This week at City Hall, a $220,000 bond for engineering and design of the renovations to the Melrose High School athletic complex received approval from the Melrose Board of Aldermen.

Also, longtime Melrose Planning Board member Tom Pawlina has stepped down after 16 years on the board, including time as the Planning Board chairman, while the aldermen formally elected on Monday night Alderman at-Large Don Conn, Jr. to serve as the board's president in 2011.

Finally, Melrose Patch compared Melrose's 2011 tax rates to 23 other communities, and donations to the Melrose Emergency Fund reached $34,117 this year, making this one of the best years ever for the fund.

Up on Beacon Hill, Katherine Clark joined with eight fellow new state senators on Wednesday when she was sworn into the Massachusetts Senate, while newly elected State Rep. Paul Brodeur was officially sworn into his post as representative for the 32nd Middlesex District.

Also, Massachusetts rang in the New Year with a host of new laws that took effect Jan. 1.

In business news, accountant-turned-cheesecake baker Sarah-Beth Chester turned three years of dreaming into reality, opening 7ate9 Bakery for business in December.

In the police log, two men found in a home during the wee hours of the morning after the resident woke up were arrested on burglary charges, and allegations of indecent assault and battery by a 16-year-old are under investigation.

In the arts, Melrose resident Elizabeth Starr tends to teeth during the day, but at night she's a "Naughty Nana," part of a women-only improve troupe spun off from another over-50 group formed at ImprovBoston. Also, Melrosian Michaela Della Russo thinks she can dance and to prove it, in November she auditioned for the hit TV show "So You Think You Can Dance."

Melrose Patch debuted its new column "Healthy Children," where Dr. Tien Lan Chang, chief of pediatrics at Melrose-Wakefield Hospital, answered a reader's question about stuttering. To submit a question about children's health and parenting for Dr. Chang to answer, e-mail me at danield@patch.com. Please include your first name. Your email address and any other identifying information will remain confidential.

Also new this week: a listing of weekend open houses in Melrose on Saturday and Sunday. This new feature will run every Saturday.

In fun news, with the recent blizzard dropping more than a foot of snow onto Melrose and surrounding areas, and as the weather turns—and stays—cold, our thoughts are turning to winter activities. So we rounded up places for ice skating.

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