Monday, Oct. 13 is Columbus Day and city offices will be closed. Because of the holiday trash and recycling collection will be on a one-day delay all week. There will be no street sweeping and parking meters will not be in effect on Monday.

The 2014 Marathon Sports “Somerville Jingle Bell Run” taking place on December 14, 2014 in Somerville is proud to announce it’s first donation of $1500 to the Somerville High School Girls Soccer Team. Paul Collyer of the Somerville Striders Athletic Club made the presentation to the Somerville High School Girls Soccer Coach, Tony Diaz at the Somerville Recreation Center. Please go to http://www.baevents.com/jinglebell/ for more information on the 2014 event.

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)

Going to the voting booth imagining that casinos will benefit your family, community or state is equivalent to going to a casino imagining that you’ll leave as a big winner. In both cases someone will end up with a lot of money, and it’s a sucker’s bet that it will be you.

Somerville Police released the following press release:

On Wednesday, Oct. 8, 2014, during the early evening hours, the Somerville Police responded to a report of a sexual assault in progress on Central St. near Broadway in Winter Hill. The suspect was apprehended by Somerville Police, and then arraigned on Thursday at Somerville District Court on charges including sexual assault with intent to rape and assault with intent to murder. The suspect was remanded by the Court for a 20-day evaluation at Bridgewater State Hospital. A Dangerousness Hearing has been scheduled for Somerville District Court on Oct., 29. A dangerousness hearing is conducted to determine if the suspect will be held without bail while his criminal case is pending.

Somerville Youth Soccer League (SYSL) is organizing two events in October to show our support for both the Somerville High School (SHS) Girls and Boys Soccer programs. Please join them as they celebrate the young women and men who represent the city and sport they love.

Somerville Neighborhood News is a community service production of Somerville Community Access Television. If you don’t have TV or the time to watch the full episode, you can watch the individual news segments online at www.somervilleneighborhoodnews.org. Here are some headlines from the latest newscast.

There’s a rare opportunity to name a Somerville street and Mayor Joseph Curtatone is seeking your suggestions. Great River Road in Assembly Square runs along Baxter Park and is then interrupted by a bend where it meets Artisan Way. To avoid confusion for residents, businesses, visitors, and emergency personnel, the city has decided to rename the lower portion of the street, which runs parallel to the train tracks (please see  map).

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)

Fifteen people were victims of domestic violence homicide last year in Massachusetts, and including perpetrators, there were 22 domestic violence deaths last year in our state. So far this year, there have been seven domestic violence homicide victims and 14 deaths in total. Last week, we once again walked through Union Square for our Annual Candlelight Vigil in honor of Domestic Violence Awareness Month. We walked to remember those we have lost to this continuing epidemic, and we walked to stand up together, as a community, and let victims and witnesses alike know—you are not alone. I am glad that as a community we stand up and speak out on domestic violence, but if the events of the past year have taught us anything, it’s that we have a long way to go, and a lot to learn.

— Photos by Claudia Ferro

A Cappella groups converged at the Prospect Hill Monument on Sunday, Oct. 5, for a fun day of song and hanging out in the sun at the ‘A Taste of A Cappella’ event.

Somerville’s own The Eight Tracks performed, along with Fermata Town, Sound Off A Cappella, Boston Accent, and Bostonality.