Looks like Alderman Sean O‚ÄôDonovan is making huge leaps toward getting himself on the ballot for the Sept. 16 register of probate primary – he hosted a different kind of kickoff party last week at the Dante Club on Craigie Street ‚Äì an  ‚ÄúUnenrolled Registration Rally‚Äù, converting registered Democrats and registered Republicans into Independents for him to get on the ballot. Over 300 showed up and signed on to the campaign according to several sources at the event. Already bumper stickers and signs are out as well. With less than three weeks to the election, he‚Äôs moved very fast to position himself on the ballot for the position of Registrar of Probate, hoping to unseat current Register John Buonomo in November, who was recently arrested for allegedly taking money from courthouse vending machines.                                                

AG: Carey stole $2M

By George P. Hassett

A former Somerville real estate attorney was indicted Friday for allegedly stealing $2 million in what authorities are calling a “mortgage stacking” scheme.

Kevin Carey, 48, of Middleboro, continually refinanced the loans on four properties he or his family members owned without paying off the existing loans, authorities said. He was the agent for a New England title insurance company, which allegedly allowed him to issue title insurance policies on the mortgage transactions he processed and hide the existing loans.

Photos by Scott Liberatore

A drab stretch of land underneath McGrath Highway became a futuristic dance floor Saturday night when Project MUM: Somerville’s Final Frontier moved into orbit. The intergalactic dance odyssey, part of the Somerville Arts Council’s ArtsUnion series, featured four hours of music spun by a team of DJs led by DJs Flack, Yamin, Axel Foley & Pace. Dancers grooved all night under lighting by illuminist Todd Sargent and special visual effects by by VJ Dziga. 

By William C. Shelton

(The opinions and views expressed in the commentaries of The Somerville News belong solely to the authors of those commentaries and do not reflect the views or opinions of The Somerville News, its staff or publishers.)

Over the last decade, studies and surveys continually report a decline in American civic engagement. By civic engagement, they mean “working to make a difference in the civic life of our communities and developing the combination of knowledge, skills, values and motivation to make that difference.”

Last month, I wrote a column suggesting that the watchdogs that historically guarded the interests of Somerville’s citizens-aldermen, the press, and citizens groups-had all been domesticated. It’s equally true that this could not have happened if their citizen masters had not been snoozing. Well, ‚Äúsnoozing‚Äù may be the wrong word, since they’re often working too hard to pay attention.

Off The Shelf by Doug Holder

Recently I was on a literary panel on the Somerville Community Access TV show “Art Matters.” One of the writers on the panel was N.S. Koenings. Koenings who lives in the Union Square section of the city, teaches at Hampshire College and is originally from East Africa. She told me that she has lived on three continents, traveled extensively, so her fiction is not situated in one particular place. This is a frightening prospect for a Somerville provincial such as myself.

Koenings said she makes her long, once-a-week trip to Hampshire College to teach writing. She chooses to live in Somerville because of its vibrant arts community. In the ‘ville she has enough distance from her job that she can let her hair down, and drop the professorial persona for a bit.

Inner Belt development hinges on location of facility

By Jack Nicas

The city is faced with a dilemma: the Green Line extension, supported almost unanimously in the community, may now hinder the city’s largest frontier for development. The state transit office maintains that a new maintenance facility must accompany the long-awaited extension. With the amount of space required for the facility, few options exist outside of the Inner Belt.

St Clement’s: part two

On The Silly Side by Jimmy Del Ponte

(The opinions and views expressed in the commentaries of The Somerville News belong solely to the authors of those commentaries and do not reflect the views or opinions of The Somerville News, its staff or publishers.)

Because of all the positive feedback I received on my first St. Clements Elementary School column, I pray that you enjoy this sequel of sorts – especially Frank Sharpe and Gary Murphy. Now remember, we are talking many, many years ago and things have changed a lot over there on Warner Street – St. Clements School is a fine institution of parochial learning.

Four and a half years ago, this newspaper went online utilizing the current TypePad format and with that, we took on a heavy burden right out of the gate. The general public, locally speaking, was not used to having real local news and other newspaper content available anytime of day or night – and the ability to anonymously comment, or blog, on anything posted with few boundaries.

There were classic moments and classic bloggers on the weblog who have come, some who have gone, and others who just sit there, content with only reading and not commenting. There have also been fantastic moments in local news history that have been recorded for all time in the annals of cyberspace as well.

We have brought unsurpassed coverage of local news through both print and online mediums – news/issues/stories such as: the Assembly Square and MaxPak developments and Barack Obama’s infamous parking tickets, just to name a few.

Photos by Jayme Aronson

J-Rock Publishing hosted a block party on Lexington Avenue on Saturday Aug. 16. The event started at 12 and ran into the night, highlighted by live musical performances by two of Boston ºs premier rappers O-RY-N and M-Dot. Other performers included Mayhem of EMS, Sir B, Shaymin, Boston’s Finest, Mistress, Genevieve, Americo, Mark McLaughlin and the fine folk music of Billy Moschella Jr.

The community-building day also featured basketball activities, massive dodge ball games, over a thousand dollars in free prizes and giveaways from young adult author Jasen Sousa of J-Rock Publishing, food, local art, henna tattoos and caricatures. Save Our Somerville and The United Front Company sponsored the event and contributed to the positive energy. The Untied Front Company, which houses an artists community on 318 Squire Road in Revere, donated the musical equipment for the day and was responsible for the 10 musical acts which appeared throughout the day.

By George P. Hassett

Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone took on some additional municipal duties last week when he broke up a street fight and alerted police to an intoxicated man who had assaulted a motorist moments earlier, police said.

Curtatone was driving down Willow Avenue on Tuesday, Aug. 12 when he saw David Shea, 45, of 222 Willow Ave., attack another man, police said. The mayor pulled over, stopped the fight and was able to calm Shea down until officers arrived, police said.