As
I hope everybody knows by now, President Obama has declared the H1N1
flu outbreak a national emergency. (There's more about President – and
former Somerville resident – Obama at the end of this column.) That's
an important step for public health planners and administrators around
the country -and an upgrade from the "public health emergency"
declaration back in April. As a practical matter, it gives hospital
officials more authority to separate flu patients from other patients,
to set up special emergency areas aimed solely at treating flu, to
fast-track the purchase of supplies, and to reduce bureaucratic
restrictions on local actions. According to federal officials, the
declaration was "preemptive:" most states don't need it yet, but now
it's there if they do.

Late last week, the Massachusetts
Department of Public Health (MADPH) also acknowledged that H1N1 is now
"widespread" in the Commonwealth. Here in Somerville, we've already had
a few cases of flu (both H1N1 and seasonal), although we're a long way
from emergency mode. But all of the media attention has got everybody
on edge – and it hasn't helped that vaccines for both H1N1 and seasonal
flu have been in far shorter supply than the federal government
originally predicted. That's forced Somerville and quite a few other
communities to cancel previously scheduled vaccination clinics – and
it's forced us to delay rescheduling until we have more reliable
information about when shipments of seasonal and H1N1 vaccine will
arrive.

Our City Health Department receives regular updates on
the vaccine supply chain from MADPH and U.S. Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention. We will reschedule clinics as soon as we have
the supplies we need. (For the latest updates, call 311 or visit
www.somervillema.gov.) We expect that we will eventually have enough
vaccine of both types to handle the demand, though those of us not in
the priority groups will need to be patient while those most at risk to
develop the serious complications associated with each of these types
of flu are vaccinated as soon as possible.

Here are a few crucial facts to keep in mind:

• Most people recover from the flu (both kinds) with no after effects.

•
The cases leading to serious complications are almost always in
patients that already have underlying health problems that make them
more susceptible.

• Since the large majority of those who suffer
from H1N1 influenza are recovering without incident, MADPH is no longer
trying to do routine "confirmatory" testing of everyone who gets the
flu. They are continuing to watch for cases that end up requiring
hospital care, but

• Very few cases require hospitalization.

•
Once vaccine is available, you should get vaccinated. Seasonal and H1N1
influenza season will be with us for many months to come.

•
Private sources for vaccines tend to be slightly better equipped right
now. If you can get a shot from your doctor, from a clinic at CVS,
Wal-Mart, Stop and Shop or from other provider – and you're willing and
able to pay – go ahead. (Just another reminder of how our current
health care system fails us: private insurance systems ration access to
vaccine not on the basis of comparative risk or vulnerability – which
would also help keep flu from spreading ¬- but on the basis of who can
afford to pay.)

It's also important to remember that, even if
you have to wait for your vaccination, there are several very effective
prevention measures that you can take immediately to protect yourself
and your family:

• Wash your hands often and thoroughly Рand use hand sanitizer if you don't have access to soap and water.

• Avoid touching your nose, mouth or eyes.

• Cover your cough, but use your elbow instead of your hands.

And
finally, the best thing you can do if you have flu-like symptoms is to
isolate yourself to prevent further spread of the flu: Stay home from
work or school or other activities where you'll be interacting with
lots of people until at least 24 hours after your fever has subsided
without the use of fever reducing medications like aspirin, ibuprofen
or acetaminophen (Tylenol).

You can visit the City of Somerville
website and click on the "influenza update" alert to find out more –
and if you haven't already done so, please also go to the website or
call 311 to find out how to pick up your free City of Somerville
prescription drug discount card. Somerville is the first Massachusetts
community to offer this discount card program, which was developed by
the National League of Cities and has already been a huge success.

And
now, to close on a completely different note, I want to report that
President Obama had very kind words to say about Somerville when I saw
him last Friday during his one-day trip to Boston. I hadn't met the
President before, so this was my chance to give him his Somerville 2009
All America City Pin and tell him how proud we are that he lived here
during his years at Harvard Law School. His reply was, "Mayor, I want
you to know that your city treated me very well during my time there."
His good memories of Somerville are a tribute to our community spirit –
and a reminder that courtesy and neighborliness make a lasting
impression. It's just great to have a President who knows firsthand
that Somerville Rocks!

