By Matthew McLaughlin

East Somerville Community School students, parents and faculty came together June 14 to celebrate the first 8th grade graduation of the Unidos program.

Unidos is a bilingual program that brought English and Spanish speaking homes together. The goal is to produce bilingual and biliterate students who are respectful of their own cultures and the cultures of others, according to their website. Students are taught half in their native language and the other half in a foreign language.

By Jack Nicas

A fire destroyed the East Somerville Community School in December, displacing the school’s 585 students and 115 staff members. Now, over six months later, those students and staff wrap up their tumultuous semester with another year of new locations and makeshift classrooms in front of them.

Somerville Public School Superintendent Tony Pierantozzi addressed East Somerville parents Wednesday, June 11, at the Capuano Early Childhood Center, where ESCS kindergartners now attend.

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.)

As I was driving to Taco Bell on Saturday (because my son wanted a nutritious meal), I noticed the ‚Äú Welcome to East Somerville ‚Äù sign as we crossed McGrath Highway. It brought back a lot of my own East Somerville memories and gave me a chance to use some of The Somerville News weblog information – most are first hand experiences, but some details have been donated ‚Äúbloggily.‚Äù Let’s start by tossing back a couple.

Officers and members of King Solomon’s Lodge, A.F. & A.M. at the annual rededication ceremony of the original monument at Bunker Hill. Wor. James Norton, presiding Master, led the event and then afterward attendees went to dinner at the Warren Tavern – where King Solomon’s Lodge first met when formed by Paul Revere in 1783 – King Solomon’s Lodge is celebrating their 225th Anniversary this year in conjunction with the 275th Anniversary of the Grand Lodge of Masons in Massachusetts. King Solomon’s Lodge is located at 125 Highland Avenue, Somerville.

New Police Chief Anthony Holloway is getting rave reviews from some of the toughest critics around – Somerville police officers. That hard-working but divisive bunch that rarely agree on anything. Even those who have been quick to criticize department leadership in the past concede he is a hands on, fair cop with a plan to bring true community policing back to Somerville neighborhoods.

‚ÄúHe’s a real cop,‚Äù is how one officer put it shortly after Holloway took over in January. Before he officially started the job he already did what few chiefs have done here. Called the first outsider to lead the department, he was the first top cop to actually live in the city during his tenure in recent memory.

But while the verdict seems to be in on his character and dedication, Holloway’s reorganization of the police department has yet to be tested. The goal sounds right – build better relations with the community – and so do the methods: getting police out of the cruiser and into the neighborhoods. But ask any veteran officer and they will tell you each new administration has had a grand plan to cure the ills of the Somerville Police Department. How many were successful?

By Jack Nicas 

A gang of 27 singing seniors came to Somerville Friday for their Boston-area concert debut. It was the second show of the Young at Heart Chorus tour, aptly titled ‚ÄúAlive and Well.‚Äù They don’t evoke the ghosts of their era, such as Glen Miller or Duke Ellington. Instead, the 72 to 88 year old performers cover tunes by the likes of the Ramones, Lou Reed and Coldplay.

The chorus was started in 1982 in the Walter Salvo house, an elderly housing development in Northampton. Bob Cilman, executive director of the Northampton Arts Council, took on the task of organizing and directing the band of playful performers.

Somerville police begin aggressive approach before summer

By George P. Hassett

Patrick Hayes was wanted for violating a restraining order when police drove into Foss Park, scattering day laborers waiting for work to the side, and cuffed him, cigarette still in his mouth, Boston Herald in hand. Cathleen McCarthy had warrants for driving negligently, speeding and leaving the scene of property damage before police led her past the well-kept lawn and white picket fence of her Hudson Street home Tuesday morning in handcuffs.

The arrests were part of a new initiative from Police Chief Anthony Holloway and the Somerville Police Department: To crack down on violent and repeat offenders in the city before the summer starts.

By Matthew McLaughlin

When school was over and the summer began, Nicholas Peters and David Martini would spend countless hours at Kelly Park playing stickball. Their lives were tragically cut short, but their memories live on at a memorial stickball tournament this Saturday.

Shayna Peters, Nick’s sister, said she wanted to remember her brother and close friend not how they died, but rather how they lived, enjoying the everyday life of the city they loved.

“I hope it can bring the community together for something other than a funeral or a wake,” she said.

The city’s annual Independence Day celebrations kick off at Trum Field at 6:15 tonight with live entertainment from the Sunsetters and the USO. After the song and dance, the fireworks hit the sky at 9:15.

By Matthew McLaughlin

City and state officials last week unveiled a proposed land-swap between Somerville and the commonwealth of Massachusetts that will bring the city closer to revitalizing Assembly Square.

Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone and State Sen. Pat Jehlen, D-Somerville, along with representatives of Federal Realty Investment Trust (FRIT), the principal owner and developer at Assembly Square, unveiled a plan to exchange waterfront land currently run by the Department of Conservation and Recreation with land currently used for boat storage. The presentation took place by the Mystic River on DCR land. A large portion of grassy area was roped in to emphasize the amount of green space the city would acquire.