By Matthew McLaughlin

Mayor Joseph Curtatone met with Somerville’s Youth Council June 10 to discuss open space in the city.  The council, which is made up of several youth agencies in the city, made recommendations for future park and open space projects.

The meeting at City Hall was the last in a series of meetings for the year. The council made several suggestions, including improved water fountains, more artwork at parks, community bulletin boards at playgrounds and more overall youth involvement in city plans for open space.

By George P. Hassett

Between 2001 and 2007, five former Somerville High hockey players died young. Brian Liberatore, Nicky Peters, Dave Martini, Ryan Sullivan and Matthew O’Brien were all ‚Äúgood kids from Somerville‚Äù who died too soon, said Jonathon Mahoney, 21, a 2004 graduate of SHS.

On Saturday, Mahoney brought more than 200 people together to honor the memories of his fallen friends and raise money for the Somerville High athletes of tomorrow. A street hockey tournament at Conway Park raised $1,200 for a scholarship fund dedicated to the memory of Liberatore, Peters, Martini, Sullivan and O’Brien.

City program employs some

By Melanie Cordova

Last September, 18-year-old Gregory Rego finally got his break. After countless applications with no callbacks, Rego was finally hired.

‚ÄúI had been searching for a while, I applied to Good Times, K-Mart, a lot of places,‚Äù said Rego, ‚Äúbut when you don’t have that much past work experience, they don’t want you.‚Äù

Now however, Rego will again have to go into the summer job market. Although his job at Teen Empowerment is still going strong, tuition at Bay State Community College is forcing Rego to go through another round of applications.

Last Tuesday night when the mayor submitted his budget to the aldermen, Alderman Bob Trane asked him what was the state aid increase and the Mayor said it was less than 1 percent. Our state delegation headed by Senator (Queen of the Progressives) Jehlen and others had a press release stating there was a 9 percent increase. Who is right?

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Someone owes someone an apology apparently. Last week after a budget meeting up at City Hall, a well-known Somerville activist and an alderman had some words. It all started when the budget meeting had ended and one of the aldermen who was present invited the activist to stay and have bite of food that was spread out on a table in the conference room adjacent to the Chambers. As the activist was serving himself some food, he asked another alderman if he minded that he join in on some food, the alderman‚Äôs response was very nasty and then asked to have the activist removed from the room. Those budget meetings can be very stressful. 

By Lisa Vise

In a residential neighborhood, just past a junkyard for dead cars, a passer-by may be surprised to find the commercial loft space that houses Bay State Fencers. Located at 561 Windsor Road, Bay State Fencers was started in 2004 by Coach Stacy Eddy, who opened the salle (short for the French ‚Äúsalle d’armes‚Äù, meaning fencing room/club), with the ‚Äúdesire to bring fencing back into the city.‚Äù

When it opened Bay State Fencers became the first non-university fencing club established in the area since the 1960s.

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.)

In this space last month, Mayor Joseph Curtatone began a column by saying, “Over the past four-and-a-half years, Somerville residents have seen their government become more open, more accountable and more participatory.” I was astounded by the bald-faced audacity of this claim. By any measure that I can conceive, Somerville city government has become more secretive, more cliquish, more autocratic, and less accountable.

Public attendance at aldermanic meetings is at an all-time low. There is understandably little interest. The Board no longer initiates capital investments, reforms city policies and departments, question’s the mayor’s performance, or vigorously debates policy choices, as it did in years gone by.

Off The Shelf By Doug Holder

Over 20 years ago Poet Eva Salzman popped over the pond to England after spending her early years in Brooklyn and Long Island. Salzman was a friend of the late poet Sarah Hannah who was interviewed on my show “ Poet to Poet” on Somerville Community Access Television shortly before Hannah took her own life.

Salzman was in town visiting with Hannah’s parents, and gave a reading of her own and Hannah’s work at the Pierre Menard Gallery in Cambridge (hosted by Fulcrum Magazine). Salzman traveled in a drenching rainstorm to the hinterlands of Union Square to be interviewed by yours truly.

By Matthew McLaughlin

Leah Mattson was trapped.  Overwhelmed with expenses, the Somerville native found herself in a pit of debt she couldn’t dig out of.

That was before she took the ‚Äúmoving from debts to assets‚Äù class offered by the Somerville Community Corporation. The class not only offered her a new outlook on how to manage money, it also gave her and 20 other graduates of  $450 each for graduating June 3.

‚ÄúWhen I came to SCC, it was at a point where my back was against the wall,‚Äù Mattson said.  It was easier to just close my eyes and pretend the problem wasn’t there.‚Äù

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.)

One of my favorite topics is talking about the stores that used to be around years ago that are now just memories. Remember a little place in Davis Square called ‚ÄúThe Soda Hut‚Äù? Some may and some may not. How about ‚ÄúSkippy’s Fix-it Shop‚Äù and ‚ÄúHenry the Jeweler‚Äù? Do those places ring a bell? Close to Henry’s and Skippy’s, there used to be a quaint little establishment known as Gigli’s Fruit stand. Ask anyone who remembers it, and they will assure you that it had quite a bit of ‚Äúa-ppeal‚Äù.

By George P. Hassett

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency last week announced poor air quality conditions throughout Massachusetts and much of New England. But in some parts of Somerville, especially in neighborhoods close to the highway, poor air quality is a part of everyday life.

Wig Zamore, an environmental activist in the city, said poor air quality days such as the ones experienced recently are the result of elevated ozone levels. Combine that with daily conditions in neighborhoods such as East Somerville and you get “a double whammy” for neighborhood residents, he said.