I sit down for a conversation with Tyler Cote, the Community Engagement Specialist for the City of Watertown, and Victoria Weichel from Watertown Cable Access to discuss things that have happened during the past month in Watertown through key moments, success stories, and important numbers. 

Links to things mentioned in the episode:

Committee on Budget & Fiscal Oversight - March 6th (Ambulance discussion)

Fire Chief Nicholson's podcast episode

WBC City Update With City Manager podcast episode

April 8th City Council Meeting (City Manager's budget presentation)

City Council - March 25th (148 Waltham St Purchase)

Walker Pond

Recycling Event April 19th

Local News and Information Ecosystem Panel Discussion Podcast (From Little Local Conversations One Year Anniversary Event) (WCA-TV video)

Watertown Electricity Choice

WCA-TV Ascertainment Hearing

Resilient Watertown Eco Fest

Support the show

Head on over to www.littlelocalconversations.com to check out all the episodes, events, and everything else going on.

Sign up for the Little Local Conversations email newsletter

Follow on Instagram: @littlelocalconversations

Thank you podcast sponsor Arsenal Financial! Listen to some Watertown Trivia on the podcast with Arsenal Financial's Doug Orifice.

This program is supported in part by a grant from the Watertown Cultural Council, a local agency which is supported by the Mass Cultural Council, a state agency.

Thanks to podcast promotional partners, the Watertown Business Coalition and Watertown News.

Listen to an in-depth panel discussion on the local Watertown news and information ecosystem! This was part of the one year anniversary celebration for Little Local Conversations that happened over at the Mosesian Center for the Arts on March 18th, 2025. The panel featured Dan Hogan (Director of News and Studio Operations at WCA-TV), Charlie Breitrose (Editor of Watertown News), Tyler Cote (Community Engagement Specialist for the City of Watertown), and Steve Owens (Massachusetts State Representative). If you want to learn more about any of the speakers, you can listen to their own featured episodes on the podcast (Dan, Charlie, Tyler, Steve)

The panel discussion focuses on the importance of the local news ecosystem, how each guest navigates their role in gathering and sharing information, what they think is going well, what they're struggling with, and what they think could be improved upon. At the end they answered a bunch of questions from the audience as well. Take a listen and share your feedback with any of them about what you think of their work or what you would like to see!

Reach out to Dan: wcatv.org

Reach out to Charlie: www.watertownmanews.com

Reach out to Tyler: [email protected]
Or show up to one of the Watertown Chats:
watertown-ma.gov/1343/Watertown-Chats

Reach out to Steve:
www.votesteveowens.com
@votesteveowens (Instagram, Facebook)

A video of the full anniversary event can be found on WCA-TV's website here

Support the show

Head on over to www.littlelocalconversations.com to check out all the episodes, events, and everything else going on.

Sign up for the Little Local Conversations email newsletter

Follow on Instagram: @littlelocalconversations

Thank you podcast sponsor Arsenal Financial! Listen to some Watertown Trivia on the podcast with Arsenal Financial's Doug Orifice.

This program is supported in part by a grant from the Watertown Cultural Council, a local agency which is supported by the Mass Cultural Council, a state agency.

Thanks to podcast promotional partners, the Watertown Business Coalition and Watertown News.

Meet Will Brownsberger! He's a Massachusetts State Senator for the Suffolk and Middlesex District which includes Watertown. In this conversation we talk about his career in criminal justice (and how his views evolved over the years), his political journey from municipal leadership to the state level, his takes on transparency in government, transportation, the reality of the battle with climate change, housing, and more. 

Find out more about Will at willbrownsberger.com

Support the show

Head on over to www.littlelocalconversations.com to check out all the episodes, events, and everything else going on.

Sign up for the Little Local Conversations email newsletter

Follow on Instagram: @littlelocalconversations

Thank you podcast sponsor Arsenal Financial! Listen to some Watertown Trivia on the podcast with Arsenal Financial's Doug Orifice.

