SOMERVILLE_
Somerville Police are seeking to identify the suspect in a brazen armed
robbery that occurred in a busy supermarket parking lot. Shortly before
11:30 Sunday morning, the Somerville Police responded to the parking
lot of the Market Basket located at 400 Somerville Avenue for a report
of an armed robbery. The victim, a 45 year old woman from Somerville,
stated that she pulled into the parking lot of Market Basket just
shortly before 11:30 a.m. As she placed her vehicle in park, the
suspect approached her drivers window and asked for a ride to the
hospital. She told him "no". The victim then observed that the suspect
was holding a large kitchen style knife in his hand.

The
suspect then ran over to the passenger side of her car and jumped into
the passenger seat, before the victim could reach over to lock the
door. Once inside the car, the suspect said "you're gonna give me a
ride", and he reached to grab the victim's pocketbook which was sitting
on the middle console. The victim grabbed her pocketbook and a struggle
ensued inside the car. The victim managed to get her pocketbook and
opened her door and falling onto the ground. The suspect then got out
of the passenger side of the car and ran around to the victim where he
began to punch her repeatedly on the head and back area. The victim was
also kicked in the back and stomach by the suspect as she screamed for
help.

At this point, the victim observed the suspect grab his
knife which had fallen to the ground during the beating. He then
grabbed the victim's pocketbook and fled on foot towards Union Square.
The suspect fled with a small amount of cash which was in her
pocketbook along with her bank ATM card. The victim was bruised and
sore from the attack but was not transported to a hospital

The
description of the suspect was as follows; white male, approximately
25-30 years old, 6'1, thin build, flat top hair cut neatly trimmed
wearing a grey long sleeved shirt with white lettering on the front,
blue jeans and white sneakers.

Anyone who was in the area of the
Market Basket lot shortly before 11:30 a.m. and saw this attack or has
any information about the identity of the suspect, is urged to contact
Somerville Police at 617 625-1212.

. .

Antonio Marcos Ferreira, 38, was arrested today in
Charlestown and charged with first degree murder. He will be arraigned
on Tuesday morning in Malden District Court.

According to
authorities, on Friday, October 2, Everett Police responded to a 911
call which had been made at 4:32 AM reporting a woman with multiple
stab wounds. Police went to 154 Main Street in response to the call and
discovered the victim, later identified as Sheila Dos Santos. She was
pronounced dead at the scene.

The victim was transported to the
Office of the Chief Medical Examiner and an autopsy was performed. The
ME ruled the victim's death a homicide caused by multiple stab wounds.

Everett
Police and Massachusetts State Police assigned to the Middlesex
District Attorney's Office commenced an investigation into the
circumstances of the stabbing.

Based on that investigation, it
is alleged that the defendant stabbed the victim outside her apartment
multiple times earlier in the morning. The defendant and victim dated
off and on until nine months ago when the victim told him she no longer
wanted to date him. The defendant continued to pursue a dating
relationship with the victim, despite her rejection. It is alleged that
the defendant expressed extreme displeasure with her rejection of him,
ultimately stabbing and killing her when she returned home from work
early that morning.

Evidence has placed the defendant in the
vicinity of the murder at the time that it is alleged to have occurred.
DNA evidence has also further connected the defendant with the murder.

These charges are allegations and the defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty.

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Our own Congressman Mike
Capuano, who is seeking the vacant Senate, seat is being seen all over
the state and being received very well…. But, if you would like to
help in any way, they can use volunteers down at headquarters on Third
Street in Cambridge. Would be nice to have the seat filled with Mike,
he will never disappoint you when he wants to get his point across to
you.

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

Happy Birthday this week Nurse Gay
Koty who works for the City Board of Health, many happy returns to her,
she's a very nice person and is a great nurse. Also a Happy Birthday
out to our own good friend Joe "aka Trooper Joe" Medeiros who will be
celebrating this Thursday. Joe's a great guy and we wish him many more
birthdays' celebrations to come.

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

We hear
that that property on Cross Street owned by the chairman of the Board
of Appeals is for sale, with the permits to build.Hopefully someone
will buy it and do something to add to that corner in East Somerville
and soon.

