By Joseph A. Curtatone

(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.)

The City of Somerville, its residents and its business owners have been living with the necessary disruptions of the Somerville Avenue project for the past fourteen months, and a major payoff is on the way.  Much has been accomplished, and the project remains on schedule for completion, but much work remains to be done.

Since the state gave its authorization for the project to proceed in May of 2007, we’ve seen plenty of progress. Sewer and water infrastructure that dated back to the beginning of the last century has been completely replaced. Gas mains have been comprehensively upgraded to improve both capacity and safety. All of these changes have given us a necessary foundation for future economic growth along the entire length of one of our city’s most important arterial roads. Now that the heavy work under the roadway is nearing its conclusion, the contractor will be able to begin to address the more visible aspects of the Somerville Avenue streetscape, and to create a boulevard that will provide an attractive portal to our city for many years to come.

By Patrick Connolly

In between vines, trees and vegetables, the third annual Viva la Vinal Festival was a placid refuge from the heat and crowded city streets Friday.

Over 100 people, many of them families with small children, attended the free musical event held on Vinal Avenue at the Somerville Community Growing Center, a shady, quarter-acre sanctuary in the midst of road construction and cramped apartments buildings.

Audrey Ryan, a musician and volunteer at the Community Growing Center, founded the festival in 2006.

“I lived on the street and thought this was a beautiful spot,” Ryan said.

By George P. Hassett

After two and a half years of negotiations the Somerville Teachers Association has agreed to a new three-year contract for city teachers that will increase their pay an average of 3 percent a year.

Ward 6 School Committee Member Paul Bockelman said the new contract is ‚Äúan agreement we can all be proud of‚Äù at Monday’s School Committee meeting.

The contract talks took so long that one of STA’s main negotiators, Linda Vitiello, retired from her teaching job before they finished last week. Vitiello, however, stayed on to negotiate the final contract and said it ‚Äúis a win for the kids, the teachers and the school system.‚Äù

Sciortino-Trane to be decided next week

By George P. Hassett

There is only one name on the ballot, but the State rep race in the 34th Middlesex district is real.

The novelty of incumbent Carl Sciortino running a sticker campaign against challenger Bob Trane, the only Democrat on the ballot, is just one storyline in a race political junkies have watched all summer.

By Jack Nicas

Dormition of the Virgin Mary, Somerville’s Greek Orthodox Church, held its annual Greek festival over the weekend, featuring authentic Greek food, music and dancing. Vice President of the parish Kostas Tomadakis said the festival tradition is entrenched deep in the church’s roots, dating back to ‚Äúour grandfathers.‚Äù The event began as a one-day picnic in the early part of the 20th century, but has since evolved into a weekend-long festival, he said.

Well Senator Pat Jehlen has proven again that the PDSers don‚Äôt care about anyone other than themselves. Seems she co-sponsored, along with Rep. Donato of Medford, a resolution to have DCR rename Sandy Beach in Winchester the Senator Charles E. Shannon Beach, but then did nothing further on it. Can you imagine what a slap in the face Queen Pat‚Äôs neglect is to all the friends and supporters of Senator Shannon? If Charlie was alive and in the position to honor a deceased friend (and Charlie was truly a friend to all), he would have taken control of the dedication, got the word out to the public about the event and made sure the sign stayed covered until the official unveiling. But not Queen Pat. She‚Äôs more interested in doing a nature walk with her friends at the Middlesex Fells Reservation that day. We here at Newstalk and at The News liked and supported Sen. Shannon for all his good work in the community. Shame on Senator Jehlen and her lack of respect for a good man‚Äôs memory. We hope that a large crowd of Charlie‚Äôs friends show up and remember him this Saturday at 10 am at the Upper Mystic Lake. And we hope they remember the Queen‚Äôs disgraceful actions the next election day.      

Saint Polycarp Parish to become Saint Polycarp Village Apartments

By Jack Nicas

With shovels planted firmly in the soil that will soon give rise to a mixed-use affordable housing village, the Somerville Community Corporation and city and state officials symbolically broke ground last week on a project to transform the former Saint Polycarp Parish. Danny LeBlanc said the three and a half acre site would be utilized to create 24 affordable housing units and 6,000 square feet of retail space.

By George P. Hassett

The embattled Register of Probate accused of stealing cash from government copy machines resigned today.

John Buonomo, who was indicted last month for allegedly stealing thousands of dollars a month from copy machines in the Register of Deeds office, told The Somerville News today he is resigning from the $110,000 a year job to clear the way for an investigation. He has denied the charges.

Buonomo would not provide any further information. On Aug. 6 he was charged with 18 counts of breaking and entering into a depository, eight counts of theft of public property by a public official, and eight counts of larceny under $250.

By William C. Shelton

(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.)

It will come as no surprise to regular readers that I was deeply unhappy with Assembly Square planning. The public processes were window dressing to satisfy regulatory requirements and create the illusion of democracy. The real intent all along seems to have been rewarding the original developers by enabling them to leave town with $30 million in profit created solely by city decisions. The new developers have been a welcome change.

Off The Shelf by Doug Holder

Over the years I have seen many poets, writers, and publishers come and go in the city of Somerville. In my mailbox at the office of The Somerville News I found two new titles from publisher Dave McNamara of the sunnyoutside press.  Now ‚Äúsunnyoutside‚Äù and McNamara used to happily reside in our environs, but McNamara shuffled off to Buffalo, NY, a year or so ago.

And as it happens McNamara has published a poetry collection by Taylor Altman, who was a member of the Somerville-based literary organization the “Bagel Bards.” During her years in the Boston-area she finished her MFA at Boston University, and now teaches English at the College of Southern Nevada. McNamara also sent me a new collection of poetry from a well-known and respected small press poet Alan Catlin.