This program is supported in part by a grant from the Watertown Cultural Council, a local agency which is supported by the Mass Cultural Council, a state agency.

Thanks to podcast promotional partners, the Watertown Business Coalition and Watertown News.

This is an arts and culture roundtable episode where we talk about things that have been going on in Watertown arts and culture recently, what's coming up, hidden gems, and more. The discussion was with Allie Fry (Watertown Free Public Library, Programming Librarian), Liz Helfer (City of Watertown, Public Arts and Culture Planner), Kristen Kenny (Chair of the Watertown Cultural District), and Lydia McCoy (Watertown Senior Center, Director for Senior Services).

Links!

Watertown Cultural District

WCA-TV segment on River of Light

Club de Lectura en Español

Public Arts & Culture (Expert Pairings and Community Sculpture Walk)

Canadian American Club

Senior Center and Services

Mosesian Center for the Arts 20th Anniversary Celebration

5th Watertown Arts Market

100 Years of Arshile Gorky

Art in the Library

Project Save

WFPL & Project Save Event on April 30th: Democracy Talks: Speak Memory: The Photographic Archive as Resistance & Renewal

YardArt

Porchfest

Public Arts and Culture Committee newsletter

Watertown Connect (city newsletter list)

Library newsletter

Senior Center newsletter

Support the show

Head on over to www.littlelocalconversations.com to check out all the episodes, events, and everything else going on.

Sign up for the Little Local Conversations email newsletter

Follow on Instagram: @littlelocalconversations

Thank you podcast sponsor Arsenal Financial! Listen to some Watertown Trivia on the podcast with Arsenal Financial's Doug Orifice.

This program is supported in part by a grant from the Watertown Cultural Council, a local agency which is supported by the Mass Cultural Council, a state agency.

Thanks to podcast promotional partners, the Watertown Business Coalition and Watertown News.

Meet Dave Levine! He's the General Manager of Whitney Towers, a family-owned apartment building here in Watertown. We talk about the history of the 41-year-old building and how his family started the business, his years in the tech startup and software world and how that translates to operating in real estate and property management, where he thinks Whitney fits in the housing ecosystem in Watertown, and what he thinks most people don't understand about his type of role.

Find out more about Whitney Towers at whitneywatertown.com

Support the show

Head on over to www.littlelocalconversations.com to check out all the episodes, events, and everything else going on.

Sign up for the Little Local Conversations email newsletter

Follow on Instagram: @littlelocalconversations

Thank you podcast sponsor Arsenal Financial! Listen to some Watertown Trivia on the podcast with Arsenal Financial's Doug Orifice.

This program is supported in part by a grant from the Watertown Cultural Council, a local agency which is supported by the Mass Cultural Council, a state agency.

Thanks to podcast promotional partners, the Watertown Business Coalition and Watertown News.

This is the first Fun & Games Sponsor Episode! I sit down with Doug Orifice of Arsenal Financial to test him on what he knows about his Watertown trivia related to baseball, businesses, banjo, and more. 

Then he talks a bit about how his financial planning business Arsenal Financial can help people close to retirement, busy families, and small business owners.

Find out more about Arsenal Financial at arsenalfinancial.com

Listen to Doug's full interview episode when he was the podcast's very first guest!

Thank you Doug and Arsenal Financial for helping support Little Local Conversations create conversation and connection in Watertown!

Support the show

Head on over to www.littlelocalconversations.com to check out all the episodes, events, and everything else going on.

Sign up for the Little Local Conversations email newsletter

Follow on Instagram: @littlelocalconversations

Thank you podcast sponsor Arsenal Financial! Listen to some Watertown Trivia on the podcast with Arsenal Financial's Doug Orifice.

This program is supported in part by a grant from the Watertown Cultural Council, a local agency which is supported by the Mass Cultural Council, a state agency.

Thanks to podcast promotional partners, the Watertown Business Coalition and Watertown News.

This is a recording from a series for the podcast at the Mosesian Center for the Arts called Creative Chats. Listen to learn more and hear the conversation with Jamie Kallestad, singer/songwriter and Communications and Design Specialist for the Watertown Free Public Library, on the topic of making art after parenthood.

