Phil Schwartz turns 105 years old on Wednesday, February 11. A large crowd gathered with him the day before to celebrate at Coleman House — the 2Life Communities residential facility where he is very active and known as the “unofficial mayor.” There he received greetings in-person from State Senator Cynthia…
Fig City News
At a meeting on Monday, February 9, the City Council’s Zoning and Planning Committee reviewed the status of potential projects proposed under the Village Center Overlay District (VCOD) zoning ordinance, following a request by Ward 2 City Councilor Susan Albright for twice-yearly updates. Nora Masler Colello, the City’s chief of…
Timothy Cohoon, the current Braintree Police chief, will meet with the entire City Council on February 17, as part of the approval process for him to become the next leader of the Newton Police Department. In preparation for that meeting, Cohoon met with the Council’s Public Safety and Transportation Committee…
When METCO (the Metropolitan Council for Educational Opportunity) program began in 1966, organized opposition emerged in Brookline, Wellesley, Needham, and other neighboring suburbs, but not in Newton. METCO had “a smooth start here” without “incident or fanfare.” Instead of protesting METCO, Newton’s parents were protesting lunchtime. Between 1940 and 1970,…
At 3PM on Saturday, February 28, the halls of Grace Episcopal Church will echo with the sounds of Brahms, Britten, and Schubert as part of a joint program between the Newton-based New Philharmonia Orchestra and two emerging artists: 12-year-old Sofia Hernandez-Williams, cellist, and 10-year-old Valerie Bai, violinist. They come together…
A new zoning ordinance regulating the maximum frontage of a residential building is scheduled to take effect on March 1. It was passed by the City Council on October 20, 2025. The ordinance pertains to what is called the “Residential Facade Build Out Ratio,” which is the ratio of the…
When Tova Speter and Lily Weitzman began discussing ideas for creating a community art installation in celebration of Newton Free Library’s 150th anniversary, they knew they were on the same page when they came up with the idea for “Leaves in the Library.” Weitzman – the Library’s manager of programs…
Twenty to thirty protesters weathered the weather on February 7 for the weekly Saturday noontime gathering at the intersection of Beacon and Centre Streets in Newton Center.
Dozens of residents braved a New England snowstorm February 7 to enjoy a Chestnut Hill dessert crawl benefitting the Newton Food Pantry. They walked a route spanning The Street shopping center, sheltering from the snow in sweetly-scented stores along the way. Standing inside the crawl’s last stop, The Half Cookie,…
In a press conference in Boston on February 5, Mayor Marc Laredo joined the chief executives of Boston, Cambridge, Chelsea, Lynn, and Somerville in announcing Executive Orders defining their cities’ policies and actions regarding federal immigration operations. This coordinated response from Greater Boston cities follows fatal shootings of two protesters…