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.)

The most important thing that I know about life is that it is finite.

I will die. You will die. Everyone we know will die. Even the stars will fade away, one after another.

Front row, left to right: Team helper Brady Sullivan, Kyle Lentini, Happy Platt, Nick DiBlasio, Henry Shugrue, Jason Cassidy, Ben Novick, and team helper Addison OʼDonovan. Back row standing, left to right: Head coach Sean Sullivan, Mike DiPasquale, team helper Jonathan Lentini, Jordan Dauphin, team sponsor Tom Lynch, Devin OʼDonovan, Sean Sullivan Jr., Matthew Gomes, coach Brian OʼDonovan, and coach Dan Shugrue.

On Tuesday, June 21, the Somerville Little League majors championship was won by Boston Closet. The championship series featured Boston Closet against Somerville City Club, in a best 2 out of 3 series.

Boston Closet swept the series with scores of 10 to 0 in game 1 on Monday June 20th and came back the next night with a 5 to 0 win to take the city championship. The series featured some very solid pitching by Matthew Gomes, Henry Shugrue and Devin O’Donovan of Boston Closet, who combined to allow no runs to score.

- Photos by William Tauro

By William Tauro

Thursday afternoon a Russell Disposal  truck caught a wire pulling down two trees , a pole, and two home electric service connections for  17 – 19 Aldrich Street at the Virginia Ave intersection.

The MaxPac site is suspected of being the source of recent rodent sitings in the area. - Photo by Ashley Taylor

By Andrew Firestone

While rumors swirled regarding the possibility that rats seen in Ward 4 were due to demolition activity on the MaxPac site, Davis Square Partners, a subsidiary of KSS Realty, has claimed that they have done all they can, and the MaxPac site is not a source of infestation. Their claims were backed this last week by their contractor Rod Kreimeyer, a 40-year veteran of the pest control industry and owner of local business Best Pest Control, also known as the home to the world’s largest ant.

Art in the Garden provides exposure to the arts at an early age.

By Krysia Wazny

Art in the Garden has been bringing the children of Somerville closer to their culture for years. This week the program returns, featuring the same quality of care and education enhanced with a few changes.

From Georgia O’Keefe in the first week to Andy Goldsworthy in the fourth, the program will explore many different artistic mediums and types of art. Program coordinator Kate Jorgenson spoke about the advantages she believes children gain through contact with serious art at an early age. “It is important that they have exposure to their culture and history,” she said, “Learning those things through the arts can be easier, especially for visual learners.”

By Jim Clark

While investigating a cab fare evasion incident near the corner of Central and Highland Streets last Friday night, Somerville police officers noticed yelling coming from a vehicle behind them.

Police said that the vehicle was ordered to pull over and the driver, a young woman, was asked if she was OK. The woman reportedly shook her head “no” and she was then asked to step out of the vehicle to discuss the nature of the situation.

By Andrew Firestone

With the $30.6 billion state budget approved last week, Somerville has joined cities and towns across Massachusetts in coming to grips with a frightening situation: for the first time City healthcare costs have risen above state aid. This means that, for the $29.1 million in state aid for the fiscal year 2011, all of it has gone to bridge the $34.1 million in healthcare costs. In the last decade, aid to Somerville has fallen by $28.3 million, and while the City has managed to stave off any cuts to services, it is becoming clearer that tax reform might be needed in order to save failing municipalities across the state.

Director of Prevention Cory Mashburn (left) is leading the effort to consolidate resources for drug abuse prevention and recovery. - Photo by Harry Kane

By Harry Kane

The City of Somerville Health Department’s Office of Prevention hosted a workshop entitled How to Save a Life on June 28 at the Cross Street Senior Center.  “SOP is a coalition of 700 volunteers consisting of the Trauma Response Network, Tobacco Control, and programs to prevent underage drinking and substance abuse.  They’re all under one umbrella now,” stated Cory Mashburn, The Director of Prevention at City Hall.

What a great time last Thursday night at the city fireworks, the night was enjoyed by an estimated crowd of over 10,000. Entertainment was great and the fireworks were awesome, thanks to Mayor Joe and his administration. The News was there and scenes from the night are online. Now, did anyone notice anything strange this past weekend, especially after Thursday night? Deserted streets for the most part around the ‘Ville? It appears that everyone has headed for Summer Somerville either down the Cape or up to NH. There were very few cookouts that we could see but there were a few.

Confrontational residents of Ward 6 questioned official policies and practices at the Ward 6 ResiStat get-together last week. - Photo by Meghan Frederico

By Harry Kane

Tempers flared at the final ResiStat meeting in Ward 6 last week, as Mayor Joseph Curtatone came under fire from angry residents in the community. Several of the community’s impassioned members descended on Mayor Curtone for mainly one issue, the Summer Street Project.

These unidentified citizens commented extensively on their dislike of recent activities amidst the ongoing project. Specifically they felt that the open meeting laws had been violated during a planning board meeting. One disgruntled woman, only referred to as Liz, accused the Somerville government of corruption.