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

Candidates sought for town government; Feb. 8 deadline to file

Looking for a rewarding if occasionally vexing way to feel more connected? Are you willing to undertake new challenges and unafraid to speak up? Then run for local office! Lincoln’s annual town election will take place on Monday, March 29. Nomination papers are now available and must be returned by 5 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 8. Please contact Valerie Fox at foxv@lincolntown.org if you’re interested in running.

Below are the offices that will be on the ballot and residents who have thus far filed papers to run. All seats are for three-year terms. The Cemetery Commission seat is open due to the death of Susan Harding (Lincoln Squirrel, Nov. 2, 2020). Carole Kasper has decided not to run for reelection to the Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School Committee.

Board /CommitteeIncumbentCandidate
Board of AssessorsEdward Morgan
Board of HealthPatricia Miller
Board of SelectmenJennifer GlassJennifer Glass
Cemetery Commission(open)
Commissioner of Trust FundsDonald Collins
Housing CommissionEvan Gorman
LSRHS School CommitteeCarole Kasper
LSRHS School CommitteeEllen Joachim
Parks and Recreation CommitteeSarah Chester
Planning BoardGerald TaylorGerald Taylor
School CommitteeSusan TaylorSusan Taylor
School CommitteePeter Borden
Trustees of Bemis FundMiriam Borden
Water CommissionJim HutchinsonJim Hutchinson

Anonymous emails were leaked by Burney’s daughter, police say

Jennifer Burney in 2016.

After an investigation that included subpoenas to internet service providers, Lincoln police concluded that the adult daughter of a former town official was the one who sent emails that leaked her mother’s formal complaint against the town.

Former Director of Planning and Land Use Jennifer Burney filed a complaint in September accusing Town Administrator Tim Higgins and former Assistant Town Administrator Mary Day of discrimination, harassment, and intimidation. Burney alleged that Higgins and Day had thwarted her efforts to secure time off under the Family and Medical Leave Act and then working remotely so she could care for a family member under 18.

Her complaint, which was not public record, was leaked to LincolnTalk and the Lincoln Squirrel in separate emails from two different fictional email addresses. The LincolnTalk email was spoofed to appear as though it came from someone named “Debra French.” Police determined that a real Lincoln resident named Deborah French had nothing to do with it and subsequently opened an investigation into possible identity fraud and harassment.

In November, the town closed its own investigation into Higgins’s conduct after an independent investigator found that there were no facts to support any of the allegations made against him.

Lincoln police, via the district attorney’s office, issued subpoenas to Comcast and Cox Communications, an internet/cable service provider in Rhode Island, to identify the IP address of the computer that sent the anonymous emails. It transpired that the sender’s home address was that of Tara Atwood, 37, of Newport, R.I. who is Burney’s daughter, according to Chief of Police Kevin Kennedy.

Atwood has confessed to sending the emails, Kennedy said. Debra French was a “fictitious name she came up with… She was appalled that she caused this woman [Deborah French] any distress over it — that was clearly not her intention.” Atwood was not charged with a crime for using French’s name because she did not obtain anything of value by doing so, he said.

To be charged with criminal harassment, a person must commit three separate episodes of harassment against the victim, and Atwood did not do this, Kennedy said. However, “should her behavior continue towards any of the victims here, criminal charges could be filed because she’s been put on notice.”

The victims in the case are Higgins and Day as well as former Assistant Director of Planning and Land Use Paula Vaughn-McKenzie, because Atwood’s emails claimed that she and Higgins were having an extramarital affair — an allegation that Kennedy called “fabricated” and “completely untrue.”

Burney worked for the town from January 2016 until she went on leave last summer and Vaughn-McKenzie was named acting Director of Planning and Land Use. Vaughn-McKenzie has since been appointed to the role permanently.

