– Photos by Bobbie Toner

Poet Amaranth Borsuk.

On any given day at the Sherman Café you can watch a passing parade of poets and writers while sipping your morning cup of java.  Recently I have chatted with Julia Story, Joe Torra, Richard Cambridge, and Bert Stern to name a few. While at my usual appointment in the said café the parade stopped and left off Amaranth Borsuk. Borsuk joined me at my table and we discussed her life and work as a poet. Amaranth is a slight, 30 something young woman, with an engaging manner and an elfin smile. She is currently a Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow at MIT. She has a PhD in Literature and Creative Writing from the University of Southern California, and has been published in such journals as Field, Colombia Poetry Review, Colorado Review and others. She has a new collection of poetry out titled Handiwork that was selected for the 2011 Slope Editions Poetry Prize. Borsuk is particularly interested in the use of writing technologies by modern and contemporary poets.

Rt. 16 goes green this weekend as Somerstreets takes over just for the fun of it.

“Going Green on Rt. 16,” the city’s third installment of the 2012 SomerStreets series, is scheduled for Sunday, August 19, from noon –4:00 p.m. along Route 16 (Alewife Brook Parkway), from Dilboy Stadium to Broadway.

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.)

From Dilboy Stadium that kisses the Arlington line all the way down to lower Broadway near Charlestown there is something in the air. The feeling in the ‘Ville is different. It appears every year around this time. It’s not the soupy, muggy humidity that I am talking about, it’s the impending start of…school.

By Donald Norton

A moving truck sprang a gas line leak while traveling through Union Square, around 2 p.m. Friday afternoon. Somerville Police and Fire departments responded to the scene and cleaned up the spill. The truck was towed and traffic resumed back to normal.

– Photos by Donald Norton

Vinyl rules at the Annual Somerville Rock and Roll Yard Sale, hitting Union Square this Sunday. – Photo by Annie Messier

The annual  ArtsUnion Rock  &  Roll Yard Sale takes place Sunday, August 19, from 11 a.m.  to 5 p.m. in Somerville’s Union Square Plaza.

By William C. Shelton

(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.)

Many of us fondly remember the time when Somerville was a tight community with commercially vibrant squares and dozens of volunteer groups. Here’s a good indicator of how closely-knit neighbors were:  If a kid smoked or cussed anywhere in the neighborhood, someone would probably tell his or her parents. Such a sense of community is rare in American society.

By Kristen Hale

This coming Saturday, Comicazi Comic Shop presents a new event called ComedyCazi. What is ComedyCazi, you might ask? It is a comedic stage show of the improvisational nature concocted by Emerson graduates Sam Kusek and Gideon Bautista. It features a unique mixture of performers from Improv Boston, Emerson, to Destination Imagination.

Plan Includes Several Property Acquisition Phases, Provides Framework for Development Surrounding GLX and Next Steps for Zoning

Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone announced today that, following a vote by the Somerville Redevelopment Authority (SRA) at its August 15  meeting, he will submit a draft of an Urban Revitalization Plan (“The Plan”) to the Board of Aldermen this evening during their Special Meeting, scheduled for 7:00 p.m.  The Plan, covering 117 acres in the Union Square area and including seven development blocks slated for acquisition by the city over a period of several years, would implement the development vision set out through the re-zoning that was approved by the BOA in 2009.  Phase 1 of The Plan, including acquisition of properties east of Prospect Street between Somerville Avenue and the existing rail bed– “North Prospect Block” – will begin by early 2013.

By Jim Clark

Police responded to a report of a vehicular crash on Conwell Ave. last Friday evening.

According to reports, a reckless driver had hit a parked car and then struck a house immediately thereafter.