Mr. Jim Elliott has accepted a transfer to the Assistant Principal position at the Dr. Albert F. Argenziano School at Lincoln Park beginning on July 1, 2011.  Mr. Elliott, currently serving as Assistant Principal John F. Kennedy Elementary School, will follow retiring Assistant Principal, Betsey Holland, in this senior instructional leadership position in the School.

In announcing the transfer, Superintendent Tony Pierantozzi said of Mr. Elliott’s administrative credentials, “In his time at the Kennedy School, Jim has demonstrated an ability to work collaboratively, he is well organized, has a strong focus on professional development focused student engagement and learning, and knowledge of the middle school grades. I am pleased we can offer him an opportunity to continue to grow professionally within the Somerville Public Schools so our students and families can continue to benefit from his commitment to education, inspiration and excellence.”

The twelfth annual Irish Film Festival returns to Somerville this week.

Rookie feature Director Ian Power arrives in Somerville

By Andrew Firestone

In the town of Mallow, County Cork, Ireland in 1983, a Colombian plane crashed, spurring a community effort to see the plane take to the air again.

Now on  Friday, March 25 at the Somerville theater, writer-director Ian Power will premiere “The Runway” showcasing the modern-day legend, and hopefully, sending a few people home happy.

The USO was in town Saturday to help raise money for the Memorial Day Parade.

By  Max W. Lauf

The USO Liberty Bells and “celebrity impressionist” Joey Voices performed Saturday night at a benefit fundraiser for the Somerville Memorial Day parade. Several dozen veterans arrived by bus to attend the event, which took place at the Somerville High School Auditorium.

The woman from the USO drew consistent applause and nostalgic sighs of recognition from the crowd with renditions of 1940’s chart toppers, including “My Boyfriend’s Back” and “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy.” The Bells graciously bantered with the audience during multiple sound engineering-related errors that caused their musical accompaniment to play out of sequence, finishing the first half of the evening with anthems from each branch of the US armed services.

By George P. Hassett

A Cambridge man pulled over for talking on his cell phone while driving was hit with drug charges March 16 after officers allegedly found heroin, a needle and pills in his car, police said.

Joseph Monteiro, 44, of 23 Hunting St., was arrested on Medford Street and charged with possession of a class A drug and possession of a class C drug after he ignored an officer’s command to stop. Monteiro struck one car, police said.

– Photos by Ken S. Kotch

Congratulations to Irving Johansen who was honored by the Grand Lodge here in Massachusetts for his 65 years of service to Freemasonry, Irving is 88 years old and is a crossing guard at Powderhouse & Packard Avenue, go by and beep and say hello, great guy always smiling.  He joined King Solomon’s Lodge here in Somerville  back in March 1946, and is still extremely active.

The latest word out of the Council on Aging is this:  Lady J was seen last week on Thursday taking it upon herself to remove large piles of The Somerville News from the building where the Council of Aging office is, apparently she was seen by a co-worker who put the papers back in the rack.  But apparently the next morning on Friday Lady J was once again seen, we heard, covering up The Somerville News pile of papers with other papers, so they couldn’t be found, again the other person uncovered the papers.  Once we heard what happened  we sent out our scouts to check out the boxes throughout the city and even though we know the paper is popular every single box was empty, hmmmmmm wonder if this means?    The last time someone did this was back in the Mayor August’s administration when the Farm Team printed some bad articles on the mayor several city employees ran around the city and scooped up a lot of the papers.  We probably should remind everyone now that we are online.

Somerville schools don’t always get the recognition they deserve. Whether it’s a low MCAS score at one school or an isolated public safety incident at another, the school system in this city doesn’t always get full credit for the gains and progress they made in public education.

This week was different. Somerville High School was recognized for its innovative biotechnology program. Students this year have taken two high-level biotechnology courses and a career component helps students research biotech companies, find internship opportunities, and learn what’s involved in creating their own biotech company.

By Peta Jinnath Andersen

Somerville High is an Innovative School – and it has the award to show for it.

Earlier this week, the school was honored at the MassBio Annual Awards Luncheon at the Royal Sonesta Hotel in Cambridge. Awarded to “a Massachusetts High School that has distinguished itself through exemplary innovative biotechnology educational programming,” the Innovative School of the Year Award is a welcome recognition for Somerville High.

(L to R) Dustin Taksar, Bert Mayer (winner of free style partial) and Tom Ward.

Beard competition gets hairy at the Precinct

By Kevin Anglin

While the temperature rose to an almost Spring-like feel on Saturday, a young couple huddled together in the crowded back room of The Precinct to methodically attach fake mustaches to one another.

With a satisfied smile they hoped back in line for the “March of the Fake Beards” portion of the second annual “Get Your Beard On” competition. Held at The Precinct bar in Union Square, the event’s contestants consisted of men, women, and children, all bearded.

By Andrew Firestone

It takes a village to raise the next generation, or that is the old adage. Here in Somerville this adage is being put into practice, as Jennifer Capuano volunteer coordinator of the Somerville public schools can attest.

Currently in its formative stages, Somerville’s volunteer program arranges mentoring and tutoring for students both in and out of the classroom.