welcome to talking because we're delighted to have you with us listening to your presentation by members of the beach street center american jonathan and i read we will be reading local news and happenings from the community in his paper proposed at one hundred four point nine million dollars town standing with increased by four point six million dollars from fiscal two thousand and sixteen by the branch berkowitz the school department budget and some additional services added into the general type that are the main force just behind a four point six million dollar increase in the approximately one hundred four point nine million dollars proposed fiscal two thousand and seventeen budget taxes collected in excess of the maximum allowed by the state in fiscal two thousand and sixteen the budget was initially around ninety seven million dollars after the override the budget ended the year slightly more a budget presentation in february twenty four the school department budget consists of nearly half of the overall budget at approximately fifty two point six six million dollars broader effort to consolidate all staff and financial resources for facilities in town this leaves the school budget at approximately fifty eight point one million dollars under one but your disability director gerald boy will be able to coordinate activities of maintenance more efficiently save the increase in the school department budget can be attributed to a variety of different costs special education jewish and services and transportation will require an additional one point seventeen million making up forty percent of the total budget increase based cost current for sixteen point five percent and as a whole of transportation right on by searching enrollment according to the superintendent john daly through two quarters in fiscal two thousand and sixteen the system is running a fifty eight thousand dollars shortfall are reconciled and officially approved building permit revenue is expected to come in at eight hundred thirty five thousand dollars in fiscal two thousand and seventeen not exuding any one time revenue sources that could rise new growth from property taxes is forecast at seven hundred and twenty thousand the capital discretionary budget is around one point four million dollars and roughly one point five million will be spent on the pavement management program which does not include state road pension insurance and benefit costs will consume nine percent of the budget consistent with the current fiscal year john no longer world film to celebrate fifteen years belmont or old phelan will celebrate fifteen years with ten films from international film festivals discussions cultural performances and ethnic group scene from march twenty first to may fifteenth screenings take place mostly on mondays at seven thirty pm at the studio cinnamon belmont three seventy six to polaroid except two screenings at the west newton cinema twelve ninety six washington street on april e leventh and eighteenth and to sunday screenings on april seventeenth and may fifteenth the series is funded in large part by a five thousand dollar grant from mass humanities which uses scholarly disciplines to enhance and improve civic life in massachusetts this series to have and have not sheds light on the growing inequality of wealth class race and gender that affect society and how these disparities of propriety portrayed in art and popular culture in different parts of the world all but one film is a new england premiere from countries in europe south america asia and africa several of their countries of missions to the academy awards best foreign language film category such as lamb from ethiopia it was also the first ethiopian film and competition at the cannes film festival in an industry that is lacking under fire for lacking in female diversity a full third of films are directed by women as a nod to the upcoming summer olympics in brazil the consulate general of  is helping to bring two different brazilian films to the festival to illustrate the country's geographical and cultural diversity when we began in two thousand and two we had no idea that immigration in class would eventually become such a large part of the political debate like it is today said elma world film executive director ellen gettleman showing films from other countries in their native language is more important than ever for helping to foster an emotional understanding of other cultures during the last fifteen years we've seen the full gamut of change exchanges in the way films are exhibited which is enabled us to show more films each year for more and more countries opening night at seven thirty twenty first features the new england premiere of parys e n a semi autobiographical film by lebanese french director danielle our bid who directed beirut's hotel shown at the festival in two thousand and twelve set during the one nine hundred ninety s the film follows nineteen year old lena who moves in with her on an article in order to attend a university in paris alone and naive she is looking looking for the freedom she is never found in her home country of lebanon the screening will be preceded by an opening night reception at the theater at six pm for an additional admission featuring french and lebanese queasy and winds night of sleep for adriana pull depends on where the wind is blowing if the winds are blowing north west pool no she is in for a rough night on these nights pool and her family are subject to a constant stream of airplanes departing logan airport and shooting directly over her property on louise st the noise typically prevents pool from sleeping and shakes her house more than two years after the federal aviation administration decided to alter flight patterns gnash nationwide alarming noise levels from passing airplanes are still plaguing neighborhoods in belmont and other nearby communities well the heightened and repartee repetitive noise levels have not gone away stakeholders say progress has been made over the last few months this is a marathon not a sprinters race said poole who leads boston west fair skies a website and grassroots movement advocating for a solution the best case scenario is to have flight patterns go back to the way they were but  chance of this but we did make a lot of progress in the last year in june twenty thirty the f a a instituted a new procedure for certain runway departures under a broader air path modernization program called next gen airplanes under the effort use g p s routing known as r and b to fly more precise routes and therefore used airspace more efficiently under the old told radar system