watch and listen to the talking news every day at twelve noon and six hundred pm on channel ninety six comcast xfinity and channel thirty verizon fios it can also be heard mondays and tuesdays at four hundred and thirty pm and wednesdays at one thousand two hundred and thirty pm on channel nine xfinity and channel twenty nine fios listen any time on the bmc podcast network on soundcloud and itunes just search for the belmont media podcast network and now onto the talking news belmont enters aarp network of age friendly communities by joanna tzouvelis aarp's state director michael festa presented belmont council on aging director nava nivvogel with a plaque certifying belmont's acceptance as a member of the aarp network of age friendly communities on march the 14th in the selectmen meeting room of town hall aarp is a nonprofit nonpartisan organization dedicated to helping people ages fifty and older to improve their quality of life as they age as a member of the age friendly network we will have access to support and resources from other communities and we'll be privy to the best practices and get great ideas said nivvogel festa said it comes down to approaching all of the work of town government with a lens that sees people living in that community as they grow older twenty years from now the age friendly movement is an acknowledgement that it's not necessarily about spending money it's about looking at the truth that you can have a budget and if even take those same dollars and direct them in ways that are appreciative of these needs then you effectively are creating this age friendly movement said festa he said it will be important to understand the needs of the belmont community many residents aren't aware of the services available to them and don't feel connected to it he said he recommended belmont get priorities straight and develop a tangible action plan selectman chairman adam dash said the board will continue its initiatives to help belmont seniors such as increasing the amount of the senior tax work off wright off lowering the interest rate on the senior tax deferral program and passing zoning to allow assisted living on south pleasant street we do care about our seniors if we're also lucky it is the one group in town that will be able to join he said the belmont council on aging received an eight thousand grant from the tufts foundation to develop a plan for an age friendly community through a study from the university of massachusetts boston gyrotonic institute the report was completed in march of two thousand and eighteen and now on to claire thank you bob tick tock chocolates are coming to town by joanna tzouvelis there's a new chocolate shop coming to town it is hoping to open its doors in april at its new belmont location one hundred and eleven trapelo road in cushing square directly across from the bradford development tick tock chocolates is owned by a husband and wife team dee and jim chaplin of waltham dee began making chocolate goodies for friends and family about fourteen years ago in two thousand and seven dee went back to school to become a pastry chef studying at cambridge culinary dee's experience includes working at blacker's bakeshop in newton debra's natural gourmet in west concord her dream was to open her own chocolate shop but was not able to fulfill it on the limited income from food services work she returned to her former employment as an engineer to increase her income with the end goal of starting her own business in two thousand and seventeen the chaplins took the plunge to work towards starting their own business making and selling chocolates they became incorporated as an llc in january two thousand and eighteen since then they have been making their chocolate creations in a shared commercial kitchen in somerville and sell their finished products at a local farmer's market popup shows shops and events such as handmade for the holidays at gore place in waltham tick tock chocolate's specialty specializes in handmade chocolate truffles chocolate bars chocolate covered pretzels and pte de fruit dee makes the ganache filling for all the truffles cutting and hand dipping each one jim helps decorate the truffles and is responsible for prep and cleaning jim said they only use raw chocolates of the highest quality or fairtrade and prefer to use local andor organic and fairtrade ingredients whenever possible their truffles are a bit bigger than their competitors and less price said jim the location we chose in cushing square is ideal because it was not too big and has many other popular stores around it said jim the previous tenant was the green light which quietly closed its doors last year now over to max thank you claire belmont league of women voters holds forum by susan schulman pollet in consultation with bev friedman and nava nivvogel on march 7th the belmont league of women voters held a forum is it crucial to expand support and services for seniors there were over fifty people in attendance bev friedman of the lwv greeted the audience and opened with a statement that included concerns that older people have been leaving the town those who remain then bear the consequences of a more shrinking social network and isolation joel samuel's moderator of the event and an attorney and former general counsel of the state executive office of elder affairs spoke about the friends of belmont coa and their role in the community he cited some key statistics which illustrated that at least thirteen of belmont residents are over seventy over one third of the total population of the town is age fifty five and over nava nivvogel director of the coa and first speaker on the panel enumerated on the ways the beech street center and coa are available to the community she mentioned how the results of this study called age friendly belmont support the coa findings about how many seniors are struggling in the town nivvogel referenced the safe and healthy planning group an interdepartmental group that meets regularly to discuss and problem solve around complex cases of seniors at risk nivvogel mentioned that the group has advocated for an additional social worker to better treat and follow up on these cases and provide outreach to students who are residents who are under the wire assistant police chief james macisaac the second panelist reviewed what his department does to support seniors police are called into homes where there are health emergencies suspected cases of abuse and neglect and seniors with dementia who wander or in other ways can harm themselves they typically refer the elders to services of the coa to springwell and mclean hospital however they too are not in a position to provide the appropriate followup just to indicate the level of department involved involvement in these types of situations and as an example macisaac