Some of you may have read of my endorsement of Alan Khazei for Senate on my personal blog...tonight I learned he will be at an event nearby tomorow evening:
Hop to Civic Action!
Come Meet US Senate Candidate Alan Khazei at [...]
Some of you may have read of my endorsement of Alan Khazei for Senate on my personal blog...tonight I learned he will be at an event nearby tomorow evening:
Hop to Civic Action!
Come Meet US Senate Candidate Alan Khazei at [...]
Westwood residents will have a once in 10 years opportunity to express their concerns and needs related to Comcast's cable service next Wednesday, December 9 at 7:30pm as the Board of Selectmen hold an Ascertainment Hearing...
The purpose of the hearing will be to review the performance of one of [...]
Last night, I attended Dedham Civic Connections--a community networking event that drew over 100 Dedhamites (and me) for an informal get together of town employees, elected officials, business owners and a wide range of creative, civicly-engaged people. I think this is an idea Westwood could learn from...
Selectman Paul Reynolds [...]
I've been making a few updates to the page here listing Westwood Web Sites:
http://westwoodblog.org/weblinks
including the site I set up for Larkin Insurance and the other, pre-existing web sites for my other office neighbors: Pratt and Son and Precious Metals Reclaiming Service. No web site yet' [...]
The school music department received a grant from the Westwood Education Foundation to host a concert by the New England Philharmonic. This free community concert is scheduled for Monday night, November 23rd, beginning at 7:30 pm in the [...]
There are no shortage of potential topics to discuss in this town. Ideally, each one would start as its own post, but I just wanted to list out some of the things I'm wondering about that are not being covered by the press extensively and/or are not in a finalized' [...]
One service I believe this blog could provide is to start conversations about issues and events in town, then open things up for others to comment with more details about what they know from more direct experience. For a newspaper, a reporter must do all the legwork--to talk to multiple [...]
I have long believed that some form of anonymous participation was necessary for several reasons:
requiring registration creates a participation hurdle that make it less likely people will take the time to comment. anonymnity of some form is valuable when people are reluctant to express a valid, but unpopular opinion. anonymnity can [...]I would like to find a way to make WestwoodBlog a sustainable community resource. By "sustainable" I ultimately mean revenue-generating so that I can afford to treat it as a part of my business and afford to spend the consistent time necessary to manage it effectively. I think one of [...]
A crowd of several hundred residents gathered to pay tribute to those who have served our country by dedicating this memorial. Congressional Representative Steven Lynch, State Senator Marian Walsh, and Representative Paul McMurtry spoke. The 6-minute video below highlights parts of those speeches and the singing of "God [...]
Westwood and Dedham are utilizing a reimbursement program sponsored by the Metropolitan Area Planning Council to obtain a number of bike racks to be placed at schools and other locations in town. The racks cost the town nothing other than shipping and installation work. A working group from the [...]
I noticed this week in the weekly email of upcoming town meetings that three meetings have posted their agendas online in advance. See below:
Date
of Meeting
Department
Time
Location
Add’l
Info
Monday,
11/9
Board
of Library Trustees
7:30
p.m.
Westwood Main Library
668 High Street
Yesterday morning, sitting in Cafe Diva, I observed a couple of guys park a pickup truck in front of the Cold Stone Creamery in Islington Center, then proceed to set up a large photo of President Obama defaced with a "Hitler mustache." They proceeded to hand out a few flyers [...]
A knock at the door last night...but no one there...just a bag of treats and a note. We've been BOOed! This Halloween custom involves secretly leaving a bag of treats with a note asking the person to pass on the favor to two more neighbors. Join the fun and' [...]
Clapboardtree Nursery School, located at 340 Clapboardtree Street in Westwood, will hold its annual Open Houses on Thursday, December 3rd from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm and on Friday, December 4th from 12:00 pm to 1:30 pm. Registration forms will [...]
Having just started my daughter in Kindergarten at Hanlon, and walking my son to his second year at MMO, I am reminded of how, a few years ago, we navigated the new parent choice matrix of preschool. The town website has a link to the Westwood Early Childhood Resource [...]
St. John’s Nursery School, a private, non-denominational preschool will host an open house on Saturday, November 7, 2009 from 9:30 am to 11:30. Children who will be 3 years old by September 1, 2010 are eligible to attend the program [...]
The Town's Veterans' Memorial Park will be formally dedicated on Wednesday, November 11. The park was relocated in 2006 after Town Meeting authorized $25,000 to build a memorial at the intersection of Pond and High Streets. This summer, a' [...]
