By Jack Nicas

City officials are “seriously considering” taking legal action against the federal government after the number of planes flying over Somerville has tripled in the last two years, and according to city officials, the feds have turned a cold shoulder to local noise complaints.

City spokesman Tom Champion said the city could sue the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and potentially the Massachusetts Port Authority (Massport) in response to the increase in airplane noise over Somerville skies.

By Jack Nicas

The Mystic Avenue Summer Basketball League concluded its fifth year on Thursday night with down-to-the-wire finishes in both championship matches. In the younger division, Mohammed Borus led the Hornets to a 20-18 victory over the second place Celtics. Celtics stars Salieme Warsaw and Evelyn Ayala climbed back from an eight-point deficit in the second half, but Borus proved too much for the Celtics in the end.

In the main event, the top two teams from the older division, the Lakers and the Spurs, faced off for bragging rights of the Mystic Avenue projects. Somerville High School teammates and stars Franklin Salvador and Ricardo Bonhomme suited up for opposing teams, only to have Salvador’s Lakers come out on top. It is likely the pair’s last season with the league, as players at least; Bonhomme coached the league champion Hornets.

Middlesex County Register of Probate and former Somerville alderman John Buonomo was arrested yesterday in connection with his alleged theft of public monies.

Buonomo, 56, of Newton, was put in handcuffs Wednesday by Massachusetts State Police assigned to the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office. He was charged with 18 counts of breaking and entering into a depository, eight counts of theft of public property by a City/Town/County Officer, and eight counts of larceny under $250.

By George P. Hassett

A controversial proposal that brought hundreds of landlords to City Hall in protest is back and this time, according to the mayor, it is not slanted in favor of tenants. But the proposal, which would revise the regulations surrounding the condo conversion process, comes after the local condo market reached its peak and conversions in the city have slowed dramatically.

In fiscal year 2006, when the ordinance was first proposed by Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone, there were 565 multi-family homes converted into condominiums. In fiscal year 2008, there were 217, a 61 percent decrease.

The Magoun Square Neighborhood Association and the Mass Executive Office of Transportation will conduct a neighborhood meeting to discuss the proposed Lowell Street MBTA Green Line Station. The meeting is tonight (August 6) at 6 p.m. at the VNA – 259 Lowell Street, third floor community room. All residents and business owners are invited. For more information call Joe Lynch at 617-623-0891 or email him at jplcorp2004@yahoo.com

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We hear that Torpedo Lady recently filed a “restraining order” against co-worker CW, and at the hearing on Monday the court/judge was dismayed that the Union wasn’t involved for either side – we heard that the judge dismissed the case, saying the basis of complaint was unfounded. Has CW been out of work without pay (unjustifiably) going on a few weeks now? What’s going on down there at the DPW and with the Union?

Interactive garden attempts to change lives

By Jack Nicas

For close to a month now, pedestrians wandering down Elm Street have noticed a mysterious garden beckoning them to enter. It is a daring task to walk into a stranger’s yard, but that’s exactly what the owner wants. It is a challenge to participants in hopes of inspiring change in their lives.

After following the tiki torch-lined stone path and crossing the spiral marbled ‚Äúabyss,‚Äù risk-takers come to what appears to be a colorful punching bag. Upon further inspection, it is revealed the color comes from countless multi-colored notes marked with part participants‚Äô deepest questions.  As the hanging cards twirl in the wind, one can see each question is thoughtfully answered on the back. To one‚Äôs left a sign reads: ‚ÄúConfess a fear, a secret, a question. Leave it in the box. Return in two days and the back will speak.‚Äù Completing this task is the first step to ‚Äúcrossing into the abyss.‚Äù 

By Joseph A. Curtatone

(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.)

The reorganization, expansion and modernization of the Somerville Police Department has been a long, drawn-out process – and we still have plenty to do. Still, the Board of Aldermen’s vote on July 17 to take two Deputy Chief of Police positions out of civil service has to be seen as the finishing touch on a long series of interlocking changes that has fundamentally transformed the department and prepared it for the 21st Century.

Off The Shelf by Doug Holder

Being a small press publisher I have always been impressed with the Books of Hope project. I interviewed the former director Anika Nailah and her young charges on my Somerville Community Access TV “Poet to Poet: Writer to Writer.”

I was impressed by how Nailah instilled a love for the “word” in these kids, many from the Mystic Avenue housing project in our city. For nine years the program has trained kids from the projects and elsewhere in four key areas: writing, publishing, performing, marketing and outreach. The youth are involved in many aspects of producing a book, and their development is advanced through a writer-in-residence, guest artists and mentors, as well as field trips.

By Jack Nicas

The future of Somerville’s music scene came together on Friday for the Somerville Band Camp’s final concert at the Kennedy School. Students, ranging from a 5-year-old violinist to a 77-year-old cellist, showcased their talents to teachers, friends and family in a packed cafeteria. The concert followed two weeks of intensive training for almost every instrument imaginable, including a sousaphone.

By Matthew McLaughlin

When commuters ride the rails of Boston, they may make references to ‚ÄúCharlie of the MTA‚Äù and ‚Äúriding the T.‚Äù But most don’t realize one Portuguese American snuck a piece of his heritage onto every train in the country.

Fatima Soares said Portuguese immigrants first came to America as far back as the 1800’s, when whaling and fishing jobs attracted people from the nation famous for sailing. Several periods of unrest and a volcano eruption in the Azores increased immigration to places such as Massachusetts and California, where one anonymous Portuguese American working on trains contributed to the American vernacular, she said.