Here is one featured segment from the latest Somerville Neighborhood Newscast. Somerville By Design held an Open House last week to present the latest design considerations for the redevelopment of Union Square. The meeting drew close to a hundred residents and activists to hear about the plans for Lots D-1 through D-7 in the heart of Union Square. George Proakis, Director of Strategic Planning and Community Development for the city introduced the presenters.

Continue reading »

By Rebecca Danvers

Environment science non-profit “e” inc. has received a grant from the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Environment Education Grant Program to expand its After School Planet Protector Teams (Planet Protectors) program. The grant will enable “e” inc. to bring the ASPPT to six added after school sites that have rarely been able to participate in the program, while also expanding the breadth of offerings at six current sites. In all, the ASPPT program will serve up to 540 students from kindergarten to 5th grade in six community centers throughout Somerville, as well as the Roxbury, Dorchester, and South End neighborhoods of Boston.

Continue reading »

By Tom Bannister

The Somerville Physical Education Program (PEP) has been promoting a healthy culture throughout the year, working across the city with youth and community partners.

Continue reading »

By William C. Shelton

(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)

The U.S. Women’s Soccer Team prosecuted a continuously improving campaign during this year’s World Cup, clinching the championship in a breathtaking game on Sunday.

News coverage made little mention of a lawsuit that forty players, led by Team USA’s highest all-time scorer Abbie Wambach, brought against FIFA last year. Their aim was to avoid the injuries that come from playing on artificial turn, a surface that Men’s World Cup teams do not play on.

Continue reading »

By Oliver Bok

“If it’s wrong to destroy the planet, it’s wrong to profit from the destruction of the planet,” Eric Fields said.

Fields is a Tufts graduate student and an organizer of Fossil Free Somerville, a campaign to divest the city’s pension fund from oil companies. To him, divestment is the only moral choice.

Continue reading »

By Joseph A. Curtatone

(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)

Love wins. Make no mistake: Years from now, when we look back upon the Supreme Court’s ruling that made same-sex marriage legal across our nation, we will wonder how we ever treated our gay and lesbian neighbors as anything less than equal. For a long time, even those that would be our closest allies declared their support for LGBT equality, but did not support civil marriage for gays and lesbians, or offered civil unions as an inadequate substitute. But equality is not possible without civil marriage. It is one of the foundations of our society, reflected in the numerous ways that our federal government recognizes marriage through the more than 1,000 benefits, rights and protections that are provided to citizens based on whether they are married. A society that provides full participation and inclusion for our family members, friends, neighbors and citizens cannot exist until civil marriage is a right for all. That day has come.

Continue reading »

UPDATED: On July 7, 2015, Linda Hennessy was arrested and charged with the unarmed robbery at the Community Credit Union, 377 Summer St., at approximately 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday, June 23. Hennessy is also believed to be responsible for an unarmed robbery at the Davis Square Citizens Bank, 212 Elm St., on May 13.

Continue reading »

The Green Line Extension Project (GLX) announced today that by the end of the day, July 8, Broadway Bridge in Ball Square in Somerville will be reopened to all lanes of traffic. Both sidewalks will be opened as well. The GLX contractor White Skanska Kiewit (WSK) has constructed the utility bridge structure that necessitated this lane closure, which began back in January of this year.

Continue reading »

By Donald Norton

At a recent fundraiser, the publisher of The Somerville Times, Ross Blouin, introduced local pub owner Liam Mannion, who owns Sally O’Brien’s in Union Square, to Jerry Fleming, who owned the first Irish pub here in Somerville back in the late 60’s and early 70’s, known as the Blarney Stone, which was in the old Woodbridge Inn until it caught fire.

Continue reading »

By Douglas Yu

Elegant Furniture’s logo is still hanging high on the building at 31 Union Square, even though the paint has tarnished over the past half year. The furniture store was forced to shut down last fall due to a spike in its monthly rent, local media reported.

Continue reading »