Co-founder, Shaunalynn Duffy Co-founder Alec Resnick. Photos courtesy of Sprout.

By Julia Fairclough

Abbe Cohen went to the carriage house at 339 R Summer St. for two reasons. She wanted to see how she could expose her four-year-old daughter to science in a kid-friendly way, and she was also curious as to what Sprout was all about.

A write-up in the local business magazine Somerville Scout was enough to tell her that Sprout was a collective of community scientists, "united by a passion for playful experimentation and a desire to become better learners, teachers and doers."

Cohen, an engineer herself experienced in robotics, was pleased to find out that all it took was giving Sprout a call, and then showing up to chat.

Co-founders and friends from MIT, Alec Resnick, Michael Nagle and Shaunalynn Duffy — all in their 20s — aim to work with the community to hold science forums as a supplement to higher education. They hope to meet people in offices or homes, libraries, coffee shops, schools, or wherever a group asking to learn from them would prefer.

"People have different relationships to science; they are either a grad student, have done some studying, or have a passion for it and want to learn but don't really understand it," Resnick said. "We are really about finding a group of people to learn with, and finding a group of people to learn from."

For example, schools prototyping new ideas can work with Sprout, or a group of people who want to invite Sprout into their home to talk about the scientific aspects to cooking. If someone, after taking a science class, wants to learn more about DNA, they can call Sprout. If people want to learn more about Wikipedia searches, they can ask Sprout to join them for a learning session at Diesel Café. The possibilities are endless, Resnick said.

When meeting with Cohen the other morning, Resnick asked what she envisioned. Cohen admitted she didn't have a ready-made idea. She has worked in consulting since becoming a mother, and is out of the loop with science as education.

Resnick talked about one of his newest projects. He is working with Green City Growers, a Somerville business that installs raised garden beds in peoples' back yards. Resnick is creating a suite of programs for Green City Growers to obtain a better sense of how to best grow food. He is using censors to collect data for soil activity, such as moisture and amount of sunlight.

"Our goal is to make gardens a learning experience from a scientific angle for those who don't know about pH, for example, and want to learn more about the data," Resnick said.

The conversation with Cohen went on from there, before finishing up by discussing possible connections with other Somerville organizations and companies, as well as Sprout's upcoming "fix-it night," where people will bring something to fix or repurpose and "tinker socially."

Resnick, who studied at MIT and then left during his senior year, said Sprout is an evolution of his dream to start a community college. He got the idea for Sprout from a friend, who started an invention workshop. Resnick thought that was a good model for science.

Sprout's founders have varied resumes. Among other projects, Resnick has helped schools build hardware to measure temperature and run after school programs for the Community Charter School of Cambridge. Nagle also teaches after school programs, and began a day camp for students called Camp Kaleidoscope in Cambridge in 2006.

Duffy, meanwhile, is active in the arts and performance scene in Cambridge and Somerville and is currently running a creative math class for home schooled and public school students at Sprout. In addition to teaching, she worked with a New York City-based theater company specializing in street performance and puppet theater.

Duffy noted that out of the three of them, she is coming from the most humanities-based background.

"What is exciting to me is that for a long time, even while at MIT, I felt like I wasn't a technical person, or a person who could learn programming," she said. "A lot of this is gender and cultural around technical stuff."

But what is exciting for Duffy is that she is interested in scientific investigation, which led her to master programming and basic research. Her angle is to make science more story-driven instead of what is often incomprehensible for people without science backgrounds.

For example, Duffy is mixing performance with science. Sprout runs a series of Spaghetti dinners, and for an upcoming dinner on Nov. 19 (at 7:30 p.m. at the Sprout headquarters) she will invite a friend, Peter Buchak, an accomplished accordion player. Buchak will play and then talk about how air flows over an accordion reed, but without the scientific equations involved. He'll also show videos of models he has built to help illustrate the science involved.

"I play clarinet, a reeded instrument, and always wondered how this piece of wood made sound," Duffy said. "I'm excited to see how people respond to this."

Sprout's office on Summer Street is open to the public, and anyone is free to come in and use equipment. They're working to get the community education programs up and running, which Resnick hopes will be supported by some programs having a sliding scale participation cost so that programming is available free of charge to those who need it.

"In the long run, I want to open up resources that are in the community as much as possible," Resnick said.

Information on upcoming events and class information is available at www. thesprouts.org.

Raw pie prepared by Nina Manolson A green smoothie ~Photos by Joel Benjamin

By Meghan Frederico

There's something cooking at Nina Manolson's home in Somerville. Or not. The oven in her kitchen goes largely unused, and there is no microwave in sight, but her kitchen is the epicenter of her business and family.

