The retirement party for Tom Buckley was well attended and everyone had a great time this past Saturday – Tom, who is retiring from the DPW, was there 38 years and never took a day off – he started working for the city at 18. We wish him a lot of luck in his retirement years‚Ķnot many can claim that kind of dedication – 38 years with no sick time used, he was well-liked, good natured and hopefully enjoys a peaceful life for many years in retirement. 

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Speaking of the DPW, it seems a flyer went out to all drivers asking to personally see all their licenses to make sure everyone was current and not suspended. Apparently one of them may have been fired, or let go since his CDL license was suspended – nice to know that everyone is current now.   

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The stabbing incident at the corner of Medford & Sycamore near the Winter Hill School was hushed up last week, in fact it was hushed up a little too well by the School Department – none of the parents knew, most of the teachers didn’t know and none of the city officials knew about it‚Ķuntil the story broke on The Somerville News web site on Saturday afternoon. Kind of interesting to note that not even a courtesy call from the School Superintendent to the parents/teachers and school committee members mentioning the fact that something happened and that it was being investigated, so that rumors wouldn’t go wild – but nope – all the Superintendent could say was ‚Äúits not policy.‚Äù   Maybe its not policy, but sure would be a courtesy to everyone – where is the logic in not informing people? Maybe they don’t have a committee for that set up – after all we hear that committees get things done and changes happen – or do they?   

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There’s a rumor that Somerville Trash contractor Russell Disposal has struck a deal and bought another company, JMR Disposal – a non-union company, same as Russell. There’s also the rumor that Russell Disposal still owes the Somerville Police Department over $68k in past ‚Äúwork details‚Äù from when the SPD was ordered to protect the business – and Russell hasn’t paid the overdue balance yet – a source tells us that they’re trying to get the city to take half that amount.   

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Trouble on Highland Road! Rumor has it that a contractor that was recently hired by the city to repair and install sewage pipes is suing the city for over $300,000.  The Gioso Contractor Company allegedly claims that while contracted work was going on, that they had to remove and relocate a large amount of badly contaminated soil that was dug up from under the street. Rumor has it that the company is saying it’s the city’s problem and the city needs to pay that bill not them.

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Our condolences go out to the family of Thomas ‚ÄúMoose‚Äù Morehead who recently passed away last week due to a severe heart attack – as a former County employee of the Registry of Deeds for many years and then later on he worked at Pat’s Tow – many people will miss him. Services will be held at the Saint Francis of Assisi Church in East Cambridge this coming Saturday, March 8 at 11am. He was a nice man, a great family man and will be missed by all.

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Teamsters Local 25 is holding an event this Saturday, March 8th, for the Teamsters Autism Gala – the event being held at the Convention Center located on Summer Street in Boston‚Ķall proceeds will go to Autism Research. It’s a great cause – for more information and tickets, call Mariam Abdoo at 617-912-3835 or you can email her at Mabdoo@therendongroup.com   

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The Sovereign Bank located at 125 Broadway was held up twice within a 48-hour period!  The first hold up was on Thursday and the latest was on Saturday! After the robber escaped on foot, a dye pack exploded moments later in the bag that contained the stolen money a few blocks away from the bank. The robber escaped with an undisclosed amount of money and is still on the loose – guess East Cambridge Savings Bank on Highland Avenue with all its recent robberies and Sovereign bank in East Somerville are quite the popular banks for robbers lately.

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Early Sunday morning over the radio, a Somerville Police officer was answering an ‚Äúalarm call‚Äù‚Ķmoments later a frantic call came across the radio from the responding officer – ‚Äúsend me an ambulance!‚Äù Other on-duty officers, upon hearing that call, all must have thought the worst and responded in emergency mode. One officer responding to the distress call was cut off in traffic by a woman who obviously didn’t see the cruiser coming down Somerville Avenue – causing the police officer to run off the road and into a building, totaling the cruiser and nearly causing him to lose his life! After all the smoke settled the officer was sent to the hospital and the cruiser was totaled. As for the officer who originally called for an ambulance, well it seems that he slipped on the ice and sprained his ankle, but he’s ok now. 

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The Somerville Democratic City Committee meeting is Monday, March 10 at 7 p.m. at the VNA for the election of officers – for more information contact Helen Corrigan at 617-625-6975.

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Want to get that warm fuzzy feeling you can only get when you treat the Earth right and build community? On Friday and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. go to the Community Growing Center for a maple syrup boil. Trust us, it’s good, clean fun.