When
trying to get somewhere in Somerville without directions, take a turn
at every major intersection. On Cape Cod, always go straight and look
for signs.

If a knife's edge reflects light, it's time to get
it sharpened. Unfortunately, Siraco's once the best blade sharpener
around, is no longer in Magoun Square.

You will recognize the obvious much sooner than professionals.

The quality of flavor in cheese is inversely proportional to the thickness of the slice.

The crossbar on a bicycle should just come to your crotch, standing flat-footed with your shoes off.

When
you are conversing with people who don't speak English, assume that
they understand about half as much as they look like they understand.

Don't enter a poker game unless you have fifty times the betting limit in your pocket.

The diameter of a tree trunk in inches is the radius of the root system in feet.

New arrivals to Somerville are, on average, politically inert for seven years.

In half the cases, an employee calling in sick is actually sick.

We tend to do to others what has been done to us.

To
estimate the number of calories that you consume each day, multiply
your weight by 15. To gain or lose weight, increase or decrease this
number by 20%.

Each additional 10,000 car trips per day on Somerville's roads increases our excess cardiopulmonary deaths by 1 per year.

A used tool in good condition should cost no more than half the price of a new one.

The number of seconds between lightning and thunder, divided by five, is the number of miles you are away from it.

Any
time a mechanic begins by telling you how lucky you are that you
brought your car in when you did, plan on spending at least $500.

If for some reason you need to wear a tuxedo more than once every year, it is cheaper to buy than to rent.

Somerville government costs $115,000 per year for every taxable acre of land.

A 3/4 front view makes the best photo for selling a car.

A ball hit to left field by a left-handed hitter will slice toward the left-field line, and vice versa.

The third restaurant that goes into a space is usually the one that succeeds.

During a job interview, don't spend more than 60 seconds answering any one question.

To blow a tree stump out of the ground, use one stick of dynamite for every four inches in stump diameter.

When
writing an ad, keep each sentence to twelve words or less. A billboard
should have not more than seven words and two things to look at.

Someone
speaking in passive voice is probably concealing something. Doubt
anyone who seems to be speaking with strong emotion, but whose
shoulders are relaxed.

On government multiple-choice exams, the longest answer is usually the correct one.

The most offensive people are also usually the most easily offended.

When the temperature at sunset is 50 degrees or less, there will probably be a frost.

A garment is probably well made if stripes and plaids are matched at the seams.

If something that is not human bites you, it is probably female.

If you can't see a car's rear tires at a stoplight, or if you can read its odometer, you're too close.

You can always find one good reason to do anything. Find two.

The speed that allows the most cars to use a road at once is 22 mph.

Ten people will raise the temperature of a medium sized room 1 degree per hour.

The whole nonsense
about lack of transparency makes us wonder if these same people even
bother to read the arrest logs weekly. There is plenty to be concerned
about regarding crime in this community. And while there is no reason
to panic, we need to have faith in the police and other public safety
people we have out there that are entrusted to protect the average
every day people on the street. Based on recent arrests, there is very
little concern about the age, sex or racial background of victims of
crime.

There is little faith or trust in our system of local
government when a small group that just doesn't get it takes the time
to claim community outrage and demand that cameras, with specific
public safety purposes, be removed or that their locations be
published. Think about it – if criminals know where the cameras are,
then they are defeated before they had a chance to do any good.

The
whole notion that there is even a Big Brother watching means that these
same people distrust the establishment – all the way up to the
President – who is, whether you like him or not, trying desperately to
restore faith in government in the public eye.

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

The Somerville High
marching band was at Home Depot as special guests performing this past
Saturday – the band played tunes during a promotion gala that the home
improvement giant was holding. In exchange for the performance, Home
Depot donated thirty 5-gallon buckets for the band to practice on.

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

Former
Mayor and current Register of Deeds Eugene Brune is having his annual
(believe it or not 25th annual) breakfast Sunday May 3rd at Anthony's –
105 Canal Street, Malden. This particular breakfast every year has been
the one to attend, old and new alike here in Somerville show up and
have great time – Gene was one popular mayor and its hard to believe
this has been going on since 1983 – tickets at the door are $20.00 and
children under 8 free.

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

Register of
Probate Tara DeCristofaro celebrated her birthday this past weekend,
lots of people were in attendance, lots of professionals – and she has
a huge family – but no KB of the Farm Team, and we expected him
there…oh well, in spite of that she had a successful event and a
pretty happy birthday.

