welcome to talking news we are delighted to have you with us listening to our presentation by members of the beat street center marian irene and martha we will be reading local news and happenings from the community newspapers foodies is a preview of what's to come by joanna cates of our us icy cold weather didn't stop more than fifty residents from getting out to meet the head chef of foodies market bill sway at the belmont woman's club eighteen fifty three home or house on february eighth the ten thousand square foot grocery store expects to open on the lower level of the farm a macy's in belmont center next month sway brought a variety of appetizers and desserts for everyone to sample after giving a brief overview of his role for the belmont store which will offer fresh seafood deli fresh produce a cheese and meat department full service but to shop a bakery and the wine and beer department prosecutor wrapped asparagus fruit and cheese plate and cookies were just some of the menu items that proud got to sample a special event will be planned for the grand opening as well as a job fair anyone interested in applying should go to the careers section of the store's website foodies markets com cama for an application the store has been undergoing a major renovation inside and out for almost two years from nineteen forty one to two thousand a lease in march twenty fifteen with larger telly properties only owner of the property according to foodies spokesperson elizabeth cohen r o the main entrance from the parking lot is an open area space that lends to stares down into the store which has a cozy inviting and accessible feel accented by week crime would wa scotting each foodies market reflects its place in the community and the velleman store will provide foods and an atmosphere that is uniquely belmont we are hoping to revi belmont its own neighborhood grocery store and become a natural part of the community said to nuoro there are currently three foodies in the boston area the original store open hundred ninety eight on washington street in the south and next to the elephant walk restaurant a second location opened and ducks free in two thousand and eight and the third store opened on west broadway in south boston in twenty thirteen married him chop chop publisher now located in belmont by joanna belmont is now the home of chop chop the fun cooking magazine for families in award winning quarterly national nationwide nonprofit publication with a circulation of approximately two million in twenty three countries founder and president sally sampson of watertown moved her organization into the former home of glutenous minimus at six ninety five to six ninety seven belmont  november sampson started chop chop kids inc in twenty ten with a mission to inspire and teach children and families to cook and eat real food together the magazine is geared for ages two to twelve one of the first step she took to launch her magazine was gain the support of the american academy of pediatrics and before she knew it the first issue hit the presses with one hundred thirty five thousand copies distributed to thirty five states i believe that poor nutrition stems in part from not cooking from scratch the sooner you get kids involved in cooking shopping prepping setting the table and yes even doing the cleanup the better it is for the kids themselves and for their families said sampson she started cooking at the age of fourteen because she decided to become a vegetarian with her friend in ninth grade her mother told her she would have to learn to cook for herself and that's exactly what she did in addition her daughter was diagnosed with pancreatitis at a young age which also inspired sampson to learn to cook for a low fat diet growing partnering with the white house sampson's nonprofit continues to grow in fall two thousand and fifteen she began publishing chop chop swick edition a quarterly magazine read geared towards the families who participate in the federal government supplemental nutrition program for women infants and children which most recently she launched seasoned a quarterly magazine geared for readers age fifty and over both these publications came out of demand from chop shops growing audience the secret to chop shop success is that we were in the right place at the right time and we have a team of really dedicated smart creative people said sampson each of chopped chops publications are designed for their target audiences chop chop the fun cooking magazine for families is a colorful kid friendly magazine which includes photos of healthy food and children preparing it in the test kitchen step by step instructions recipes safety tips word searches mazes interactive games short easy to read educational articles gardening and planting instructions and a profile of a healthy hero the recipes use a wide variety of healthy fresh ingredients for breakfast lunch dinner desserts and snacks such as blueberry refrigerator oatmeal granola popsicles black bean fruit smoothies recorded band cakes pizza toast easy cheese tomato soup any bed both for tata sampson relies on her kids advisory board made up by eight children ages six to seventeen to taste test to taste test all her recipes and give ideas and feedback for content irene later start movement making progress petition to push back school start times circulates by joanna k seville as a group of parents have been circulating a petition on social media asking the school committee to take a hard look at starting belmont high school later the parents behind the petition form the local chapter of scar start school later a coalition of health professionals sleep scientists educators parents students and other concerned citizens dedicated to increasing public awareness about the relationship between sleep and school hours and to ensuring school start times compatible with health safety education and equity several belmont parents and students including jessica houseman leader of the belmont chapter of start school later in belmont high school junior owen lovelock made public comments at the feb seventh school committee meeting in support of creating a task force to explore the issue housman said the petition received three hundred signatures in the first eight days circulated lovelock said he averages about six point five hours of sleep per night as opposed to the eight or nine hours recommended by doctors and scientists and he believes it would be beneficial to start their monteith school later currently the start time is seven thirty five am for belmont high school and seven fifty generally middle school the american academy of pediatrics centers for disease control and prevention and american medical association recommends starting middle and high school no earlier than eight thirty am