Kennedy said that Atwood’s motivation for sending the emails was “to make sure the claims in [Burney’s] letter were in fact going to be investigated.” Burney was not aware that Atwood had sent the emails until about a week later, when Atwood admitted it to her mother, he said. “Obviously Jen was very upset at that… Jen clearly did not approve of any of this behavior.”

Right after the emails were sent, Burney denied sending them, saying she considered her complaint addressed to the Planning Board and Board of Selectmen to be confidential.

Neither Burney nor Atwood returned emails from the Lincoln Squirrel seeking comment on Tuesday.

Covid-19 vaccinations begin for Lincoln’s first responders, Commons residents

Lincoln’s police, fire and emergency medical personnel will get their Covid-19 vaccinations starting this Friday at the end of this week as part of a three-day, six-town clinic, and patients in the skilled nursing facility at The Commons have gotten their first vaccines as well.

This marks the start of the three-tiered rollout of vaccines for Massachusetts residents. Under state Department of Health guidelines, emergency first responders and those in congregate care settings such as assisted living are first in line. The rest of the residents at The Commons are expected to get their vaccines in the first week of February, according to Public Health Nurse Tricia McGean.

Phase two will cover seniors, those with co-morbidities, teachers and other school personnel, those working in various public-facing areas such as supermarkets, mass transit and public health. Phase three will cover everyone else and is now expected to start in late February or March, McGean told the Board of Selectmen on January 12.

The town continues planning for a general clinic — once the first two tiers of residents have been vaccinated — to be held on an as-yet-undetermined date at the Lincoln North office building, and officials are recruiting residents to help with the effort. There will be the second of two Zoom meetings for those who are interested in helping out on Tuesday, Jan. 19 at 7 p.m. (send an email to lincolnMRC@lincolntown.org for the Zoom link).

McGean emphasized, however, that the first place residents should call about getting vaccinated is their primary care provider. The state hopes that PCPs and pharmacies will be the primary source of vaccines, though exactly when vaccine doses will arrive is still unclear. The Council on Aging has a list of homebound residents who will be able to get vaccinations at home by a visiting nurse, McGean said. For the general clinic, there will be online signup through PrepMod, a system being used throughout the country for vaccine scheduling and recording that automatically generates an appointment for the second shot 28 days after the first.

Meanwhile, Covid-9 cases continue to climb in Lincoln and almost everywhere else. As of January 12, Lincoln had recorded a total of 128 residents who tested positive for the virus, and 16 of those have been since January 1, McGean said. Thirty-one of the 128 total cases — about half of them just since December — have been at The Commons.

“We expected this rise in cases after the holidays, with people traveling and getting together. Lincoln is not unique,” McGean said.

The virus is now spreading mainly among household members while schools have seen relatively few cases, perhaps because of their strict protocols on masks and social distancing. “The Lincoln School has been amazing,” even compared to other area towns, McGean said. “When they hear that a staff member, teacher or student tests positive, I am notified immediately and I’m on a Google Meet within minutes.” Since the start of the pandemic, the town has recorded only one case in the 0–10 age group.

News acorns

(This post was edited on January 13 to include a link to a movie of the winning marble run.)

Library pickup hours reduced

Due to staffing issues, the Lincoln Public Library, which is now closed to the public, is reducing its contactless pickup hours as of Wednesday, Jan. 13. The new hours are:

  • Monday, Wednesday and Thursday: 1–6 p.m.
  • Tuesday, Friday and Saturday: 1–5 p.m.

Visit the library’s FAQ page for the latest information on changes to services and contactless pickup times. If you have any questions regarding your pickup, the best way to reach the library is via email to lincoln@minlib.net.

Please pick your materials up on the requested day. There is not sufficient staffing at library to handle leftover bags. Also, the library’s elevator is out of service, which is also resulting in a delay processing requests, but it should be fixed by the end of the week.

GearTicks name winner of December STEMtastic Challenge

Devon’s marble run starts at top left, runs down through a hose along the backs of two chairs, then around a cardboard track to another hose, where it emerges to glide over the top of a guitar and down a final pipe before hitting a bell suspended on a string and then a foam backstop. Click image to see a short video of the marble run in action.

