Each week prior to the November election The Somerville Times will present the Statewide ballot questions, along with pro and con arguments, one at a time for examination and further consideration. We begin the series this week with Question 1: Eliminating Gas Tax Indexing.
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QUESTION 1: Law Proposed by Initiative Petition Eliminating Gas Tax Indexing
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Do you approve of a law summarized below, on which no vote was taken by the Senate or the House of Representatives on or before May 6, 2014?

The Somerville Chamber of Commerce is holding their monthly Business After hours social this Thursday night, October 2, 5-7 p.m. at the East End Grille, 118 Broadway. It’s an excellent networking event featuring free appetizers with a cash bar. Free parking in private lot. Bring your business cards for the drawing. Members and their guests are welcome. Treat your colleagues and clients! Sponsored by Our City Realty. RSVP with name(s) and affiliation(s) for you and your guests to smackey@somervillechamber.org.

Two would-be bank robbers were stopped in their tracks in Somerville last week. — Photos by John Gardner

By Jim Clark

Police arrested two men last week as they made their way to Rockland Trust Bank at 399 Highland Ave., allegedly intent on committing an armed robbery there.

Edwin O’Grady, 55, of New Boston, New Hampshire, and an as of yet unidentified accomplice were stopped before they entered the bank last Thursday at approximately 10:55 a.m.

Make way for the mayhem and turmoil that is about to strike Union Square as crews commence preparations for the laying of tracks and all else that goes with the coming of the Green Line through the area.

Some traffic detours aside, the process should actually be fairly orderly and pain-free for locals and passers-through. City and developer plans seem to be thoroughly thought out and, with luck and proper implementation, should allow for a smooth period of adjustment and preparation for the actual construction phase when it begins in earnest.

Aldermen won’t give up push for campaign finance reform

By Jane Regan

Even though the mayor vetoed their proposed campaign finance reform ordinance, Alderman-At-Large Bill White and his colleagues aren’t giving up.

Known as a “Pay-to-Play” law, the ordinance would limit the amount of money people hoping to do real estate development-related business with the city at $250. It passed with seven votes on September 11 but on September 23, Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone sent a letter to the Board of Alderman indicating he was vetoing it.

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Somerville Poet Kevin Dua writes: “I am a history teacher in the Somerville Public Schools for three years, who takes comfort in poetry writing since college. I consider this piece a reminder of how sincerity can falter towards what the majority deems right.”

Arrests:
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Danielle Dellamano, 32, of 204 Cedar St., Stoughton, September 22, 8:41 a.m., arrested at 622 Somerville Ave. on a charge of shoplifting by asportation.

Kevin Hogarty, 24, of 17 Court St., Boston, September 23, 8:55 a.m., arrested at 177 Middlesex Ave. on a charge of larceny under $250.

Work clearing the way for the future Union Square MBTA Green Line Station begins this month, with a goal of removing contaminated soil, demolishing existing buildings and restoring the property to a smooth finish by the start of winter. During this work, traffic will be impacted in the area.

For the Green Line project to remain on schedule, environmental remediation work must be completed this year. That begins on Monday, Sept. 29, with the removal and replacement of contaminated soils from the former Kiley Barrel Company property, an EPA designated Brownfield site which is the approximately 32,000-square foot area on the northwest corner of the site identified as the D-2 parcel in the Union Square Revitalization Plan (bound by the existing commuter rail tracks, Prospect St., Somerville Ave. and homes on Allen St.).

The Grownup Noise members (R to L): Adam Sankowski, Rachel Arnold, Paul Hansen, Todd Marsten, Aine Fujioka. — Photo by Sarahmica Photography

By Blake Maddux

Paul Hansen and Adam Sankowski are two of the four Berklee-trained members of the Somerville-based quintet The Grownup Noise. The band released its eponymous debut in 2007, and the follow-up This Time with Feeling appeared in 2011.

Now the band has recorded its third album, The Problem with Living in the Moment, which they will celebrate the release of at The Armory on Saturday, October 4.