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 mcalister named new principal by joanna case of alice superintendent john failon announced april twenty five that butler elementary school principal michael mcallister has been selected as the next principal of generally middle school mcallister was one of three finalists for the position principal mcallister is a proven leader in the district who brings a breath and depth of knowledge and experience as an educator and leader i am confident in his ability to advance the good work already happening at the general and to work together with the chanterelles staff said failon in early march c m s principal christian st george announced she would be leaving at the end of this school year a few days after her announcement c m s assistant principal daniel daniel copeland newfield also announced he would be leaving the district at the end of the school year to become head of school at the vassal lane upper school in cambridge a middle school in the cambridge public school system the three finalists all with strong ties to the community were publicly interviewed in mid april along with mcallister the finalists were belmont assistant principal john muldoon and watertown middle school principal j chemo carter who has been a belmont resident since one thousand nine hundred ninety five and sent two of his children through the belmont school system mcallister is in his sixteenth year as an educator in belmont the last seven as principal at butler prior to this role mcallister was a teacher at c m s for six years in the social studies director for kindergarten through grade twelve for three years mcallister believes his major challenge will be how to make it big school to take a big school excuse me and make it feel small for the students staff teachers and parents schools are most effective when people feel connected to it he said we know that when students feel connected then their achievement increases jonathan new yoga studio opening april twenty third  berkowitz simply yoga a new yoga studio ninety three top pro road and cushing square will have its grand opening on april twenty third and twenty fourth during these days residents can come in to meet the instructors and sample some of the studio's classes owner stephanie mills who hails from dublin ireland and now resides in watertown said simply yoga provides yoga classes for anyone from adults to kids to pregnant mothers no matter their experience level the first class begins at six am with the last class beginning at six thirty pm but mills said feedback from the community would dictate the schedule going forward because she hopes to offer classes that consumed every one schedule the citizen herald caught up with mills to learn more about simply yoga this conversation has been edited for length and clarity for more information go to w w w simply yoga  com what type of classes does simply yoga offer vinyasa flow yoga yoga foundations heated flow gentle yoga restorative even prenatal and kids yoga how much to classes cost drop in classes seventeen dollars ten card classes one hundred forty dollars five card classes seventy five dollars monthly on a renewal one hundred thirty dollars monthly no commitment one hundred fifty dollars students fifteen and kids twelve tell me about your professional background i worked in television for many years bookending my career at h i began working in children's programming and then moved into documentary work on series such as nova the american experience i free last for t l c the discovery channel the history channel and national geographic i concluded my t v career and twenty fourteen as the production manager for an hour i came to yoga mat seventeen years ago like most folks do to get a workout a back injury and subsequent surgery renewed my enthusiasm for yoga as i have found it to be very restorative with the help of tom hall didn't and a yoga practice i was able to return to normal active life i'm a two hundred hour teacher trying to graduate i am currently enrolled in a three hundred hour teachers training with not tasha riz up all of us want to make simply yoga unique from other yoga businesses when i envision taken taking this leap starting a yoga studio belmont was the town i envisioned specifically coaching square i envisioned a yoga strong community built by the instructors and the students and a place to learn  her knowledge is surely free fairly shared what kind of experience does the staff bring the instructors of the best of the best i am so thrilled that they all chose to work at simply young group they all come from great backgrounds music t v massage therapy chiropractics social work and working with kids they're invested in this discipline and it shows in their teaching practice and style they have all trying with amazing teachers and schools and bring their expertise to simple yoga why has yoga important for people to participate in people come to yoga for many different reasons and the benefits are numerous younger improves flexibility builds muscle str increases blood flow maintains your nervous system helps you focus and much more the truth is that people find what they need on the younger mat some come for a workout some come to relax the  the new foods market at seventy five leonard street in belmont center foodies promises to offer its customers a more intimate shopping experience with a great diversity of products including stapleton specialty items according to owner victor j leon leon son victor g leon jr manager of the belmont store said food he specializes in prepared foods all of their food is made fresh daily the belmont location will have a bakery and an onsite butcher for special cuts of meat the store will also sell beer and wine an important part of the foodies concept is to buy from local sources whenever possible said victor jr foodies is known for its interesting blend of every brands and foods as well as higher end brands and a selection of organic gluten free the go and dairy free items he foodies carries boar's head meats and offers both pre made and custom sandwiches the belmont foodies will employ approximately fifty people foodies is like a large family with many of our associates having been with the company for over fifteen years victor jr said foodies will also be offering online grocery delivery in pick up they have a they have partnered with rosie app an online platform from which customers can place their orders online from foodies and have them delivered history of the property from nine hundred forty one to two thousand and six the future building was home to filings in two thousand and six it was converted to a macy's before closing in twenty thirteen foodies signed a lease in march twenty fifteen with local tele properties owner