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Alderman at Large Jack Connolly
recently received his third stripe brown belt in martial arts here in
Somerville; also he will be having fundraiser Oct. 15 at Orleans in
Davis Square 6-8 p.m. Another popular Alderman from Ward 4 also the
President of the Board of Alderman Walter Pero will be having a
fundraiser on Oct. 19 at the Bread & Company in Winter Hill. FYI if
you haven't been to the Bread & Co yet, you're in for a treat,
mention you saw it here when your ordering. They have the best breads
around.

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

Whose car was recently booted and
towed or unpaid parking tickets over in the Ten Hills on Shore Drive?
Seems like it could be a family member of a candidate for
alderman-at-large, or was it?

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

Get well to
Somerville Police Captain Mike Devereaux who was recently involved in a
crash while driving his Police bicycle, Captain Devereaux was
transported to and area hospital where he was treated for head and face
injuries for the crash. He is said to be doing better.

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

Join
the Teele Square restaurants celebrating their first annual "Teele
Square Fall Fest" that will be taking place on Sunday, Oct. 18 from 12
to 4p.m. Teele Square will be shut down for the day to traffic while
the restaurants take their menus to the streets, almost like and old
fashion block party.

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

Just a reminder:
Don't miss our own Jimmy DelPonte as he hits the keyboard at Amelia's
Kitchen in Teele Square on Thursday, Oct. 8 7-9p.m.

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

The
Somerville Lions Club will host at their headquarters (9 New Washington
St) a Somerville & Chinatown Lions Dinner Theater Show, starring
Joey Canzano, man of many voices. Also featured will be the hilarious
comedy of some of Boston's best stand up comics. The event happens
Saturday, Oct. 24 at 6:30 p.m. Cost is $50 per person. Call King Lion,
our own Billy Tauro, at (617) 293-2016. All proceeds go to local
Somerville charities.

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

The Somerville News
will be hosting its third annual meet the public night at the Precinct
Bar in Union Square Wednesday Oct. 14 from 6 to 8 p.m. All those
associated with the paper, including advertisers, people we did stories
on and anyone in the public come out and meet the publishers, editors,
and of course our own Cam, who writes Olio….

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

Condolences
this week to the family of retired Police Officer John Mahoney, aka to
all the other police as John Mahoney #1, who passed away last week. The
other retired Police officer, aka John Mahoney #2, passed away few
months back. The symbols #1 & #2 were the distinctions on how they
were called and answered to at roll call in the mornings down at the
station. They both were very nice guys and will surely be missed by all
that served with them and here in Somerville community.

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

Also
condolences to the family and friends of Dominic Ventreca, of Greater
Metropolitan Real Estate. Dominic was a great guy and will be missed by
many.

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

Don't forget about the Mason's open
house coming up on Saturday, Oct. 17 9a.m. to 3p.m. …. King Solomon's
Lodge which is going on 226 years will be giving a tour of the building
and all sorts of ancient items that the lodge has in its possession….
125 Highland Avenue rear building walk up the driveway or drive up to
the parking lot …rear building double doors and come in and ask all
your questions. Two lodges currently meet there…. King Solomon's
Lodge is the one that owns the building and is 226 years old;
Somerville Lodge is also located in the building and is almost 100
years old. This is your opportunity to ask any questions you may have
about Masonry and what it is.

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

Saint
Clements Parish is having its annual Holiday Bazaar on Saturday, Oct.
24 at the parish hall. Proceeds go to defray expenses at St. Clements
elementary and high school.

When times are tough and money is
tight, coming together to share this sense of community pride is an
important part of surviving mentally and emotionally and one of the key
benefits of living here. Of the different events and celebrations that
happen here, there are two that are considered more intimate than all
the rest.

The first one to come to mind is the wonderful July
4th celebration/fireworks we all enjoy on Broadway, courtesy of private
and business donations. For hours we gather together, eat some food,
enjoy some entertainment and then watch a spectacular fireworks display
in the middle of Broadway.

Sadly, July is long gone, and it has taken Summer with it.

Happily,
the other one will take place this coming Saturday – October 10th (if
there's rain, then it will be the following day, Sunday the 11th ) the
2nd Annual Riverfest will be along the bank of the Mystic River at
Assembly Square from 4pm to 8pm. Like the July 4th celebration, there
will be food, entertainment and of course capped off with a 30 minute
fireworks display.

