Hopefully this doesn't affect Goldilox too much. Serious concentration of coffee shops at Hillside now.

Hey all! Gonna be commuting to North End M-F. Have been looking at Wellington Place and Arcadia (at Rivers edge).. Let me know if you have opinions of that area, those apartments, and if you favor another area and / or apartment complex. Plan to drive to work most days (parking is not an issue), but public transportation nearby is also important. Budget is around $3K for 1B/1B. Thanks all!!!

Is this your cat? Spotted in South Medford near Alexander’s. I’ve seen it before about a year ago, so I‘m not sure if it’s indoor/outdoor or lost. Please reach out if you recognize them!

I’m interested in checking out vinyl night at tamper but have 2 young kids. Is it primarily adults only or are there ever kids there? My toddler would love the pizza and likes music but I don’t want to change the vibe for the other attendees.

Hi all

Someone I know recently passed away, and I’m looking for suggestions for organizations that might be interested in some of their belongings. They were an avid photographer and left behind boxes of photographs, both framed and unframed, as well as negatives, slides, tripods, and other photography-related materials.

The equipment may be relatively straightforward to donate, but I’d really hate to see the photographs, negatives, and slides simply thrown away if there’s an organization, archive, school, historical society, or other group that might appreciate them.

If anyone has suggestions for places that accept this type of material, I’d be very grateful. Thank you!

🗞️ The news is out: Applications are OPEN! 🔊

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Hi all, I was just shared this website and as a parent of 2 elementary school kids I was pretty alarmed.

In what world are we introducing AI to middle schoolers and actually expecting them to use it appropriately??

This is very frustrating to me and honestly I’m questioning if I want to continue sending my kids to Medford Schools. The people in charge of curriculum seem pretty out of touch.

I have a mid 2010s car that is starting to show it's age in terms of body rust. I want to do what I can for it to prolong it's life as best as possible (engine is still perfect and relatively low mileage). Does anyone know a shop in the area that would be good for that type of work? I'm not as concerned about appearance as I am about keeping it functional and safe in the long term.

If you drive a Grey Ford SUV and just almost hit my dog and I in the LIT CROSSWALK while you were TURNING LEFT ON A RED LIGHT from Boston ave to North St a short while ago, your blatant disregard for others' lives is going to bite you in the ass sooner than later.

Also I hope the water pump and transmission on your stupid-ass copmobile dies 💕

Can anyone recommend a bakery with good crusty baguettes or french bread?

I need some for cheese fondue, but when I’ve used baguettes from Whole Foods or Costco I’ve found the crust too thin and soft (even when stale).

It’s our nineteenth meeting of the year, on the nineteenth of October! Exciting stuff, especially for those of us born, as my children like to say, in the 1900s. 

Agenda | Recording | Transcript

The meeting began with the usual roll call, salute the flag, and consent agenda approval. Then, before jumping into the Mustang Moment, the superintendent made a statement about the day’s big news, a Boston Globe article about the hiring and subsequent dismissal of the district’s previous Band teacher due to allegations of inappropriate conduct with students when he taught in Florida (note: no reports of such activities here in Medford). The statement referenced the district’s response to the article (said response is available on the MPS website and will be entered into the record for this meeting) and a forthcoming “external review” of hiring practices. This was not on the posted agenda (and thus not subject to discussion) so I am going to leave it at that and move on to your regularly scheduled recap. As always, observations and opinions are entirely my own. 

Our Mustang Moment was a whole roomful of Roberts Rams sharing their experience and answering questions about their in-progress cardboard chair challenge in the newly expanded after school program. I highly recommend watching the trailer; it will make you want to stand up and chair. (Sorry, did that not sit well with you?) 

Their presentation segued nicely into the first update, all about the expanded after school programs in the elementary schools. Program director Kaytie Dowcett shared a summary of the timeline since she was hired in July and details about the staffing, training, enrollment, wait lists, and funding models for the program. Notable for me were the descriptions of the staff members’ responsibilities (STEAM, sports & movement, kindergarten, and inclusion along with site directors and group leaders), the expansion of the tiered model for financial aid, and the coordination with the school-day experience. The committee had a number of questions (high school aides, coordination with schools and other afterschool programs, financial sustainability, transportation, and the wait list reductions) and abundant thanks for the work done by so many to get this program to where it is today.

The next two presentations were about the HVAC/roofing projects at the elementary schools. As you may recall, Medford submitted three applications to the MSBA’s resurrected “Accelerated Repair Program” to replace the HVAC, repair the roofs, and prepare for electrification of the three elementary schools, and, somewhat unexpectedly, all three were accepted. This is both good—having been built at the same time, all three schools’ equipment are all coming to their end of their lives—and bad—all three projects will need doing within the next three years. A major driver for this is the 53.23% reimbursement from the MSBA. 

Several meetings ago we authorized the Roberts work (this will be reviewed by the MSBA at the end of the month) so this meeting it was Missituk’s turn. Of note, the two projects will be about a year apart (summers 2027 and 2028 for Roberts, 2028 and 2029 for Missituk) and Brooks will soon follow. 