of the property the location was brought to our attention by the landlords real estate broker we were attracted to the fact that the site was located in the center of town and surrounded by other businesses after we conducted some market research on the site we determined it would be a good fit for our concept said victor jr booties was expected to open this spring or early summer but due to construction delays the building  now be ready in late summer or early fall foodies will occupy approximately fifteen thousand square feet out of the total seventy five thousand square feet on the lower level and the first floor the parking lot is being reached regraded so customers can enter the former lower level directly and then shop the first floor additional tenants will occupy the balance of the space but no details were shared regarding who might share the renovated building there are currently three foodies in the boston area the original store opened in one thousand nine hundred eight on washington street in the south end next to the elephant walk restaurants a second location opened in duxbury in two thousand and eight and a third store opened on west broadway in south boston in tw additional food stores were planned victor jr said at this time our focus is on belmont we look at new opportunities as they present themselves to us but we are not actively looking for new sites price comparison a comparison of prices with star market revealed that foodies six dollars ninety nine salad bar was one dollar less per pound and star market bananas soup soda milk and bread were priced the same egg prices that foodies were sixty cents less rotisserie chicken was three dollars and forty nine cents compared to seven dollars and ninety nine cents at star better was sixty cents higher at foodies irene keeping order tips for before during and after it closet organization project by melissa erickson it well organized plus it is a sign of successful spring cleaning whether you tackle this project head on and all at once or string it out over days a clean closet involves many steps including declaring and donating as well as storing and maintaining people feel the need to clean in the spring to make a fresh start after being hunkered down for the winter we are ready to lighten up said certified professional organizer amy took us of omaha nebraska is freshly organized closets get really messy during the winter they were quick and easy place to hide things away and suddenly you open the door and think how did all this stuff get in here said professional organizer friel president of chicago's chaos to order how to start once you've made the decision to clean a closet decide how much time you want to set aside for the job feel said to many clients pull everything out when they start cleaning get overwhelmed and shove everything back in before the job is done she said i do not advise taking everything out it looks great on t v but not in real life you're left with a distraction and a mess friel said a better idea may be to divide and conquer and slowly do it over time toca said clean out the things you no longer want then you'll be able to see what you want to save do five things a day and in a month you'll have one hundred fifty things gone she said using this weed and purge method get your eyes and hands on every item feel said look it over and give a  she said be sure to have bags or boxes handy for items that you want to donate give away or trash before hand think about who you can give your items away to if it's going to a friend or a sister you'll be more likely to let it go friel said keep it organized now it's time to tidy up one approach both experts agree on is to group similar items together like work shirts or sundresses it makes finding things is year it pays to invest in some tools to keep items organized if you've spent the time separating sheets from twin to king size it's helpful to store them in some sort of container or with dividers to make putting them back easier the person putting things away will often just shove it in the closet and close the door and everything gets jumbled up toca said instead use a label container so everyone knows where things go this is especially helpful during seasonal clothing changes one side can be marked spring and the other phone just flip the been around and switch clothes out feel said divider containers are also useful on a class it's hard to reach top shelf since stacks of clothes can easily fall over took a said without them things tend to spread dividers keep it together she said jonathan gore's town meeting will convene monday may second to vote on seven non financial articles regarding revisions of the zoning code the demolition delay of by law the community preservation act and other town business the meeting will be held in the belmont high school auditorium at seven pm community preservation act projects the community preservation committee is asking town meeting members to appropriate community preservation act funds for a variety of different open space in historic preservation projects as well as money for other town funds the projects require a majority vote at town meeting belmont charges a one and a half percent of property tax surcharge to raise community preservation act funds the state then provides limited matching grant funds based on these surcharge collections each year at least ten percent of funds collected must be preserved if not spent for historic preservation open space and community housing the town is projecting slightly more than one million dollars in c p a receipts in fiscal two thousand and seventeen of that some community preservation com members are proposing to allocate the following three hundred twenty five thousand to remove and replace four tennis courts of the women playground two hundred twenty eight three hundred fifty thousand to create a twenty five thousand linear foot intergenerational intergenerational walkway through three and a half acres of parkland on the south side of clay pit pond past will be accessible to people with disabilities expand the transcripts from eight hundred fifty nine to present eighty thousand for the conservation of original vinyl records of births deaths and marriages in belmont as part of a previous e p a project to digitize and preserve original vinyl records this is the second phase of this project seventy five thousand to replace exterior historical ornamental iron railings on the side of town hall facing concord avenue fifty thousand six hundred fifty for the community preservation committees administrative and operating expenses twenty five thousand for phase one of the two phase because a park revitalization project the friends of the cross and park organization is requesting the money in order to conduct