06.28.09 – The Week That Was: A new neighborhood association, an update on Turners, & poll results on elder driver safety

A weekly recap of key events and items of interest to the Milton community:

Tucker Neighborhood Association forms

There is a new neighborhood association in town, the Tucker Neighborhood Association. The catalyst for this association is the current effort by the Planning Board to evaluate options regarding redevelopment of the Temple Shalom property. However, acting chair Lisa Murphy noted that the notion of an association had been percolating for some time to address concerns such as crime and traffic. You can read more about the association here.

An update on status of path around Turner’s Pond

The Park Department project to put in a path around Turner’s Pond is currently under review by the Department of Environmental Protection. The Park had received approval from the Conservation Commission but that was appealed by some of the abutters. You can learn more on status from original post  here.

Poll results on elder driver safety

There have been a number of tragic accidents in the last two weeks involving elderly drivers. Senator Brian Joyce of Milton has for some time been advocating for testing of drivers age 85 and older. We published a pool soliciting reader input on the issue. 71% felt the proposed legislation did not go far enough. You can find the poll on the right side of this page and view complete results by clicking on “View results.”

Milton Commuter Alert: transportation notes & I-93 road closures for 07/05

TRAFFIC AND COMMUTING NOTES

Few details, some curves in hunt for Mass. Pike budget

from The Boston Globe

Consumers in Massachusetts will soon be paying a higher sales tax, in large part to avoid a $100 million toll hike on the Massachusetts Turnpike. So you would think it would be fairly easy to get some details on how the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority intends to spend all that money, along with the rest of its $430 million budget, gathered mostly from collecting tolls. (Read the full story here.)

Paying tolls just got faster for Zipcar’s customers

Zipcar drivers will no longer have to wait in cash lanes to pay tolls on the Massachusetts Turnpike and the Tobin Memorial Bridge. The company, which leases cars to its members by the hour or the day, installed E-ZPass transponders in all 950 of its Boston-area cars last week.

MBTA seeks bids on crash-prevention system

The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, long under pressure to improve safety on its trolleys, opened bidding last week for a crash-prevention system to test on the Mattapan trolley.

The T is asking private companies interested in building the system to design a “fail-safe’’ product that would warn trolley operators if their cars get too close to another trolley and, if necessary, automatically apply the emergency brakes.

New MBTA lines will allow operators to reach their families — without cellphones

from The Boston Globe

MBTA General Manager Daniel Grabauskas said today his agency is setting up about 42 new phone lines at key locations so bus drivers and train operators can keep in touch with their families. (Read the full story here.)

ROAD CLOSURES

I-93 South approaching and through Downtown: Nighttime Multi-lane Closure

Two-to-three lanes of I-93 South will be closed at night approaching and through Downtown Monday, July 6, 2009 through Wednesday, July 8, 2009 from 11:30 PM to 5:00 AM the following morning. These lane closures are for maintenance work.

Read more

Milton Parks & Recreation Concert: An Enchanted Evening with the John Capavella Quartet

The Milton Parks & Recreation present “An Enchanted Evening with the John Capavella Quartet”, sponsored by the Alfred Thomas Funeral Home, at the Baron Hugo Gazebo on the Town Green at the Town Hall.

The concert starts at 6:30.

NOTE: ***Schedule Subject to Change***
Concerts are offered by the Milton Parks and Recreation and the Board of Selectmen

RAIN CANCELLATION INFO AFTER 4 PM: 617-898-4940

You can view the full schedule of concerts here.

Milton actor stays busy close to home

from The Patriot Ledger

His past bosses have included Clint  Eastwood, Martin Scorsese and  Oliver Stone.  But you probably  don’t know Tom Kemp – he’s that  guy whose face you know, but can’t  place.

Rest assured, though, you’ve seen  Kemp plenty.  He’s a Milton actor who  has had roles in Stone’s “W.,” Eastwood’s  “Mystic River,” and Scorsese’s  soon-to-be  released thriller “Shutter Island.” (Read the full story here.)

“Independence forever!”

John Adams died on July 4th 1826. On that day, he toasted the 4th one last time with the words, “Independence forever!”

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IN CONGRESS, JULY 4, 1776
The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America

When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

Read more

Cell Tower proposed near Blue Hills

from Wicked Local Canton

The Friends of Blue Hills, a group that aims to preserve and protect the Blue Hills Reservation, is concerned with a proposed 140-foot cell tower that could mar the view of the Blue Hills range.

The monopole tower, with up to five groups of disk-like antennas, may be constructed near the northbound ramp to Route 128 at Houghton’s Pond, close to Canton and Randolph. The Milton site is owned by Mass Highway, and it is sandwiched in between Blue Hills Reservation property, which consists of 22 hills and a 7,000 acre park. (Read the full story here.)

Library to offer workshop for job seekers

Unemployed? Looking for a new job?

Join an experienced job coach and other job seekers and learn how to stay motivated throughout the summer.
Even though it may seem that everyone you try to meet with is on vacation, and the beach looks inviting, summer actually can be a good time to jump start your job search campaign.

Roni F. Noland, career coach in Milton and former Boston Globe “Job Doc”, will offer proven strategies to make your job search more successful.

WHEN:    Wednesday, July 15, 10am-12noon

WHERE:  Milton Public Library / 476 Canton Avenue / Keys Community Room, Lower Level

Please bring a copy of your current resume. Free, but pre-registration by Friday, July 10 required.

Contact cdspiros@comcast.net

Diversion: The Second Day of July 1776 will be the most memorable Epocha, in the History of America. . . .

It ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with Shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires, and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more.”
–John Adams to Abigail Adams, July 3, 1776


The Resolution of July 2, 1776

The Resolution of July 2, 1776


This is not the easiest document to read. This is what it says:

“Resolved, That these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and inde­pendent states, that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the state of Great Britain is, and ought to be, totally dissolved.”

This is from the National Archives. You can learn more here.

Planning board rounds out committee on Temple Shalom

The Planning Board recently rounded out the committee appointed to evaluate options regarding the development of the Temple Shalom property. They were seeking town residents with knowledge of mixed user development, architecture and landscape design.

Temple Shalom congregants, Buddy Packer and Rob Rosofsky, and neighborhood residents, Tammy Murphy, Joe Sloan, Beth Fleitman, and Nicholas Macke are now joined by Tom Smigliani, Lawrence Witko, Cheryl Tougias, and Christine Hodlin.

Mr. Witko is a developer and Ms. Tougias, an architect who specializes in commercial and mixed use development.

For a list of posts related to the Temple Shalom property development click here.

Carver School Department’s chief operations and finance officer leaving for Milton

from Wicked Local Carver

After receiving an offer he couldn’t refuse, the school department’s chief operations and finance officer, Matthew Gillis, is leaving Carver.

According to Superintendent Liz Sorrell, Gillis has accepted an offer from Milton Public Schools. But his departure will not be immediate. His contract calls for a 120-day notice to be given in order to allow ample time to find a replacement. (Read the full story here.)

New fire chief takes over in Milton

from Wicked Local Milton

As a teenager, John Grant Jr. had thoughts about becoming a firefighter just like his father. “It wasn’t something I really planned, but it was always there,” Grant, the town’s new fire chief, said Wednesday. “I knew I did want to wind up as a firefighter.”

The 49-year-old Grant, a lifelong Milton resident, was sworn in as chief on Tuesday. (Read the full story here.)