The victim, a Cambridge resident, was
transported to an area hospital with "multiple trauma," Deputy Police
Chief Paul Upton said.

The driver has not been charged.

The sewer project that has
riddled Somerville Avenue for the past few years is drawing to a close,
and slated to be finished this spring. The next question is how to
decorate the square? There will be new asphalt, brick trimmed sidewalks
and street lamps (which are already installed). Now all the square
needs is some tender loving care.

Thus, Union Square Main
Streets (USMS) just created Project Beautification, to bat around ideas
that people would like to see in place. The group of about ten
residents will meet once a month to see what possibilities would work
in Union Square.

USMS Executive Director Mimi Graney told the
group on Tuesday that there isn't any money in the budget at this point
for more flowers and trees, but the group can formulate a design plan
to bring to the city. Project Beautification plans will focus on Union
Square, but may migrate a bit up Somerville Avenue towards Porter
Square.

Currently, USMS conducts a spring and fall clean-up,
and created an adopt-a-planter program last Spring. Project
Beautification may be able to incorporate any ideas into the other two
programs, Graney said.

The residents, many of who liked to
garden, and two of whom are designers, liked the idea of adding
planters and more flowers to the square. They talked about the
Magnificent Mile in Chicago, which features thematic designs. They
batted around ideas for shapes of planters, or adding planters that are
attached to benches.

Whatever the group decides to do, it has
to work with the dynamics of Union Square. Graney threw in the idea to
have some kind of identification for Union Square, similar to how
Porter Square features the kinetic sculpture. Examples of this are
awnings, banners, or a logo motif (e.g., Davis Square has the rotary
logo).

A resident said it would be nice to involve the schools in the square, by having students create mosaics, for example.

People agreed that Union Square needs more maps, as the roads are often not marked and confusing.

They
also talked about the "dead zones" in the square, such as the cobbled
space by the Somerville Community Access Television building. That area
features sidewalks that make pedestrians feel as if they will fall over
into the frenzied traffic. How do we soften that feeling by adding
lights, a bench, a bike rack, or a semi-circular sitting area? they
pondered.

That area would also be nice for regularly-scheduled public art, to be rotated on a routine basis.

The
group closed its first meeting by assigning various people to research
planters, traffic island ideas, benches, and examples from other cities
to help narrow down ideas.

For more information or to get involved, you can contact Graney at mimi@unionsquaremain.org.

***************

Congratulations
to Rose Nolan of Sillari Realty again for her award from the Somerville
Homeless Coalition this coming Friday 11:30 at the Highland Kitchen.
Rose, a lifelong resident, certainly deserves this, their first, "Tina
Delellis Award."

***************

The Annual Meeting of
CAAS will be this Thursday night at the Somerville City Club at 6:30.
The agency does a lot of good work for the low income here in
Somerville and has been doing a great job now for about 20 odd years or
so.

***************

Somerville Rotary Club's 2009 Charity
Event will be at Giggles Comedy Club in Saugus on Route 1 – this
Thursday, the 29th – President Tony Pierantozzi is planning this along
with Eugene Brune and Gilda Nogueira – for information and tickets,
call 617-679-6310.

***************

We congratulate the
Little Sister's of the Poor for all their hard work they have done here
in Somerville for many years. Recently the Pope canonized Mother
Foundress Saint Jeanne Juggan in Rome.

***************

Public
Hearing coming up in November on the 18th at Somerville High School on
the Green Line Extension Project – to discuss the Draft Environmental
Impact Report/ Environmental Assessment.

***************

Get
well to Paul Carroll of Carroll Roofers who is recovering from hip
surgery in the hospital, Paul is a great guy and we wish him well.

