Arsenal Yards

LETTER: Resident Supports Taller Tower in Arsenal Yards Project

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During my campaign for Library Trustee last year I talked with hundreds of residents about their concerns. The pace of housing development was by far the most popular topic of conversation. Some residents expressed reservations about the new development. They worried about increased traffic and possible strain on the schools, among other questions. Others — people on fixed incomes, working-class residents, and families eager to buy a home here but squeezed out of the market — were more worried about the cost of housing.

Arsenal Mall

LETTER: Resident Concerned About Request for Taller Tower at Mall

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I wrote this letter in December 2016 but it is even more relevant today in lieu of the zoning amendment proposal to increase the RMUD height to 197 feet. To the citizens of Watertown, regarding the Arsenal Project MP/SP proposal, 12/19/16. In over a year of meetings the issue which I thought would have been a major concern to both the citizens of Watertown, the city councilors, and the city planning department employees was rarely discussed. The issue I am referring to is the development of a 12 story building (building “G”) approximately 100 feet from Greenough Boulevard. Now the reason the developer wants to build this building is obvious.

Artificial Turf

LETTER: Are There Links Between Artificial Turf and Cancer in Soccer Players?

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Many soccer goalies dive face down into the turf hundreds of times per week, during games and practices. As a consequence of playing that position on artificial turf, goalies are prone to inhale and ingest potentially toxic dust and vapor to a greater extent than most other athletes who play on those same fields. Amy Griffin, Associate Soccer Coach at the University of Washington and former goalie for the U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team, began discovering a disturbing pattern of soccer players being diagnosed with cancer, mostly cancers of the blood, lymphomas and leukemia. On an NBC News report in 2014, we learned how she began compiling a list of players with cancer who played on artificial turf. When her list reached 38 soccer players, 34 were goalies.

Elections

LETTER: Support Councilors for Fixing Pot Holes, Not Focused on Political Movements

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Vote Councilors that will worry about fixing potholes! Well it’s 2017 and sadly most voters believe this is a year when you aren’t required to fulfill your civic responsibility to vote. It’s an off year – right? Save for a small handful of special elections to fill vacancies in the Legislature, no one is running for anything until next year. 

Wrong! Nothing could be further from the truth.

Letters

LETTER: Consider the Neighbors When Lighting Victory Field

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For many the twilight and evening hours are special – a time to relax, unwind, draw closer to loved ones and friends, measure thoughts against the gathering night. But for hundreds of households in the vicinity of Watertown’s Victory Field, ours among them, such simple pleasures have become more elusive in recent years due to the nightly incursion of distressingly bright glare from the lights on the field. Sports have been played under the lights at Victory Field since the days of the old Watertown Twilight Baseball League back in the 1930s and for most of the 80 years since with little if any neighborhood disturbance or injury. But in 2011-12 the Phase One renovation of the baseball and football field introduced lighting of a much greater magnitude on 80 foot poles that so altered and affected our daily lives and routines it soon became a constant source of community ire and outcry. And from which there is no respite since they are left blazing every evening until 10:15 or 10:30 p.m. most of the year REGARDLESS of whether there is a game to light on the field.

Letters

LETTER: Resident Worries About Lead Contained in Artificial Turf

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(The following was presented to the Town Council on Sept. 26)

So, we need more artificial turf for our kids. Really?According to the Centers for Disease Control, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the World Health Organization, the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, and the Mayo Clinic, there is NO safe level of lead, especially for children. A child’s brain and nervous system are in the process of developing. Biologically, even high school athletes are still children.

Letters

LETTER: Resident Concerned About Health Risks From Artificial Turf

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I begin these comments with the central point of my message. I am opposed to artificial turf playing fields, chiefly for health reasons. I believe that mounting evidence demonstrates that the plastic blades, the crumb rubber infill, and other additives contain hazardous chemicals and heavy metals that are especially harmful to children and to adults with compromised immune systems.

Our current artificial turf field is going on six years old, with a realistic total life expectancy of eight to ten years. As with all such fields, it is naturally degrading due to weather and normal usage. The stress of sun, heat, cold, rain, and snow, along with the pounding of feet and bodies break down the plastic and rubber, creating dust and vapor that are released into the air and can be inhaled, ingested, and absorbed into the skin.

Letters

ESSAY: A Man’s Game of Tag with His Son, Others at a Watertown Playground

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Playground, by Dean Berlin

So this is it, huh? A lifetime of building a reasonably fit body and observing predator-prey strategies, and here I am: chasing a 5-year around a playground. I’m playing my Son’s favorite game, which is just a variant of tag. Over the years, I’ve introduced increasing subtleties into the game (no tag-backs, a base, a point system, etc.), and for that I’m very proud. Still, here I am, an adult male capable of whatever my LinkedIn says, lurking beneath a blue plastic slide for a child to find me.