the routes were dispersed so flights went over more neighborhoods in belmont and other communities but less frequently now using  a v the routes are barely dispersed meaning flights travel over fewer neighborhoods but at a far greater frequency these are n a v routes have become known as highways in the sky the route that affects neighborhoods in arlington belmont cambridge and watertown is known as thirty three l and is used primarily when there are northwest winds in twenty fifteen thirty three l was used for fifteen point four percent of all the power trips from logan airport on november third pool said two hundred twenty two departures flew over her house between two and ten p an average of thirty two departures per hour whenever we do get the chance we sleep said poole logan has a twenty four seven operation they have no curfew planes can fly over at three or appointed representative to the logan community advisory committee said the complexity behind the problem which is a local regional and national issue has made progress on addressing specific local issues more challenging but cassar aba says committees charged with finding a solution are off to a good start in twenty sixteen  january twenty eighth a newly formed massport community advisory committee created by the state's legislature and supported with two hundred fifty thousand dollars in annual funding from massport held its first meeting and elected officers kasparov i was elected treasure this is going to help communities have a true seat at the table since the legislation provided for the appointment of a member representing the massport c a c on the mass support board of directors said cassar aba there will be somebody representing the massport ca c and participating communities in the monthly massport board meetings every month on february twenty fifth kasparov a said the logan cac voted to move ahead with completing the final phase of the boston logan noisy airport study b l a n s a multi year project that looked at issues of noise affecting communities around logan phase three of the study looks at how runway use how runway use plans could provide some respite from the repetitive use of runway configuration but said the logan c a c hopes to complete the study before the end of the year an effective runway use plan has the potential to provide somebody that might have a lot of activity in the evening some relief in the morning he said throughout the entire process pool has been advocating at the local level using boston west fair skies as an outlet for people to find useful information irene making their tapes from clinton haven't voters or fifty seven point four percent of belmont's registered electorate made it to the polls in the democratic contest clinton took fifty six point six percent of the elements democratic voters or four voters or one thousand ohio governor john cases took roughly twenty five percent with six hundred eighty nine votes with florida he was senator marco rubio at twenty three percent or six hundred  fifty five according to results from the town's website this year's turnout turnout in the two thousand and twelve presidential primary by six thousand voters mark who cheat lives near the beach street center workers he trump is known as the blue collar billionaire john has also said she respected trump for the family he raised clinton belmont voters with her experience i have been back and forth s nancy snyder precinct three i would be happy with either clinton or sanders i have been appalled with republicans but hillary is stronger on foreign policy interest was stronger on environmental issues i voted for she's too much of a compromise or selection of race question of the week here's this week's question what is belmont's highest priority issue to deal with in the next fiscal year twenty sixteen twenty seventeen and what do you think could be the best solution mark polo the most important issue facing belmont in fiscal year twenty sixteen twenty seventeen and into the future is how to manage growth and be able to provide additional services this growth requires the issues raised by increased in rome and in our schools are the most obvious pressure point but the increased demand for services impacts all parts of town government implementing the recommendations of the financial taskforce will provide some new revenue to meet these needs for service becoming more innovative and technologically sophisticated in how we provide services can make a major contribution but experience confident management of the town's business is equally important in stretching the override money and providing residents services they most need and want there is no issue where this is more important than with the belmont high school building project the selectmen will need to identify funding for a feasibility study and direct the town administrator to work closely with the appointed building committee the school committee and school department through the feasibility study period to ensure that the new high school building design is right sized and reflective of the educational needs of our students and then work to make certain voters approve the debt exclusion alexandria alexandra reuben i believe belmont's highest priority is to improve the governance of the town engage in forward looking financial planning and increase the transparency of town government belmont is a wonderful community with tremendous assets the professionals working in our town government and the residents who volunteer for committees and elected office still i hear from constituents who feel that our town government is inefficient too often decisions from permit ing planning and contracting to development program mercial development are opaque at and time consuming it does not have to be this way policies and guidelines need to be modernized so any resident business owner or developer can understand how belmont's government works better governance at every level will also help us tackle our continued budget deficit where not generating revenue adequate to pay for critical services roads sidewalks schools our debt obligations major capital initiatives like the high school require urgent attention with greater government information sharing and clear communication about our town's priorities we can meet belmont's growing needs and future plans this is my area of professional expertise to help businesses to overcome problems with the fis process and government i am eager to help belmont master this critical challenge american technology aids aging drivers advanced automotive technology is unsafe driving habits can help older motorists