According to this Globe article, the Eaton Apothecary stores (including, I assume, the one in Westwood) have been sold to Walgreens. Before we start speculating...does anyone out there know any more details??
[...]
The next time you are grumbling about having to pay $5 to park in the garage at the 128 train station, here's an alternative:
Non-residents of Canton can buy vouchers for $3/day to park on Green Lodge St--in Westwood. According to the original regulations, both Canton and [...]
from Boston.com 10/22/09
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2009/10/22/westw...
[...]The efforts of owners of a property at the end of Sandy Valley Road to build a dressage barn/stables appear to have been set back substantially. Based on a recent site visit by the Mass. Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and evaluation by a soil scientist, the proposed project [...]
You may have noticed work beginning (orange paint and a couple of nasty bumps) on Gay Street between Milk and Thatcher. The town is repaving this stretch of road in the coming weeks. We discussed this at our last Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety Committee meeting and were fortunate to have [...]
The news situation in Westwood has gone from bad to worse. Now that the Daily News Transcript is no longer a daily, we have no daily source of news other than what makes it into "Wicked Local" or the Boston Globe. If ANYONE would like to be a reporter and [...]
The Westwood & Walpole League of Women Voters invites the public to attend a meeting on Tuesday, November 10, 2009, from 7:30 to 9:30 pm at the Westwood Public Library located at 668 High Street in Westwood, MA. The topic of the meeting is very timely, dealing with identifying and [...]
Notifications of official town meetings can be obtained by subscribing to the town listserv...town meetings email list
Date of Meeting Department Time Location Tuesday, 10/13 Board of Health 5:00 p.m. CSMOB Tuesday, 10/13 Planning Board 7:30 p.m. CSMOB Tuesday, 10/13 Board of Library Trustees 7:30 p.m. Main Library Wednesday, 10/14 Conservation Commission 7:30 p.m. CSMOB Thursday, 10/15 Council on Aging 2:30 p.m. Council on Aging Thursday, 10/15 Library Building committee 6:30 p.m.-9:00 p.m. Main Library Thursday, 10/15 Pedestrian & [...]Dedham-Westwood Water District will pay you to save water. Replace your traditional washing machine with a newer, water efficient model, and you will receive a $100 rebate. Replace your old toilet with a new High Efficiency model and you will receive a $75 rebate. We are also continuing to offer [...]
The top vote-getter so far at our Ped/Bike Safety IdeaScale site has been a suggestion to build a pedestrian tunnel through the East Street bridge. I took a short video this morning...nothing dramatic here, just a typical day at this choke point between the Downey and Islington areas of [...]
Regular monthly meeting. All residents interested in improving pedestrian and bike safety are welcome.
[...]Please join your neighbors for coffee and local chat. Children are most welcome. RSVP for location information to westwoodnewcomers@yahoo.com by October 18. Whether you are new to Westwood or a long-time resident and would like to meet some new [...]
Bring old bicycles to benefit Bikes Not Bombs. Please bring your used bicycles to the First Baptist Church (808 High Street) between 1:30 and 4:30pm on Sunday, October 18. We welcome bikes of all sizes, and hope to collect [...]
One of the challenges of the idea scale system is that new ideas posted are not going to be voted on by people who visited the site early and didn't come back. So I'd like to encourage anyone who has not checked it out lately to go to
and [...]
It's been a while since I had the opportunity to spend some time with my daughter. I've been so focused on my career that I rarely even talked to her that much let alone be in the same room with her. I never realized how much I missed her when' [...]
This Wednesday, the Norfolk County Commissioners will hold a public hearing on proposed changes to Canton street related to Westwood Station development. According to the Canton Citizen, Canton selectmen will attend and oppose these changes because they lack adequate data about traffic. Traffic data compiled as part of [...]
The widget below will display a random idea suggested through the Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety Committee IdeaScale site. Vote and/or skip to another idea. Or visit the site and suggest your own ideas.
if you fail to see the links for "Vote Up" and "Vote Down" it means you have [...]It appears those folks who were so excited about Wegmans coming to Massachusetts and Westwood will have to wait--or go to Northborough. According to this article, Wegmans is still planning to occupy Westwood Station, but not until 2012. Meanwhile, the first store is planned for Northborough's Loop in [...]
The Annual Meeting of the members of Westwood Little League, Inc. will be held at the Thurston Middle School, Westwood, Massachusetts on MONDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2009 at 7:00 P.M. The purpose of the meeting is to elect new members, to [...]
