Column: There’s value to stick-to-itiveness in baseball and education
Grading papers at night and getting ready for class in the morning is hard enough, but one thing this school year left me particularly bleary-eyed: [...]
Column: Voting is a sacrament of democracy and an act of stewardship
Some of you may remember The Odd Couple, the 1970s television sitcom starring Jack Klugman and Tony Randall. Oscar Madison was a sportswriter whose apartment [...]
Column: Website takes guesswork and ‘pain points’ out of vegan dining
Does the rice contain a bit of melted butter? Did the split pea soup simmer with a ham bone in it? Is there fish sauce [...]
Column: Creating a Route 9 underpass would ease Newton traffic delays
What is the single transportation improvement in Newton that would benefit the most people on a daily basis? To answer that question, we need to [...]
Column: Save time and leave the leaves
When fall arrives, I do very little in the garden. The perennials remain standing until spring, their seed heads feeding the birds in fall and [...]
Column: Newton Asian Market fills a need for specialty food
On a recent Saturday morning, the newly opened Newton Asian Market on Langley Road in Newton Centre was filled with shoppers. Most, but not all, [...]
Column: A life-changing decision to confront an existential crisis
My cohort has grown up in an era of unprecedented academic pressures, endured the toxic fallout of social media, and lost formative years to a [...]
Column: Swing the pickleball injury odds in your favor
Newton is embracing the pickleball craze, supporting programs, lessons and free play at outdoor and indoor courts across the city. Residents are swinging pickleball paddles [...]
Column: More ‘front-yard retail’ could strengthen Newton’s villages
One recent Saturday, my wife and I jumped on our bikes and went to the bakery. Except this one was at the end of a [...]
Column: Creating a community starts with ‘hello’
Hello. My name is Marian. Fourteen years ago, I grudgingly admitted that I wasn’t getting any younger. One morning I woke up to realize that [...]
Column: Teachers grapple with loss of control as AI promises to do students’ work for them
A few short weeks ago, Newton’s first graders might have been lolling on sandy beaches, digging the best holes ever. High schoolers were likely spending [...]
Column: The college parent Facebook group has entered the chat
One of the unexpected experiences of sending a child to college for the first time is discovering the college parent Facebook group. I joined one [...]
Column: Our autonomous future–self-driving cars in a greener Newton
Let’s fast forward to the early 2030s. Imagine that fleets of autonomous vehicles are offering Newton residents rides 24/7 at 25 cents a mile and [...]
Column: Who leads a cultural Newton? It really does take a village
When we talk about supporting arts and culture in Newton, we usually think about showing up—buying tickets, attending events, taking classes or making donations. All [...]
Column: Some post-Labor Day lessons from tofu to Dolly Parton
Long before finding home in New England, I spent my earliest years in a New York City neighborhood called Parkchester. On the weekends, we would [...]