Boston Globe - Globe West

The lone skier on the US women’s cross-country junior national team from the East Coast, Lincoln teen Corey Stock will leave Monday for the World Junior Championships in Erzurum, Turkey. The 17-year-old Stock earned her spot with an eye-popping fourth-place finish in the senior freestyle sprint at the US nationals last month in Rumford, Maine. Eli Hoenig, her classmate at Lincoln-Sudbury, and 14-year-old Julia Kern, are headed to Estonia, for the U17 championships.

Three years after plans for a new senior center were shelved due to the poor economy, Acton officials say it’s time to revisit the idea and move forward with a design. There will be an article on the April 2 Town Meeting warrant asking for $140,000 in design funds for the new building.

Waltham Mayor Jeannette McCarthy and local nonprofit REACH Beyond Domestic Violence have declared this week “Say Hi to Your Neighbors Week’’ as part of the organization’s Small Actions campaign to end domestic violence.

On Valentines Day Anne DeFeo of Arlington and her guide dog Viv will participate with other guide dogs and their owners in a ceremony at Perkins School for the Blind in Watertown honoring the U.S. Postal Service for its new 65-cent “Dogs at Work’’ stamp series depicting a guide dog, therapy dog, military tracking dog, and search-and-rescue dog to celebrate the “enduring partnership between dogs and people.’’ Says Anne of Viv: “My pal is right by my side. She’s the best.’’

The Concord Area Humanists group celebrates the 203rd birthday of one of their movement’s heroes, Charles Darwin, with lunch, cake, a film, a panel discussion and even a visit with a Darwin impersonator. Concerts in the area offer up young prodigies of cello and composition, the Indian Hill Big Band collaborating with a high school chamber chorus group, plus jazz and Big Band musical events. In theater, there are cabarets and children’s theater this week, plus a reenactment of a salon hosted by Julia Ward Howe.

Scott Young is realizing pretty quickly that his name, and his pedigree, as a former professional hockey player only goes so far. Young played 17 seasons in the National Hockey League. He won a pair of Stanley Cups, and piled up more than 700 career points. Back at his alma mater, as the boys’ coach at St. Mark’s School in Southborough, in his first “real-world’’ job, has been a challenge. The art of recruiting prospective players? That’s a whole different craft to master.

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FAMILY

The airport in Stow was a grass landing strip in the early 1960s when Paul McPherson, an instrument-maker who loved to fly, bought the land and renamed it Minute Man Air Field. It’s now home to several flight-training schools, a bakery, a restaurant, a printing company and more than 60 planes and helicopters.

Word out of Washington of another round of military base closings is showcasing Hanscom Air Force Base’s role in fueling the local high-tech economy along Route 128 as supporters come to its defense. Meanwhile, adjacent Hanscom Field has grown into one of the top centers in the country for business aviation.

Concord residents are up in arms about a school department proposal to close its town-run transportation system and outsource the bus operations to a private contractor. Dozens of residents attended a forum Wednesday night hoping to convince the School Committee to reject the administration’s recommendation to contract with Cincinnati-based First Student.

A new Franklin High School looks closer to becoming a reality and several other school replacements in the region, including Angier Elementary School in Newton and Estabrook Elementary School in Lexington are moving forward.

Two months after Mayor Setti Warren presented his $241 million roadmap for updating Newton’s deteriorating infrastructure, the costs of some building projects have already grown while others on the horizon could push the total price tag even higher. Fixing the city’s fire stations could prove particularly costly because of new building code requirements.

In 2007, Medfield’s Justin Kittredge started an inner city program for youths, Shooting Touch Inc. He charged fees, and then raised additional funds to provide a $25,000 grant to a graduating college senior who could go anywhere in the world for 10 months with a clear mission: to use basketball, through clinics and education, etc., to work with the underprivileged and effect positive change.

The Westborough Players’ Club is celebrating its 75th season this year with a production of “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat,’’ and is holding auditions for talented adult performers Friday at 6:30 p.m., and Saturday at 12:30 p.m. at its headquarters, 20 Philips St. Candidates for roles should prepare a piece of music from the musical (an accompanist will be there). A short choreography routine will also be taught, and participants are advised to dress comfortably. The Players’ Club is also offering a special “75th Anniversary Youth Workshop” for students in grades 4 through 6. The session costs $75, and is limited to 50 children on a first-come, first-served basis. The eight-week program will be held on Saturday mornings from 9 a.m. to noon from February through April, where they will learn the music to the children’s choir of the play, as well as choreography. They will get the opportunity to showcase their work at the troupe’s performances on April 27 through 29 and May 4 through 6. For more information or to register for the workshop, e-mail Brian Kelly at bkelly8980@gmail.com.

In honor of National Girls and Women in Sports Day, Wellesley College will host a panel discussion marking 40 years of Title IX at 7 p.m. Feb. 13 in Diana Chapman Walsh Alumnae Hall. The federal Title IX regulations against sex discrimination opened the doors for women in athletics. Speakers at the free program will include three-time Olympian and international soccer star Kristine Lilly; former Olympic rower and noted sports psychologist Amy Baltzell; former Sports Illustrated writer Melissa Ludtke; and the founder and editor of FairGameNews.com, Laura Pappano. For details, visit www.wellesleyblue.com/titleix.

The town received a $5,000 grant that will be used to purchase work-zone safety equipment. Police, fire and emergency medical staff members will use the reflective road signs, barricades, and LED flares to protect workers and warn motorists and pedestrians during emergencies or in construction zones. - Jennifer Fenn Lefferts

Local Girl Scouts will be selling cookies on three occasions around town over the next month. Troop 72743, made up of eight 10- and 11-year-old girls, will be selling cookies for $4 per box on Feb. 18 at Robinsons Hardware on 31 Washington Street; Feb. 25 at Lowe’s Hardware on 6 Highland Common East; and on March 3 at the town’s transfer station and recycling center on Cox Street. The troop is raising money for a trip to the Rocking Horse Ranch in Highland, N.Y., next month, according to one of the troop’s leaders, Wendy Cohen. The Girl Scouts are hoping to raise $1,000 in cookie sales this year. - Derek McLean