Around Town

Watertown Woman Turned Her Love of Chocolate Into a Business

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Amy Vachon, owner of Sotto Chocolate, runs the business out of her Watertown home. (Photo by Charlie Breitrose)

Aromas rich with fruity and earthy tones fill the air each time Amy Vachon goes to work creating a batch of craft chocolate from beans she acquires from Africa, Central America, and the Caribbean. The Watertown resident began making her own chocolate in 2017, and Sotto Chocolate was officially registered as a business in 2020. She has converted a corner of her home near Watertown Square into a chocolate workshop. Regulars of the Watertown Farmers Market will recognize Sotto Chocolate.

Around Town

East Watertown Intersection to be Named for Armenian Immigrant and Artist Arshile Gorky

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Arshile Gorky painting at his sister Akabi’s house on Dexter Avenue in Watertown, c. 1922. (Unknown photographer. Collection of the Arshile Gorky Foundation). An intersection in East Watertown will be named in honor of an Armenian artist who made his home in Watertown for several years. On Tuesday, the City Council voted to name the intersection of Dexter Avenue and Hazel Street for Arshile Gorky.

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

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.

Government

Five Year Capital Plan Includes Middle School Project, Other Projects Pushed Back

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Rebuilding Watertown Middle School is the largest addition to Watertown’s five-year capital plan, and funding the $84 million project will require moving other projects to future years. The plan also includes projects that occur year after year, such as street and sidewalk repairs. City Manager George Proakis presented the Proposed Fiscal Year 2026-30 Capital Improvement Program (CIP) to the City Council on Jan. 28. The plan includes a grand total of $273 million, about $57 million more than the FY2025-29 CIP mostly due to the addition of the Middle School project.