The graduates of Blue Hills Regional Technical School in Canton (Westwood is one of the school's district towns) go on to do great things. The executive chef at Fenway Park is a Blue Hills grad. So is a Commander [...]
The Westwood and Walpole League of Women Voters “kicks” off an exciting year of programs and lobby efforts with a pot luck dinner and discussion on Sunday, October 4, at 4 PM at the home of Steven Greffenius. The Board especially invites prospective members to check us out at our [...]
The town website shows field status here. Today was first day for kindergarten soccer...oh, well, we'll look forward to next week!
' [...]One of our town's assets is the Hale Reservation. Many families from Westwood and other towns enjoy the Membership Beach at Hale. My family is one of these.
This summer, my family hired a professional landscaper who services the yards of homeowners, some near the reservation. His first recommendation for yard treatments [...]
The attached H1N1 Information Packet was distributed to parents today and contains a number of recommendations on preparing for and dealing with the expected flu season this year. More information is available online at http://mass.gov/flu
Bottom line: don't panic, but take precautions and do your part to help' [...]
Westwood Community Access Television, Inc. is a not-for-profit corporation charged with implementing the local access cable channels for the town of Westwood, MA. This is a new venture. We are seeking an Executive Director to help us shape and manage the operation. This is a ground-up opportunity for someone [...]
Full time only, please.
Hi Parents,
I am looking for a full time nanny position in the Westwood area. I have worked for the same great familyhere in Westwood for 4 years, but had to leave due to the youngest attending school. Please email me at cheryl74@aol.com if you would [...]
HI PARENTS
I AM LOOKING FOR A FULL TIME NANNY POSITION IN THE WESTWOOD AREA. I HAVE WORKED FOR THE SAME GREAT FAMILY HERE IN WESTWOOD FOR 4 YEARS BUT HAD TO LEAVE DUE TO THE YOUNGEST ATTENDING SCHOOL. PLEASE EMAIL ME AT CHERANN74@AOL.COM IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO LEARN [...]
Channel 5 ran this story comparing the booming success around the opening of Whole Foods at Legacy Place in Dedham to the weedfields of Westwood Station. You can't deny the contrast is stark. But before anyone draws too many "lessons" from this, I'd suggest we observe the full impact [...]
It's a little ironic; we moved from busy Gay Street to quiet Fairview Street...but just outside the walking zone for Hanlon. So, after Thursday's open house, my daughter will be riding the bus (see schedules on town website). Walking to MMO is now super-easy though which means avoiding that [...]
There is a provocative article in the Boston Globe about Pressure-cooker kindergarten, that describes the frustration of educators who feel mandated standards and testing are forcing them to make early childhood education a creativity-killing exercise for our kids. Everything I have seen to date with respect to Westwood leads [...]
At the last meeting of the Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety Committee, we decided to begin drafting a document summarizing key issues and creating lists of key safety concerns for presentation to the Board of Selectmen. Our report will contain sections on:
Problem intersections/locations (e.g. need crosswalk, etc.) Sidewalks (list of locations needed, [...]50 Carby St. Meeting is open to anyone interested in pedestrian and bicycle safety.
[...]I just wanted to take the time to warn my fellow Westwood citizens by sharing with you the nightmare my husband and I experienced at Patriot Place on Saturday pm. We had the rare occasion of a dinner and movie date. We attended a 9:15pm movie at the Patriot Place [...]
I just wanted to take the time to warn my fellow Westwood citizens by sharing with you the nightmare my husband and I experienced at Patriot Place on Saturday
pm. We had the rare occassion of a dinner and movie date. We attended a
9:15pm movie at the Patriot Place [...]
Pine Lane, connecting Islington Center to Gay St, is being resurfaced. I'd like to open up a discussion about any suggestions people might have for ways to improve the pedestrian and bicycle safety on this road in the hopes that we can use the repainting of road lines as an' [...]
It is time to register for the 2009 Westwood Little League "Fall Ball" Baseball program. Fall Ball is a training and development program with no playoffs or trophies, just good baseball at a great time of the year to work on skills, have fun and [...]
On aug,1st,2009 witnessed a bright greenish white object in sky above Roche Brothers.
[...]This Sunday, August 2 at 9am-1pm, 871 Gay St. I know the blog here has been dead lately, and once our lives settle down a bit, I'll pick things up. New job, selling our house, moving to a rental while we wait out the housing market in Islington...we have been' [...]
The Westwood Gentlemen's Running Group now has a logo
and has grown to a dozen members. Watch out for this crew Saturday mornings
and say hello to our new mascot
[...]The Westwood Board of Selectmen and Planning Board will hold a joint meeting tonight (Monday, July 20, 2009) at 7:30pm at Town Hall to choose from nine individuals who have applied for the open position on the Planning Board. After discussion, the Board of Selectmen and three of four members [...]
