By Haley ED Houseman

According to some residents, rats are chewing their way into supposedly “rodent-proof” trash containers.

As construction projects move forward in expectation of the Green Line Extension project eventually coming to Somerville, neighbors in the Union Square neighborhood are purportedly engaged in a battle against rats.

Complaints of increased rodent activity have cropped up in the neighborhoods surrounding Union Square following the demolition of a series of buildings. The site of the former Boys and Girls Club on Washington Street, as well as long standing Cota Funeral Home, was demolished in order to make way for a planned mix of development as part of the plans for the Union Square area. The area will include affordable housing commercial spaces and market-rate condos.

~Photos by Claudia Ferro
The annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration event, entitled, “Power to Impact Positive Change in our Community,” was held on Monday, Jan. 18, in observance of national Martin Luther King Jr Day.

Seeking to identify this individual who was involved in an incident at Joshua Tree in Davis square. Please call Detective Faria with any info you may have. 617-625-1600 x7232

By Charles Lane

The Lady Wizards girls team at Prospect Hill Academy has reached the half-way point in the 2015-2016 high school basketball season and is still undefeated.

This past Wednesday’s contest against the South Shore Charter Jaguars was a lopsided affair for the Lady Wizards who had a commanding 31-13 lead at halftime and finished with a final score of 55-20.

By Louise Carpenter

SHS Girls Track standouts (L to R) Youdine Felix, Laury Belizaire, Katia Mathews, and Lourdes Jean-Louis.

The Somerville High Girls Track Team improved their record to 3-1 win a 62-22 victory over Greater Lawrence Tech on Thursday, January 14 in the SHS fieldhouse.

Senior Captain Melissa Sanon remains undefeated in the GBL with her first place in the hurdles and high jump.  She leads the team scoring with a perfect 40 points in 4 meets.

By Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone

(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)

Clearly sanctuary cities like Somerville are a favored punching bag for some candidates during this presidential campaign season. During a debate last week, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie brought up sanctuary cities when promising to be tough on crime, apparently unaware that similar posturing got Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal an early exit from the race. It was a lazy, red meat line for his audience. We in Somerville know how wrong he is because we have three decades of experience as a sanctuary city with a consistently dropping crime rate. Yet what’s really unfortunate is that leading up to Martin Luther King Jr. Day weekend, Gov. Christie thought nothing of portraying entire ethnic segments as criminals.

By Sanjeev Selvarajah

Now here’s something—pay an artist for their time— that’s just what artist and entrepreneur Danielle Festa set out to teach with a barrage of Interdisciplinary courses during this month of January, at Washington Street Art Center, a popular source inspiring and here seating people in front of instructors who guide the Somerville art-scene about making a living with artistic expression.

By Josie Grove

The City Solicitor’s office is being urged to review the process whereby developers are granted permits for condominium conversions.

The Housing and Community Development Committee of the Board of Aldermen will be taking on the issue of condominium conversions, after Ward 5 Alderman Mark Niedergang attended the December 11 meeting of the Condominium Review Board and found the proceedings troubling.

By Amy Swain

One of the award winning submissions for Somerville’s Department of Health and Human Services and the Center for Teen Empowerment’s Art Contest, by Nina Zou.

Last Thursday, the Somerville Speaks initiative held a banquet at the Uniun. The event was the culmination of an art contest the group held including writing and visual art on the topic of mental health issues.

The event began at 6 p.m. By 6:15, the venue was nearly full. The notion that mental illness does not discriminate was represented in the crowd: different ages, ethnicities, and personalities came together.

Our apologies to visitors to our website last week. It was down for maintenance for a couple of days, following a series of spam-bot assaults on our database. Everything is in apple pie order now and we don’t anticipate any problems in the future. We had to delete part of the corrupted database, which included past article comments by our users, but in the spirit of the new year and new beginnings, let’s get busy refilling it with our ideas and suggestions concerning life in our great city. Be sure to visit us at www.thesomervilletimes.com and share your thoughts.