Covid incidence Sept. 13: Middlesex County down; Northeast region highest of four, only one climbing

UPDATED Sept. 24: 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 major organizations including Massachusetts hospitals drop universal masking and many other measures of what is no longer officially a pandemic may no longer be kept at all.

No new results have been reported as of Sunday, Sept. 24, 2023; YourArlington is inquiring as to the delay in posting the Sept. 20 statistics.

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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Alleged wooden-stake attack leads to arrest before dawn, police say

UPDATED Sept. 12: A man accused of wrecking an apartment window screen with a two-foot-long wooden stake that also injured the resident inside has been arrested on suspicion of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and malicious destruction of property.

The Arlington Police Department said that Sean Adam Nelson, 41, was arrested shortly before 1 a.m. on Friday, Sept. 8, outside an apartment complex on Drake Road. APD spokesman Captain Richard Flynn responded to a YourArlington inquiry on Tuesday, Sept. 12, to say that Nelson had told the APD that he has no fixed address.

The report said that the Nelson complied with police orders to drop the stake and get on the ground; he was cuffed at the scene, and later transported and booked on the charges.

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Senior-citizen parking-sticker pilot program began Sept. 7; procedure described here

The Council on Aging (CoA) plans to kick off a two-year pilot program Thursday, Sept. 7, providing certain aspects of parking relief to Arlington residents ages 65 and over.

The parking sticker will allow local senior citizens to park for free on streets near the Community Center, in the Russell Common and Railroad Street public parking lots, and at meters on streets nearby, officials say.

"Parking has always been a big topic of conversation here at the Community Center," said CoA Executive Director Kristine Shah. "We hope that this program eases the burden of cost and allows seniors to stay in the [Community Center] building for longer periods of time to attend programs and services."

The Arlington Select Board approved this two-year pilot to offer parking relief for Arlington seniors at its June 26 meeting. The pilot was proposed by Shah and supported by more than 100 senior citizens who attended the meeting.

Residents can apply for stickers either online or in person, as per the following detailed protocols:

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Is pot-shop application going to pot? Proposed business still on slow track after 4-plus years

Marijuana is legal nowadays.

UPDATED Sept. 6: The Arlington Redevelopment Board on Aug. 28 postponed a decision about a marijuana dispensary whose fate has been pending for years, approved two less-controversial projects and gave an update about the ongoing MBTA Communities rezoning project.

The agenda listed a hearing for Calyx Peak, which has long hoped to open a marijuana retail establishment at 251 Summer St. (and, prior to that, had attempted to do so as early as April 2019 at a different location -- 1215 Mass. Ave., former home of  Nicola Pizza). However, according to Planning and Community Development Director Claire Ricker, Calyx Peak contacted her the morning of the Aug. 28 meeting to ask that the hearing be pushed to Oct. 2.

Ricker said that Calyx Peak also asked whether the board would evaluate the project “on its own merits.” This is because it turns out that the latest plan calls for the cannabis establishment to share the building with an auto sales business. In this context, evaluating the applicant’s project on its own merits means that Calyx Peak intends to make improvements to its side of the property although the auto sales business does not wish to make improvements.

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