Author: Nicole Abrams

  • ZBA approves Boston Gas Co. proposal to rebuild facilities

    The Zoning Board of Appeals approved the Boston Gas Co.’s proposal to rebuild a distribution station in Arlington during their Tuesday meeting.

    The zoning board agreed that the project met the criteria for a special permit, meaning that it is essential to the neighborhood and it is not detrimental to their welfare.

    During the hearing for the proposal, Joshua Smith, the lawyer representing National Grid, explained that new features were incorporated into the site design based on comments from the Arlington Zoning Board and community members.

    The original plan had only one species of plant for landscaping while the revised plan includes more plantings and a more diverse array of species around the site. The new plan also uses a different kind of security fencing. The original idea was to use chain link fencing while the new fencing is made of wrought iron.

    Marina Popova, a member of Mothers Out Front who offered her comments during the hearing, said that the neighbors are considering an appeal over the decision.

    When Popova first heard that the Zoning Board approved the gas company’s proposal, she said that was very disappointed. (The area residents wrote a letter that was published on Feb. 9. You can read it here.)

    Popova said that the updated landscaping plan was an improvement, but believed that it was a poor substitute for the loss of trees in the area.

    “I feel that the voices of the neighborhood were not heard at all,” said Popova.

  • Neighbors oppose expansion of Boston Gas Co. facilities

    Boston Gas Co.’s plan to rebuild a distribution station in Arlington is drawing opposition from neighbors.

    Boston Gas is seeking a special permit from the Arlington Zoning Board of Appeals to rebuild a distribution station and expand its facilities on Washington Street. The company needs permission from the town before it can start construction.

    The Arlington Zoning Board of Appeals will discuss the Boston Gas proposal at its meeting scheduled for tonight, Feb. 24.

    The so-called “take station” receives gas from a transmission pipeline and processes it for customers, Joshua Smith, a lawyer representing Boston Gas, said at a Jan. 13 zoning board meeting.

    Smith and Jeremy Butler, the project engineer, said the take station at 305 Washington St., which was constructed in the 1950s and rebuilt in 1997, needs to be replaced.

    Neighbors wrote a letter objecting to the proposal. You can read it here.

    The company wants to build a new station next to the old one, at 307 Washington St., in order to meet National Grid and federal code standards. National Grid is the parent company of Boston Gas.

    During the January meeting, Smith explained that some of the equipment in the facility needs to be replaced and moved above ground for safety and security purposes. Butler said the new take station will serve most of Arlington.

    The site is about two acres, and about a third of an acre of trees would have to be cut down. The company hopes to start construction this summer.

    Boston Gas officials would not speak to a reporter but said in an emailed statement: “The project is focused on making critical safety upgrades for our existing customers and does not expand our gas infrastructure.”

    Members of Mothers Out Front, a climate justice organization, and other residents plan to submit a petition requesting that the zoning board reject the gas company’s proposal. Nearly 500 people have signed the petition.

    “We hope that that will demonstrate to the zoning board that it’s really not in the interests of our neighbors in the town,” said Marina Popova, a member of Mothers Out Front who co-authored the petition.

    Popova, who lives near the site, said she is worried about the loss of nature and the risk to the wildlife.

    ”It will cause harm to the neighborhood, by cutting and eliminating the mature trees and mature woods,” Popova said.

    Claire Moodie, a co-coordinator of the Arlington chapter of Mothers Out Front and one of the authors of the petition, acknowledged that safe gas distribution is important but said she wishes that the company would renovate its current site instead of building a new facility that would cut down trees in the area.

    “There was definitely a strong concern from those immediate neighbors that walk their dogs through the area and just appreciate the natural habitat,” Moodie said of the neighbors who spoke at the zoning board meeting in January.

    Brian Guzik, who signed the Mothers Out Front petition, lives a few hundred yards from the proposed location of the facility.

    “I was a little bit surprised, I guess, to the extent to which the modifications were going to be made,” Guzik said. “I mean, there’s kids that walk through there to get to school.”

