Newton

Is fiction good for us? We spend huge chunks of our lives immersed in novels, films, TV shows, and other forms of fiction. Some see this as a positive thing, arguing that made-up stories cultivate our mental and moral development. But others have argued that fiction is mentally and ethically corrosive. It's an ancient question: Does fiction build the morality of individuals and societies, or does it break it down? This controversy has been flaring up — sometimes literally, in the form of book burnings — ever since Plato tried to ban fiction from his ideal republic.

Newton sculler Gevvie Stone had to wait a year, but she collected her Olympic ticket in Switzerland Wednesday by finishing third in the women's single at rowing's last-chance qualifying regatta on the Rotsee course in Lucerne. "It feels awesome," said the 26-year-old Stone, whose mother competed in the 1976 Games. "I've dreamt about this for so long. I had a good race out there today. " Stone, a three-time Head of the Charles champion who was 11th at last year's World Championships, needed to finish among the top four to make it to London.

NEWTON - Eli Katzoff started out with a simple plan to grow some tomatoes at home. That was before the engineering plans, the kebab-stick model, the 16-foot long wood planks, the website, and the ad-hoc community garden/charity. Katzoff's idea, on display in the front yard of his childhood home near Route 9, looks like an oversize swing set, stretching 13 feet high. Thirty-four red buckets with tomato plants poking through the bottom hang from the beams. From afar, it resembles a string of red Chinese lanterns in the heart of suburbia.

NEWTON - Eli Katzoff started out with a simple plan to grow some tomatoes at home. That was before the engineering plans, the kebab-stick model, the 16-foot long wood planks, the website, and the ad-hoc community garden/charity. Katzoff's idea, on display in the front yard of his childhood home near Route 9, looks like an oversize swing set, stretching 13 feet high. Thirty-four red buckets with tomato plants poking through the bottom hang from the beams. From afar, it resembles a string of red Chinese lanterns in the heart of suburbia.

RE "NEWTON mayor unveils $241m plan for over 300 renovation projects: May ask voters for temporary tax hike" (Metro, Nov. 8): You report that Newton spent $400,000 on a "database" of capital projects, and suggest that the money was well spent. For example, with the database, the city learned that it didn't have to spend $1.6 million to paint two water towers because, according to the database, the towers were obsolete. Are we supposed to take this seriously - that the city needs to spend almost half a million dollars to find out stuff is obsolete?

Newton is poised to become the first municipality in the state to buy all of its electricity from renewable sources, Mayor Setti Warren announced Tuesday. Starting on July 1, city buildings, schools, and streetlights will all be illuminated by electricity generated by such sources as wind and solar power. The city expects to spend $100,000 less annually over the next three years by buying this type of power, said Maureen Lemieux, Newton's chief financial officer. Newton currently spends about $1.5 million buying electricity from a power generator.

The Board of Aldermen voted Tuesday to rezone the land around the MBTA's Riverside Station, paving the way for a 12-acre project involving office buildings, apartments, shops, and a community center. The rezoning will allow New Jersey-based developer BH Normandy to apply for a special permit for its $300 million proposal. Officials have said the property's location, near the interchange of Interstate 95 and the Mass. Turnpike as well as the T hub, will boost the city's tax base. However, nearby residents continue to be concerned about the...

The Newton Free Library hosted about 200 people at Tuesday night's opening party for "Inspirational Families of Newton," a collection of photos by Drew Hyman and Jennifer Nourse Rodman . The display, which includes write-ups of the families by Ken Shulman , features images of dozens of locals including the Zakims, who, in their photo, stand in front of the bridge that's named for their late patriarch, Leonard Zakim . The exhibition...

Get ready, brides-to-be: Filene's Basement hosts its Running of the Brides event at its Newton store on Friday from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. More than 1,700 gowns sizes 2 to 26 will be up for grabs for $249-$699 (originally up to $6,000). Find tips for shopping the event successfully here . Filene's Basement is at 215-227 Needham St., Newton, 617-332-1295.

By Deirdre Fernandes, Globe Staff Newton is poised to become the first municipality in the state to buy all its electricity from renewable sources, Mayor Setti Warren announced Tuesday. Starting on July 1, city buildings, schools and streetlights will all be illuminated by electricity generated by such sources as wind and solar power. "We're really proud of this accomplishment," Warren said. "It's part of our overall effort in the City of Newton. " Cities and local governments have a leading role to play in pushing for a more...