school committee member andrea prestwich gave a presentation outlining the problems sleep deprivation causes in youth based on factual information from start school later according to prestwich the american academy of pediatrics recognizes insufficient sleep in adolescence as an important public health issue that significantly affects the health and safety as well as the academic success of our nation's middle and high schoolers she explained how the melatonin levels in puberty causes adolescents to start feeling sleepy at eleven pm or later making it difficult to fall asleep at nine pm when they need to wake up at six am they feel like an adult getting up at four am she said social emotional and physical health starts with good food clean water and a good night's sleep belmont students do fine on the food and the clean water part but not so much on the sleeps it pressed which sleep deprivation causes severe health consequences and can lead to traffic accidents homicide and suicide according to prestwich she cited statistics that roughly six teens per day die in traffic accidents in the leading cause of death among twelve to nineteen year olds are traffic accidents homicide and suicide drowsy drivers are similar to drunk drivers making it a community wide safety issue she said later school times are supported by numerous local state and national organizations such as the american medical association and the center for disease control according to housman officials in hanover massachusetts change the high school opening bell from seven twenty five am to seven fifty five am in fall two thousand and sixteen and has seen a thirty two percent decrease in d's and f s in period one classes in ten percent increase in in period one classes this school year superintendent john failon was one of eleven principals in the middle sexily who signed a joint statement and later start times for high schools to start between eight and eight thirty am by the start of the two thousand and eighteen two thousand and nine hundred school year and after school competitions would be scheduled so that students do not routinely miss academic time martha aging is fascinating and full of surprises by richard griffen for many people their experience of growing older turns out to be fascinating and full of surprises revealing new talents given the opportunity those who have arrived at the like later decades can come into a new sense of themselves and give further shape to the legacy of long lives given the good health that has become common many americans find old age to be the most gratifying time of their lives this stage of life can be understood as an adventure of the spirit and exploration of new territory however because on an equal if on qualified optimism often brings disappointment one must be realistic about the serious problems faced by many of the agent especially for those in the eighties and beyond old age brings many up against hard realities that can make indeed for most these years bringing challenges that need than that reveal the need for many kinds of support old age will prove a strong reminder that no one is entirely independent or ever marks the basic human condition we need we need one another really starkly starkly revealed a realit be revealed in later life and yet this dependency however unwelcome it may be does not really deprive us our freedom and responsibility we need others they need us as well living within our limits we can continue to bear witness to the things that give meaning to our lives i have particular respect for those elders who managed despite their infirmities to provide some kind of prophetic witness to society thinking about such witness i am reminded of a couple i knew years ago in their late eighties suffering from a number of infirmities they non the less ventured forth on a blustery when today in two thousand and three to demonstrate imminent american invasion of iraq they were worrying about what was happening to their country they were advocating for peace and justice they were also perhaps unwittingly providing wise counsel for those younger than those younger who have witnessed war and violence in the course of long lives they have something important to say to those who will be in charge of the future through the modern world as though the modern world has eroded regard for the first the wisdom of than we do about many things especially technology they navigate a world that is often bewildering to us but some still know enough to consult those who have lived longer than they have for their knowledge of life obviously we elders are far from infallible like all human beings we labor under limitations in don't know the quest for peace and justice calls for more than a thirst for righteousness it also demands action these days the occasion  many such efforts are impelled by an understandable moral in the nation but paradoxically the most important spiritual foundation for such action is compassion for a tree of the great religious traditions of the world are in agreement on this point those of us in our eighties and beyond are often the recipients of compassion a situation that we sometimes find uncomfortable but we must find ways of providing compassion as well spiritual tradition reminds us that compassion fulfilled all our human responsibilities toward other people all we have to do is love human experience confirms that loving others not easy but there is no better way of realizing the possibilities of our later years erin baker seeking two hundred million in road funds by matt murphy but the third year in a row gov charlie baker will seek two hundred million for local road and bridge repair program known as chapter ninety despite calls from local officials for the administration and the legislature to increase the funding the governor announced february sixteenth that he would file legislation seeking two hundred million for chapter ninety thirty million for mass dot to purchase accessible vehicles on behalf of local agencies and non profits that transport seniors and the disabled and seventy million for upgrades at the registry of motor vehicles this essential and flexible funding allows our municipalities to make infrastructure upgrades that promote reliability and public safety on roads and bridges as well as economic development and job creation and we hope for swift action by the legislature baker stated earlier in the week arlington town manager adam check delaying urged lieutenant governor karen police during a local government advisory commission meeting to consider filing a multi year three hundred million annual chapter ninety bill to help cities and towns advance needed projects and work with contractors to plan into the future police told the group that the administration had logged