to talking news we are delighted to have you with us listening to our presentation by members of the beach street center martha jonathan and i read we will be reading local news and happenings from the community newspaper toti says station is a d long been planning a consolidated commuter rail station on pleasant street this station is coming to one thousand pleasant street and someone no one is going to stop it he said as m b t a officials have talked about the future of the waverly square station they have said it's too early to know at the beach street center last week a officials indicated the station which is in noncompliance with disability access laws likely need a thirty million renovation or the n street since first reading about the idea of a consolidated station toti said he has been appalled by what he views as a player and unilateral  b a and state government to close both existing stations in town and build a new one if that happens is said the prospect for a future development likely when i sat through that meeting last week a chill ran down my spine said toti they were going to have a sheriff they should have called it a c totus believed arrives from an encounter he had with the state in twenty thirty toti of belmont high school graduate own it's a strip of land that contains belmont car wash at five twenty one propeller road continues past ten ten pleasant street next door and extends through one thousand pleasant street currently the home of a bus company and large l shaped building with tenants including artifact and boston motor works next to one thousand present street is james w flats company toti and the owners of flats own parcels behind ten ten pleasant street and the flats property however behind one thousand person street there is a twenty foot parcel own by the m b t a in twenty thirteen told to look into purchasing the parcel figuring he could turn it into some additional packing but when he made an offer to watch it said m b t a representatives told him it was cost prohibitive to purchase the property after sitting through last week's meeting with m b t a fish told she said it makes sense the m b t is targeting a commuter rail station jonathan towns work to address climate change by henry strong concerns about climate change are right in our backyard that is the message from the minutemen advisory group on intermodal coronation known as magic a collection of thirteen local communities that believes it's time to develop a plan to tackle what some experts call a serious environmental problem the audience at acton town hall in nov nineteenth hearst's mystics about challenges ahead s as finding that thirty nine percent of greenhouse gases in new england come from transportation and emissions and a study by the oyster river culvert analysis project that says rainfall levels from twenty four hour storms will climb by a significant percentage from six point eight six inches through twenty forty six to eight point three five inches through twenty seventy five this could impact everything from how emergency crews respond to more intense floods to designing buildings that can withdraw or resist and more water representatives from acton bedford bolton boxer carlisle concord hudson maynard lexington lincoln littleton stow and suburb will begin the process of formulating a plan to address the environmental effects of climate change it's time for us to adopt our sub regional strategy lyttleton town administrator keith bergman said the magic chairman we just don't know what it is yet speakers use terms like adaptation mitigation green infrastructure and low impact development to describe solutions of the challenges jane guardian member of the concord select board said concord could be a model for other communities because it has set of has a set of four sustainability principles that factor into town government operations reducing dependence upon fossil fuels underground metals and minerals reducing dependence upon synthetic chemicals and other manufactured substances reducing encroachment upon nature and mating human needs fairly insofar and efficiently some present president held that town bylaws should have teeth to encourage communities to support development that is in line with climate change concerns like more intense storms but conquered town planner elizabeth hughes warned there is going to be pushback from some property owners and developers to build for storm of events costs money you said there has to be a real commitment of citizens to make it a priority it's a funding issue i read in a lawsuit against town mclachlan proceeds judge suggest this case may move to trial but sees many holes  barry ward's racial discrimination lawsuit against the town of belmont and police chief richard mclaughlin may move to trial but ward could have a tough time proving culpability u s district court judge leo sirocco and indicated november twenty eighth at the mobli courthouse after pointing out what he said are possible problems and words case during the hearing sirocco and formally denied a motion from the town in mcglothlin to dismiss the lawsuit in its entirety on tuesday nov twenty fourth ward an african american male who worked in the belmont police department for twenty three years is alleging mclaughlin and the town breached a separation agreement by intentionally providing the palm beach county sheriff's department in florida a prospective employer with damaging information the information claims ward referred to him as a lower ranking officer and hurt his reputation which resulted in ward not receiving the job word also claims the act was a continuation of discrimination that existed during his time with the police department including the wrongful failure to promote ward and more severe discipline than white offices received for comparable actions among other acts he ward feels he was very grevious slave ronde his attorney midge notice said this is a highly decorated officer according to the separation agreement if any prospective employers contact the town or mclaughlin as a reference the two are only to disclose words dates of employment positions held and base salary the agreement also states that ward the town in mcglothlin will not defame one another's reputation and that ward will not seek further employment in belmont or as a police officer in massachusetts where it is now employed by the boynton beach police department in florida because palm beach asked for information beyond what the separation agreement allows the town to disclose ward asked the town to release it and  needed to sign a town specific release notice claims the rate lease was restrictive and was only requested because war is african american he also asserts that a subsequent letter sent to palm beach containing disparaging information was motivated by intentional discrimination as stated in court documents ward is seeking compensation