Congratulations to 14-year-old Devon, the December winner of the GearTicks STEMtastic Challenges. Devon’s marble run featured unique household objects, and his ingenious use of a guitar in his marble run especially impressed the GearTicks. Click here to see a short video of the marble run in action.

January’s STEMtastic Challenge theme is vehicles. More challenge details can be found here. To access the Lincoln Public Library’s STEMtastic resources, click here
and scroll down. If you have any suggestions for future challenge topics or ways to improve the challenge, please use this Google form. For more information about the GearTicks team, visit www.gearticks.com or email hello@gearticks.com.

Second youth talent show to benefit St. Jude’s Hospital

Plans are in place for a youth talent show on Zoom on Friday, Feb. 12 at 5 p.m. This is the second such event organized by L-S seniors Achla Gandhi and Dasha Trosteanetchi as kids4humanity.org. The first show on December 23 raised more than $2,500 for Save the Children.

St. Jude’s Research Hospital is a pediatric treatment and research facility focused on children’s catastrophic diseases, particularly leukemia and other cancers. The hospital costs about $2.8 million a day to run, but patients are not charged for their care.

“Right now we’re trying to get as many kids involved as possible. We aren’t looking for perfection or child prodigies — just children willing to step up to make our world a little brighter,” Gandhi said. Any kind of talent is welcome as well as any age children (the last show featured performers from 1 to 19). Performances will be pre-recorded and sent to organizers ahead of time to make the process easier for parents with younger children.

To register to perform, email kids4covid.19@gmail.com with names, ages, and talents by Friday, Jan. 29. Donations are always encouraged but none are required to perform or to attend the show — click here to donate. Videos are due by February 5. If you have any questions or would like to see past performances to get a sense of the format — or if your company has a matching program and you’re interested in getting involved — send an email to the same address.

Virtual award presentation for three Lincoln houses

Friends of Modern Architecture/Lincoln (FoMA) invites everyone to its annual awards ceremony with a presentation on “Updating an Original: Three 20th Century Houses in the 21st Century” on Sunday, Jan. 24 from 4–6 p.m. (click here to watch on Zoom). Meet the award-winning owners and their architects/designers for outstanding renovations that were sensitive to the original house, while maintaining the “character of place” established in their respective neighborhoods. The houses are:

  • 1956 Swanson House, Laurel Drive, original design by Dan Compton and Walter Pierce
  • 1959 Wales House, Moccasin Hill Road, original design by Henry B. Hoover and Walter Hill
  • 1967 Kuhn House, Tower Road, original design by Constantin Pertzoff

For more information, see the FoMA website or email fomalincoln@gmail.com.

There’s still time to apply for energy/fuel assistance

If you spend more than 30% of your income on housing costs (rent, condo fee, mortgage, electricity, heating, property tax, homeowner’s insurance, etc.) and have not yet applied for Lincoln’s Fuel Assistance program, there’s still time. Fuel Assistance is a federally funded program that helps eligible households with energy and/or heating costs during the winter months. Depending on your household income, you may qualify if you own or rent your home, even if heat is included in your rent. The program covers oil, gas, electric, propane, kerosene, and wood. Those approved for Fuel Assistance are also eligible for a discount on utility bills, weatherization for your home, and a program to repair or replace your primary heating system.

To apply for Fuel Assistance, residents of all ages can contact the Council on Aging at 781-259-811 to set up an appointment. They will let you know what documents you’ll need.

My Turn: Offering avenues for action in the wake of Capitol riot

By Julie Brogan

Like all of us, I was stunned and saddened by the events in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday, January 6. If you’re wondering what an ordinary Americans can do repair and restore our republic, I highly recommend this report from the American Academy of Arts and Sciences’ bipartisan Commission on the Practice of Democratic Citizenship. The report makes specific recommendations for reform and endorses organizations working to make these changes. I don’t agree with all of these ideas, but they are wide-ranging and may appeal to you or your friends looking for way to get involved.

