Belmont Holding 9/11 Memorial Commemoration On Quarter-Century Anniversary Of Terror Attack

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Photo: Poster of Belmont’s Memorial Event

While one of the most seminal moments in US history, for many members of the Gen Z generation – those born after 1997 – the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001 are only hazy memories, if they remember them at all. It’s why many who do remember 9/11 believe the shock, pain, bravery and consequences of that day is essential to recall and commemorate.

Belmont will hold a 25th Anniversary 9/11 Memorial Ceremony to honor the approximate 3,000 victims killed in New York City, Washington DC and Pennsylvania and also remember the first responders of Sept. 11.

The commermoration will take place on Friday, Sept. 11, 2026 at 10:30 a.m. in the Select Board Meeting Room, Town Hall, 455 Concord Ave. All members of the community are welcome to attend this time of remembrance.

Three Belmont residents were on American Airlines Flight 11 during the 2001 attacks.

  • Paul Friedman, 45, a management consultant.
  • Edward (Ted) R. Hennessy Jr., 35, a business partner and father of two.
  • Carlos Alberto Montoya, 36

For grief support, wellness, and community support resources, visit the Belmont Health Department Resources page at belmont-ma.gov/2072/Health-Department-Resources.

For questions, contact the Belmont Select Board at selectboard@belmont-ma.gov

New Look Girls’ Volleyball Squad Ready To Make Confidence Run In Middlesex League

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Photo: Belmont High Girls’ Volleyball prepping for the coming season

Second-year Belmont High Girls Volleyball Head Coach Raylynn Kauila now has a team that has begun playing under “her” system. With a young team and not as big in the front line as recently, what’s going to drive the team is being poised and positive. 

“My overall philosophy is all about confidence because if they believe they can, they will. But the second they think they can’t do something, they won’t. And so in terms of hitting, playing defense, putting up a block, like, once a player doubts themselves, they are their own worst enemy. They will hold themselves back,” she said.

And Belmont plays in a very competitive Middlesex League where any dip in its conviction, the Marauders, will have its hands full battling playoff contenders headed by Winchester (19-1 last season) and a slew of Division II powerhouses in Wakefield, Burlington, Reading, and Melrose. 

“We’re very young all around,” said Kaulia. The team lost a number of key starters from last year’s team, including record-breaking assist leader Sophia Qin. 

Kauila will use two players in the key role: senior captain Katya Polina and sophomore Sophia Wang. “She’s enormous shoes to fill, but I am confident with who we have ready to step up now.” The pair will be feeding the ball to a pair of returning outside hitters, junior captain Danbi Kim and sophomore Emma Miao.

“Both of them were really big last year. They were really key players. Danbi started a lot, and then Emma did really well coming off the bench,” said Last year, it was intimidating being behind so many senior outsides. But Emma did a good job as a freshman on varsity, like coming off the bench ready. She definitely earned her starting spot this year.

Belmont’s youth will be found in its back line. The one returning varsity player, senior Sofia Pavlou, will be mentoring a group of players who will be on the court.

“Pavlou didn’t play as many games last year because our senior libero last year, Zulal Merdinian, she was just phenomenal. Sophia did a really good job of learning from Zulal. So we’re hoping that her senior leadership will help fill that role there. They are young in terms of varsity experience, but they do a good job of keeping up. They’ve played club. Furthermore, they are putting in the work during practice and outside on their own time.”

Senior captain LeeLee Kozelian will anchor the front line from the middle position. “She’s a force to be reckoned with at the net, whether it’s blocking or hitting. She’s going to be like our true utility player: wherever we need her, she’s ready to go.” Kozelian will be joined up front by Polina “one of our bigger blockers as well” along with our middle blocker, Lucy Warner. 

Belmont starts the league season Tuesday, Sept. 8 vs. Watertown at the Wenner. Not one of the stronger teams, Kauila will not have her charges overlook the Red Raiders or any team they face this season.

