In
Somerville, three locations, The Rosebud, The Somerville Theatre, and
The Nathan Tufts (Powder House) Park will be considered.

Helen Defrancisco, manager of The Rosebud, is excited about the prospect of the diner's possible use on the new quarter.

"All
my customers are thrilled, and they're all going to vote for us," said
Defrancisco. "I think a diner would be a perfect image on a coin," she
said.

If The Rosebud is chosen, the diner's business will
profit, according to Defrancisco. She foresees that that will occur
"because diners have been around forever, people love coming into the
home style cooking and everything."

Additionally, The Somerville Theater is a possible pick for the new quarter.

"We're
certainly more than honored to be selected for consideration. It would
further cement The [Somerville] Theater's role in the history of the
city. I don't know that there would be an immediate benefit," said Ian
Judge, General Manager of The Somerville Theater.

Personally,
"From the three that were indicated for Somerville, I would certainly
go with The Powder House [because] that's a little bit more historic,"
said Judge. That sentiment also holds true for his colleagues,
according to him.

"Our Commonwealth has many great parks and
historically significant sites," said Governor Patrick in the press
release. "It will be fun to let everybody help choose the one to
submit."

More than 100 sites have been selected for voters'
consideration. The original master list for this project included over
4,000 potential sites.

Beginning in 2010, as part of America's
Beautiful National Parks Quarter Dollar Coin Act, the new quarter will
be issued at the rate of five new state designs per year.

If you are interested in voting for the new quarter's design, you may visit http://www.mass.gov/governor/quarter
or call 1-800-227-MASS [6277]. Voting is open until February 26, after
which, the winners will be announced. Additional information is
available at 617-725-4005.

***************

Alderwoman
Maryann Heuston, Chair of the Board of Alderman (BOA) Finance
Committee, announced a series of Finance Committee meetings on the
recent midyear cuts in aid to cities and towns. The meetings will be
held tonight, February 18th at 7pm, March 4th at 6pm and March 11th at
7pm. All meetings will be held at City Hall in the 2nd floor Committee
Room. Committee meetings are open to the public. In addition, a public
hearing will also be scheduled by Alderman Heuston within the next
three weeks to obtain comments and feedback from Somerville residents.

***************

You
have heard a little about it here before – the New England Revolution
Soccer Stadium is also in the works to be constructed along with the
new train maintenance facility that many want built behind the
Brickbottom area. Somerville will be alive and kicking and our local
businesses and homeowners will reap the benefits.

***************

Lets
hope that the Zoning Board of Appeals stands firmly with the neighbors
and the Aldermen on the proposed 14 units on Summer Street, which is up
for a vote tonight, Wednesday the 18th. We hear through the grapevine
that this developer changes names and doesn't keep its word on promises
made, look at their record on previous developments in Somerville.

***************

We
understand that very popular Alderman at Large Dennis Sullivan popped
the question to his longtime girlfriend Melissa Hurley on Valentine's
Day. We wish them both the best in the future – they're both excellent
people.

***************

On February 20th from 7pm to 11pm
a benefit concert for breast cancer research will be held at the Dilboy
VFW hall in Davis Square. There will be 3 bands, a full bar, and a
raffle that will include such items as a Shawn Thorton autographed
hockey puck and a basketball autographed by Ray Allen. 100% of the
proceeds from ticket sales and the raffle will go to a Somerville based
team raising money for the Avon 2 Day Walk for Breast Cancer. More
information about the bands, raffle items, and how to purchase tickets,
you can email Matt at anomie666@gmail.com

***************

We
heard a small rumor at a function in Boston that our Mayor Joe was
looking at the seat of the State Auditor's office once DeNucci retires
– he obviously won't confirm it, but it would explain some recent
fundraising activity outside the city. In the meantime, Joe is having a
fundraiser at Sagra on the 24th from 6pm to 7:30pm

***************

We
want to say hi to Betty from "Betty's Hair Now Salon" who just
celebrated her birthday with some of us here at Newstalk this past
weekend – Happy Birthday and many more.

***************

Congratulations
to the Somerville School Department for being recognized for having one
of the best school lunch programs in the State – accordingly,
Somerville is now a role model for the rest of the state.

***************

The
Parishes of St. Ann, St. Catherine of Genoa and St. Joseph invite you
to "ARISETogether in Christ." ARISE is a three year parish-centered
process of spiritual renewal and evangelization. There are openings in
the Second Season "Change Our Hearts." The six session program will
begin the week of February 22nd.

