The Somerville Alibrandis maintain a tenuous lead in the Ted Williams division.

By Benjamin Klein

Despite having their winning streak snapped, the Somerville Alibrandis have won five of their last six games and now hold a slim lead in the Ted Williams division.

Sure, everyone complains about the weather, but who’s doing something about it?

The city had to open cooling centers last week. Thanks for that. Beyond this there’s little to be done other than exercise a little common sense to minimize dangers of heat stroke. Watch your activity levels, get plenty of water, etc. We are blessed with a wonderfully diverse range of climatological effects in this part of the world. Going to great extremes at times. But we’re tough, aren’t we? We can pull through like champs when the going gets tough. Just be careful and do the right things. We’ll make it.

Somerville’s historic buildings need new windows, according the property’s owners.

By Tiffani M. Westbrook

Preservation Planner Kristy Chase led the monthly Preservation Commission meeting at Somerville City Hall, last Tuesday night. The Historic Preservation Committee representatives are all volunteers from Somerville with various backgrounds and connections to historical preservation.

The Somerville News person of the Week, Brian Roche

Meet Brian Roche, a life long resident and graduate of Somerville High as well as the New England Culinary Institute (NECI). Presently, he is the Executive Chef at Lolita Cocine & Tequila Bar and Restaurant at 271 Dartmouth Street in Back Bay Boston. Brian is the son of James (Brian) Roche and Virginia (Ginny) Roche of Gilman Square and, of course, points north at Old Orchard (not to far from Ocean Park).

Gene Brune steps into a new leadership role as President of the Somerville Lions.

By William Tauro

Former Somerville Mayor and current Middlesex Registrar of Deeds Gene Brune was installed this past Friday night as the next President of the Somerville Lions Club. The installation took place at the Somerville Lions Club House located in Somerville on Washington Street above the Ralph and Jenny Senior Center. With a large crowd of family, friends, Lions Club members and co-workers in attendance, Gene vowed to do his very best as president for the Lions charities and for a successful term.

The Somerville Rotary Club recently had the pleasure of hearing about the work Rotary is doing in Pakistan to both combat literacy and polio.  Rachel William is the local Rotary district literacy coordinator and goes to Pakistan twice a year. She brought with her two Pakistanis who she works with on these projects.  Rotary has been the leader in eradicating polio in the world with just three countries – Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Nigeria – still having cases of polio.

Joe Torra

Time Being: An Improvisation by Joe Torra (Quale Press, 2012.  http://www.quale.com/  $16)

The banal lives astride the profound. Life lives astride death. The comic dwells amidst the tragic. Joe Torra in his long poem/journal/improvisation titled Time Being takes it all in, in this stream of consciousness work that takes place in Somerville and the surrounding environs between Dec 2006 to Dec. 2007.

Have you ever had a landlord from hell? Well poet B.Z. Niditch sure has…B.Z. NIDITCH is a poet, playwright, fiction writer and teacher. His work is widely published in journals and magazines throughout the world, including: Columbia: A Magazine of Poetry and Art; The Literary Review;  Denver Quarterly;  Hawaii Review,; Le Guepard (France);  Kadmos (France);  Prism International;  Jejune (Czech Republic); Leopold Bloom (Budapest);  Antioch Review; and Prairie Schooner, among others.

The Somerville Police Department is seeking to identify the suspect depicted in this photo. The suspect robbed the Quick Stop at 219 Highland Ave on June 18 at 10:00 p.m. The same subject is a suspect in a similar convenience store robbery at Stop and Save Gas station on June 23. If you have any helpful information to offer please contact Somerville Police at 617 625-1212.

New Blog and Facebook Page Help City Growers Share Ideas About The Urban Agriculture

Demonstration Garden at City Hall’s Front Door Shows Off Potential for Urban Food Production; Online, a “Somerville Urban Ag” Blog Keeps Readers Tuned in to the Latest in Grow-it-Yourself Efforts at City Hall and Beyond; SLUG (Somerville Loves Urban Gardening) Debuts on Facebook

Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone announced today that the new container garden installed on the steps of Somerville City Hall has been yielding a steady – and tasty – harvest of fresh produce.  The project was created this past spring to promote the city’s urban agriculture initiative and to serve as visible reminder to city hall visitors and workers alike of the ways that urban gardening can improve the diet and the overall health of Somerville residents. All of the demonstration garden’s plants – which include cabbage, lettuce, beans, swiss chard, tomatoes, eggplants, peas, herbs and edible flowers – were donated by McCue’s Garden Center of Woburn, MA, and have been tended by volunteers from various City departments.  Harvesting began in late May as the first cold weather crops were ready for picking.  The garden is sponsored by the Mayor’s Office of Strategic Planning and Community Development (OSPCD) with assistance from the City’s Department of Public Works.