"The developer has come forward with a [new]
idea," Ward 6 Alderman Rebekah Gewirtz said at the meeting, held at the
Dilboy Post. "There have now been more ideas … and the developer
wanted to seek neighborhood feedback."

The 26 residents from an
area abutting the still-empty lot on 343 Summer St., just behind the
Veterans of Foreign Wars' Dilboy Post, remain skeptical.

Four
of the neighbors in attendance at the Sept. 30 meeting have filed
litigation against the project during the past five years. During that
time, the project has technically changed hands three times, although
it has remained within the same group of investors.

The Summer
Street property where a group known as Emerald Development planned to
build a 14-unit condominium development since 2002 has remained empty
as a series of litigation has stalled progress. A 2004 suit by abutter
Dr. Mohamed Hanif Butt found its way to the Massachusetts Supreme
Court, which ruled in favor of Emerald, now known as Dakota.

The
original plans called for the structure to reach under the foundation
of Butt's orthodontist practice, one of the several factors Gewirtz
said has kept the project in limbo for nearly a decade.

"The
reason this has gone on for so long is the developer has refused to
work with the neighborhood," Gewirtz said after the meeting.

With
the construction permit on the brink of lapsing early this year, the
Zoning Board of Appeals unanimously approved an extension at its Feb.
18 meeting. After residents called into question the erroneous
justification that it could only be renewed once, city officials told
them a recording of the meeting had accidentally malfunctioned.

While
Dakota has until March 2010 to begin work, their ongoing lawsuit
against the city over a proposed fire lane that would take down a
public shade tree continues to block progress. Gewirtz, who organized
the Sept. 30 meeting and one in April, is among the city officials
named in the suit for her efforts to prevent the tree from coming down.

In
addition to Dakota's litigation against the city, which the group used
as the justification for hardship to gain the permit extension, a
lawsuit filed March 9 by residents Carol Dempkowski, Nancy Iappini and
George O'Shea alleges the ZBA overstepped the boundaries of what city
ordinance defines as "hardship."

New plans, new concerns

At the Wednesday meeting, DiGirolamo said that aside from resolving the tree issue, "Dakota has the right to build."

"But
we're not here to talk about that project," he said. Instead, he and
developer Roberto Arista came armed with revamped designs based on a
plan unveiled in April that would include a four-story, 30-unit
condominium project on the site of the current VFW post's parking lot.
A new VFW would be built on the site Dakota currently owns, in what
DiGirolamo termed a "land swap."

The developer of the sites,
DiGirolamo said, is now known as Strategic Capital Group.
Cambridge-based Oaktree Development was presented as the likely builder
at the April community meeting but has since backed out.

Arista,
presented both in April and last week as one of the developers, is a
partner at Dakota, but said the project was now operating independently.

The
new plans call for "low intensity" commercial space on the ground
floor, which DiGirolamo said would not be intended for retail use,
although residents expressed doubt that the developer could mandate the
space not be used by retail businesses despite his assurances.

Residents
also expressed concern over both the added traffic to the neighborhood
and the 67 parking spaces that will be allotted to the condominiums.
DiGirolamo said an independent traffic study estimates the development
will generate 225 trips per day.

"This building has become
antiquated for their needs and would need serious refurbishing,"
DiGirolamo said. "This would be their new home."

Uncertain future for current VFW site

While
he said the VFW's neighbor, Winter Hill Bank, has expressed interest in
buying the other side of the building and expanding, nothing has been
finalized.

The plans still lack a fire lane, one of the central
areas of dispute throughout the history of the project. Nancy Iappini,
one of four residents who has sued Dakota over the project, asked why
one wasn't included in the revamped design.

"Don't talk around me on the fire lane issue," Iappini told DiGirolamo . "We've been at it for 10 years."

The
proposed VFW plans were also called into question by Iappini and others
concerned that windows from the bar area would be in view of people's
homes.

"None of this is set in stone," DiGirolamo said, adding
that the plans would be filed with the city by late October and subject
to ZBA approval.

