Around Town

Watertown Restaurant Will Offer Seasonal Prix Fixe Menu Featuring Local Ingredients

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Bar ‘Cino has opened in Watertown Square. (Photo courtesy of Bar ‘Cino)

Bar ‘Cino in Watertown will be serving prix fixe menus featuring in-season produce from farms in New England. The restaurant in Watertown Square will serve a three course prix fixe menu for $36 a person Sunday t0 Wednesday from June 24 to Sept. 18, said Bryan Parkin, General Manager at Bar ‘Cino in Watertown. The menu will use fresh ingredients from local farms.

“As a company we have spend quite a bit of money with Farm Fresh Rhode Island as well as Verrill Farms in Concord to help local agriculture and support the farmers,” Parkin said.

Around Town

Places in Watertown to Stay Cool During the Heat Wave

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Children enjoy the new spray pad at Filippello Park in East Watertown. (Photo by Charlie Breitrose)

The City of Watertown provided the following tips about how to keep cool in this week’s heat wave:

As the first heat wave of the season approaches, here are some places to help you stay cool through Sunday, 23, 2024:

The Filippello Park Spray Pad, located between Arlington and Grove Streets, is open daily from 9:15 a.m.-8:15 p.m. all summer. The Watertown Free Public Library, at 123 Main Street, is open Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday from 9 a.m.-9 p.m., Friday from 9 a.m.-7 p.m., Saturday from 9 a.m.-5 p.m., and Sunday from 1 p.m-5 p.m. The Library will be closed on Wednesday, June 19, 2024. The DCR Pool, located at 138 Pleasant Street, is scheduled to be open on Saturday, June 22, 2024 from 11:15 a.m. – 6:45 p.m. It will be open daily through Sunday, August 18, 2024. See information about the pool.

Around Town

City of Watertown Closures for the Juneteenth Holiday

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The City of Watertown provided the following announcement:

City Hall, the Parker Annex, Department of Public Works Offices, the Senior Center and the Watertown Free Public Library are closed on Wednesday, June 19, 2024 in observance of Junteenth. Please be aware that due to the Juneteeth holiday on Wednesday, trash and recycling pickup will be delayed one day after the holiday. The pickup schedule is Monday, June 17-Tuesday, June 18, 2024 and Thursday, June 20-Saturday, June 22, 2024. A holiday postpones pickup by one day.

Weather

Excessive Heat Watch from Tuesday to Friday, Will Feel Like 100+ Degrees

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Temperatures will reach into the high 90s from Tuesday to Friday, this week, according to the National Weather Service, and it will feel like it is over 100 degrees. An Excessive Heat Watch is in effect from Tuesday, June 18 at noon to Friday, June 21 at 7 p.m. High temperatures are forecast to be in the 90s each day, and may even reach 100 on Thursday, according to the National Weather Service forecast. [Dangerous Heat & Humidity] Heat Headlines are in effect away from the immediate south coast Tue through Fri. Heat & Humidity peak in the Wed through Fri time frame with record high possible. Afternoon Heat Indices will reach between 98 and 106 degrees away from the south coast.

Around Town

LETTER: Resident Seeks Help Recovering Lost Items

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Dear Watertown MA News,

Please see the attachment (at bottom) and brief summary regarding a recent incident at 48 Bridge street in Watertown, Ma 02472 In May 2024. I am avidly looking to recover these items, and asking for help if anything has showed up? Thank you for your service in the community of victims suffering loss to theft. SUMMARY:

My items were placed at the outside walkway of 48 Bridge St., Watertown, MA 02472 momentarily on the morning of Thursday, May 16, 2024 around 9:45 a.m.

Unfortunately I was brought to Mt. Auburn Hospital in an ambulance and my property was left at the strangers outside walkway by accident.

Around Town

LETTER: Green Infrastructure Must be Part of the Watertown Square Area Plan

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The following letter was submitted to be read at the June 13, 2024 Watertown Square Area Plan meeting:

Dear Vincent, Watertown Planning Board, and Watertown City Council:

I am sorry I cannot attend in person this evening, so I hope that this can go on the Public record as my comment:

—–

First, I just want to say that I have been excited to hear about the plans for Watertown Square to develop the area — much-needed improvements in public transportation, walkability, bike-ability, drive-ability, housing, local businesses, and our community as a whole, and I can say that the people of Watertown have very much appreciated your including the residents in the planning process. We have had the chance to voice our concerns, and we are grateful for that. 

Thank you to all of those who are working to make this the best plan for Watertown. I realize there is momentum to give the plan a GREEN light. However, please hear me out when I say tonight that I think that as good as this plan is, there is still a huge, critical piece that is missing and a means to make this plan much better for the future of Watertown. I hope that with my speaking up tonight, members of the Planning Board and City Council, and hopefully also any residents of Watertown who are listening, will consider taking the necessary steps to further optimize the plan to encompass that which is missing: 

Urban Ecological Planning and Living Green Infrastructure.

Around Town

Latest Draft of Watertown Square Area Plan Has Some Changes, More Detail

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Public Weighed-in on Proposal at Thursday’s Meeting, No Vote Taken

City Manager George Proakis presents the Watertown Square Area Plan draft to the Planning Board and City Council on Thursday night at Watertown Middle School. (Photo by Charlie Breitrose)

City officials presented the latest draft of the Watertown Square Area Plan to the public on Thursday night, but the City Council and Planning Board did not take a vote on the proposal. They will reconvene in two weeks to continue discussing the report. At the meeting held at Watertown Middle School, City Manager George Proakis said even when the draft is approved, it will not be the end of the process. Rather, he paraphrased a Winston Churchill quote from World War II,

“I actually think we are at the end of the beginning of this process by handing you over a plan,” Proakis said.