The Lincoln Squirrel – News, features and photos from Lincoln, Mass.

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Corrections and additions

  • In the January 17 article about the Winter Carnival, two events were listed under the wrong day. The PTO Bingo Night and the Multi-generational Singalong are on Friday, Jan. 27, not Saturday.
  • In the January 17 News Acorns, an item describing a January 26 event on civil disobedience with Jason and Jessica Packineau omitted one of the speakers. Jeffrey S. Cramer, Curator of Collections at Walden Woods Project and Thoreau, will speak about civil disobedience and how it relates to us today.
  • The Council on Aging has announced a new time for one of its January activities and a new activity. “World Hand Drumming for Fun and Well-being” has been rescheduled to Tuesday, Jan. 24 at 9:30 a.m. Jai Kaur (Annamaria San Antonio) will offer—as a gift or by donation—”Therapeutic Mini-Massage” on Friday, Jan. 27 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. in Bemis Hall.

The articles and related calendar events have been updated to reflect these changes.

 

News acorns

Inauguration Day meditation

The Lincoln Meditation Group will hold a special sitting on Friday, Jan. 20 from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in the Lincoln Public Library’s Tarbell Room for the well-being of all people, the environment and our country. We will sit in silence, read a poem or two, and offer metta (prayers) for peace for all beings. Everyone is invited.

Talk on civil disobedience by Standing Rock visitors

Lincoln residents Jason and Jessica Packineau will lead a discussion about their recent activities at the Standing Rock in North Dakota and give a talk titled “What Role Does Civil Disobedience Play in Modern-day America?” and Jeffrey S. Cramer, Curator of Collections at Walden Woods Project and Thoreau, will speak about civil disobedience and how it relates to us today.]on Thursday, Jan. 26 at 7:30 p.m. in the Lincoln Public Library. This lecture is part of the Thoreau Bicentennial Statewide Read Program. In celebration of the 200th anniversary of Henry David Thoreau’s birth.

Film screening to benefit girls’ school in Afghanistan

Students Together Empowering Women, a club at Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School, will host a viewing of the documentary What Tomorrow Brings on Tuesday, Jan. 31 at 7 p.m. in the L-S auditorium. The film tells the story of Razia’s Ray of Hope Foundation in Afghanistan. The foundation and the school it supports embrace and promote education as the key to positive, peaceful change for current and future generations, empowering Afghan girls and young women to work toward bright futures in their own villages and beyond. Tickets are $8 for students and $15 for adults, and all proceeds will be donated to the Razia’s Ray of Hope Foundation.

Adult ed and test prep classes at L-S

Registration is now open for adult and teen classes on test prep, interviewing and completing college applications as well as creative arts, fitness, home and garden, and financial matters. Click here for the catalog.

Climate change film at St. Anne’s

There will be a showing of the film Merchants of Doubt at St. Anne’s Episcopal Church on Tuesday, Jan. 31 as part of the church’s ongoing series of films on climate justice. This film examines the role of the fossil fuel industry in distorting and denying the science on climate change over several decades in order to prevent meaningful regulation of carbon emissions. It will help give a perspective on the choices the incoming administration is making for key cabinet posts like EPA and the Secretary of State.

A simple vegetarian soup supper will be served at 6:30 p.m. and the film will begin at 7 p.m. Donations will be accepted to help with the cost of screening rights.

Community discussion on book by Ta-Nehisi Coates

Come to a Lincoln/METCO community book discussion about Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates on Wednesday, Feb. 1 from 6-8:30 p.m. in the Brooks gym. The discussion will be facilitated by Lincoln School English teachers Hillary Skelton and Jenny Nam, as well as Jaime Moody, the school’s METCO academic advisor. The event will begin at 6 p.m. with dinner, but feel free to come anytime, as there will be various points at which late-comers can easily join the discussion. Please pre-register on the Lincoln METCO website.

Town to grapple once again with future of school project

At Town Meeting in March, residents will have yet another chance to chart a course for a multimillion-dollar school project—going it alone, or seeking partial state funding for the fifth time. But barring a major crisis at the Lincoln School, state funding is looking increasingly unlikely as the competition for grants gets fiercer by the year.

Lincoln won a $21 million grant from the Massachusetts School Building Authority in 2009, contingent on a two-thirds majority approval from residents at Town Meeting—but that eventual 2012 vote fell short. The town has reapplied three times since then and been turned down each time. Just before Christmas, officials learned that the town was again denied entry into the state school funding pipeline.

