State Rep. Byron Rushing, D-Boston, encouraged the crowd at the city’s Martin Luther King Day celebration today to follow in King’s "radical and revolutionary" footsteps and "be dangerous."

Inside Somerville High School’s auditorium hundreds applauded this year’s honorees — Dan McLaughlin and the Community Action Agency of Somerville (CAAS). McLaughlin was honored for his work in the community with Teen Empowerment and Save Our Somerville, an organization dedicated to strengthening community ties that he founded with his brothers Matthew and Mark.

Jack Hamilton, executive director of CAAS, accepted the award on behalf of the anti-poverty agency. He said Somerville has come a long way on issues of class, race and immigration "but there is more work to be done, particularly around immigration."

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.)

Hours after I delivered my third inaugural address, a reporter called to ask how the city was going to pay for the many initiatives I had laid out for 2008, including such items as the expansion and reorganization of the police department, the creation of two police substations, an ambitious parks and open space rehab and upgrade effort, and another round of improvements to our customer service and environmental programs.  I told the reporter that with one notable exception ‚Äì the rebuilding of our fire-damaged East Somerville Community School ‚Äì the funding sources (operating budget, capital budget, bonds and grants) for our 2008 agenda were already identified.

Off The Shelf by Doug Holder

This is the second in a two-part series on my recent trip to Israel.

Being the urban and hopefully urbane man that I am, I was anxious for more of a taste of the cities. One night I stayed at the home of Voices members Susan and Richard Rosenberg who have an apartment in Haifa. Susan is the secretary of the Voices organization. It is situated high up on a hill above the city, with a striking view of the Mediterranean. Wendy Blumfield, a journalist with the Jerusalem Post, and her husband David, were my guides around the city the next day. They showed me the old Arab Quarter, and the Jewish section that was peopled with many Hasidic Jews in full traditional garb.

By George P. Hassett

David Olsen is a self-proclaimed geek. He was a double major in physics and astronomy at Wesleyan University. For fun he dresses up in elaborate costumes and fights his friends with swords made of rubber foam.

But to President of the Board of Aldermen Dennis M. Sullivan Olsen, a Hall Avenue resident for the last six years, is a bona fide TV celebrity and ideal role model for local kids afraid to be themselves.
That is because last year Olsen took home over $60,000 as the winner of ‚ÄúBeauty and the Geek‚Äù — a reality TV show that pairs nerdy men with comely women – by waving his geek flag for the whole world to see.

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.)

Since I’ve had the same phone number and the same address since 1960, I’ve made an easy decision – I’ve decided to stay in Somerville until they pry my lifeless hands off the railings of my house (or until it gets foreclosed, whichever comes first).

Goodbye Star Market – you don’t know how much you will be missed.

The Winter Hill area has seen its share of change over the last 30 to 35 years and has had to fight the whole “Winter Hill Gang” characterizations for so long that nobody ever notices when important events happen which affect the entire neighborhood of thousands who live within five blocks of the intersection of Temple and Broadway.

Arguably, this area of the city is busier and more utilized by its immediate neighbors than any ‚Äúsquare‚Äù in the city – other than Davis of course. We see it every day – people who don’t live that just don’t see it – and that’s a shame.

By Doug Holder

On an early Friday morning a slightly soggy Gloria Mindock came out of a torrential rain to talk to the staff of The Somerville News about her longtime involvement in the Somerville arts scene.

Mindock has an impressive literary pedigree in our artistically endowed city. She moved from a small town in Illinois to Somerville in 1984. She told the News it took her 3 years to get used to the relatively fast pace of her new hometown.

By George P. Hassett

With the Green Line’s expected arrival in Somerville running three years behind schedule, aldermen this week proposed adding a temporary commuter rail stop in Ball Square to ease traffic and improve transit options for city residents. Currently two commuter rail lines run through Somerville yet neither stops in the city.

At Thursday’s Board of Aldermen meeting Ward 5 Alderman Sean T. O’Donovan suggested at least one rail line have a stop in the city until the oft-delayed Green Line extension through Somerville is completed. The $600 million Green Line project is scheduled to be finished by 2014.

By George P. Hassett

Allegations by five Somerville women that they were harassed and assaulted because of their sexual orientation outside a Magoun Square bar on Nov. 18 and then rebuffed by responding police officers when they called for help are without merit, according to witnesses and video store surveillance, a Somerville police investigation concluded this week.

“[The incident] is just not what it was made out to be,” Capt. Paul Upton said.