welcome to talking news we are delighted to have you with us listening to our presentation by members of the beat street center marian jonathan and martha we will be reading local news and happenings from the community newspaper i float receives national recognition as high performing school and no butler an elementary school was twenty sixteen national blue ribbon school for being an exemplary high performing school on september twenty eighth by u s secretary of education john b king jr butler is a man two hundred seventy nine public schools receiving this honor nationally along with fifty private schools and is one of three schools recognized as massachusetts in massachusetts for this honor former butler principal now generally middle school principal michael mcallister said i congratulate all of the popular teachers students and families i cannot think of community more deserving than them i am so proud of them schools are nominated for the award by the state department of education and are recognized in one of two performances have a high number of achieving the students as members measured by state assessments this cheap mn is a testament to the passion effort education and teamwork that each person in this community contributes says current butler principal danielle court de system after almost a year of planning coordination melnotte light will launch its new customer parnell and billing system october third belmont lights new customer portal smart allows customers to access their electric and water accounts explore and monitor their usage set up notifications initiate and track service requests get important updates from belmont light and many more functions in looking for a comprehensive software solution to fulfill all of the needs of bellemont light and the needs of our customers it was crucial that the solution to be implemented in a seamless way that would not cause an interruption to the high quality service w said maria mock on living off finance manager of belmont light the national information solutions cooperative the n i s see is exactly that solution and will be for a number of years to come belmont lighting a collaboration with staff from the belmont water division the town's treasurer and the town administrators office selected and s c to replace it integrated software solution system for electric and water building operations since october trying to fifteen belmont lights project team and i s c have been working to bring a number of new capabilities to belmont light customers because of the change in billing systems all customers will receive new account numbers on their electric and water bills cost her should plan to log into smart on or after over thirty to set up their new accounts using their last name or business name new account number and e mail address the homeowner light will send additional instructions to customers who  fire marshal peter ostrowski the theme of this year's fire prevention week campaign don't wait check the date replace smoke alarms every ten years educates the public about the critical importance of knowing how old their smoke alarms are and replacing them once they're ten years old smoke alarms like other appliances in the home don't last forever fire prevention week i october ninth to fifteen time and again i've seen the life saving impact smoke alarms can have in a home fire but i've also seen the tragedy that can resell when smoke alarms aren't working properly set a straw ski that's why we're making a concerted effort to educate massachusetts residents about the overall importance of smoke alarms and that they do have an expiration date how find out how old a smoke alarm is to find out how old a smoke alarm is that it's expiration date simply look on the back of the alarm where the date of manufacture is marked most smoke alarm should be replaced ten years from that date not the date of purchase most smoke alarms last about ten years but some are less so it's important to check with the manufacturer to know when the alarms in your home expire ostrowski said smoke alarm should be tested monthly and alkaline batteries should be replaced at least once a year or when the alarm begins to chirp signaling the battery is running low this year's fire prevention week theme compliments the ongoing public awareness campaign in massachusetts smoke alarms a sound you can live with that focuses on replacing aging smoke alarms and tool kit for local fire department for more information on smoke alarms go to mass dot gov slash d f s and type smoke alarms in the search box what to look for when buying new smoke alarms look for alarms with ten year sealed nine rechargeable non replaceable batteries the entire unit the smoke alarm and the battery will need to be replaced at the end of ten years and the alarm will give an end of life warning select alarms that are photo electrical are photoelectric in combination with  monoxide alarms select alarms with a hush button peacher so that the nuisance alarms can be quieted without disabling the entire alarm intensifying smoke will override the buyback event it resulted in the number of firearms being turned in to the belmont police the gun buyback event was held on june eleventh at the department of public works yard for the purpose of giving belmont residents a safe way to despise dispose of unwanted  belmont police worked in partnership with the middlesex county sheriff's office belmont religious council individual belmont houses of worship in and regional police partners from cambridge arlington watertown and somerville contributed throughout the day for firearms were turned in for disposal including rifles shotguns and pistols gift cards were purchased from donations made by individuals local businesses and houses of worship and were given out in exchange for the firearms all firearms turned in at the gun buyback will be given to the massachusetts state police for the destruction in accordance with the law almost to hand to five hundred dollars and left over grocery gift cards and cash will be donated to the belmont food pan over his previous an ongoing attempts to transform the harvard harbor garage next to the new england aquarium into skyscrapers but now the belmont resident has found himself locked in another battle with neighbors on his home turf on marsh street the street where a former massachusetts governor mitt romney wants lived neighbors have come out in opposition to cio far as proposal to construct a five house subdivision on marsh street that would include the addition of a cool the sack on the street the proposed development also potentially demolish more than five acres of woods land far owns the brushes up against belmont habitat  most controversially a road like that exceeds six hundred feet in order to build a coma sac selectmen were opposed to take up the matter over the summer but continue the hearing to september nineteenth so let and again continue the hearing after they realize chair far i have yet to file a notice of intent with the conservation commission it's maybe the largest undeveloped land left in belmont said transform the highland farm toward turtle pond and the belmont hill school rubles it is common for undeveloped land in dense areas like belmont to contain pockets of private land connected l is essential for keeping our population of wildlife said rubel who said residents of not objected to people walking through their private property that runs through born trail what happened on the border trail if this project goes through i unclear the new owners might say they don't want people walking across their property or in new trends in vehicle breakdowns aaa rescued a record breaking thirty two million drivers in twenty fifteen with more battery flat tire and key problems