watch and listen to the talking news every day at twelve noon and six pm on channel ninety six comcast ticks finity and channel thirty verizon fi os you can also be heard mondays and tuesdays at four thirty pm and wednesday at twelve thirty pm on channel nine expanded e and channel twenty nine listen any time on the b m c podcast network on sound cloud and i tunes just search for the belmont media podcast network and now on to the talking news old student completing her graduate studies in anthropology at harvard university was brutally assaulted and slain and therefore th floor square apartment the following day after her body was discovered the st reporter to step foot on the scene was belmont's town moderator michael wood my then a recent harvard graduate not much older than britain it was with  my nd day in the job as a reporter for united press international almost fifty years later would mars still telling the story of britain's murda were only now he can finally say that he has a definitive answer to the question that has plagued his thoughts for most of his adult life who killed jane britain but middlesex district attorney's office announced nov th that after half a century of hitting dead in the investigators were finally able to identify via d n a testing deceased career criminal and serial rapist michael sumpter as britain's killer on the and sixty nine would mugged gathered information from police at the door of britain's cambridge apartment he relayed the story to his editors and it didn't take long before his story was sent to the wire service to news organizations around the country but the story soon went cold with maher said authorities seemed to clamp down on any news of the case causing it to go underground there it remained for years in the limbo where active cold cases often end up despite news of the crime receding with was wasn't said the fact that the killer was never named would continue to it him for the rest of his life but as the years went by and the case remained unsolved with mom moved on from the case as well after working it you pursued a career in government politics and public policy working in massachusetts state government serving as director of communications for former state governor michael dukakis and eventually moving on to serve as the president of the massachusetts taxpayers foundation he and his wife jean moved to belmont in one thousand nine hundred and seventy five soon after their st child was born and have lived in town ever since with mayer has served as belmont's town moderator for eleven years away ever even while he was building a family in korea with maher said that the great the the great many questions he still had about the case were always lingering in the recesses of his mind it wasn't until he retired from his position at m t f three years ago that these questions were once again pushed to the forefront of his mind questions about a case that always felt to him like unfinished business said these questions little led him to file a freedom of information act request in two thousand and fifteen the d a s office rejected access to the case files later he would go on to file six more of these requests each rejected over the next two years widmer said that he didn't think it was very likely investigators would have taken the time to go back and review the case if it wasn't for his repeated requests for the case files as with me or continue to express interest in the case investigators of eventually took a look at matching d n a collected on the scene with that of possible suspects it was this last look that finally produced the answers to the questions would me or had been asking since his st since he st called in the story on the day of britain's body was discovered would mirror said that he hopes britain's surviving brother of the reverend boyd our briton now a vicar at the anglican church in santa barbara california as well as her many friends and colleagues can glean some sort of closure from the news that her parents now deceased unfortunately could not as for vid mehr he's determined to start making a dent in the case files investigators finally open to the public with over four thousand pages of files document in the investigation to read through vid me or has his work cut out for him and over to my colleague claire thank you bob helping those in need belmont food pantry serves about two hundred families by sam bachmann as of two thousand and sixteen belmont had a median household income of one hundred and fourteen thousand one hundred and forty one in you only according to data usa not only was this twice as much as the national median but it is noticeably higher compared to the mouse median which was seventy thousand dollars even in the middle sex county the belmont median income was still greater than the county median by around twenty five thousand dollars stephen elliott makes less than twenty four thousand dollars a year while taking care of a child in the belmont school system he lives near waverly square in a modest apartment still after moving from some other oh he would never go back since he says the friendliness to the unfamiliar is unique to belmont socially it's different he said i think that's amazing and man is one of the t on the side she also helps people in belmont that are struggling with illness or loss of job one client had two strokes lost a job and couldn't drive but still wanted to help another family adopt a six year old boy i'm surprised by the number of poor people who want to help she said data from the census bureau shows very differing income levels by neighborhood within belmont census tracks show how in a small area the median income can change drastically the statistics show one census tracked him down montana's the median income household income level of one hundred and fifty nine thousand three hundred and seventy five dollars while another right next to it has a median of seventy two thousand one hundred and sixty nine dollars in belmont seventy nine percent of median property value is over five hundred thousand