two hundred million chapter ninety two hundred million and m m a executive director jeff beckwith clarified that statement saying it was one of the smallest since chapter seventy was created through education reform almost twenty five years ago during the great recession in fiscal years two thousand and nine two thousand and ten and two thousand and eleven he said federal stimulus money was used to backfill local aid making direct comparisons for every year difficult irene third demolition underway workers begin tear down a former s s pierce building in belmont squishing square by joanna cates avila says progress continues to be made on the cushing village project owned by toll brothers apartment living not said construction has been managing the demolition of the existing buildings on the site which began january thirty demolition of the s s pier building next to starbucks which moved to its current location on the corner of tripp hello road and common street in one thousand nine hundred fourteen began on february twenty the building has been vacant for years after demolition is complete excavation of the site will begin in preparation for the construction of an underground garage which will serve residents of all three buildings with fifty additional spaces for visitors and shoppers the cushing village development will include one hundred fifteen new apartment residences ranging in size from one to three bedroom residences fifty municipal parking spaces newly created open space and thirty seven thousand five hundred square feet of street level retail including a starbucks which will be relocating to the new windsor winslow building starbucks could not be reached for comment at press time we guarding when they plan to close they are currently open during construction smith legacy partners so that the six lights located at one hundred two two one hundred four trips hello road one hundred  twelve trip hello road seven horn road four ninety five two five zero one common street five zero five five zero seven common street and five twenty seven common street in the parking lot to toll brothers on october nineteen for fourteen million two hundred sixty thousand dollars smith legacy partners is retaining an option on the thirty seven thousand five hundred square of retail space and fully expects and plans to buy back the retail when it's completed according to chris star the former developer martha town needs to use less salt on defined layer slowly slide salad on in the pond water a concern rose about salt use on the town streets but back then the d p deputy reported using only enough salt to keep the sand from to and and to keep the roads from freezing even this had an impact on the pond times has certainly changed now the town applies only salt generally not only on main roads but on every street in town sold is far more expensive than sand and this must be measured not only by the price  purchased but by the damage done to the streets sidewalks ponds street trees and cars in recent years there has been so much salt debris one streets have dried after a storm that so clouds are raised by cars driving by clearly health hazard living on a narrow street we find the salt even in our hedges trying to pick that the shanks off our property is a slow and painful process for two elderly people but we don't want to see any further damage to the large trees that make our streets special there are clearly in markets so zones in the state even on main highways in areas where damage to water resources would occur forewarned drivers must reduce speed when conditions warrant my dream well known as the no salt zone a radically different approach to current road salt use words use the costs of tons of salt and prevent further damage to water resources our cars property and trees are  resulting so drivers can expect to speed through town after of snow storm we urge the selectmen and d p w to think that the current only salt all streets policy a new stove a new library is best option feasibility study recommends committee pursue new construction by joy and a case develops the feasibility study for the belmont public library came to an end last week with the committee voting unanimous unanimously on february sixteenth that building building a brand new two story building would be the best option  the three final options presented to give the community what they want from library program since services of belmont future the price tag would be twenty three point four million dollars a thirty eight thousand nine hundred fifty square foot building offering the children space more than double the size of the current children's department more comfortable seating better lighting better handicap accessible bathrooms eliminating the front steps and making the entrance three level additional space for periodicals and popular materials more study and meeting rooms and improve space for youth slash teens the proposal would retain the same amount of parking the feasibility study cost approximately ninety thousand dollars and officially began in february twenty dean after town meeting approved forty five thousand dollars to help fund half of it the library paid for the other half according to two library director peter zero nearly six hundred people played a part in the feasibility study by taking surveys in attending public forums and programs thirty five meetings with different community groups and department heads w also part of the study on feb sixteenth the assembly room at the library had a full audience for the final public forum where roberts presented and outlined the cost and pros and cons of three options a renovation of the current building for fifteen million dollars a renovation of the current building with an additional with an addition for twenty four point six million dollars and a brand new building for twenty three point four million dollars what happens next the board of library trustees is meeting march sixteenth to consider the recommendation of the feasibility study committee and determine t path forward according to chairman cathy keep saying strozier arrow said it will ultimately be in the hands of the town to decide what the next step will be and where the library falls on the list of capital town project needs which include the police station ice skating rink community path and public works the syllabi he would like to see shovels in the ground in twenty nineteen with an opening of the new library in twenty twenty otherwise the projected building cost will go up by four or five percent or about a million dollars per year he said funding for the new library would need to come from a combination of fundraising debt exclusion or override martha thank you for joining us for this episode of talking news please join us next week