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It's easy to be mad at the federal government these days. But that's no reason not to fill out your census form. Census data is used to distribute more than $400 billion in aid for essential services such as schools, hospitals and transportation. But 43 percent of households in Massachusetts have yet to submit their forms. With corruption, waste and fraud seemingly rampant in government, it may seem reasonable to wave off census obligations this year and think to yourself, 'What's one missed home?" |
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By Ashley Taylor As city officials examine options for the Powder House Community School site, neighborhood residents at a community meeting last week expressed concerns with the process. "It just seems like the whole process is backwards, trying to rezone the property and then decide what to do with the building," said city activist Barry Rafkind. "If you don't know what you want to do with it, how do you know how you want to zone the property?" About 70 residents met Wednesday to discuss visions for reusing the Powder House Community School building, which the city closed in 2003 and has been vacant since 2005. |
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Focus on legal immigrants and students Andrew Firestone How do we count Somerville? With legal immigrants and college students in the community, it's easy to undercount a city like Somerville, said organizers of last week's 2010 Census Day event at Foss Park. Organized by Daniel Hauck, the City of Somerville Center Coordinator, the event was "to educate and applaud our community members for being counted in the 2010 Census," he said. A key demographic of the event were people who had not yet turned in or lost their census forms, including Norm Dempsey of Allston. Visiting his girlfriend Dawn Ryder in Somerville, he learned his census form had been mistakenly thrown out. "I told her I was going to be arrested and fined." On the way to City Hall in Boston, Dempsey spotted the event and filled out his census form there. "Saved me a trip to city hall," he said. Hauck was quick to point out the many organizations and the necessity of having the census. "We worked with local non-profits and schools to bring food, music and a strong sense of community involvement. For each one percent we increase the return rate we save $85 million. If everyone sent their census form, back we would save $1.5 billion." One group that fit into this equation was the large population of legal immigrants in Somerville, who were encouraged to come out and fill out the census. C.O.R.E.S. a center for Salvadoran refugees in Somerville, was one of many nonprofits at the event urging their respective communities to fill out the forms. |
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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.) I hope everyone had a nice Easter. I enjoyed a peaceful ham dinner with my daughter, her two dogs and my own pup. The rest of the kids joined us later. |
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(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.) Dear editor, I am 77 years old and I read The Somerville News every time I can get one. I have a big grip for our Mayor Curatone. I lived in this beautiful city for about 53 years and now our mayor comes out with the permit parking on all the small streets which is awful for my family when they come over. By the time they come to drop my great grandchildren on the second floor and get the permit and go down, they already have a fifty dollar ticket, so they don't even come over. |
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By Kevin Kelleher, Chief Engineer Somerville Fire Department
(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.)
Based on a recent op-ed in the Somerville News, there seems to be confusion about the purpose of utilizing a Reserve Fire List and how the Somerville Firefighter selection process is conducted. As both the city's Fire Chief and a firefighter for over 32 years, please allow me to set the record straight as to the integrity of the process and the quality of the individuals who serve in the Somerville Fire Department (SFD).
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Cop previously accused of brutality
City spokeswoman Jackie Rossetti said Marcos Freitas was terminated from his position as a Somerville cop. She would not say what led to the termination. |
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| Monday, March 29
9:00 p.m., Bridget Carr, 47, of 39 Stone Rd., Arlington, was arrested and charged with shoplifting. Tuesday, March 30 4:23 a.m., Richelle Cordeiro, 18, of 1 Franklin St., was arrested and charged with accessory before the fact. 4:23 a.m., Matteo Passanisi, 20, of 87 Boston Ave., was arrested and charged with possession of a dangerous weapon, possession of a burglarious instrument, breaking and entering in the nighttime for a felony and resisting arrest. 3:04 p.m., Lester Segura, 22, of 932 S. Sun Land Park Drive, Sun Valley, CA, was arrested and charged with sexual conduct for a fee. |
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By Julia Fairclough In its ongoing efforts to combat childhood obesity, the city will give all elementary school students a subscription to a new magazine that teaches how to eat healthy, and to have fun with cooking. "ChopChop: The Fun Cooking Magazine for Families" is a quarterly magazine created by Watertown cookbook author Sally Sampson. The publication will launch next week and is designed to help kids learn to cook, become nutritionally literate, and establish healthy eating habits. It will be distributed to all Somerville public elementary schools, free of charge as part of the Shape Up Somerville initiative. |
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