Fans of Senior captain and 2 time GBL player of the year Kelsey Garrity hold a sign during Friday night's 59-33 season opening loss to Gloucester. - Photo by Charlene Harris

By Mike Rubin

With a new coach, new systems and new players, the Somerville High School girls basketball team is in the midst of a transition.

Despite a strong effort by Kelsey Garrity, the Highlanders suffered a 59-33 defeat to Gloucester in Friday night’s non-league season opening match-up at the Brune Field House.

Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone, the Somerville Commission for Human Rights and other community groups will celebrate Martin Luther King, Jr. Day on Monday, January 17, 2011.  As part of the celebration the MLK Day Committee is holding an essay contest.  School-aged children are invited to write a one-page essay on this year’s theme, “Realizing King’s Dream Through Youth Action.”  The deadline for essays is December 20^th. The winner will be announced by January 10^th and invited to read their essay at the MLK celebration.  Essays with contact information including name, address, telephone number, age and grade can be submitted electronically at sdarai@somervillema.gov, by mail to Sonja Darai, City Hall Annex, 50 Evergreen Avenue, Somerville, MA 02143, or can be left at the Welcome Desk in City Hall.  For more information please contact 311.

(From left) Robert LaFollette, Patrick Coman, Chris Hutchinson-Jones, Max Winer, from Arts at the Armory, Sept. 2010.~Photo courtesy of Patrick Coman

Blood on the Tracks concert to benefit MS Society
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By Lauren C. Ostberg

Blood on the Tracks is more than a classic Bob Dylan album, rife with regret, Biblical references, mouth harp solos, and self-satisfied couplets – it’s also a touchstone album for singer-songwriters.  So when folk musician Patrick Coman was discussing the theme for a holiday benefit concert, the conversation was short and sweet.

By George P. Hassett

A Boston man wanted in connection with the Nov. 28  stabbing on Flint Street turned himself in on Friday, police said.  Brian Maingrette, 18, of Roxbury had been the subject of a search by Somerville and Boston Police since Detective Paul Duffy obtained an arrest warrant for him on Nov. 30.  He surrendered himself at the Somerville District Court and was taken into custody by Somerville Police Officer Lance Covert, police said.

By George P. Hassett

Somerville Police and FBI agents have arrested a suspect who is charged with the Dec. 4 robbery of the Citizens Bank at 212 Elm Street in Davis Square.  Ricardo Colazzo, age 37, was arrested Dec. 8 by Somerville detective John Oliveira and FBI agents.

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.)

Okay Santa, here are the things that I would love to see under my tree if it were possible.

I would love to see that 1962 Gibson SG guitar that I sold for $150 30 years ago and is now worth around $20,000. I would also like to have my Farfisa Compact Combo organ back which is now worth around $3,000.

I would love to find the key to the family safe deposit box just to see if there is anything in there. I am pretty sure my brother emptied it, but still.

Beginning in 2010, the Union square Farmers Market will thrive indoors for the first time.

By Cathleen Twardzik

Beginning in 2011, the Union Square Farmers Market will thrive indoors for the first time.

“This January, [it] will be held at the Armory.  They’ve got a big enough indoor space to accommodate the weekly event,” said Mimi Graney, executive director of Union Square Main Streets.

The market will still take place outside each Saturday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., from June until the end of October.

(From the city of Somerville)

Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone and his wife Nancy attended a gathering at the White House Thursday, during which he praised President Obama for striking a bipartisan agreement to extend middle class tax cuts and restore unemployment benefits. The visit is the latest in a series of trips to the White House for Mayor Curtatone in 2010, which included participation in events and discussions surrounding the First Lady’s “Let’s Move!” initiative. Curtatone provided remarks during the initiative’s nationwide launch in February.

- Photo by William Tauro

By William Tauro

After numerous complaints from residents reporting a gas odor and one day after a natural gas outage in Methuen  that has shut down most of that city’s heating source due to lack of gas pressure, a gas  odor opposite 231 Washington Street  is  being looked into by NStar.

“It appears to be an underground leak that’s causing the natural gas odor ” said a worker from Nstar who was at the repair site early Friday morning with a repair crew and a police detail.

By Neil Berman

(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.)

“It is the sense of Congress that States should develop curricula relating to the subject of personal finance, designed for use in elementary and secondary schools.”  Senate bill No. 256 §222. (109th Congress 2005)

This quote is from the “The Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005,” which changed the U.S. Bankruptcy Code. It was written by lobbyists hired by the credit card industry and their allies, who believed that too many people were declaring bankruptcy. Their premise was that people were opting out of responsibility for their debts, going bankrupt because it was easier then paying their bills.