Gewirtz said a third community meeting would be
scheduled for the last week of October. Most of the residents who spoke
expressed a desire for a structure of no more than three stories, and
that a scale model be presented to show how such a building would
affect the neighborhood.

In addition to Gewirtz, all four
aldermen-at-large attended the meeting, with Bruce Desmond asking
DiGirolamo to take the neighbors' concerns seriously.

"Like my
colleagues here we've been fighting this development for years,"
Desmond said. "I hope that Rich when you go to the developer that you
really impress upon them that they have to lower the scale of that
building."

Gewirtz is optimistic that the final plans would be acceptable.

"My
expectation is that this situation will work itself out in the best way
for the neighborhood," she said. "I think (Dakota)has taken a lesson
away from the situation they experienced, and my impression is that
there's a more collaborative approach."

A group of
citizens are taking this a step further by working to make Somerville a
Transition Town, a concept that originated in Ireland and is taking
hold around the world.

The main aim of a Transition Town,
organizers say, is to raise awareness of sustainable living and build
local resilience. Communities are encouraged to seek out methods for
reducing energy usage as well as increasing self-reliance, such as
community gardens used to grow food.

"Transition is about
building community to build resiliency and to have more support
systems," said Vanessa Rule, a Somerville resident who helped found
Transition Town Somerville. "Instead of working against something, it's
about creating a better future."

The group of about a dozen
residents has met several times since its inception last spring to
discuss initiatives, create steering groups and work on getting the
word out.

The project began after Rule, also a chairperson of
Somerville Climate Action, attended a workshop on Transition Towns last
November and decided to start the movement here. The group is working
on making Somerville a certified "Transition Town."

Co-organizer
Emily Hardt, who also attended the Transition seminar last fall, said
she was immediately interested in organizing a Somerville group.

"It
has a more positive vision and is very much about envisioning the
future we want and to work collectively to make this a reality," she
said.

Group member Patricia Wild said getting the message out about the dwindling energy without sounding "doomsday" is the challenge.

"It
is a tricky message, but also there's an amazing component of 'let's do
this together,' " Wild said. "A lot of people do think about riding
bikes, taking public transportation, growing their own food and buying
local because there is a kind of hippiness and green flavor to it. But
I don't think that as a community Somerville gets that we have to do
all those kinds of things and more because in 15 years there may not be
any more oil."

Aside from awareness events, Rule said the ultimate goal is to create what she called an "energy descent plan."

"We live in a carbon-contained world," Rule said, "so how do we
continue to grow the community while decreasing our reliance on fossil
fuels, and then develop a plan for that across the community."

"It's
not as if you walk out of the house and smell CO2 and see the threat,"
she added. "When people are dealing with the day-to-day that is
tangible, it's hard for them to see. So for us, the challenge will be
to how to communicate all this, and in ways that go beyond the bar
graph and intellectual argument, to make it more engaging."

Visit http://group.google.com/group/transitionsomerville for updates and meeting information.

Romelus, a former Marine, was awarded
$225,000 by the city in 2009, although under the settlement the city
admitted no wrongdoing. The payout was the result of an alleged beating
that Romelus received in July 2006 by Somerville Police Officers James
Slattery, Sean Sylvester and Kevin Shackelford. Romelus needed 18
staples to repair damage allegedly inflicted by police. The event began
when officers questioned Romelus about his involvement in a possible
drug deal while working at the Good Time Emporium. The officers
involved arrested Romelus and charged him with Assault and Battery on a
police officer, for allegedly striking Officer Sylvester, as well as
resisting arrest. It is unclear what, if any, disciplinary measures
were taken against the officers. The three officers involved in the
incident were listed as active members of the department according to
the city's proposed 2010 fiscal budget. Romelus, whose attorney claimed
the attack was racially motivated, was acquitted of the charges during
a jury trial in July 2007.

When asked if the arresting officers
took any special precautions given the department's past history with
the suspect Deputy Chief Paul Upton replied, "The arrest and search of
his person and the inventory of his vehicle, was conducted according to
proper police procedure and the same is required to be done for every
similarly-situated person. He was booked and released in the usual
manner."

Neither Romelus nor his attorney could be reached for
comment. He will be back in court on December 1, 2009 for a pre-trial
hearing.