Somerville residents got a chance to meet with members of the Condo Review Board last week and express their views on possible enforcement of the rules for condominium conversion. ~Photos by Donald Norton

By Amy Swain

A special meeting of the Condo Review Board was held last Thursday. Somerville residents as well as interested parties gathered in the conference room of the Visiting Nurses Association. Renters, owners, real estate agents and developers filled the room; any empty space was filled with tension. The subject of the meeting was notification requirements under the Somerville Condominium Conversion ordinance – the argument was, should they enforce it?

This week, Dilboy Stadium on the Alewife is once again hosting the 5th Annual Fight Night at Dilboy, Friday evening, August 19. Doors open at 6:00 p.m. First bout at 7:00 p.m. Tickets are $20 for adults and $10 for youth. Children under 12 are free with a paid adult admission. Tickets can be purchased at the Somerville Boxing Club, 11 Otis Street, or at the door the night of the event. Rain date August 20.

The “All Lives Matter” banner at the American Legion Post 19. — Photos by Donald Norton

By Donald Norton

American Legion Post 19 on Highland Avenue recently put up a new banner proclaiming “All Lives Matter” in response to the city’s “Black Lives Matter” banner that has been displayed outside City Hall for several months.

Who can honestly say that they don’t have a special place in their heart for warm summer days where lingering in the sun, soaking it in, makes up for all the icy months we suffer through off-season?

Still, there are times when the heat gets a little too intense for our liking and for our health and wellbeing – such as we’ve experienced this past week or so.

Eagle Feathers #110 – An Engineering Family

By Bob (Monty) Doherty

Colonel Loammi Baldwin was certainly a father of engineering. He is known as the father of American Civil Engineering for no small reason. He raised five sons who followed him down that chosen path as they tried to emulate their father’s accomplishments.

(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)

To the Editor:

Each day I go to my office, I drive through East Cambridge and East Somerville. Both neighborhoods have changed, in some ways quite dramatically. East Cambridge has grown into a hotspot for new economy businesses and life sciences, and there has been an enormous increase in new apartment units. East Somerville’s Lower Broadway boasts one of the most eclectic, funky areas in all of Greater Boston. And yet, both neighborhoods retain a welcoming, familiar feel.

— Photos by Bobbie Toner

The Memphis Soul 5K BBQ Run to benefit the research and treatment of Multiple Sclerosis took place this weekend, starting at The Burren. Each runner and walker received a colorful race T-shirt; Chrono Track Timing with mats at start and finish provided by Granite State Race Services; and a finisher medal with ribbon. Post race BBQ, refreshments and live music was sponsored by Dingle Brewery and Crean’s Irish Lager.

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A poet, writer, and memoirist, who brought the famed Poets Theater from Cambridge, Mass to Somerville’s Arts Armory
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I first met poet Richard Cambridge when we worked on the poetry anthology City of Poets: 18 Boston Voices, in 2000. About a decade ago I interviewed him on my Somerville Community Access TV show Poet to Poet/Writer to Writer, when he still had the “Poets’ Theater” at the famed Club Passim in Harvard Square. In 2010 he moved the theater to the Somerville Arts Armory, and hasn’t looked back. He continues to run this series of poets, musicians, artists, who strut their stuff on the stage. I recently caught up with Cambridge at the Bloc 11 Cafe in Union Square, Somerville.

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Jared Smith is the author of eleven volumes of poetry, including his Collected Poems: 1971-2011; multimedia productions based upon his writing in New York and Chicago; two CDs; and numerous publications in the applied sciences. His poems, essays, and literary commentary have appeared in hundreds of publications in the U.S., Europe, and China. Journals his work has appeared in include: Beloit Poetry Journal, Paterson Review, New York Quarterly, The Same, Poet Lore, Confrontation, Lummox, The Pedestal The Smith, Colorado Quarterly, Greenfield Review, Louisiana Literature, Ibbetson Street Press, Wilderness House Review, Fifth Wednesday, Chiron Review, and a great many others. He is a Board Member of The New York Quarterly Literary Foundation and is Poetry Editor of Turtle Island Quarterly out of Oregon. He has also served on the Editorial Boards of The New York Quarterly; Home Planet News; The Pedestal; and Trail & Timberline. He is listed in Poets & Writers, The Colorado Poets Center, Who’s Who In America, and other major reference sources.

Arrests:
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Vanessa Doe, August 8, 2:09 p.m., arrested at Middlesex Ave. on a warrant charge of shoplifting by asportation.

Vincent Distasio, of 28 Brook St., August 9, 12:21 p.m., arrested at Crocker St. on warrant charges of larceny over $250 and assault and battery.