By George P. Hassett

Prosecutors are deciding if they will upgrade charges against a Somerville man accused of killing his brother in a domestic dispute.

Kenneth Belski died Jan. 15, two days after a family argument in which his brother Mark Belski allegedly put him in a headlock.

After four terms, makes commitment to stay in Somerville
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Mayor Joe Curtatone is running for a fifth term.

By George P. Hassett

Mayor Joe Curtatone announced last week he will run for a fifth term in November and denied rumors he was interested in statewide political office.

Curtatone acknowledged that he heard rumors that he had interviewed for the Middlesex County Sheriff’s job but said he had no interest in the job and had not interviewed for it. The position was left vacant after the death of former Sheriff James DiPaola.

L to R: Firefighter Thomas Carroll (Retired), Lieutenant Mark Wall and Firefighter Thomas Kelley.

By William Tauro

Somerville Fire Department Lieutenant Mark Wall worked his last tour of duty on Sunday, January 23rd after 42 years of service. Lt. Wall worked the vast majority of his career as a firefighter and then lieutenant at Engine 3 in Union Square.

His final run was to Box 252, located at Washington Street and Kingman Road, in the very neighborhood where he grew up as a young boy.

At one point in his career in Somerville, Wall got caught in a flashover fire and was forced to bail out of a second floor window. He landed on his back with his air pack on. Wall broke his pelvic bone, spleen and just about everything else in his body.

In accordance with the City’s Snow Emergency Procedures, Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone has announced that a snow emergency will be in effect for the City of Somerville as of 3:00 p.m. on Wednesday, January 26^th.   During snow emergencies, parking is allowed on the odd-numbered side of the street only (unless otherwise posted).  Cars not moved by 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday will be ticketed and towed.  Residents unable to find a parking space on the odd-numbered side of the street may park in any municipal or school lot for the duration of the emergency, but cars parked in school lots prior to 3:00 on Wednesday will be towed, as school will be in session.  A list of available city lots and other relevant information may be found on the City’s website at http://www.somervillema.gov/.

Dickerman Park final plan.

By Andrew Firestone

After years in the planning, 2011 will see Somerville receiving a major facelift as several major development projects, both public and private, are scheduled to begin. From East Somerville to Davis Square, roads will be repaved, homes will be erected, and the long awaited Assembly Square project is projected to finally break ground.

Among the major public projects is an overhaul of Broadway through East Somerville. Currently at 75 percent design phase, the city hopes to take the street down to single lane traffic, while adding bike lanes and wider sidewalks, which would also include adding additional lights to the area. Private funding for the project will come from Stop & Shop, as well as the Federal Realty Investment Trust in connection with their Assembly Square project.

This Friday night at the Somerville City Club starting at 7 p.m. is the fundraiser to help Det. Mario Oliviera and his family recover after Mario was shot in the line of duty Nov. 3. Tickets are available at the door and if you can’t make it you can still purchase raffle tickets. Mario has gone through a lot and he’s very well known here in the city. He’s a nice guy from a nice family and this is one good way to help out someone who has helped so many others in the community. Stop down, say hi and buy some raffle tickets. We hear its going to be wall to wall with friends. The City Club is off Washington Street directly across from the front door of Holiday Inn, lots of parking and easy to find.

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Here’s some good stuff, we heard, it appears that one of the Somerville Police officers was caught with his hands in the cookie jar! Or should we say candy jar? Rumor has it that back in October a generous Somerville citizen walked into the police station and donated bags of candy for the “Children’s Haunted House” on Broadway. Later that day, a police officer was allegedly caught on film red handed, we hear, hauling the Halloween treats to his personal car. When he was later confronted about the sweet tooth crime “denial” was the answer, so a choice of either a polygraph test or resignation was given to him and he took early leave, retirement. Now you’d think that with all the cameras nowadays a police officer would know to watch out.

By George P. Hassett

A Somerville police officer with more than 20 years on the force resigned this week after he was caught stealing a bag of Halloween candy from the station, according to multiple sources.

Robert Vozzella’s resignation was effective Tuesday, according to city spokesman Michael Meehan. Vozzella had worked as a patrolman since 1988. Meehan declined to release any other information regarding Vozzella but multiple sources said Vozzella was told he could resign or take a polygraph test in connection with the missing bag of candy. Sources said Vozzella chose to resign.

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An MBTA bus driver, who allegedly had an open bottle of vodka in his pocket when he crashed into a car at a Somerville intersection, was fired this week.

A termination letter was hand delivered to John McCarthy, 61, of 6 Chester Ave., on Monday after he was arrested Friday on charges of drunk driving and possession of an open container of alcohol in a motor vehicle.

By Alderman William Roche

(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.)

I am not sure what the intent was of printing the breakdown of the Board of Alderman’s (BOA) attendance at Committee meetings without any type of analysis, explanation or clarification. I believe it did a disservice to your  readers  and an injustice to all members of the BOA, especially me with the sub-headline “Alderman Roche attends fewest meetings.” It truly misrepresents our attendance, especially mine since I had a 100% attendance record for assigned Committee Meetings. With this in mind I would like to try to straighten out reader confusion trying to understand this breakdown.