By Josie Grove

Reports of rodent sightings are significantly down compared to last year at this time, but it was also cited that this could be partly due to “311 fatigue” by those who have been reporting in the past. (click to enlarge)

Rats are a part of urban life, but that doesn’t mean Somerville is happy about its rodent residents. The Board of Aldermen convened a Rodent Issues Special Committee in the fall of 2013 and the committee, made up of Aldermen Maryann Heuston, John Connolly, and Matthew McLaughlin, had its most recent meeting on September 9 of this year. “We met last week because I had dozens of orders for rodent control, so we met to go over all those orders formally,” said Alderman McLaughlin. The special committee named eight specific sites as well as several streets where residents have reported seeing rats. “And we submitted formally a request for information regarding efforts to control rodents,” said Alderman McLaughlin.

Somerville Overcoming Addiction’s Candlelight Memorial Vigil brought people together to remember those who succumbed to the ravages of drug addiction, and to look forward with hope for those seeking help and healing. — Photos by Amy Swain

By Amy Swain

Tuesday, September 15 saw Somerville’s second annual Candlelight Memorial Vigil. The event was held at Somerville High School, put together by Somerville Overcoming Addiction (SOA), a local group dedicated to helping those affected by the disease of addiction.

Join East Somerville Main Streets on Thursday September 24 at 7:00 p.m. for the premiere of the This Is East video project. East Somerville Main Streets, in collaboration with Somerville Arts Council and SCATV bring the stories of East Somerville to life. With interviews with dozens of members of the neighborhood, the This Is East video project tells the story of a community. Come to Chuckie Harris Park for a viewing of the film and watch your neighbors tell you what East Somerville means to them.

So, who among us participated in the much-maligned “Pity Party” last week? If you did, you are a brave soul indeed.

From the moment the event was announced a hue and cry was heard both far and wide deriding the unique affair, and many felt that it was more than a mere waste of taxpayers’ dollars. Some felt that it was an embarrassment to the city.

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This past weekend a group of friends came over for dinner. The menu consisted of an amped-up charcuterie platter, tagliatelle bolognese, sautéed broccoli rabe, a variety of white and red wines, some from as close as upstate New York and as far away as France, and for dessert, various Italian pastries and cookies.

Wednesday, September 23

3:15 p.m. – Professional Development – Field House

PD for PE and Health Teachers

3:00 p.m. – Golf Practice – Stonemeadow Golf

Author of the memoir ‘The Next Better Place’
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Over the past year or so I have become acquainted with Michael C. Keith, a professor of Communications at Boston College, a scholar of talk radio and other media, and the author of the memoir The Next Better Place (Algonquin Books). His memoir, as described in a review on http://www.ew.com/ is: “… a heartbreaking memoir of staggering mileage.

Lauren Holahan is a twenty-year-old photographer and musician. She is currently studying photography at Endicott College.  In this prose poem she captures the unrehearsed joy of a young woman – with a flourish of colors and vivid images.

Due to ongoing GLX construction on the Medford St. Bridge, construction crews will need to fully close Medford St. to through traffic between Walnut St. and Pearl St. on Thursday, Sept. 24, between the hours of 9:30 a.m. and 2 p.m. Vehicles traveling west on Medford St. will be detoured onto Walnut St., left onto Pearl St., and onto Medford St. For additional information, visit http://greenlineextension.eot.state.ma.us/.

Arrests:
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Alceu Santos, of 193 Elm St., Cambridge, September 15, 12:49 p.m., arrested at Prospect St. on a warrant charge of unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle.