Here’s a quick year-end review highlighting some of the 436 news articles Fig City News published in 2024. Newton’s local news gained national prominence… Local leadership changes included… Civic discussion – and some discord – included… Newton Public Schools addressed other issues, including… Progress and concerns continued on infrastructure projects……
Fig City News
Fig City News provides local news, community announcements, and information to Newton – weekly since June 2022. Next year, we want to expand our reporting significantly, and we want to provide more information services to more readers across Newton. All of this requires funding. This is where you come in. We rely on your donations – not on…
Highlights this week… City Council City Council is not scheduled to meet this week. Schools School Committee is not scheduled to meet this week. Schools are closed until January 2. Boards and Commissions No meetings are scheduled this week. Other This week’s road construction schedule!
On Monday, December 16, the City Council passed the Building Emissions Reduction and Disclosure Ordinance (BERDO) in a near unanimous vote (23 Yea, and Councilor Micley absent). Two friendly amendments were approved: One by Councilor Gentile calls for the BERDO Administrator and Advisory Commission to meet with the Council 90…
Multilevel Classes are addressed again during public comment. The December 16 School Committee meeting was split into two sessions: a one-hour special meeting to receive feedback from community focus groups on the new Newton Public Schools (NPS) Strategic Planning Committee, followed by the regularly scheduled meeting’s agenda. The special meeting…
In the Massachusetts House session on Monday, December 16, State Representative Kay Khan and State Representative Ruth Balser bade farewell to their colleagues. They have been among the longest-serving members of the Massachusetts House and have represented almost all of Newton. They joined fourteen of their retiring colleagues in delivering…
Sharon Stout was one of the eleven electors of Massachusetts who convened at the State House on Tuesday, December 17, to cast ballots for President and Vice President of the U.S. in the 2024 election. That day, she was elected president of Electoral College and presided over the event, in…
Last week, Fig City News presented interviews with the four Ward Councilors newly elected a year ago, to learn about their first years on the Council. This week, Fig City News is checking in with two more first-year City Councilors, the two new Councilors-at-Large: Rena Getz in Ward 5 and Alan…
On December 11, at the Charles River Regional Chamber (CRRC) Real Estate Forum, an audience member asked, “If Wellesley may lose up to 15% of its population over the next five years, why do you need more housing?” “The housing crisis is a regional crisis,” replied Wellesley’s Planning Director, Eric…
Newton’s dual-high-school robotics team, the LigerBots, hosted the Massachusetts-East FIRST LEGO League (FLL) tournament at Newton North High School on December 14. This was a FIRST tournament (as in FIRST LEGO League) for the LigerBots, but not their first. The LigerBots have hosted at least seven FIRST LEGO League Qualifier tournaments…