welcome to talking news we are delighted to have you with us learning to it are you listening to our presentation by members of the beach street santa marian jonathan and martha we will be reading local news and happenings from the community newspaper being prepared belmont police learned how to respond to an active shooter in a school building by an rannells although belmont high students were on vacation last week the halls of p eight s were anything but quiet the school was used as a training site for law enforcement agencies as they participated in a series of exercises to learn how to deal with the unthinkable an active shooter situation both offices from than thirteen municipalities from as far away as west newbury as well as belmont own force took part in a two day training that was offered by alert alert and a akron ism for advanced law enforcement emergency rapid response training was brought by belmont by a grant from homeland security department led the pair of seminars thirty officers in each two day workshop took part in a day of classroom and struction and a day of realistic and forstmann training using genuine weaponry and authentic scenarios training is designed to give offices the two needed if they respond to an active shooter and he placed there is an active shooter school mall church or office we are training in the tactic to be used universally and nationwide  is free from any locality that is approved by homeland security and their mission is to have law enforcement trained in approaching these situations the same from coast to coast sergeant bell then my zero firearms instructor for the belmont police was on hand for the training what we are doing is being prepared when we get call said mio the first day of the workshop is classroom training the second day was the day of engaging in the role of play of an active shooter during the active replication some t team members acted as the shooter or shooters wounded people or hostages during the live role of play the guns used were secured actual replicas of firearms but fire so bullets like environment or to paint balls yes they can hurt said my old officers were prepped for protective mast as well as the tactical vest that they wear every day scenarios were done in a downstairs classroom as a demonstration for media and then moved to the upstairs classrooms members of the media were not allowed to do the actual reenactment due to the act sensitivity of the training and the danger to observe us shooters or the bad guys were to act as real as they could offices are trained to subdue the shooter or the threat before dealing with any other part of the incident how to stop the threat as fast as possible is first after we assess the rest of the scene to intercept the training included under being elements like screaming wounded people crying past hostages and even people grabbing at officers responding the we replicate as much as we can we have our role players doing all those things so the officers are ready to deal with that set fleener we give them exposure said my oh before they have have to deal with that for real for an outside observer although training might seem unreal and hard to imagine happening in a quiet town like belmont looked at all the school shootings was significant loss of life said they were all towns like belmont belmont offices are participating in the training for the worst case scenario there is a shooting almost weekly said fleener can that happen here said of course it can but we are training to be prepared jonathan school budget requesting five point seven percent more for fiscal fiscal year twenty eighteen by jack million dollars proposal represents a three point five percent increase over last year's budget schools schools budget grows superintendent john failon outlined the fiscal twenty eighteen proposed budget for belmont public schools which total fifty two million nine hundred sixty nine thousand dollars an increase of two point eight million or five point seven percent over the fiscal twenty seventeen budget it represents approximately forty eight percent of the fiscal twenty eight thousand budget our primary cost driver is growing school enrollment fill fill a failing enrollment has increased by approximately nine hundred students each year for the past five years with this trend of one hundred students per year expected to increase by an estimated hundred students through fiscal two thousand and twenty the tween october twenty ten and october twenty sixth seen in roman and belmont public schools increased from three thousand eight hundred seventy seven to four thousand four hundred eight nonprofessional staff services for mandated costs such as special education english language learners classroom supplies textbooks technology quick quick mint and furniture and additional transportation services for both regular and special education health insurance premiums also have increased by nine percent although belmont has added fifteen additional classroom spaces including twelve modular classrooms at  belmont high school and the general middle school fellows of the town still needs more space at the elementary level including additional modular classrooms elementary school class sizes are increasing every year and many glasses classes are above the levels recommended by the school committee belmont has consistently spent less on per pupil basis than the state average and the average of school districts in the area belmont ranks twenty fifth in per pupil spending among twenty eight neighboring districts of similar type in fiscal years twenty eleven through two thousand and fifteen said phelan belmont schools have been highly successful even though they spend less than them less per student than similar communities belmont schools have a high level of community support and have great educators and students and an extremely hardworking administrate of team that guides the work school issues house fire on grove street smoke filled the streets