Photo: State Sen. Brownsberger is holding a town hall in Belmont.
State Sen. Will Brownsberger will host a series of town hall meetings throughout his district in February. All are encouraged to attend and share their thoughts on current events and legislative priorities.
Belmont: Saturday, Feb. 10 from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. at the Beech Street Center, 266 Beech St.
Photo: Homer will be there.
The Belmont High School Performing Arts Company’s second annual Trivia Night will take place on Friday, Feb. 9, from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. at the Beech Street Center, 266 Beech St. This event will be a great opportunity for the Belmont residents, friends and colleagues to participate in an entertaining evening of friendly competition and community building to the support the BHS Performing Arts Company.
Eventgoers can form a team of 6 to 8 people prior to the event, or join a team upon arrival. The event includes free wine, beer and food from local vendors, with plenty of time to socialize between trivia rounds. Participating vendors include Foodie’s (lead donor), Craft Beer Cellar, Il Casale, The Loading Dock, Trader Joe’s, Theo’s Pizza, Iggy’s Bread and more.
Attendees will have the chance to meet and mingle with the staff who work on the PAC shows, including producer/director Ezra Flam and choreographer Jenny Lifson. Funds raised will go towards the purchase of new technical equipment for the PAC and the Dan Scharfman College Scholarship Fund, which is awarded to two graduating PAC students each year.
Tickets are on sale for $40. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit bhs-pac.org/trivia-night.html or email Marcia Haines, chairperson of Patrons, the PAC parent group, at patronsmarcia@gmail.com.
Photo: Tom Caputo delivers his nomination papers to Town Clerk Ellen Cushman.
There will be a new face on the Belmont Board of Selectmen. The question now is will there be a race for the open seat?
So far the facts are that one-term selectman and current chair Jim Williams said he will not submit papers to retain his seat for a second three-year term.
“I’m not running. I’m certain about that,” said the Glenn Road resident this week.
As Williams exits town government, Tom Caputo made it official submitting nomination papers to Town Clerk Ellen Cushman on Friday, Feb. 2, accompanied by his campaign manager Ellen Schreiber.
“I believe Belmont as a town have some very important decisions to make in the next three years, and they will impact our community for the next 30 years,” said Caputo.
See the accompanying video to hear more from Caputo on why he’s running and issues before the board.
The Richmond Road resident is currently serving his first full three-year seat on the School Committee after being appointed to the committee on Nov. 2014 to replace Kevin Cunningham who resigned. At the town election in April 2015, Caputo ran uncontested for the two-years remaining in Cunningham’s term. In April 2017, Caputo was elected to a full three-year appointment with 3,014 votes running with Kate Bowen to fill two slots.
With nomination papers due to the Town Clerk’s Office in less than 10 days on Feb. 13 at 5 p.m., a challenger to Caputo will have about to week to secure the signatures of at least 50 registered voters.
Race for Health Board Now On
There will be a good race for the seat on the Belmont Board of Health as a Van Ness Road resident has returned nomination papers to take on long-time Board member Dr. David Alper who has submitted his papers.
Stephen Fiore is an attorney in civil litigation with the Cambridge firm of Foster & Eldridge, LLP, who is a frequent lecturer on medical-legal issues and health care law. If the last name sounds familiar, Fiore’s wife is Lisa Fiore, the current chair of the Belmont School Committee, who is giving up her three-year seat to seek election for a single year, the remainder of Murat Bicer’s term. Bicer has resigned from the committee as he is moving away from Belmont.
Alper is a Podiatry specialist with an office in his Oak Street home. He is currently serving his tenth elected three-year term as a member of a three-person board the directs the seven-member Health Department staff and its $500,000 annual budget.
Editor’s note: The Health Board story has been revised due to Fiore’s submission of nomination papers to the Town Clerk on Monday, Feb. 5.
Photo: Belmont’s Meghan Tan scoring and being fouled in the game vs. Woburn.
Woburn High senior forward Kelsey Qualey hit an uncontested three-point shot with eight seconds remaining to negate a final minute 10-0 run by Belmont High to beat the Marauders, 58-55, in a barnburner on Friday, Feb. 2 in Woburn.
Qualey’s trey, her only three of the game, came after Belmont rallied from a 55-45 deficit with 1:29 remaining in the fourth, as the Marauders’ senior co-captains Greta Propp and Jenny Call hit consecutive three-point baskets to knot the game at 55 with 36 seconds left in the half.
