welcome to talking news we're delighted to have you with us listening to our presentation by members of the beach street center marian jonathan and irene we will be reading local news and happenings from the community newspaper cost of road salt is up nine dollars per ton by jerry twenty and brim berkowitz even though there hasn't been much snow this winter the price of road salt is still putting a dent in many municipal budgets across the state it's a challenge we're all facing said arlington town manager at him chapter lane whose town is paying eighty six dollars per ton of salt up from sixty six dollars two years ago so prices can vary sharply across the state with the cost of transportation playing a major role the price of salt is dramatically based on how far a town is from one of the local ports or one of the local depositories of salt said denver's department of public works superintendent david lane who also serves as secretary of the massachusetts highway association danvers which is fairly close to a terminal in chelsea is paying forty five dollars per tonne for s this winter dan first purchases salt through a consortium of fifteen north shore cities and towns and is in the final year of a three year salt contract awarded in two thousand and thirteen danvers paid forty four dollars per tonne last year belmont which is paying sixty seven dollars and ninety five cents per ton of salt in f y sixteen up nearly nine dollars from f y fifteen also has its s from chelsea once that went out to bid when fuel was near four dollars a gallon they got higher prices les unsaid the state's largest city is experiencing a budgetary impact from rising s buston is paying sixty two dollars per tonne for road salt under its contract for the current fiscal year last year the city paid fifty five dollars per turn up from forty four dollars in fiscal two thousand and fourteen according to hundred twenty five thousand tons she said cities and towns have several options when it comes to buying road salt some put out their own bids and contract individually with a supplier others such as arlington join a regional purchasing collaborative with other communities some other towns purchased saw through mass d o g s procurement system mass d o t the massachusetts department of transportation is responsible for clearing snow and ice from the state's highways the price of mass d o t pays for salt india using materials very significantly by region but its state wide average price is seventy one dollars and twenty five cents per tonne under contracts for the current fiscal year that represents just a small increase over the average price of seventy one dollars and twenty cents per ton mass d o t paid last year that press plateau however follows a large spike in fiscal two thousand and thirteen mass d o t paid an average of fifty one dollars and ninety five cents per ton on salts before prices jumped up thirty six percent the following year to seventy dollars and sixty five cents this winter mass d o t has spent sixteen point two million dollars on de icing materials through feb seventeenth according to department goddard the vast majority ninety five percent of the de icing materials are salt but the state also uses sand and liquid magnesium chloride in arlington the town reserves or make up the expenditure in next year's budget in belmont the town budget six hundred seventy eight thousand and ninety five dollars for snow removal thus far four hundred  one hundred fifty three dollars four hundred five thousand one hundred fifty three dollars has been spent one hundred thousand two hundred sixty two dollars of which is spent on cells under state law municipal governments can run snow removal budgets at a deficit and backfill the line item in the following budget cycle some communities choose to intentionally under budget for snow removal knowing that they'll make up the expense in the following budget cycle kristen st george told parents her decision marks two and daniel copeland newfield upper school assistant principal of general told parents march seventh via email it has been a privilege to work at c m s for the past eleven years most of both as a teacher and for the past five years as the upper school assistant principal stated copeland newfield i have learned a tremendous amount over this time and i'm grateful for the opportunity to work with you and your children a couple in new field will become the head of school at the vassal lane opera school in cambridge a middle school in the cambridge public school system according to its website the school has an in roman of two hundred  sixty students this represents a great opportunity for me as i continue to develop as a school leader and i am excited about this next big step he stated at this time st george new role is unclear i wanted to take this opportunity to thank you for helping me to grow professionally and prepare me for my next challenge stated st george i will always look back on my years in belmont with fondness and pride superintendent john phelan at the march eighth school committee meeting thank both st george and copeland newfield for their service and wish the two well in their future endeavors we hope to cross paths with these great folks again he said both administrator stated they plan to work with the current school administration to prepare for the transition and express gratitude for their time with the belmont public school system i cannot overstate my respect for the tremendous teaching staff here are generally stated copeland newfield they are without a doubt some of the best middle school educators in the country and i will miss working with them phelan acknowledged the significant transition taking place that said the administration is in the process of reaching out to the c m s parent teacher organization and the belmont education association to prepare them for the process process it's a really big deal for the to have this type of change in leadership he said will meet with the staff to find out what looks like from their point of view phelan said he would be outlining the search process timeline to parents and staff this of belmont health collaborative says the issue of substance abuse has always carried a stigma having grown up in an alcoholic household hammarlund says the best solution is to get the issue out in the open and now she may finally have the resources to start such a conversation in belmont along with watertown while fam and brookline belmont will participate in two programs being offered through the wayside multiservice cent a prevention outreach and counseling organization in watertown the goal of the programs is to raise awareness about substance abuse and mental health issues and bring people in similar situations together everyone is saying there is a problem but no one wants to talk about it said hammer hammarlund if all the people who acknowledge the problem start talking with each other the community can begin an important conversation you probably can't find a family that has not been affected by mental health and substance abuse the first program the substance abuse prevention collaborative is  hundred twenty five thousand dollars grant for all four participating