Manolson is a proponent of raw food, or "live food," prepared without heating anything over 115 degrees.

Proponents say preparing food this way doesn't destroy enzymes like cooking does, and that the results include a host of health benefits, including better digestion, increased energy levels and anti-inflammatory effects.

"The top health problems are related to inflammation," Manolson said, citing arthritis, cancer and diabetes as examples.

Relying on a high-powered blender and a dehydrator to prepare meals is a shift for most people, so Manolson's food classes are geared toward making raw and unprocessed foods fit easily into people's lives, and she says that once people learn how to do it, the time spent on food preparation can be dramatically reduced.

"The hardest part of eating well is the hunting and gathering," Nina said of the importance of keeping your fridge stocked with healthy foods, "what I do is give people the tools so that they are ready to make healthy living a reality."

As a part of her business, Body Alive Body Aware, Manolson shares her health and food preparation knowledge through a variety of classes, a blog and a monthly newsletter. Nina teaches food classes in her own kitchen to show people that it can be done without "the perfect kitchen and tons of gadgets."

This reporter had a chance to get a raw food demo and see Manolson in action in her kitchen. The only out of the ordinary gadgets were a high-power blender and a food dehydrator, which can be used to harden batter without baking. Otherwise, Manolson works mostly by hand.

"I'm about making it doable in your real life," she says as she pulls peeled bananas, mango chunks and cherries from her freezer and tosses them into her blender. When her children, ages 7 and 10, ask for ice cream, this is what they get. Manolson says there are no complaints because they are involved in making the food.

In Manolson's kitchen, her approach appeals to both kids and adults alike. It resembles an art project, a curiosity-driven excursion drawing on a palette of fresh and colorful foods.

Raw cooking allows experimentation, she says, because you aren't changing the foods.

"You know what you are getting, and you can taste it at any point and see what it needs," Manolson says as she tests an agave-sweetened mixture of cashew, cacao nib, and coconut water in the blender, deciding that it needs some banana. She tests it again. "Now it's banana chocolate pudding!"

Manolson developed her craft while working as a massage therapist – she also has a master's degree in counseling psychology. In addition to her food lessons, Manolson works as a certified holistic health counselor and helps clients develop a lifestyle that includes more healthy and satisfying food.

For her own diet, Manolson says she eats mostly raw food.

"I don't believe in perfect food," she said. "It makes you feel like you aren't doing it right."

Manolson tells her clients to find the balance that works for them, and it may involve varying percentages of raw foods in their diet. "Our bodies are constantly giving us feedback," she said. "We just have to listen".

Manolson's next Introduction to Raw Food course is Saturday, Oct, 24. More information is available at www.bodyalivebodyaware.com

Mayor Joseph Curtatone and Police Chief Anthony Holloway announced that the Somerville Police Department has taken delivery on a new Incident Command vehicle. The vehicle was converted from an ambulance donated by Cataldo Ambulance Company of Somerville. Painting and equipping the vehicle for its new role was paid for through a $20,000 grant from the Commonwealth Security Trust Fund. The command vehicle has been equipped to provide radio communications with local and area Police and Fire agencies as well as the Department of Public Works. It is also offers two laptop stations for use by incident commanders, and carries a portable generator and lighting, expandable roadway barriers and safety vests.

Chief Holloway expressed his appreciation to Cataldo Ambulance Service for this generous donation, providing the Somerville Police Department with its first-ever mobile command unit. "This vehicle will enable local officials to operate more efficiently at the scene of an emergency or at a local public event, and I sincerely thank Cataldo Ambulance Service for this very generous donation," said Chief Holloway.

By Tom Nash

Somerville Police Chief Anthony Holloway is among 12 candidates for the police chief opening in Clearwater, Fla.

Holloway began his career as a Clearwater patrol officer and served with the department for 22 years before leaving for Somerville in 2007.

According to the Times, the city will be flying in the 12 candidates from across the country to interview for the position.

Tom Champion, Mayor Joseph Curtatone's communications director, said three years remain on Holloway's contract and that the mayor has yet to address the possibility of Holloway moving back to Clearwater.

"Obviously Chief Holloway has gotten off to an extraordinary start in Somerville," Champion said. "He's doing a tremendous job and there's more work to be done. We'd be delighted if he stays on to do it."

Sid Klein, the outgoing Clearwater police chief, will be retiring from the department after serving in the position for 28 years. The police chief salary there is $116,628. Holloway makes $165,000 a year.