***************

Also
get well to Fran Owens our own Miss Senior Massachusetts who was down
in New Jersey and in competition when she fell and had to be taken to
the hospital and had emergency operation on some fractures. Good news
is she's back in Mass and recuperating and doing much better, our best
wishes for a speedy recovery.

***************

Popular
Ward 2 Alderwoman Maryann Heuston is having a fundraiser this Thursday
the 29th at the LaHacienda – at 56 Medford Street – as usual, we are
sure she will be packing the house again this year – our best to a
great Alderwoman.

Representatives
from East Somerville Neighbors for Change, the Affordable Housing
Commission, Save Our Somerville and the Somerville Transportation
Equity Partnership asked all five alderman-at-large candidates, Ward 6
Alderman Rebekah Gewirtz, Ward 6 challenger James Campano and Ward 1
Alderman Bill Roche questions on the Green Line, progress on the
rebuilding of the East Somerville Community School and job creation.

All of the candidates' answers are available in English, Spanish and Portuguese at www.somervillecdc.org

"In these tough economic
times, I think we have to make hard decisions and look at where we can
save money," Roche said at the Oct. 22 Board of Aldermen meeting.
"We've got to move forward with the facts and know what we're dealing
with."

Roche submitted an order asking Superintendent Anthony
Pierantozzi for an update, pointing out that the building has no
auditorium or cafeteria and is not accessible to persons with
disabilities.

"We can't be cutting services and laying people off when we have a school building that possibly shouldn't be there," he added.

Ward
6 Alderman Rebekah Gewirtz was quick to defend the school as the most
cost-effective in the city and a "hub" for the surrounding community.

"I
don't think we should be targeting individual schools," Gewirtz said.
"I frankly don't think it's the role of the Board of Alderman."

Alderman-at-Large Bruce Desmond, Dennis Sullivan and Bill White joined Gewirtz in voting against the order, which passed 7-4. (in error, we reported Dennis Sullivan voted in favor of the order)

"I
knew this wasn't going to be a popular resolution — I didn't expect it
to be," Roche said, adding that he wouldn't mind if other members
wanted to look at schools in Ward 1. "I think people shouldn't be
afraid of the study, and let the results be what they are."

Before
the vote, Ward 4 Alderman Walter Pero urged Brown School parents to
keep their kids out of the debate. As the board's School Committee
representative, he said he was frustrated that parents put their
children in front of the committee to lobby against cutting the sixth
grade from the school earlier this year.

"It changes the analysis from being objective," Pero said. "As adults, it makes it really difficult to say no to the kids."

"I'm sure (the parents) will be forming their lobbying plans tomorrow," he added.

The
meeting was barely over before Brown School parent Paula Woolley sent
an e-mail to other parents warning that the possibility of the Brown
School closing was back on the table. Woolley told the parents to wait
until the Nov. 4 School Committee meeting before worrying too much
about Roche's request, however.

Woolley added later she hopes the board will trust the judgment of the school system and the School Committee.

"Every
year that there's a budget crisis, (the School Committee members)
really have been thoughtful with what they've been doing," she said.
"I'm not becoming alarmed by this news because I feel they made it
clear they didn't want to cut educational programs. I think the BOA
needs to respect that they have a job to do and they do it well."

The
worst part about trick or treating was trying to fit that flimsy
costume over your bulky winter coat if it was cold out – but it didn't
stop us from having a blast. I can't begin to tell you how much my
son's mask and accessories set me back this year. It's shameful. My
justification was how excited he got when he put on the get-up and wore
it to a classmates costume party.

The old Ben Cooper costumes
came in that small box with the cellophane covered opening so you could
see the mask. The mask was the thinnest possible plastic available at
the time. It had the skinny elastic held in place by putting the little
metal ends through the holes in the mask. I often ended up breaking the
elastic. Sometimes the holes in the mask would split and spread open.
Dad would have to make a new hole or tape the hell out it. I'm pretty
sure the wool hat Mom made me wear under the mask helped break the
elastics. That combined with the fact that I had a pretty big head to
begin with.

