In a few years I will have to leave my apartment for decades – my landlords have been great – but they are getting older and need my space. Thanks to them I have had a great place at a very reasonable rent. I have had my most creative and productive years in this flat. So, I am starting to downsize. My landlord and I will take down this large table that has been a bulwark in my living room and has accumulated all kinds of stuff, one friend opined, “Your apartment is a throwback to an old Greenwich Village Bohemian, a museum of Doug Holder.” My flat has books littered all around it, artwork, antique furniture, the severe bust of Dante staring at me every morning, a large framed photograph of the old elevated tracks above Harrison Ave. in Boston, the ashes of my late wife, a row of framed photos of my beloved cats who passed over the years, awards, stacks of the magazines and newspapers where my work has appeared, pictures of my late father with Jack Dempsey and Yogi Berra.

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Robbie Gamble (he/him) lived in East Somerville through most of the 1990s.  He is the author of A Can of Pinto Beans (Lily Poetry Review Press, 2022). His poems have appeared in Post Road, The Worcester Review, Pangyrus, Salamander, and The Sun. He is the poetry editor of Solstice: A Magazine of Diverse Voices, and he now divides his time between Brookline and Vermont.

The following is an important update from the Somerville Police regarding a fatal shooting on Dartmouth Street. 

The Somerville Police are currently supporting the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office in the investigation of a fatal shooting that occurred last night in Somerville, on Monday, July 22. We ask the community to share in our sincere condolences to the victim’s loved ones as we provide the following safety message.

Join City staff at their Street Outreach Pop-Up anytime from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m., July 23, 2024  to ask your questions and share your feedback on the Tufts Street Reconstruction Updated Design. City staff will be tabling at the intersection of Tufts Street and Knowlton Street. You can  learn more about the background of the project and check out the full updated design. 

A Message from the Somerville Democratic Party:

Tonight, the Somerville Democratic Party Executive Committee, which is made up of the Chairs of each of the 7 Ward Committees and the 4 city-wide officers, voted unanimously in a 12-0 vote to endorse Kamala Harris to be our party’s nominee for President of the United States. We have asked our Democratic elected officials in the city to join us in this decision and are proud to announce the following list of elected Somerville Democrats joining us in supporting Vice President Harris for the nomination:

The City of Somerville is alerting all registered voters that the Commonwealth of Massachusetts has begun mailing a pre-addressed, postage pre-paid Vote by Mail application to every registered voter before each statewide election. If you have already applied to vote by mail for the upcoming election, you will not receive an additional application.

Mayor Katjana Ballantyne, Ward 5 Councilor Naima Sait, and the City Council invite Somerville community members to the Ward 5 “Slice of the City” meet-up event on Monday, July 22, at Trum Field playground (1 Franey Road at Cedar Street), from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. This event was originally scheduled for Thursday, May 16, but was postponed due to weather.

Somerville and Cambridge residents can access free technology assistance through a new program offered by nonprofit Somerville-Cambridge Elder Services (SCES). The Technology Access Program (TAP) launched on July 1 with the goal of helping older adults use technology to find information, services and social connections easily and quickly. 

The MBTA is reminding riders of the upcoming multi-day Red Line service suspension and providing an update on weekend service outages on July 27 – 28.  

Planned Red Line service change during the weekends of July 27 – 28 have been extended with service suspended from Alewife to JFK/UMass. This decision comes after a thorough review of the work required and logistical challenges following recent overnight work to prepare for the work taking place during the service outage. With the goal of significantly improving service reliability and reducing travel times for thousands of daily riders, the extended outage during these weekends allows for the installation of over three and a half miles (19,200 feet) of new rail that will allow the MBTA to lift seven speed restrictions along this heavily traveled corridor.