The city is offering funds for residents to cool their outdoor spaces by replacing hard surfaces with plants. ~Photo courtesy of City of Somerville

The City of Somerville’s Sustainability and Environment Division (SED) is now accepting applications for Cooling East Somerville, offering eligible East Somerville residents up to $5,000 to remove pavement from their property and replace it with shade trees, plants, and other cooling landscape improvements.

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By Matt McLaughlin

The house my grandmother bought in 1948 is still there on Spencer Ave in Somerville. Back then, a single mother with a union job at the Hostess Cupcake factory earned enough to buy a home and raise three kids, not far from Davis Square. She had an extra apartment, a garden in the yard, and all of her needs were a short walk away.

All community members are invited to celebrate Disability Pride Month in Somerville this July with free, accessible events for all ages. Join the Somerville Commission for Persons with Disabilities, community members, the mayor, city councilors, and elected officials to raise the Disability Pride flag at City Hall in recognition of Disability Pride Month. Thursday, July 9, 4 – 5 p.m. (rain date Thursday, July 16, 4 p.m.), City Hall Concourse, 93 Highland Ave.

The City of Somerville’s Annual Fireworks Celebration took place on Tuesday, June 30, at Trum Field. Attendees enjoyed an evening of music, community, food vendors, and fireworks. An opening performance by Pluto’s Return was followed by DJ Live spinning tunes and emceeing the evening. A live performance by Search Party was followed by remarks by Mayor Wilson, the National Anthem sung by Britney Flores, and a fireworks countdown. A special reading of the Declaration of Independence was done by First Lieutenant Robert V. Collins of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company of Massachusetts in recognition of Independence Day. ~Photos by Bobbie Toner

Summertime is a great time for outdoor gatherings and celebrations. Part of the fun is indulging in the pleasures of grilling and sharing good food and drink with family and friends.

But certain safety measures must be followed to make sure that these grand epicurean hoedowns don’t end in catastrophic property – and personal – damage caused by fire gone out of control.

Eagle Feathers #358 –The Fourth Day of July

It was one hundred and nine years ago this past spring that Americans began arriving in Paris to help their French allies in the war against Germany. In a symbolic salute, General John Pershing presented an American flag at a Frenchman’s tomb. It was the grave of the Marquis de Lafayette, who had greatly aided us during our revolution. The French and American patriot so loved America that he was buried in soil dug from Bunker Hill. At the presentation, the Americans announced, “Lafayette, we are here.” The date was the 4^th of July in 1917.

I caught up with New England Poetry Club poet Lisa J. Sullivan about her debut collection of poetry, Theory of Impact.

Tom Driscoll is a poet and essayist who lives and works in Lowell, Massachusetts. His poetry has appeared in Abraxas Review, Rock Salt Journal, Scapegoat Review, The Worcester Review, Oddball Magazine, Carcosa Magazine, The Ekphrastic Review, Decadent Review, Drawn To The Light, What Rough Beast and Second Coming from Indolent Books and in several Moonstone Arts Center’s Poetry Anthologies. Tom’s poem Leave Home won the Robert P. Collén Poetry Prize in 2017. Notes on Demolition was selected as an Editor’s Choice for the Allen Ginsberg Prize and This isn’t the first time received Third Place in The Frank O’Hara Prize, both in 2021. Upon Stealing Smithsonian Folkways from Franklin Library, Summer 1974 won The Letter Review Poetry prize in 2024. His most recent book is Echoes, A Collection of Ekphrastic Poems.