Left to right: Best Teacher winner Victoria “Vicki” Macrokanis, Best Principal winner Sophia Carafotes, and The Somerville Times Publisher Ross Blouin.

By Charles Lane

Two outstanding recipients of The Somerville Times’ “Best of Somerville 2015” competition were recently awarded their certificates of merit.

Denise Cosby, whose son was murdered in 2009, spoke at the Survivors of Homicide Victims Awareness Month opening ceremony at the State House last week.

By Rebecca Danvers

Survivors of Homicide Victims Awareness Month (SHVAM) held its opening ceremony on Monday, November 23 at the State House. This commemorative month has been observed since 2000.

SHVAM is an observance that provides a platform where the state’s legislators and the public can learn from and about families who experience murder.

The Somerville Road Runners presented the nineteenth annual Gobble Gobble Gobble on Thanksgiving Day. All proceeds will benefit Project Soup as well as Somerville Track PAC.

— Photos by Claudia Ferro

The 25th Annual Holiday Arts & Crafts Fair took place on Saturday November 28 at the Somerville High School Field House.

Somerville residents have been expressing frustration at the lack of progress in solving the air traffic noise problems in the city, according to Alderman At Large Mary Jo Rossetti.

By Jim Clark

An order was submitted by Alderman At Large Mary Jo Rossetti at the November 24 Regular Meeting of the Somerville Board of Aldermen that the City Clerk invite the Logan Airport Community Advisory Committee representative, Wig Zamore from the Community Advisory Committee, to the Board’s next meeting to recommend action for the increased impact of Logan air traffic.

By Charles Lane

MassDOT and the MBTA announced last week that the recently revised North Side Commuter Rail schedules will not be implemented until spring 2016.

We are having a contest here over the next couple of weeks. We are asking anyone here in the Ville who would like to write a poem on the Christmas holiday and what it means to them to send it in to us. Deadline is Friday, December 18. You can email it to news@thesomervilletimes.com, mail it or drop it off at 699 Broadway, Somerville 02144. Poems will be selected by The Times staff and the three top winners will have their poem published in time for Christmas. The best one submitted will receive a $100 gift certificate for the Mt. Vernon Restaurant, a $50 Mt. Vernon certificate for second choice and a $25 Mt. Vernon gift certificate for third place. Submit your poem to be published by The Somerville Times in time for the holiday.

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

Dear Editor

DAVIS SQUARE – SUGGESTION:

The Davis Square businesses might like to draw up a paper which describes the reasons why it would be wiser to have Davis Square be used no longer as a parade stop. There are too many problems when the area is closed to traffic. And our tax dollars are going for more police work while traffic is stopped to keep shoppers out unless by foot. Businesses lose a lot of sales while these parades continue, taking a good part of the day.

Citations were awarded by the Board of Alderman at their Regular Meeting last week commending two Somerville police officers who were winners of the Alexander McQuestion Police Officer of the Year Award presented by American Legion Post 19. The citation reads as follows: “Be it hereby known to all that the Somerville Board of Aldermen and Mayor offer their sincerest commendations to Officer Albert Gee and Officer Yvon Jean-Jaques for being awarded the Alexander McQuestion Award, presented annually by American Legion Post 19 to the Somerville Police Officer of the Year.