Normally, I don't post non-Westwood things here or blog my opinion as the primary focus. But I ran across this YouTube video of a "typical" school day in the Netherlands. Check this out:
Can you imagine such a sight in ANY American city or suburb?
' [...]I would like to know who the other candidates are for the open seat on the planning board. When I called the town and asked for the names they would not release them. The people that put their names should put something in the paper as to why they didn't' [...]
If you noticed the Century 21 sign in front of my house, you know we are looking to sell 871 Gay St.
This is a great house and a great opportunity for someone to move to a "turnkey" home with four bedrooms, 2 1/2 baths, and 1908 square [...]
So I noticed my recycling truck this morning mixing the plastic and cardboard/paper together. He just grabbed the green recycle tubs and dumped them together.
I've been taking the time to seperate the plastics into 1 bin and the cardboard/paper into another. Now I'm either questioning the recycling or now going [...]
Library Director Tom Viti has started a blog to provide updates and respond to questions from residents about the new library project. Check it out by following this link to the Library Building Project News site.
[...]FOX25 News ran a special report tonight on how parents and school children in Wakefield have organized a "walking school bus" to encourage and promote kids walking to school. This is one of the programs described/promoted by Safe Routes to Schools. In Westwood, I know Hanlon and Downey are doing [...]
Editor's Note: I received a copy of the following letter, sent to Edward Farley, Executive Director, Outdoor Advertising Division, MassHighway, by Dedham Selectman Paul Reynolds, related to the T's plans to deploy new billboards...
Dear Mr. Farley and the entire MassHighway management team,
On behalf of many alarmed constituents in the [...]
from the Town web site...
Interested in serving in local government?
If you would like to serve the Town of Westwood on one of the following committees: Communications & Technology, Conservation, Council on Aging, Cultural, Health, Historical, Recreation, Youth & Family Services, as well as the recently established Roy London [...]
Monthly meeting of Ped/Bike Safety Committee. Come join us and help find ways to improve pedestrian and bicycle safety in Westwood.
Meetings are 3rd Thursday of each month. This meeting will be held in the Board of Selectmen's meeting room at' [...]
We had a great turnout this weekend as five of us trekked into Boston to run the Harpoon 5-miler on Saturday. John Isberg left us all in the dust, running an impressive 7:03 pace--almost a minute ahead of the rest of us.The race raised money for the Angel Fund, [...]
A visitor sent me a suggestion to find out how to join any local softball, basketball, etc. leagues. I know a few people who play, but I don't know who organizes these things. Any suggestions?
' [...]This Friday is the first Bike Friday of the year. Convoys of police-led bike commuters will leave from various points around the Boston Metro area and converge on Government Center around 8:15am to grab a free cup of coffee and some bagels, meet other bike commuters, then get to [...]
Driving up Clapboardtree Street today, my wife and I noticed smoke rising from the fresh, but very dry mulch in front of #489. I thought about it for a few seconds, and we turned around and went back where we found a lit cigarette smoldering in a growing circle of [...]
The town has set up an email list I will use to send information relatated to the activities of the Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety Committee. Please subscribe here if you are interested.
Next meeting is this Thursday, 7:30pm, at 50 Carby Street.
We have people from every elementary school [...]
I start work next Tuesday, after the Memorial Day weekend. I do not want to blog extensively about my new job until I talk with the people I'll be working with in more detail, but I am excited because I will have an opportunity, working with http://mass.gov/recovery, to' [...]
The webinar (slides ) for communities with population less than 35,000 was held May 15. More information is available at the DOER website.(to view the webinar on a Mac, you will need to download a plugin from Microsoft to allow playing the .wmv [...]
Start: May 18 2009 - 6:30pm
End: May 18 2009 - 7:30pm
Lieutenant Governor Tim Murray will visit Westwood High School on Monday, May 18 at 6:30pm to host a forum about Governor Patrick's proposals for reform. From the official website:
A decline in state revenue is forcing us all to [...]
Note: The deadline has been extended through Memorial Day.
The Recreation Department is serving up its second annual tennis tournament. This is a fund raiser to rebuild Morrison Park's Tennis Courts. It's a singles tournament for ages 12 and older and will be held from [...]
I've been looking at the Neuton battery-powered lawnmower for a while now and considering replacing my gas-powered mower to:
reduce noise reduce carbon emissions and gasoline odorI had concerns about the ability of a batter-powered mower to cover the entire yard, but Neuton has a new, bigger model that can supposedly' [...]
