Today’s letter to the editor about the Community Center Study Committee contained a broken link for the online survey, which has now been fixed in the letter. Here is the direct link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/CCSCSURVEY.- A News Acorn item about babysitting during the November 15 State of the Town meeting listed incorrect hours for babysitting availability. Babysitting is now offered from 8:45 a.m. to 1 p.m. for the meeting that’s scheduled to run from 9 a.m. to noon. Contact Linda Hammett Ory at LHamme@aol.com by November 9 to make arrangements.
Letter to the editor: get involved in community center discussion
To the editor:
Join the community center conversation! The town is evaluating options to address the facility needs of the Council on Aging, the Parks and Recreation Department and various community organizations that use town space. A variety of solutions are being considered—from adapting existing buildings to new construction and from multiple, discrete projects to one large multifaceted solution—and we’re interested in your opinion. There are a number of ways to get involved:
- Visit the Community Center Study Committee website at https://lincolntown.org/index.
aspx?nid=569 and take some time to learn about the issues being considered. Our webpage has everything you need to know, including a summary of the topic, a timeline of the public process up to this point, links to town reports and video presentations of our public meetings. It’s an easy way to catch up on the conversation. - Complete our survey! After you’ve caught up, provide some feedback in this brief three-question survey, which closes on Sunday, Nov. 9.
- Attend our upcoming public meetings:
- Friday, Nov. 7 at 8:15 a.m. during the Lincoln PTO meeting
- Saturday, Nov. 15 at 9 a.m. at the State of the Town meeting
Both meetings will be held in the Brooks School auditorium in conjunction with the School Building Advisory Committee. We will both be providing an update of our work and soliciting feedback. (Babysitting is available for State of the Town meeting; contact Linda Hammet-Ory at lhamme@aol.com.)
We hope you’ll take the time to participate in our process. Your input is critical to our work!
Sincerely,
Dan Pereira
Community Center Study Committee
Director, Parks and Recreation Department
Letters to the editor must be signed with the writer’s name and street address and sent via email to news@lincolnsquirrrel.com. Letters must be about a Lincoln-specific topic, will be edited for punctuation, spelling, style, etc., and will be published at the discretion of the editor. Letters containing personal attacks, errors of fact or other inappropriate material will not be published.
News acorns – 11/3/14
Correction
A November 2 Q&A with state representative candidate Sharon Antia was missing a link to a document about Waltham parking regulations that she created for a Waltham resident. The document can be found here.
Several school-related meetings this week
The School Building Advisory Committee will meet twice this week. Its regular meeting is Tuesday, Nov. 4 at 7 p.m. It will meet with representatives of other town boards and commissions on Wednesday, Nov. 5 at 7 p.m. Both meetings take place in the Hartwell multipurpose room and are open to the public.
On Thursday, Nov. 6 at 7 p.m., the School Committee will present a preliminary school budget for fiscal 2016. That meeting is also in the Hartwell multipurpose room.
Lincoln Democrats meet on Saturday
The Lincoln Democratic Town Committee will meet on Saturday, Nov. 8 from 1-3 p.m. in Bemis Hall. The public is invited and welcome. the agenda will include discussion of the 2014 election results, a review of 2014, plans for 2015, and elections of committee chair, co-chair, secretary and treasurer. Light refreshments will be served. Parking is available at the First Parish Church across the street. RSVPs appreciated; please email garyddavis04@gmail.com.
Babysitting available during State of the Town meeting
Lincoln’s eighth-grade Girl Scouts are offering babysitting in Hartwell Pod B during the November 15 State of the Town Meeting from 8:45 a.m. to 1 p.m., but they need a minimum of five families to pre-register in order to make it happen. The deadline for planning purposes is Sunday, Nov. 9. Walk-ins will still be welcome, but we need a minimum to hold the event.
Please email Linda Hammett Ory at LHamme@aol.com and let her know how many children, their ages, and what hours they need supervision. If the babysitting event is cancelled due to low numbers, we will let people know by November 10. Babysitting is offered at no charge, but donations are welcome to support the eighth-grade Cadettes’ service trip to Puerto Rico and their work with the Waltham family homeless shelter.
Evening of a capella with Aka Bistro food benefits LEAP
The a capella groups Harvard VoiceLab and Accent of Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School will perform at an event to benefit LEAP (the Lincoln Extended-Day Activities Program) on Friday, Dec. 5 from 7-10 p.m. in Bemis Hall. There will be a cash bar, food provided by Aka Bistro, and a silent auction. Tickets ($20 in advance, $25 at the door) are available at LEAP and the Whistlestop Cafe. Babysitting is available at LEAP during the event. For more information, call LEAP at 781-259-0615.
