mclean hospital in the early hours of this morning according to belmont fire chief david frisell at two forty one am belmont police cruiser on concord avenue saw smoke coming from the building and mclean shortly after a staff member at mclean called to report that heavy fire in the top two floors of the three story codman building on mill stream which has been abandoned for ten years was not near any patient buildings first cell said it is unknown if anyone was in the building at the time or what cause the fire which is under investigation by the belmont fire and police departments and state police assigned to the office of the state fire marshal the blaze grew so strong the units from cambridge were called to help arlington and watertown also assisted the cambridge fire department tweeted that it sent six units to the scene two engines two ladder trucks tower ladder truck and a paramedic squad along with the deputy fire chief were working the fire alongside belmont crews so far no injuries have been reported in a written authority voted to invite belmont to partner with the m s b away in conducting a feasibility study for belmont high school the move marks the beginning of the second phase of the m s b a's process for granting state funding for the construction of a new school the m s b i invited belmont high school to enter into the eligibility period in january twenty sixth seen a two hundred seventy day period where town officials worked together to refine the project the law high school had submitted applications to the m s b for ten years before being invited to begin the grant funding process in a letter addressed to sec select partner on the feasibility study is not approval of a project but is strictly an invitation to the town to work with them s b a to explore potential solutions to the problems that have been identified he wrote moving forward in the m s b chairman of the end of the b a h s building committee said they will soon be sending out request for services for submittals from project manager firms whose job will be to study the three possible configurations grade seven through twelve graves eight through twelve are grades nine through twelve and come up with multiple design options for each of those configurations the process of hiring project manager firm would take about three months he said after the project manager firms hired there will be public meetings which the community will be welcome to attend laval believes this feasibility phase the m s b a process will be completed in approximately two years determined by the m s b a or sixty five thousand five hundred seventy five dollars environmental testing of the land site only part of the feasibility is face once completed the third phase will be working on the construction documents which will take about one year once that is completed and funding is approved by the town the construction phase will begin words could take two to three years based on o estimations construction could possibly begin in twenty twenty body does not want to prevent any dates yet marion fostering and adoption program give it animals new lives by joanna every year thousands of dogs of all ages are neglected at band and abused and sent to kill shelters in southern states organizations like rescue road and lost hope canine rescue help find loving homes for these dogs and save their lives last hope k nine was founded in twenty twelve when it was realized that there was such a need for rescuing dogs in the south specifically arkansas according to last hope canine assistant director manda cargo the first shelter we work to have had a youth nice ation rate of ninety seven percent at one point one month we had that rate down to eleven percent it of course fluctuate she said since the organization's inception last hope has saved more than forty five hundred dogs and hit one thousand dog saved in one year and twenty fifteen in twenty sixteen already more than a thousand dogs have been saved to date september two thousand and sixteen was their largest month with one hundred twenty six dogs adopted said car co last hope doesn't discriminate against dogs with medical needs are dogs that need some training said cargo belmont resident jenny mitchell learned about last hope from a coworker and did not hesitate to step in and become a foster family she said she grew up owning dogs and always wanted to get one from her family when she was thinking about getting one she knew she would want to adopt but decided but decided to foster first because it would give her family the opportunity to help many animals in need fostering saves lives and it's really fun also it's a great way to see if having a dog is the right decision for you and your family said mitchell last hope every thing the foster family needs except for dog food she said it's ok if you don't know a lot about dogs these dogs just need a loving home well they transition to finding their fur at her home she said since june mitchell has fostered six dogs in october her family decided to adopt lexi a one year old border collie mix last hope canine from last hope k nine after hosting a series of foster dogs we wanted to have a dog and keep her forever said mitchell lexie had been with a foster family in newburyport for two months and mitchell was able to get a lot of information about personality from the foster parent mitchell is still a volunteer for last hope canine rescue she said what she found most rewarding about being a foster family was seeing the dogs meet their new families and watching the magic unfold martha gift will fund police programs belmont police chief richard morecroft and announced a recent gift to the belmont police department of fifty thousand dollars from the belmont residence lives and graham allison through the allison family's charitable foundation the donation was accepted by the board of selectmen on behalf of the police department on november fourteenth the allison said they are very happy to support the work that is being done by the men and women of the belmont police department to get funds  remain current with changes in the federal and state laws as well as incorporated and utilizing best practices learned from other learned foresman agencies across the country blue ribbon school the butler elementary school was formally honored in washington d c after being named a twenty sixteen national blue ribbon school for example very high high performance butler is among two hundred seventy nine public and fifty private schools receiving this honor and is one of three schools recognized in massachusetts for this honor former butler principal michael mcallister now middle school principal went to d c to represent butler on november seventh there was a conference to share best practices on a nov eighth there was a recognition luncheon followed by the the awards ceremony th ward confirms what i've known all along and now the public knows that there is amazing teaching and learning happening at the butler schools and mcallister schools are nominated for the award by the state department of education and a recognized in one of two performance categories exemplary high performance among the top schools in a state or exemplary achievement gap closing schools making the fastest progress in their state and causing achievement gaps amongst students subgroups humbled by the r mcallister is aware of the effort and hard work it took to get this recognition blue ribbon schools make