Get your karaoke singing in now, Razzy's closes Saturday. ~Photo by Tom Nash

By Tom Nash

Fans of karaoke and free popcorn have only a few more nights to enjoy a popular Somerville Avenue bar. Razzy's, which in its five years has amassed a loyal following, will be shutting its doors for good on Saturday.

A Somerville man became so enraged at his elderly upstairs neighbor on May 21 that police were concerned for his health.

Austin Avelar, 23, of 48 Florence St., allegedly threatened his neighbor and when police came to the door began shouting and yelling obscenities at them.

A Somerville man speeding down Powder House Boulevard could not hear police sirens behind him because he was wearing headphones as he drove on May 20, police said.

The residents of Bailey Road and Mystic Avenue deserve justice. The interstate highway that has disrupted the neighborhood for five decades pollutes their air with little, if any, transit benefit in return.

There has been a real cost: residents of Somerville have seen friends and family die of lung cancer at significantly higher rates than suburban dwellers who use I-93 for their commute.

Phillip Trapanni looks at I-93 across the street from his house with his daughter Lucianne. ~Photos by Andrew Firestone

$750k federal initiative to study rt. 93 pollution

Andrew Firestone

Since it first cut through the Mystic Avenue and Ten Hills, route 93 has been a source of controversy in Somerville.

Ellin Reisner, an East Somerville resident and Green Line activist, originally approached Tufts University to form a partnership in studying pollution in the city. Reisner said Somerville has the highest rate of heart attack deaths and lung cancer in the state. "The state knew that the levels of pollution [from I-93] would exceed the Environmental Protection Agency standards but they built it anyway," she said.

By George P. Hassett

A contract dispute is threatening a 35-year-old Somerville health organization and could eliminate local options for 800 Somerville citizens who need mental health treatment.

The Somerville Mental Health Committee is in danger of losing a contract that allows them to provide services for children, the homeless and the addicted, Chairman Michael Dwyer told aldermen Monday.

As officials brace for cuts in local aid and a tight city budget, School Committee members are discussing layoffs and elimination of jobs in city schools.

"The most important thing is to get through one year at a time without a reduction in programs," said Superintendent Tony Pierantozzi.

Ard Ardalan

Christian Gomez lines up at Foss Park at 5:30 a.m. everyday to compete with dozens of other men for an $8 an hour or less job.

Now, the stories of Gomez and the laborers who gather at Foss Park each morning has inspired a play, "They Don't Tell You Anything" written and produced by Meryl Becker, which premiered at the Elizabeth Peabody House on Friday.