“Make me a park!”
The message is written on posters taped to a 6-foot chain-link fence. And shouted, loudly, by Lewis Weitzman, a resident of Cambridge.
Weitzman is shouting about Jerry’s Pond a fenced-off pond completely closed to the public, sandwiched between the Alewife T Station and Russell Field in North Cambridge. He s at the pond on a fall day, running a clean-up event with Friends of Jerry’s Pond, a community group he co-founded with Eric Grunebaum.
Lewis Weitzman during the clean-up day at Jerry s Pond. (Robin Lubbock/WBUR)
“We could create a lot more space here,” says Grunebaum, “and that space could be used for off-road bike paths, meandering nature walks, some boardwalks through the woods. It would improve the natural landscape, but also give people access to it.”
Montague to push for greater recreation investment from FirstLight
FirstLight Hydro Generating Co. manages several riverfront parks in Montague. Here paddlers navigate the Connecticut River during the fall. STAFF FILE PHOTO/PAUL FRANZ
FirstLight operates three power-generating facilities on the local stretch of the Connecticut River two hydro-electric dams in Turners Falls, one pictured, and a hydro-pump facility at Northfield Mountain. STAFF FILE PHOTO/PAUL FRANZ
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MONTAGUE In renewing its operational license for the next 50 years, the FirstLight Hydro Generating Co. has proposed some improvements to its recreational facilities in Montague, but not the amount of investment the town had sought.
Revamping Federal Climate Science
December 15, 2020, 5:00 am Getty/Liu Shiping/Xinhua
Sam Hananel
Ari Drennen
Introduction and summary
The United States has been the global leader in climate science for decades. Unfortunately, progress has slowed and in some cases, even moved backward over the past four years, with the Trump administration dismantling core elements of the federal climate science apparatus. As the country and the planet head toward an increasingly unstable climate, the U.S. government needs to get back to the business of being the preeminent source of trusted applied science that supports climate change mitigation and adaptation decision-making of governments and civilian stakeholders.
Stormwater runoff. (File photograph.)
Haverhill-based Merrimack Valley Planning Commission yesterday was awarded $45,000 from the state to help its 15 member communities meet existing and upcoming stormwater management rules.
The grant is part of $300,000 awarded to five multi-community stormwater coalitions by the Department of Environmental Protection. The Planning Commission will create a geospatial tool that helps to identify properties that can be retrofitted for stormwater management.
According to the state, “Best Management Practice cut sheets will be developed for two sites in each community. As part of the planning tool, the Merrimack Valley Stormwater Collaborative will place special emphasis on environmental justice communities.”
The judge based his ruling on the Bourne health board’s own wind energy conversion system regulations that state that no one can build such a system in Bourne unless it is in compliance with the regulations. Judge Nickerson ruled, though, that the regulations do not authorize the board of health to regulate the construction of wind turbines in Plymouth. In his ruling, however, Judge Nickerson said the Bourne health board has “broad powers to regulate and prevent nuisances that affect public health.” His ruling ended with the proviso that the board of health might have future legal recourse to combat a nuisance to the town and its residents.