***************

Quiz
Night is coming back to St. Ann's again this year – on Saturday, 2/28
at 7pm – bring a team of 6 or join a team that night – registration
forms can be downloaded from www.stannsomerville.org or at the Parish
Office at 50 Thurston St.

***************

Are you as
puzzled as we are about the three sites the Governor picked here in
Somerville to have as a poll question on being selected to be placed on
a new Massachusetts State quarter? We can understand the "Powder
House," but the Somerville Theatre – although a nice building and the
Rosebud Dinner is a complete puzzle to some of us here. Why not the
Prospect Hill Tower?

***************

The
group gathered at the Bloc 11 Café on Saturday morning, Feb.14th for an
information and demonstration session about this new, dynamic worldwide
system of map making that anyone who wants to, can contribute data.

With
the aroma of good coffee in the air, Russ Nelson of Pottsdam, N.Y. gave
info/demo on his laptop to the curious bunch. Nelson travels the
northeast spreading the word to communities about this exciting
invention.

Open Street Map is a free and editable map system of
the entire world which allows participants to view and edit
geographical data in a collaborative way.

"About 90,000 people have contributed worldwide," Nelson said.

One
of the fascinating features of the four foot square map was it showed
the shapes of the buildings in all areas of the maps. Observers could
see the shape of any home or apartment or business.

"Part of
what's exciting about this is someone's gonna do something really
amazing with this. Someone will think of something totally amazing and
everyone else will say 'holy—-, I never thought about that'", said
Jason Woofenden, 28, of Cambridge, a fan and regular contributor.

Ben
Schwartz, 23, of Cambridge, picked up were Woofenden left off, adding:
"For example, think of the One Lap Top Per Child Program. It's
remarkable with kids in Africa being given computers with Wikipedia
already built into them. The reason they can do this is the open free
licensing that Wikipedia (and Open Street Map) has. Without that, those
programs could never afford this. Probably the same sort of thing will
happen with these maps."

Woofenden explained "the free he's
talking about means it's free to download, change and publish. Open
Street Map is the same way."

About an hour later, one of the
group with their GPS unit returned and gave their collected data to
Nelson, who entered it into the computer and new changes and additions
were made to the living/changing map.

Shankar Viswanathan, 33,
of Arlington, returned excitedly: "I recorded as many names of
businesses and house numbers as I could on the way to Porter Square and
back…I've always been kind of a map geek, if you want to call it
that. The problem with commercial GPS units is you can't really change
anything or edit information. I like the open nature of this. You're
free to edit, within some restrictions."

Christopher Schmidt,
24, of Cambridge, a regular contributor, stood over the impressive
large map laid out on the coffee counter. He said it was made at the
MIT media lab, printed by "Mapnik" software.

"I think this is
a pretty map," he said. Pretty impressive might be more accurate.
"Getting this printed out and seeing it come out of the printer is fun.
I do this because I love to do it."

Nelson said there are also
potentially very useful tasks for serious situations like another
Hurricane Katrina. People with GPS units could map out very current
situations of damaged roads, bridges, buildings, etc. and quickly
report them back to update emergency maps.

Explaining OSM's
history, he said: "It's grown organically. It started about four years
ago with one guy making one map of one park. Now there's been almost
100,000 contributors."

"I've always loved maps, but I also developed a frustration with the quality of the existing commercial maps," he said.

The
culture of Open Street Map is different than the corporate culture,
according to Woofenden, who works professionally with computers. He
explained that the maps are always works in progress. "We're more
interested in our community being valuable rather than a product being
valuable" he said, referring to the imperfect creative process of the
organic multi contributor network. He said, "This really means we want
a reputation for a vibrant (contributing) community, rather than
necessarily a perfect product."

The website Open Street Map is www.openstreetmap.org

At least two of the days will be spent with Mom at her
work. One kid will go one day, and the other a different day. I would
have loved to go to work with my dad when I was a kid, but he worked at
a chemical plant that dealt with toxic materials.