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

Mayor Joseph A.
Curtatone invites all interested individuals to 'SomerVision,' an open
house on current planning initiatives and kick-off event for a
city-wide visioning process. The open house will include
representatives from the City of Somerville as well as community
partners and state agencies. The open house will be held on Saturday,
April 25th from 11am-3pm at the Argenziano School, 290 Washington
Street. For more information contact Keith Craig, Office of Strategic
Planning and Community Development, 617-625-6600 ext. 2523

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

Popular
Ward 2 Alderwoman Maryann Heuston is having a fundraiser this coming
Monday night at the Mt. Vernon Restaurant from 6 to 8, she usually
attracts a big crowd and why not she's probably the most popular Ward 2
Alderman in the past 40 odd years or so, Maryann listens and acts,
we've seen her in action. She is spending the next few weeks walking
the ward in various locations with neighbors and finding out concerns –
look for her dates and places.

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

Bill
Manny of Prospect Hill has been ill recently and is on the mend, Bill
is a life long resident of Somerville, a Boston Fireman and a popular
figure in the Eastern Star circle here in Somerville. We wish him
speedy recovery.

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

A special memorial for
the late Linda MacLeod, who passed away late last year, will be at the
Masonic Building located at 125 Highland (rear) this Saturday April
11th at 10:30am, with a brunch to follow. Linda left a large family and
lots of friends behind here in Somerville – she was very active in
Rainbow for Girls as well as Eastern Star. For information write to
Valerie Donovan at mabel312@aol.com.

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

A
big get well soon goes out to Somerville Police Officer Bob Hickey, the
man has eyes that can see a mile down the road who can spot a bad
inspection sticker. Officer Hickey as been out on leave due to minor
surgery, we wish him well and back soon.

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

This
surfaced on Google Somerville alert last week, where we the only ones
that saw it? Appears that U-2 will be announcing another secret show
here in Somerville again – this time at the Burren Pub in Davis Square
for a more intimate performance then ever before. We heard only members
of the International Monetary Fund would be admitted after showing
proof of having forgiven the debt of at least one Third World Country.
Maybe it's a late April fools joke, but one of our newstalkers swears
by it.

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

All America City Fund Party,
featuring live entertainment by Elated Dance Band, on April 16th from 6
to 9p.m. at the Night Games Lounge, Holiday Inn on Washington Street,
suggested donation at the door $25.00 per person – checks payable to
the "All America City Fund."

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

One of us
was at the public hearing for the surveillance cameras around the city
and heard some pretty wild accusations, especially from some well known
PDSers here in Somerville – what's the problem with the cameras if they
are there for the purpose intended? If you have nothing to hide and
don't subscribe to the "conspiracy theory," then what's the problem?
Most of us at Newstalk don't have a problem with it – it's those
conspiracy theory left wingers that just can't say something positive
about anything. We applaud the administration for putting them for the
reasons they were intended for.

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

Finally,
we want to wish everyone a solemn Good Friday, Joyous Easter and
Pleasant Passover – even those PDSers who insist on being secularists.

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

Somerville
Commission for Persons with Disabilities is having a public meeting on
Monday, April 13, 2009 at The Hagan Manor – 268 Washington Street –
starting at 6:00 p.m. ***************

Eight cameras were installed at
seven locations throughout Somerville last August as a part of a $4.6
million Homeland Security grant to nine localities in Massachusetts.
Alderman At-Large Bill White, who chaired the hearing, said the board
had not been consulted before the cameras were put in place.

"Why
wasn't this public hearing conducted prior to the installation?" Ward 4
Alderman Walter Pero asked. "I think the board has been disrespected in
this process by not being involved at the front end. It's going to be a
lot harder to put the genie back in the bottle now that the cameras
have been installed."

Some communities have reacted with
hesitation to the federal funding. The Cambridge City Council has
refused to allow eight cameras installed there to be turned on, while
the Brookline Selectmen approved a one-year test period in January.

Police
Chief Anthony Holloway and Fire Chief Kevin Kelleher were on hand to
explain how the city has used the cameras, citing potential evacuation
situations and crime prevention as the primary benefits. Neither had an
estimate on how much maintaining the system would cost.

"I
couldn't put a price tag on it," Holloway said, "but if it help saves
one life, helps identify one person, then it pays for itself."

Thirteen
people spoke against the cameras, including State Rep. Denise Provost
and American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts staff attorney
Sarah Wunsch.