at fifty to fifty two grove street in belmont sunday night resident arrived home and made the original call to nine one one at ten o one pm for a smell of smoke from both lawrence of the two family on the corner of gross street and unity avenue belmont fire arrived to heavy gray smoke pouring out from under the roof from the second floor in the rear of the house visibility due to the smoke was nonexistent on grove street upon arrival according to belmont fire captain wayne haley first commander on the scene haley immediately called a second alarm bringing in mutual aid from watertown and cambridge female occupants told haley everyone was out of the building firefighters made entry by breaking down the rear doors and windows of the first floor water was put on the front of the building despite the absence of flames then water was used on the roof by the hook and ladder trucks from belmont and cambridge halley decided if evacuate to evacuate the house next door on gross street as a precaution firefighters you sauced open the roof and broke all the windows to ventilate the fire belmont fire chief david present arrived during the third alarm it was truly a fire that could have been a lot worse he said it's a testament of our mutual aid system that was put to such great work tonight frisell thought the fire had originated from the basement but was awaiting the fire inspectors to make a final determination haley said the fire also appeared to have started in the basement and quickly moved up to the flat roof for sale explained that firefighters you saw is to break open the roof allowing the fire to spread up and out instead of sideways through the d belmont police sergeant kevin shea was first on scene from his department and with assistance from the watertown police quickly secured the scene from both sides of grove street as well as park street and unity  by caitlin keller her one there are more than three hundred maple producers in the state who make between fifty thousand and sixty thousand gallons of maple syrup each year according to the state maple syrup as the current concentration of pure maple sap which is made by boiling and filtering the sap to sap can be collected in massachusetts starting at the end of february and throughout most of march in order for sap to be collected low temperatures must drop below freezing usually in the twenty's and high temperatures must be above thirty two degrees usually into the forty's maple trees are usually tapped between thirty and forty years old and can be tapped until it is more than one hundred years old three the production of maple syrup is one a few agricultural processes in north america that is not a european colonial import visitors can visit a number of the sugar houses in massachusetts because owners open their properties many educational farms and locations also hold sugaring events each year including blue hills trail side museum in milton break cart reservation in saugus ipswich river  blackstone river and canal heritage state park river bend farm visitor center in our springs drummond farm wildlife sanctuary in lincoln and oh sturbridge village in sturbridge for many residents of best juice that have sugar maple trees in their yards and even with only a few trees residents can make their own dot org slash make p h p jonathan arlington readers together kick off the future transgender activist the organizers of arlington reeds together and now sneak all main subject of this year's community read becoming nichol at tahn hall on march fourth maines a transgender transgender activist was featured in glam more magazine's twenty fourteen hometown heroes fifty phenomenal women of the year who are making a difference she was named one of the fourteen most fearless teens of twenty fourteen for standing up against injustice and most recently was featured in the h b o documentary the trans list the arlington reads together committee selected becoming nicole the transformation of an american family by amy ellis not in november becoming nichol published in two thousand and fifteen is the story of a rural american family  middle class and politically conservative when maine's was a small child she started telling her family and community who she was becoming nichol tells her story a mother trying to ensure her family's safety  father struggling to understand except a twin brother who was a champion of his sister and manes at the center a young girl fighting for her place in the world author amie ellis not places the famil journey in the social legal and medical context that surrounds them we are ecstatic to bring manged to arlington nichol's activism shows us how important it is to fight for what's right and the importance of dignity in being able to use the bathroom of your gender said mari didi assistant director of libraries as libraries and arlington reads together coordinator we hope that manes parents and the related programming later in the month will raise the visibility of the area trends committee community so especially for young trans and gender nonconforming people who experience higher rates of suicide and homelessness marion meet the candidates by joanna k suva less there are two candidates for the two three year school committee seats on the ballot in the upcoming town election april fourth school committee member they did not file by the february fourteenth deadline schuster served for four years said she decided to its chief decided it was important to pass the position on to someone with children currently in the school system the belmont citizen harold each of the candidates why they decided to run answer limited to one hundred words or less katherine bowen the school committee makes an important contribution to the policy in finances of our schools as well as provides community voices from different perspectives having a professional background in education and the arts and education administration as well as dedicating much volunteer time to the community and schools as a