But when Woburn came down the court, Belmont’s defense “lost” Qualey as she drifted to the left of the basket and had a wide-open shot at the hoop that she calmly sank. A final second attempt by senior co-captain Carly Christofori – an underhanded left-hand prayer that hit nothing but net – was negated by a traveling violation.
“That was a huge shot because we wanted to get into overtime,” said Belmont’s Head Coach Melissa Hart after the game.
“[Woburn]’s defense was fantastic and we didn’t move the ball like we should have. And they had a couple of players that had big games, they just hit more shots,” said Hart.
Belmont now sits at 11-2 with Woburn vaulting to 11-1, and into the lead for the top seed in the coming Divison 1 North sectional post season.
It’s appropriate the game was played in Woburn on Groundhog Day because as in the movie, Belmont relived the same heartbreaking outcome playing in “Wu-town” during the regular season or in the sectional playoffs.
“What are we now in Woburn? Like 0-8,” lamented Hart.
Friday’s game was filled with points streaks. Belmont opened the game on a 9-0 run – Christofori would score all 7 of her first-quarter points in the first 1:15 of the game to go along with a turnaround scoop shot from junior center Jess Giorgio – only to see Woburn storm back with its own 12-0 streak to eventually lead 15-13 at the end of the first eight minutes.
The second quarter was a tight affair when Christofori hit her second three in the half to cut the Tanner lead to two, 24-22, with 1:47 left. That’s when Woburn’s defense and three-point shooting hit its peak, creating four consecutive turnovers as senior Andrea Schiavone (12 points on four threes) and sophomore Ashlyn Pacheco – who played a tight man defense on Christofori – hit from long distance, outscoring Belmont 11-2 in the final 90 seconds to leave the court at the half up 35-24.
“We didn’t stop them when we needed to. If we would have gotten it under five with a few minutes left then it’s not a big mountain to climb. But we were down around 10 the entire second half,” said Hart.
The third quarter saw Belmont only able to cut the lead to 7 points once (38-31) with Woburn playing a collapsing man-to-man defense, clogging the lane and using a phalanx of players to stifle Christofori’s playmaking as the Tanners kept its 11 point margin entering the final quarter.
The last eight minutes started smartly for Belmont as Giorgio – the Marauders’ player of the match working both boards and taking a leadership role on and off the court – and Jane Mahon hit baskets to cut the lead to six points (49-42) after a minute. But Pacheco would hit a basket falling to the court after being fouled to restore the lead to nine. While the Marauders were having trouble finding open shots, the Tanners were now finding themselves under pressure from Belmont’s press.
Belmont’s final run started with a Giorgio basket, followed by Christofori’s only two points in the half from a pair of free throws. On the subsequent Woburn inbounds, Giorgio forced a five-second violation that followed by Propps second three of the quarter, followed by a turnover which allowed Call – the Marauders’ career three-point leader – to make her second trey which silenced the Tanners’ cheering section as Belmont outscored Woburn 17-6 in the quarter.
But a lack of defensive discipline with Woburn driving to the basket ended Belmont’s thrilling comeback and instead it was a return to Groundhog Day.
Boys’ Basketball Rein on Woburn
Belmont High Boys’ Hoops has found a way to beat playoff-bound Woburn: drain threes onto the Tanners.
On Friday, Feb. 2, the Marauders threw down a torrential downpour that swept aside Woburn High in a flash flood of treys as Belmont handed the 11-win Tanners a comprehensive drubbing, 85-57, in a game held at the Wenner Fieldhouse that was over at halftime.
With nine wins, Belmont is a victory away from making the Division 2 North. Woburn has dropped consecutive games (losing to Watertown on Tuesday) and stands at 11-4 as it heads to undefeated Arlington.
Belmont’s league MVP candidate Danny Yardemian led all scorers with 26 points as the Marauders completed the double against the Tanners beating Woburn last month 69-67.
Woburn guard Ryan Ludwig’s 10 points kept his team close at the end of the first, 23-17, the burgage began in earnest as Belmont put up 27 points in the second eight minutes. By the half, the led was 19, 50-31, with 30 points coming from distance with sophomore guard Mac Annus accounting for four threes from downtown. In the third, Belmont defense played its part holding the Tanners under 10 points to extend the lead to nearly 30, 70-39, entering the fourth quarter.
After selling out Belmont High’s Little Theater for both the Winter and Spring shows last year, the Belmont High School Performing Arts Company has added a second date to its winter show with performances on Friday, Feb. 2 and Saturday, Feb. 3. Come once or come both nights: each show is guaranteed to be it’s own unique event, featuring games and scenes all made up on the spot based on audience suggestions.
