By George P. Hassett

A Somerville woman was driving drunk when she hit three cars from Union Square to Powder House Boulevard March 17, according to police.

Melissa Walsh, 29, of 86 Electric Ave., said she had only two beers but officers found a half consumed bottle of whiskey on the driver’s seat of her car. Walsh registered nearly twice the legal limit in a breathalyzer test, police said.

Artist and poet Barbara Lydecker Crane moved to Somerville last year. She has published or forthcoming poems in Light Quarterly, Christian Science Monitor, Measure, The Flea, Lyric, Mezzo Cammin, Snakeskin, Think Journal, SCR, Raintown Review, and Blue Unicorn, among others.

New Hampshire Poet Laureate Walter E. Butts.

Since there is not a Poet Laureate in Somerville I must admit I stray and look for greener pastures. And in one of these green pastures I found New Hampshire Poet Laureate Walter E. Butts. I met Butts at a poetry reading at the Piano Factory Art Gallery in Boston. A friend of mine, the poet and artist James de Crescentis runs the gallery and he organized a reading for Butts. Butts is an unpretentious man but his talent is not modest. After work long years in the Human Services he made the switch to teaching writing, and perfecting his craft. I made a point of contacting him so I could interview him on my Somerville Community Access TV show Poet to Poet: Writer to Writer.

Arrests:
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Pascal Julien, 31, of 96 Hillberg Ave., Brockton, March 14, 9:42 a.m., arrested on McGrath Highway on a warrant charge.

Alex Barros, 21, of 13 Clearence St., Everett, March 14, 12:39 p.m., arrested on Austin Street on a warrant charge.

Two month long fitness challenge incorporates fitness, healthy eating incentives – participants receive coupons to restaurants, fitness opportunities
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Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone announced that the City’s 2nd annual “Mayor’s Fitness Challenge” will be held from April through May 2011.  Kicking off with an event on Saturday, April 2nd at the Somerville High School gymnasium and concourse, the Fitness Challenge encourages community members to pledge to embody the Shape Up Somerville motto, “Eat Smart, Move More,” by making smarter food choices and increasing daily physical fitness regimens.  Individuals may participate in one of two ways:  1)  By forming or joining teams of up to 10 people.  At the end of the Challenge, teams will be judged by weight loss and change in Body Mass Index (BMI), and winning teams and individuals will receive prizes.  2)  By signing a “Lifestyle Pledge,” vowing to make daily lifestyle changes in terms of healthy eating and activity levels.  Those signing the Pledge will also receive incentives throughout the program.  The kickoff event will be held from 10am – 2pm on April 2nd, and all members of the public are invited.

Somerville singer-songwriter Jenee Halstead

By Ashley Taylor

“I feel like when I entered into the music industry—which was in 2008, I released my début CD—the industry had already started to fall apart or crumble.  It was a very strange time to enter,” said Somerville singer-songwriter Jenee Halstead of her experience independently recording and releasing a folk album, “River of Grace.”  “Initially, I made the CD with the hopes that someone would either pick it up and be interested or would launch me onto a label for second album.”

Halstead did end up with a record label, but her story is a far cry from predictable.  Whether you call it crumbling or simply changing, the music industry is not the way it used to be, when albums were produced only by record companies and were physical objects sold in stores.  Now, as Halstead put it, “Anyone can record an entire album on GarageBand [the recording program that comes with Apple computers].  If it’s good, it’s good, period.”  Labels once provided clout and funding for musicians.  The role of the label is changing, and people are using technology to do themselves what labels might have done for them in the past.

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.)

Once again I have called on the amazing memories of my longtime and dear friends to help me tell the story of a beloved old neighborhood school. And again, sorry for another West Somerville story, but, hey, that’s where I’m from folks!

The Somerville Arts Council is sponsoring the Second Annual Get Your Beard On contest and party March 19 at the Precinct Bar in Union Square.

By Carrie Stanziola
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The Somerville Arts Council is sponsoring the Second Annual Get Your Beard contest and party March 19 at the Precinct in Union Square.
According to Gregory Jenkins of SAC, the contest was inspired by volunteer Todd Easton’s luxurious beard. Easton heard about the national beard and mustache contest, and pitched the idea to the Somerville Arts Council, who incorporated it into their winter series as a way to include more indoor activities. As Jenkins puts it, the event was a success, with about 100 audience members in attendance and 30 to 40 participants in the contest itself.  This year, he hopes for a turnout of around 100 to 150 people.

By William Tauro

An MBTA bus traveling on McGrath Highway  blew an hydraulic oil line spilling  oil onto the highway Friday afternoon.

Clean up crews from the MBTA spent most of the afternoon spreading clean-up solvents on the spill to absorb the oil while waiting for the bus to be towed.

- Photo courtesy of Tufts University

Jermaine Wiggins, a former Super Bowl champion, read to more than 850 elementary school students from Somerville and Medford Sunday afternoon at Tufts’ twelfth annual “Read by the River” education fair.