butler parent thetic lee elementary mom i believe i can make a valuable contribution to the school committee thomas computer i care deeply about the belmont community and especially our schools we are fortunate to have some of the best schools in the state but we face significant challenges regarding our growing in rome and class sizes and physical space constraints i've spent the last three years working to understand and address these challenges as a member of the school committee b h s building committee and role meant and space task force our challenges are manageable but they require a thoughtful and collaborative approach i hope to use my school committee experience and business background to resolve these challenges for the students of belmont for selectman about guy carbo years in belmont thirty profession attorney at law for own private practice in boston former professor of civil engineering for tufts university and a visiting lecturer for harvard graduate school of design education jurist doctor from suffolk university law school master's and bachelor's degrees in civil engineering from massachusetts institute of technology family wife mimi and son anthony two grandsons town service belmont representative to m w r a belmont noise by law committee watertown school committee for twelve years watertown selectman for six years military service united states army reserves retired colonel for the corps of engineers civic involvement life member of order of sons of italy in america down to alley garry society of massachusetts grand lodge of massachusetts interests construction opera about adam dash years  belmont eleven profession attorney at law for own private practice in somerville education jurist doctor from george washington university bachelor's degree in economics and fine arts from brandeis university family wife kimberly daughters lily and on our town service weren't committee member since two thousand and nine vice chairman since two thousand and sixteen community preservation acts study committee chairman two thousand and seven to two thousand and nine zoning board of appeals associate member two thousand and eight two thousand and eight two thousand and nine town meeting member precinct one since two thousand eight hundred would pool building committee vice chairman two thousand and thirteen to two thousand and sixteen when the committee dishpan that member of the steering committee for the two thousand and fifteen override yes campaign civic involvement bethel temple center friends of the belmont library belmont boosters chain repeat somerville chamber of commerce somerville homeless coalition city of somerville zoning advisory committee interests music walking dog playing guitar martha little sex inmates assist belmont housing authority a team of inmates from the middlesex sheriff's office community work program spent the first week of february washing the hallways and shovel in sidewalks at the sherman gardens housing complex in belmont these are acts of service which allow our  give back to their community prior to their release said sheriff peter j crew to sharon getting into the routine of working every day we're better prepared these men to reenter society and in the meantime provide a much needed service to the belmont housing authority c w p crews comprised screen and supervised teams of three to five inmates they conduct painting cleanup and their projects projects under the direct and constant supervision of a correction officer the middle section heiress office community work program has provided much needed additional resources for work that might not have otherwise been done due to financial constraints said donna hamilton executive director of the belmont housing authority we appreciate all of the hard work that has been done to assist the authority in completing these projects the seed the program as visited sixteen communities in middlesex county already this year jonathan belmont council on aging to host talk on overcoming clutter the friends of the belmont council on aging will present the perplexing problem problem of clutter how family and friends can help from five thirty eight to seven pm march fourteenth street center two sixty six beach street belmont clowder is a problem for families and friends who are trying to support their loved ones the person the struggles with the clutter may feel threatened by suggestions to change understanding the best way to communicate will lead toward a less chaotic safer living environment the session will be hosted by patti underwood a social worker at riverside community cares underwood has been running groups for the research team of the boston university harding program since two thousand and seven she has also created harding support groups for the town of newton and watertown marion woman to hold raffle to restore home or house the belmont woman's club will sell a limited number of raffle tickets to raise money for its twenty seven thousand capital campaign the drawing will take place live at eight pm a tent at the belmont woman's club home or house located at six sixty one pleasant street belmont the proceeds from this raffle will be will go toward the goal of raising two hundred fifty thousand dollars to re store and repair belmont's historic eight hundred fifty three w at home or house located at the corner of concord advent pleasant street the house is in need of substantial repair including restoration of the front lawn which has eroded over time establishment of parking spaces repair and replacement of windows and making the house handicapped accessible raffle tickets cost one hundred dollars each and only two hundred will be sold first prize will be five thousand dollars second prize one thousand dollars third prize five hundred dollars opportunities to win other prices in other what in other words gift baskets and gift cards will be valued over one hundred dollars martha thank you for joining us in this episode talking news please join us next week