Those costumes were okay except for the fact that
the masks only covered the front of your face. Your hair, ears, head
and neck were exposed. For us kids, those costumes were great.
Woolworths and WT Grants were our Halloween Costume headquarters.

I'll
never forget those houses where you would get a handful of loose,
unwrapped popcorn dropped into your sack. Sometimes it would be a few
pennies scattered over the Milky Ways and Three Musketeers bars.

Here are some of my friend's recollections of Somerville Halloweens of yesterday:


Those were the days. There were so many houses to go to, and your
parents didn't have to worry about any houses to stay away from. And
the candy bars were BIG. We used to fill up our bags, go home and dump
them out, then head out again for more. I had so much candy one year, I
still had some left in January.

ÔÄ≠ The Healey School Parades –
all the kids in the school would dress in costumes and walk some of the
streets. The kids loved seeing some of the teachers in costumes and all
the parents would stand on the sidewalks cheering and taking pictures.
Did anyone else carry noisemakers such as metal clickers or spinners?


It was a tradition to go to Nana & Nonno's house on Westwood Road
so they could give us an apple with a quarter inside! Hey, what can I
say, it was the 50's.

 When it rained we still went out Рas
"fishermen" with yellow slickers and those wide yellow hats. We
finished our small block and then went out to Cedar Street to the
triple deckers – 3 times the candy in one house!

 I actually
don't have any memories, but I do know that the late Bobby "Boris"
Pickett who wrote and recorded "Monster Mash" was from Somerville. He
grew up watching horror movies at his father's movie theater and got
the idea to imitate Boris Karloff, which inspired him to write Monster
Mash.

 My mom dated Bobby "Boris" Pickett when she was younger.


My favorite Halloween memory was that apartment building on the corner
of Park and College next to the library. It was all elderly people and
they used to come down into the lobby where they had a table set up.
They gave us doughnuts and real apple cider. Sometimes if you had a
really good costume-they would ask you to go upstairs to show someone
who could not make it down to the lobby – can you image anything like
that today? We also used the "go home, dump and run policy" to re-fill
our bags. The Woodbridge Inn (formerly on College Ave where Ciampa
manor is now) also gave donuts and cider.

 There was an elderly
couple somewhere in our neighborhood (Francesca and College Ave area),
they made the taffy themselves and when they ran out they would
apologize and offer you either some homemade cookies or a quarter.

 You guys lived in the rich neighborhood. We only got pennies.


The old days are alive and well in my neighborhood (Lexington Ave)…we
have so many Trick or Treaters we can barely keep up with them. We've
counted as many as 200! I agree with everyone's memories above about
hitting as many streets as you could and filling pillow cases with
candy. We always had home-made costumes, none of these plastic things
with a big picture on the front of the box of who you were supposed to
be! In my neighborhood, all of the kids visited the drugstore on Summer
between Belmont and Lowell (I'll get back to you with the name I'm
drawing a blank). The owner gave out candy, but also took a picture of
every group of kids who came in. Then after Halloween, he hung all of
the pictures in the store. It was so much fun to go up and look at all
of the pictures and find yourself in one of them!

 One grown up
trick or treater recalled: "Some of the things we did on Halloween (as
kids) could still get us jail time today! Thank God we could run fast
in those days!"

 Halloween back then was GREAT! My Dad would
dress us up in his clothes. Sometimes we would be hobos and my brother
was even a bride one year! We would fill up our pillow cases a few
times. We would go to every house and every street we could think of,
and when we got to the houses you would have to wait on the sidewalk
because there were so many kids packed on the porches. We would go
home, where my parents would check and make sure the candy was okay,
then my sister and brothers would trade candy! My mother would put the
candy in our empty costume boxes write our names on them and we'd have
candy for months! I miss those days!

Thanks to all my Somerville
friends for sharing their Halloween memories. Now hit the streets, and
remember to be careful. There are always those idiots who drive too
fast on Halloween. A word to the wise: Slow down. I may have a
pocketful of grade A's!

