By George P. Hassett

Two Somerville track stars are on their way to compete in a national tournament in New York City this month.

Nicole Genard and Taija Clark qualified to compete in the New Balance Scholastic Track Championships to be held in New York City March 11 to 13.

Our featured poet this week is Anne Ardery.  Anne lives in Davis Square and is taking time off from Harvard where she is an English major.

New Head of the Cape Cod Writers Center, and author of ‘The Muse of the Revolution’
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Nancy Rubin Stuart is a seasoned journalist who still remembers what pounding on the keys of a battered Royal feels like, and how to negotiate the shoals of a predominately male, smoke-filled newsroom. Stuart is also the author of a number of critically acclaimed books including her most recent The Muse of the Revolution: The Secret Pen of Mercy Otis Warren and the Founding of a Nation which concerns the Revolutionary War era writer Mercy Otis Warren. Stuart, who has taught writing at Yale, SUNY at Purchase, and other universities, is also the new director of the Cape Cod Writers Center. I spoke to her on my Somerville Community Access TV show Poet to Poet: Writer to Writer.

By Jimmy Del Ponte

Please wear your favorite, most colorful, wildest and wackiest hat to the “Hats Off To Somerville Day” cable TV film shoot. Show up on Wednesday March 2, 2011 at 12:30 in Davis Square at the Statue Park, across from J. P. Licks. We will be filming for Jimmy Del Ponte’s cable show, Seriously Somerville.

By George P. Hassett

A man who deposited a fraudulent $39,000 check into a Somerville bank tried to withdraw $15,000 last week, police said.

Ducarmel Dorime, 27, of 19 Clifford St., Boston, allegedly deposited a check at the Century Bank at 102 Fellsway West in the amount of $39, 011.63 on Feb. 15. Police said Dorime withdrew $8,000 in cash from the Boylston Street branch in Boston Feb. 23 and $7,500 in cash and $7,500 in treasurer’s checks in Medford the next day.

Arrests:
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Ronildo Da Silva, 31, of 33 Marshall St., Feb. 21, 12:31 a.m., arrested at home and charged with assault and battery.

Tyraya Hargrove, 20, of 8 Eumee St., Boston, Feb. 22, 4:40 p.m., arrested on Broadway on a warrant charge of escape from Department of Youth Services.

Nicholas Suarez, 52, of 259 Broadway, East Boston, Feb. 22, 8:11 p.m., arrested at 52 Glen St. and charged with trafficking in cocaine and drug violation near a school or park.

Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone announced that the Somerville Veterans Memorial Ice Rink will host the first annual Massachusetts Army National Guard (MA ARNG) Military Winter Classic, “Settling the Old Rivalry Between the Infantry and Artillery,” hockey game on Monday, February 28th from 8:00 – 10:00 p.m. While admission is free of charge, proceeds from a 50/50 raffle and additional donations will support families of the 1st Battalion of the 182nd Infantry Regiment, which will be deploying to Afghanistan in March.

Students in the culinary arts program, many of whom don traditional white baking hats and uniforms, bustle around the kitchen, to prepare the day's dishes.

By Cathleen Twardzik

The aroma of cheeseburgers, chicken pot pie soup and brownies fills the air of The Highlander Cafe at Somerville High School, as students in the culinary arts program, many of whom don traditional white baking hats and uniforms, bustle around the kitchen, to prepare the day’s dishes.

The cafe is a student-operated restaurant, which is open to the public. Discover it for yourself in the Career and Technical Education wing.

Grab lunch or a baked good there from 11:15 a.m. to 1:15 p.m. each week on Wednesdays and Thursdays, and choose lunchtime staples, starting at $1.50 for a small salad or for a side, or meander in on Fridays for the all-you-can-eat buffet for $6.95.

Through Somervision, the mayor and his office have worked in tandem with committed Somerville residents and workers over the past year and a ahlf to develop a plan for the city's future.

By Carrie Stanziola

Change is constant in Somerville, as evidenced by the Somervision process, an idea of what Somerville will be in the years to come. As mayoral staff Keith Craig commented regarding Somervision, “Is three quarters of the way through comprehensive planning process…that’s trying to document and provide an action plan for how Somerville wants to capture its future.  We know we have a lot of change coming with the green line extension and orange line station.”

Currently, the infrastructure is old and ill-equipped for these technological advances.  Moreover, as Somerville changes, there must be job growth. “In order to do all that, we need to figure out how to do it,” Craig continues, “This plan, guided by state law, will effectively help us do that.”

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.)

As a kid growing up in Somerville, I always wanted to be a famous rock star.  We all know how that turned out!

I wanted to grow up to be Paul McCartney. My friend wanted to be Paul McCartney’s wife. (I hope it was the nice one!) Back then, I didn’t think about the money, just the coolness.
A friend of mine wanted to be a fire fighter from the time he was five years old, because his father was one. He saw his dream come true.