Off The Shelf by Doug Holder

This is where you go when you are gone by Tim Gager (Cervena Barva Press) $7

Tim Gager’s poems are poems of the regular guy, and in his own way Gager’s work is as American as apple pie. He is a man who is confused by and craves women, retains a childlike enthusiasm for baseball into his middle age, downs  burgers and brews, and pines for something that always seems just out of his reach. There is nothing rarefied about the poet’s work; his poetry speaks as plainly as a stick or bone.

By George P. Hassett

Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone is pushing an ordinance that, according to critics, would limit bids for construction jobs in the city to companies that use union labor.

If passed, the measure would require all companies doing work on city projects of $100,000 or more to pay employees prevailing wages, offer workers medical coverage and participate in a state-approved apprenticeship program. Many small companies do not offer apprenticeship programs.

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.)

A lot of us remember going to the drive-in to see a movie. I can even recall going there in my pajamas. I remember my Uncle Joe Galli taking us to the drive-in to see The Blob –  it’s one of my fondest childhood memories and we often bring it up at family gatherings. As soon as one of us kids got their license to drive, it was an overstuffed junk-box, full of your buddies, heading to the drive-in.

Over the last couple of years, the last six months especially, there has been an increase in ‚Äúincidents‚Äù that have been classified as ‚Äúallegedly‚Äù gang-related. We hear it out on the street – we all do – we see it every day – it’s hard to get away from it when you live in a densely populated urban setting such as this.

Between today and the range of years from 1950 to 1990 is the time that we (meaning the over 40 crowd) knew that we didn’t have to bring a knife to school in the fourth or fifth grade. We knew that we didn’t have to carry a gun and put it in someone’s face – anyone’s face – to be an accepted member of the community.

Our concept of ‚Äúgang‚Äù ranged from ‚ÄúElvis‚Äù and ‚ÄúFrankie and Annette‚Äù movies to ‚ÄúGrease‚Äù and ‚ÄúThe Warriors‚Äù – things we identified with from movies and television over that 40-year period. Today’s young adults and frighteningly younger children play games like ‚ÄúGrand Theft Auto, San Andreas‚Äù and watch movies and TV shows based on ‚Äúgangsters‚Äù and MTV Cribs.

By George P. Hassett

A 15 year-old Malden boy was shot on Sewall Street last Wednesday night, hit in the lung with a bullet fired from a passing car.

Police said the car was small and dark and was carrying three or four people.

According to a witness who did not want her name used, the boy fell to the ground and yelled for help after being hit by the gunfire.

By George P. Hassett

Women’s history sat in a box, stacked on top of French history. Mystery had been gutted and Journalism was at the bottom.

On Saturday, McIntyre and Moore Booksellers last day in Somerville, most of the store’s books were packaged, boxed and piled on top of one another, ready to be moved out of Davis Square to new digs in Cambridge.

By Keith Howard

Pauline Darilus’ family and friends last week stood less than 30 feet away from the skid marks that signal where the BMW Darilus was a passenger in veered off course March 21 and crashed into a nearby home causing her death.

On the Fellsway in Malden, mourners huddled together for warmth and comfort, struggling to protect their candles from the wind and, collectively, remembered Darilus as a lovable character with a big heart.

By Hilary Dyer

It started with the cook. Then, according to talk circulating in the neighborhood, the police were called to resolve a loud dispute. The mayor took note of the building tension. And soon, the bickering between two Ball Square breakfast spots, separated by only two walls, was christened “the Breakfast Wars.”

Ball Square Café and Sound Bites have been locked in a sometimes fierce, sometimes cold battle over who is the best restaurant on the block over the past six months.

Things are pretty uncomfortable down at the DPW in the Sewer Dept since Dave (known as Squiggy) got the position as boss – it seems ‚ÄúTorpedo Lady‚Äù is making everyone’s life miserable down there. We hear she thinks they made a mistake not appointing her, since she feels like the boss anyway. Last we heard, the city could appoint anyone they feel can do the job to that position.

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The American Legion Post 19 located at 124 Highland Avenue is holding their annual Spring Bazaar at Noon this Sunday, April 6 – there will be dozens of prizes with a 3 p.m. drawing – all proceeds will benefit veterans and their families.

By Mia Lamar

The city of Somerville suffered a tiny fraction of the statewide foreclosures last year, indicating it has thus far been able to avoid the foreclosure crisis devastating many Massachusetts communities and the nation at large.

Somerville recorded 37 foreclosures last year; more than 7,500 foreclosures were recorded statewide. These numbers do not reflect the number of pre-foreclosure petitions that precede full foreclosures; which was nearly 30,000 in the state of Massachusetts last year, according to Grace Ross, co-founder of the Massachusetts Alliance Against Predatory Lending (MAAPL). Massachusetts Land Court records indicate 501 of these complaints were made within the city of Somerville last year.