by Frank Schroth

Nerdwallet, a web site focused on personal finance and small business, has ranked Milton as one of the top towns in Massachusetts for raising children. In citing Milton (#10) they state:

The school system offers a language-immersion program for first and second graders, where every class is taught in French. High-school education in Milton is just as strong. Enrollment in the AP program continues to grow, but not at the cost of student-teacher interaction.

You can find the full article and rankings here.

Over on Facebook a group has formed in support of a Trader Joe’s at the Granite Avenue site (the Mass DOT lot).  The Facebook page is titled, “Bring Trader Joe’s to Granite Ave, Milton” and it can be found here. The page has 942 “Likes” and growing. It is unclear who created the page. The About section states: “Discussions are happening about what to replace the MassDot parking lot on Granite Avenue in Milton with. The town’s Master Plan Committee came up with a suggestion of a Trader Joe’s. This Facebook Page was created to show support for that idea.”

Emily Innes, Chair of the Master Plan Committee said the committee has not endorsed that idea. It likely came up as one of many suggestions at one of the Master Plan forums. Separately, a separate committee, appointed by the Selectmen, has been formed to specifically look at uses for that lot. It should be noted that the lot is still owned by Mass DOT. The committee charge is to evaluate possibilities for the site that provide value to the community and revenue to the town. You can find a list of committee appointments here.

We’ve witnessed an exceptional amount of activity over in the vicinity of Turner’s Pond recently. Early yesterday morning a fox crossed Central Avenue on his way to . . . work?  He paused to glance in our direction before continuing on in a manner that we found a little disconcertingly leisurely. The deer we spotted the day before was equally unperturbed while we paused to watch it enjoy a early evening repast.

They shared as expression upon spotting us that seemed to say, “That’s funny. . . what is that guy doing here? Oh well, live and let live.”
 

Lastly, and perhaps the most amazing of all, was a turtle laying eggs. They use their hind legs like little dual steam shovels. The mom dug a hole (it was really deep!), laid her eggs, covered it up, and wandered away. We won’t disclose the location but suffice to say it is like hiding in plain sight. If all goes as planned the little ones will pop up sometime in August.

And life goes on.