Blue Cross Blue Shield supports trees through Bluebikes rides including in Arlington

In recognition of Environmental Awareness Month, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts (BCBSMA) is planning to donate $1 for every ride taken on Bluebikes to the Boston Tree Alliance Program through Sept. 30, a news release said.

BCBSMA’s donations will go directly towards the Boston Tree Alliance’s tree planting and care in environmental justice neighborhoods to increase Boston-area residents’ access to the physical and emotional benefits trees provide, improve quality of life, and promote biodiversity. The program works with Mass Audubon to bolster the tree canopy in the parts of Boston that are shaded by trees.

The donations will apply to all rides taken across the Bluebikes system’s 13 municipalities: Arlington, Boston, Brookline, Cambridge, Chelsea, Everett, Malden, Medford, Newton, Revere, Salem, Somerville and Watertown.

The state’s largest health plan says it plans to continue to honor its commitment to climate action and improving environmental health through its ongoing efforts of promoting Bluebikes as a sustainable and healthy mode of transportation.

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Mugar wetlands issue being considered by town Conservation Commission

UPDATED Sept. 22: The future, or lack of same, of Thorndike Place, a large, controversial housing complex proposed since 2015 in a wetlands area, is being scrutinized by the town's Conservation Commission.

This was announced at the Select Board  Monday, Sept. 11, at which all five members were present. It was clear that evening from what both board members and others said that the longtime concerns about the flood-prone area remain top of mind -- and that the board might vote on the issue later this year.

The commission seeks to apply the state’s Wetlands Protection Act, in response to Arlington Land Realty’s filing of a notice of intent regarding Thorndike Place.

The Wetlands Protection Act establishes procedures for conservation commissions to follow for work in protected areas. Arlington Land Realty is the corporation managing the proposed development of Thorndike Place, a 176-unit complex proposed for the 17-acre Mugar Wetlands off Dorothy Road in East Arlington. A notice of intent is an application that a developer files outlining the work proposed, and methods used, to protect any wetlands.

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ARB, MBTA Working Group, residents speak out at Sept. 11 meeting in Town Hall

• housing
• zoning
• MBTACommunities

Tempers manifest briefly; meeting resumes within 10 minutes; no one detained

Nearly 200 people attended the Sept. 11, Redevelopment Board meeting about the MBTA Communities report. / Tony Moschetto photos

UPDATED Sept. 22: Arlington Redevelopment Board Chair Rachel Zsembery welcomed nearly 200 to the ARB meeting at Town Hall on Monday, Sept. 11, explaining the meeting’s purpose: to review and discuss the MBTA Communities Working Group’s final proposal and to take public comments.

Of the 47 audience members who spoke during the public-comment portion of the meeting, more than half were opponents (27 vs. 20).

However, the greatest excitement of the night wasn’t the detailed presentation by the working group or those who spoke passionately for an hour and a half. Rather, it came at the end of the public-comments portion -- when things temporarily went off the rails, prompting the police to be called.

The evening started out peacefully. Zsembery explained the process: first, at the meeting itself, to review and discuss the working-group report that had been released Sept. 6; then the next step, the next ARB meeting, Oct. 2, when it is to be decided whether to possibly amend the proposal; and then bringing that version of the proposal to opening day, Oct. 17, of Special Town Meeting.

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Arlington appoints 2 current town employees to new positions

• finance

Bongiorno

UPDATED Sept. 20: Town officials recently made two new appointments of current town employees. The former director of the department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Christine Bongiorno, was named the new deputy town manager, effective Sept. 11. And a longtime member of Arlington's finance team, Julie Wayman, is expected to step into the role of town treasurer/collector of taxes on Oct. 2.          Wayman

These appointments were made by Town Manager Jim Feeney. In news releases recently posted to the town website, Feeney wrote that he was very pleased to have them begin working in their new roles.

The deputy town manager earns a salary of $159,000, and the treasurer earns a salary of $113,767, according to Arlington's Director of Human Resources, Caryn Malloy, reached by YourArlington on Sept. 18.

