Rosie Rosenzweig.

Rosie Rosenzweig is a woman who has studied the creative mind for years and has found that creativity is a meditative process that often leads to compassion. She is a Jewish woman with a ravenous appetite for all things Buddhist, and speaks with a rapid fire cadence about many subjects with intelligence and authority.

Somerville Girl Scout Troop 1318 in Washington D.C. for the 100th Anniversary Sing Along. – Photo by Nicole Estey

On Saturday, June 9, over 250,000 Girl Scouts, families and friends gathered in Washington D.C. at the National Mall for a sing along to celebrate the 100th Anniversary of Girl Scouts of the USA. Hot temperatures did not dampen the spirit of hundreds of thousands of Girl Scouts there to celebrate the anniversary. Juliette Gordon Low founded the first Girl Scout troop on  March 12, 1912 with 18 girls. Today there is reported to be a total of 3.6 million girls and adults.

JEAN MONAHAN is the author of three books of poetry: Hands (chosen by Donald Hall to win the 1991 Anhinga Prize); and Believe It or Not and Mauled Illusionist, both published by Orchises Press (1999 and 2006). She has received several awards and an artist residency at Yaddo. Her poems have appeared in numerous journals and magazines, including Poetry, The New Republic, Atlantic Monthly, and Salamander, as well as in several anthologies. Her MFA in Creative Writing is from Columbia University’s School of the Arts.

Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone and the Office of Strategic Planning of Community Development (OSPCD) invite all interested community members to a series of meetings to discuss upcoming Davis Square Streetscape improvements. Through this process, the City will evaluate existing and future transportation needs in Davis Square – including public transit, bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure, and vehicular traffic patterns – beginning this summer. While a needs assessment is currently underway, under the direction of the City’s Director of Transportation and Infrastructure, Hayes Morrison, the City will look to improve multi-modal transportation in the square, including bus and traffic operations as well as potential traffic calming measures. Additionally, the project would include an updated streetscape, including renovated sidewalks, lighting, trees, benches, trash receptacles, wayfinding signs and public art.

Arrests:
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Dawn Greene, 38, of 14 Warren St., Cambridge, June 4, 12:36 p.m., arrested at Newton St. on a warrant charge of felony daytime breaking and entering of a motor vehicle or boat.

Atiqul Alam, 30, of 41 Franklin St., June 5, 12:29 a.m., arrested at home on a charge of assault and battery.

Mayor Joe Curtatone, Tom Bent, Leo DeSimone, Award Recipient Brendan McNabb, John Oteri, Superintendent Pierantozzi, Award Recipient Kevin McNabb, SHS Headmaster Tony Cicciariello, and Michael Calder of IBEW 103.

Kevin McNabb, Brendan McNabb earn entry into Apprenticeship Program
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Kevin McNabb and Brendan McNabb, this year’s top graduates from the Electrical Program at the Center for Career and Technical Education at Somerville High School, have been selected for the IBEW Local 103 pre-Apprentice Partnership Program. The apprenticeship is a five-year program in which participating students become members of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.  IBEW Local 103 represents all of eastern Massachusetts.

Jonathan Richman is the inspiration for the tribute show that will also serve as a fundraiser for the Somerville Arts Council.

By Max Sullivan

For the third time since 2006, friends Lou Bunk and Ben Morse will be putting on a tribute show to their hero, Boston local pop/rock pioneer Jonathan Richman, inspired purely by their love and fandome for the low profile rocker, as well as an opportunity to help fund an organization they truly appreciate, the Somerville Arts Council.

Request a performance in your neighborhood this summer; All performances take Place Monday-Thursday evenings at 7 p.m. in July and August
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Performance dates are still available for the 2012 Somerville Sunsetters, who will begin shows on Thursday, June 28 during the City’s annual Fourth of July Fireworks Celebration at Trum Field.  Let by Somerville Youth Arts Coordinator, Jimmy Del Ponte, the Sunsetters are a traveling youth music troupe, performing popular show tunes and contemporary pop music hits on City streets throughout July and August at sunset.  The group began in the 1970s, performing through the 1980s until they were reinstated by Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone in 2004.  The 2012 group is comprised of 19 Somerville youth between the ages of 11 and 18.

On The Silly Side by Jimmy Del Ponte

(The opinions and views expressed in the commentaries of The Somerville News belong solely to the authors of those commentaries and do not reflect the views or opinions of The Somerville News, its staff or publishers.)

I would like to welcome back my friend and this week’s guest contributor, Somerville’s own Anthony Accardi Jr.:

Each time I go out onto Facebook, I check up on all the Somerville groups that I belong to. Groups like “The Street in Somerville you grew up on” or “You know you’re from Somerville when…” or “Views of Historic Somerville Mass.” I cannot begin to say how much I enjoy the memories, stories and photos that have been posted to these groups. Stories and photos of forgotten restaurants and hangouts, things we did as children, or places and things that no longer exist. Naturally, I have contributed my share of stories and some photos. What I find missing though is stories about “us,” the people of Somerville. I have found very little written about the people that make up this great city. Things like our camaraderie, our little inner city habits and most important of all, just how nice we really all are.

– Photo by William Tauro

By William Tauro

The Washington Street Bridge flooded Friday during the evening drive causing massive traffic jams backing up traffic to Charlestown and Everett.

Traffic backed up to Charlestown and Everett because of Washington Bridge flooding. – Photo by William Tauro