If
you have lived here for the last 40 plus years, you have seen this city
go through a massive transformation in many different areas, but it's
when weather is absolutely dismal, that the memories of days long gone
by come "flooding" in. Sorry about the pun, but there's a possibility
they will "cascade" through this View.

For the purpose of this
week's View, we will be keeping the memories to within the last 40
years. For those of us who can remember 1970 forward, we remember the
last time we saw the streets ripped up down to pre-1970 times – trolley
tracks, brick and cobblestone streets, ancient walkways and even older
(and typically dead) trees – all being replaced by newer, more
efficient and durable asphalt and granite and concrete.

A
year after first floating permit parking citywide, the Board of
Aldermen made its first move toward restricting permits to specific
areas last week.

Ward 1 Alderman Bill Roche asked at the board's
March 11 meeting that the city solicitor look into whether residents
near the Sullivan Square T stop could have specially designated permits
that would keep commuters from poaching spots in front of homes.

Ward
2 Alderman and Finance Committee Chair Maryann Heuston and Ward 6
Alderman Rebekah Gewirtz submitted a resolution asking Mayor Joe
Curtatone's office for a budget strategy at the board's March 11
meeting.

"(The) bottom line is, we probably will take a hit,"
Heuston said of the state aid allotted to local communities each year.
"We have to be prepared. There are no more rabbits to pull out of the
hat."

Bob Publicover, Publisher Emeritus of The Somerville News. ~Photo by Andrew Firestone

Publisher Emeritus Bob Publicover’s Wild Ride

Andrew Firestone

Had
he only been the Founding Publisher/Editor of The Somerville News,
winning the IFPA Community Service award, as well as personal accolades
for his weekly column, that would have been sufficient.

But
Bob Publicover, Publisher Emeritus of The Somerville News, and
pioneering journalist of the community of Somerville, has done so much
more. He has founded multiple foundations which help those less
fortunate in the City of Somerville. He's been a grass-roots force of
nature for Somerville, telling the story of the city for decades. He's
lived with AIDS for thirty years, having even recovered some of his
lost T-cells. And he's just beaten cancer. Upon receiving successfully
recovering from chemo and radiation treatment he was apparently told by
his doctors, "we didn't think you had a snowball's chance in hell." "I
got through it, I always do." "I don't answer the question, 'why' with
'cause I don't know.'"

Jimmy Del Ponte
On The Silly Side

(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.)

Did you remember to turn your clocks ahead one hour before you went to bed on Saturday night? I didn't. My son had the guitar player from their band stay over (they were jamming until midnight), so I got up to make a Dunkie's run for doughnuts in the driving rain. The clock in the truck said 8:15am – as I pulled out of the driveway and headed onto College Ave. Soon, I saw all the wooden saw-horse roadblocks situated at the end of every street on my route. They were not in place yet, so I was okay, or so I thought – because the constituent service e-mail and phone call said that road race detours would start at 9am. I started rushing, but I was still in good shape – the streets were still open. Anyway, to me it was only 8:17am at this point. I made it to Dunkin Donuts in Magoun Square and glanced up at the clock…9:20am??? WHAT???