communities from the bureau's of substance abuse services a division of the department of public health stephanie souther  prevention program coordinator at the wayside multiservice center said the money is being used to work with people in the four communities that are looking to raise awareness and educate other residents about substance abuse and prevention she also said the collaborative would be able to further identify the issues the four communities consider most important building on these efforts hammarlund and l larry you also co president of the belmont health collaborative well i offer a variety of educational opportunities for residents hammarlund said she and wendy morrissey of watertown overcoming addiction will co host a television show on the community channel at least once a month discussing the disease process behind addiction sociological issues related to addiction moral issues and more currently high school students participating in a contest to design a logo for the show resources from the grant will also be used to host community forum said hammarlund the substance abuse and mental health service is administration gave the wayside center the second grant now is the time project aware youth mental health first aid which offers free training to any adults who interact with youth twelve to eighteen years old the purpose of the eight hour training according to sunderland is to teach adults to recognize signs and symptoms of youth mental health problems and offer assistance they need and tell appropriate professional help is available they may just listen and they may  resource in some cases they may help by calling a family member or nine one one sunderland said substance abuse is a byproduct of mental health said hammarlund if you can get to the mental health issue you can address why substance abuse is happening and prevent it dr kevin hill director of substance abuse consultation services at mclean hospital agreed that addiction does not occur in a vacuum if a person has a depression anxiety attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in it in addition to addiction then it is critical for the treating p to address both issues he stated in an e mail many studies including some of my own show that it is possible to treat multiple co co occurring disorders successfully said in the long term more information and conversation will help belmont identify how they want to approach substance abuse which could possibly lead to forming its own coalition dedicated to how substance abuse affects youth but for the time being hammarlund is excited about the progress the belmont health collaborative has made and is optimistic about the future she said she believes it will only take one person to spark an open cohesive discussion irene movement to record town's history help us kick off the belmont story project a community effort of five local organizations collaboration of effort to record and preserve the oral history of belmont residents across generations in the form of podcasts and videos hear sample recordings and get tips for conducting a great interview from two award winning public radio producers kate ellis and mitch handley at a workshop in the belmont public library assembly room at three pm thursday march thirty one the belmont story project is a collaboration of belmont public library council on aging belmont media center and the belmont citizen harold and belmont historical society modeled after national public radio's story corps ellis a broadcaster with a background in three apology is founder of audio memoir an oral history service that captures personal and professional stories for individuals and families her radio credits include we knew j f k and heard stories from the kennedy archives say it loud civil rights and african american identity and a better life creating the american dream in say it plain a century of great african american oratory hanley who won a peabody award for his work on the speaking of citizen herald will talk about the belmont story project in the importance of oral history in recording the life of our town the project encourages belmont residents to share stories about the experiences and relationships most important in their lives children can interview parents or grandparents friends and partners can reminisce about meaningful experiences they have shared a long time dhamma residents can recall belmont was like many years ago all these stories and more will be recorded as either podcasts or videos and accessed through the websites of the belmont story project co sponsors the belmont citizen harold the belmont historical society  selection needed d amounts the boston girl unfolds as the main character eighty seven year old addie bomb answers her granddaughter's question how did you get to be the woman you are today at the kickoff ellison handley will conduct a mock interview and make suggestions about best practices in interviewing based on many years of experience participants will receive sample interview questions and be able to sign up for appointments to record interviews which take about thirty minutes at the belmont media center where the belmont public library participants may also record the interviews at home at their convenience if they have their own recording equipment all ages are invited to participate visit story corps or to hear stories from other communities and get ideas for your own reporting for more information contact  wicked local dot com or call the reference desk at the bell my public library six one seven nine nine three two eight seven zero jonathan housing authority question the week do you advocate the use of community preservation account funding for affordable housing projects what projects would you target funding for thomas ina olsen i believe in honoring our commitments to both the residents of the housing authority and to the residents of belmont in twenty fourteen the funding of needed electrical repairs at three housing authority sites sycamore gardens w was brought to town meeting floor there was likely discussion with some town meeting members arguing that the state should provide the funds for the needed repairs both state senator brown's berger and representative rogers emphatically pointed out that the state could not meet its responsibilities at that meeting i advocated for the use of c p a funds that the need was great and that regardless of the state's failed responsibility we had a responsibility to our housing authority neighbors since then the town meeting is approved eight hundred thirty four thousand dollars in needed projects c p a narrowly passed a few years back i believe we should use our c p a funds wisely entirely appropriate the task is to find the best projects to fund with this money the use of c p a funds for electrical upgrades at belmont village has been a controversial town meeting approve these expenditures but some of wondered why the state doesn't pay for improvements to water state owned buildings as a member of the housing authority i would seek alternate funding sources for projects like this and only reliance e p a funds as a last resort i'd like to see c p a community housing funds go toward creating additional