For over 400 years, the Charles River has been altered, controlled, and dammed to bend to the will of industry and profit. The river we know today is not free — but instead, a river radically changed by the long history of human intervention. We dammed its waters to power…
Posts published in “Guest Columns (Op-Eds)”
We publish here guest columns (op-eds) with the intent to reflect a broad range of opinions and insights of those who live and/or work in Newton. Please note our submission guidelines and send submissions to info@figcitynews.com.
All views expressed in any signed article, letter, column, or post
on Fig City News are those of the writer and not Fig City News.
According to the MassDEP, New England is facing a landfill crisis. We are running out of space in existing landfills, and very soon we will have to ship our trash to other regions (whose residents are poorer and need the revenue). Even though Newton incinerates its trash, there is still…
On March 22, the Newton City Council’s Programs and Services Committee will begin discussing a proposal that would ban the sale or distribution of more than one dozen plastic items and limiting the availability of many other items. Among other things, the ordinance would forbid the sale of plastic water…
The recently rekindled debate on the scope and possible impact of the proposed Village Center (VC) Zoning plan has seen a variety of reactions from citizens and neighborhood groups. In public meetings hosted by the Zoning and Planning Committee, representatives from these groups presented their concerns (without reference to any…
Let’s start with 4 values propositions on which I hope most agree: Unfortunately, it seems that some people either do not share the 4th value in this list or are readily willing to sacrifice it with the massive village centers upzoning proposal that the Zoning & Planning Committee (ZAP) is…
Gas is not safe, not clean, not green. With our own eyes we see how the climate crisis is increasing the social and financial costs of increasingly extreme weather. The answer is to stop burning fossil fuels while transitioning to a rapid, equitable transition to carbon-free energy sources. On March…
I am a long time Newton resident whose children attended our wonderful public schools. I will be voting NO on all three of Newton’s proposed override questions. Why I am Voting NO and How to Make Me a YES The clear fundamental issue in the City’s budget is the massive…
When data analysts in Cambridge, MA saw through satellite imagery that the urban tree canopy of the city had precipitously shrunken, the City Council called it an emergency; a moratorium on removing healthy trees was put in place and the City Council of Cambridge enacted a new ordinance protecting healthy…
With the controversy around the siting and permitting of the Newton Center for Active Living (NewCAL) now behind us, it is time for the community to focus on the interior design of the building, specifically its accessibility to older adults, including those who are visually impaired. Newton’s Senior Center has…
On the two-year anniversary of the police killing of our neighbor, Michael Conlon, Newton Mayor Ruthanne Fuller sent a city-wide email that regrettably did not center Michael as a person, celebrate his life or mourn his death. Nor did the email talk about the importance of mental health or offer…