City Council approves funding for two key Laredo administration jobs
The City Council approved $300,000 for positions in Mayor Marc Laredo’s new administration Monday night. The money will pay the salaries of Chief of Community [...]
Dana Hanson loves local governments, and now she gets to help run hers
Dana Hanson has lived much of her life leaping into things. She fought to save a neighborhood library and ended up in a political career. [...]
City, Harvard launch internship in Setti Warren’s honor
In November, Newton mourned the sudden loss of former Mayor Setti Warren, who died at the age of 55. Now, there’s a City Hall internship [...]
Arts & Culture Department gets unanimous committee approval
Mayor Marc Laredo’s idea for an Arts & Culture Department took a huge step closer to reality recently when the City Council’s Programs and Services [...]
Guest Essay: Veteran councilor gets a cold shoulder
Pull up a chair and grab your popcorn. Newton’s new City Council, with its shuffling of committees and leadership, brings a frisson of excitement in [...]
Giddy-Up: Newton is set to harness energy and movement in 2026
In the Chinese Zodiac, 2025 was the Year of the Snake, a time for shedding the old and making room for the new. And 2026 [...]
Here are the Newton Beacon’s most-read stories of 2025
Newton had a busy year. And you noticed. How does that translate to eyes on headlines? It turns out pop culture, crime and politics are [...]
Snapshots: Inauguration Day 2026
On the first day of the new year, Newton got a new mayor, several new city councilors and lot of new faces on the School [...]
Former classmate surprises Laredo with a treasure from his track days
Long before Mayor Marc Laredo decided to run for office, he loved to just run. And an old friend has brought him a reminder of [...]
‘Newton must be different’: Laredo takes office, and City Hall begins anew
The new year brought Newton into a new era, as Marc Laredo became the city’s 32nd mayor and several new City Council and School Committee [...]
Newton’s unsung heroes of 2025
This year had it all: Laughter, tears, fighting, joy, politics, drama and an election that included all of that. There were the stories that shaped [...]
City Council rejects plan for parking instead of housing on Nonantum lot
On Dec. 9, the Land Use Committee voted to recommend approval of a non-accessory parking lot and a rebuild of a 10-foot retaining wall at [...]
What a Year: The stories that shaped Newton in 2025
In early January, an article in the Newton Beacon laid out a forecast for the year ahead, as 2025 was the Chinese Zodiac’s Year of [...]
Oliver announces City Council committee assignments
Newton City Council President-elect John Oliver and Vice President David Kalis (who was recently elected to another term in that role) announced their picks for [...]
Chapin Road drain extension saga ends quietly with petition withdrawal
The Chapin Road drainage drama has ended abruptly–and rather anticlimactically–as a proposal to extend drainage for a planned construction on Homer Street is no more, [...]