remain behind the wheel longer into their lives according to recent studies by the way a foundation for traffic safety and the university of michigan transportation research institute these findings are important because a record thirty six million u s adults ages sixty five and older drive with this number expected to increase substantially over the next decade recent a foundation research has found that seniors who give up driving are almost two times more likely to experience depression and nearly five times as likely to enter a long term care facility permanently giving up the keys can have severe consequences for the health and mental wellbeing of older adults said lloyd albert senior vice president of public and government affairs for aaa northeast new technologies and a focus on safe driving can help seniors remain behind the wheel for years to come researchers examined sixteen vehicle technologies and determined that six can potentially reduce crashes and improve the ease of driving in older adults for example forward collision warning mitigation these systems can help prevent crashes by warning drivers of a collision or by automatically applying the brakes for older drivers this technology can improve reaction times and reduce crashes by up to twenty percent automotive crash notification these systems automatically alert emergency services in the event of a crash older drivers are more likely to suffer serious effects from a crash because of their age which means these systems can provide a greater safety benefit to seniors park assist with rear view display this includes backup cameras and obstacle detection warning systems which can help prevent crashes when pulling out of a parking space about ninety five percent of seniors want these systems in their next vehicle while fifty five percent say it could help reduce driver stress and workload parking assist with crop cross traffic warning these systems use radar sensor technology to notify drivers of crossing vehicles when backing out of a parking space and in some vehicles can apply the brakes to prevent a collision semi autonomous parking assistance these systems take over steering w moving into a parallel parking space which can reduce stress and make parking easier for older drivers navigation assistance turn by turn g p s navigation systems can increase feelings of safety confidence attentiveness and relaxation which can help seniors remain focused on the road and comfortable behind the wheel seniors in the market for a new car may want to consider but the potential long term benefits of choosing a vehicle with advanced safety technologies albert said equipping a new car with the right features can help an aging driver remain confident behind the wheel  library's six count live reading from the library and twelve co sponsoring community groups invite town residents to read the book and purchase a page in books sessions and other related activities throughout the month  tour will be posted in march on the west i want to look one down lines dot com residents may borrow the classroom girl from the library in different formats hardcover paperback large print disease or other dementia and their caregivers to have conversation or freshman send a stigma stigma free atmosphere continental breakfast is provided by community cork's non judge mental stuff and occasional guest beakers will be featured walk ins are welcome or r s v p would be appreciated called the knees at six one seven four nine one one a one five with their eighth grade elective students to join forces in a collaborative innovative project based on works at the isabella stewart gardner museum they pulled in the dramatic crimes of the nineteen ninety stolen works from the gardner and using concepts from the individuals a boston based sculptor group the c m s art team kathleen byrnes katie kelly kristen ripl e designed this new eighth grade elective curriculum also called the elective collective we hope that the drama of the stolen work would grab their attention and would get the students excited about visiting museums and talking about art and what was important art said burns libertine he and ripley quickly point out that they hoped they would create some different kinds of conversations in their classrooms about art and how it shapes our culture and our history and they feel it succeeded art is the thing our society said kelly it creates a timeline of who we have been are and will be the dynamic group created and in disciplinary interpretation using animals to represent the humans in the works of art and to represent the individuals who stole the art and staff the museum on february twenty four preparations for the show the heist were underway a rainy afternoon the hallways of c m s were full of students were working away on setting up presentations of their work as well as practicing for their roles as tour guides instructors and musicians and getting ready for the final production that evening when families and friends were greeting foot were greeted footprints to follow in the hallway that led to the spiral staircase where many of the works were displayed irene until roll call public records said it twenty point twenty provisions include requiring each state agency and municipality to appoint at least one public records access office or just serve as the point of contact for all public records request reducing to five cents per page the maximum amount that state agencies and municipalities can charge for protection and the records currently set lasts can be as much as fifty cents per page prohibiting any agency or municipality from charging for records if it does not provide their records within fifteen days of their request or does not respond to the request or within ten days it's requiring state agencies encouraging  on line many common requests to public records and allowing courts to award tourney's fees to plaintiffs when access to public records is wrongly denied supporters said this is the first to the state public record was in forty years and noted that it would make state and local government more transparent they argue it is not acceptable for the members of news media or for ordinary citizens to face unreasonable delay and high costs to gain access to information that is supposed to be public they argue that the bill balances access to public records his protection for local municipalities from unreasonable procedures and  mandates the house has approved a different version of the measure the senate version now goes to the house for consideration thank you for joining us for this episode of talking news please join us next week