Month: March 2017

3/29/2017: Newton Public Schools proposes major budget cuts to library dept.

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Newton Public Schools (NPS) is facing a $2M budget deficit. NPS proposes to make up this $2M shortfall by making major cuts to the library department. Under this proposal, nearly 40% of the school library positions will be cut — impacting every school. Elementary school libraries would be closed 2-3 days a week. 1 library teacher for north side middle schools & 1 library teacher for south side schools. Newton North & Newton South would each lose a librarian.

Look you guys. You don’t need to be a famous writer (like me) to understand how important librarians can be in a young person’s life. Hugely influential (like this blog). These are deep cuts to an important part of our school system. Why is the library department responsible for making up 25% of the $2M budget deficit? What about math? Nobody even uses it.

library

3/28/2017: 1482 Washington St on Mass Pike, also on market

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1482 Washington is a 4 bed/2.5 bath townhome with 2,800 sq/ft that was just listed for $1.075M. Really nice looking historic home that was built in 1880.

1482 Wash

You guys remember the movie Old School? When Vince Vaughn shows up at Owen Wilson’s new place and says “you’re not near campus, you’re practically on campus.”

Old School

That’s how I feel about 1482 Washington. It’s not near the pike, it’s practically on the pike.

But you guys I would be lying if I said that’s why I blogged this. The real reason I blogged this is the master bathroom.

1482 Wash3

Tough to tell in this pic but there is a giant piece of glass between the tub & shower. Perfect for pantomime. If we lived here and Management was in the tub, these would probably be my first 2 moves.

pantomime

 

3/17/2017: Sidekick

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One of the many many perks of being neighborhood famous is people come to you with ideas. Like a neighborhood pig roast which I gave my blessing. Or planting more trees on the street which I OK’ed. A person of influence you guys. A taste maker if you will.

So when Rachel from Sidekick reached out to me this week, I thought this is clearly a person with very high business acumen. And the more I learned about Sidekick the more I liked it. What is Sidekick? Rachel will explain:

leaky faucet? broken door knob? rotting deck? We know the headaches of homeownership and we’re here to help.

guy through ceiling

Meet Sidekick, your personal home project manager. We are a concierge service that connects homeowners with a pre-qualified list of community of skilled tradesmen and handymen to handle all of your service needs. We’ll manage the bids, schedule the job, ensure it’s complete to your satisfaction and handle payment. We are your single point of contact for all your home service needs. Check us out on Facebook and visit us at http://www.sidekickhome.com

Rachel and her husband John are Newton people. They grew up with Josh Roy. Regardless of what you may/may not think of Josh, Sidekick is a good idea. They’re even having a wine tasting at Vinodivino on March 24th 6:30-8:30. Don’t even trip, you know y’all love wine.

3/1/2017: I walked every kid on Randlett to school this morning 

On By RandlettPark2 Comments

Every one of them.

Some parents had teacher conferences. Others had too much wine last night. Some didn’t bother to give an excuse at all.

I did it anyway.

You know how kids are really happy & confident when they feel safe? Well that was this morning. (In case any of their parents are wondering/still care.) Think every kid not only made it to school but also into school.

Just incredible Wednesday morning effort on my part you guys.