By George P. Hassett

On Glen Street the Travassos decorate their home with 3,000 to 5,000 lights during the holiday season despite an electric bill they say costs “too much.” On Springfield Street Jerry Carvalho continues the tradition his father began. On Albion Street Manuel Amaral, a candy maker from the Azores, sketches out his holiday designs all year and starts building them the Friday after Thanksgiving.

Lafuente: I’m running again in two years

By George P. Hassett

After today’s recount Tony Lafuente is still one spot out of the running for one of the city’s four alderman-at-large seats. But he said in an interview with The Somerville News that he is "absolutely" running for alderman-at-large in two years. Fourth place finisher Bruce Desmond picked up votes in the recount and his margin of victory over Lafuente increased from 38 to 51 votes.   

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.)

I went to St Clement’s School in Medford for grades one through eight. We had nuns for teachers and we had to wear white shirts and neckties everyday. Oh yeah, and there was a lot of praying. It’s a good thing they taught us how to pray РI used to pray a lot.

I would pray that Sister Helene would not pick on me. She used to call me a ‘pint of peanuts’ and a ‘sawed off runt’. I would also pray that there would be a snowstorm so we wouldn’t have to go to school. One of the really cool things was that we got all the “holy” days off, but that wasn’t nearly enough.

Contrary to popular opinion amongst certain local groups who only pop up to voice their opinion when they see a comment about their favorite darling in the print or online editions of our newspaper, the personal opinion of one person at The Somerville News does not normally translate into the opinion of the entire paper. Every once in a while a personal opinion or topic morphs into something much bigger and not only does everyone here agree with the opinion, but it becomes difficult to find anyone outside our newspaper who could possibly disagree with it.

By George P. Hassett

The hill on Crescent Street had gone untouched since James O’Leary’s family lived in the neighborhood – 70 years. Beyond the hill, Crescent Street residents enjoyed a view of Boston and the Charles River. Then one day O’Leary looked out his window and saw bulldozers tearing through the hill and ripping up its vegetation. That was the first he heard of the six unit, three story residential building being built across the street from his Somerville home.

By George P. Hassett

 
Three times as many planes are flying over Somerville in 2007 compared to last year and Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) officials are ignoring noise complaints from city residents and their congressman.

U.S. Rep. Michael E. Capuano, D-Somerville, said when he tried to meet with FAA officials about the complaints he received from constituents they “stiff-armed” him and refused to acknowledge his concerns.

By George P. Hassett

The alderman for Ward 4 said this week that he was disappointed with the low citizen turnout at a Veteran’s Day celebration at the VFW Dilboy Post.

“It was the choir speaking to the choir,” said Alderman Walter Pero. “There was no substantial citizen support of the event.”

By George P. Hassett

Alderman-at-Large Bruce  Desmond is criticizing KSS Realty, the developers of the old Max Pak factory site, for not providing enough information to neighbors about environmental testing being done there.

“Neighbors and community members worked hundreds of hours to get the zoning for the project done correctly, then out of the blue a notice with very little information is dropped on their doorstep saying there will be some environmental testing done in their neighborhood,” Desmond said at last week’s Board of Aldermen meeting.

Sources close to City Hall have told us that there is a movement afloat to get rid of another appointee in the Mayor‚Äôs office, we hesitate to mention names but last time we said this Mark H. was out of a job. 

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Meanwhile, at the DPW yards, we hear that ‚ÄúTorpedo Lady‚Äù has been out on ‚ÄúComp‚Äù again for the holidays – this has become somewhat of a ritual we hear – at least for a few years now. Probably needs more time for all those gifts for all the special friends at the union. That‚Äôs what we think but then again we‚Äôre not sure.                                                                          .

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.)

Illegal immigrants have been blamed for slowed U.S. wage growth, our shrinking middle class, rising healthcare costs, poor schools, and many other ills. I do believe that immigration law should be strictly enforced. But imagine that you have god-like powers and you can simply will that no immigrant ever again reside in the U.S. illegally. Do you think it would make any difference to these problems?

I don’t. I believe that the cause of these problems is the same as what causes the illegal immigration explosion: federal policies that systematically promote the interests of an elite against those of everyone else.