When I was
their age (in the old days), we used to get a ride from one of the
parents to Kemp's hamburger joint. I think it was on Mystic Avenue.
We'd each have a couple of dollars and we would eat a ton of burgers.
They were around 25 cents or so. We'd spend an hour and a half just
hanging around and chowing down there. I 'm too paranoid to drop my
kids off anyplace by themselves these days. The best part of a school
vacation for me is not having to make their snacks, fight for them to
go to bed or fight for them to get out of bed. It's really more of a
vacation for Daddy-o.

So, okay, let's see…what can we do
that's "fun." My suggestion is a walk down to Davis Square for a bit of
browsing and perhaps lunch. My ideas typically involve a little
exercise and spending a very little money. Or, we can take the train to
Harvard Square and walk in and out of ten or fifteen stores – until my
legs throb (that's their idea). We can go to the movies or go to the
mall, and empty out the old wallet dollar by dollar (also their idea).
We can drive to Salem and hang around the magic shop for an hour
(actually, I enjoy going to Salem).

Whatever my kids end up
doing, I am just the ride, the financier and the guy who waits around
until they are ready to leave. In the summer, I have always taken the
boys up to Old Orchard Beach, where we get season passes for the
amusement park. Since they were toddlers, I would put them on the rides
and read the paper or listen to the radio until they were done.
Checking out all the different people at the park is also one of my
favorite time-killers (wink, wink). At the age my boys are (11 and 13),
I have many more years of supplying them with fun and keeping Mr.
Boredom at bay.

Thank God we have recently become trailer
camping people, I can't wait to hit the lake! But in the meantime, I
never thought I'd actually say: "why don't you go spend an hour or two
on the computer, or on your Play Station." But hey, I bought the darn
things, so why not use them? I need a break too!

They both have
science projects due soon, and they will be shocked when I tell them at
least some of the week will be dedicated to working on them. What else
can we do that's fun?

Here is what I think we should do for
fun. They should help me clean out the big closet in the playroom. The
closet that is so cluttered with junk, that I can't find anything in
there. The closet that has tons of their old toys, cub scout uniforms,
old back packs and crap. They freak out when I ask them to take out
their dog, so this is really going to freak them out.

Basically,
anytime I ask them for help is like a giving them a punishment. Getting
them to empty the dishwasher, fold the laundry or set the table does
not bode well with the boys, at all. I must say though, they are
getting more used to the idea that they need to help around the house.

Sunday,
one kid was sick so he stayed at Mom's house, but I took the other kid
to Home Depot and Circuit City where they are having a going out of
business sale. My son enjoyed shopping for discounted computer games.

In
Home Depot, we ran into my old friend Lenny and we talked for half an
hour. Joey enjoyed listening to me and Lenny reminisce. That was fun
for me too. Maybe we can spend the school vacation looking up more of
my old friends and chewing the fat about the old days. No, I don't
think the kids will go for that. Sunday night we agreed to stay in and
hit a restaurant in Ball Square for breakfast on Monday morning.

When
I was their age, we would spend hours in a room with one of those small
reel to reel tape recorders from Radio Shack. We would just goof around
making silly sounds and making up crazy voices and songs. We had so
much fun making those wacky tapes.

We'd also pass some time
doing something that I wouldn't want my kids to do. We used to make
crank phone calls. Now they have caller ID and star-69, but back then
we really went nuts with it. We were never vulgar, just real goofy and
annoying.

So what can we do that's fun? We'll ice skate, go to
the movies, take one of their friends to Burger King and maybe even
drive up to Salem. Hopefully we will have a day in Davis Square and
hopefully it will rain one day so we have to stay in. Hey, the summer
is coming and soon I will put on my camp counselor hat again. So for
now, let's just have a stress-free February vacation. What can we do
for fun? How about helping Daddy take down the rest of the Christmas
lights from the outside of the house? Hey, stepladders are fun!

The
causes for this trend are many, and they are often rooted in daily
life. Studies show that people are more sedentary, spending more time
in front of TV and computer screens, and less time being active. People
are also eating less healthy foods like fruits and vegetables, and more
fast food. And while the trend towards obesity and weight related
health problems is happening across the country, there is a significant
increase in these problems in low-income communities. In these
communities, the problems are exacerbated. Single-parent families with
no time to cook, limited access to fresh ingredients and neighborhoods
that do not invite outdoor activities are all part of the equation.

