Mayor Joe Curtatone, Paul Bockelmann, laborers and students celebrated ESCS’ “Topping Off” ceremony last Friday. – Photo by Francisco L. White

By Francisco L. White

A ceremony known as Topping Off was held at the construction site for the new East Somerville Community School on Friday, May 25. According to a banner that hung proudly from the building, topping off is an ironworkers tradition. The ceremony, which involves signing and placing the final beam on top of the structure, attracted several elected officials from the city and state levels, including Rep. Denise Provost.

Join with Mayor Joe Curtatone and the state legislative delegation Thursday evening, May 31, at the Argenziano School at 290 Washington Street to discuss the McCarthy Overpass. Should the state repair it or ground it? Which do you want?  The meeting will be held starting at 6 p.m. running through to 8p.m.This is a public hearing on the matter. Go and voice your opinion on what should happen.

Alderman Bruce Desmond praised the accomplishments by SCAP in substance abuse prevention education. – Photo by Harry Kane

By Harry Kane

Somerville Cares about Prevention conducted many new initiatives this past year with the desire to save underage kids from abusing drugs and alcohol.

The Somerville News Person of the Week, Rod Kreimeyer.

Meet Rod Kreimeyer (with his wife Nancy) who lives here in Somerville and operates his business that he started and founded himself back in 1984. He is the proud owner of Best Pest Control Services on Elm Street right outside of Porter Square. Ron is a nice guy, and well liked by a lot here in the ‘Ville. He’s sort of semi-retired in the winter while he is in Florida, but he rushes back to the ‘Ville every early spring to get back into the thick of things.

The red hot Alibrandis are currently 3-1, looking to repeat their championship performances of 2011 and 2010. – Photo by Benjamin Klein

By Benjamin Klein

After winning their second consecutive championship last season, the Somerville Alibrandis looked to make it a three-peat with another strong year. Through their first four games of the 2012 Yawkey Baseball League season Somerville sits second in the Ted Williams Division at 3-1.

SomerVision’s twenty-year plan goes into action in June, impacting many Somerville neighborhoods.

Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone and Strategic Planning and Community Development Director Michael F. Glavin announced that the twenty-year plan, approved last month by the Somerville Board of Aldermen and City Planning Board would serve as the basis for a new round of initiatives across the city. The first of these will kick off in June with a release of a study of the RA and RB zoning districts that encompass the majority of Somerville’s residential neighborhoods.

The Memorial Day weekend tends to mark the beginning of the high season for travel and vacations for most folks. It’s a great time for seeing old friends, family, new sites and familiar ones as well.

The results of the Division 1 state meet held at Durfee High School in Fall River on Saturday, May 27, are as follows:

Nicole Genard took first place in the Javelin with a personal best throw of 139’10”. That is the farthest throw in the state this year. Nicole was third in the 100m Dash with a time of 12.50.  Emma Youte placed sixth in the Long Jump with a jump of 16’1″.  Our 4x100m relay placed second with a new school record time of 49.57. Running on the relay was Gelynne Berger, Alison Kaba, Michel-le Meranda and Nicole Genard.

Gloria Mindock

Gloria Mindock has lived, written, and created in Somerville, Mass for many years. Not only does she have the respect of the local and national poetry community but she has quite a following abroad. She edits the Istanbul Literary Review from her home in the Union Square section of our city, as well as running her Cervena Barva Press , an independent press that has published numerous titles from poets domestic and foreign. Mindock’s own work has resonated with the poetry community in Eastern Europe, and she has been published in a number of literary journal there, most notably in Rumania. Mindock is a substance abuse social worker, had her own theater company, and for a decade co- edited the Boston Literary Review. I spoke to her on my Somerville Community Access TV Show Poet to Poet : Writer to Writer.

Somerville Poet Amaranth Borsuk.

Somerville Poet Amaranth Borsuk is the author of Handiwork (Slope Editions, 2012), selected by Paul Hoover for the Slope Book Prize, and, with programmer Brad Bouse, of Between Page and Screen (Siglio, 2012). Her poems, essays, and collaborations have appeared widely in print and online. Currently a Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow in the Humanities at MIT, she will join the faculty at the University of Washington Bothell this fall.