Well before I ate at Sherman’s and Bloc11—I used to eat at Bickford’s, the Automat in New York City, and a whole bunch of hash joints and greasy spoons.  I was rereading Allen Ginsberg’s Kaddish and I was inspired to write this poem.

The New England District of Kiwanis International will hold its 93rd Annual New England District Convention at the Crossings, Warwick, Rhode Island, on August 18-21, 2011.  Kiwanis members from clubs in Bermuda and the six New England states will attend.

Arrests:
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Erick Stout, 34, July 11, 2:39 p.m., arrested at Marshall St. on warrant charges of distribution of a class B drug and conspiracy to violate drug law.

Christopher Foster, 44, of 60 Washington St., July 11, 5:27 p.m., arrested at home on charges of witness intimidation and rape.

Kyle Shearer, 28, of 16 Waldo Ave., July 12, 3:10 a.m., arrested at home on charges of assault and battery on a police officer and resisting arrest.

By Harry Kane

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_izBGCZw98

On Wednesday the Office of Strategic Planning and Community Development held a groundbreaking ceremony for the renovation of Morse-Kelley and Dickerman Playgrounds. “These Parks are part of a long string of new dynamic open spaces that we have built, renovated, designed, or have been under construction since 2004 that reflect and meet a variety of needs,” Mayor Curtatone stated.

By William Tauro

Somerville Court has issued an arrest warrant for former Somerville Police  Officer John Vozzella.  The rogue ex-Somerville Police Sergeant allegedly barricaded himself in his home while police were pounding at his front door this weekend but wouldn’t let them in after reports that the former officer allegedly beat up his girlfriend this past weekend.

The Somerville Arts Council has funded a second year of Voices of the Somerville Home, a weekly memoir writing class at The Somerville Home residential care facility. Now underway, the program’s participants once again gather around a folding table in the home’s living room every Wednesday, equipped with pens, pads of paper, and a yearning to set their memories down in ink.

Brattle Book Shop owner Kenneth Gloss has a green thumb for gardening book acquisition.

By Kenneth Gloss

Pardon the pun, but gardening books are a perennial favorite with collectors. They have been around from the very first days of writing because they served as guides for the all-important agricultural tasks people had to do each day. The earliest versions of gardening books were nothing like what we think of today. They were advice books, filled with information on how to till the land, what seeds to select, when to harvest, etc. For a good example of a recreated 15th Century gardening book, look for De Boke (The Garden Book) by Jenny Day Haynes, published in 1906. This book is a replica of what one might find 500 hundred years ago.

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.)

My kids just got back from 3 days at Six Flags Theme Park with their mother, and I’m sure she dropped a nice hunk of change. A family of my friends with small children were heading up to Story Land in New Hampshire. With gas and hotel, that costs a pretty penny. A day at Canobie Lake Park, for a family of 4 without discount coupons, will cost a whopping $120.00. Toss in the food and some souvenirs and you’re coming home with an empty wallet.

By State Representative Tim Toomey
26th Middlesex District
Cambridge City Councillor
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(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.)

The Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) has proposed a new transportation project that is drastic, unnecessary, and should it be implemented, will hurt the cities of Cambridge and Somerville.

The Grand Junction Railroad, an 8.5 mile-long stretch of rail that runs through Cambridgeport, Kendall Square, East Cambridge, and the Brickbottom area of Somerville, was purchased from CSX by MassDOT roughly one year ago. Just months after purchasing the track as a part of a much larger deal with CSX, MassDOT began studying a proposal that would bring as many as 24 Commuter Rail trains per day through Cambridge and Somerville, with the goal of allowing passengers to ride the Worcester line directly to and from North Station.

Somerville Police are seeking to identify the suspect who robbed a local gas station.  On July 12, at about 8:45 p.m., the Sunoco Gas Station at 541 Broadway was robbed at knifepoint.  The store surveillance video shows the suspect arriving in a black sedan, possibly a Nissan Maxima, with a towel covering it’s license plate, then entered the store and walked up to the counter, where he spoke briefly to the clerk.  The suspect then went back to his car briefly.  He then came back into the store where he calmly walked behind the counter, pulled out a knife and demanded cash.  The suspect fled the store with an undisclosed amount of cash, jumped into the car and fled toward Medford.