In The News
Opinion: Invest In Clean, Affordable And Efficient Transportation
https://patch.com/massachusetts/newton/opinion-invest-clean-affordable-efficient-transportation Aug 16, 2021 by Annie Sandoli NEWTON, MA — The following opinion piece was submitted by Newton Ward 2 Councilor Emily Norton. The latest IPCC report was a stark and...
Newton Puts Gun Shops In Crosshairs
June 21, 2021 by Tiziana Dearing, Hafsa Quraishi, Steven Gelman The question before the Newton City Council Monday night is whether to allow a proposed ban on gun stores and firearms businesses in Newton. Some have argued a ban "would not withstand" a legal challenge,...
We need to start using less natural gas
https://commonwealthmagazine.org/opinion/we-need-to-start-using-less-natural-gas/ EMILY NORTON May 16, 2020 WITH THE CORONAVIRUS pandemic raging, it’s hard to think about anything else. Yet precisely because this is a time of major upheaval, we need to recognize,...
Bringing nature back into our environment
Meet the Authors: Emily Norton is the executive director of the Charles River Watershed Association. Rev. Vernon K. Walker is program manager for Communities Responding to Extreme Weather, CREW. EVEN IF WE STOPPED Using fossil fuels tomorrow, here in the Northeast we...
Debunking the fracked gas fairy tale
Author: Emily Norton, Ward 2 City Councilor IN APRIL, Tom Andrews wrote an opinion piece that appeared in CommonWealth calling for more fracked gas energy, claiming it “plays a critical role when it comes to cost and emissions reductions” and that energy demand is...
Opinion: Deporting Newton Man Doesn’t Make City Safer
By City Councilor Emily Norton Newton resident Rigoberto Mendez recently was escorted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers to a one-way flight to Guatemala, the country he was born in but had not lived in for 27 years. Over the years Mr. Mendez had...
Newton city councilor dives in to new job as head of Charles River group
It’s been almost 22 years since former Gov. William Weld famously plunged into the raw-sewage-free Charles River to celebrate the Rivers Protection Act. However, he may not be the last politician to do so. City Councilor-at-Large Emily Norton, who recently...
Commentary: Vote No to changing charter
On Nov. 7, you will vote on whether to change Newton’s constitution, the City Charter. As sitting Ward Councilors in Wards 2 and Ward 5, we urge you to vote NO. Currently Newton has 24 city councilors. Each of Newton’s eight wards has three councilors: one...
Curtatone, Hodgson hold largely cordial sanctuary city debate
SOMERVILLE MAYOR JOSEPH CURTATONE and Bristol Country Sheriff Thomas Hodgson on Thursday dropped their sound-bite attacks on one another and for the most part engaged in a substantive debate about sanctuary status and the nation’s immigration policies....
Commentary: A better electricity plan for the environment and wallet
This past summer the Supreme Judicial Court found that the Commonwealth of Massachusetts has failed to comply with key requirements of our state Legislature’s 2008 Global Warming Solutions Act. Four teenagers were among the plaintiffs. They have been...
Newton clarifies practices as some push for ‘sanctuary city’ protections
Some councilors and activists are advocating for passage of a city ordinance that would limit Newton Police cooperation with federal immigration authorities – but the mayor and police chief feel a “sanctuary city” ordinance is unnecessary here. Mayor Setti...
Emily Norton: Kindergartners would thrive on a full day
Author: Emily Norton Over a dozen parents attended the first School Committee meeting of the year to urge the School Committee, the superintendent, and the mayor to implement full day kindergarten. Parents offered a variety of reasons they want to see this change, but...