“I want us going into every game not underestimating a team. They aren’t the best, but I do know that they will sneak up on us if we’re playing lazy, if we’re not pushing ourselves,” said Kauila. “I want to hold us to a standard, no matter who we are playing against. And so Watertown will show me if the girls are also believing that and holding that standard. And if they aren’t, then they will quickly have to get it together. I’ll play girls who understand that we need to keep that standard, no matter who it is.”

Last year Belmont made the MIAA Division 1 tournament as the 24 seed with a 10-9 record. Does Kauila see a return to the post season?

“I think we could be a tournament team if it’s all going to come down to our confidence,” she said. “Our hitters are there. Our defense is there. Our blocks are there. Our chemistry is coming along, and it’s trusting each other to have each other’s back when playing defense. So if we put it all together throughout the season, I think we could make it to the tournament.”

What’s Open, Close On Labor Day; Trash Pick Up Delayed A Day

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Photo: USPS Labor Day stamps circa 1956

Goodbye, summer. Labor Day, Monday, Sept. 7, ends the last big getaway weekend of the warm weather season.

Trash and recycling collection is delayed ONE DAY due to the holiday: If your pickup day is Monday, this week it will be collected on Tuesday, etc.

The holiday is rooted in the late nineteenth century, when labor activists pushed for a federal holiday to recognize the many contributions workers have made to America’s strength, prosperity, and well-being. 

Before it was a federal holiday, Labor Day was recognized by labor activists and individual states. After municipal ordinances were passed in 1885 and 1886, a movement developed to secure state legislation. New York was the first state to introduce a bill, but Oregon was the first to pass a law recognizing Labor Day in 1887. During that year, Massachusetts joined four other states passing laws creating a Labor Day holiday. By 1894, 23 more states had adopted the holiday, and on June 28, 1894, Congress passed an act making the first Monday in September of each year a legal holiday.

Boston will be holding its Labor Day Parade in downtown Boston at 10 a.m.

Labor Day is one of ten holidays recognized by the federal government, although the feds don’t require employers to pay workers for this holiday. Businesses traditionally provide their employees with a paid holiday as part of a benefits package because most others do the same.

Closed:

Belmont Town offices, Boston Public Schools, Belmont Public Library and Belmont Light are closed.

• US Postal Service offices and regular deliveries.

• Banks; although some branches will be open in some supermarkets.

• MBTA: Operating on a Sunday schedule. See www.mbta.com for details.

What’s Opened:

• Retail stores

• Coffee shops; Starbucks and Dunkin’ Donuts are open.

• Supermarkets

• Convenience stores and,

• Establishments that sell beer and wine are also allowed to be open.

As Lander Leads Brownsberger By 4 Votes, State Senate Race Heads To District-Wide Recount Set For Thursday

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Photo: Counting teams preparing to for the Belmont Town Moderators recount in 2025

You hear it in every election: ‘Every vote counts.’

And that certainly was the case in the race for the Middlesex and Suffolk state senate seat, where the two candidates in the Democratic primary enter the weekend seperated by the narrowest of margins.

After a topsy-turvey day which saw the lead in the race swiched hands and neither candidate able to pull away, first time challenger Daniel Lander leads incumbent Will Brownsberger by four votes out of approximately 24,000 total ballots tallied.

With the results easily within the state’s threshold for a recount, the outcome between the election nyophite Lander and Beacon Hill veteran Brownsberger will be decided next Thusday, Sept. 10, when ballots will be recounted by volunteers in the four communities – Belmont, Watertown, Cambridge and several Boston neighborhoods – that makes up the district.

And the recall will not simply an exercise of re-reading ballots that have already been counted. Cushman said the town is holding seven uncounted ballots as pervisional as the voter’s party afflictation had not been determined on election night. And Boston reported to have several paper ballots that were damaged when processed through the scanners.

According to Belmont Town Clerk Ellen Cushman, the recount will need to be completed by Friday, Sept. 11, with the updated results presented to the Secretary of the Commonwealth’s office by 5 p.m.

Both candidates filed for a recount by the Thursday, Sept. 3 3 p.m. deadline with Brownsberger handing in his petition early to Cushman with Lander’s signatures coming in by the afternoon.

