Life in the Ville by Jimmy Del Ponte

(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)

My dad once called Fort Devans and claimed to be an alderman from Somerville. They gave us a VIP tour of the base complete with lunch, and an official car and driver to show us around. My dad will be gone 20 years this November but I have tons of hilarious memories of him. After reading the previous statement, one might say that “the nut doesn’t fall far from the tree.” No, it doesn’t.

Grand Prize winner Anahi Gutierrez of Somerville.

The eight regional winners of the Massachusetts School Building Authority’s My Ideal School contest sponsored by Santander Bank, N.A. gathered for an awards ceremony at the Massachusetts State House today. The contest challenged first-grade students from across the Commonwealth to illustrate their vision of an ideal school.

By Sanjeev Selvarajah

How can anyone remain political about a hot button issue when seeing an investment coming from the disenfranchised voice of the population being examined?

The City of Somerville would like to invite all interested vendors to participate in the Summertime in Somerville Fireworks Celebration on Thursday, July 3, 2014 (rain date Thursday, July 10, 2014). The city plans to have up to five (5) concession stands and vendors selling items such as balloons, toys (no toy guns permitted), food and beverage at the event. The city will choose the location of these stands and will judge proposals on the following criteria: all licenses held by the business must be current; type of food/beverage/type of product or toy being sold; quality and price of product. The city reserves the right to reject any and all proposals or cancel this process at any time. Selected vendors will be notified by Tuesday, June 24, 2014.

Fourth of July Fireworks, Family Fun Day, SomerStreets, SomerMovies, ArtBeat and more are coming back to the streets of Somerville beginning in June!

Summertime in Somerville is kicking back into high gear for summer 2014, with the return of popular programming like SomerStreets, Fourth of July Fireworks, Family Fun Day, Joe’s Jazz and Blues Festival, the weekly SomerMovie Fest, and ArtsUnion programming in Union Square all summer long.

Residents, community members invited to submit questions to help 

The four finalists for Somerville Chief of Police—Somerville Deputy Chief Michael Cabral; Somerville Deputy Chief David Fallon; Manchester, NH Chief David Mara; and Hamden, CT Chief Thomas Wydra—will answer questions submitted by the community at a public hearing scheduled for Wednesday, June 25, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. in the Aldermanic Chambers at City Hall, 93 Highland Ave.

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)

Any sports fan will tell you that the old adage is true: the best defense is a good offense. Teams that cough up the lead and falter in the end don’t play to win—they play to not lose. Losing teams wrongly assume that they’ve already built enough of a lead and made enough progress that they can go into a shell and wait out the clock. Winning teams continue the strategy that earned them the lead in the first place, keeping up the attack and staying on the offensive. Last Thursday, I presented a fiscal year 2015 budget to the Board of Aldermen that plays to win—and to win it for our community.

The Nave Gallery and the Somerville Arts Council present the 3rd Somerville Squeezebox Slam.

This is a celebration, of accordions, button boxes and other free standing reed instruments.

As with the first festival, accordionists of all skill levels and musical genres are invited to stroll around the neighborhoods of Somerville, sharing their melodious sounds, and like pied pipers from an alternative fairy tale, beckon all to come and follow them as they head to Davis Square for a concert of some of New England’s finest squeezebox players. So dust off your grandfather’s squeezebox that’s been sitting in the attic and join us for an afternoon of pumping the bellows. Accordion themed art/crafts will be for sale. Curated by Michael McLaughlin.

Scene from Davis Square where an elderly woman was stuck by a FedEx truck.

By Douglas Yu

Update:

A 90-year-old woman, Helen Monagle, of Medford, was hit by a FedEx truck around 10:20 this morning at the intersection of Holland St. and Dover St., in Somerville, according to Somerville Police Department. She was transported to Mount Auburn Hospital in Cambridge where she later succumbed to her injures.

By William A. White Jr., Alderman-at-Large, Board President

(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)

I want to thank The Somerville Times for inviting me to comment on the upcoming City Budget process before the Board of Aldermen. There are two important “firsts” taking place with this process.  For the first time in the history of the City, the Mayor has submitted a budget to the Board of Aldermen in excess of $200,000,000.  After the current budget of $195,042,998, the Mayor is seeking $203,105,619 for next year.  The other is that for the first time in recent memory, there are five new aldermen out of eleven who will be participating in the review of this budget.  As Board President, I asked the Chair of the Finance Committee, Aldermen Lafuente, to extend the budget meetings over more evenings than had been done recently to give aldermen, especially our new members, more time to question the important departments.  During the past few years, incumbent aldermen had become quite familiar with the operation and funding needs of the various city departments. As a result, the budget schedule had become a bit compressed. My hope is that these new members on the Board of Aldermen in combination with its veterans will conduct a vigorous process that poses serious questions about spending and taxes.