As Lincoln officials are now realizing, the 2009 MSBA approval was at least partly a matter of luck because the MSBA as a funding entity had been created only the year before, and Lincoln was ready to pounce because it had recently done a facilities study and thus happened to have its “ducks in a row” more than many competing towns, School Committee Chair Jennifer Glass said at the January 9 Board of Selectmen meeting.

Glass and other Lincoln officials learned through recent conversations with the MSBA that nowadays, there is a “very high bar” for getting state funding approval. Most schools that were invited into the funding pipeline last year have a major structural deficiency to the extent that the building is uninhabitable (for example, a collapsed roof or flooding in the entire building), severe overcrowding, or a threatened loss of accreditation. This is something that usually happens only to high schools, Glass noted, and it was a significant factor in Minuteman High School getting its $44 million state pledge last year.

Each year, the MSBA evaluates a new set of applications; there is no waiting list or preference for schools like Lincoln’s that have previously won approval. “It’s a clean slate every year,” Glass said. “Our applications are very through and they understand our needs… we haven’t done anything wrong since [2009].”

Glass asked the selectmen to hold spots for two Town Meeting warrant questions: whether to reapply for MSBA funding, and whether to begin pursuing a town-funded project by spending $750,000 appropriated by voters in 2015 on a feasibility study. Theoretically, the town could do both; “we’re welcome to spend $750,000 of our own money and reapply [to the MSBA, but] if we were invited in, that feasibility study would be put on the shelf and we would start again,” since the state would require a newer one, Glass said.

Performing the feasibility study “does not commit us to any certain project or dollar amount,” Glass said. The final study would have to focus on one design for the school, but this time, there could be the “missing step [where we] narrow the choice down with a lot of public input,” Selectmen Peter Braun said. One reason cited for the 2012 defeat is that residents did not have enough say about the proposed project’s building and campus design, and many objected to the proposal for compromising the circular central ballfield.

“We need to put all the choices out there and let the people tell us,” Brain said.

Beginning with a multi-board meeting on Monday, Jan. 30, there will be a series of public conversations to consider the town’s options and to understand the choices in the context of Lincoln’s priorities and finances. These conversations will be ongoing; everyone’s input and questions are needed, and residents are encouraged to attend as many sessions as possible.

The schedule is as follows:

  • January 30 — Multi-board meeting, 7 p.m., Brooks Gym. This will be a joint meeting of the School Committee, Board of Selectmen, Finance Committee and Capital Planning Committee.
  • February 10 — Council on Aging public forum, , 12:30 p.m., Bemis Hall. Superintendent Becky McFall and School Committee Chair Jennifer Glass will discuss the Town Meeting warrant articles related to a building project, and give an overview of the FY18 school operating budget. In addition, Town Administrator Tim Higgins will give an overview of the FY18 town budget.
  • March 8 — Multi-board public forum, 7 p.m., location TBD — Hosted by the School Committee, Board of Selectmen, Finance Committee and Capital Planning Committee.
  • March 17 — Council on Aging public forum, 12:30 p.m., Bemis Hall. Superintendent Becky McFall and School Committee Chair Jennifer Glass will discuss the Town Meeting warrant articles related to a building project.

News acorns

Hanscom updates at next HATS meeting

At the next HATS (Hanscom Area Towns Committee) meeting on Thursday, Jan. 26 at 7:30 p.m. in the Town Office Building, the group will get its annual update from the executive director of the Massachusetts Military Assets Task Force regarding Hanscom Air Force Base and other matters, along with an update regarding Hanscom and related activities from Adam Freudberg, senior advisor for innovation and collaboration for base’s Office of the Chief Technology. Save the date for the February 23 meeting, which will feature presentations by Lincoln Lab and MITRE.

Send in updates for Lincoln Directory

All residents recently received a yellow card with information about updating the Lincoln Directory, which is compiled by the Friends of the Lincoln Library biennially and contains the telephone numbers of residents, local businesses, town offices, and the “Healthy Communities” list of health resources. Now is the time for new residents to add their names and phone numbers, other residents to update their information, businesses to take advantage of the advertising space.

“Lincolnites love the small-town feel of the book,” says Julie Brogan, member of the Friends of the Lincoln Library.

Nonprofits as well as businesses can benefit from advertising in the directory. In the previous edition, the Domestic Violence Services Network used advertising space to increase its visibility as a community resource.

Directories are mailed free to each household in Lincoln. Those wishing to volunteer or advertise may email LincolnPhoneBook@gmail.com.