Holloway did not immediately respond to a phone call seeking comment.

Matt Lavallee supports Sherman Market's mission of grown locally, fresh tasting. ~Photo by Julia Fairclough

By Julia Fairclough

"Just smell this tomato," Matt Lavallee said, holding out the crimson-colored fruit, and breathing deeply. "You can really smell the stem, which means it's fresh from the farm."

Lavallee was bent over the morning shipment of tomatoes and fresh lettuces (Pete's Greens) and herbs from one of the local distributors that come to Sherman Market, which Karyn Coughlin and Ben Dryer, the owners of Sherman Café, just opened.

The market is around the corner from the popular café in the heart of Union Square that the husband-and-wife pair opened nearly six years ago.

"I like the mission of local food and bringing it to the square," Lavallee said. "It's good for the local economy. I trust the food. It brings good food into peoples' hands."

Sherman Market sells only organic and farm-fresh foods, from New England, upstate New York and lower Canada. It offers everything from produce, to meat, eggs, chips, jellies and its real specialty-unique and labor-intensive cheeses.

The Sherman Market features Baley Hazen blue, alpine style varieties, Great Hill Blue (delectable and creamy), triple cremé, and chevres. Lavallee likes a Cabot cheddar that is bound in cloth rather than wax, as is traditional of English cheddars.

"The cheese case is definitely the most exciting part," Lavallee said as he gave a tour. "I want to search for even more hidden gems."

In addition to lamb shank from Charlton and organic tofu made in Vermont, Lavallee sells herbs by weight so customers won't be faced with buying an unwieldy bunch.

Coughlin said that she had Dryer were thinking of ways to expand Sherman Café, a cozy space that sits on Washington Street. When the spot around the corner opened up, they grabbed it, without really having a plan. They played with various ideas, such as more seating for Sherman.

They ultimately decided on the market, a natural outgrowth of what they do, since they use mainly local ingredients for the homemade specialties at the café. They said it's getting easier to work with local foods as more distributors are in the local networks. There's more awareness and appreciation for local foods, Coughlin said.

Union Square residents, as well as people from all over Somerville, have embraced the farmers markets here, she added.

The challenge with buying local is the sticker shock. A bottle of fresh Thatcher Milk is $5.50, Coughlin said it comes down to a customer's priorities.

Coughlin believes more Somerville residents are seeing the value in buying higher quality products, especially from local businesses. She took a sabbatical from her role on the board of directors of Somerville Local First to open the store.

"There are more and more groups doing similar efforts with making Somerville more sustainable," Coughlin said.

Sherman Market is located at 22 Union Square. It is open from 10 a.m. – 8 p.m.

WOBURN – The former Middlesex County Register of Probate has pleaded guilty to two separate schemes in which he stole thousands in taxpayer money and more than $100,000 in campaign funds, Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley and Middlesex District Attorney Gerry Leone announced today.

John R. Buonomo, 57, of Newton, pleaded guilty today in Woburn Superior Court to charges brought in separate cases by the Attorney General's Office and the Middlesex District Attorney's Office. Sentencing has been scheduled for November 9 at 2 p.m.

The charges that he pleaded guilty to in connection with the theft of campaign funds were:

• Larceny over $250 (2 counts),

• Personal Use of Campaign Funds (2 counts)

• Willfully Misleading Investigators

The charges that he pleaded guilty to in connection with the theft of public monies were:

• Breaking and entering into a depository with intent to commit a larceny (18 counts)

• Theft of public property by a city/town/county officer (eight counts)

• Larceny under $250 (eight counts)

"It is troubling that this elected official would violate the trust bestowed in him by committing these brazen thefts – crimes that he has now admitted to with today's plea," District Attorney Leone said. "I want to thank the Secretary of State's Office, the Registry of Deeds, the Trial Court, and the Chief Justice for Administration and Management for their cooperation during this investigation. I also want to commend the members of our PACT Unit for their comprehensive investigation, including the installation of surveillance cameras to capture the crimes committed on tape, that built the irrefutable proof that led to this plea."

Buonomo engaged in two separate schemes that resulted in the theft of public monies and campaign funds. An outline of both schemes follows:

Theft of public monies

On August 6, 2008, Buonomo was arrested by State Police assigned to the Middlesex District Attorney's PACT Unit. Buonomo, a then county-wide elected official, had engaged in a repeated pattern of stealing cash from copy and money machines at the Office of the Register of Deeds over a period of weeks. Video surveillance cameras installed by the PACT Unit captured the defendant engaged in these acts numerous times during the months of June, July, and August. The Register of Deeds office is located in the same building as the Register of Probate office.