Just a few miscellaneous items/reminders...
If you have not paid for your dog's license, get down to Town Hall and pay up. There are over 1200 licensed dogs in town, but more than half (of the owners) have not paid this year's $10 license fee. Every little bit of revenue for [...]
[Thanks to Anne McIntyre for bringing this idea to my attention...]
We've all seen those "Slow down, family neighborhood!" signs and wondered if they had any effect. Traffic engineers would probably say signs have NO impact at all and the only way to "calm" traffic is to modify' [...]
I would have spoken up at town meeting last night but I didn't think my comments would have an outcome on the vote for the library funding. However, I have some very real concerns about the timing of this project as I'm sure the library trustees do as well.
For [...]
First of all, I intend to provide live video updates to tonight's town meeting. I am not promising 100% coverage, but I will be able to post short video clips from my phone during the meeting, so residents can check back here on the blog to see whether they [...]
The Towns of Dedham and Westwood are hosting a joint event, the Dedham Westwood Green Fair, on Saturday, May 16 at the Dedham Middle School. The purpose of this free event is to educate and engage local residents on the [...]
This is an experiment...the video below is live--or a recording of the last live broadcast i made from my iPhone.
The weather was much better than last year with breaking high temps across the state. Much better than last year's cold, clamy, wet day.
But yet, we only had 15% show up to vote. So I do wish to thank all the voters that came out with the Planning Board being [...]
Journal entry: My personal campaign experience.
Over the past two campaigns I've heard other candidates make reference to experience. They reference town politics as the basis of their experience if you ask for clarity. Vote for EXPERIENCE. We hear these three words so often they've become meaningless to the general [...]
Diary entry: My personal campaign experience.
Over the past two campaigns, I've heard other candidates make reference to experience. They reference town politics as the basis of their experience if you ask for clarity. Vote for EXPERIENCE. We here these three words so often they've become meaningless to the general public. [...]
Approximately 15% of Westwood voters (1499) turned out and elected Steve Rafsky and Steve Olanoff to the Planning Board. In the Assessor's race, Mark Murphy won election to the position he had been appointed to last year.
Complete results are available on the Town website.
[...]No endorsement from me but a few observations.
For the Board of Assessors, voters will choose between Mark Murphy and Jack Rose. You can view their statements from the League of Women Voters Candidate Forum here, after about 5 minutes of intro and 2 minutes of Nancy Hyde...just let [...]
One of the things I find most disturbing about the Planning Board election is how candidates have aligned themselves in ways that create a conflict of interest. Specifically, both Steves (Rafsky & Olanoff) have chosen to put their signs at rental properties owned by a developer who regularly has business [...]
This Sunday, as temperatures are projected to hit 85 degrees, why not run a 10K? The James Joyce Ramble will leave Endicot Estate in Dedham at 11am. I'll be there, but I think this will NOT be a personal record effort...
' [...]The video of the forum from last weekend wil be broadcast on Comcast channel 8 at the following times:
Sat. 4/25 - 10:00AM
Sun. 4/26 - 1:00 PM
It is the same thing that is viewable online.
I am also involved with WestCAT, the Westwood Community Access Television non-profit organization. We [...]
A couple of people have asked me about leading some kind of group in Westwood for people who are looking for work. I think that might be a good idea for many reasons. I meet with the Salty Legs Career Club in Cambridge every two weeks, and our group [...]
The last Friday of every month is a "Walk/Ride Day" for many towns and cities in the Boston area. Originally organized in Cambridge and Somerville, Go Green Streets has expanded participation to include other communities. The idea is to walk or ride a bike instead of driving, and to [...]
Town Election is this Tuesday. Polls open 7am-8pm.
[...]Periodically, I hear complaints about anonymous comments here. I wish everyone would identify themselves because I think that would make for a more accountable and respectful discussion. But there is a valid role for anonymity.
I challenged an anonymous poster recently to use his real name...his response, in part:
[regarding opposition to [...]
Saturday, May 9 at Carby Street DPW facility from 9:00-12:00 noon.
The event is sponsored by the Westwood Environmental Committee and the Keep Westwood Clean Committee to:
help residents during the transition from analog to digital TVs help residents recycle old [...]I just contributed a short article to the Hometown Weekley about the concept of town centers and connecting the "villages" of Westwood. I've written several posts in the past on this topic and welcome any comments or thoughts...here are links to the earlier articles that will open in a separate' [...]
