Snow Emergency 2.0: Second Parking Ban In A Week Starts Noon, Sunday

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Photo: A second nor’easter in the past week is heading towards Belmont.

For the second time in a week, the town of Belmont has issued a Snow Emergency Parking Ban due to what the National Weather Service is calling a “quick hitting” snow storm that could produce up to an inch of snow an hour at the height of the nor’easter.

The ban begins at noon, Sunday, Feb. 7 and will last until further notice. Parking is prohibited on roadways, municipal and school parking lots. Vehicles in violation may be towed.

The NWS Boston station, which issued a Winter Weather Advisory, reported the winter storm will bring accumulating snow to much of southern New England Sunday. Snowfall may be heavy at times and cause hazardous travel.

The latest information as of 3:34 a.m. Sunday has the snow beginning before noon and lasting until 10 p.m. to midnight with up to six inches of snow on the way.

School Committee OKs 2021-2022 Calendar; Late Start on Sept. 9 Due To Construction, Religious Concerns

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Photo: The calendar for the 2021-22 school year

It will be a later start than anticipated for the next school year as the Belmont School Committee unanimously approved the 2021-2022 school calendar, one which nearly all in the committee and district is hoping is a return to “normal.”

The delay of more than a week in the start date for the nearly 4,800 students is due to a pair of events; the opening of the high school wing of the new Belmont Middle and High School and observance of a Jewish High Holiday.

While existing district policy calls for the school year to start the Wednesday before the holiday when Labor Day occurs later than Sept. 3, Superintendent John Phelan told the committee the first day of classroom study for students – COVID variants pending – will move from Sept. 1 to Sept. 8, as “we need to consider starting after Labor Day for the construction project.”

The committee also voted unanimously to push the start back an extra day to Thursday, Sept. 9 in deference to the final day of Rosh Hosannah, the Jewish New Year. The vote runs counter to School Committee policy passed in 2016 after a contentious debate to no longer celebrate Christian and Jewish religious observances as official district holidays.

But Committee member Amy Checkoway, who sought the extra day delay, the holiday comes on the important first day of school in what she hopes is “a normal-ish year.”

Committee Chair Andrea Prestwich noted that the collision of one of the “most important Jewish holidays” and the opening of the school year creates “a perfect storm” of competing pressures on many families in Belmont.

While she supported the existing language not to favor religions over others on the calendar, Prestwich said she changed her mind because it is the very first day of school. Taking time off on that day would be more disruptive than any other day of the year, she said.

Committee member Michael Crowley said because a significant number of teachers and students when they all are needed to be in the classroom.

“It’s just not the best choice for a first day of school,” said Crowley, one of the five votes in favor of starting schools two days further down the calendar.

Highlights of the ’21-’22 calendar are:

  • The start of school for grades 1-12 takes place on Thursday, Sept. 9 with kindergarten half days on Friday, Sept. 10 and Monday, Sept. 13.
  • Winter recess will begin on Friday, Dec. 24 with a return to school on Jan. 3, 2022.
  • The week long February recess will take place the week of Feb. 21 and
  • Spring recess April 18 – 22
  • The last day (which includes the five snow days) will be tentatively Monday, June 27.

Snow Emergency Parking Ban Ends; Now Clear Your Sidewalk

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Photo: It’s the rules – shovel the sidewalk outside your house. (Credit: Belmont Police Department)

The Belmont Department of Public Works reports the snow emergency parking ban has been lifted as of 9:45 a.m., Tuesday, Feb. 2 (Groundhog Day).

After the end of the snow fall, the Office of Community Development reminds residents the town’s residential snow removal bylaw requires sidewalks along residential property be cleared of snow and ice by 8 p.m. the day after a storm ends. With regards to last night’s storm, snow and ice should be cleared or treated from sidewalks to a width of at least 36 inches by 8 p.m. tomorrow night, Wednesday Feb. 3.

The town appreciates residents attention to this very important public safety matter. Please refer to the town’s web site for further information regarding winter weather and the town’s snow removal bylaw.

Vehicle Slips, Slides Into Art’s Specialties As Belmont Gets Hit By Storm

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Photo: A vehicle took out two window at Trapelo Road’s Art’s Specialties. (Credit: Belmont Fire Dept.)

The National Weather Service said today’s snow storm would cause hazardous driving Monday night.

And a slick roadway under nearly six inches of snow resulted in a Toyota SUV slipping off the roadway and into Art’s Specialties at 369 Trapelo Rd. around 6:10 p.m., Feb. 1, according to the Belmont Fire Department.

No one was reportedly injured in the crash.

“Slick road conditions have caused several crashes this evening. Please stay off the roads unless necessary,” said a message on Belmont Fire’s Twitter feed.

Credit: Belmont Fire Department.

Emergency Parking Ban Starts At 6 PM; No School Tuesday; Trash Pickup Delayed One Day

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Photo:

Town officials have announced a snow emergency parking ban on all roadways, municipal parking lots and Belmont Public School parking lots, effective at 6 p.m. Monday, Feb. 1 and will continue into Tuesday, February 2, 2021 until further notice.  All vehicles parked in violation of the ban will be towed at the owner’s expense.