    Karen Samuelson, who lives a few houses down from 307 Washington St., said that she would be saddened by the loss of nature in the area. “It’s a really lovely green space in our neighborhood, and there’s lots of wildlife here,” Samuelson said.

    Stephanie Levinson, a neighbor who has resided in her home for 40 years, lives next to the Washington St. property. ”When I was told that they were going to be taking all kinds of trees down, I was really distressed,” Levinson said, “not only for myself, but for this whole area, because there aren’t a lot of green areas.”

    Danielle Dean, who lives next to the wooded area, said she appreciates the scenery that the environment near her house provides. She said her kids sled in the area and collect worms for fishing.

    “It feels like it’s just a little reprieve from the densely populated rest of the neighborhood,” Dean said.

    This story, published Feb. 24, 2026, is part of a partnership between Your Arlington and the Boston University Department of Journalism.

  • Neighbors oppose expansion of Boston Gas Co. facilities

    Neighbors oppose expansion of Boston Gas Co. facilities

    Boston Gas Co.’s plan to rebuild a distribution station in Arlington is drawing opposition from neighbors.

    Boston Gas is seeking a special permit from the Arlington Zoning Board of Appeals to rebuild a distribution station and expand its facilities on Washington Street. The company needs permission from the town before it can start construction.

    The Arlington Zoning Board of Appeals will discuss the Boston Gas proposal at its meeting scheduled for tonight, Feb. 24.

    The so-called “take station” receives gas from a transmission pipeline and processes it for customers, Joshua Smith, a lawyer representing Boston Gas, said at a Jan. 13 zoning board meeting.

    Smith and Jeremy Butler, the project engineer, said the take station at 305 Washington St., which was constructed in the 1950s and rebuilt in 1997, needs to be replaced.

    Neighbors wrote a letter objecting to the proposal. You can read it here.

    The company wants to build a new station next to the old one, at 307 Washington St., in order to meet National Grid and federal code standards. National Grid is the parent company of Boston Gas.

    During the January meeting, Smith explained that some of the equipment in the facility needs to be replaced and moved above ground for safety and security purposes. Butler said the new take station will serve most of Arlington.

    The site is about two acres, and about a third of an acre of trees would have to be cut down. The company hopes to start construction this summer.

    Boston Gas officials would not speak to a reporter but said in an emailed statement: “The project is focused on making critical safety upgrades for our existing customers and does not expand our gas infrastructure.”

    Members of Mothers Out Front, a climate justice organization, and other residents plan to submit a petition requesting that the zoning board reject the gas company’s proposal. Nearly 500 people have signed the petition.

    “We hope that that will demonstrate to the zoning board that it’s really not in the interests of our neighbors in the town,” said Marina Popova, a member of Mothers Out Front who co-authored the petition.

    Popova, who lives near the site, said she is worried about the loss of nature and the risk to the wildlife.

    ”It will cause harm to the neighborhood, by cutting and eliminating the mature trees and mature woods,” Popova said.

    Claire Moodie, a co-coordinator of the Arlington chapter of Mothers Out Front and one of the authors of the petition, acknowledged that safe gas distribution is important but said she wishes that the company would renovate its current site instead of building a new facility that would cut down trees in the area.

    “There was definitely a strong concern from those immediate neighbors that walk their dogs through the area and just appreciate the natural habitat,” Moodie said of the neighbors who spoke at the zoning board meeting in January.

    Brian Guzik, who signed the Mothers Out Front petition, lives a few hundred yards from the proposed location of the facility.

    “I was a little bit surprised, I guess, to the extent to which the modifications were going to be made,” Guzik said. “I mean, there’s kids that walk through there to get to school.”

    Karen Samuelson, who lives a few houses down from 307 Washington St., said that she would be saddened by the loss of nature in the area. “It’s a really lovely green space in our neighborhood, and there’s lots of wildlife here,” Samuelson said.

    Stephanie Levinson, a neighbor who has resided in her home for 40 years, lives next to the Washington St. property. ”When I was told that they were going to be taking all kinds of trees down, I was really distressed,” Levinson said, “not only for myself, but for this whole area, because there aren’t a lot of green areas.”