is cited that one senior called twenty two times just in the last few months fire captain ken gardiner informed the audience of fire prevention efforts such as ongoing forums on topics such as the file for life program and tips to avoid fire risks they have funds to install fire and carbon monoxide detectors and frequently go into homes for safety checks or to assist in health emergencies firefighters also feel that there are few resources to follow up on the vulnerable elders that they encounter belmont housing authority director jackie martin spoke about the lack of apartments for people with mobility problems there are many social services needs interpersonal conflicts and issues that they cannot address unlike housing authorities in many other communities they don't have a community coordinator to handle such situations susan schulman pollet social worker with a specialty in working with older people and their families was on the panel to ask followup questions of the speakers and provide a wrapup of key points made at the end the result of her questioning was that all of the agencies represented at the forum were united in their view that more social service is needed and that having an additional social worker would be a boon for the town the audience expressed a wide range of concerns such as unwieldy trash bins taxes which are out of reach for seniors unsafe sidewalks limited transportation options and a shortage of affordable housing members of the audience came up to speak in favor of having an additional social worker and that there is such a need former state rep anne paulsen stated that funding such a position is warranted especially since handling so much of these cases is an inappropriate use of fire and police departments over to you bob thank you max belmont savings to become people's united by joanna tzouvelis the sign is for belmont savings bank's six locations in belmont leonard street and trapelo road cambridge watertown waltham and newton will be replaced with people's united bank signs over the weekend of march thirty and 31st in preparation for the day the sale officially closes on april the 1st connecticut based people's united bank announced on november 27th it is buying belmont savings bank for three hundred and twenty seven million according to the boston business journal the deal will give people's united our nasdaq symbol pbct a network of branches just west of boston filling a gap and it's a local footprint the bank currently has just under fifty branches in massachusetts including a significant number on the north shore and in the western part of the state according to the business journal the deal is expected to close the second quarter of two thousand and nineteen making it the eighth largest bank in the state by deposits belmont savings nasdaq symbol blmt has three billion in assets to people's united total of forty four billion the belmont center business association honored mahoney at his final meeting with him as the bank president on march 19th deran muckjian owner of the toy shop in belmont ran through a long list of all the contributions mcmahoney and he helped make possible in his role as the bank president and through the belmont savings bank foundation the list included many of the annual events the bank sponsors which help bring business to belmont center such as town day and turn on the town the becca pizza run pace and park music festival cushing square fall festival belmont porchfest and much more it's such an important part of the town said muckjian we have a bank that has such input into the overall town's success is a tribute to you mahoney said that the mission statement written when his journey started with the belmont savings bank in two thousand and ten was to be the most admired bank in the region if you do it by being a great place to work and by being a great place to bank and being a great neighbor they all go together he said belmont savings bank foundation will remain independent after april the 1st the foundation has donated between three hundred and four hundred thousand annually to local causes in belmont and surrounding communities served by belmont savings bank since the announcement of the acquisition the bank stock has tripled according to mahoney patrick sullivan peoples united president of massachusetts and executive vice president of commercial banking said that they will be involved in the community as much as belmont savings has been and will continue to sponsor town day sullivan has been with peoples united for six years and has forty years of banking experience belmont savings bank will bring the number of people's united branches in massachusetts to fifty eight it has four hundred branches in new england and one hundred and forty located in stopinshops mahoney will stay on board to assist with the transition until december the 31st and now onto my colleague claire thank you bob incinerator site will be used for solar selectmen also on a retired animal control officer and talk about search for new police chief by joanna tzouvelis after nine months of public discussions which began with a list of seventeen potential postclosure uses for the former incinerator site on concord ave the selectmen on march 18th voted unanimously in favor of a solar farm in battery storage the final three options being considered were open space a bike and skate park or solar the anaerobic digester and hockey rink were eliminated as options at the february 25th selectmen meeting because a letter from the division of capital asset management and maintenance dcamm said if the town were to pursue any commercial development of the property it would first be necessary to obtain amended or new legislation that would allow this to occur selectmen chairman adam dash said they don't have time to change the legislation because the designing of the cap needs to start in may also dash said the appraised value of the land would change if it was developed by a third party to generate revenue dash said although belmont is land poor he did not think using the site as open space would be a good option because it will still be used by public works for storage and wouldn't be the most bucolic place to spend an afternoon dash said the bike and skate park is a great idea but the town can barely take care of the parks it has and could not afford to maintain it dash said he thinks solar and battery storage is the best option because it would have the lowest impact on the neighborhood and help the town meet its climate action goals he said it would be owned and managed by belmont light selectmen vice chairman mark paolillo agreed with dash it's a passive use that will create an enormous benefit to the community he said belmont light general manager chris roy said solar especially when paired with battery storage that is