The Belmont School District has also announced there will be no school Tuesday, Feb. 2, due to the impending snow storm. Please know that all classes, hybrid and remote-only, are cancelled.

All scheduled public meetings scheduled for tonight will be held virtually. 

There will be no trash pickup on Tuesday, Feb. 2.  The trash, recycling and yard waste pickup schedule will be delayed by a day through the end of the week.

Be Counted: Town Census Forms Have Been Mailed, Now Send Them Back

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The Belmont Town Clerk and the Board of Registrars of Voters have mailed the annual town census form to every residential address. The census provides proof of your Belmont residency, protects your voting rights and supplies information for the town’s 911 system.

Resident should review the information, make any additions/corrections, sign and return the census as soon as possible. The completed form can be mailed in the self-addressed envelope or placed in the Town Clerk secure drop box located at the base of the stairs to Town Hall (on the left side of the driveway).

If your household does not receive a census addressed to your family or one addressed to “Current Resident,” contact the Town Clerk’s office to have one mailed to you by phoning 617-993-2603 or voting@belmont-ma.gov  

COVID Update: Positive Cases in Belmont Nearing 1,000

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Photo: Update on COVID-19 in Belmont

Belmont is closing in on a stark milestone of 1,000 COVID-19 cases, according to data from the state’s Department of Public Health.

As of Jan. 29, 914 confirmed COVID cases among Belmont residents have been reported, an increase of 64 cases since Jan. 22.

Due to the new case count over the past two weeks, Belmont remains in the state’s Yellow zone, according to the new color designation metrics in which there are 10 average cases for 100,000 residents or less than five percent positivity over two weeks. Currently, Belmont has a positivity rate of 3.01 percent.

In the school subset, a dozen people – including students and staff – were tested positive with the coronavirus over the past week. Those include nine at Belmont High School, five at Chenery Middle and four at the Wellington. The total positive cases associated with Belmont schools now reads 115.

After examining year end death certificates in the beginning of January , there have been a total of 74 COVID-19 related deaths in Belmont, confirmed by that data filed with the Town Clerk’s Office. 

The Massachusetts Department of Public Health (MDPH) continues to provide weekly reports on Thursday of COVID-19 data by city or town as part of its Dashboard for COVID-19 Cases, Quarantine and Monitoring. 

Belmont Under Winter Storm Warning ‘Til Tuesday Afternoon

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Photo: Snow storm heading Belmont’s way

Upwards to a foot of snow is set to fall on Belmont and the rest of Massachusetts beginning Monday, Feb. 1 as the state has been placed under a winter storm warning by the National Weather Service.

Residents should anticipate the town issuing a snow emergency parking ban for all roadways and municipal and Belmont Public School parking lots.

Issued at 3:37 p.m., Sunday, Jan. 31, the Service’s Boston office is predicting heavy snow of between 7 to 15 inches with wind gusts as high as 45 mph. The storm is anticipated to begin 10 a.m. Monday with the heaviest precipitation Monday afternoon and evening. It’s expected to pass through the region Tuesday after noon.

Traveling will be “very difficult to impossible” in the many parts of the state as hazardous conditions could impact the morning or evening commute, said the Service. Gusty winds could bring down tree branches and may increase the risk for power outages, in addition to the gusty northeast winds.

If you are experiencing an outage, call Belmont Light’s Outage hotline at 617-993-2800. Do not call 911.

Upland Road Rage Charges Upped To Murder As Select Board Calls Special Public Forum For Wednesday

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Photo: Participants in the rally to remember Henry Tapia.

The Belmont Select Board will be hosting a special community forum on Wednesday, Jan. 27 at 7 p.m. to discuss the death of Henry Tapia who was killed in an alleged road rage incident a week ago on Upland Road.

On Monday, Jan. 25, at Cambridge District Court, the assailant, Dean Kapsalis, saw an additional charge of leaving the scene of an accident causing death added to his existing charges of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and a civil rights violation.

He was ordered held without bail with his next court appearance on March 1.

Nearly 200 residents and citizens joined Tapia’s friends and family for a rally to celebrate Tapia’s life on Thursday, Jan. 21 in Cushing Square. Kim Haley-Jackson, vice chair of the Belmont Human Rights Commission, Belmont Police Chief James MacIsaac, Middlesex DA and Belmont resident Marion Ryan, Select Board’s Adam Dash, State Rep. Rogers, State Sen. Will Brownsberger each spoke to the impact of a race-based killing in a town that at times seems, as one attendee said, “devoid in discussing” the racial issues affecting the country.

“What I want to say to everyone is: Yes, Belmont. You too,” said Haley-Jackson.

“What I want to ask from my town is to think about your everyday actions. You think about your neighbors who don’t look like you. We are a community and not everyone is the same. We don’t all have the same belief system, we don’t all live the same lives but we all live together,” she said.

