In the wake of recent events, it is important to understand that racism, bigotry and hatred are still very much alive in this country. The Somerville Media Center community extends its thoughts and sympathies to the families that were devastated by these acts of terror. These ghastly hostilities will not be tolerated and can only be prevented through action.

By Doug Holder

Melissa Castillo-Garsow is a Mexican- American writer, poet and scholar currently completing a postdoctoral fellowship
at Harvard University’s Charles Warren Center for Studies in American History. She received her PhD in American Studies and African American Studies from Yale University in 2017 during which she focused on new ways of looking at migration, ethnicity, race and gender in the US via both scholarly and creative interventions in the fields of Latin@, Latin American, American and African American Studies. Her dissertation, “A Mexican State of Mind: New York City and the New Borderlands of Culture” establishes a dialogue between African American and Borderlands studies by considering the recent history of Mexican migration to New York within the context of a much longer history of black and brown laboring bodies. 

Dear Editor,

(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)

There is a saying “you get what you pay for”, but in the case of your utility bill that sadly isn’t true. In Massachusetts, utilities bill you not just for the gas you use, but the gas leaked into the air from the old and ailing pipelines. There are over 16,000 pipeline leaks in Massachusetts, over 200 in Somerville alone. Residents of Massachusetts currently pay an estimated $90 million each year for gas that they never receive.

~Photos by Claudia Ferro

On Thursday, August 10, Mayor Curtatone hosted the Sunsetters in front of his home on Ten Hills Rd. The Redbones truck was there, feeding the assembled audience and performers.

More than $880,000 previously approved this round for affordable housing

Upon the recommendation of the Somerville Community Preservation Committee, the Board of Aldermen approved more than $1.3 million in Community Preservation Act funding for 12 open space and historic preservation projects. This follows the previously approved recommendation to provide $880,416 to the Affordable Housing Trust Fund in January. The funded projects will bring improvements to historic treasures in Somerville, including the Milk Row Cemetery and the Grace Baptist Church. The CPA will also support a new schoolyard for the Winter Hill Community Innovation School and designs for the Healey Schoolyard, Henry Hansen Park, Blessing of the Bay Park, and the Community Growing Center.

By Jim Clark

Somerville Police officers were dispatched to a Calvin St. location last week on reports of a package theft.

While en route, police dispatch reported a description of the male suspect, later identified as Adrian Brooks, of Hyde Park.