located within belmont's borders is a great way to boost belmont's renewable energy portfolio while also combating against the rising costs associated with importing energy from the regional transmission grid this helps the entire community make progress toward our climate action plan goals and minimize the risk for potential rate increases said roy now here's max thanks claire book series takes flight thanks to local parakeet by joanna tzouvelis on school street near the burbank school lives a famous parakeet filomena she is the main character in a series of children's books written by belmont president and harvard graduate school of education professor fernando reimers the adventures of filomena originally from venezuela reimers has lived in belmont since one thousand nine hundred and ninety seven with his wife eleonora they raised their two sons tomas and pablo in belmont filomena the family pet was purchased from belmont pet shop twelve years ago reimers who specializes in education policy became inspired to write the first book in his series one day when he was sitting at home in his kitchen grading papers and filomena was staring at him from her cage i remember wondering what she saw and what sense she made of it and i wrote a few paragraphs describing how the bird might see her cage and my kitchen said reimers he asked some of his former students who have young children if they would be interested in reading the story about a parakeet to their children i drew a great joy from reading their feedback and imagining my former students reading to their children the way i had read to my sons when they were that age armed with this feedback and inspiration i finished the story said reimers the burbank elementary school where reimer's sons went is depicted on the cover of the first book in the series the story of filomena illustrated by russian artist tania yastrebova according to reimers each of the books is focused on values or dispositions which foster inclusion the first book focuses on empathy on the importance of developing the discipline to see the world through another's eyes as a foundation for understanding the second book focuses on friendship and on the golden rule the third book examines compassion the fourth book focuses on inclusion the values are illustrated through the stories of filomena's adventures said reimers one of his graduates runs a literacy program for hospitalized children in mexico she included the book in the program and invited him to read to the children when he was leaving the hospital one of the girls asked him to write more stories because she had enjoyed the book he said he had never imagined that this simple book could bring joy to children spending extended periods in hospitals then some of my students and associates who are heads of schools around the world adopted the book for a project in which high school students read the book to younger children and then exchange essays on what they learned from the conversation with the little ones reimer said i am really enjoying knowing that high schoolers in the us in india in dubai in colombia and mexico are communicating reflections about discussing values with little ones over to you bob thanks max local stars aim to preserve homer house through dance by joanna tzouvelis and wendy murphy ten local celebrities are participating in dancing with the belmont stars to benefit the belmont women's club the organization responsible for maintaining and restoring the one thousand eight hundred and fifty three william flag homer house known as belmont's crown jewel the historic home which sits on a hill at six hundred and sixty one pleasant street becca peaser is one of the stars who has been taking lessons donated by fred astaire dance studios to prepare for the event which takes place friday april the 5th at six hundred pm at the beech street center at two hundred and sixty six beech street other celebrities participating include state senator william brownsberger middlesex district attorney marian ryan twotime world champion challenge twotime world marathon challenge champion becca pizzi town clerk ellen o'brien cushman and selectman vice chairman mark a paolillo and council on aging director nava nivvogel similar to the television show dancing with the stars participating dancers will be competing to win judges include jimmy tingle founder of humor for humanity sylvia whitney acclaimed uso performer and frankie selly the former owner of frankie's fish in belmont center former radio personality and singer candy o'terry will be the master of ceremonies and now on to claire thank you bob belmont youth commission to hope peeps diorama contest the belmont youth commission will hold it's 6th annual peeps diorama contest participants can create their own peeps dioramas out of marshmallows dioramas should be no bigger than a shoe or a boot box participants can bring their finished diorama's to the peeps diorama party from two hundred and forty five to three hundred and forty five pm april eleven in the small multipurpose room of the beech streets center at two hundred and sixty six beech street belmont voting will start at three hundred pm and the competition is open to all ages and prizes will be awarded to first and second place winners in the child teen and adults categories refreshments will also be served this event is sponsored by the belmont youth commission belmont youth and family services program and the belmont council on aging for information contact marisa melanson youth coordinator at nine million nine hundred and thirty two thousand seven hundred and twenty now over to max thanks claire belmont world film to present the heiresses belmont world film will present the heiresses directed by marcelo martinessi at seven hundred and thirty pm on april 1st at the studio cinema three hundred and seventy six trapelo road belmont the film was paraguay's two thousand and nineteen submission for the best foreign language film oscar jimena cascante matamoros a queer rights activist and spoken word poetry performer originally from costa rica will lead the discussion following the film the film compellingly explores a number of subjects that are given little exposure in mainstream cinema including the complexity of sexuality and social status said belmont world film executive director ellen gitelman although it takes place in paraguay the basic issues are universal belmont world film's 18th annual international film series making peace will run for five monday nights through april 29th at the studio cinema in belmont with film's beginning at seven hundred and thirty pm back to you bob along with my colleagues claire and max we thank you for listening to the talking news and hope you've enjoyed the show we will return next week for another edition of local news happenings around belmont