In
response to this troubling pattern, Governor Patrick has created a new
campaign, led by the Department of Public Health, called Mass In
Motion. On January 26th, Health Commissioner John Auerbach unrolled the
plan, citing the focus on low-income communities and working with
schools. A recent press release for Mass In Motion states the
activities include:

• A statewide wellness public information campaign involving Governor Deval Patrick and other "champions";

•
An interactive website directed to parents and caregivers, worksites,
and communities (including schools) that complements the information
campaign (see www.mass.gov/massinmotion );

• Proposed
regulations that require Body Mass Index (BMI) screening in schools and
reporting to parents to identify the weight status of children;

•
Proposed menu labeling regulations that require fast food restaurants
to post information on the nutritional content of the foods they offer;

•
An executive order that will require state agencies purchasing large
quantities of food to follow specific nutritional standards;

• The expansion of a successful DPH worksite wellness program to new worksites;

• The release of a RFR for municipalities that will support active living and healthy eating.

Many
of these initiatives will still require legislation to be put into
action, and with the budget crisis it can be difficult to see the value
in such initiatives. However, as Commissioner Auerbach stated on the
Mass in Motion website, "this is the exact time we need this kind of
endeavor. The lower your income the more likely that you will be both
overweight and undernourished [as] the cheapest and most accessible
foods are the ones with the highest amount of calories and saturated
fat. At a time of recession, more people are likely to be eating
poorly, not exercising, and gaining weight. This effort is also timely
because our state is in the midst of implementing invaluable but costly
health care reform…The very best and most cost-effective way to do
that is to promote good health rather than treat diseases like diabetes
and heart disease that our new program can stop in their tracks."

The
goals of Mass In Motion already have a foundation in Shape Up
Somerville, the citywide program that began in 2002 and is still going
strong. Nicole Rioles, the program's coordinator states, "I am happily
surprised that the state is moving in a healthier direction. I look at
New York, where they have required calorie counts in restaurants and
are banning trans fats, and am really excited to see changes like that
happen here."

Shape Up Somerville has long been addressing many
of the challenges that Mass In Motion is tackling and has become a
model for communities around the country. Rioles said, "Somerville,
like other parts of the country, has more unhealthy and overweight
people in poorer communities, and we have worked to address that. We
have created a new CSA, [community-supported-agriculture program] to
get affordable and local fresh produce to a convenient pickup spot, and
are renovating East Broadway with wider sidewalks so people can walk
safely and easily."

Because of the success of the original
Tufts-funded program that created Shape Up Somerville, the city has
received significant media attention and often fields calls from other
communities around the country requesting advice on how to launch a
similar program. Rioles states that success requires public awareness
and education, and talks about the city's Green Streets initiative,
where residents are encouraged to wear green and walk or bike, and the
5K road race held every spring. But she also says that lasting
improvements occur when you change the built environment. She states,
"programs are great, and important for getting people excited and
aware, but the real change happens when there are well-lit sidewalks,
good crosswalks, and attractive parks. Small things like lighting and
snow removal can really make a difference."

When asked what is
new for 2009, Rioles says that there is a new map of Somerville's parks
and walking routes that will be distributed in schools and available at
City Hall and elsewhere. In addition, residents should look for the
Shape Up Somerville decal in local restaurants with healthy choices on
the menu. There is a physical activity guide on the city website, with
everything from summer programs for kids to dance classes for adults.
It is also time to sign up for a share in one of the city's two CSAs,
which allows for a whole season's worth of fresh local produce, and
urges interested residents to call her at City Hall for more
information. She also states, "the Mayor is committed to keeping
healthy food in all parts of the city, and since the close of Star
Market we are working to ensure that another supermarket or food source
comes into that space." For more information contact Nicole Rioles at
nrioles@somervillema.gov or 617-625-6600 ext. 2414.

Clarendon Hill Towers is a
federally-subsidized housing complex located at 1366 Broadway in
Somerville, and is the largest housing provider in the city. The
building has been tenant-owned since 1990, when a bill in Congress
helped them raise the necessary $25 million in order to keep the rent
affordable for its residents.

In recent years, however, the
complex's three high-rise towers have fallen into disrepair. "The
development was in danger of foreclosure if its financial and physical
condition was not restored" MassHousing said in a press release issued
last Tuesday. Michael Etchu, who has been the president of the CHTTA
since early 2008, confirmed this statement, and added that the building
had failed state inspection for the past five years.

Mr.
Etchu, attributes the state of the complex to the property's management
company, the Cornerstone Corporation, which he says has failed to
repair structural problems with the buildings.

