Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone, the Somerville Commission for Women, and RESPOND announce the Annual Candlelight Vigil in support of Domestic Violence Awareness Month on Wednesday, October 5, from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m., at Statue Park in Davis Square.

The vigil is an annual event bringing the community together in remembrance of those who have lost their lives over the last year to domestic violence.

A home-to-hospital checklist can help patients avoid the cost and inconvenience of being re-admitted to the hospital shortly after discharge.

By Colleen Morrissey

Patients are typically eager to return home after a stay in the hospital, but common mistakes often lead to unnecessary re-admissions. The good news is, a hospital-to-home checklist is a simple and effective tool for reducing that risk.

Wall to Wall: Art Builds Community (W2W), is a gallery exhibition of street art and street-inspired studio art that represents the ways art helps to build community. W2W is held in conjunction with the Clarendon Hill Presbyterian Church annual social annual social justice program, “Learn to Talk”, and Somerville’s legendary HONK! Festival of Street Bands. W2W will consist of an exhibition, artist talks and other events and activities that engage participants in positive dialogue for the purpose of building a more equitable community.

What’s on Somerville Neighborhood News

In this segment of Somerville Neighborhood News we want to showcase the segment on one of Union Square’s iconic stores: The Vango Convenience

The Vango Convenience Store and its Mascot Hunter the dog has been a landmark in Union Square for more than a decade. On September 15 the doors will close and Hunter, known as the Mayor of Union Square will retire. It’s part of the rapidly changing face of the Square as small businesses succumb to rising rents and gentrification.

The City of Somerville’s Board of Alderman awarded a citation to the Somerville Little League 10 year old All Stars at their regular meeting last week, Thursday, September 22, 2016.  The citation was given as an expression of congratulations to the team for its victory in the 2016 Jimmy Fund Tournament.

The AgriCultural Festival will now take place on Sunday, Oct 2nd due to the rain forecast 

The 1^st ever AgriCultural Festival will take place at ArtFarm (10 Poplar St.) in Somerville on Saturday, October 1^st 3-7 pm (raindate Oct 2^nd). The festival is a celebration of everything we grow from the earth, and the people who grow it. This fantastical festival will celebrate Somerville farmers, artists and new urban agricultural initiatives. Come out and share about what you grow and learn from local growers!

The Somerville Public Schools maintained its upward trajectory on the annual state assessment, highlighted by the district’s first “Commendation School” and a district-wide four-point increase in the median Student Growth Percentile (SGP) in English Language Arts over the past year. According to spring 2016 MCAS results released yesterday afternoon by the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, Somerville registered district-wide SGPs of 62 in ELA and 58 in Math, outpacing state-wide growth averages of 52 in each core subject. The district’s combined growth rate of 120 surpassed last year’s combined growth rate of 116.5. Somerville High School maintained its Level 1 status for the fourth consecutive year and helped continue to set an aggressive growth trend in the district with SGPs of 77 in ELA and 69 in Math.

By Kristen Strezo
Member, the Somerville Commission for Women

Preventing dating abuse is important to the Somerville Commission for Women (SCW). We connect with the community to raise awareness. Every October we hold our annual Domestic Violence Vigil.

Cambridge Health Alliance and the Massachusetts Organization for Addiction Recovery are sponsoring a free forum focused on education and awareness on addiction, recovery and access to services on Saturday, October 1. The forum, open to the public and aimed at a wide audience including patients, providers, local organizations and those in recovery, will support community conversations that have been building around addiction and recovery.

Chief David Fallon and the Somerville Police Department are seeking the public’s help in identifying a man believed to be responsible for three bank robberies this month.