By Senator Pat Jehlen

(The opinions and views expressed in the commentaries of The Somerville Times belong solely to the authors of those commentaries and  do not reflect the views or opinions of The Somerville Times, its staff  or publishers)

Everybody knows we’re living longer. We’re also working longer. 75 isn’t quite the new 65, but a quarter of people 65 to 74 are still working. Without older workers, the labor force in Massachusetts would actually be shrinking. By 2020, more than a quarter of Massachusetts will be over 55.

The Veteran’s Group and some other members of our community from the Somerville COA went to Tufts Osher Lifelong Learning “Lunch & Learn” to hear from Gresh Lattimore who led a talk “Not your Father’s VA.”  Dr. Lattimore led a discussion on changes in the VAs over the years and led a Q&A. There was much focus on PTSDs in returning soldiers not just from recent wars and conflicts but also from WWII veterans.

Green Line Extension Project Team is pleased to announce that the Green Line Extension (GLX) project has recently reached another important milestone. This week the MassDOT Board unanimously approved a $393 million Intergovernmental Service Agreement (ISA) with the MBTA that will construct three new stations and bring the Green Line from Cambridge to Somerville.

The Yawkey League Champion Alibrandis Baseball Club was honored by the BoSox Club last week.

For the fourth consecutive season and the fourteenth in seventeen seasons the Somerville Highlander/Alibrandis Baseball Club were honored by the BoSox Club at a luncheon Friday, September 20 at the Needham Marriott.

The BoSox Club is the oldest official fan club in Major League Baseball and promotes the game at all levels while assisting the Boston Red Sox in community and charitable endeavors. The 2013 Alibrandis Baseball Club were honored for their record breaking season in which they went 40-4 and won the Yawkey Baseball League Championship after defeating Revere Rockies 3-0 in the final game at Trum Field on Sept 3.

Members of the Somerville COA Book Club had a great time meeting the author of the book they just read, The Art Forger by B.A. Shapiro. She spoke as part of Somerville Reads at the Main Library September 18. Pictured here (L to R): Marie Murray, Virginia Gettings, Margaret Durkin, B.A. Shapiro, Ellen Ellis, Josephine Raczkowski and Library Director Maria Carpenter. The next book club meeting is October 4 at 10:00 a.m., when they will be discussing The Invisible Bridge. Copies are available to borrow.

 Somerville High Makes Two-Level Leap to Level 1 Designation; District’s Student Growth Percentile Surpasses Nearly All Districts with 1,000 or More Students; Notable rise in number of students scoring advanced or proficient in Math and English Language Arts

Somerville Public Schools had extraordinary growth exceeding most other school districts according to results from the Spring 2013 MCAS tests, released Friday by the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE), leading all Massachusetts urban districts in Student Growth Percentile (SGP).

Life in the Ville by Jimmy Del Ponte

(The opinions and views expressed in the commentaries of The Somerville Times belong solely to the authors of those commentaries and  do not reflect the views or opinions of The Somerville Times, its staff  or publishers)

My grandfather (on my dad’s side) was Giuseppe Del Ponte, and he was born in Abruzzi, Italy.  He came to America on a ship called The Taormina from the port of Naples on March 17, 1914 when he was 23 years old.

Somerville by Design turns 122-124 Broadway into a design charrette studio where residents and business community interact with City planners and consultants

The next phase of the City’s Somerville by Design community planning process in East Somerville will take place Monday, Sept. 30 through Wednesday, Oct. 2. A three-day public design charrette will give residents, the business community and other stakeholders numerous opportunities to interact with each other, and with City planners and consultants. This event will build on input from the East Somerville community gathered at a public Crowdsourcing and two public Visioning Sessions held earlier this year.

Fluff nuts unite at the annual Fluff Festival in Union Square.

The eighth annual What the Fluff? festival, Saturday, September 28, 3–7 p.m., Union Square Plaza, goes super-sized, big as a giant gorilla conquering Prospect Hill.

What the Fluff?: A Tribute to Union Square Invention honors the illustrious Fluff creator, Archibald Query, who concocted the gooey sticky spread in Union Square in 1917. Local artists, musicians, theatrical performers, inventors, and humorists will pay madcap tribute to the creation of this great American foodstuff on two stages.