From alleged death threats to unpaid parking tickets, Somerville had a busy and quirky news year in 2007. Here are the top five news stories of the year as we see it.

“We’re going to bury him”

Rick Scirocco’s campaign for mayor had a difficult day on Friday, Aug. 24. That day, the Boston Herald ran a full page story on Scirocco’s multiple domestic violence arrests and the four restraining orders taken out against him by four different women. Later in the day the Somerville News reported Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone was being guarded by a police officer on paid detail after his office learned a Scirocco supporter – Lenny DiCicco – had told a Curtatone volunteer, “We’re going to bury him.” DiCicco insisted his remark was in reference to election results and not a threat to do bodily harm to Curtatone. However, either Curtatone or his staff took the threat seriously enough to demand an armed guard at the cost of $1,034 to protect Curtatone from the elderly DiCicco.

by James Norton and Donald Norton

Beginning at 3 a.m. this morning, more than 30 members of Teamsters Local 25 padlocked the entrance of Russel Disposal  and parked a large tractor trailer in fron of the business to block access to the waste businesses’ yard.

Witnesses on scene said the union attempted to intimidate everyone in sight, including police and media, with curse-laden threats. A fracas erupted between Teamsters, police and Russell employees. At one point during the confrontation Russell owner Chuck Russell stood in McGrath Highway with a sombrero on and stomped on discarded picket signs.

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.)

Last month, Taeko Minigishi and Wig Zamore were setting up nitrogen dioxide monitors at the corner of Vermont and Michigan Avenues. Three neighbors out for a walk stopped to chat. When Wig and Taeko explained what they were doing, the passersby began pointing out surrounding homes where their neighbors had died from lung cancer.

Christmas is over and now the rush to ring in the New Year Рwe here at Newstalk wish all our family and friends in Somerville a Happy New Year in 2008 – may health, happiness and prosperity be with us all this New Year.

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Comedian Jimmy Tingle is saying his final farewell to Somerville. Last week he threw a farewell party at the Burren to celebrate his past five years here in Somerville – we wish him the best of luck and thank him for all he has done locally in the past.

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.)

What ever happened to Mr. Magoo’s Christmas Carol? They used to run it every year when I was growing up – Jack Cassidy was the voice of Bob Crochet, and of course Jim Backus was Mr. Magoo. It was one of those traditions that I wanted to pass on to my kids‚Ķ‚Äùwith razzle berry dressing‚Äù! I think it used to be televised on Channel 38.  Anyway, I finally found ‚ÄúMr. Magoo‚Äôs Christmas Carol‚Äù online – now it is in that dusty pile of DVD‚Äôs that we never watch ‚Äì most of them were gifts from Christmas past ‚Äì you know, watched it once and it didn‚Äôt catch on with the kids.

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.)

There may be no topic in Somerville more explosive and emotional than how to manage cars, streets and sidewalks during and after snowstorms. No matter what our policies are and how well they are communicated and implemented, people are going to be upset.

If you had asked me last Saturday, Dec. 15 how I thought we were doing on snow procedures, I would have said ‚ÄúSomerville rocks!‚Äù  Based on good forecasts, we declared a snow emergency to go into effect at 10 a.m. on Thursday.  We notified even earlier, sending out a news release, a Connect CTY call and an email blast at 7 a.m. as well as posting the information on the web, on our cable stations and on our info hotline (617-628-SNOW).  For the first time ever, we even activated some of our flashing blue light indicators at entry intersections around the city. (There are twenty-two of them, but not all of them are powered up yet ‚Äì including the one in Davis Square.)  As always, we gave people four hours to move their cars (seven if you count from when we announced the emergency) and we deployed for aggressive plowing, salting and sanding.

By George P. Hassett

The number of children participating in Somerville Little League baseball has been steadily declining for years but new President Joe Janiero said he has an idea to reverse that trend.

“We have an opportunity here in Somerville to tap into the Spanish-speaking and immigrant communities to get more kids playing baseball,” he said. “Baseball is huge in Latin American countries. Getting those kids involved, I think, is a way to turn around urban leagues like ours.”

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.)

My kids Christmas lists include Playstations, Wiis, Game Boys, I-Pods, I-Books and laptop computers. As my friend comedian Bob Marley noted – when we were kids, we had an Etch-a-Sketch instead of a laptop.

What happened to just plain old toys?

My cousin Carol had a Chatty Cathy, which was great until the pull-string broke – then it was just another doll. I remember toys like the Kenners Girder and Panel building set. Lincoln Logs and Erector Sets were also cool toys. Those Aurora racecar sets were awesome!

After the July 10 question and answer session for the three police chief candidates one police officer told us he wanted to see Florida cop Anthony Holloway get the job because “Holloway seems like a real cop.”

Beyond the credibility Holloway may have with cops on the street, he seems to be qualified for the job in all areas. He has experience in internal investigations, major investigations, budgets and media relations. We’re satisfied he can do the job.