Officers and members of King Solomon’s Lodge, A.F. & A.M. at the annual rededication ceremony of the original monument at Bunker Hill. Wor. James Norton, presiding Master, led the event and then afterward attendees went to dinner at the Warren Tavern – where King Solomon’s Lodge first met when formed by Paul Revere in 1783 – King Solomon’s Lodge is celebrating their 225th Anniversary this year in conjunction with the 275th Anniversary of the Grand Lodge of Masons in Massachusetts. King Solomon’s Lodge is located at 125 Highland Avenue, Somerville.

New Police Chief Anthony Holloway is getting rave reviews from some of the toughest critics around – Somerville police officers. That hard-working but divisive bunch that rarely agree on anything. Even those who have been quick to criticize department leadership in the past concede he is a hands on, fair cop with a plan to bring true community policing back to Somerville neighborhoods.

‚ÄúHe’s a real cop,‚Äù is how one officer put it shortly after Holloway took over in January. Before he officially started the job he already did what few chiefs have done here. Called the first outsider to lead the department, he was the first top cop to actually live in the city during his tenure in recent memory.

But while the verdict seems to be in on his character and dedication, Holloway’s reorganization of the police department has yet to be tested. The goal sounds right – build better relations with the community – and so do the methods: getting police out of the cruiser and into the neighborhoods. But ask any veteran officer and they will tell you each new administration has had a grand plan to cure the ills of the Somerville Police Department. How many were successful?

By Jack Nicas 

A gang of 27 singing seniors came to Somerville Friday for their Boston-area concert debut. It was the second show of the Young at Heart Chorus tour, aptly titled ‚ÄúAlive and Well.‚Äù They don’t evoke the ghosts of their era, such as Glen Miller or Duke Ellington. Instead, the 72 to 88 year old performers cover tunes by the likes of the Ramones, Lou Reed and Coldplay.

The chorus was started in 1982 in the Walter Salvo house, an elderly housing development in Northampton. Bob Cilman, executive director of the Northampton Arts Council, took on the task of organizing and directing the band of playful performers.

Somerville police begin aggressive approach before summer

By George P. Hassett

Patrick Hayes was wanted for violating a restraining order when police drove into Foss Park, scattering day laborers waiting for work to the side, and cuffed him, cigarette still in his mouth, Boston Herald in hand. Cathleen McCarthy had warrants for driving negligently, speeding and leaving the scene of property damage before police led her past the well-kept lawn and white picket fence of her Hudson Street home Tuesday morning in handcuffs.

The arrests were part of a new initiative from Police Chief Anthony Holloway and the Somerville Police Department: To crack down on violent and repeat offenders in the city before the summer starts.

By Matthew McLaughlin

When school was over and the summer began, Nicholas Peters and David Martini would spend countless hours at Kelly Park playing stickball. Their lives were tragically cut short, but their memories live on at a memorial stickball tournament this Saturday.

Shayna Peters, Nick’s sister, said she wanted to remember her brother and close friend not how they died, but rather how they lived, enjoying the everyday life of the city they loved.

“I hope it can bring the community together for something other than a funeral or a wake,” she said.

The city’s annual Independence Day celebrations kick off at Trum Field at 6:15 tonight with live entertainment from the Sunsetters and the USO. After the song and dance, the fireworks hit the sky at 9:15.

By Matthew McLaughlin

City and state officials last week unveiled a proposed land-swap between Somerville and the commonwealth of Massachusetts that will bring the city closer to revitalizing Assembly Square.

Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone and State Sen. Pat Jehlen, D-Somerville, along with representatives of Federal Realty Investment Trust (FRIT), the principal owner and developer at Assembly Square, unveiled a plan to exchange waterfront land currently run by the Department of Conservation and Recreation with land currently used for boat storage. The presentation took place by the Mystic River on DCR land. A large portion of grassy area was roped in to emphasize the amount of green space the city would acquire.

Don‚Äôt forget the Fireworks at Trum Field this Thursday starting at 6:30pm with a show from the Sunsetters, several other groups and of course the USO Metropolitan performers. Fireworks are set to begin at 9:15pm. This year the city will have a longer show thanks to some local businesses. Mayor Joe and his administration do a wonderful job each year on this. Also Family Day on Saturday June 28 is once again at Trum Field.    

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Interesting turn of events at the hearing for the Craigie Street condos that are being proposed by Alderman Sean O‚ÄôDonovan. We hear he wasn‚Äôt pleased that two of Mike Capuano‚Äôs relatives were there to oppose to the development. Seems like there were more non-neighbors at the hearing in favor than neighbors.   

Two accomplices arrested in drive by, police searching for gunman “Heido”

By George P. Hassett

A drive-by shooting that injured a 16-year-old Somerville boy June 12 could have been retaliation for a stabbing at Foss Park weeks earlier, according to two police sources. Both incidents, according to the sources, involve members of the MS-13 and Bloods street gangs.

Officers arrested two alleged MS-13 members in connection with the drive by June 18. Santos Pleitez, 21, was the driver of the car and Salvador Yanez, 22, was a passenger, police said. But the gunman Jairo Ulises Miguel, 19, remained free as of Tuesday, police said.

By Jack Nicas

Peter Lenrow is the current director of the Somerville Mental Health Association and has been a clinical psychologist with the organization for 25 years; more than half of the 44 years it has served the city of Somerville “through comprehensive, highly-integrated, community-based services.”

Lenrow was the guest at the June 13 Somerville News contributors’ meeting and said that Somerville Mental Health gives priority to ‚Äúpeople with problems of poverty and/or mental health and/or substance abuse.‚Äù