(L-R) Eva Clauson (Brookline), Lauren Foreman (Somerville), Christina Bell (Framingham), Sakura McGarrell-Ayuso (Boston), Funmi Folorunso (Boston), and Mary Folorunso (Boston).

Girl Scouts grades K-8 and their families celebrated National S’mores Day at Camp Cedar Hill in Waltham on Friday, August 10. Girl Scouts of Eastern Massachusetts, including girls from Somerville welcomed nearly 60 attendees to S’mores Night Out with songs, a nature scavenger hunt, crafting s’mores necklaces, face painting, and, of course, toasting delicious s’mores over a campfire! Girls also did a STEM marshmallow tower challenge, engineering a tall tower using mini marshmallows and toothpicks. Girls new to Girl Scouts were able to register for the new Troop Year at the event.

The rate of fatal opioid overdoses varied significantly by industry and occupation from 2011 to 2015, with construction workers dying from opioid overdoses at six times the average rate for all Massachusetts workers, according to a report released today by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (DPH).

Using available death certificate data, DPH analyzed 4,302 opioid-related deaths in Massachusetts from 2011 to 2015 by industry and occupation to understand whether work, and specifically work-related injuries, might have contributed to opioid use disorders. Overall, workers employed in occupations known to have high rates of work-related injuries had higher rates of fatal opioid overdoses. In addition, workers in occupations with lower rates of paid sick leave and higher job insecurity had higher rates of opioid overdoses. Construction and extraction workers (quarrying and mining) accounted for more than 24 percent of all opioid-related deaths among the working population. This occupation group had a high death rate – 150.6 deaths per 100,000 workers – and a high number of opioid-related deaths – 1,096 – during this time period.

Join Thorpe Street Presents Somer Fest, a feel-good festival celebrating community art in all of its forms. There will be live music, comedy and magic. There will also be locally-sourced-organically-grown-BPA-free-delicious food and beer.

Saturday, August 18, 2018, 12:00 – 5:00 p.m. at ArtFarm, 10 Poplar St., Somerville. Tickets $10 online, $20 at the door. 21+

By Jim Clark

A police officer on duty in the Davis Square area last Friday morning was flagged down by a citizen that was concerned about the welfare of a man who was sleeping on a bench in front of the MBTA station on Holland St.

The man sleeping on the bench was identified as Stephen Remick, who is reportedly well known to Somerville Police.

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

By Joseph A. Curtatone

We have 17 food pantries operating in Somerville. When you travel around the city it may not look like local families are suffering the kind of deprivation that would make so many active food pantries necessary, but it is here.  Truth be told, it’s in almost every city and town even if it’s not always easily seen. The people living at the bottom of the economic scale can’t keep pace with the cost of living and one of the places that can hurt most is in food access.

~Photos by Claudia Ferro

Somerville’s 15th Annual National Night Out Against Crime and Drugs, hosted by Somerville Cares About Prevention (SCAP), took place on Tuesday, August 7, at Foss Park on Broadway in East Somerville.

Environment Massachusetts and State Representative Mike Connolly advocated to end the use of polystyrene, during a cleanup of the Mystic River. — Photos by Shira Laucharoen

By Shira Laucharoen

Staff members from advocacy organization Environment Massachusetts participated in a cleanup of the Mystic River on August 9, during which they spread the word about their campaign to ban foam cups and containers in the state.

At the event, held at the Mystic Wellington Yacht Club, State Representative Mike Connolly, who serves East Somerville and East Cambridge, voiced his support for legislation that may come out of the campaign.

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

By Chris Dwan and Renée Scott

Somerville’s urban forest is under attack. Take a walk near the commuter rail line, by the High School, along Cedar Street, on lower Beacon Street, or in Union Square. You will find barren, sun-baked streets and sidewalks where most of the trees have been removed to make way for construction. Stop and listen while you walk. Do you hear the unexpected and beautiful sounds of nature, or the silence of a recently flattened habitat? Breathe the air, is it fresh?