By Haley ED Houseman

Tipped workers who are seeking increases to their minimum wage level are being aided in their efforts via the “One Fare Wage” bill championed by State Senator Patricia Jehlen and State Representative Tricia Farley-Bouvier.

Tipping may be ingrained in our restaurant culture, but few customers understand the cost of their tips. Few know that the system produces wages that are regularly below the poverty line.

The Youth Pass Pilot Program promises to offer youngsters between the ages of 12 and 19 an opportunity to acquire significant discounts for public transportation in and around the Boston, Chelsea, Malden and Somerville areas.

By Amy Swain

July 1 saw the launch of the Youth Pass Pilot Program in Boston. Members of the Youth Affordabili(T) Coalition gathered at Dudley Station in Roxbury for a ribbon cutting ceremony along with many special guests including Mayor Gary Christenson of Malden, Felix Arroyo, Chief of Health and Human Services in Boston, and Omar Boukili, Advisor to Mayor Joseph Curatone of Somerville, among many others.

This Thursday night our own Doug Holder will have a book launch at the Newton Writing and Publishing Center, 289 Eliot Street, Newton MA. Beginning at 7:00 p.m., hear Doug read, clap for him, buy an autographed copy of his book…eat cake! Doug is a great guy and a very talented writer.

— Photos by Claudia Ferro

Last Thursday, July 2, the city held its annual Fireworks Celebration at Trum Field. Live entertainment included performances by the Somerville Sunsetters, local Disco-Funk band Booty Vortex, the USO Metropolitan New York Performers, the Boston Windjammers, and “Somerville Idol,” Tammy Rego, all leading up to a 30-minute fireworks display at approximately 9:15 p.m.

Eagle Feathers #82 –The Invitation

By Bob (Monty) Doherty

It began where the Wellington Bridge crosses over the Mystic River, and it ended where the Harvard Bridge crosses over the Charles. It was to be a ”day of all days” for the people of Somerville. For weeks in advance, the residents, ranging from age five to one hundred and five, had been preparing for this special day. Red, white, and blue bunting and flags blanketed the city and adorned its public buildings in anticipation. It wasn’t that they hadn’t had parades before, but the 4th of July observance in 1910 became the city’s most boastful. The President of the United States, William Howard Taft, had accepted an invitation from the City of Somerville to visit, to partake, and to preside over its nation’s birthday celebration.

By Jim Clark

A Somerville Police officer on detail at last week’s Fireworks Celebration took notice of two individuals who had reportedly gotten into a heated argument as they were walking down Broadway towards Medford St.

In the 20 years that I have lived in Somerville I have often heard of that bastion of ceramic arts, the Mudflat Studio. I always wanted to visit, but I never got around to it. So when I got the Somerville Arts Council announcement about East Somerville Main Streets’ collaboration with the studio on a mosaic project, as part of a larger project “This is East,” I was intrigued and tracked the story down.

By Jim Clark

Police officers were dispatched to the Pendelton Outlet located at 520 Assembly Row last Friday on reports of a shoplifting.

Arrests:
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Christopher Silveira, of 23 Foch St., Cambridge, June 29, 4:00 p.m., arrested at 1366 Broadway on charges of assault and battery on a police officer, threat to commit a crime, and resisting arrest.