Congratulations to our own Mayor Joe Curtatone for making Somerville one of the first municipalities in the area to have “Smart Cars” join the city’s fleet. Last week the mayor purchased four of them for city officials to drive as their assigned cars during work hours. The Somerville Fire Department has already switched over to hybrids for their upper ranks to drive as well.

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Did you notice on the Beacon Hill Roll Call this week that Prince Carl didn’t vote last week on several votes taken at the State House Рthe vote on the $28.22 billion dollar State Budget was last week and he didn’t bother to vote on it?

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We hear through the underground freedom workers (spies to you) that Sticker Candidate Prince Carl of the PDSers is about to outsource his campaign to all those special interest groups. Watch and read carefully the mail you get and who paid for it – notice that he will pay for very little of it, if any at all ‚Äì it‚Äôs all from those outside the district special interest groups. So he goes around having fundraisers outside the district with special interest groups, has teams of outsiders walking/knocking door to door and now special interest groups doing his mailings. Ask yourself this, if you happen to live in that district for the past 4 years – when was the last time you got anything from this guy? When was the last time or any time you saw this guy? We heard that Prince Carl and the only candidate on the ballot Bob Trane met up out there on the streets knocking in the same neighborhood. We would have liked to have been present for that conversation.   

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Big surprise, we were holding our breath to see who Princess Rebekah was going to endorse for State Representative Рand true to her PDSer roots it’s not for fellow Alderman Bob Trane (who is the only candidate on the ballot, by the way), but of course for her buddy and fellow member of the PDS РPrince Carl – we are so glad we didn’t have to wait too long for that endorsement. Now it’s just a matter of time before Queen Pat, our PDSer Senator, comes out to endorse him.

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The city has announced that it will repave 44 streets this year. We certainly hope that Washington Street is on that list…whoops Рit’s not! The Washington Street Bridge is still in bad shape and from the looks of things, nothing has been done and our inside source says nothing is scheduled to be done as well Рthat’s too bad, hopefully they’re not waiting for a disaster to happen before taking some sort of action.

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By the way, the controversy over what the city is doing with the vacant Powder House Community School building continues, but recently only online. We have it from very reliable sources that there is nothing Рno bids or offers on the building, period. They’re still investigating what to do with it, but the city has not heard from anyone regarding any offer.

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The owners of the 89 units are up before the ZBA board vote this coming Thursday evening, and it will be interesting to see who shows up and who doesn’t – but even more interesting to see how the vote goes. The applicant named 44 Park Street LLC and owner Maldemer LLC are seeking a special permit. Now the word is that Demo Man and his buddy the ZBA board member couldn’t come up with the cash to buy in, so they’re out, well at least that’s the understanding we have Рshould be interesting just to see who shows up for the meeting – we will be there, of course.

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Sister Joanne Forker, CSJ, Principal of Our Lady of Nazareth Academy, has announced that the following Somerville residents have been named to the Honor Roll for the third trimester of the 07-08 academic years: First Honors: to Senior Sara Clark and Academic Commendation: to Sophomore Alyson Moniz – we wish them both the very best in the future.

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Artbeat is coming up shortly – July 18th and 19th in Davis Square – as in the past lots of crafts, vendors and one roving tree. Enjoy the week in Davis Square, sponsored by the Somerville Arts Council – for more information go to www.somervilleartscouncil.org.

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In a surprise move, Mayor Joe and Steve Mackey, President of the Somerville Chamber of Commerce, announced their endorsement of Jimmy Tingle for President this week. Tingle, who formerly owned and operated Jimmy Tingle’s Off Broadway Theater in Davis Square, has built a strong base of support in Somerville for his groundbreaking grassroots campaign. Curtatone and Mackey, who deny angling for Cabinet posts, made their endorsement in advance of the opening of the ‚ÄúJimmy Tingle for President‚Äù show at the Arsenal Center for the Arts in Watertown on Thursday, July 24.
‚ÄúBarack Obama is great,‚Äù said Curtatone in a statement. "But as a strong backer of the Green Line in Somerville, I was won over by Jimmy’s commitment to ‘trains of cars.’ Why not make commuting easier and more affordable for everyone by stringing together a line of cars and towing them, so everyone can listen to their own radio station? It’s truly innovative‚Äîjust like Jimmy’s candidacy."
Tingle says he is going to continue to work his Somerville base – from Teele Square to Gilman Square, and from Winter Hill to Prospect Hill – as part of his electoral strategy to clinch the nomination and win in November. We think they’re kidding. We’re not sure though.