I recently joined the National Finance Council in one of the cross-partisan groups endorsed by the commission, American Promise, based right next door in Concord. We are working to pass a Constitutional amendment to get big money out of our elections. If you would like to learn more about American Promise, feel free to contact me. But no matter what you decide is needed to get this country to a better place, don’t despair — act!

Julie Brogan, an Old Sudbury Road resident, can be reached at juliebrogan@verizon.net.

“My Turn” is a forum for readers to offer their views on any subject of interest to other Lincolnites. Submissions must be signed with the writer’s name and street address and sent via email to lincolnsquirrelnews@gmail.com. Items will be edited for punctuation, spelling, style, etc., and will be published at the discretion of the editor. Submissions containing personal attacks, errors of fact, or other inappropriate material will not be published.

Help sought for future Covid vaccination clinic

Town officials are gearing up for a possible Covid-19 vaccination clinic and are seeking volunteers, though much is still unknown.

“We do not even know for sure if Lincoln will get the vaccine from [the state Department of Public Health], so we ask that people seek the vaccine from their primary care providers or when public clinics are advertised,” said Public Health Nurse Tricia McGean. “Large public clinics at Gillette, Topsfield Fairgrounds, the Big E, and UMass-Amherst are supposedly going to open at the end of the month. Do not wait for a town clinic.” In offering vaccinations, the town must adhere to the three-phase approach outlined by DPH, she added.

For the possible vaccination clinic and other functions, the Lincoln Public Health Task Force is seeking volunteers to join the Lincoln Medical Reserve Corps. Volunteers with medical, logistics, communication, and computer skills, but everyone can help in some way. Volunteering with the Medical Reserve Corps is a simple and effective way to support the needs of Lincoln while also helping your family, friends, and neighbors stay safe and healthy, said Fire Chief Brian J. Young

Lincoln Medical Reserve Corps organizers are interested in gathering early information on how many town residents might be interested in volunteering to assist in the vaccination effort. The clinics will occur between March and May and will be held at a location in Lincoln. The roles they need assistance with include the following:

  • Parking lot coordinator (non-clinical) — Mostly outdoors. Confirming appointment times and verbally guiding residents to appropriate locations
  • Vaccine check-in administrator (non-clinical) — Indoor position. Greet people, validate scheduled appointment and participant ID, arrive to appointment and direct to vaccination area.
  • Vaccinators (clinical) — Indoor position. Must be RN, MD or certified to administer vaccinations. Vaccinate personnel and direct to waiting and Check-out area.
  • EMS clinical surveillance (clinical) — Emergency medical staff to be present to provide assistance should an individual have an adverse reaction to the vaccine.
  • Vaccine check-out administrator (non-clinical) — Indoor position. Guide participant to waiting area, validate appointment for second vaccine is scheduled at date confirmed, provide vaccine card and make sure participants wait approximately 15 minutes before departure.

Fire Chief Brian J. Young will be hosting public Zoom meetings on Tuesday, Jan. 12 at 7 p.m. and Tuesday, Jan. 19 at 7 p.m. to discuss the Medical Reserve Corps and to answer questions. Anyone interested may email lincolnMRC@lincolntown.org.

My Turn: Where do the Codman Farm footprints lead?

By Pete Lowy

I captured this image the other day as I was wandering around the laying hen pasture. What do you see? Chicken feet, arrows, maybe something else? Well, we are on a farm, so I guess the most obvious answer is that they are chicken footprints — but in the same instance I noticed the patterns — it also immediately dawned on me that they looked like arrows pointing in different directions. When I showed the photo to Jen, she blurted out “chicken feet.” It’s funny how a shift in perspective can yield a totally different image. And the “chicken arrows” pointing in every different direction made me think of the current state of affairs in our country and also of life on the farm. How different ideologies can alter your perspective and thus perception of events and result in different actions being taken.