for lost pay lost benefits punitive damages emotional pain and suffering attorneys fees interest costs and other relief the court deems proper representing the town and mclaughlin attorney gareth notice no relation first argued that ward who has filed a non retaliation lawsuit is not qualified to do so because there was no employer employee relationship at the time of the incident the separation agreement also states that ward released all claims he may have had against anyone in the department during his employment garrett said additionally garrett said that a letter from the palm beach county sheriff's department rejecting ward did not say any interference from gareth notice that war did not have to be employed by belmont to fire file a claim that arose after the separation agreement was signed and suggested that even if not cited in the palm beach letter a letter provided by an employer of more than twenty years could have influence in a hiring decision however should the case move forward sirocco and said he thought proving discriminatory motivation behind the release mcglothlin requested warts in order to provide palm beach with more information would be a tough sell ciro can also said that if no evidence is found in the palm beach letter toward suggesting interference from the town or mclaughlin mich notice has a problem additionally sirocco and cautioned a jury could theoretically deem mcglothlin solely responsible for discrimination excluding the town from being liable which drastically passion for food from their cultural heritage have turned it into a business that includes three restaurants one of which has become a landmark online a street in belmont center built in eighteen ninety nine it's its second location on massachusetts avenue in lexington center opened in two thousand and thirteen the first restaurant is a twist on italian cuisine damien believes the secret to their success is taking care of people as if they were in their own home connecting with our guests is very important to us and we do it over on is food and of course phenomenal winds which we work directly with wineries in italy to source he said however he credits most of their success to the staff who he describes as incredibly talented and take pride in their work damien shared more about what's behind the plate at sally how would you describe the restaurant's atmosphere you'll caselli belmont rustic family friendly environment restaurant and evokes the serenity of the mediterranean featuring the magnificent views of the childless river and boston skyline what are some of your customers favorite dishes on the menu all of our guests have their own favorites some that stand out our madara hoffman imagine being nine years old wearing dresses and asking your family to call you by different disney princess name every day now imagine your that nine year old boy's parents ariel now thirteen recounts her story of being raised as a boy but knowing she was a girl in the frontline documentary growing up trends shown recently at the first church in belmont unitarian universalists about forty people attended the movie a panel discussion that followed the film highlights the story of eight children in their early teens who are transgender meaning they had done a fire as a gender different from that which was assigned to them at birth i was blown away by these young people and their understanding of themselves and lida moland or who started her transition from male to female four years ago at the age of fifty seven when i was young all the signals were there but i didn't know how to interpret them attending our first trend gente transgender conference as a woman was a turning point for lida i live five days as a woman and didn't want to come back lida acknowledges that she would have had a different life and would have been spared a lot of pain had she been able to transition earlier and yet having lived as a man before her transition she also acknowledges she was benefited from male privilege a lot of women were discouraged from doing things they were good at or socialized to think they were second class citizens i don't have that she said and it is an mit graduate and successful software engineer belmont residence hall sandals and and stuart parents of a twenty three year old transgender trans juster thought son said their son who was assigned female birth came out of them when he was a junior in high school and transitioned while in college it's a journey for the whole family said stuart i believe that education is the solution to many of the world's problems including this one said santos both say their son is a much happier person now th he can live in the way that matches his identity their children's happiness is a major theme in growing up trends and the parents speak often of how difficult it is to see how unhappy their child is when living is the wrong gender and what a difference it makes when they start transitioning the movie focuses on the choices the families make with regards to medications to delay puberty hormones to generate the characteristics of the correct gender and later surgical changes karl brauer of the belmont human rights commission the a j r see one of the sponsors of the event said there are transgender transgender people in belmont and non transgender people assume everyone is like them they are not brower had attended the belmont high school discussion on the laramie project held before the play were shown he remembered hearing a statement from a student who was rejected by his parents for being trans brower said that the main goal of following the film most educate the public about transgender people from iran another member of the h r c said that there is a legislation pending in the massachusetts house and senate which would prohibit discrimination against transgender people and ex access to public accommodations including hospitals retail stores restaurants hotels and transportation the bill would also allow trans people to use the restroom for the gender that matches their identity during the hearing for the legislation pono it's focused on this specific part of the bill and raise concerns about women's safety in restaurants what is contrary to public safety is requiring trends women to go to the men's room where they would be deeply embarrassed and humiliated and at the risk of most asian said sen will brownsburg or senator brown is murder and representative dave rogers our co sponsor of the legislation are in belmont partners with the dominican republic the small girl sure sure read belmont soccer is number one her brother sweat shirt said i support the belmont marauders these were not local children getting ice cream at the belmont center the brother and sister were walking through a barrio in the dominican republic since two thousand  partnered with bonnie a village in the dominican republic belmont residents have donated