"This is not the kind of camera police departments
have used for a number of years," Wunsch said, noting the chief of
police in Brookline outlined the surveillance camera program to the
Selectmen prior to installing the cameras for the trial period.

"With all respect to the chief, I know people feel like these cameras must deter crime, but they don't," Wunsch added.

Holloway
said the cameras in Somerville are 75 feet above ground and transmit
wireless color video images to Somerville Police Headquarters 24 hours
a day. Camera recordings are kept for 14 days and erased on the 15th.

At
the meeting, Assistant City Solicitor David Shapiro said the recordings
are public record. Tapes will be available from the Police Department
for a fee.

Holloway added that a password is required to zoom
in on people, which nine officers have. If a crime is occurring, those
without access are allowed to zoom in if an authorized person can't get
there in time.

So far, according to Holloway, the zoom-in
feature has been used once, when officers spotted vandals on the
community bike path. The suspects made an escape before any
higher-resolution images could be taken.

Ward 6 Alderman Rebekah
Gewirtz, who initiated the inquiry into the cameras' installation,
challenged Holloway on his assertion that the cameras were not part of
a regional network. Localities will be allowed to request feeds of the
cameras but will not be able to take control.

"We could let
(other localities) look at the camera," Holloway said, " but we
wouldn't let them record anything because they wouldn't have access to
that."

As for the locations of the cameras, Holloway said they
would remain secret until receiving approval from Harvard University,
which has two cameras posted on a Somerville property. A list of
locations was distributed to Aldermen. The Davis Square LiveJournal
community has posted locations and photos of several cameras.

The highlight of the day was the two-hour
performance put on by the teens, in which they boldly laid out a host
of issues they face through dramatic skits, spoken word pieces,
speeches and song. The audience was alternately moved to hollers and
silence by the powerful presentations, which once again touched on
issues such as gang violence, teen pregnancy, drug abuse, and
immigration.

The recession was one notable new theme that
snaked its way through the skits and performances. While the bulk of
media coverage seems to cover the issue from an adult perspective, the
teens on stage made clear just how much the economic downturn is
affecting them.

One skit depicted students losing a young,
promising teacher due to lay-offs. Another showed a young girl forced
to look after her unemployed, drug-dependent mother. When the mother
finally does seek help, she discovers the shortage of substance abuse
resources available in Somerville. The skit referenced the closing of
the detox unit at Somerville Hospital, which will shut down in June due
to the Cambridge Health Alliance's significant loss of state funding.

In
a spoken word performance, Bendhjy Nazaire illustrated another problem
faced by teens in a down economy: competing with adults for menial
jobs.

"Application after application,

But still no replies,

Turns out all that stuff in the news wasn't just lies.

Jobs that used to go to teens,

Is now being taken by college grads with degrees?

Degrees? How we supposed to battle with degrees?

When most of us don't have high school diplomas or even GEDs?

Can't even get a job at Mickey D's.

Now I'm not telling stores who to hire or who to deal wit,

But the thing is their biggest customers are kids,

So why aren't we first on their hiring list?"

As
Nazaire's story shows, the spike in layoffs in recent months has
translated to newly laid off workers and recent college graduates, who
may face a shrinking pool of job opportunities in their own fields,
going after jobs traditionally held by teenagers. Nationwide, teenage
unemployment has grown twice as fast as overall unemployment in the
past year, reaching 21.6% in February, compared to the overall
unemployment rate of 8.1%, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

What happens when teens find themselves with fewer activities
and jobs to keep them busy after school? Students' sketches depicted
the pressures to skip class and wander the streets, and their personal
battle to stay engaged.

When Tyler Holmes, an SHS freshman,
asked the audience members to stand up if they had "ever experienced
violence in East Somerville", you could feel auditorium rise to its
feet. They rose again to their feet moments later when asked to "stand
up if you are proud of where you live."

"Because of the actions of a few," Holmes said, "East Somerville has gained a reputation for being associated with violence."

A
hush fell on the crowd when Terrell Walton took the microphone. Walton
was only 15 years old when he left paralyzed by a gang-related shooting
in Boston. "I thought I was invincible," he said, addressing the
audience from his wheelchair. The boy who shot him was sentenced to 14
years in prison, but his life as he knew it was gone, Walton said,
urging those in the audience to learn from his poor choices of gang
involvement.

