Watertown News (https://www.watertownmanews.com/page/7/)
The following information was provided by the Watertown Police Department.
Steve Magoon
Steve Magoon has seen the transformation of large sections of Watertown, and played a major role in the creation of some of the City’s most important planning documents during his time working for the City. Magoon will retire at the end of January after more than 17 years as director of the Department of Community Development and Planning.
Watertown will cancel the contract with Flock Safety to install license plate reading cameras in the City, and City Manager George Proakis told the City Council he wants to continue to have discussions about when it is appropriate for the Watertown Police to use technology in its investigations.
Charlie BreitroseA truck plows a Watertown street.
Watertown Public Works crews will be busy this week continuing efforts to dig the City out after the heavy snow on Sunday and Monday, said City Manager George Proakis.
To the Editor:
Dozens of Home Depot Stores in Texas are sharing parking lot surveillance camera license-plate scans — through the Flock network — with the Johnson County, Texas, Sheriff’s office. This is according to the Electronic Frontier Foundation and 404 Media.
This winter weekend starts off with two events that highlight bringing more light to our winter days. On Friday night at the Watertown Center for Healing there is a special dance called a Biodance which is about bringing together music, movement and positive feelings. Then on Saturday afternoon, the River of Light Lantern Parade is happening at the Mosesian Center for the Arts. It was so beautiful last year. I highly recommend going to see it or even better, bringing your own lantern to join in the parade. And, I’m excited to share that my brass band, Good Trouble Brass Band and the Watertown High School Band will be accompanying the parade. If you prefer a smaller gathering, there is a seed packing party at the library on Saturday morning. You can help the library get seeds ready for their seed library reopening in February. On Sunday the Gore Estate is giving a talk about early 19th century women’s fashion. It’s in preparation for their upcoming Regency Ball. Finally, I have another restaurant recommendation. We have a new seafood restaurant in town, Boxfish, which I expect will be fantastic as it’s the same chef as at Cha Yen, Manita Bunnagitkarn, who is sharing with us her cooking expertise in the old Cha Yen space, but this time focused on seafood.
Not every sporting event is created equal. Some games have all the makings of something special and then turn out to be duds. Others seem like a mismatch on paper, but turn out to be great games. Some even surprise and disappoint all before the final buzzer sounds. Tuesday night, Watertown hosted Winchester and one did not know what to expect.
A rendering of the new Watertown High School from Ai3 Architects.
After originally hoping to open Watertown’s state-of-the-art new high school after spring break, Watertown Superintendent Dede Galdston said that the school will not host classes until the fall of 2026.
The Charles River Regional Chamber will host the Annual Real Estate Forum: What’s next in the fight for housing on Tuesday, Jan. 27, 9-11:30 a.m. at UMass Amherst Charles River Campus, Newton (formerly Mount Ida). See the announcement from the Chamber below.
Watertown Business Coalition’s first event of 2026 focuses on rebranding your business or organization. The event at Atelier Sociale includes and opportunity to get your headshot taken by a professional photographer. See more details in the announcement from the WBC and the City’s Events Team, below.
The following information was provided by the Watertown Police Department.
The Polar Plunge will return to Watertown on Feb. 7, 2026, and the Watertown Police seek to raise even more this year fro the Special Olympics of Massachusetts.