Off The Shelf by Doug Holder

Recently I was on a literary panel on the Somerville Community Access TV show “Art Matters.” One of the writers on the panel was N.S. Koenings. Koenings who lives in the Union Square section of the city, teaches at Hampshire College and is originally from East Africa. She told me that she has lived on three continents, traveled extensively, so her fiction is not situated in one particular place. This is a frightening prospect for a Somerville provincial such as myself.

Koenings said she makes her long, once-a-week trip to Hampshire College to teach writing. She chooses to live in Somerville because of its vibrant arts community. In the ‘ville she has enough distance from her job that she can let her hair down, and drop the professorial persona for a bit.

Inner Belt development hinges on location of facility

By Jack Nicas

The city is faced with a dilemma: the Green Line extension, supported almost unanimously in the community, may now hinder the city’s largest frontier for development. The state transit office maintains that a new maintenance facility must accompany the long-awaited extension. With the amount of space required for the facility, few options exist outside of the Inner Belt.

St Clement’s: part two

On The Silly Side by 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.)

Because of all the positive feedback I received on my first St. Clements Elementary School column, I pray that you enjoy this sequel of sorts – especially Frank Sharpe and Gary Murphy. Now remember, we are talking many, many years ago and things have changed a lot over there on Warner Street – St. Clements School is a fine institution of parochial learning.

Four and a half years ago, this newspaper went online utilizing the current TypePad format and with that, we took on a heavy burden right out of the gate. The general public, locally speaking, was not used to having real local news and other newspaper content available anytime of day or night – and the ability to anonymously comment, or blog, on anything posted with few boundaries.

There were classic moments and classic bloggers on the weblog who have come, some who have gone, and others who just sit there, content with only reading and not commenting. There have also been fantastic moments in local news history that have been recorded for all time in the annals of cyberspace as well.

We have brought unsurpassed coverage of local news through both print and online mediums – news/issues/stories such as: the Assembly Square and MaxPak developments and Barack Obama’s infamous parking tickets, just to name a few.

Photos by Jayme Aronson

J-Rock Publishing hosted a block party on Lexington Avenue on Saturday Aug. 16. The event started at 12 and ran into the night, highlighted by live musical performances by two of Boston ºs premier rappers O-RY-N and M-Dot. Other performers included Mayhem of EMS, Sir B, Shaymin, Boston’s Finest, Mistress, Genevieve, Americo, Mark McLaughlin and the fine folk music of Billy Moschella Jr.

The community-building day also featured basketball activities, massive dodge ball games, over a thousand dollars in free prizes and giveaways from young adult author Jasen Sousa of J-Rock Publishing, food, local art, henna tattoos and caricatures. Save Our Somerville and The United Front Company sponsored the event and contributed to the positive energy. The Untied Front Company, which houses an artists community on 318 Squire Road in Revere, donated the musical equipment for the day and was responsible for the 10 musical acts which appeared throughout the day.

By George P. Hassett

Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone took on some additional municipal duties last week when he broke up a street fight and alerted police to an intoxicated man who had assaulted a motorist moments earlier, police said.

Curtatone was driving down Willow Avenue on Tuesday, Aug. 12 when he saw David Shea, 45, of 222 Willow Ave., attack another man, police said. The mayor pulled over, stopped the fight and was able to calm Shea down until officers arrived, police said.

Not enough kids in city to sustain PG business

By Matthew McLaughlin

When Renee Anderson speaks of the Somerville Theatre of her childhood, memories of eating popcorn and watching cartoons come to mind. So she was surprised when her two sons came home early after being denied entrance to the movies.

The early evening was due to the Somerville Theatre’s policy that children under 12 are not permitted to enter the theatre past 6 p.m. – another example of citywide anti-youth sentiments, according to some parents. But the theatre believes this policy protects the majority of customers who want to see a movie in peace.

Ian Judge, Director of Operations for F.E.I. Theatres, the company that owns the Somerville Theatre, said he instituted the policy 18 months ago after he had to give refunds to customers due to complaints about children’s noise.

Two men linked to bike path assault and armed robbery in same night

By Jack Nicas

Police are searching for two men who allegedly attacked a Somerville man on the community bike path Thursday evening. According to police, the victim ignored the men’s insults and requests for money until being struck in the head from behind. The victim then ran until he was caught behind Rite-Aid pharmacy and assaulted again, damaging his glasses, police said.

Eventually the victim broke free and fled to the Davis Square T station where his girlfriend was waiting. The two took shelter there and called the police, while the suspects allegedly hovered outside taunting the victim, police said.

By Jack Nicas

The name Alibrandi has come to mean many things in Somerville over the years, but most often it’s attributed to long-lasting success. Alibrandi’s Barber Shop has stood on Holland Street for 70 years, with Tony Alibrandi manning the clippers for the past 50. The Alibrandis baseball team has won the last nine Yawkey Baseball League titles, and 10 of the last 11.

However, a lesser-known Alibrandis has been making a name for itself at Trum Field for the past three years. The first-place Alibrandis softball team in the Somerville Recreation Commission Men’s Softball League defeated On the Hill Tavern 17-8 Sunday night to clinch their third consecutive appearance in the finals. They swept the three-game series after routing the Tavern team 16-4 on Thursday. Alibrandis coach Eddie Vallery Sr. said, ‚ÄúWe got our hitting shoes on.‚Äù

Development to receive $25 million in federal funds

By Jack Nicas

Standing by the Mystic River, the nation’s top transit officials made a commitment today to fund a new Orange Line train station at Assembly Square. On top of the $15 million contributed by developers Federal Realty, the federal government will contribute $25 million through a new federal transit plan.