than ever before despite advances in technology bickles less than five years old expired a higher rate of tire and key related issues experienced excuse me vehicles less than five years old experienced a higher rate of tire and key related issues than older vehicles suggesting that eliminating spare tires and moving to electronic keyless ignition may not have unintended consequence may have unintended consequences big goals today are more advanced than ever yet are still vulnerable to break down said john paul aaa ne's senior manager of traffic safety and triple a's car doctor sleek low profile tires are highly susceptible to damage electronic keyless ignition skin sap battery life and despite advanced warning systems more than a half million drivers ran out of gas last year to reduce weight and boost fuel economy spare tires are being replaced with tire inflator kits they can remedy only some flat tire situations ignition systems can drain battery life when keys are stored too close to the vehicle and can lock a driver out of the vehicle when the engine is still running here are some other key findings battery failures flat tires and keys locked inside vehicles remain the top roadside assistance requests in massachusetts and rhode island the highest percentages of roadside assistance calls were for battery problems twenty six percent flat tires sixteen percent and lockouts twelve percent and the rest were for vehicles needing a tow and for a variety of other reasons because less than five years old have a higher proportion of tire key and fuel related issues than older vehicles vehicles between six and ten years old have the highest proportion of battery related issues roadside assistance calls peak in the summer eight point three million followed by winter eight point one million fall seven point eight million and spring seven point seven million drivers are most likely to request roadside assistance on mondays and least likely to voted on the enrollment certification at her to be sent to the massachusetts school building authority by october fourteenth the three potential grade configurations the feasibility study will explore how are confirmations of grades nine through twelve eight through twelve and seven through twelve on january twenty seventh the massachusetts school building authority invited belmont to join the state's capital pipeline beginning a journey that will continue continue a journey that will eventually lead to a revamped belmont high school which could be eligible for millions in reimbursement from the end as be a shortly after the town entered the eligibility period at two hundred seventy day period where town officials work with  b to refine the project the thing which ends november seventh is the first of eight modules in the m as the a prescribed building according to superintendent john feal and in his praise taishan to the building committee on september twenty nine the grades eight through twelve models would get three forty three fifty students out of the chancery bit of school the grades seven through twelve model would allow belmont to realign the district and get relief at all three levels elementary middle and high school the town of west bridgewater is an example of a district which gay if that has a middle school high school model however the total number of students at the high school is about six hundred students belmont built a minute school high school for grades seven through twelve it would be four proximately twenty two hundred students said be a jazz building committee chairman bill for the feasibility study which was presented by assistant town administrators phyllis marshall treasure the b h s building for miti the completion o on the third floor in this book building ten more street belmont jonathan sights and sounds the next big thing at home theaters by melissa erickson there's always something new in the high tech home theater market from things available now like four k t v s and sent him a quality sound systems to the next big thing a few experts weigh in on the hottest trends the housing market is still in recovery mode we continue to get requests for high and home theaters and bob didn't see president me nero's incorporated westchester pennsylvania clients wa dedicated room where they can enjoy an incredible big screen experience high definition describes the amount of pixels your t v uses to create an image for k means four thousand horizontal lines the increased solution of four k is very much in demand and four k movies are starting to become available better audiovisual systems upscale the video so even standard high definition which is one thousand eight hundred pixels look sharper with more vivid colors he said manufacturers showcased for katie these at the twenty sixteen consumer electronics show and the new x box one s supports the system but they have their detractors we were all excited about four k but it wasn't obvious improvement said joe silver president of the imaging science foundation the problem is that the recommended viewing distance for optimal picture quality is too close people don't watch t v with the noses on the screen it's great for gamers who do watch that way though he said even better than four k t v will be h d are a high dynamic range t v he's what you're being manufactured by the biggest and brightest in the field silver said you will really notice a difference with h d r the picture is brighter colors and whites are brighter on the black is very black this is going to make a real difference you'll notice it from all across the room so versa marion belmont pursuing renewable energy by jerry to audi and bram berkowitz well energy policy debates continue in massachusetts house and senate many city and town governments are charging ahead with local efforts to boost the use of renewable power sources in massachusetts we can get one hundred percent of our energy from renewable sources said ben hellerstein state director of the environmental messa research and policy center we have enough wind and solar potential to meet our energy needs many times over the good news is local come communities are already taking action communities big and small in all parts of the state are moving to adopt clean energy and reduce their reliance on fossil fuels more than four in ten communities have installed solar panels on at least one municipal property and eighty six percent have completed an energy audit of at least one city or town building in the past decade according to environment massachusetts and bella according to roger coleman chairman of the town's energy committee there are currently no municipal buildings with solar panels scuse me because many ro scuse me not sufficient to support the infrastructure but this will soon change direct energy solar a fuel service solar provider recently pledged fifty thousand dollars to the town in order to install panels on the rooftop of a municipal building direct energy solar did this after belmont hired the company for a valcke residential solar campaign that saw two hundred fifty belmont households perch panels for their rooftops colton said the wellington elementary school is a prospect by the panels right now also he said the expectation is that when belmont house school is renovated we will put solar panels on the high school roof coltan said the town has been pursuing energy conservation in municipal buildings through the green community's program the town also plans to replace the streetlights without lee de lighting an initiative made possible through a state threat secured by rep representative dave rogers of the twenty fourth middlesex district and  looking into obtaining some electric vehicles he said martha thank you for joining us for this episode of talking news