Cushman said the next step in the recall will be boundling the ballots into groups of 50 which will make it more efficient to collect and count. On Thursday, Cushman was calling for volunteers to be examiners who will determine which candidate a voter had selected.  

Cushman’s team has recent experience with recalls, including the Town Moderator in 2025.

The recount of nearly 6,000 votes will be conducted at card tables in the Town Hall auditorium by a two-person “counting team” with a reader facing a ‘calculator’. who will tally the votes. The candidates were allowed an observer at each table who an challenge any ballot they feel is incorrectly tabulated. The town’s Board of Registers will judge all disputed ballots.

With clerks and town officials, the auditorium could see 100 people squeezed into the second floor space.

After each 50 ballot bundle is complete, the results will be brought to a table where the Registers will tally the numbers. When all the bundles are counted, a final Belmont vote count will be announced.

The town’s experience with the Town Moderator recall should allow the process to move quickly along, said Cushman.

Update: Too Close To Call As Brownsberger Carves Out 61 Vote Advantage Over Lander In State Senate Race

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Photo: Will Brownsberger

On a night that saw one of the candidates announce he would probably loss than reverse that prediction an hour later and the other declaring victory no matter the decision, just who will be the next state senator representing Belmont remains up in the air.

With 100 percent of precincts reporting, 15-year incumbent Will Brownsberger has a minuscule 61-vote advantage – 11,997 to 11,936 – over his opponent first-time candidate Daniel Lander, a former policy advisor for Boston Mayor Michelle Wu.

Neither Associated Press or the Boston Globe have called the Democratic primary race for the Suffolk & Middlesex Senate seat as of 5 a.m., Wednesday, Sept. 2.

If Brownsberger does retain his seat he first won in Nov. 2011, it will be due in large part to the strong showing of support from his hometown voters. Belmont was the only segment of the districted he won, as the long-time legislator come up second in Boston, Cambridge and Watertown to the first-time candidate.

Brownsberger took the Town of Homes 3,974 to 1,793, a 2,181 margin that allowed the two decade incumbent to create enough of a cushion to stay in the lead for the majority of the night.

But even after Belmont and Watertown reported, Brownsberger surprisingly told campaign supporters who gathered at Donahue’s Bar and Grill in Watertown that it was not going to be his night.

“[The results are] not looking that good tonight,” Brownsberger told supporter before 10 p.m. “We might have lost,” Brownsberger said, reported the Boston Globe. “I’m not quite saying that yet, but as is my way upfront, that’s what I’m seeing out there.”

A Brownsberger backer from Belmont who attended the victory celebration, said the candidate’s “forthright” announcement took a large segment of the smallish crowd by surprise. “It is sooo early and the [reported] numbers said he is in the lead,” the supporter’s text. “[Brownsberger] must know it’s already over.”

But at the 11th hour, Brownsberger told the crowd his earlier prediction did not include complete Belmont returns – Belmont Town Clerk Ellen Cushman announced the returns at 9:16 p.m. – and the vote count was now “in his favor.”

Lander entered the race with the endorsement and backing of his former boss Wu, who has been in a nasty political spat with Belmont’s veteran legislator over 2024 legislation in which he helped block a tax bill to temporarily shifted more of Boston’s property tax burden on to commercial owners.

Brownsberger would hold a 1,500 vote lead at 11 p.m. only to see the advantage slip away with each Boston precinct being called.

With Brownsberger holding on to a tight 325-vote lead after Boston’s 35 precincts were called, Cambridge votes were the final ones tallied sometime after 2 a.m. And while Landers carried his one-time hometown, he couldn’t close the gap.

It is uncertain if a recount is required or if Lander will ask for one.

In the other legislative race for the 24th Middlesex (The ABC District has it covers Arlington, Belmont, and Cambridge,} state Rep. Dave Rogers used his tireless retail campaign style to return to Beacon Hill as he defeated another first-time candidate Nomita Ganguly, 6,906 to 2,867. Rogers received 3,462 votes to Ganguly’s 2,043.

Middlesex District Attorney and Belmont’s own Marian Ryan will continue to uphold the law as she defeated David Marc Solet easily.

