At the Somerville Spring Cleanup on Saturday,  April 30, Jimmy Del Ponte cleans up Powder House Park singlehandedly.

(L to R) Athletic Director Shawn Thornton and senior forward Christy Novembre

After 7 years, 8 months and 24 days, Mr. Shawn Thornton will not be sitting in the athletic office on 579 Boston Avenue in Medford when September rolls around. Thornton accepted a job across town in Everett with a Catholic Central League rival in Pope John which is in the small along with Saint Clement.
Each team competes against each other in almost every sport. But the sport everyone will wait and buy tickets early to see is when Coach Thornton takes his Lady Tigers to Medford to face the Lady Anchors.

Ruth Kramer Baden is well into her 70’s, but is an emerging poet with her first poetry collection East of the Moon (Ibbetson Street Press). This book which was recently selected as a “Must Read” by the Massachusetts Book Award, is according to reviewer Barbara Bialick “a mythic narrative, storytelling, and busting with flavor beads…she takes the reader through life cycles of a mature woman—with the span of her first collection, it is obvious that her writing of this work was in the back of her mind for some time.” I talked with Baden on my Somerville Community Access TV show Poet to Poet: Writer to Writer.

There are many talented young poets in Somerville’s “Books of Hope Project.”  And as any poet knows: ” Know thyself.” Well Books of  Hope poet Yolandi Cruz knows herself…intimately!  I decided to include the work of this talented bard in this week’s Lyrical.

Mayor Joe Curtatone and the Somerville Chamber of Commerce have announced that the third annual B2Green Expo and Networking event will be held Thursday, May 5, at the Holiday Inn at 30 Washington Street.

Running from 4 P.M. to 7 P.M., the Expo will occur simultaneously with the Chamber’s popular Business After Hours event featuring free appetizers, excellent networking, business card drawing, and cash bar.  The Expo will feature presentations by local green businesses and organizations, as well as tips for businesses about utilizing more sustainable and energy-efficient practices.

A Sergeant with the Middlesex Sheriff’s Department has been arraigned on drug charges after allegedly receiving cocaine and money from an undercover state trooper, Middlesex District Attorney Gerry Leone informed the public today.

Michael Dell’Isola, 51, of Somerville, was arraigned today in Woburn District Court on the charge of trafficking cocaine. Woburn District Court Judge Paul Yee ordered the defendant held on $1,000 cash bail with the condition that he stays away from the Sheriff’s Department.

Arrests:
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Deborah Winter, 52, of 43 Bow St., April 25, 7:08 a.m., arrested at home on a warrant charge of shoplifting by concealing merchandise.

Joseph Keohane, 53, of 23 Blanchard Rd., Cambridge, April 25, 7:08 a.m., arrested at 43 Bow St. on a warrant charge of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon.

Jorge Miguel, 44, of 41 Franklin St., April 25, 7:53 a.m., arrested at 41B Franklin St. on a warrant charge of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon.

By Carrie Stanziola

People may not associate Somerville with toy manufacturing, but in 1922, when Jennie Graves started making doll clothes out of her Liberty Avenue home in Somerville, she started a minor Massachusetts manufacturing empire.  As Evelyn Battinelli explains, the 8 inch tall Ginny doll went through several phases.  Initially, Ginny’s wardrobe was reflective of women’s roles, and she wore nursing and Girl Scout outfits.  However, her wardrobe evolved over time, offering girls a greater variety of clothes to choose from. 

- Photo by Andrew Firestone

Update: It is with a heavy heart that we at the Somerville News inform you that Fred Lund, city draftsman since 1953, died last Wednesday night at age 90.  Hired by the City in 1953, Lund had continued to work part-time after 2008, and was the longest tenured employee.

To honor his memory we present this article, originally printed September 8, 2010. We extend our condolences to his family over his loss.

By Andrew Firestone

Fred Lund is a guy who knows Somerville like the back of his hand. The oldest and longest serving city employee travels down every Somerville street in his work as the city cartographer and draftsman, designing maps of the city by hand.

If enacted by the State Senate, the reform bill could save Somerville $8.3 in health care costs, preserving City services and jobs
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Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone is lauding the Massachusetts House of Representatives and Speaker Robert A. DeLeo for the 111-42 passage of a municipal health insurance reform bill that could save Massachusetts cities and towns more than $100 million.

Originally proposed by Governor Patrick earlier this year, the House bill would allow cities and towns to enter the State’s Group Insurance Commission (GIC) or a similar plan in order to reduce the exploding cost of providing health coverage for municipal employees. Somerville’s healthcare costs have more than tripled during the past decade, rising to $36 million in the current fiscal year.