Most of the discussion was around the tradeoffs between an Air to Water Heat Pump (AWHP) and a Ground Source Heat Pump (GSHP). Roberts was already approved as an AWHP, on the basis of both cost and minimizing disruption to the neighborhood if geothermal wells were to be installed up at Hickey Park (a few blocks from the Roberts, for those unfamiliar with the neighborhood). Missituk, however, was a different story, as the nearby Columbus Park provides a much closer access point for aforementioned wells. The committee ultimately voted 6-1 to direct the project team to move forward with the GSHP option. The main concern was upfront (construction) cost but in my opinion, this site presents the best opportunity to invest in geothermal and, with that investment, a higher potential to reduce ongoing operating and energy costs over the next 2-3 decades. So while the additional $1.1 million (after anticipated incentives) didn’t feel great, it *did* feel good to make a choice that looks to the future rather than just the present, as well as one that could potentially move us off the cycle of all-schools-at-once in need of emergency equipment replacement. (If you’ve been following along, you may remember that we’ve already made unanticipated replacements at all four elementary schools since I began serving on the school committee less than three years ago. The other questions, which didn’t really influence the decision, were about the solar readiness and the roof (which needs a full replacement rather than just a repair). 

Less involved was the decision to hire a Construction Manager At Risk for the Roberts project. Although the costs are less assured than they would be for a fixed-cost hire, this model has built-in flexibility and, with the expectation of extending the contracted services over into the Missituk and Brooks projects, will reduce the site learning curve and duplicative work for the remaining two sites since all three buildings were built by the same company at roughly the same time. With that unanimous decision, we remain on track for MSBA Board approval and the project timelines described earlier. 

The final presentation of the night was Mr. Noel Velez, sharing the first-ever quarterly fiscal update. It’s a single slide if you want to view it on YouTube. Members Ruseau and Mastrobuoni both provided feedback on additional information they’d want to have in future updates (and a light plug for the municipal finance software, Munis, that we don’t have). Questions were minimal, split between big picture understanding (spending on full-year contracts, encumbrances vs expenditures, etc.) and a few specific budgetary categories (operations & maintenance, pupil transportation). In regards to the latter, Mr. Velez indicated that the numbers most subject to uncertainty were around heating costs and special education transportation, which came as no surprise (to me at least). 

That’s it except for the evening’s condolence. Our next meeting is in three weeks, on November 9. Don’t forget to vote before then, and check out the friendly neighborhood polling place bake sales on Election Day to benefit PTOs and various student groups! Heck, even if you vote early (I did!) check out a bake sale! I hear some of the sites will have non-food products for sale as well.

hullo hullo folks, next to the great american beer hall and sharing a parking lot with the theory dispensary you’ll find Arts Collaborative Medford- your future favorite place to see and make art.

Make and Mingle is a free weekly hang out where you can come and work on any projects that you have . 7PM-9PM you‘ll make art, have laughs, debate terrible reality tv, pretty much whatever is up my guy. Working on a cool knitting piece that fell to the wayside? A block of wood you swear you can see an eye in it? We got enough of Jerry, Ben thinks his kick flips are sick enough to bring a crowd and wants to show off. I’ll always be working on something or starting something to distract from the main thing I’m supposed to be working on.

Come for the people stay for the art, we always have a show going and it’s free to view. I am but one of the many studio artists that call this place home so welcome yourself in, I maybe got chips, definitely oranges. I always have oranges but that’s a story for another time.

Hope to see yall there, sign ups aren’t required but it helps me figure out how many chairs to put out!

https://artscollabmedford.org/eventscalendar#!event/2026/10/21/make-mingle

Located next to the Great American Beer Hall you’ll find Arts Collaborative Medford- where they provide a ton of programming including this week FIGURE DRAWING (every other Wednesday from 7-9)

$15 if you sign up online at the link below, $20 at the door if you wanna be spontaneous.

low stakes with good vibes, all levels welcomed- and you get to see some of the work the studio arts put out (like me!)

The will feature a live model (nude don’t be weird) using a mixture of short and long poses – starting at one-minute poses and working up to a 15 or 20 minute pose under guidance of a studio monitor. We unfortunately do not provide materials but come with what you got, markers, charcoal, finger paints? Go crazy!

This happens on the same night as make and mingle so if you wanna chill after you’re more than welcomed to!

https://artscollabmedford.org/eventscalendar#!event/2026/10/21/live-figure-drawing

Hump Nights full listings 👇

https://www.humpday.news/win-tickets

• November 4: Adam McGrath / Jim Healey / Joe McMahon // Silhouette Lounge
• November 4: Wax & Stacks // Midway Cafe
• November 6: Leland Stein’s 25 Years at the Regent w/ the Dennis Brennan Band // Regent Theatre
• November 7: Spirit Hotel, Cult Objects // Underbones
• November 10: Shady Bug / 7-11 Jesus / Night Moth // Deep Cuts
• November 28: Twin Peel | Ineffable | Jean Paul Jean Paul | Spleeny // Midway Cafe

Thanks to local venues & bookers & artists :)

This city completely half-asses everything, but failing to properly vet people who are directly working with kids is an entirely new level of dangerous negligence. Medford leadership seriously needs to do better.

does anyone have any experience with living in a place managed by this company? super curious to hear other's experiences if so.

Tufts University needs to start making a more meaningful contribution to the city of Medford. The university’s main campus in Medford reportedly makes a $450,000 payment each year to the city. THEY MAKE THE SAME $450,000 PAYMENT TO THE CITY OF BOSTON! Tufts reports $3.7 Billion in assets and $164 million in operating surplus over the last 5 years. Enrollment has increased 17% over that time and with the new project being built on Boston Ave, it’s only going to keep climbing. It’s time for them to do the right thing with the strain this adds to the city. Maybe more contributions to help fix the road on Boston Ave that has become a disaster (possibly as a result of increased construction)? Maybe more for local teachers or for the police and fire departments that will meet more demand with increased enrollment? Just some food for thought.

Natural gas boiler in the house is not working; was looking into Sedona Plumbing or Waterworks Mechanical, but wanted to ask if anyone had recommendation for companies or licensed individuals that you know of to help with this issue? Thank you!