Tension over the Somerville Police force's handling
of gang and youth issues also emerged as a significant issue among
youths. SHS student Nick Texeira spoke about how the trust he developed
through police-youth dialogues was eroded by a recent experience with
the police. He said that even though he was respectful to the officers
and admitted wrongdoing, he was sworn at, charged with assault, and
wrongly accused by police officers of being in a Latino gang.

"I
am not and never have been a member of a gang," Texeira said. "And I am
not even Latino, I am Portuguese," he said, evoking chuckles from the
crowd.

Texeira is also friends with the six SHS students who
made news in March when they were falsely accused by Somerville Police
Officers of being gang leaders, with no other cause than that they are
young and Latino.

When Mayor Curtatone took the stage to
speak, he addressed the issue of police relations, admitting to the
audience that "clearly, after what we've seen in recent weeks, we still
have a long way to go." When Curtatone urged the audience to
acknowledge that the police are trying to do a good job and protect
them, he was met with some loud jeers, highlighting the tension and
skepticism present in the young crowd.

With the struggles that
teens face, the necessity of a support system was made clear at the
conference, but this is something that may prove elusive for the many
new Somerville immigrants. Felicia Affua Abbuah spoke of the struggle
of adjusting to a new land in a spoken-word piece titled "Foster Care".

"Friends
and family made it easier to cope with the hardships of life," she
said. "Now we're here, in a place where the seasons change and the wind
blows cold as ice, where the doors are locked and windows closed, where
there's no sight of a friend or family, to help us cope with starting a
new life."

With such candid personal narratives, the event
fostered a sense of community and disclosure. During the Hope and
Healing Ceremony that followed the performances, the microphone was
open to anyone who wanted to dedicate a rose to those who have been
lost, and those working toward positive change. Youths approached the
microphone, some declaring their aversion for public speaking, to share
their personal struggles, from teen parenthood to poverty to just
fitting in. Speaking in front of a large crowd about these issues might
have been unthinkable for these students without the dialogue that the
performance had opened, allowing them to open up to their peers and
flout taboos.

"This
campus is unique in the country," Mayor Curtatone said, adding that the
two developments make Somerville "a model for affordable housing."

"These
projects are incredibly complex. Lots of these types of projects never
get finished," Congressman Capuano said, adding that this project's
success is a reflection of the commitment of those involved. "I think
the results speak for themselves."

The projects, by relying upon
an array of public and private institutions for funding, are among the
first to successfully use the so-called "mixed financing" approach to
public housing, in which the public and private sectors cooperate to
fund new public housing projects. While it is innovative, the financial
complexities of this approach make it difficult to implement,
especially in the current economic environment.

"We had to face
the worst time to borrow money," said Joe Macaluso, the Executive
Director of the Somerville Housing Authority (SHA), in reference to the
economic recession. "The fact that we held it together when we thought
it was doomed to market forces is a testament to all those who
supported us."

The SHA and the Visiting Nurse Association (VNA)
created a unique partnership by working together on both developments,
which are located right next to each other on Alewife Brook Parkway in
Somerville. The completed 99-unit Assisted Living Project, modeled
after the VNA's successful Lowell Street assisted-living community,
will provide an affordable assisted-living alternative to seniors for
whom private-and often expensive-assisted-living communities are
currently the only option.

"We knew, after we built the first
one, that we'd have to build another," Linda Cornell, president of the
VNA, told the audience at Monday's event, held in the dining room of
the new facility. "As a combination of senior housing and public
housing, it had to be done," she explained.

The second
building-construction of which is to begin soon-will replace 64
antiquated, now-demolished affordable housing units for seniors with 95
units of affordable housing for low- and middle-income seniors who wish
to live independently. Its completion will mark the first new
affordable housing for seniors in over thirty years, according to
Macaluso.

In what Monday's speakers hailed as yet another
innovation, a bridge will eventually be constructed between the two
buildings, enabling seniors living independently in the Capen Court
development to interact with the seniors at the VNA's assisted-living
facility next door. Capen Court residents will also have access to the
dining area and nursing staff at the VNA building.

"We need more
and more to have a spectrum of ways for people to live and get care,"
said Pat Jehlen. "There is a need for alternatives in between
independent living and nursing homes."

To round out a dizzying
array of accomplishments, speakers said, the new building incorporates
a range of environmentally-friendly building technologies. Solar panels
on the roof will help offset energy consumption, and rainwater,
collected in a 10,000 gallon tank, will be used to irrigate the lawns
and flush toilets, Cornell explained.