Sample ballot for November 4 election
Here is what the ballot will look like at tomorrow’s election. Scroll down to see both pages and click on either one to see a larger version (then click on your “back” button to return to the Squirrel). Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. in the Smith gym.
For background information on the ballot questions, see this Ballotpedia.org page. [Read more…] about Sample ballot for November 4 election
Muster field boardwalk project delayed
Plans to upgrade a wetlands trail behind the school campus have been delayed while a civil/environmental engineering firm surveys the area and determines the best foundation plan for the boardwalk.
Lincoln Public Schools science teachers Terry Green and Mairead Curtis have been working with town officials to upgrade the trail, which is partly on school property and runs north from the Smith playground to the town muster field at the intersection of Sandy Pond and Baker Bridge Roads. When the project is done, the boardwalk will be ADA-compliant, and there will also be an area that will serve as a outdoor “classroom” space where groups can gather to learn about the wetlands, Green said.
Recently, however, a landscape architect found that the subsoil was deeper than expected for the type of pilings intended for use for the boardwalk foundation, so GZA Environmental, Inc. will survey the area this winter and make further recommendations so officials can come up with a revised construction timeline.
At Town Meeting in March 2014, residents approved spending $137,355 from the Community Preservation Act fund for the wetlands trail and observation platform. The budget includes another $1,275 from the Lincoln Cultural Council and $7,875 last year from Lincoln School Foundation for design work.
Old Sudbury Road (Lincoln through the lens, 11/1/14)
A view along Old Sudbury Road. —Photo by Julia Sax
Readers may submit photos for consideration for Lincoln Through the Lens by emailing them to news@lincolnsquirrrel.com. If your photo is published, you’ll receive credit in the Squirrel. Photos must be taken in Lincoln and include the date, location, and names of any people who are identifiable in the photo. Previously published photos can be viewed on the Lincoln Through the Lens page of the Lincoln Squirrel.
Q&A with Sharon Antia
Sharon Antia
In the November 4 election, Lincoln resident Sharon Antia, an Independent, is challenging incumbent State Rep. Thomas Stanley (D-Waltham) for the Ninth Middlesex district seat in the state legislature. Last week, the Lincoln Squirrel asked her some questions and Antia responded via email. Her responses have been edited for clarity and links have been added. The Squirrel also emailed questions to Stanley, but he has not responded.
Why are you running as an independent without the backing of one of the major parties—doesn’t it seem pretty unlikely that you would win? Or do you have another goal in mind by running?
I have been unenrolled for 15 years or so. When I went to Boston to pull papers and run for state representative, I found out it was too late to change to one of the two major parties. I can’t say for sure if I would have registered for one of them or not; given the choice, I like being Independent. I use to be a Democrat and I support the Democratic values. I’m frustrated by the stagnation in our country that’s a result of the two parties having trouble putting aside their differences. People have asked me, win or lose, will I consider changing to Democrat? My response has been a solid maybe. I don’t have the brain space to consider that right now.
What is your opinion of Stanley? Why should people vote for you instead of him?
Letter to the editor: vote for earned sick time
Editor’s note: For details on the Massachusetts ballot questions, see Ballotpedia.org.
To the editor:
Vote “yes” on question 4 and give all workers the right to earned sick time.
Currently, one million workers in Massachusetts cannot earn sick time. Earned sick time improves employee retention and productivity. Employees who work for employers having 11 or more employees could earn and use up to 40 hours of paid sick time per year. Employees working for smaller businesses could earn and use up to 40 hours of unpaid sick time per year. Earned sick time can be used for the employee’s own health needs or the health needs of a family member such as a child, parent, spouse or parent of a spouse. It can be used for recovery from a physical or mental illness or injury, preventive care or medical appointments and to address domestic violence needs within the family.
Earned sick time provisions protect employees from losing their job or being punished just for using their earned sick time. This would help our state’s workers, businesses, and economy. While Massachusetts has near universal health care, 1/3 of workers can’t access that health care without the risk of losing their jobs. This gives all workers the right to maintain their wellbeing and that of their families. Businesses would benefit from healthier, more productive and more loyal employees, while the reduction in worker turnover also generates big savings for business.
