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)

This past weekend, Teen Empowerment held its annual Youth Peace Conference at Somerville High School. I had the honor and privilege of briefly sharing the stage with teenagers who are not only future leaders of our community—they are already leaders today. Teen Empowerment is one of the great success stories in our city. We faced an epidemic of drug overdoses, juvenile crime and teen suicides a decade ago that we stopped because our youth stood up. They joined with us and changed the way we approached the problems that plagued our community. The lessons we’ve learned through Teen Empowerment’s success are still relevant today, as we face a nationwide opioid abuse epidemic, and as our country grapples with a criminal justice system that features militarized local law enforcement and systemic discrimination. It’s only by working together and building relationships that we can beat back drug abuse and have an effective police force that works in cooperation with and is part of the community.

The city is preparing to put into motion steps that will hopefully break the years long stall in getting the Winter Hill area Star Market site moving towards major redevelopment.

By Josie Grove

Somerville city officials announced at the May 12 ResiStat meeting held at the Healey School that the city is preparing to take over the site of the Winter Hill Star Market using eminent domain, a process whereby the city forces property owners to sell land at market value. For the Star Market site, this would come at the end of a long planning process, and approval at the city and state level. “We want to put the policies in place that say ‘this is what we want as a community,’” said Mayor Joseph Curtatone. “This tool is probably the one that’s left in our toolbox to accomplish this.”

Somerville’s master developer partner for Union Square, US2, recently presented a progress report to the Somerville Redevelopment Authority, highlighting its accomplishments and reaffirming its stated goals.

By Tom Bannister

At the Somerville Redevelopment Authority’s May meeting, Union Square Station Associates (US2), Somerville’s master developer partner for Union Square, presented a progress report to the Board.

Ward 4 Alderman Tony Lafuente has worked very hard pressing the administration over the past few years to get rolling on Winter Hill and apparently his efforts have worked out. On Tuesday night about 100 residents of Ward 4 Winter Hill showed up to hear news on what will be happening along the Winter Hill Central Broadway run.   The owner of the Star Market lot has fought the city over the years with a difference of opinion on what he wants and what the city wants for that area. Apparently, as late as Tuesday a 12.5 million dollar offer was rejected by the owner from a developer. Now the city is starting the process of taking the property as eminent domain, which process will take a little time, but not so much. The entire Winter Hill area is one of the last places for getting development in the area.  

Those interested in running for public office in the City of Somerville (Mayor, Alderman at Large, Ward Alderman, or School Committee) need to file their paperwork no later than June 24.

By Donald Norton

Nominations can be picked up at Election Department at City Hall (lower floor) until June 22 but have to be in no later than June 24. The following have pulled nomination papers for this year’s municipal elections:

— By Claudia Ferro

The annual Wounded Vet Run, benefitting four of New England’s severely wounded veterans, took place on Saturday, May 9.

By Jim Clark

Police were dispatched to the College Ave. T station last week on reports that a woman with a knife was harassing and elderly man with a knife.

Eagle Feathers #78 – Pirates on the Mystic

By Bob (Monty) Doherty

From Robert Louis Stevenson’s book Treasure Island to Johnny Depp’s Caribbean movies, children and adults have been captivated by the tales of swashbuckling pirates. Pirates have plied their treacherous trade for over 2,000 years since the days of early Greece. When they sailed to profit themselves, they were evil “pirates” and when some of them flew under a national flag or for a cause, they were coined “privateers.” Contact with colonial and pre-colonial pirates sailing in this hemisphere began in our own back yard.

The annual M.O.M.’s Run 5k Run/Walk for Cancer will took place on Sunday, May 10 and there was a great turnout. Local and regional participants enjoyed a good run for a great cause, with all proceeds benefiting the Claudia Adams Barr Program with Dana Farber Cancer Research.

Christopher Busa, founder and editor of Provincetown Arts magazine, was born in New York City in 1946, the son of a painter who participated in the formative years of Abstract Expressionism. Spending part of every year in Provincetown since infancy, he slowly absorbed its mythology as a place where artists and writers gather to work and live. After graduation from the University of Minnesota, he studied for a year in Paris at the Sorbonne, and then pursued a Ph.D. for ten years while teaching English at Rutgers University. His interviews and profiles of artists and writers have appeared in the Paris Review, Arts, Partisan Review, Garden Design, and other magazines. Two published pieces were reprinted in Interviews and Encounters with Stanley Kunitz, edited by Stanley Moss (Sheep Meadow Press). Another essay, “Being a Great Man Is a Thesis Invented by Others,” appeared in Such Desperate Joy: Imagining Jackson Pollock (Thunder’s Mouth Press). He has curated exhibitions and written catalog introductions for many artists. He co-edited and introduced the Erotic Works of D.H. Lawrence (Crown, 1989), the subject of his dissertation. He is the author of The Provincetown Artists Cookbook, with Written Sketches of the Artists Creating a Contemporary Portrait of the Town as an Art Colony (Abingdon, 1988).