A Somerville man was arrested twice in two days this week.

On Saturday, a woman entered her apartment to find Barnett "flipping out" and stealing a loaf of bread, an X-Box 360 game device, 20 X-Box games, a Nintendo and two pairs of girls sneakers, police said.

Massachusetts House kills GOP proposals to reduce the income tax and eliminate the liquor tax

State House, Boston, April 28, 2010 – Speaker Robert DeLeo and his Democratic leadership team in the Massachusetts House Tuesday killed Republican efforts to reduce the state's sales tax and meals tax from 6.25 percent back to five percent and to eliminate the 6.25 percent sales tax on liquor, wine and beer purchased at package stores.

Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone is hosting the Business Town Meeting today, Wednesday, at The Somerville Theater. It is what it sounds like: the business community has the opportunity to listen to the chief executive of the city's plans for the future and then ask questions.

Kudos to Curtatone and the Chamber of Commerce for opening a dialogue with business leaders, who sometimes feel like their voices are drowned out by the concerns of residents. It's a delicate balance, running a city effectively, and the mayor has to listen to business owners if the local economy is to thrive.

Save Our Somerville's second annual soccer tournament. ~Photo by David Lombino

David Lombino

Can soccer and community activism make a difference? The organizers of Save Our Somerville's second annual soccer tournament hope so.

Teams of local players showed up at Glen Park to compete for trophies and the top spot as local champions April 19.

Adam Rich, a 23-year-old Somerville native, has been active with SOS since 2008. "SOS spoke to who I am," he says of his initial involvement. "I was very passionate about the city and the direction I saw it going in," but saw that the direction wasn't in tune with the way he wanted. He felt relieved to find people who shared his community-oriented opinions. "I didn't know anyone like that existed."

Matt Haley of Somerville High School displays his Villen Sticker with pride. Steve Morris, the creator of beavillen.com ~Photos by Andrew Firestone

New shirts, stickers show city pride

Andrew Firestone

A new style is sweeping the streets of Somerville. It's on the shirts of local teenagers, and the stickers on their cellphones.

"You have the more lower class of Somerville experience drugs and violence, kind of what the city used to be," said Mark McLaughlin, who works with Morris selling music on the clothing line's site, BeAVillen.com. "Then you have the more affluent people who are not necessarily facing those issues and aren't even necessarily aware of them. Two people that were neighbors, living in completely different worlds."

Two aldermen celebrated Earth Day last week by asking the Curtatone administration to create a task force dedicated to making Somerville more "green."

Ward 2 Alderman Maryann Heuston and Ward 6 Alderman Rebekah Gewirtz submitted a resolution at the board's April 22 meeting asking for the creation of the Green Community and Open Space Initiative, which would consist of aldermen and an appointed panel of experts who would determine how the city can be more environmentally friendly.

Scirocco's 10 Howe St. property.

By George P. Hassett

City officials have filed a complaint against a former candidate for mayor after he allegedly turned his backyard into a neighborhood safety hazard, including building a concrete wall on his property.

In March, the city's Inspectional Services Department issued a stop work order at Scirocco's 10 Howe St. property, according to city records. It was the latest of several dating back five years, said city spokeswoman Jackie Rossetti.

By George P. Hassett

A Somerville inspection station that allegedly performed 208 fraudulent emissions inspections will pay a $75,000 fine under a settlement reached with the Attorney General's office.

Robert Boudreau, owner of Hillside Service Center on Mystic Avenue, will have his inspection license revoked after he fraudulently conducted six inspections. Another inspector at the station, Robert J. Greenwood, allegedly conducted 202 fraudulent inspections since December 2006.