Blog Archives

Town Meeting Live Blog – Extended Dance Mix – May 16

May 16, 2012
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Town Meeting Live Blog – Extended Dance Mix – May 16

t's a love-in at Town Meeting where everyone is tickled about our healthy town budget. Catch your breath, 'cause 2014's gonna be HAIRY.

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Town Meeting Live Blog – Budget Hoedown- May 14

May 14, 2012
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We're back at the annual Town Meeting to discuss a myriad of budget issues. Pour yourself a drink of something.

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Live Blogging Town Meeting

April 23, 2012
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Live blogging here from Spring Town Meeting. We’ve been here for close to two hours and are still snagged in debate of the first substantive issue: approval of a new stabilization fund for Minuteman Technical. The idea here is to give MMT the ability to aggregate money for capital projects in a revolving fund....

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Lougee, Griffiths Win For School Committee, Rojas On Top In Selectman’s Race By 32 Votes (Will There Be A Recount)?

April 2, 2012
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As reported by the Belmont Patch:  the Selectman’s race turned into an unbelievably close race. After the ballots were counted, Planning Board member Andy Rojas came out on top  in the race to fill the seat of a retiring Angelo Firenze by just 32 votes – less than 1%, raising the very real prospect of...

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For School Committee: Lougee and Griffiths Are The Clear Choice

April 1, 2012
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There's no more important institution in Belmont than our public schools. There's no more important elected body than the School Committee, which is the community's voice to the School Administration. In this year's School Committee race, I think there are two clear choices for the two open spots: Anne Lougee and Pascha Griffiths. ...

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Vote Scharfman For Selectman On Monday

April 1, 2012
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Vote Scharfman For Selectman On Monday

I think there's an abundance of evidence that Dan Scharfman is the right choice in the Selectman's race, and what Belmont needs to move the Board Of Selectman (and Belmont) into the future. His intelligence, patience, work ethic, and his preference for facts over ideology will be a welcome addition to our understaffed and...

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Proposition 2 1/2 Overrides: 1999 to 2011- How Does Belmont Compare?

March 25, 2012
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Proposition 2 1/2 Overrides: 1999 to 2011- How Does Belmont Compare?

In Belmont, April 2, 2012 will mark 10 years since the passage of the last non debt-exclusion Proposition 2 1/2 override. That's a long time, but its useful here to compare our drought with those of our peer communities. That's what I've tried to do here: using some simple data visualization tools, I've...

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The Benefits of Bilingualism (Hint: It Makes Your Kids Smarter!)

March 20, 2012
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An interesting article on the benefits of being bilingual. Besides being able to talk to more folks - it makes you smarter and your brain more resilient, according to recent studies. Read the New York Times article on the latest findings.

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In Praise of Dropping Out: ‘UnCollege’s’ Path to Success

March 17, 2012
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Came across this article in my online ramblings. It’s interesting, especially as the societal conversation about the rising costs of college and what you might call the ROI (return on investment) of post secondary education. There’s also the undeniable fact that 4 additional years of lectures and term papers and classroom study isn’t for...

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School Candidates Discuss Online Learning (Patch)

March 16, 2012
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An interesting interview with the three School Committee candidates on online learning models like Khan Academy. Long and short: we’ve got one strong “Yes” one “Maybe” and one “I need to think about it.” First: the “maybe.” Candidate Anne Lougee is intrigued by the idea of online learning models such as the Khan Academy...

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