Alexander Levering Kern is a Somerville-based poet and writer whose work has appeared in Ibbetson Street, Georgetown Review, Spare Change News, MOBIUS, Caribbean Writer, Scout Somerville, anthologies from Pudding House, Meridian Anthology, and many others.   Currently he teaches and works at Northeastern University as Executive  Director of the Center for Spirituality, Dialogue and Service.  His local, national, and international work in Quaker and interfaith peace and social justice efforts have been covered by the Washington Post, Boston Globe, Harvard Gazette, and other publications. He is editor of Becoming Fire: Spiritual Writing from Rising Generations and his first collection of poems is forthcoming.  Alex lives on Spring Hill with his wife Rebecca Grunko (an ESL teacher in Somerville Public Schools) and his rapidly growing kids Elias and Ruthanna.

Low-income young adults aged 18-24 invited to apply to program; local partners working with residents to prepare for full-time employment

Applications are now available for the “Pocket Change” pilot program, designed to help low-income young adults, aged 18-24, gain full-time employment with local employers, Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone and the Office of Strategic Planning and Community Development announced today—and businesses, residents and community partners are encouraged to participate and help put the City’s youth on a path to prosperity

Arrests:
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Juan Portillo, 42, May 12, 6:16 p.m., arrested at Hawkins St. on charges of possession of a dangerous weapon and assault and battery on a public employee, and on warrant charges of nighttime breaking and entering of a vehicle or boat, furnishing a false name or Social Security number, and possession of a burglarious instrument.

Michael McMahon, 47, of 51 Dartmouth St., May 13, 2:53 p.m., arrested at 220 Washington St. on a warrant charge of unregistered motor vehicle or trailer.

Join Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone and the Somerville High School Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA) on Thursday, May 29, to raise the Pride flag in honor of LGBT Pride Month. The ceremony will take place at 2:45 p.m. on the City Hall concourse, 93 Highland Ave. Mayor Curtatone, City LGBT Liaison Elizabeth Field, and a representative from GSA will speak at the event.

Master songsmith Marshall Crenshaw will be entertaining the crowd at Johnny D’s on Thursday, May 22.

By Blake Maddux

As is the case with most musicians who sustain a three-decade long career despite not becoming superstars, many people would recognize Marshall Crenshaw’s work even if his name does not register with them.

Crenshaw’s 1982 hit Someday, Someway, his lone Top 40 entry, has appeared in productions as varied as the 1985 Madonna movie Desperately Seeking Susan and a 2005 episode of The West Wing. Other songs that he has written can be heard in Superman III, Empire Records, Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story, and Baby Mama.

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)

I remember when going to see a rock band in concert meant a few things. It meant sitting in a crowded stuffy venue with the aroma of pot all around you. It also meant a lot of drunk people bumping into you with the stale stench of booze on their breath. As soon as the band started, everyone in the place stood up, which meant you had to stand up … for the entire show. Well, on this past Saturday night, most of that changed. It was different because my girlfriend, Michele, and I went to see The Moody Blues in concert at The Boston Convention Center on Summer Street. We bought the tickets months ago, and the day finally arrived. The concert was sponsored by AARP, and that was who was in the audience: a lot of retired or soon-to-be retired people coming out to see a band that were pretty much the same age.

What happened in Somerville Neighborhood News episode #14? Read below to find out more and make sure to watch the news videos online and on SCATV Ch.3! Here are some featured stories: Ducks and boaters don’t seem to mind, but many humans and associations do, and so does the Environmental Protection Agency. The water in the Mystic River is consistently graded “D” for its poor quality. More on this story at www.scatvsomerville.org/SNN.

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)

Somerville joined an exciting new partnership this week that aims to make our region a leader for the life sciences industry. Somerville, Boston, Cambridge, Quincy and Braintree united this week to launch the Life Sciences Corridor initiative to attract more life science businesses and jobs to the region. By promoting both the individual strengths of our cities and our collective draw as a region, the initiative aims to ensure that this vital and expanding industry grows right here. Our goals are to retain the innovative companies we already have, promote collaboration between those businesses and our world-class universities and institutions, and draw new high-quality life sciences jobs to the region. In other words, we’re putting Somerville—and the corridor—on the life sciences map.

Delivery of rodent-resistant trash carts to begin in June

To help control the rodent population and reduce the city’s solid waste tonnage, the City of Somerville will begin distributing uniform trash carts to residential units in June. Every household that receives trash service from the city will be provided, free of charge, with one 64-gallon, rodent-resistant wheeled trash cart similar to the Zero-Sort recycling carts already in use.

 — Photos by Claudia Ferro

Ms. Rice’s 1st grade class from ESCS visited The Somerville Fire Dept. headquarters at 266 Broadway last week.

The kids toured the facility and various types of fire fighting equipment was demonstrated.