After going
door-to-door to inspect each of the complex's 501 apartments, Mr. Etchu
documented serious problems in over half of them, including broken
kitchen appliances, cracked walls, and faulty plumbing. He says that
the management company is largely unresponsive to tenants' needs,
including his own.

"It's a disgrace," said Mr. Etchu.
"Thirty-four percent of our $8.1 million budget goes to the management
company. If we still have to live with rats and cockroaches, our money
is not being well spent" he said, questioning how shrewdly the
management company was spending the money.

Another priority of
the tenants' association, which is comprised of 15 residents of the
towers, is to make changes that would stem vandalism and drug usage on
the premises. Mr. Etchu says that these efforts require cooperation of
the management company, which they have not had.

According to
Mr. Etchu, the management company cut the number of overnight hours
that security officers were on duty without the tenants' association
approval, and requests for repairs to the video security system also
were ignored. Mr. Etchu and his board have initiated changes themselves
in recent months, including replacing video cameras and restoring the
security officers' overnight hours. He says this has already helped to
reduce the incidents of vandalism at Clarendon Hill in recent months.

"I realized that no management company could repair Clarendon Hill's condition," he said, "so I went looking for an investor."

He
negotiated a partnership with Connolly and Partners LLC, which develops
mixed-income and affordable housing, and they then went after
investors. They were able to secure the $23.3 million loan from
MassHousing, and will be applying for a $2 million state grant that is
available to large, urban residences.

In the upcoming months,
the partnership will begin accepting bids from new management
companies. Whichever company wins the bid will have to adhere to a set
of tenets drafted by the tenant's association. According to Mr. Etchu,
these will include requirements that the company work with them to
reduce vandalism and drug dealing on the premises.

In order to
ensure that the new management company is a responsive and cooperative
partner in "reviving the vibrant community at Clarendon Hill," Mr.
Etchu says that he "will not be handing out any long term contracts."

Mr.
Etchu, who has a masters degree in business strategy, also spoke about
the need to get "business-minded" individuals in to manage the
property, saying the next property manager must have a business degree.

Mr.
Etchu says that the Towers' residents have seen drafts of the planned
renovations, and that they are very excited about the changes.

February 2, 2009

To the Editor:

I
feel compelled to respond to the January 28th Newstalk column's
personal attack on me in connection to my comments at a School
Committee meeting about removing Good Friday as a public school
holiday. As an elected official, I expect to be criticized for my
positions on issues – that's fair game – but I do not appreciate being
labeled something that I am not.

The (anonymous) writers of
Newstalk called me a "Secular Progressive" and implied that I do not
believe in God. While I am a progressive, the secular part is untrue.

Really,
it is none of Newstalk's business and should not be a topic for public
discussion what my – or anyone else's — religious views and beliefs
about God are. Furthermore, it is fundamentally un-American to try to
discredit someone for their religious views – or lack of them. One of
the great things about our nation and a key principle of the founding
fathers is the separation of church and state.

However, since
Newstalk has labeled me as secular and implied that I do not believe in
God, I feel compelled to state publicly that nothing could be further
from the truth. Somerville is a small community and I do not want
people to think I am someone that I am not.

While I firmly
believe there is nothing wrong with being secular, I am an observant
Jew. My religious and cultural identity as a Jew is more important to
me than anything except my family. For 20 years, I have been a leader
in Congregation B'nai Brith, the synagogue at the top of Central Street
on Winter Hill. I teach 2nd and 3rd grade in the Sunday morning
children's school there and have done so for eight years. I served as a
member of the Congregation's Board of Directors for 10 years.

Newstalk
uses the phrase "Secular Progressive" to slam elected officials whose
views Newstalk does not agree with. Newstalk is trying to discredit
these leaders by calling them "Godless and faithless." What's important
in public life is not elected officials' religious beliefs, but what
they do and say. I urge the writers of Newstalk to stop their personal
attacks on elected officials. These attacks hurt all of us in
Somerville because they are nasty and unkind. They poison the political
atmosphere and turn people off to public life.

I will close
with one of my favorite phrases from the Bible: "You have been told
what is good and what the Lord requires of you: to act justly, to love
kindness, and to walk humbly with your God." [From the prophet Micah,
6:8]

Mark Niedergang

School Committee, Ward 5

*******************

1/28/2009 6:00:00 AM

Newstalk for January 28