Author: Paul Roberts

Recession meme: college is optional?

Given that the middle class dream of affording a college education for our kids is slipping out of reach, I suppose its natural (or at least comforting) to wonder whether it is really what’s best for our kids, anyway.

Town: officials didn’t violate Open Meeting (but will meet publicly anyway)

The Belmont Citizen Herald is reporting that Belmont’s legal counsel has issued a response to the Middlesex District Attorney that claims town officials who met behind closed doors to formulate plans to discuss the consolidation of School and Town services were not doing so in violation of the State’s Open Meeting Laws.

Teeny tiny little cars…but are they green?

I got the chance to head over to the Larz Anderson Car Museum in Brookline for their annual Micro Mini Car Day — a gathering of some of the tiniest vehicles you’ve ever seen. Detroit was nowhere to be seen.

Bike path plans rolling along

The planned bike path construction between Brighton Street and Alewife Station is set to move ahead, along with other, more extensive bike and pedestrian access projects. Now about that extension into Belmont Center…!

Cultural Council announces grant recipients, seeks input

The Belmont Cultural Council has sponsored an online poll to get your feedback on how it can better server the community. Take part! This year, the Council’s grants will support a variety of artistic projects and activities in Belmont, including exhibits, festivals, short-term artist residencies and performances in schools.

More ideas for greening Belmont

An interesting article in the Sunday Globe presents some ideas on making cities (and suburbs?) greeener by “retrofitting” existing infrastructure. Check it out.

District Attorney looking into Belmont Officers Group

The Middlesex District Attorney’s Office is inquiring into the doings of an informal, private gathering of some of the Town’s top elected officials with questions about whether the group ran afoul of the State’s Open Meeting Law, according to the Belmont Citizen Herald.

Closed government? Questions hang over new Town-School consolidation plan

Belmont’s latest consolidation plan is the product of an informal and closed door group of the Town’s senior elected officials that some have dubbed the “Officers’ Group.” Is Belmont closing the doors on Open Government?

NYT: Literary legend Ray Bradbury fights for local libraries

With all the debate in town about preserving our elementary school libraries, I couldn’t help but note this story on the front page of today’s New York Times about sci-fi writer Ray Bradbury’s crusade to preserve public libraries in his home, Ventura County, California.

An open letter from the Save Our Libraries Committee

A letter from the Save Our Libraries Committee urges the School Committee to allocate funds recently diverted from the Town’s free cash to maintain Library Aide positions. Read the full letter.