By Andrea Gregory

A simple stroll around the neighborhood has turned into a game of don’t step on the
needles for the residents of Ten Hills. The problem first appeared about two months ago. Neighbors of the residential community, nestled between two major roadways, started seeing discarded syringes left on the sidewalk or side of the street. Many residents were surprised and frustrated.

Sheila Crean has lived in Ten Hills for less than two years. She said
the area came highly recommended as one of Somerville’s “best kept
secrets.” With its quiet streets and friendly feel, Crean knew she had
found home.

However, Crean may not have felt the same way if she had
seen dirty syringes tossed to the edges of the quiet neighborhood.

The primary was very interesting but didn‚Äôt have a surprising result – there are a lot of people speculating what the votes mean in a special election‚Ķdid Marty get all his votes out?  Did Jack get his?  Is that the best we can muster out of estimated 40K registered voters – only 4500???  Considering it‚Äôs an election that will only attract friends/acquaintances and organizations out to vote, wasn‚Äôt it a surprise to see new comer Bob Daut get 308 votes, wonder what his next move will be, some are speculating he‚Äôs going to endorse Marty, and some are saying he‚Äôs staying out of it, we‚Äôll see, just an interesting night last week wasn‚Äôt it?

By Keith Howard

Sitting in a child-size chair, Sen. Jarrett T. Barrios read the words on the page out loud. He held the book up so his audience could see the pictures. There were more than a dozen kids sitting at his feet. They all looked up, staring at the page and attentively listening to Whistle for Willie by Ezra Jack Keats.

Barrios spent Thursday morning reading to children at the Capuano Early Education Center as part of a program to promote early literary skills amongst middle- to low-income and second language English students.   

“I can’t imagine a more sound way to promote reading for children from disadvantaged backgrounds,” said Barrios.

(Editor‚Äôs note: Terrell Walton told his story at Saturday‚Äôs (April 7, 2007) Youth Peace Conference from a wheel chair.  He let his classmates know the reality of gang life and was greeted with a standing ovation at the end of his speech. Here is his story in his own words.)

Hello, my name is Terrell Walton.  I‚Äôm a senior at Somerville High School.   Four years   ago, when I was living in Dorchester, the kids I hung out with had problems with people from other neighborhoods.  There was a lot of violence going back and forth that led to a guy from a rival neighborhood being killed.  Because I was a known person from my area I was shot in retaliation.

By George P. Hassett

Car break-ins have tripled in Somerville since 2005 and police officials say GPS devices, satellite radios and iPods are the big targets.

In 2005 between Jan 1 and April 8, Somerville police reported 56 motor vehicle breaking and entering incidents. In the same time period in 2006, police said 88 such crimes occurred, while in the first four months of 2007, the number of car break-ins have skyrocketed to 184.

“Crime is down but this one category is killing us,” Capt. Paul Upton said.

By Andrea Gregory

Long lines to pay off a bill could soon be a thing of the past if more residents take advantage of the city’s move to streamline the process.

Taking care of water and sewer bills can now be handled via the Internet. It is the latest in the city’s online payment options. Only a few people have taken advantage of it so far. But over the past few years, an increasing number of residents have turned to the Internet to pay taxes and bills.

“I think a lot of people will use it,” said Bill Fowler, treasurer and collector. “I expect this to be used by the same people paying property taxes online.”

By David Taber

Pondering what the future held for her three-year-old son convinced Heather Heimark she had to take action. 

‚ÄúI was looking at him and thinking I want him to have all of the richness that we have in our world,‚Äù she said. 

Hearing about the Step It Up campaign on the radio is what gave her an outlet.  Heimark signed up at the national campaign‚Äôs Web site and was put in touch with a handful of other local residents.  The group has been organizing local Step It Up‚Äôs event for a national day of action on April 14. The Step It up Somerville Climate Rally will take place from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Statue Park in Davis Square.  Close to 1,300 rallies will be occurring in all 50 states on the day with the goal of convincing Congress to mandate an 80 percent cut in greenhouse emissions by 2050.

By Andrea Gregory

An elevator in a Somerville senior home failed a past-due inspection this week. The building run by the Somerville Housing Authority was not even put on the list of elevators to be inspected until after the expectation expired. There is a 90-day timeframe to correct the problems, but some tenants of the 53-resident home worry about the lift.

The elevator broke down last week at 27 College Ave. also known as Ciampa Manor. Inside the broken elevator were a three-month expired inspection sticker and an 85-year-old woman.

The voice of an elderly woman came from the elevator. It was a cry help, but not much could be done. Pat McLaughlin said she spent about 20 minutes trapped behind mettle doors. It felt like forever.

“I was screaming. I just kept thinking that this was not how I wanted to go,” she said “I’m here 21 years, and that never happened.”

The Special Primary Election is over and as expected, there was low voter turnout.  There is no surprise that the two finalists are Jack Connolly and Marty Martinez for the Special Final Election‚ĶNow we get to see who has the machine to come out on top in the final.  If Marty wins, then the ‚Äúprogressives‚Äù will smell blood in the water and will most likely start targeting individual wards, especially those with aldermen who are friendly with the mayor.  If Jack wins, does that mean the ‚Äúprogressives‚Äù can‚Äôt mount a citywide campaign?  Word is we can expect a mayoral race announcement immediately following the final in May.  Remember to check out our website for voter totals.

It seems that today, more than ever, people rush to judgment too quickly and without hearing both sides on issues.  Sure, in this age of the Internet, it‚Äôs easier than ever to form an opinion based on information you can download from a number of websites, but that doesn‚Äôt mean we are any better informed than we were in the first place.

The problem becomes magnified when you are trying to run a city government.  You put people to work and train them and hope and pray that they do a good job ‚Äì and you put faith in the system ‚Äì and sometimes it doesn‚Äôt work out.