Somerville High School Track and Field athlete Gabrielle Etienne finished second at the Massachusetts State Finals on Saturday at the Reggie Lewis center. Her second place throw of 40’11.5″ was her personal best throw of her career and set a new SHS record in the Shot Put.  The previous record of 40’7″ was set in 2009 by Jessica Masse. Pictured with Etienne is throws coach Carl Stauffer.

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The noted Somerville film critic William Falcetano’s latest review. You can find Bill in some dark corner in The Somerville Theatre on any given day or evening. Say hello to him – he may or may not reply – well, you know critics!

Janelle Solviletti writes the Lyrical: My name is Janelle Solviletti and I am currently a junior at Marist College in Poughkeepsie, New York. I am working to finish my bachelors of communication degree with concentrations in public relations and advertising. I have a passion for creative writing and have been writing short stories and poems throughout all of high school and college in my spare time. I also devote my time to running cross-country and track at Marist and love being outdoors.

Arrests:
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Timothy Jones, of 2 North St., February 17, 12:07 p.m., arrested at Broadway on a charge of larceny of a person over 65.

The Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE) announced today the selection of six cities, including Somerville, for a new multi-year initiative — By All Means: Redesigning Education to Restore Opportunity — aimed at developing comprehensive child wellbeing and education systems that help eliminate the link between children’s socioeconomic status and achievement. By All Means will be operated by HGSE’s Education Redesign Lab.  In addition to Somerville, other participating cities in the initiative include Oakland, CA; Louisville, KY; Providence, RI; Salem, MA; and Newton, MA.

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The City of Somerville took an important step forward this week in its efforts to reduce the entire Somerville community’s contribution to climate change. The city released its Green House Gas Inventory (the Inventory), which provides a baseline of total carbon emissions within city limits both by municipal entities as well as residents and visitors. The Inventory will be used to track progress on the city’s Net Zero 2050 goal to become carbon neutral by mid-century. The results of the Inventory identify emission sources and provide data helpful for setting measurable short-term carbon reduction goals. Somerville’s Office of Sustainability and Environment (OSE) oversaw the Inventory as part of the SustainaVille Initiative.

MassDOT and the MBTA are currently working through a re-evalaution of the Green Line Extension project, focusing on four key areas: (1) project management; (2) redesign; (3) re-procurement; and (4) the development of a reliable cost estimate and schedule. This re-evaluation has been prompted by significant cost overruns on the project, and is expected to be complete and submitted to the MassDOT Board of Directors and the MBTA Fiscal & Management Control Board in May.

Join Fossil Free Somerville and Somerville Climate Action for a free screening of This Changes Everything, a powerful look at how communities around the world are facing the challenge of climate change.

Real Estate Research Consultants (RRC), the personal property consultant for Assessing, will be visiting new businesses and those reporting new equipment to determine FY 17 values. Please extend your cooperation to ensure a fair and equitable process. RRC inspectors will have identification but please call Assessing at 617 625-6600 ext: 3100 if you have any questions. Inspections begin Feb 22 and will last until April 1, 2016.

I was privileged to give a talk at the Cervena Barva Studio at the Somerville Arts Armory as part of their intern program. Here is the founder of the Cervena Barva Press Gloria Mindock (Right) and her intern Ruby Struble who is a student at Bennington College in Vermont. I interviewed Gloria about her press and the internship program before my talk.