various items including tennis balls from the belmont hill club to the precious toothpaste baseball equipment prom dresses and shoes to residents in bonnie several tons of clothing ethic put meant and medical supplies have been carried by belmont residents led by mick clough and as board members of the elizabeth seaton foundation they travel twice a year to bonnie to support the nutrition center childcare center and school which will celebrate its twentieth anniversary in november the center provides access to clean drinking water child care dental care and preschool education for the neighborhood a recent project a project called rent the runway allows women to rent formal wear for themselves and their families rather than investing in new clothing or parties are the center of dominican social life in rural areas the savings from renting clothes are used to support the family the rental boutique a refurbished shipping container holds over two hundred dresses and forty minute suits along with a wide array of children's clothes including dresses worn by bell my children for their first communions but mitzvahs sweet sixteen proms and weddings according to world vision one in five dominican children is malnourished in the country tourism brings in a large amount of money that benefits a small percentage of the population more than a third of dominican live on less than one dollar twenty five cents a day and the average annual income is five thousand four hundred and seventy dollars only thirty percent of children finish primary school between the two of us we have seven children who have had the privilege of growing up in this town with amazing amenities including a library pool public transportation system and schools said we wanted to find a way to give a slice of this to these children who are only a four hour plane ride away yet have little hope in the dominican republic poverty is concentrated in rural areas the rural poverty rate is about three times as high as the urban poverty rate each visit we conduct a free preventative clinic dent care dental clinic for over two hundred children everything is donated by local dentists over the past ten years the incidence of decay has dropped dramatically because of the simple treatments offered to the children not only are the children pain free but their mothers are not awoken in the night with children crying in pain with toothpicks said greg half of the country does not have access to clean water and over half of the country does not have sanitary toilets health care is expensive and hard to find in rural areas last year we funded a sixty thousand dollar clean water system which has ensured that the inciden of dysentery dropped by nearly seventy five percent ensuring the children can absorb nutrients develop properly attend school and learn instead of staying home greg said natural disasters including hurricanes tsunamis earthquakes and mudslides constantly threaten rural areas much of the rural infrastructure has collapsed due to natural disasters since the main industry of the dominican republic is tourism rural areas are often overlooked when it comes to government investment at the first church in belmont we sell handmade crafts of the local women who formed a micro business every penny goes back to the women to contribute to the cost of medicine school books extra rice and beans or a pair of shoes said grab the dominican republic rex ranks six among countries with the highest rates of femicide or murder of women most of these crimes go and reported and those at greatest risk are women aged ages fifteen to twenty four packing assistance systems do they really work motorists consistently rate par coke computer this technology can manage parallel and often perpendicular parking this is how it works sensors located around the vehicle scan for the parking assistance computer detects and calculates the dimensions of the open space to see if it is large enough for the vehicle maneuvers than drivers not using the technology but can these systems park more accurately than an experienced driver one aaa search survey found that seventy two percent of american drivers would not trust this technology to parallel park their vehicle so aaa put the technology to the test for drivers completed parking maneuvers with and without parking assistance in that time closed course event the results were surprising drivers using parking systems experienced eighty one percent fewer curb strikes than drivers parking without assistance the systems position the vehicle within the parking spot mark insistently using fewer maneuvers than unassisted drivers self parking systems parallel parked the vehicle using forty seven percent fewer maneuvers packing the says system position the view of thirty seven percent closer to the curb than on the system drivers some systems were able to pair of parked in very tight very tight spaces as little as four feet long and then the vehicle which test drivers would not have attempted jonathan age requires certain driving adjustments by rivera to cruise driving is a means of independence older americans are hesitant to give up but as a person ages reaction time slows and sense of such as eyesight hearing start to diminish by twenty thirty aaa estimates seventy million people in the u s will be age sixty five or older and a majority of those folks will likely have driver's licenses senior drivers have higher crash rates than middle age drivers and are more prone to serious crash related injuries according to the insurance institute for highway safety in many cases it will be up to those aging motorists and their families to decide whether it is time stop driving as drivers age it's important for them to realize their driving ability can change said john paul senior traffic safety manager of aaa northeast to continue driving safely older drivers need to recognize that change is going to happen get help when they do and be concerned to listen if others voice concerns so how do you know if a family member should stop driving their warning signs to look for ward said such as narrowly avoided collisions and getting lost in familiar roads here are a couple of few of ways aging can impact driving reaction time drivers make about twenty major decisions per mile in most cases a driver must react to a potential cross in a crash in left than half a second as we go grow older her reaction time slows memory as we age we require more time to process information and weakening cognitive capabilities that can result of forgetfulness it would be beneficial to take a defensive driving class to remind yourself of the rules of the road laws the road and engineering have changed plenty over the past few decades improve your visual processing speed with programs such as dr sharp an online brain training program developed by aaa foundation for traffic safety in fact dr sharp these join us next week