    Danielle Dean, who lives next to the wooded area, said she appreciates the scenery that the environment near her house provides. She said her kids sled in the area and collect worms for fishing.

    “It feels like it’s just a little reprieve from the densely populated rest of the neighborhood,” Dean said.

    This story, published Feb. 24, 2026, is part of a partnership between Your Arlington and the Boston University Department of Journalism.

  • Arlington Education Foundation holds Innovations Showcase for grant recipients

    Nicole Abrams

    Dozens of families and community members gathered Saturday at Arlington High School to learn about projects and initiatives the Arlington Education Foundation has funded.

    The Innovations Showcase presented 14 projects, each focused on improving the learning environment for students throughout the district.

    The foundation funds over $100,000 in grants every year. It gets support from private donations, particularly from the Arlington community.

    This is the first year the foundation has made the showcase open to the public. “We’ve kind of gotten to the point where we want to just kind of get our name out more and make more of a connection with the community,” said Stephanie Murphy, co-president of the foundation.

    One of the grants funded a 3D printer, which gave all teachers at Menotomy Preschool access to 3D-printed toys designed to enhance learning.

    The toys are based on children’s books or tailored to fit the curriculums for math, literacy, and social and emotional learning at the preschool.

    Sif Ferranti, a special education teacher at the preschool, and Elena Knightly, a social worker there, came up with the idea for this project. Knightly said that the toys have helped to motivate and engage students.

    “Instead of just talking about something and showing a picture of something, it really adds to a different level of learning,” Knightly said.

    Zoo Crew, a club at Arlington High School where students look after and feed animals, received grant money from the foundation to revamp its enclosures.

    Moon Hackparth-Davis, a senior at Arlington High School, wrote the grant when she noticed one of their snakes was having a hard time shedding because of a humidity problem.

    “We had a lot of issues with his enclosure,” Hackparth-Davis said. “It was so dry, and it’s really harmful for his lungs.”

    The money paid for humidity monitors, temperature monitors, different types of soil, food, and enrichment activities for multiple enclosures.

    As a result, Hackparth-Davis said, the animals are a lot more active and content in their enclosures.

    Although many people associate spiders, roaches, and snakes with filth, Hackparth-Davis said, “they can be so affectionate, they can be very smart.”

    “They deserve all the love that all the other animals get,” Hackparth-Davis said.

    Julianna Keyes, a seventh grade Global Studies teacher at Ottoson Middle School, used her grant money to partially fund her trip to Antarctica over Christmas break.

    Keyes said she hopes to use the information she gathered during her trip to create lesson plans with other global studies and science teachers about climate change and international cooperation.

    “I’ve always found that travel is the best form of professional development I can do,” Keyes said. “To go to the places that I’m teaching about, experience things firsthand, and bring back ideas to my classroom.”

    Laura Saylor, a parent with three kids in school, said she has been donating to the Arlington Education Foundation for years and came to the event to see what it has been up to.

    “It looks like they’re doing great things,” Saylor said. “Everything here seems like a really worthwhile endeavor.”

    Angela Elias, a Dallin Elementary School representative for the foundation, tells families and teachers about grant opportunities and events to increase awareness about the foundation’s work.

    “I think it’s fantastic that the Arlington community supports this type of foundation to be able to have more programs and more after school programs and enrichment programs for children,” Elias said.

    All photos are by Nicole Abrams.

    Julianna Keyes tells observers about her trip to Antarctica and the work that she did. PHOTO/Nicole AbramsSif Ferranti, center, and Elena Knightly, at right, let students play with their interactive 3D-printed toys.Moon Hackparth-Davis speaks about the different enclosures that high school students tend to.

    This story, published Feb. 3, 2026, is part of a partnership between Your Arlington and the Boston University Department of Journalism.

  • Labor law violations cost Marblehead employers nearly $44,000 in state fines

    The Attorney General’s office fined seven Marblehead employers for 17 state labor law violations between March 9, 2022, and Feb. 20, 2025, the Current has learned. 

    More than 80% of all employer violations — including failing to pay minimum wage or provide earned sick time, keeping inaccurate records and child labor infractions — were issued in the past two years. Since March 9, 2022, Marblehead employers have paid nearly $44,000 in fines, records show.