dollars with an eighteen and one half percent above one million dollars yet at the same time there's still continues to be a long list of people waiting to use the services of the housing authority maine says there is a ten year waiting list to get in affordable housing unit however veterans or those facing acute issues such as the house burning down will be moved to the top of the waiting list even with priority it still may take years to receive affordable housing units we are the town of homes we are one of the wealthier towns around boston she said people work so hard yet it's still so expensive it's hard to pull yourself up by your bootstraps when you don't have straps to start with belmont housing authority director jacqueline martin said she is aware of the issue and plans to make affordable housing more accessible to solve that maine says t authority is currently working on a study to increase the amount of low income housing we're drafting a design for more elderly and family housing she said we would need the state to fund it  currently serve two hundred dollars families with one hundred in the signing up for holiday gift cards to star market it started twenty six years ago we give people a gift card so they can get what they need she said we've been giving gift cards on thanksgiving christmas and easter chime if you're willing to stand in line like everyone else to use the food pantry then you are in need mahela said many of the clients are over fifty five and some over eighty five years old we have to remember that when your we tie and get older your income decreases and it doesn't change she said you can't go out and get another job another thing that does increase is the cost of medication community support makes a difference what always impresses me like is the amount of help and support that people give to others the community really does come together no matter what whenever there's a need the belmont community as a whole is so one hundred percent supportive of the food pantry with both monetary in food donations that is why we have been able to stay in existence without getting any grant money she hopes as the number of people who need help in belmont increases residents will continue to support their community even though community as in every community there are always people who are going to need that extra help she said the important thing is helping your neighbor is in community and taking care of each other now over to max  she said foot traffic has increased in cushing square over the past four years at events planned by the cushing square merchants association headed by tom engine such as the fall festival which featured a beer garden in fur in front of c l c cafe on common thomas said with the support of our major sponsors this year including belmont savings bank they were able to purchase new holiday lighting for the square we mirrored the rope lighting that is in belmont center and purchased four foot square she said brilliant ice creator of many ice sculptures from boston's st night created an ice sculpture in front of a block of stores between get in shape and seal see cafe of a sleigh snowflakes and presen the inflatable pub was a new idea this year it was an outdoor jumpy house without the bounce visitors could purchase holiday drinks prepared by seal sea cafe and sit by the pretend fireplace or watch the pretend television the beer garden was so successful at the cushing square fall festival that i wanted to do something similar but more playful said tom ridge and belmont resident kathy doherty under sr lorraine bouts of arlington enjoyed the experience inside the inflatable pub as a break during their holiday shopping in a fun night for the two of them to spend together inside wescott mercantile and pushing square thomason has a vintage carnival wheel which was spinning throughout the holiday shopping customers who spent a minimum amount at any store in cushing square could bring their receipt to wescott mercantile for a chance to spin the wheel of freebies businesses names are all over the way you know and if you hit on a name you get to go to that business and see what they're giving away and if the belmont high school building committee has been meeting regularly since the two hundred and ninety five million four hundred and nine thousand one hundred and eighty nine dollar debt exclusion for the new grade seven dollars building was approved by the special town meeting on november th a timeline of the work to be completed through january was emailed to parents by superintendent john failon on december th the e mail said there will be no disruption to school during this time the site work will be conducted outside an interior work lee gun during the just somebody break the st phase of construction is under way the site survey was completed on the entire campus site in november according to faylen geothermal test wells will be installed in three locations around the existing belmont high school building to test the grounds thermal properties beginning december the th through january th at seven am to four pm the results will be used to design the geothermal system for heating and cooling the new high school building geothermal well installation includes drilling six inch diameter bore holes to a depth of about five hundred feet a closed loop h d p e pipe will be installed inside the bowl and the bore hole will be completed completely grounded to form the geothermal well after the growth has solidified thermal conductivity testing will then be conducted through the closed loop piping at each of the wells a temporary manhole cover will be set over each geothermal well and the area around them will be restored upon completion according to failings email a trail will also be placed at the rear of the existing high school for o upon dismissal of school through december st lavelle zero said that the more disruptive construction digging for the actual foundation and relocating utilities for the st phase of the project the grade nine to twelve section of the building will not begin until