Josh Lewin and Katrina Jazayeri. — Photo by Rachel Leah Blumenthal

By Haley ED Houseman

Much has been made of Union Square’s transformation in recent years: is it all uninvested hipsters, or growth that is made to last? In the case of the new restaurant Juliet, the focus is on community building and investment by two young restaurateurs who have deep convictions about being involved in the neighborhood.

Concerned Somerville residents gathered at Somerville High School last week for an opioid awareness event sponsored by the Ryan Harrington Foundation. — Photos by Douglas Yu

By Douglas Yu

Before the Ryan Harrington Foundation’s first opioid awareness event began at Somerville High School on June 3, Joann Riviecio stopped by the tables of 16 local health advocate organizations, and talked to people who were struggling with heroin overdose.

By Oliver Bok

The massive frozen mounds may have melted, but the impact of the snowiest winter on record is still being felt on Somerville’s balance sheet. The February blizzards left a $9 million deficit, forcing Mayor Joseph Curtatone to trim the 2016 budget he presented to a special session of the Board of Aldermen on June 4.

By Josie Grove

Last Tuesday evening, Winter Hill residents used colorful markers and Post-its to shape their neighborhood’s future.

That evening at the Somerville By Design meeting at the Healey School, the Mayor’s Office of Strategic Planning and Community Development presented concept sketches of a possible future for Winter Hill. Residents asked questions, and provided feedback by writing and drawing directly on the sketches. This was the final step in Somerville By Design’s three-part process to create a plan for the neighborhood’s development.

CAAS’ Spring Party! This year it is at the Arts at the Armory on Thursday, June 11 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. The public is invited to attend this event free of charge. Beverages and light refreshment will be served.  CAAS is the local Community Action Agency here in Somerville, “working to end Poverty where we live.” Started back in the early 80’s, they do a lot of good things here in the city. For more information go online www.caasomerville.org or call 617-623-7370.

— Photos by Claudia Ferro

SomerStreet: Carnaval returned for its 6th year of shaking up East Somerville on Sunday, kicking off the 2015 season.

Eagle Feathers #80 – Second In Command

By Bob (Monty) Doherty

After the battle of April 19, 1775, which began in Lexington and ended in what is now Somerville, the budding country needed leaders. Out of the thirty-five American generals who served in the Revolutionary War, Rhode Island’s 33 year-old Nathanael Greene was the youngest. He was born in 1742, exactly one hundred years before Somerville’s birth in 1842.

Mayor Curtatone is part of a Harvard Kennedy School (HKS) Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation delegation that is traveling to China from June 7-18. The trip, which is fully paid for by the Ash Center where Mayor Curtatone is a Senior Fellow, represents an outstanding opportunity for the City. In addition to sharing information on City programs and initiatives, the Mayor will be working to open up opportunities for the city ranging from student academic exchanges to support for the City’s green tech and sustainability goals as he meets with government, business and academic leaders. The trip is organized by Edward Cunningham, Director of the HKS Ash Center’s China Program and the HKS Asia Energy and Sustainability Initiative, and joining Prof. Cunningham and Mayor Curtatone on the trip is Ash Center Director and Daewoo Professor of International Affairs Anthony Saich.

Whatever one’s feelings may be regarding the relative merits of the city’s @SomerStreets events, one thing is clear: a good number of people end up having a really great time for themselves.

By Donald Norton

Ward 6 candidate for alderman, Charles J. Chisholm, is pictured here at the Election Department turning in his nominations papers. He submitted about 9 sheets today and already had 97 signatures. All he needed was 100 plus 20.