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Councilor Kelley get$ his 'Grill on'

Sister Bee — Thu, 08 May 2008 14:33:26 -0400

On Wednesday May 7th I buzzed into Cambridge City Hall’s Sullivan Chamber to witness some of the 2009 Budget Hearings. Every Spring, the heads of City Departments - from Cable T.V to the Women’s Commission – make their plea to at least get level funded for the upcoming year. And what is the bargain – getting scrutinized by City Councilors.

By 10:30 am, Councilors Decker, Seidel, Davis and Brian Murphy were in attendance, politicking to & fro. But it was Councilor Craig Kelley who eloquently fired up “the Grill” peppering questions & comments towards Lisa Peterson, Commissioner of Public Works a.k.a. DPW. It was then that I was reminded why I voted for Kelley in ’05 & last November – He is a head-chef when it comes to dicing up the meat of matters dear to himself and his neighbors. Plus as a seasonal bike rider, Kelley’s eye is on street level yearlong and he is an expert at boiling down the ‘pessimistic potatoes’ of pedestrians, drivers & fellow bikers. read more...

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Come celebrate Fresh Pond Day May 10!!

Margaret — Tue, 06 May 2008 00:09:52 -0400

When:
Saturday, May 10, from 11 a.m. – 3 p.m.,
Where:
250 Fresh Pond Parkway, Cambridge (rain or shine).

It's FREE!

Events for all ages

Activities will include walks for kids, a senior walk, nature and water facility tours, tree planting demonstration, bike rides, mini bike tune-ups, an interactive literacy display, dog licensing, ecology tours, energy conservation and recycling education, and a variety of other interactive events and information booths, etc.

About Fresh Pond

Fresh Pond Reservation, Cambridge’s largest public open space, was designed in 1897 by brothers John Charles Olmstead and Frederic Law Olmstead Jr.

Other famous Olmsted Brothers landscape architectural projects included the U.S. Capitol and White House Grounds, Acadia National Park, New York City's Central Park, and the entire park system in Boston. read more...

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Cambridge Science Festival: Nobelist Reflects on New Era in Physics

kmklinger — Mon, 05 May 2008 17:43:36 -0400

By Karen Klinger

As a teenager, Jerome Friedman was a talented painter who turned down a scholarship to an art school against the advice of his teacher to study physics at the University of Chicago.

It proved to be the right choice.

Friedman, an emeritus professor at MIT, shared the 1990 Nobel Prize in physics for research establishing the first solid evidence for the existence of quarks, building blocks for protons and neutrons--two main components of atoms.

In a talk at the MIT Museum during the Cambridge Science Festival, he reflected on his long career and his belief that with developments such as the recent completion of the world's most powerful particle accelerator, "I think we're coming into a new era of cosmology and particle physics and it's a very, very exciting time." read more...

NeighborMedia

Come to the FreeMeet at MIT

Margaret — Mon, 05 May 2008 13:08:38 -0400

Quick, where can you get good stuff FREE?

At the end-of-the-year FreeMeet at MIT hosted by Students for Global Sustainability:

When: Friday May 9th
From 10:00-6:00
Where: At the MIT Student Center (W20-491)
See map at
http://whereis.mit.edu/map-jpg?selection=W20&Buildings=go

Everyone is welcome, and you don't need to bring stuff to take stuff!

Reduce waste, reduce consumption

Take some time in the next day or so to go through your “stuff” and see what you don't use. Someone else can give a second life to things that are still usable, wearable, readable, playable, etc. But please use common sense; don't bring animals, open food, dangerous items, broken stuff, junk, etc.

Instead of contributing to a landfill (bad), bring your stuff to the FreeMeet (good) and save someone the trouble of buying what you can provide for free! read more...

NeighborMedia

Cambridge Science Festival: I Take Thee ... Robot?

kmklinger — Fri, 02 May 2008 16:21:25 -0400

By Karen Klinger

MIT sociologist Sherry Turkle smiled as she recalled the conversation she had with a journalist for a leading science magazine who wanted to know why she opposed marriages between people and robots.

"He put me in the same camp as those who opposed marriage between lesbians or gay marriage," Turkle, a professor of the social studies of science and technology, told those gathered at the MIT Museum to hear her and colleague Cynthia Breazeal discuss "sociable robots."

The man accused her of "species chauvinism," she said. "It made me feel sad."

The talk by Turkle and Breazeal, an associate professor of media arts and sciences at MIT, was sponsored by the Cambridge Science Festival, a nine-day, citywide celebration of science and technology. read more...

NeighborMedia

Cambridge Science Festival: Lunch with a Nobel Laureate

kmklinger — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 23:09:55 -0400

By Karen Klinger

Dudley Herschbach has the air of a man who would never rest on his laurels, even if they are the laurels of a Nobel Prize.

