By Donald Norton

Six Motor Cycle Traffic Enforcement Officers from Cambridge came over to Ball Square to enjoy Ball Square Cafe’s famous breakfast Tuesday morning. Even Cambridge peeps know where the best breakfast is, don’t they?

Citywide effort aimed at adults purchasing alcoholic beverage multi-packs
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Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone and Somerville Cares About Prevention’s (SCAP) youth group, “Somerville Positive Forces” announced their 6th Annual Holiday Sticker Shock Campaign. It will consist of SPF100, 10 high school students, and SPFJr, a group of 10 middle school students and the two advisers Director Cory Mashburn and Community Organizer Lovelee Heller. SPF100 will work with the Somerville Police Department and several local retailers and restaurants over the last several months to alert community members about the dangers of drug and alcohol abuse.

– Photo by William Tauro

By William Tauro

Two Somerville Police Officers arrested and detained a female suspect on Washington Street early Monday morning with alleged possible outstanding warrants.

The Somerville Historic Preservation Commission (SHPC) has extended the deadline to submit nominations for the 2012 Preservation Awards.  Nominations will now be accepted through Thursday, December 1.  The Awards will honor Somerville residents having performed significant restoration or maintenance efforts on designated historic buildings, or on non-designated buildings erected before 1959.  

The Christmas holiday yields a veritable plethora of collectible memorabilia, according to Brattle Book Shop’s Kenneth Gloss.

By Kenneth Gloss

Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol is the obvious perennial favorite for holiday books. However, many people might not realize that holiday-themed items can be exciting and rewarding choices, simply because there is a plethora of options available. That’s not to say 1834 Dickens classic isn’t wildly popular, even today. There are people who will come into the store, seeking a first edition and will spend upwards of $70 – $1000 for that particular volume. There are people who collect all versions of A Christmas Carol, whether it be all the different illustrated versions or all the different covers. There are literally thousands of unique versions of that Christmas classic, giving a Dickens collector years of hunting.

Eugene C. Brune, current Register of Deeds, will be retiring soon.

By Cathleen Twardzik

Mayor of Somerville from 1980 to 1989, Eugene C. Brune, current Register of Deeds, has announced he will retire soon.  As register, he serves the Middlesex County Southern District, which is comprised of 44 cities and towns. Middlesex South is the largest registry in the state and, possibly, the eighth largest in the country.

The Somerville Pop Warner B-team competed valliantly, taking their game to the Eastern Mass Championships, proving that they are a hard working and talented group of kids who play to win.

The Somerville B-team is the first team in 15 years to make it to the last round of the playoffs and play in the Eastern Mass Championships. The B-team finished their season at 8-3. They were coached by Roger, Tom, Donald, Eric and Shane Desrochers, Angel Gonzalez, Hollywood Stephonson, Jude Felix, Leo Eyong, Emmanuel Molin and Team MPR person Laurie Clark.

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.)

A common and accurate criticism of the Occupy [fill in one of more than 900 American cities] Movement is that its demands are all over the map. Still, there is one grievance about which Occupiers share moral clarity:  America has become a land of unequal opportunity. They believe that hard work and playing by the rules are not rewarded.

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.)

On Thanksgiving Day I always count my blessings. I have lots of memories of many Thanksgivings. Most of those memories began while seated at the “kid’s table.” That was the best place to eat because the parents were away from us at the big table so we could fool around a lot. I remember having lots of fun at that table. We were young and carefree.

Roger Galan shows off over 600 Somerville signatures for the Local Hiring Ordinance. – Photo by Andrew Firestone

Constitutional clash inching forward?

By Andrew Firestone

Debate over Somerville’s proposed Local Hiring Ordinance continued in earnest last week, November 17, at a special session of the legislative matters committee of the Board of Alderman. There, the aldermen listened the competing legal opinions of the City Solicitor, and Sugar Law Center lawyer Mark Stern.