By George P. Hassett

Somerville Police are asking the public to help them identify a man who robbed the Citizens Bank at 212 Elm St. in Davis Square Saturday.

According to police, a white man, possibly in his twenties, entered the bank shortly after noon and passed a note to a teller demanding cash.  He then fled the bank on foot with an undisclosed amount of money, police said.

Capt. Paul Upton said most bank robbers in Somerville and the northeast United States use the same method the suspect used Saturday, pass a note to a teller.

“To enter a bank and pass a note demanding money does not involve a great deal of planning,” he said. A few years ago, he said, a man in Teele Square walked into a bank and handed an envelope to a teller with a note demanding money. The man walked out with the money but was soon found by police because the envelope had his name and address printed on it, Upton said.

Off  The  Shelf  by Doug Holder

Every June the William Joiner Writers‚Äô Workshop convenes at University of Massachusetts-Boston for two weeks of workshops, seminars and panel discussions. I attended the workshop in 2000 to 2001, and I found it an invaluable experience for anyone interested in enriching his writing life and the practice of his or her craft.  Michael Sullivan, the coordinator for the workshop and a Somerville native, invited me back to participate on a small press publishing panel and to attend a panel discussion on politics, writing and publishing.

Galluccio picks up early endorsements from Roche and Sullivan

By George P. Hassett

A Cambridge democrat running for the state senate seat that represents two precincts in East Somerville was endorsed by two aldermen from the neighborhood this week.

Cambridge City Councilor Anthony D. Galluccio picked up pledges of support from Ward 1 Alderman Bill Roche and Alderman-At-Large Dennis Sullivan in his run for the Middlesex, Suffolk and Essex counties senate seat vacated by Jarrett Barrios July 5.

By George P. Hassett

Fifty one teenagers are going to be working in city departments this summer because of a botched guerilla advertising campaign. Money the Turner Broadcasting System (TBS) paid to Somerville as a result of costs incurred during the infamous ‚ÄúAqua Teen Hunger Force‚Äù  scare on Jan. 31 will be used to fund jobs for city youth.   

On Jan. 31, devices were installed throughout the Boston area, including Sullivan Square in Somerville, by Peter Berdovsky and Sean Stevens as part of an elaborate national guerrilla marketing campaign. They were taken to be suspicious, prompting authorities to close down major road and waterways to investigate.
 

TBS admitted responsibility and apologized for the misunderstanding. As part of a settlement with the Attorney General‚Äôs office, TBS paid Somerville $69,000, all of which ‚Äì plus another $11,000 from the city — is going to fund part of Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone‚Äôs Summer Jobs program.

Kudos to Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone for opening the process of selecting the next chief of police to the public. And a tip of the hat to Robert R. Bradley, Ruben Galindo and Anthony Holloway for meeting with the community and responding to their questions and concerns.

If community members do not agree with Curtatone’s selection, they will be armed with plenty of information and knowledge of the process and the candidates involved.

When the  job of chief of the Somerville Police Department was taken out of civil service, many thought the person in that position would become nothing more than the mayor‚Äôs lackey, a yes man without ideas of his own. The mayor and police chief should run for office as running mates and appear on the ballot together, said Jack Leutcher, president of the Patrolmen‚Äôs Union. The job will become so politicized, he said, we mine as well be honest about it.

By Andrea Gregory

A shipment of shiny brass horns and everything needed to make a string quartet many times over is expected to reach the Somerville public schools before the end of the summer.

According to the city’s proposed capital projects budget for fiscal year 2008 – which began July 1, the city plans to buy $100,000 worth of new instruments to be played by elementary school students citywide.

The hefty investment in the music programs follows years of cutbacks to arts and music programs nationwide. Music and arts advisory groups say there is a direct connection between the 2001 No Child Left Behind Act and the cutting of arts programs since test pressures have outweighed the importance of extras in curriculum activities. Couple that with state and federal funding cuts and school districts are still letting these programs fall to the wayside.

“I think people are forgetting what schools are supposed to be,” said Somerville Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone.

By George P. Hassett

The meandering green space that stretches along Highland Ave. from School Street to Walnut Street  could be getting a $495,000 facelift.

City officials have applied for a state grant to renovate Central Hill Park for the first time since 1990. If approved, the grant will come from the Executive Office of Environment and Energy Affairs. The “urban self help grants” are designed to improve parks in the city, said Arn Franzen, the director of parks and open space for the city. On Monday night city leaders such as Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone and Ward 3 Alderman Thomas F. Taylor met with neighborhood residents to discuss the park’s future. City officials will learn if the grant is approved by late Fall, he said.

Reality Bites by James Norton

(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.)

Charles Chisholm is a candidate for Ward 6 alderman this year, and he sat with us at our last contributors meeting, where some of us have known him almost our entire lives and to others he was a new face in a real race.  He is no stranger to local politics.  His professional and political careers started around the same time in the mid to late 1960s, and there seems no slowing down for him 40 years later.

A life-long resident of the city, Chisholm grew up in East Somerville where he lived until 1982, when he moved to College Avenue and still lives today.  That was the year he started working at Bunker Hill Community College (BHCC) as a math professor. When he retired from there in 2003, he was the head of the math department for the college.

By George P. Hassett

Police say they are investigating the "suspicious" discovery of a middle aged white man found around 431 Broadway at 5:00 a.m. this morning.

A source close to the investigation said the man’s pants were pulled down when he was discovered lying dead between two apartment buildings this morning.

The circumstances surrounding the discovery and condition of the body are suspicious, said Capt. Paul Upton in a release.

The dead man has been tentatively identified, but his name is being withheld, police said.

The source close to the investigation said police suspect the body was moved from another location.

If anyone has information regarding this incident, police are asking them to contact Somerville Police detectives at 617 625-1600, extension 7220.   

The repair work to McGrath Highway overpass is just about completed and it looks like the worst patch job that was ever done ‚Äì we wonder if it was in Newton how it would look.  A lot of money wasted on what looks more like a temporary fix that the state just whipped together.

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Congratulations to Somerville Traffic and Parking’s own Donna Amenta for being voted Most Liked Person by all her friends and co-workers.

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Looks like Lt. Gov. Tim Murray has taken a special interest in Somerville and the way that Mayor Joe is carrying the torch, according to a conversation that he had with one of our Newstalkers.