Government

City Council Approves Seed Money for Willow Park Affordable Housing Development

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A rendering of the Willow Park Housing development. The first new public housing building in Watertown to be constructed in Watertown in decades took a significant step forward when the City Council approved spending Community Preservation Act funds on the project at Willow Park on Tuesday night. The development will create 138 units on the site of 60 that currently has units. On Tuesday, the Council approved the Community Preservation Committee’s recommendation to spend $4 million in CPA funds on the project. Councilors also approved money to cover the cost of the restoration of historic paintings that hang in the lobby of City Hall.

Around Town

Police Log: Car Stolen, Shoplifter Involved in Hit and Run & Scam Alert

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The following information was provided by the Watertown Police Department. Feb. 2: At 4:45 p.m., a man went into Target and went through the self checkout, scanned some of the items but did not scan about $500 in merchandise. He left the store and got into a vehicle parked on the side of Target, near Elm Street. The driver backed up and struck a parked car before leaving the area.

Around Town

Local Podcast Chats with Police Chief, the Library Director & a Dancer/Scientist; Also Hear the First Episode of Creative Chats

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Hear about the Watertown Police Chief’s unusual childhood, the library director’s career in books and libraries, and about a dancer/scientist in their conversations with Watertown podcast host Matt Hanna. In “Little Local Conversations,” discover the people, places, stories, and ideas of Watertown. Hanna has conversations with various businesses owners, community leaders, creatives, and other interesting folks in Watertown to learn about what they do and get to know a bit about the people behind the work. 

Justin Hanrahan

Meet Justin Hanrahan! He’s the Police Chief here in Watertown. In our conversation we get into his unconventional childhood and how the Watertown community was important in getting him through it, his early experiences in policing from protecting “boothies” to a career defining moment that instilled in him that policing is much more than just catching criminals, his rise through the ranks in Watertown and the shift in culture he’s been a part of, his impact in teaching and training departments all over the state, the changes he’s enacted in his time as chief and the programs and initiatives he’s looking forward to in the future.

Schools

Watertown Students Make Dean’s List at 5 Colleges, Graduate from 2 More

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Several students hailing from Watertown made the dean’s list at Assumption, Fort Hays State, Endicott, Quinnipiac, and Fairfield. Also, local students graduated from WPI and Georgia Tech. The information has been provided by the colleges and universities. Dean’s List

Assumption University

Assumption University has announced that Isabella Sadkowski, of Watertown, Class of 2028, has been named to the University’s Dean’s List for the fall 2024 semester. Students named to the Dean’s List must achieve a grade point average of 3.5 for a five-class, 15-credit semester to be included on the prestigious list, which is announced at the completion of the fall and spring semesters.

Around Town

Watertown Woman Running First Marathon & Raising Money for Dana-Farber Cancer Institute

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Watertown-native Despina Najarian will be running the 2025 Boston Marathon for the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. A Watertown resident who had not been a runner until two years ago will be running the 2025 Boston Marathon and will raise money for the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Despina Najarian said she has always dreamed of completing a marathon, but only recently began running. “I only started running 2 years ago at the age of 29. I joined Orangetheory Fitness Waltham in November of 2022,” she said.

Schools

Boston Bruins Players Visit Perkins School for the Blind to Try Their Hand at Goalball

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Members of the Perkins School for the Blind Goalball team great Boston Bruins players Parker Wotherspoon and Matthew Potras on Friday. (Photo by Charlie Breitrose)

A couple of special guests showed up at the Perkins School Friday to join the students in a game of goalball — a popular team sport at the school for the blind in Watertown. Boston Bruins players Parker Wotherspoon and Matthew Potras pulled on the eyeshades so they couldn’t use their sight during the game in which teams of three try to roll a rubber ball across the gym and into the opponent’s goal. The ball has a bell in it, to help defenders locate and block the ball. Students and staff lined the upper level of Perkins’ gym to get a glimpse of two pro hockey players join their very own Towerhawks.