Government

City Councilor Caroline Bays Hosting Annual Public Meeting

By |

Caroline Bays

City Councilor At-Large Caroline Bays will host her annual meeting on April 27, 2026 at the Watertown Library

Bays provided the following announcement:

“I wanted to invite you to my Annual Meeting,” Bays said. “After hearing questions about what Watertown can do about ICE in Watertown and also curiosity about the Watertown Square Area Plan, I decided it was a good time to hold my Annual Meeting.” Bays’ annual meeting will take place on Monday, April 27 from 5:30-6:30 p.m. in the Watertown Free Public Library’s Lucia Mastrangelo Room. The Library is located at 123 Main St. in Watertown.

Police/Fire

Fire Hits East End Home, Residents Evacuated by Alert Witnesses

By |

Watertown Firefighters put out a fire at a home on Kimball Road. (Photo by Charlie Breitrose)

Watertown Firefighters doused a house fire on Kimball Road Tuesday morning. Residents were not hurt thanks to alert employees of a Coolidge Square business. Calls for heavy smoke from the home at 8 Kimball Road came in for a fire at about 7:30 a.m. and a working fire was called at about 7:40 a.m. The cause of the fire remains under investigation. The home sits yards from Mt.

Sports

BOSTON MARATHON: See How the 39 Watertown Runners Fares in the 2026 Edition

By |

Watertown had 39 participants in the 2026 Boston Marathon. The fastest male runner was Michael Creedon, and the top female was Courtney Hawkins. Creedon finished the 26.2 mile route from in a time of 2:33:41. He finished 530th overall and was the 506th fastest male. Hawkins, who ran for the Boston Athletic Association team, finished in a time of 2:49:30, and was the 130th fastest woman.

Obituaries

Watertown’s Bob Hall, First Boston Marathon Wheelchair Champ & Advocate for Access, Has Died

By |

Bob Hall won the Boston Marathon’s first wheelchair division race in 1975. Bob Hall, a Watertown resident and trailblazing wheelchair athlete and advocate for access, died at the age of 74. A private funeral service will be held at a later date, and visiting hours were held at Nardone Funeral Home on April 16. Hall’s passing was made headlines in the Boston Globe, New York Times, Washington Post, WGBH and many other places. The Boston Athletic Association had a remembrance on its website.

Schools

Watertown School Bus Fees Increasing, District May Buy Electric Buses

By |

by Pixabay

School bus fees will rise $200 for students who don’t qualify for the mandated busing areas of town in the 2026-27 school year. School officials will also look at purchasing its own buses, which would be electric. Increasing school bus fees was one of the steps taken to balance the school budget for Fiscal Year 2027. School officials had to close a $2.5 million gap. This year, students were charged $300 to ride the school bus, with a family cap of $475, said Superintendent Dede Galdston.

Real Estate

30 Open Houses in Watertown This Weekend

By |

The Watertown real estate market continues to buzz with tons of properties hosting tours this weekend. 164 Galen St. APT 15, $379,900, 2 bedroom 1 bathroom 950 sq. ft. Condo, Friday, April 17 4:30 PM – 6:00 PM Sunday, April 19 12:00 PM – 2:00 PM

652 Belmont St., $1,890,000, 6 bedroom 4 bathroom 3,137 sq.

Government

Watertown’s Budget Maintains Programs & Staffing, But City Needs Legislature’s Help to Do So

By |

Photo by Charlie BreitroseWatertown City Hall

Despite uncertain economic times, Watertown’s Fiscal Year 2027 budget will maintain the City’s program and staffing from the current year, but keeps staffing “headcount neutral.” The City will be in better shape than many communities in the area, City Manager George Proakis told the City Council on Tuesday night. Proakis presented the Fiscal Year 2027 Watertown Budget, which totals $226,212,930. The budget is 0.43% less than the revised FY26 budget. Pulling out of the other financial uses line (that includes using “free cash”) which fluctuates by year, the increase from FY26 to FY27 is 6.8%.