an existing conditions survey and hire a landscape architect a firm firm to complete all design for a one acre playground marion sophia's greek pantry expanse by joanna kay suva lists to see photos and video visit belmont dot wicked local dot com there's only one place in belmont where you can find fresh authentic homemade greek yogurt made with sheep and goats milk and vegetable remnant in fact people come from many different towns miles away just to buy this extra thick greek yogurt sold at sophia's greek pantry to sixty five belmont street belmont owner sophia scott pet the pet o's of medford takes great pride in what she has been doing the past fifteen years and believes the secret to her success is her passion about what she does what i offer to people is one hundred percent from my heart if i don't like something i will not sell it i will not make it my customers are my family i'm here all day every day she said when she originally opened she wanted to introduce greek food not only to her fellow greeks but to the american culture thirty percent of her customers are greek and seventy percent are non greek our food is not only tasty it's scoppetta opened a second location sophia's greek pantry north in lowell massachusetts to serve the many customers who are coming to her belmont store from lowe her son and daughter valerie and george george job opulence run the lowell store she's like a machine it's crazy the things she's done in the obstacles she's overcome to get there said valerie about her mother when i asked her how she does it she says i just goal she has incredible drive to do this and then come home and cook dinner every night she said adding her mother must work eighty hours per week greek easter which falls on may first this year is sophia's busiest time of year her hottest selling items for greek easter i suit kurt sewer ri sweet bread and a hard boiled eggs dyed a deep crimson red mager if it's a soup made from the intestines of lamb and coke or at sea intestines of lamb and go credits her parents who owned a farm and butcher shops in greece as well as her godmother for teaching her everything she knows about cooking greek food with apologies for greek pronunciation i mean belmont becomes purple heart community by bramber acquits clad in military uniforms and garrison hats veterans joined town officials and other state military officers on april twenty second to celebrate belmont becoming the eighty seventh purple heart community in massachusetts first created by general george washington in seventeen eighty two in newburgh new york the purple heart is the oldest american military decoration in present use the purple heart is awarded to members of the u s armed forces who are wounded or killed in action the military order of the purple heart formally recognizes purple heart communities into although membership is restricted to the combat wounded the organization supports all veterans and their families like other purple heart communities belmont will also proclaim august seventh as purple heart appreciation day outside the belmont public library on an overcast but warm day the b flat squire from belmont hill school serenaded attendees with renditions of the star spangled banner and god bless america leo agnew commander of the state's division of the military order of the public heart of the purple heart sorry presented the certificate of recognition to the town's veteran service officer who began the initiative to make belmont a purple heart community when i see the faces of so many of you i see my parents reflected in some of you some of my friends reflected in you said to the veterans this is the fabric of our community other town officials including james mc i sick belmont's assistant police chief and angela bron director of the town's health department also spoke on the importance of the veterans in the community the town of belmont supports veterans one hundred percent said bron i did grow up in a military family and i loved every minute of it and i wouldn't change a thing it was a remarkable upbringing mcisaac reflected on some of the eighty plus belmont residents such as james paul white who were killed in world war two stressing the importance of the sacrifice these individuals made for the freedom of the united states i learned james paul white would probably have pitched for the red sox said mcisaac who said that white the talented ballplayer was sent to the front lines of battle in one thousand nine hundred forty four one month later after being sent to the front lines he was killed in action as he took the time to learn about other veterans who grew up in town just like he had because six said honoring these residents became more important to him they were just regular kids enjoying life and making their way through belmonte said state military officers say being a purple heart community which does not cost any money can help create more engagement between a town and its veterans jonathan land sold him on a sorry school a sizable chunk of land owned by belmont country cog is on its way out the door and more soon could follow the club has sold a nineteen acre parcel to montessori school of washington according to the statement from allen  president of belmont country club and is now contemplating putting another equally sized piece of land on the market diane decker director of community development the montessori school washington so the school purchased the  point eight million dollars the sale of them out of storage school washington which currently leases part of the land they just bought was made final monday may twenty fifth at lexington and town meeting after lexington selectman announce that they would not seek to purchase the land the town of washington have the right of first refusal on the property before it was sold because the land is classified under massachusetts general long chapter sixty one is recreational land which is washington marion police collecting prescription drugs the belmont police department in conjunction with the belmont auxiliary police and the drug enforcement administration will host prescription drug take back initiative to prevent the abuse and theft of old unused and expired prescription drugs unfortunately these drugs are highly susceptible to misuse by family and friends in addition they can be improperly disposed of end up in the environment posing a potential health hazard the belmont police will have a collection point from ten a to two pm april thirtieth at d p w yard thirty seven c street old are unused prescription drugs no liquids may be dropped off for free with no questions asked participants won't even have to give out get out of their cars for information on the drug take back initiative or a list of additional collection sites visit