Come join us at the next Creative Chats event on Friday, March 21st at 830am with guest Kristen Kenny, Chair of the Watertown Cultural District!

Support the show

Head on over to www.littlelocalconversations.com to check out all the episodes, events, and everything else going on.

Sign up for the Little Local Conversations email newsletter

Follow on Instagram: @littlelocalconversations

Thank you podcast sponsor Arsenal Financial! Listen to some Watertown Trivia on the podcast with Arsenal Financial's Doug Orifice.

This program is supported in part by a grant from the Watertown Cultural Council, a local agency which is supported by the Mass Cultural Council, a state agency.

Thanks to podcast promotional partners, the Watertown Business Coalition and Watertown News.

Meet Paula Farina! She's a co-owner (with her two brothers Anthony and Mike shown in the picture) of Farina's, a bicycle and power equipment store here in Watertown. We talk about how the shop is celebrating its 50th anniversary, so we dig into the shop's journey from being opened by her Italian immigrant parents, the many trends over the years from BMX to e-bikes, the work put in to become one of the top bike shops in the country, how pairing power equipment with bikes makes sense, the changes they've seen in Watertown in 50 years, and more.

Find out more about Farina's at farinas.com

Support the show

Head on over to www.littlelocalconversations.com to check out all the episodes, events, and everything else going on.

Sign up for the Little Local Conversations email newsletter

Follow on Instagram: @littlelocalconversations

Thank you podcast sponsor Arsenal Financial! Listen to some Watertown Trivia on the podcast with Arsenal Financial's Doug Orifice.

This program is supported in part by a grant from the Watertown Cultural Council, a local agency which is supported by the Mass Cultural Council, a state agency.

Thanks to podcast promotional partners, the Watertown Business Coalition and Watertown News.

This is a recording of a presentation from Watertown City Manager George Proakis for a City Update event held by the Watertown Business Coalition at the Hampton Inn at Arsenal Yards on March 11th, 2025. Listen to hear George's thoughts on the economic development in the city of Watertown at the moment.

Support the show

Head on over to www.littlelocalconversations.com to check out all the episodes, events, and everything else going on.

Sign up for the Little Local Conversations email newsletter

Follow on Instagram: @littlelocalconversations

Thank you podcast sponsor Arsenal Financial! Listen to some Watertown Trivia on the podcast with Arsenal Financial's Doug Orifice.

This program is supported in part by a grant from the Watertown Cultural Council, a local agency which is supported by the Mass Cultural Council, a state agency.

Thanks to podcast promotional partners, the Watertown Business Coalition and Watertown News.

I sit down for a conversation with Tyler Cote, the Community Engagement Specialist for the City of Watertown, and Victoria Weichel, the Production, Training, and Equipment Manager at Watertown Cable Access to discuss things that have happened during the past month in Watertown through key moments, success stories, and important numbers. We also get some insights into the city process with the new Did you know? and What's that thing? segments.

Links to things mentioned in the episode:
Sign up for emergency alerts: www.watertown-ma.gov/everbridge
Civics Academy
Tree Information and Request Form
Mount Auburn Street Updates
Tyler Glode city engineer talk

City Council Meetings:
City Council - Feb 11th
City Council - Feb. 25th
WCA-TV's general Government channel

Transcript of episode can be found at littlelocalconversations.com

Support the show

Head on over to www.littlelocalconversations.com to check out all the episodes, events, and everything else going on.

Sign up for the Little Local Conversations email newsletter

Follow on Instagram: @littlelocalconversations

Thank you podcast sponsor Arsenal Financial! Listen to some Watertown Trivia on the podcast with Arsenal Financial's Doug Orifice.

This program is supported in part by a grant from the Watertown Cultural Council, a local agency which is supported by the Mass Cultural Council, a state agency.

Thanks to podcast promotional partners, the Watertown Business Coalition and Watertown News.