A New Year In The Ville

By Mike Browne

A New Year in the Ville is upon us again
The City we love is thriving amen
The seeds we have planted are growing ten fold
Our future is bright the truth be told

— Photo by Bobbie Toner

A roof collapsed at 13 Tufts St, Somerville on December 31, 2015. The house was in the process of being renovated at the time, no injuries were reported. Because of the danger of the walls, the home had to be demolished.

Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone and Somerville High School’s Center for Career, and Technical Education (CTE) are proud to announce the Advanced Manufacturing Training Program (AMTP), an expansion upon the CTE’s successful youth programming. Funded with a grant by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts’ Executive Office of Housing Economic Development, The AMTP will target Somerville residents aged 18-24 and focus on preparing them for high paying careers in the manufacturing industry.

I interviewed Harris Gardner at the famed literary cafe – Bloc 11 – in Union Square Somerville. There he revealed his plans for the Boston National Poetry Festival in April (2016), and talked about his years as poetry editor of Ibbetson Street, and his involvement in the First and Last Poetry Series at Somerville Arts Armory

This Friday City offices will be closed for New Year’s Day. If your trash and recycling are normally collected on Friday, put everything out on Saturday instead.  Parking meters will not be enforced on Friday.

With contact football-related injuries on the rise nationally, Somerville joins growing list of communities making the switch to flag football for younger residents

Courtesy of Somerville Recreation

Somerville Recreation announced this week that, following a national trend due to increased risk of injury, and due to declining enrollment, the City’s Youth Football program will be discontinued and will switch to a non-contact Flag Football Program for Somerville youth in grades one through eight.

Arrests:
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Mary Allen, of 3600 Mystic Valley Pkwy., Medford, December 22, 5:28 p.m., arrested at College Ave. on charges of operation of a motor vehicle under the influence of liquor, operation of a motor vehicle without ignition interlock, and child endangerment while operating a motor vehicle under the influence of liquor.

Adam Leal, of 199 Pearl St., December 22, 7:16 p.m., arrested at Memorial Rd. on a warrant charge of defacing property.

Annual celebration of America’s first flag raising to be celebrated by City and State officials, residents, and “George Washington” on horseback.

Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone and Historic Preservation Commission Director Brandon Wilson announced that the 240^th annual “Grand Union” flag-raising ceremony at Prospect Hill Park will be held on Friday, Jan. 1, 2016, at 12 p.m. A processional led by a re-enactor portraying General George Washington on horseback will leave from the City Hall Concourse at 11:30 a.m. As always, members of the public are invited to participate, and are encouraged to wear traditional colonial clothing. The annual ceremony commemorates the raising of the nation’s first official flag, featuring thirteen red and white horizontal stripes, atop Prospect Hill on New Year’s Day, 1776. At the time, Prospect Hill was a key site in a string of fortifications created by Washington and the Continental Army in their siege of British troops in Boston during the first year of the American Revolution.

By Haley ED Houseman

Somerville students are getting their hands dirty while getting their minds enriched with first-hand experience in agricultural and nutritional education.

With the award of a USDA grant to expand Somerville’s farm to school programming across the district, the city’s school system is set to lead the way in connecting students to local foods. From school gardens to regionally sourced ingredients in school lunches, the program directly impacts students eating habits daily, in the classroom and in the lunchroom.

(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 Sirs & Madams/To whom it may concern;

I am writing this document for both Nursing & Rest Home Residents!  The present amount of $72.80, is not enough to exist on. Many of our residents have no outside support, no one to turn to for assistance. Many of our families cannot give us aide.