that individual scientists can’t,” Sowizral said.
Anyone interested (even empty-nesters!) should contact Sowizral at 781-259-2205 or psowizral@massaudubon.org.
What do you know about MassHealth, and why should you care? Lincoln residents of all ages are invited to a special program at Bemis Hall on Monday, April 29 at 7 p.m. to learn more about MassHealth (Massachusetts’ Medicaid program). You might not think you need the information, but that could change if you have an unforeseen financial crisis or need to be in a nursing home for an extended period.
The Lincoln Council in Aging program will feature Don Milan, Elizabeth Killeen and Arthur Budnik, all of Minuteman Senior Services’ SHINE health benefits counseling program, explaining what MassHealth currently covers, who’s eligible, how it coordinates with Medicare, and more. Carolyn Bottum, director of the COA, interviewed Milan, who is Lincoln’s SHINE counselor.
[Read more…] about MassHealth: Learn more, even if you think you won’t need it
(Editor’s note: The Lincoln Squirrel was on vacation during the last week in March but will post stories in the coming days about the March 23 Town Meeting.)
By Alice Waugh
Residents approved spending $17,700 from the town’s stabilization fund for architectural and engineering work in hopes of submitting a second school building project feasibility study to the state—though not after several residents argued that the town should pursue its own path toward a modernized school building.
[Read more…] about Town meeting approves funding for school project planning
Do you have household chemicals or environmental poisons you need to get rid of? While the Lincoln transfer station does not accept hazardous waste, Lincoln residents may drop off materials on one of eight days this year at the Minuteman Hazardous Products Facility at 60 Hartwell Ave. in Lexington—but they must first pre-register and to fill out a form with the Lincoln Board of Health in person or by calling 781-259-2613.
Lincoln items will be accepted in Lexington from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on the following dates (almost all on Saturdays): [Read more…] about Dates set for dropping off household hazardous waste
Greening Lincoln invites residents to take a survey that will help the group learn what measures people in town now use to save energy and protect the environment and what additional sustainability information and services they’d like to see. Click here to take the online survey.
Greening Lincoln also offers information about Water Department rebates for residents who buy water-saving toilets and washing machines, as well as other topics including solar panels and household energy assessments. The program, which started in January, offers rebates of $75 for WaterSense-labeled toilets and $200 for WaterSense washers. According to the Greening Lincoln website, which also has details on the terms of the rebates, WaterSense toilets use about 4.8 gallons per person per day vs. 18.2 gallons for old-style toilets, while WaterSense washers use 15.4 gallons per person per day vs. 7.7 gallons per day.
Residents can see the terms and conditions for the rebates on the Greening Lincoln website. To obtain a rebate form, call the Water Department 781-259-8997.