"I tell my students prizes should be given to atoms, molecules and ideas," Herschbach told a gathering at the MIT Museum during a "Lunch with a Laureate" event, one of more than 100 activities that are part of the Cambridge Science Festival going on through May 4.

Herschbach, an emeritus professor of science at Harvard University, won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1986. He entertained a crowd with anecdotes on subjects ranging from his high school algebra teacher to his undergraduate mentor at Stanford University and the secretary who mistakenly thought a caller wanted to talk to him about the Nobel Peace Prize.

But most of all, he wanted to express his view that the American education system is failing its students and the country by not seizing upon the natural curiosity of children to propel them into careers in science and mathematics. read more...

NeighborMedia

Cambridge Science Festival: Activities in Full Swing

kmklinger — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 22:05:05 -0400

By Karen Klinger

If you'd like to have lunch with a Nobel laureate, walk an evolutionary time line along Massachusetts Avenue, learn about the science of beer brewing, spend your own "Night at the Museum" or take part in dozens of other activities, Cambridge is the place to be this week during the city's second annual science festival.

This first-in-the-nation citywide celebration of science and technology kicked off nine days of events with a science carnival at city hall on April 26 featuring dozens of exhibitors, science experiments for kids, animals, robots and a giant inflated duck on the front lawn, courtesy of the Massachusetts Bay Estuary Association.

The science festival, which attracted more than 15,000 participants last year, is the brainchild of John Durant, the executive director of the MIT Museum, which will be opening a new multi-million dollar innovation gallery in September. This week, activities at the museum include daily brown bag bag lunches with Nobel Prize winners and "behind the scenes" looks at museum exhibits. read more...

NeighborMedia

Shady Hill Square Battle Unresolved

kmklinger — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 21:21:20 -0400

By Karen Klinger

It was last fall when the battle was joined between developers and abutters over the future of bucolic Shady Hill Square in Cambridge's Agassiz neighborhood and it seems unlikely that anything will be settled before this summer, at the earliest.

In the meantime, the abutters can look out on an expanse of green free of any signs that a 5,000-square-foot building might go up in the middle of the park-like setting around which their homes are clustered.

In April, the Cambridge Board of Zoning Appeal decided to continue a hearing on aspects of a building permit held by Stonehouse Holdings to put up what neighbors deride as a "McMansion" on the horseshoe-shaped square that has served as a common yard for a dozen semi-detached stucco houses since they were built in 1915.

For now, Stonehouse is prohibited from doing anything on the site by a "stop work" order issued last October by city building commissioner Ranjit Singanayagam after the abutters raised questions about the ownership of the property and the developers' legal access to it. He told Stonehouse's attorneys in February that he was not lifting the order until matters had been resolved. read more...

NeighborMedia

Development Management

WilliamONeill — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 15:58:34 -0400

Cambridge is full of change. Some of the biggest changes have come from management firms that are buying and redeveloping whole sections of our neighborhoods. Some of these changes have been positive and some negative. It is important that change comes to us in an open, honest, and respectable manner. It is the city who is in charge of overseeing that process. It is the residents who must oversee our city officials. Does anyone want to share a story of the change process? Were you aware it was coming? Did you take part in the process? What was the result? I for one am happy to see some of the gorgeous buildings dotting the landscape of Kendall Square. One of the downsides has been a serious increase in noise, traffic, and pollution. What can the city do to make the process more transparent? How about larger, more descriptive signs that tip us off for zoning/variance hearings? What can the city do to redirect the new traffic from residential streets? What can residents do to ensure we are protected from continued overdevelopment? How can residents work more directly with management firms that respect the needs of our community? read more...

NeighborMedia

Did your water bill go up?

Margaret — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 10:03:48 -0400

Mine did!

New water and sewer rates started April 1 so if you own a home in Cambridge, your water bill could have jumped as much as $58!

Blame it on a sewage increase by the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority.

The annual water bill for single-family homes could increase by about $29, according to city officials. The bill for two-family homeowners could increase by $40 and three-family homeowners can expect to pay up to $58 more.

That’s a 3.9 percent increase!

This year, Cambridge was hit with a sewage cost increase of 8.8%, the largest in the metro area. The average MWRA increase for other cities and tows was about 4.8%, according to Louis DePasquale, assistant city manager for fiscal affairs.

Where’s it going?

City Manager Bob Healy said it will cover salary and benefit increases for Water Department employees and also increased operating costs at the city’s water plant.

Unlike many communities, the MWRA does not supply fresh tap water to city residents. The city has its own Water Department and uses Fresh Pond and other water sources. read more...

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