Buonomo resigned from his position as Register of Probate on September 7, 2008.

The investigation began in June 2008 when information was obtained regarding the suspected ongoing theft of monies from numerous copy machines and cash machines within the Registry of Deeds, located at 208 Cambridge Street in Cambridge. The Registry of Deeds had noticed monthly shortages in receipts received from their copy machines estimated to be as much as thousands of dollars over a period of months.

Based on this and other information obtained during a subsequent investigation, the PACT Unit installed video surveillance equipment in the second floor and basement areas of the Registry of Deeds office. During the following weeks, usually at the end of the work day, Buonomo was regularly observed on video accessing the money machines in the basement and second floor of the Registry of Deeds. He was often captured on video removing a stack of dollar bills, counting the money, and then returning a portion of those bills to the machine while pocketing the rest.

Buonomo pleaded guilty to taking cash for himself on at least eight of those occasions. Buonomo had no authority to access the cash machines or copy machines on the Registry of Deeds side of the building nor did he have the authority to remove money from the machines.

After his arrest, Buonomo was arraigned in Cambridge District Court on August 7, 2008, where he pleaded not guilty and was released on personal recognizance. Buonomo was indicted by a Middlesex Superior Grand Jury in connection with these thefts on September 30, 2008, and arraigned in Woburn Superior Court on November 4, 2008, at which point he was released on personal recognizance.

Theft of Campaign Committee Funds

On March 31, 2009, the Attorney General's Office sought and obtained indictments from a Middlesex Grand Jury in connection with Buonomo's theft of more than $100,000 in funds from his campaign committee and using those funds for his own personal use.

In that case, the Office of Campaign and Political Finance (OCPF) began an investigation into suspected violations of campaign finance laws by Buonomo in April 2008. In November 2008, OCPF referred the matter to the Attorney General's Office for enforcement.

The extensive investigation by OCPF revealed that on various dates between December 2004 and July 2008, Buonomo withdrew funds from the Committee to Elect John Buonomo for his personal use. Buonomo allegedly stole these funds using two methods. First, investigators discovered that Buonomo wrote checks to himself from the Committee's account, falsely stating on the checks that he was reimbursing himself for postage he had bought with cash. Second, investigators discovered that Buonomo also stole funds from his campaign account by writing checks from the Committee to a local printing company for fictitious print jobs. Authorities believe that Buonomo wanted to make it appear as though the printing company was printing materials for the campaign, when in actuality these services were never rendered.

During the course of their initial investigation, OCPF found that Buonomo submitted to OCPF forged and altered bank records, forged and altered printing invoices, as well as false written statements he had obtained from postal employees. Investigators believe this was an effort by Buonomo to mislead OCPF and to justify the taking of funds from his Committee.

On April 22, 2009, Buonomo was arraigned on the charges in connection with the campaign committee funds. He pleaded not guilty and was released on personal recognizance.

The case brought by the Attorney General's Office was prosecuted by Assistant Attorney General Marc Jones of Attorney General Martha Coakley's Corruption and Fraud Division, with assistance from Financial Investigator Jessie Julian Dean and Massachusetts State Police assigned to the Attorney General's Office. Sarah Hartry, Legal Counsel for the Office of Campaign and Political Finance also investigated and assisted with this case.

The case brought by Middlesex District Attorney Gerry Leone's Office was prosecuted by John Verner, Chief of the District Attorney's PACT Unit. It was investigated by the Massachusetts State Police assigned to the Middlesex District Attorney's PACT Unit.

People
talk – they have questions, concerns, worries. We all do – it's human
nature. At the 2nd Annual Riverfest last Saturday, we heard a lot of
people talking about a lot of different subjects. Here's a few:

~Photo by Bobbie Toner

By Tom Nash

A
$200,000 price tag on access to the city's parking ticket records has
Ward 6 Alderman Rebekah Gewirtz asking the city to explain its handling
of public records requests.

(L-R)
Thelma Williams, Joey Buizon from Somerville, Antonio Harris and Lynn
Paulson, all from the Massachusetts Commission for the Blind, at a
welcome reception for the Carroll Center for the Blind's new President
Michael Festa, a former State Representative. The Carroll Center for
the Blind is a major provider of rehabilitation and educational
services in the New England area. As president, Festa will be charged
with leading a capital campaign to raise $5 million for the non-profit
organization.