"What we've done,"
Macaluso said, reviewing the quality and innovations of both projects,
"is set a standard for how we're going to treat our seniors."

The group shared their stories of the progression
of their disease from a seemingly harmless pastime that helped them
"fit in, have fun, and be cool" to each individual's nightmare. They
all expressed gratitude of being able to clean up and wanted to give
back to other addicts still out there suffering.

"It is
unfortunate for the people I know who are doing life bids (prison
terms) for doing things they wouldn't do if they weren't under the
influence," said Danielle Rogovich, 23. "It starts off very calm.
You're just having fun, hanging with your friends. It was something to
fit in. It starts out with one joint (marijuana cigarette) and it went
on from there."

Mark McLaughlin, 23, from Save Our Somerville,
said he wants to help. He's seen a lot of people die. By the time he
started high school in 2000, he said 16 local youths had already died
due to drugs and related suicides.

"If someone can get clean
because of a death, then we can say they didn't really die in
vain…their death can have a meaning," McLaughlin said.

The panel discussion was led by Nancy Bacci, Youth Programming Coordinator for the City of Somerville.

Mayor
Curtatone spoke before the discussion expressing his concern.
"Substance abuse is a community issue that needs a community response,"
he said.

Chief Holloway shared important facts about Question 2.
"There's a lot of misinformation about Question 2 out there…if
someone is caught with under an ounce, you'll get a civil penalty of
100 dollars…and as of January 1 this year, this will not show on
someone's CORI…but you can be charged with distributing if you have
under an ounce and it's packaged for sale, and you can be charged and
detained if you're operating a motor vehicle under the influence (of
marijuana)," he said.

Holloway said for people under 18 they
must pay a 100 dollar fine and complete a required education program.
If someone doesn't complete the program, they can be fined 1,000
dollars.

"We don't interpret the law. We just enforce it," he said.

Mitchell
Tutein, 23, has lived his whole life in Somerville. He started out at
age 13 hanging out with the older kids smoking pot and drinking. This
led him to "ecstasy," acid and cocaine.

I went from a simple
joint to jail – I thought I could handle things. I could not. It took
me 10 years to realize this," he said. Tutein said he had lost 4
friends to drugs by age 19, and 8 of his friends had died by the time
he was 21.

Tutein's been clean about six months. The time when
he was doing his first "bid" was the first time he'd been clean in ten
years. "While I was locked up (for 45 days) this made me think about
all the people I had hurt – my parents, people I robbed – and I was
looking at Billerica (prison) time. When I was using my future didn't
cross my mind once. When I was high I thought I was unstoppable, but I
wasn't – it was embarrassing. I felt like an idiot. I was in the paper
in Somerville and Medford."

Charlie Litopoulos, 23 , started at
age 12 with alcohol and "weed." "I always wanted to fit in," he said.
These gateway drugs led to klonopin, ecstasy, vicodin and cocaine. Then
his habit progressed to oxycontin and heroin. "All the dead ends of my
life were due to (starting with) alcohol…my drugs were more important
to me than anything. I do regret, now, who I hurt, but at the time I
didn't care. I didn't have arrests, so I thought I was on top of the
world, but the arrests came…I had to go through a lot of pain to get
to where I am now in my life."

An audience member asked if it
was hard to get a job with a criminal record. The group agreed things
could be tough, but there are community members out there willing to
help. "I understand (about jobs), but I've found people out there
willing to help. There are ways around things," Litopoulos said.

For
a strong recovery, the four stressed staying positive, going to
meetings, going to therapy, asking for help, being honest with
themselves and others, staying with clean and sober people, staying
away from old using people and places and remembering the pain when
they hit their bottoms. They all expressed gratitude for being in
recovery and a desire to give back by helping others.

A video
was shown depicting a teenage kid being pressured by his peers into
smoking marijuana with them. They all seem to think it's harmless fun.
Later in the video the boy is happy about being hired for a job. But
he's required to take a drug test. The next day he is humiliated when
he's told he won't be hired because he failed the drug test. "Weed is a
gateway drug. That's how it all started for most of us," said Rogovich.

An audience member asked if they thought the new marijuana laws would encourage people to smoke the drug.

Tutein
said he was in jail when it was voted on, but he would not have voted
for it. He said he would never had gotten clean if he hadn't been put
in jail.

Chief Holloway complemented Tutein, "The 'expert' is absolutely correct. I agree with this young man here. I voted 'no' on it."

Tutein said, "Stay clean, stay strong, it's hard, but don't give up."