Early results: Brownsberger Says ‘[Election] Not Looking That Good Tonight’ As Hometown Comes Out Big For Long-Time Senator

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Photo: Will Brownsberger

With nearly 40 percent of precincts tallied, State Sen. Will Brownsberger could see the writing on the wall.

“[The results are] not looking that good tonight,” Brownsberger told supporters gathered at Donahue’s in Watertown just before 10 p.m. on state primary night, Sept. 1.

“We might have lost,” Brownsberger said, reported the Boston Globe. “I’m not quite saying that yet, but as is my way upfront, that’s what I’m seeing out there.”

Brownsberger’s reaction came just a half-an-hour after Belmont voters showed its support for the long-standing legislator. Town Clerk Ellen Cushman reported Brownsberger received 3,974 votes to his opponant Daniel Lander who garnered 1,793, a more than a two-to-one margin.

But Brownsberger isn’t rounding up that same level of support in the rest of the district, being edged out in his birthplace of Watertown and running behind in early returns in his Boston precincts where Lander had the advantage of the endorsement of Boston Mayor Michelle Wu.

Final results are expected soon.

Belmont Candidates On The Sept. 1 State Primary Ballots As Party Faithful Select Candidates For General Election

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Photo: State Sen. Will Brownsberger, State Rep. Dave Rogers and Gov. Maura Healey in Belmont Sunday.

Belmont residents both past and present and those connected to the town will be prominently on display on both the Democratic and Republican ballots as the party faithful pick the candidates for November’s general election.

Voting in the Massachusetts State Primary Election takes place Tuesday, Sept. 1, with the polls open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Registered voters may cast their ballots in person only on Election Day; at the following polling locations: 

  • Precinct One: Belmont Public Library, 366 Concord Ave.
  • Precinct Two: Belmont Town Hall, Select Board Room, 455 Concord Ave.
  • Precinct Three: Beech Street Center, 266 Beech St.
  • Precinct Four: Daniel Butler School Gym, 90 White St.
  • Precinct Five: Beech Street Center, 266 Beech St.
  • Precinct Six: Belmont Fire Headquarters,  299 Trapelo Rd.
  • Precinct Seven: Burbank School Gym, 266 School St.
  • Precinct Eight: Winn Brook School Gym, 97 Waterhouse Rd., enter from Cross Street.

If you are wondering if you are a registered voter and your voting precinct, go to the Town Clerk’s web page or phone the Town Clerk’s office at 617-993-2600.

Election results for town wide and Town Meeting races will be announced at Town Hall after the polls close and are located on the Town Clerk’s website early Wednesday morning.

Both of Belmont’s reps on Beacon Hill find themselves with opponents on the Democratic ballot.

In one of the featured races of the night, long-standing incumbent Will Brownsberger faces his stiffest challenge since being elected state senator in December 2011 from new comer Daniel Landers, a former policy advisor to Boston Mayor Michelle Wu. Landers has roots in the town as his parents are longtime members of Beth El Temple on Concord Avenue.

Landers has the endorsement and backing of his former boss Wu, who has been in a nasty political spat with the veteran legislator over 2024 legislation blocking a property tax bill that would have temporarily shifted more of Boston’s property tax burden on to commercial owners.

The importance of the election was highlighted as Gov. Maura Healey spent this past Sunday rallying Brownsberger’s volunteers before a final day of campaigning in the district.

In a much more quiet affair, State Rep. Dave Rogers seeks to retain his seat against first time candidate Nomita Ganguly of Belmont. It’s been a good natured campaign with a great deal of retail, face-to-face politicking.

Last year Elizabeth Dionne was steering Belmont’s town government as a member of the Select Board. Today, Dionne is running unopposed to be the Republican candidate for state Treasurer and take on Democrat Deb Goldberg.

Many will remember Brian Shortsleeve as a reporter and anchor on local Boston television. The former Belmont native is running to be the Republican candidate for governor against wealthy businessman Michael Minogue, who has aligned himself with President Donald Trump.

And incumbent Marian Ryan seeks to continue as Middlesex County District Attorney as she faces challenger David Marc Solet