As a farmer, the image made me think how each and every day we have an endless amount of things to do, all sometimes pointing in different directions. The daily tasks on a farm are endless and it’s my job to make sense of the chaos and chart a clear path forward. The farms and businesses that find success tend to be the ones that are best able to stay pointed in one direction, stay true to their core principles, and be disciplined to achieve their goals.

At Codman, we are currently on such a path. With the sudden increase in visibility due to the pandemic, Codman Farm has become more of a resource to our community than ever. This has made us take measure of where we are, and consider more carefully where we are headed as a non-profit farm in the community of Lincoln. Why are we here, what is our purpose, how can we best care for our land and for the community in which we live. These are some of the many questions we are asking ourselves both now, and in the weeks to come.

I invite you to share what Codman means to you, how YOU see our role as a nonprofit in the community and HOW we can best carry out our core mission of keeping the lands of Lincoln open, in production agriculture, and educating others about farming and the impact it has in our society in so many different ways. Email me at pete@codmanfarm.org.

Pete Lowy is the farmer at Codman Community Farms. This piece appeared as part of the farm’s monthly blog/e-newsletter to members. Click here to see past issues of the blog.

”My Turn” is a forum for readers to offer their views on any subject of interest to other Lincolnites. Submissions must be signed with the writer’s name and street address and sent via email to lincolnsquirrelnews@gmail.com. Items will be edited for punctuation, spelling, style, etc., and will be published at the discretion of the editor. Submissions containing personal attacks, errors of fact, or other inappropriate material will not be published.

Time to submit your creative work to the Lincoln Chipmunk!


The deadline for sending your creative writing, artwork and photos for the next issue of the Lincoln Chipmunk is January 22, 2021. Have a look at previous issues at chipmunk.lincolnsquirrel.com.

The Chipmunk’s Indiegogo fundraising drive to help defray the cost of creating and launching the Chipmunk is over, but you can donate any time by check credit/debit card, or Venmo. Please click here to learn how to donate, and thanks for supporting Lincoln’s news and arts publications!

Town offices and library close again due to pandemic

Due to the recent rise of Covid-19 cases in Lincoln and statewide, town offices and the Lincoln Public Library are closed for in-person visits as of Monday, Jan. 11.

Non-essential departments including land use and permitting, finances, town clerk, town administration, and the Council on Aging will be physically closed, but staff responsible for these services and programs will remain available to support and assist remotely. Zoom conferencing will be made available as needed, and limited in-person support will be made available in extenuating circumstances.

Residents are urged to make full use of on-line support services and to contact town staff via e-mail and phone. Contact information can be found on the town website at www.lincolntown.org.

“We learned through our experience in March that we can depend on the dedication and ingenuity of our staff and volunteers to ensure that the needs of our residents continue to be met, regardless of whether they are responding in-person or remotely,” officials said in a statement. “Our leadership boards have continued to meet uninterrupted throughout the pandemic, making full use of remote meeting technology, and Monday’s restrictions will not impact the remote meeting schedules of our boards.”

Library

Library staff will continue contactless pickup on a reduced schedule:

  • Monday, Wednesday and Thursday from 1–7 p.m.
  • Tuesday from 1–6 p.m.
  • Friday and Saturday 1–5 p.m.

Most libraries that have closed recently have had to stop curbside pickup due to the amount of staff time involved. Right now a card member can place up to 50 titles on hold for delivery, but with only one or two staff members in the building at any one time, the library will not be able to continue with contactless at that level. Therefore, the staffs ask the community to please think twice about requesting materials that you really aren’t sure you need to help to keep the amount of items to a manageable level.

Staff will monitor the library’s voicemail system so patrons can ask questions by calling 781-259-8465 or emailing lincoln@minlib.net.