Don't forget to check out the Post
Meridian Radio Players presentation of The Big Broadcast of 1938 – a
Halloween spectacular at the Somerville Theatre. The production will
feature a comedy: "The Frank Cyrano Byfar Hour" that's billed as "a
lost classic from Boston radio history." There will also be a
presentation of the Orson Welles classic, "The War of the Worlds,"
rewritten so the action is set in Boston. Watch for my small role as
Massachusetts Governor Hurley. The performances, with live orchestra
and awesome sound effects, will run October 29-31 at 8:00pm with a
special 2:00pm matinée on the 31st. Tickets are available online at
http://bb1938.com/tickets_info.html. You can email Jimmy directly at
jimmydel@rcn.com.

International Climate Day was founded by 350.org,
a grassroots organization whose name and mission reflect the scientific
claim that the safe limit for atmospheric C02 is 350 parts per million.
According to their website, the earth is currently at 387. The
worldwide event was created as a way to raise awareness about climate
change and C02 levels, and strategically falls less than 2 months ahead
of the 2009 U.N. Climate talks in Copenhagen. 350.org is pushing for a
more ambitious version of the climate treaty, one that they hope will
make carbon emissions costly enough to bring CO2 levels under 350, but
without stifling the progress of developing countries.

"The
vision behind 350 was that instead of a single march on Washington,
every community can do something useful to raise awareness" Vanessa
Rule, an organizer from the Somerville Climate Action (SCA), said of
the approach. Somerville was one of the many communities in 181
reported countries that participated in International Climate Day.

Maureen
Barnillo, the SCA volunteer who organized the ride, spoke to the
participants before their departure from Prospect Hill about the
appropriateness of the historic site. "We'll follow the path of freedom
fighters before us, starting here at Prospect Hill," she said, "we now
need our own revolutionaries who will stand up and fight against our
dependence on fossil fuels."

Barnillo just got rid of her own
car, replacing it with more frequent bike rides and a Zip Car
membership. "But safety and comfort is an issue," she said of her
reluctance to bike on snow and ice. Since biking is not always a viable
option for everyone, she hopes that the city will come up with other
green alternatives to encourage people to put down their car keys.
"We're an 'All-American City', we need to be coming up with our own
innovations" she said. Last year at ArtBeat's "Future of Somerville"
contest, Barnillo submitted an idea for a trolley that went around the
Somerville loop and charged less than the T, encouraging residents to
take public transportation for shorter trips, where they might see
driving as more practical. Anyone who has handed over $1.50 for a two
mile bus trip from, say, Union Square to Davis Square, might see the
appeal of such an alternative.

"The ride went really well,"
said Barnillo afterward, "we just had one flat tire." The group
included recreational bikers, bike commuters, and even one former
competitive cyclist, Constantine Psimopoulos, who was there with his
wife Calliopi Dourou-Psimopoulos.

Barnillo and Ron Newman of
the Somerville Bicycle Committee led the way way from Union Square to
Christopher Columbus Park on Boston Harbor, passing through freedom
trail sites including Bunker Hill, Copp's Hill Burying Ground, and the
U.S.S. Constitution.

On Oct. 11, a man robbed a woman at knifepoint and
assaulted her in the Market Basket parking lot. While a police officer
on duty was on the scene within moments of the attack, Heuston said the
lack of security cameras in the parking lot and crowding are a public
safety issue. Police are still searching for the assailant.

At
the Oct. 22 Board of Aldermen meeting, Heuston passed a resolution
asking for the company's management to explain itself to the board.

"They
are an enormously successful enterprise, and I think that the fact that
they can't manage that parking lot is unconscionable," she said. "If
anyone had a heart attack in that parking lot they would be dead,
because you can't get an ambulance in there."

Heuston added that
the constantly busy parking detracts from the long-awaited completion
of infrastructure improvements along Somerville Avenue.

"(After a) $25 million Somerville Avenue project, we've still got Market Basket wreaking havoc at that location," Heuston said.

The resolution passed unanimously.