By Deirdre Fernandes, Globe Staff Newton aldermen on Monday night approved a $313 million fiscal year 2013 budget that includes a handful of new positions, no layoffs, and salary increases for employees, including the mayor. Mayor Setti Warren's salary will increase to $125,001 starting in July, a $27,125 raise from its current $97,876. Other city employees will receive between a 1.6 to 4 percent pay raise. A local commission recommended in 2005 that Newton's mayor be paid $125,000, to bring the salary in line with what similar communities paid and...

As part of the New England zone meeting of the Garden Club of America, the public can view flower-arranging displays at two sites — the Longyear Museum, and the Chestnut Hill Garden Club's space in Arnold Arboretum's Weld Hill Research Building, highlighting work done to preserve the water quality at Hammond Pond in Newton. The club worked closely with Newton to secure grants for filters, plantings, and other facilities that keep contaminants out of the pond. The club members' arrangements at Arnold Arboretum and at the Longyear, at 1125 Boylston St. in Brookline, will both...

We are the two development professionals working pro bono for the Newton School Foundation's capital campaign ("Naming rights campaign sparks series of questions," Globe West, May 6). We have taken this job on because it is our belief that this campaign must happen, and be successful. Our backgrounds make us uniquely suited for this undertaking. Why is this campaign so important? ■   We live in a world of technology. Our schools must prepare our children for this world.

The Newton Schools Foundation's ambitious proposal to raise as much as $6 million for educational technology by selling naming rights to high school spaces will be in the spotlight this week as the city's aldermen start considering the plan. But the proposal is also drawing attention from other school foundations, who want to see how Newton addresses some of the thornier issues tied to fund-raising for public education. "It will be an interesting situation to watch in Newton," said Lisa Boehm, vice president for communications and marketing with the Lexington Education Foundation.

Plans to turn Wayne Newton's sprawling Las Vegas estate into a celebrity museum have shifted into an ugly legal battle citing mismanagement, animal abuse and sexual harassment. The company that purchased the rights to convert Newton's home into "Graceland West" filed a lawsuit this week in Las Vegas against Newton, his wife and her 76-year-old mother that claims the family unreasonably delayed the project to ensure it never opens. The Newton family claims the lawsuit is a preemptive strike because they had planned to sue the company for breach of contract after...

EVENTS Newton : At the Birds and Bugs Festival, celebrate spring and the great outdoors with nature walks, exhibits, arts and crafts, bird walks, kayaking, canoeing, and food vendors Saturday, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., at Nahanton Nature Center, 455 Nahanton St. Free. 617-332-2686. Waltham: Nate Klug, a poet and candidate for ordained ministry, explores the "tension between writing and faith" in a reading from his chapbook, "Consent," Friday, 7 p.m., at Back Pages Books, 289 Moody St. Free.

THE SENSATIONALIZED coverage of the two recent cases of child porn in Newton ("Newton stunned by 2d case of child porn in two weeks," Metro, Jan. 26) has fostered over-the-top hand wringing and hysteria by parents who have lost perspective. To be clear, child porn is one of the most hideous ways of brutalizing children; however, statements that imply that we can no longer trust any adults with our children are not based in reality. These events are rare, although one gets a distorted picture of their prevalence because of the media's saturation with all things prurient.

The folks at "Sesame Street" gave us an early look at John Krasinski 's appearance during the show's 42d season, which kicks off Monday. The Newton native (above) will be the special guest on an episode that airs Dec. 29 and will help with the word of the day, which will be "Soggy. "

If Elizabeth Warren can't sink a half-court shot, she's not getting my vote. Lisa Rucinski Newton

THE HIGHLY REGARDED Newton school system expects that children in second grade will develop the skills necessary to "listen effectively"' and "gain meaning from what is heard during conversation. " It's fair to ask whether Newton school administrators displayed those skills when dealing with accusations about David Ettlinger, a former second-grade teacher who was arrested in January on charges of child pornography and indecent assault and battery on a child under 14. Complaints are emerging about Ettlinger's behavior during his 12-year teaching career: kicking a student;...