An agenda has not been published for the community forum. People can attend by going to the Zoom site: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82245770498?pwd=Smt2a3llQUp0OXRQMzhodTJxWFIvdz09 Meeting ID: 822 4577 0498

Tapia’s friends created a GoFundMe page to help his partner, Courtney Morton, and his three children. It has raised $152,800 as of Wednesday morning.

Tapia, a Black/Latino Boston resident living with his partner in Belmont, was killed when Kapsalis, a 54-year-old from Hudson who was living with his girlfriend on Upland Road, hit and dragged the victim after the pair squared off during what is alleged to have been a road rage incident sometime after 4 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 19.

In court Monday, prosecutors from the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office said witnesses heard as well as an alarm system recorded as Kapsalis “yelled racial slurs” at Tapia during the confrontation.

“There was a Ring doorbell near the scene of this incident, and it captured the audio of the interaction between the victim and the defendant,” said prosecutor Nicole Allain.

“The defendant can be heard calling the victim a series of derogatory terms, which culminated in his use of the N-word. Seconds later, that’s when the vehicle accelerates. A loud ‘thud’ noise can be heard, and the defendant’s red truck can be seen on video driving [away from] the scene,” said Allain.

MacIsaac’s said the first responding officers found Tapia conscious but in distress, reportedly saying “I can’t breathe.” Tapia was taken to Massachusetts General Hospital where he died soon after arriving.

“My officers were shocked to hear that he had died,” said MacIsaac. “It has effected the department.”

Opinion: What’s Happening With Our State Government?Massachusetts’ Secret State House And How To Fix It

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Photo: Massachusetts State House (Wikipedia)

By Maya Chandrakasan, Sherman Street

In a few months myself and my fellow Belmont High School seniors will walk across a stage and receive our diplomas. It’s safe to say this past year has been difficult for all of us. But these challenges are only the beginning of what lies ahead for my generation. As we enter college and the workforce in a world ravaged by the coronavirus, government inaction will be blamed on “partisan gridlock.” Federal legislators may use their precarious majority to defend themselves, but for Democrats in the state house there are no excuses for inaction. 

The Democratic party holds a veto-proof supermajority in the Massachusetts state legislature which they have had for more than three decades. So why haven’t we been able to pass any significant climate legislation since 2008?

Despite being a relatively progressive state, Massachusetts has one of the least transparent statehouses in the country: bills die in committee, the public has little time to object to a bill before it is voted on, and recorded floor votes on legislation are not guaranteed. 

Massachusetts is in a minority of states in the country that do not publicize or disclose how legislators vote in committees. While that may seem like a technicality, most lawmaking is done in legislative committees, and most legislation is killed in committees. A popular 100 percent Renewable Energy bill, which took six years to write, was killed in committee without ever making it to the House floor for a vote. All of these barriers inhibit action and change: our democracy is dying behind closed doors. 

This isn’t to attack some of the great state legislators, many of whom truly care about their constituents. This is about a broken state house rules system that both blocks constituents from holding their reps accountable, and reps from countering powerful house leaders for fear of retribution.

Last month, myself and other constituents in the 24th Middlesex district joined our state representative, Dave Rogers, on a call asking he sign onto the following three transparency amendments:

• All votes held in legislative committees be publicly disclosed so that constituents have the opportunity to see how their representatives are voting.

• Each bill be made public 72 hours prior to a final vote (extending the current 24 hour window) to ensure that anyone who wants to discuss the bill with their representative has that chance.

• The threshold for a vote to be publicly-recorded in the House of Representatives be reduced to eight from the current 16 representative requirement so that more bills can be publicly voted on. 

Unfortunately Rogers has not yet given a public commitment to voting for these transparency amendments. In the past, Rogers has proven himself to be a progressive legislator responsive to constituent concerns. We are fortunate to have a legislator who will disclose his committee votes despite House rules. However, just because Rogers votes the right way does not mean that other reps will, and in order to pass a veto-proof bill we need more than just his vote; in other words, to actually pass the legislation he cosponsors and introduces, we need transparency. 

In the coming days, the statehouse will vote on a new set of rules for the upcoming legislative session. The various crises of this past year have proven that state and local governance matter. From comprehensive police reform to climate bills to eviction moratoriums, there are numerous life-saving policies that can be implemented on the state level. Unfortunately, none of those have, or will be passed without serious change and accountability. 

The rules voted on will be law for the next two years and will influence what can get done in this crucial time. As we turn the page on a bungled federal response to the most pressing issues of our time, we must begin to repair our government from the bottom up. That begins with a transparent Massachusetts statehouse. 

I urge anyone who cares about virtually any issue to contact Rogers by email (dave.rogers@mahouse.gov) or phone (617-722-2637) and ask him to vote for these three transparency amendments to state house rules for the next legislative session. Learn more about our broken state house at https://actonmass.org/the-campaign/ and join our district team to get involved in our final push for a more accountable state legislature.