The Somerville Chamber of Commerce’s monthly Business After Hours get together is Thursday from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., Oct. 6, at the Mt. Vernon Restaurant located at 14 Broadway in East Somerville. Great business networking opportunity for all

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The Somerville High School Class of 1960 recently had an interesting reunion of sorts, a tour of the city, filled two buses and apparently was a huge success, many of the graduates of SHS haven’t seen the city as a tour. The class had a nice turnout and afterwards had a dinner at the Hilton in Woburn. Maybe that was a draw to attack a larger number of attendances than normal, some other classes might think about that.

By Lauren C. Ostberg 

The Dream Act provides a path to citizenship and higher education for young, undocumented immigrants. ~Photo by Lauren Ostberg

Proponents of a hotly debated federal immigration act presented their case at Somerville’s Centro Presente Sept. 30, hoping to put a local face on a highly-debated federal issue.

Somerville teens who will have their opportunities expanded by the DREAM Act told their stories a week after Somerville aldermen delayed voting on a resolution to support the act.

The East Somerville Community School took a big step on the comeback trail this week: state officials approved $15 million in funds to build the school.
There is still a lot to do: the city will have to borrow at least $9 million more to finish financing the project and school doors may not open until 2013. But it is undoubtedly good news for a neighborhood that was devastated by the December 2007 fire that destroyed the school.

MBTA moving Green Line Extension into next phase

State transportation planner Matt Ciborowski (right) reviews a preliminary sketch of the planned Gilman Square Green Line Station with residents David Dahlbacka and Jane Sauer. - Photo by Elizabeth Sheeran

By Elizabeth Sheeran

The Green Line extension chugged a little further along the tracks in September, as the MBTA stepped into the driver’s seat and officially kicked off the design phase of the project.

“We are committed to getting this project done,” said MBTA General Manager Richard Davey to over 100 residents at the Argenziano School in Somerville on September 28, who braved torrential rains to get the latest project update from state and local officials.

Davey said the MBTA will be primarily responsible for building the Green Line Extension as it moves out of the planning phase, but will continue to work with the team of planners at the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) who have been involved in the project for years.

By George P. Hassett

A 25-year-old Medford man was strangled by an unruly movie goer at The Somerville Theatre Friday night, police said.

The victim asked two drunk men in the movie theatre to lower their voices, police said. Instead, one of the men placed a shoestring around the victim’s neck and pulled, police said.

Jean-Dany Joachim

Well – I interviewed the Poet Laureate of Boston Sam Cornish, the Poet Laureate of Portland, Maine Steve Luttrell, and just recently the Poet Populist of the Republic of Cambridge, Jean-Dany Joachim. Both Jean and I teach at Bunker Hill Community College, and both of us are poets. One day perhaps I will be able to interview the Poet Laureate of Somerville if the city ever gets off its haunches. Jean-Dany Joachim was born in Port-au-Prince Haiti. In his online bio it states “…his writing found its voice in the never-ending, complex reality of his country.” Joachim is the author of ” Chen Plenn-Leta”, and his work has appeared in anthologies and numerous literary magazines. I talked with him on my Somerville Community Access TV show “Poet to Poet: Writer to Writer.”

Haitian Coalition of Somerville staff and supporters traveled to Haiti this summer to maintain the organization’s commitment to the country’s reconstruction by participating in three special projects:  They plucked unknown artists from obscurity in a singing contest, brought a group of Boston volunteer educators to the Haitian countryside to train current Haitian teachers and advanced a collaborative initiative that will result in a new environmentally sustainable community-health center and maternal ward in Balan, Haiti.    

By Mike Rubin

In a fierce battle, the St. Clement’s football team suffered another heartbreaking loss.

Despite an impressive performance by Jon Alphonse, the Anchormen suffered a tough 21-20 defeat at the hands of league archrivals Matignon on Saturday morning’s clash at Dilboy Field.

With the loss, the Anchormen fell to 1-3 overall.

By Mike Rubin

Despite an abundance of injuries, the Somerville High School boys soccer team has managed to right the ship. Key setbacks for the Highlanders this season included star defenseman Lesley Andrade, who tore his ACL over the summer during the Bay State Games. Also missing time was last year’s Greater Boston MVP Homero Morais along with team captain Kevin Montiele along with starters Bipul Pyakaryul and Pedro Rolim.

Weathering the storms, the Highlanders pulled through with a 2-2 tie with league rivals Everett followed by a 3-2 win over Newton North on September 25. With last week’s 1-0 loss to Madison Park, the Highlanders currently stand at 3-3-1 overall.

Somerville poet Tam Lin Neville has a new book out from Somerville’s Cervena Barva Press  “Triage.” Here is a poem from this fine collection.