the school year ends june st assuming there are only five snow days and i will declare thank you bo our widening carbon footprint the world is heading in the wrong direction and it does not have much time left to change course after several years in which global greenhouse gas emissions leveled off they spiked to record levels would take care of the problem the news comes just after the united nations released a report finding that the climate change will just rock human society kill many people and per minute only reshape the earth unless stemmed aggressively and soon the end it's capable truth the transition from fossil fuels is essential it is going to be hard and the united states must step up overall global emissions are projected to rise by two point seven percent this year more than a point from last year's growth rate china's emissions are up five percent that and india's six percent china remains the world's largest said in the paris climate agreements india meanwhile has lots of poor people struggling to emerge from miserable poverty who will naturally use more energy as they improve their standard of living yet that country is poised to exceed its paris commitment u s emissions are up two and one half percent from last year and it is one of seven major nations lagging on the a paris goals canada is also behind but prime minister justin trudeau just announced an ambition vicious cabin tax plan the european union to needs to do more to meet its paris commitment but its emissions were down this year and the block has worked hard to cut it carbon footprint the day after the latest emission numbers emerged the environmental protection agency announced another rollback of a regulation on coal fired power plants the greatest villains in the  change story the reason for you the united states surge in emissions appears to have been higher energy used to heat and cool homes this year as the world warms people will want to use more air conditioning producing more e missions unless the country gets its energy from low or zero carbon sources this is just one of the many many factors that make it more sensible to combat climate change be coped before it worsens rather than waiting until it association december th to help fund defibrillators of belmont parks june howell recreations programs supervisor helped spearhead the effort to raise funds for the weatherproof outside storage containers from london which will house the equipment and are locked for safety in an emergency a nine hundred and eleven call would be he would need to be made to get the combination to open the container each container is will be labeled with instructions and the address to provide to the dispatcher the total cost of each to the sixteen by sixteen inch container and defibrillator equipment is approximately two thousand dollars according to how belmont fire chief david frizzle said intreat increase someone survival rate from sudden cardiac arrest by almost fifty percent this past spring a forty three year old canton man collapsed due to cardiac arrest on the concord f softball field during  belmont will be the only community she knows of in massachusetts to have these special containers she learned about them with the help of assistant fire chief wayne haley who knew someone from westerly rhode island where there are leaders in dozens of locations belmont light will be getting an estimate for the cost to add electricity to the parks which are needed for the equipment to charge and function there will be ongoing maintenance costs for the equipment which will require batteries and pads to be replaced periodically which is about one hundred dollars per set according to frizzle how hopes to have all the containers and defibrillators installed at six fields in belmont including the town field  upgrade the law to meet a system the department of public works water division will implement a town wide upgrade to the water meeting more water metering system e in  and nineteen this will include installing a new water meter and a water meter reading device at residents homes businesses this installation is mandatory and will be at no additional charge the town has hired the installation services of bay state winds supply which will notify water customers by mail to set up an appointment for the installation plan is to have the new smart meter system installed in fourteen to sixteen months and residents will be notified several weeks ahead when bay state when supply is working in their area is encouraged to bringing new or very gently used blanket bedspread comforter or quilt belmont like custom is also may receive a complimentary l e d light bulb and an ele the night light and other energy saving tools and tips so liberating the winter still stands has become a great tradition in the community belmont like general manager chris roy said we encourage all belmont community members to stop by our forty prince street office not only to celebrate the beginning of the winter season but to also help others in need by donating bedding to share the warmth and following the gas explosions in the merrimack valley this past fall the need for donations in this area is greater than in past years now he has max thanks claire holiday recipe swap at the beach street center one pm december th the holiday season is one of the most enjoyable times of the year holidays are celebrated all over the world in many different cultures one thing that brings people together is food from green bean casserole to add to shade in a well jell o mold spill many cookies and macaroni and cheese we will spend the afternoon sharing recipes we love making new connections and enjoying some treats well we're swapping the bel air as will entertain us w some holiday music signed up at the front desk of the beach street center cost free back to you bob along with my colleagues claire and max we thank you for listening  and hope you have enjoyed the show we will wish we wish our listeners a merry christmas and a happy new year and we return on january th with local news happening around belmont