up less than one half of one percent of all public schools nationally in a given years and mccollister current butler principal daniel betancourt said the honor is well deserved this achievement is a testament to the passion strategic effort education and teamwork that each person in the community contributes mcalister came back with a plaque a blue ribbon flag and a banner which will soon be presented to the butler school community marian consultant sikh community input by jack kelly the community path feasibility study consultant team consisting of representatives from pear corp and k three l a held its third public engagement meeting on the community path abilities study on november night amy archer the study project manager from pear corp led the presentation focusing on the central segment alignment of the community path from the end of the mclean woods to pleasant street moving eastward to belmont center archer said the purpose of the community path feasibility study is to recommend a preferred alternative for a non motorized multi use path that passes through belmont served to residents and fills the gap along the mass central rail trail between waltham and cambridge we use the alignments in other words path options developed by the community path advisory committee c pac as the basis of the feasibility study she added c pac established by the board of selectmen to identify potential locations for the community path the study will advance to conceptual design and planning cost estimate by defining path alignments and sections quantified the possible impacts on public and private property and resources calculate the costs of path options and weigh slash rank the pros and cons of alternative alternatives said archer after outlining the various alignment and connection options archer and kathleen fasts are from k three l a discussed the results of their survey which is being used to develop a matrix to rate the various community path options developed by both c pac and the consultant team survey data was gathered at workshops and on line over two hundred people participated and we are still soliciting inputs both online as well as these engagement meeting said faster survey results today have led to the following issue rankings environmental land use these social and fiscal variabilities are all important community connections and high quality recreation are most important security and comfort are important the least important variables are pocket parks and dog runs martha component foods for the holiday capone foods in somerville is a grocery and  favorites from capone foods include pumpkin ravioli and sweet potato ravioli which is a popular of the gun choice and capone's personal favorite they also have a fresh pumpkin pastor that can be cut to order you can also buy full sheets capone's said for those looking to make other vegan choices include florentine ravioli and wild mushroom ravioli for an appetizer she recommends there ravioli or squash soup are there foods that are high on the bones list for thanksgiving are sweet potato naki mushroom there's always something like that that he'll add on to the traditional meal she said the capones often give customers advice on the meal planning and being greedy and where able to guide them from whatever idea they have capone said we're really hands on with the advice capone foods has been a regularly regular grocery destination for many locals  a seventy year old hosts his own election for kids only by joanna k civil us with all of post election mayhem and emotions around the country one belmont street offers some refreshing  seven year old sam barber decided to hold a special election from noon to four pm in front of his house on nov eighth just for kids in belmont his mother jane helped get the word out to neighbors and friends sandal of voting bows and about boxes in cardboard wrapping paper in patriotic colors sam also created special handwritten ballots for the twenty sixteen kennel action voters had to make their choices for the following sport of massachusetts swimming basketball soccer football and holidays that should be celebrated go to bed at midnight de ice cream sundae day presents for no reason day or take a pet to school day his ballot even had space for writings the kids choice for animal for president is the soft be winning by just one vote over penguin the official sport of massachusetts winning a three vote margin over soccer is swimming the official candy of belmont is the cat winning by a slide the holiday that should be celebrated as a tie between presidents for no reason day and ice cream sundae day there are also several write in nominations for the various categories including a vote for a television walking watching as the official sport of massachusetts a vote for the  wolverine is the best animal for president a vote for fun dip in as the official candy of vote for all of the above are holidays that should be celebrated and another vote for last three of the four holidays that should be celebrated we did it because we wanted kids to be able to vote for someone something to because only people over eighteen can vote and we thought it was a good idea and we have four things on our ballot said sam mari didn't set out to create a new style of coffee caps alan arsenault said his moment of inspiration came three years ago when he and his wife diana visited his grandfather a korean war veteran at the nursing home where he was living he was a hero to me and on arsenault set and there he was struggling to drink water from a paper cup i asked him how do you think drink coffee for a mug i was sort of joking and my grandfather said ellen do yourself a favor and don't get old arsenault recalled and then i looked around and saw all the old ladies drinking coffee and for senior citizens who've lost strength to grip smaller handled cups as their gotten older market frown no eighty seven who lives at queen and sooner sing home and hang them said she never cared for a traditional porcelain caps they made my hand shakes at friend o who says she now looks forward to her coffee more the jam mug has a wide handle that makes gripping easier the queen anne's nursing home has been testing the mug for eighteen months this is a very very good adaptation for our resident queen and executive director kristen london said and the jammer will soon get regional distribution and dozens of benchmark senior living facilities in massachusetts and six other states alan arsenault has a bio engineering degree from northeastern university he and his degree is in chemistry he says the jam or coffee is the medically ergonomically designed to ease the strain on an elderly persons tendons and ligaments it puts their hand in an position so it provides an optimal power grippy said the hour sonos went to work on the mug and tea cup designed shortly after that visit with alan's grandfather they enlisted an advisory team from boston university among them a former president of the american occupational therapy association and tried more than one hundred designs they studied hand and grip data created mathematical models jabbering together queen and sourcing home was one of the first places the hour sonos contacted about testing the mug because it was nearby it was good timing and said we were getting complaints that our coffee mugs were too heavy and hard to handle martha thank you for joining us for this episode of talking news please join us next week