City offices will be closed on Tuesday, June 17 in observance of Bunker Hill Day.

There will be trash, recycling, and yard waste pick up. There will NOT be street sweeping on June 17.

Parking meters will NOT be in effect on Tuesday, June 17.

Lt. Timothy Mitsakis was recognized by the American Society for Industrial Security (ASIS) for his tireless efforts in the planning, support and implementation of a regional investigative exercise last March. The exercise dubbed RAPID – which stands for Regional Agency Practical Intelligence Drill – included law enforcement agencies from Boston and several surrounding communities including Brookline, Cambridge, Chelsea, Everett, Quincy, Somerville, Winthrop and Revere. The goal or primary objective of the two day training was to better prepare the region’s first responders in the event of a terrorist attack. The two-day training was funded by the Urban Area Security Initiative grant and was recognized as highly successful by evaluators.

Fire Lieutenant Dave Stiltner speaks with Mrs. Stella Moccia of Putnam Road about the Senior S.A.F.E. program.

The Somerville Council on Aging in conjunction with the Somerville Fire Department have been offering free smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors to Somerville’s older adults as part of the Senior SAFE Program.

The Senior SAFE program was created by the Legislature in the FY ‘14 budget. It is a grant program to local fire departments to support fire and safety education for older adults, those most at risk of dying in fires in our state. Senior SAFE builds on the successful 19 years of the school-based Student Awareness of Fire Education (S.A.F.E.) Program that has reduced the average annual child fire deaths by 72%. The fire service expects to have a similar impact for older adults.

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.