News acorns

Talk on winter and gypsy moths

Gypsy moth

The outbreaks of gypsy moths in Massachusetts have been building for several years, and 2016 saw the largest in 35 years. Hear about the progress being made with biological controls and get an update on the spread of these insects in New England from Joe Elkinton, professor of entomology in the Department of Environmental Conservation at UMass-Amherst, on Wednesday, Jan. 18 at 7:30 p.m. in Bemis Hall. Elkinton’s lab researces population dynamics and biological control of invasive forest insects, with a current focus on biological control and population dynamics of the winter moth, hemlock woolly adelgid and black oak gall wasp. Anyone with questions may contact Jane at llct@lincolnconservation.org or 781-259-9251. The event is free and open to all.

Bus ride offered to Boston Women’s March

The Lincoln Democratic Town Committee is organizing a bus to take marchers to and from the Boston Women’s March for America on Saturday, Jan. 21. The march lasts from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and involves a one-mile walk, speakers and a program. A map and more information are available here. The bus will leave the Smith School parking lot for Boston Common promptly at 10 a.m. on Saturday morning and return by 4 p.m. Seats cost $15 and are available on a first-come, first-served basis. There is space for 30, and several seats are already taken, so if you want to reserve a seat, email Barbara Slayter at bslayter@comcast.net as soon as possible. Checks may made out to the Lincoln Democratic Town Committee and mailed to Barbara Slayter, P. O. Box 6337, Lincoln MA 01773.

Extended library hours for L-S students

The Lincoln Public Library will be open for extended study hours for Lincoln-Sudbury High School students on Thursday, Jan. 19 and Monday, Jan. 23. The library will be open until 10 p.m. and will provide snacks and a safe supervised place to study, but will be closed for all other services.

Town’s hazard mitigation plan updated

A summary of Lincoln’s existing hazard mitigation measures (click to enlarge and click on resulting image).

The Lincoln Hazard Mitigation Plan is being updated to help the town to reduce its vulnerability to natural hazard events such as flooding, hurricanes, winter storms, extreme heat, fire and wind. The town held a series of public meetings and is about to submit the plan to the Massachusetts and federal emergency management agencies.

The draft of the plan includes current mitigation measures, primarily a combination of zoning, land use and environmental regulations as well as infrastructure maintenance and drainage infrastructure maintenance and  improvement projects. Infrastructure maintenance. The plan was prepared for the town  by the Metropolitan Area Planning Council under the direction of the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency and the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation.

Any comments on the draft should be submitted ASAP to Jennifer Burney, Director of Planning and Land Use, at burneyj@lincolntown.org.

News acorns

Calling all public servants

Looking for a rewarding if occasionally vexing way to feel more connected? Willing to undertake new challenges? Unafraid to speak up? Then run for local office! The annual Town Election will take place on Monday, March 27. Nomination papers are available at the Town Clerk’s Office now, and must be returned by 5 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 7. The following offices will appear on the March ballot:

  • Board of Selectmen (two seats, one for one year and one for three years)
  • Board of Assessors (two seats, one for two years and one for three years)
  • K-8 School Committee (two seats, both for three years)
  • Water Commissioner (three years)
  • Board of Health (three years)
  • Cemetery Commission (three years)
  • Planning Board (two seats for three years each)
  • Commissioner of Trust Funds (three years)
  • deCordova Museum and Sculpture Park Trustee (four years)
  • Housing Commission (two seats, one for one year and one for three years)
  • Parks and Recreation Committee (three years)
  • Lincoln-Sudbury Regional District School Committee (two seats for three years each)
  • Bemis Trustee (three years)
  • Town Moderator (three years)

For more information, call the Town Clerk’s Office at 781-259-2607.

Museum trip with library

The Lincoln Public Library is offering a trip to the Peabody Essex Museum to see the “Shoes: Pleasure and Pain” exhibit on Saturday, Feb. 25, leaving the library at 10 a.m. and returning at 3 p.m. The museum admission and guided tour is $20, and the cost for the bus will depend on the number of riders. Lunch is not included. For more information or to sign up, contact Lisa Rothenberg at 781-259-8465 ext. 202 or email lrothenberg@minlib.net.

In conjunction with the trip, the  library will host a talk on the history of shoes by fashion historian Karen Antonowicz on Thursday, Feb. 23 from 7-8:30 p.m.