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Covid incidence Sept. 20: Middlesex County slightly down; Northeast region highest of four

UPDATED Sept. 26: YourArlington continues to report a running tally of Covid-19 incidence regionally based on wastewater analysis by Biobot Analytics. These figures are listed in reverse chronological order toward the end of this ongoing column along with an explanation of why most scientists consider wastewater analysis statistics to be valuable data. This information matters, as many Massachusetts hospitals drop universal masking and many other measures of what is no longer officially a pandemic may no longer be kept at all.

Starting Monday, Sept. 25, 2023, the federal government plans to once again make a limited number of Covid-19 home-test kits available for free for those who request them, although they aren't expected to arrive until nearly Christmas. Until then, it typically is a nearly $25 retail cost at many chain drugstores for a similar box containing two tests.

The federal government earlier this month approved the latest vaccine for most people ages 6 months and older; some in the local area already have received it.

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Lottery held as town manager, ex-resident seek fix for affordable units at 882-892 Mass. Ave.

• housing
• zoning
• redevelopment

2023 drawing of 882-892 Mass. Ave., showing rear location of affordable units available in today's lottery. / Don Seltzer graphic

UPDATED Sept. 16: The lottery to choose the winners from among the applicants for three one-bedroom affordable apartments in a new building near Arlington High School was held at 3 p.m. Friday, Sept. 15, via Zoom. It was conducted by MCO Housing Services, which received 16 applicants.

However, a month ago, in August, new questions emerged about the 21-unit, mixed-use building at 882-892 Mass. Ave., via exchanges involving a persistent former town resident and the town manager.

Do the three recently designated units fully meet town and state requirements? Are those three available spots too small, at barely more than 500 square feet? And should all three be "stacked" at the rear of the building?

The multistory building, at the former site of Japanese restaurant Toraya before it moved down Mass. Ave., contains 21 new rental units. The three apartments now designated as affordable each have one bedroom and one bathroom in 507 square feet; the other units in the building are much larger.

Discussions to address those questions, involving Don Seltzer, longtime former town resident, and Town Manager Jim Feeney, continue. Here is an updated summary to date, based on email exchanges between the two and others, which YourArlington has received.

Continue reading: Lottery held as town manager, ex-resident seek fix for...

3 Arlingtonians win awards for theater work

• Theater

Charlotte Kelley receives award

Arlington resident Charlotte Kelley earlier this summer won a Lifetime Achievement Award for her work in community theater at the recent gala of the Eastern Massachusetts Community Theater Organization (EMACT).

Kelley was nominated by Arlington Friends of the Drama (AFD) for her continuing work in doing props and set dressing at AFD, as well as at Concord Players and Quannapowitt Players in Reading.

She is known for her meticulous attention to detail and time period in choosing just the right prop or picture to hang on the wall. She also has a keen memory for the inventory of every theater prop closet as well as the contents of homes, basements and attics of her friends and family.

Kelley has won awards throughout her decades of doing this work and won two other awards at the annual award gala last month: one each for props and set dressing for "Dancing at Lughnasa," the March play at AFD.

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A relationship built to last: local man's legacy remembered by friends, family

 A terrible illness ultimately ends a life -- but not the love or the memories

Susan, Jeffrey Thompson before 2021.  All photos courtesy of the Thompson family.After a valiant battle, with his wife of three decades by his side and having received continuing support from his community, longtime Arlington resident Jeffrey William Thompson, 65, died Aug. 26 from the progressive neurodegenerative condition ALS, also known as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis or Lou Gehrig's disease.

Jeff was known to be kind and generous, and as a man who had many passions. In addition to his career in woodworking, he leaves a legacy as a gifted photographer. As stated in his obituary, Jeff was “An ardent photographer in his youth; he always carried a camera and spent hours processing film.”

Jeff was born April 14, 1958, in Potsdam, upstate New York. He was raised there alongside his sister, Kristin, by both his parents, Kay and William. Jeff earned a bachelor's degree at SUNY Potsdam. He later moved to Massachusetts and worked at a photo processing lab in Somerville in the 1980s. Later, as a carpenter, he specialized in residential remodeling. He also enjoyed sculpting for many years of his life and often worked with metals.

He met his wife, then known as Susan Green, when both were in their 20s and working at the Learning Center for the Multiple Handicapped in Belmont. Jeff worked in the maintenance department; Susan was a teacher.

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