New York City, Connecticut, the District of Columbia, San Francisco, Seattle, Portland and Newark all have earned sick time laws in place. California, Eugene, Ore., San Diego, and several cities in New Jersey have recently passed laws to ensure earned sick time for employees.
Sincerely,
Gary Davis
21R Camp Lane
Letters to the editor must be signed with the writer’s name and street address and sent via email to lincolnsquirrelnews@gmail.com. Letters must be about a Lincoln-specific topic, will be edited for punctuation, spelling, style, etc., and will be published at the discretion of the editor. Letters containing personal attacks, errors of fact or other inappropriate material will not be published.
Some notes to readers (and writers!)
Dear Lincoln Squirrel readers,
I wanted to let you know about a bunch of new features in the Squirrel and how you can help make the site even more useful to the Lincoln community.
New email address
If you find “lincolnsquirrelnews@gmail.com” a bit tricky to type or remember, you can now send news, events, questions, corrections, etc., to news@lincolnsquirrel.com. Don’t worry, though—the old email address will continue to work as well.
Classified ads
Starting this week, you can place free classified ads in the Squirrel. There are three ad categories to choose from: things you want, things you’re looking for, and a bulletin board for general notices like yard sales or lost pets.
Donations
The Lincoln Squirrel is free to everyone who wants to visit the website, subscribe via email or “like” its Facebook page. I do it because I want to and not because I expect to earn lots of money. That being said, I sometimes I have to pay a developer to add a new feature like classified ads, or to fix something in the code that’s beyond my abilities—not to mention marketing expenses such as direct mail and a Squirrel costume 🙂
If you find the Squirrel useful and maybe even prefer it to paying for a weekly newspaper, I invite you to contribute whatever you think is fair by clicking the yellow “Donate” button in the right-hand column. This allows you to donate securely via PayPal from your checking account or credit card. (Note: when you click the button, you’ll get to a PayPal page that says “Watusi Words,” which is the financial home of both the Lincoln Squirrel and whatever freelance work I get.)
Disclaimer: If you make a donation, you will not receive preferential coverage in the Squirrel, either by inclusion or omission. This means that you’re not buying an ad for yourself or your business (though you’re certainly welcome to do that separately), nor will it affect coverage of donors’ public remarks and actions, including public records of any alleged civil or criminal activity.
Navigation update
The row of navigation tabs along the top of every page has been updated. You’ll now find the link to the Town of Lincoln municipal calendar under “Coming Up.” There are also several new tabs: Advertising, Classified Ads, Lincoln Through the Lens, and Donations.
Take our reader survey
What do you like or not like about the Squirrel? How can we make it better? Please take a moment to answer a short reader survey here. We’ll post an article summarizing the responses in a few weeks.
Lincoln Through the Lens
In September, we started periodically featuring photos of Lincoln scenes taken by readers. If you’d like to the photo archive or submit one of your own, see the Lincoln Through the Lens page.
Want to write or take pictures?
The Squirrel is always looking for writers and news photographers. Maybe you’re a high school or college student who wants to get some published articles under your belt, or someone who has some spare time and simply wants to write or take photos. If so, let’s talk! The mission of the Squirrel is to cover news feature stories about Lincoln and its residents, but you don’t have to be a Lincoln resident to write for us. We can’t publish creative writing or stories on non-local topics, but if your idea has anything to do with a person, place or thing in Lincoln, email news@lincolnsquirrel.com or call 617-710-5542 and we can discuss what you want to write about, what kind of research or editing help you might need, and so forth.
If you like the Squirrel, be sure to tell all your Lincoln friends and neighbors, and as always, call or email with comments or suggestions. Thanks for reading!
Alice Waugh
Editor, The Lincoln Squirrel
781-259-0526 (h) ~ 617-710-5542 (m)
news@lincolnsquirrel.com
Lincoln through the lens: Trunk or Treat
On Wednesday evening, kids and parents filled the Codman Pool parking lot for “Trunk or Treat,” an activity sponsored by the Parks and Recreation Department where parents decorated their car trunks with Halloween themes and kids in costumes went from car to car for treats. —Photos by Pauline Curtiss
[Best_Wordpress_Gallery id=”2″ gal_title=”Trunk or Treat”]
Readers may submit photos for consideration for Lincoln Through the Lens by emailing them to news@lincolnsquirrrel.com. If your photo is published, you’ll receive credit in the Squirrel. Photos must be taken in Lincoln and include the date, location, and names of any people who are identifiable in the photo. Previously published photos can be viewed on the Lincoln Through the Lens page of the Lincoln Squirrel.