Minuteman offers STEM camp for girls in February

Minuteman High School will host “Girls in STEM” (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) camp from February 21-24. from 8 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. It is free for seventh- and eighth-grade girls from communities in the Minuteman school district (Acton, Arlington, Belmont, Bolton, Boxborough, Carlisle, Concord, Dover, Lancaster, Lexington, Lincoln, Needham, Stow, Sudbury, Wayland, and Weston), and bus transportation will be provided. There is a $149 fee (and no bus) for students who live outside the district. The class will be led by female students from Minuteman who are certified in mentoring and are enrolled in STEM majors, facilitated by are Minuteman teachers Becky Quay (engineering) and Sarah Ard (horticulture and landscape technology). For more information or to register, click here or contact Director of Career and Technical Education Michelle Roche at 781-861-6500 ext. 7326 or mroche@minuteman.org. Seats are limited, so register early.

News acorns

Accident victim returns home

The October 18 accident scene (click to enlarge). Photo courtesy Lincoln Police Facebook page.

Julie Payne Britton, who was seriously injured in an October 18 car accident on Route 117 in Lincoln, finally returned to her home in Greenfield, Mass., late last month after weeks of surgery and rehabilitation, according to this article in the Greenfield Recorder. Britton was on her way home from her employer’s headquarters in Waltham when her Subaru Forester was hit head-on by an alleged drunk driver at about 3 p.m. It took first responders 40 minutes to cut Britton out of her car using the Jaws of Life, Lincoln Police Lt. Sean Kennedy told the newspaper.

Program on peer violence prevention

The Sudbury-Wayland-Lincoln Domestic Violence Roundtable will kick off 2017 with a program entitled “Building Upstanders: What Violence Prevention Strategies are Working in Local High Schools” on Tuesday, Jan. 10. Led by a panel of student members of the Mentors in Violence Prevention programs at Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School and Wayland High School, the students will share their experiences in teaching their peers ways of identifying warning signs of abuse, preventing their peers from participating in abusive relationships, and promoting respectful interventions in their schools.

The program will be held at 3 p.m. in the Community Meeting Room of the Wayland Public Safety Building. It’s free and open to the public and is appropriate for students and adults interested in preventing abusive relationships among teens and young adults.

Mentors in Violence Prevention is a program of Northeastern University Center for Sport in Society. At L-S, the program has eight trained staff and 40 trained student leaders in grades 10-12. The members plan assemblies and programs for students, including an annual Courage to Care healthy relationship day and White Ribbon Day programming.  Students also visit middle schools to talk about healthy relationships and being an upstander.

Talk on students and sleep

Dr. Judith Owens, MD, MPH, will give a talk on the importance of sleep for students on Thursday, Jan. 12 at 7 p.m. in the Ephraim Curtis School auditorium (40 Fairbank Road, Sudbury). The event, co-sponsored by the Lincoln-Sudbury Regional School Committee, is the first community forum for Sudbury’s School Start Time Committee (SSTC). Owens is the Director of Sleep Medicine at Boston Children’s Hospital and a faculty member in neurology at Harvard Medical School. She is an authority on the neurobehavioral and health consequences of sleep problems in children, sleep health education, and cultural and psychosocial issues impacting sleep.

The project is supported by a grant from the Sudbury Education Resource Fund (SERF), and the event is free and open to the public.For more information, visit the SSTC website or email sstc@sudbury.k12.ma.us.

Seal picture wins annual Mass Audubon photo contest

The winning photo from the 2016 Mass Audubon photo contest (click to enlarge).

Alex Shure of Melrose was named 2016 Grand Prize Winner for his photograph of a harbor seal pup placidly regarding him underwater during a dive in Rockport. His photo was chosen from more than 4,000 images were entered this year in Mass Audubon’s annual statewide photo contest, Picture This: Your Great Outdoors. Click here for a complete list of winners and honorable mentions along with their photographs.

Correction

In the January 4 article listing upcoming public hearings, the item about a January 10 Planning Board hearing about amending bylaws for solar installations was mistakenly followed by a link to an earlier Lincoln Squirrel story about a possible solar installation at the town landfill that was not related to this hearing. The link has been removed in the original article.

 

Service for Michael Lytton on Jan. 15

Michael Lytton

There will be a service on Sunday, Jan. 15 at 1:30 p.m. the First Parish in Lincoln for Michael Lytton, who died suddenly of an aortic dissection on December 5 at the age of 59. You can read his obituary here. There will be a short reception after the service at Bemis Hall.