By Lauren C. Ostberg

Andres Del Castillo, 19, is active in Suffolk University's Student Immigration Movement and a major proponent of the DREAM Act. Pauli Munguia, also 19, is the face of Centro Presente's civic engagement campaign. ~Photo by Lauren Ostberg

Somerville talks a good game about multiculturalism: it’s a sanctuary city whose citizens speak more than 50 different languages. But Centro Presente, a Latin American immigrant organization, wants to up the ante. The group’s civic engagement campaign brought 13 local elected officials to Centro Presente’s Somerville headquarters for a bilingual encuentro.

“Civic participation is more than just voting. It’s being an active member of your community,” said Patricia Montes, Centro Presente’s executive director. “We want to participate in the decision-making that goes on here.”

Sick of the spend and tax-style legislators, we have? We need tax breaks and incentives for the private sector and our present State Senator doesn’t hear us. Senator Pat Jehlan has been a public employee, elected to office since the early 1970s, so naturally we ask, how can she empathize with private businesses?  We heard that she chose not to have the word “incumbent” next to her name in the primary, but she doesn’t have that choice on November 2. So if you’re happy with the status quo vote her but we have a choice with David Carnvale a newcomer who never ran for office, but her and her minions along with the Farm Team have stooped to calling names because he had the nerve to run against the Queen.

From fluff to your telephone, Somerville is innovative.

In 1877, Somerville resident Charles Williams was the first telephone subscriber. Without Williams, you may have had to wait a few more years for your iPhone.

In 1917, another Somerville innovator, Archibald Query, invented Fluff in his Union Square home. Without Query, your peanut butter sandwich just wouldn’t be the same.

By Samantha Hutt

A hearing was held on Monday September 13, to gather information from the public on the expansion of the Assembly Square area in Somerville. The Department of Environmental Protection, Waterways Regulation Program held the hearing at the Visiting Nurses Association where approximately 15 people gathered to voice concerns, criticism, and commendations about how project leaders were handling the mixed-use development project.

New financing plan involves 450 acres, $944 million in tax base

By Jeremy F. van der Heiden

As city officials rush to put together a 30-year-economic development plan, a proposal to allow tax revenue generated from improvements in specific neighborhoods to go directly back to those areas is being questioned by local business owners.

The District Improvement Financing Plan, presented at a Sept. 15 public hearing, could potentially turn several city properties into parking garages and the Union Square post office into a performing arts center. The plan involves 450 acres and $944 million of local tax base.

By Mike Rubin

The Somerville High School girls soccer team emerged with a key victory Sept. 15 over Malden. Freshman Rachael Berry and sophomore Natalie Henrique notched a goal apiece as the Highlanders escaped with a 2-1 victory over Greater Boston League rivals. With the win, the Highlanders improved their record to 2-1 overall.

I had my friend and Emerson College English professor Tracy L. Strauss interview the writer and humorist Malachy McCourt. McCourt will appear at The Somerville News Writers Festival Nov. 13 at the Arts Armory on Highland Avenue in Somerville – of course!
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Sez Malachy McCourt to Somerville
by Tracy L. Strauss

“I like the name ‘Somerville’,” Malachy McCourt said over the phone from his home in upstate New York, “it’s got a nice euphonious ring to it. ‘Somerville’ – sounds like the wind whistling through the trees.”

Tino Villanueva is a Somerville Bagel Bard and has also been included in The Norton Anthology of Latino Literature edited by Ilan Stevens. This is an excerpt from his poem “At the Holocaust Museum: Washington, D.C.” that appears in the anthology.

Gilmore G. Cooke

By Alexandra Botti

In the age of iPads and smartphones, Historic Somerville is giving residents the chance to look back at one of the most pivotal technological milestones in the history of communication.

Gilmore G. Cooke, Chair of the History and Milestones Committee of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers, Boston Section, will discuss the history of the telephone and its first commercial subscriber in 1877, Somerville’s own Charles Williams, at a Somerville Museum event on Sept. 23.

Second in a two-part series of lectures on Somerville’s technical milestones, the lecture entitled “Charles Williams of Somerville and the History of the Telephone” is a chance for residents to learn about this critical historical moment in the context of their own city’s past.

By Mike Rubin

After a slow start to the season, the Somerville boys soccer team may have begun to right the ship. Following a 1-1 season opening tie against Bedford, the Highlanders suffered a tough 3-2 defeat in the Greater Boston League opener to Medford.

Battling back, the Highlanders recovered with a pair of convincing wins over Marblehead (7-0) and Malden (4-0) before suffering a tough 1-0 loss to Billerica on Saturday. As a result, the Highlanders currently stand at 2-2-1 overall.