Letter to the Editor In our July-August issue, author Sumner Brown proposed a congestion pricing scheme (a sort of toll for cutting through town) to cut down on traffic. A reader responds. Dear Editor, The recent article, “A Cure for Belmont Traffic Congestion,” certainly highlights a problem that I see every day, since I live on Pleasant Street, right near Belmont Center. Out-of-town drivers turn the street into a veritable parking lot during rush hour. But the problem isn’t a market failure in commuter pricing, and a metered pricing solution would be expensive and politically unrealistic anyway. We need to [READ MORE]

A Project of Belmont Staycation 2016 by Anne-Marie Lambert Now that the drought is officially over, Belmont Citizens Forum requested that a new lilac bush be planted on the Town Green by Wellington Station. This was the wish of the top winner of our Belmont Staycation 2016 raffle, who was sad to see a dying lilac bush on her walks by the Green. We are grateful to the Board of Selectmen, who accepted the donation of a replacement bush on May 15, and to Mike Santoro’s team at the Department of Public Works, who planted the bush on June 1. [READ MORE]

Boston Area Beekeepers Assoc. Open Hives Saturdays, July 8, 15, 22; 10 AM–Noon Learn all about how honey bees make honey, survive the winter, and much more at our onsite apiary. Free; registration required. Register online or call 617-983-8500. www.babeekeepers.org. Boston Nature Center, 500 Walk Hill Street, Mattapan. Fresh Pond Monarch Watch July 11: Milkweed Planting in Lusitania Meadow July 16 & 18: Pod Patrol Weed-Out July 14, 20, & 28: Caterpillar checkups—come see how they are growing. August 6: Butterfly release parade. This raise-and-release project of the threatened monarch butterfly is aimed at encouraging a monarch population at Fresh [READ MORE]