    The attorney general fined the Marblehead restaurant Caffé Italia more than $14,000 in 2024 for state labor law violations that included failing to keep accurate payroll records, pay minimum wage and allow the earning and use of sick time, as well as child labor infractions.

    Attorney General Andrea Campbell’s Fair Labor Division found the restaurant owner acted “without specific intent” to violate the law, and the fines included restitution to employees, the records show. In response to a public records request, Campbell’s office provided redacted complaints with the names, addresses and specifics blacked out.

    Caffé Italia owner Donna Oliviero declined a request for an interview, but in a statement sent by email on Nov. 13, she stated she was unaware the restaurant had not been in compliance with the law.

    Caffé Italia, the email states, “has administratively resolved all outstanding issues with the Attorney General’s office, made financial restitution as appropriate and is now fully compliant.” The restaurant paid all fines, the largest of which was $10,000 for failing to pay minimum wages, according to state data.

    Employers can be fined as much as $25,000 for wage violations and also potentially face prison time, according to state law. In fiscal year 2025, the attorney general’s office issued 1,562 citations and assessments against employers in Massachusetts for state labor law violations, amounting to $197 million in penalties and restitution, according to its 2025 Labor Day report.

    Caffé Italia employee Tahlia Jacques said she was surprised the restaurant was fined for violating child labor laws. Jacques said she has worked at the restaurant for more than a decade and described the owners’ relationship with young workers as “so great and so positive.”

    “Some of these kids started here at 14,” she said. “They work their way up from bussers to servers to barbacks to bartenders.”

    Ruiz Fine Carpentry, owned by Michael Ruiz, received the highest total fine of any Marblehead employer in the past four years, nearly $19,000, records show. The attorney general found the employer also acted “without specific intent” for the three violations of the state law, including misclassification of a worker as an independent contractor, failure to furnish records, and failure to pay overtime compensation. The fines include restitution to employees, the records show. Ruiz declined a request for an interview.

    In one redacted complaint against Ruiz submitted to the attorney general’s office in 2023, the complainant stated he had been categorized as an independent contractor for over a year and had not received any “benefits, overtime, mandatory holiday pay or workers comp(ensation) for injuries” and was not permitted to take breaks.

    At least 69 complaints alleging non-payment of wages and other state labor law violations against Marblehead employers have been filed with the attorney general over the past five years. 

    Nearly 33% of the complaints are lodged against the Marblehead Bank, and all were filed on Jan. 31, 2024, the records show.

    Nearly 79% of complaints against Marblehead employers were for non-payment of wages, the records show. That category, according to state law, could include a failure to pay minimum wage, overtime, sick pay or withholding a final paycheck. The Marblehead Bank was founded in 1871 and has three locations on the North Shore.

    Despite nearly two years since the complaints against the bank were submitted to the attorney general, they remain open matters. The attorney general’s office denied a public records request for the complaints, stating in a Dec. 9 letter that “they are investigatory materials related to open matters and which, if disclosed at this time, would reveal confidential investigative techniques, procedures, and/or sources of information and would so prejudice the possibility of effective law enforcement that such disclosure would not be in the public.”

    Mark Llewellyn, president of the Marblehead Bank, declined multiple requests for an interview. In response to questions about the complaints, he sent the following email on Dec. 8:

    “Marblehead Bank cannot comment publicly on personnel matters. The Bank takes all employment-related matters seriously and is fully committed to complying with federal and state employment laws. The Bank values its employees and the trust of the communities we serve. We remain focused on transparency, fairness, and maintaining the highest standards of compliance. We will provide a public statement if appropriate at a future date.”

    Over 36,810 complaints have been filed against employers statewide since January 2020, according to state data. 

    “Massachusetts is home to nation-leading labor laws,” Campbell said in a statement. “My office is committed to enforcing these safeguards to ensure workers’ rights are protected and Massachusetts has a level playing field for all employers. My office will continue to protect our workforce through robust enforcement and education, so that every employee can work in a safe, fair, and dignified environment.”