permanently affordable housing in belmont this would reduce the waiting list for fordable housing and move us closer to the ten percent affordable target under which chapter when he grew up as a child he always enjoyed watching his italian mother and grandmother cook in their kitchens he studied at the cullen ery institute of america and got his first job at an italian restaurant in new york his boss who was from florence told him to forget everything he learned in college cutrone who grew up on long island new york landed in massachusetts when he got a job at  his dream was to own his own restaurant and when he saw an ad about a property for rent at four forty nine common street in belmont he checked it out and decided the area was the right fit for  named after his father sivi knows grail offers a talent in mediterranean cuisine in a cosy comfortable but elegant setting decorated with local artwork provided by the belmont art association takes the most pride in the appearance of his restaurant its cleanliness beyond's and service i want people to feel relaxed and forget there's a world out there he said referring to an italian expression when you're dining at a table time stand still during the nine years since his restaurant opened doesn't deny he has had his ups and downs due to the economic downturn major construction in the cushing square area and the very bad winter in twenty fifteen but through it all he has not given up and thanks his loyal customers i mean muslims in america hearing their story what we need to know to counter bigotry seven thirty two nine pm march twenty four bethel temple center two concord ave belmont speakers alley a sunny professor of indo muslim in islamic religion and cultures harvard university she entered irwin attorney and executive director muslim justice league dr us if razvi outreach committee of the islamic cent of boston wayland sponsored by belmont against racism belmont human rights commission bethel temple center social action committee first church in belmont unitarian universalists social action committee and the belmont religious council this talk is free and open to the public for information contact behind against racism at g mail dot com jonathan helmont garden club perennials snowdrops and other spring plants have appeared in the woodland garden adjacent to the belmont public libraries parking lot maintained by the belmont garden club the garden is open year round the club will sell plants at the perennial plants sale from nine am to noon on may twenty first at the lions club business donates a thousand dollars to cancer foundations the caldwell banker residential brokerage offices in arlington and belmont donated total of a thousand dollars to two nonprofit organizations through the company's charitable foundation caldwell banker residential brokerage cares donations of five hundred dollars who are presented to let's tackle breast cancer inc and lucy's love bus let's tackle breast cancer is a  nonprofit organization run entirely by volunteers most of whom have been directly affected by breast cancer the majority of funds raised by the organization are used to assist members of the community with breast cancer a portion of its proceeds are also donated to making strides against breast cancer which is the largest network of breast cancer awareness events in the nation the founder of let's tackle breast cancer is lynn lowenstein a real estate professional affiliated with the caldwell banker residential brokerage arlington office lucy's love but this provides funds to pediatric cancer patients and their families for free integrative therapies such as massage acupuncture art therapy yoga and therapeutic horseback riding the organization was started by lucy grogan who was eight years old when she was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia when lucy was eleven she told her mother that when she was done with cancer she wanted to start a program  provide free integrative therapies to all children with cancer to help manage the side effects and late effects of traditional cancer treatment irene belmont girls hoop dreams end t watertown and sectional finals the hoop dreams of belmont high school girls basketball team came to an end at eight thirty seven pm on saturday march twelfth as the final buzzer ended a brilliant two week run of upsets and spirited play as arch rivals watertown once again walked off the court at will bring high school with their second consecutive division to north title and as the raiders swept on to the floor to accept its trophy belmont girls many in tears circled arm in arm around their coaches to hear why this loss did not define their season i think we tried our hardest but the calls were not on our side in the second half to say the least said sara stuart the senior co captain who was its leader on and off the court after a first half in which belmont executed its game plan to near perfection against the four time consecutive north finalists the past three years in division two and the first in division three to enter the neutral half scuse me to enter the half with a five point lead twenty six to twenty one the second half saw the marauders slip from drive to neutral scoring just twenty points five in the third quarter obviously watertown made shots and we didn't our defense was really good in the half but we struggled with scoring said belmont head coach melissa hart who praised watertown senior forward caitlin rourke her division's m v p who along with junior center shannon murphy scored twelve points both making only two baskets while scoring eight points from the free throw line rurik showed today why she's the m v p we should have adjusted better in the third quarter when she started to take command said hart the raiders would also benefit from sixteen minutes of generous officials whistles while the free throws were slightly in belmont's favor in the first half eighteen to thirteen the second half saw watertown go to the line twenty five times to belmont's nearly nonexistent six at one point early in the fourth quarter the team fowles benefited the raiders ten to three it's tough when both teams are playing physical and the fouls are so one sided said hart while reluctant to speak of the reason for the five to one margin in the second half a seven year old son of a friend came to hart to ask why didn't they call the penalties what he said said hart if the game ended in heartbreak it started as a mirror of the marauders final five games in which the team played an aggressive defense that led its offense for stewart the team came one game short of its goal of making it to the t d garden for the eastern massachusetts but the past fortnight the girls created a unique experience in defeating three higher seeds and came together as a group this team this year was definitely a huge challenge to be a captain because there were so many players eighteen during the season we were scared at first but having a big team changed us because everybody brought something to the table and that's what made us us and that's what brought the team this far she said finally flashing a smile thank you for joining us for this episode of talking news please join us next week