“Yes for Reading” Organizes

Yes for Reading, a municipal ballot committee advocating for a Proposition 2 ½ override ballot question and a “Yes” vote on that question, hosted its kick-off meeting at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Reading on Wednesday, October 18. The meeting featured several speakers including the chairs of the board of selectmen, the school committee and the finance committee. [Continue]

Gould Street Development Hearing Continued

Dave Traggorth, the potential developer of the property at 20-24 Gould Street, presented revised plans to the CPDC at a continued public hearing on October 16. A portion of the building currently on the site, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, was built in 1924 and once housed the Ace Art Company, developer and manufacturer of photographic storage supplies. Original plans for the proposed four-story building were presented to the CPDC on September 11 as a mixed use 40R development. [Continue]

District Attorney Marian Ryan Speaks at RCASA Annual Meeting

Erica McNamera, Director of the Reading Coalition Against Substance Abuse (RCASA), opened the September 28 annual meeting by highlighting some of the Coaltion’s activities over the past year. McNamera spoke about the Active Parenting Program, the medication drop-off program at the police station, which has collected over one million pills since its implementation, and the use of the Interface Heath Service. Interface provides specific mental health referrals for Reading residents who call the service. RCASA ended the year with National Recovery month during the month of September. The annual meeting serving as a capstone for the month. During the month, RCASA was involved in the Reading Fall Street Faire, held a joint meeting with the Chamber of Commerce, and participated in a Candlelight Vigil for Recovery. RCASA also partnered with local churches to make blankets for Project Linus, which provides the blankets for those in need when a overdose crisis occurs in a family. [Continue]

Spooky Halloween Fun

Reading has many Halloween events leading up to the 31 of October. [List of Events]

Letter: School Committee Statement on Veteran’s Day

On October 16th, the School Committee had a lengthy discussion on the school calendar with respect to the upcoming celebration of Veteran’s Day on Saturday, November 11. After discussing the possibility of re-voting the current calendar to give students and staff Friday, November 10th off, and therefore extend the last day of school in June, the committee voted to keep the calendar as is. We were concerned that changing the calendar this late in the school year would only give parents and families three weeks’ notice to adjust their schedules and arrange child care. The Committee also expressed a desire to keep the calendar consistent, so the community can rely on and plan around it. Finally, there was concern about the impact of another short week in November along with the extension of the school year in June. [Continue]

RMHS High Fives – Maher & Presho

Alexandra Maher and Michael Presho

Reading Takes Steps to Address Stormwater Pollution

The Town of Reading is partnering with the Mystic River Watershed Association in a new effort to address stormwater pollution at the watershed scale. The Stormwater Education Collaborative includes representatives from more than 15 municipalities within the 76 square mile Mystic River Watershed. [Continue]

Household Goods Wanted for a Refugee Family

Volunteers at the Reading POWR meeting. Photo taken by David Maroney.

Reading POWR (People Organized to Welcome Refugees) is ready to begin collecting household items for a refugee family expected to arrive in the Reading area sometime in the next few months. Even though we won’t know the exact number of people (or the ages of children) until 2-3 weeks before the actual date of their arrival, it seems safe to begin assembling a basic collection of household goods to give them a good start. We do know that refugee families generally spend years in refugee camps, and typically arrive with almost nothing. [Continue]

RCB Sponsors Parent University at RMHS

Reading Cooperative Bank (RCB) is proud to be sponsoring Reading Public Schools’ first annual Parent University. Recently, RCB President & CEO Julie Thurlow presented a $10,000 grant to John Doherty, Superintendent of Schools, and Sandy Calandrella, Director of Extended Day & Community Education, to help fund the project. [Continue]

JAMS for Jake – October 29

JAMS for Jake, a local benefit concert hoping to bring awareness to the addiction epidemic, will take place on Sunday, October 29 from noon to 7:00pm at the Symonds Field behind the Burbank Ice Arena. Some of the featured bands include: This Is Pointless, Bummer Status, In The Making, and The Bonds. [Continue]