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Your most important holiday shopping guide

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Your most important holiday shopping guide

Headed over the river and through the woods this week? Here’s how to avoid hitting a deer.

Leaving the state? Here's what kind of pie you might expect, or should bring.

Do your travel plans involve flying? This may be the nicest thing you can do for your host.

Finally, going shopping this Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, and in the weeks to come?


As all the big shot CEOs are saying these days (Don't believe me? Look here), be "choiceful." Before you set out to purchase something, follow these steps below (and then explore our chamber member directory).



Help our local businesses by sharing this chart and our other Support Local graphics

Still no decision on Newton's MBTA Communities plan

The Newton City Council spent another three-hours plus last night debating how the city should comply with the MBTA Communities Upzoning Law.

Following a series of mostly-failed amendments, the committee adjourned, perhaps until Dec. 4 (although its possible there could be a special meeting on Nov. 29 or 30). 

Bryan McGonigle at the Newton Beacon has a good recap.

Still to be discussed is whether the village of Auburndale should be included in the final version; a decision that could determine the fate of Newton's 20 year long effort to rebuild Newton's three inadequate commuter rail stations.
 
The council must approve its MBTA Communities plan by New Year’s Eve in order to comply with state law. The plan will then be subject to state approval.

Failure to comply would make the city ineligible for potentially millions in state grants. 

Voters may be asked to weigh in on restaurant wages 

A group looking to eliminate Massachusetts' tipped wage law say they have more than enough signatures to put the matter before voters next year, the Globe’s Dana Gerber reports.

State law currently sets minimum wage at $15 an hour, while tipped workers such as those in restaurants earn a base wage of $6.75 an hour. (Those workers must still be paid at least $15 an hour after accounting for tips.)

But One Fair Wage wants to incrementally phase-out tipped wages to the standard $15 minimum wage by 2029.

The proposed measure would also allow tip sharing between front- and back-of-house workers once wages were level across the workforce.

That's noteworthy because currently tips can go only to tipped employees like servers or bartenders, not kitchen staff such as dishwashers or chefs.

Also: The Massachusetts Teachers Association also tells the Globe it has collected more than enough signatures to put a question on the 2024 ballot ending the MCAS requirement for high school graduation.

Today's grab bag

  • Running low on COVID tests? The feds are offering four more free at-home COVID tests ahead of the winter holiday season.

  • Watertown’s winter parking ban begins next Monday (Nov. 27) and continues until April 1, No vehicle may remain on any public way for more than one hour between the hours of 1 a.m. and 6 a.m. during those dates.


  • After coming up 23 votes short in the unofficial results, Newton City Council Ward 6 candidate Lisa Gordon has requested a recount in her contest against Martha Bixby. It's scheduled for Dec. 2, which will also delay the previously scheduledthe  Nov. 29 election of council president. (Fig City News)

  • Attend a virtual program on “Landlord/Tenant Fair Housing Training Know Your Rights and Responsibilities” at Suffolk University Law School, Dec. 5, 7 p.m.

  • The Cookie Monstah is coming to Trio in Newtonville, joining locations in Needham and other communities. With the addition, Trio would then be 100% leased according to the Newton Real Estate Forum.

Commuter rail ridership on the rebound 

Ridership on the MBTA’s commuter rail reached a new “post-pandemic peak” in October.

The T said ridership levels last month surpassed 90 percent of pre-pandemic levels, a sign that more workers have returned to public transportation as COVID-19 fears subside.

Arts collaboration across western bubs gets a boost 

The Community Foundation for MetroWest is joining the Barr Foundation's "Creative Commonwealth Initiative," an effort that aims to boost arts and culture across 30-plus west suburban cities and towns.

CFMW will receive a $525,000 grant and will join eight other community foundations across the state in fostering diverse, equitable arts and creative expression within our communities and creating a regional arts ecosystem that benefits everyone.

That's what you need to know for today -- Transgender Remembrance Day -- unless you want to impress friends and family with your knowledge about cranberries.

Have a great Thanksgiving. I hope you get the wishbone and whatever you seek comes true. See you next week.

Greg Reibman (he, him)
President & CEO
617.244.1688
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