It shouldn’t take years and years for property development progress in a city like Somerville, but it does.

Without bringing up the obvious Assembly Square issue and how long that’s taken to get to the point it’s at today, think about how long the debate will rage without much physically being done in Davis Square or Union Square as far as long term development of properties is concerned, then throw the possibility of transient living quarters into the mix.

Now move away from all that hustle and bustle in the squares and ask Stephen Smith of KSS Realty Partners how he feels about developing his 5-acre property in our fair city.  Sure, to your face he will tell you he is happy to work with the community, but watch his body language two and a half hours into a light to medium grilling by some silly ‚ÄúBowl and Board‚Äù Committee, and you have to feel bad for him for a minute ‚Äì just a minute until you do the math and realize he and his partners will make a lot of money when all is said and done.

Maybe Smith is right, developing in this city is like being lost in “the dark woods of Somerville,” but that’s just the way it is.

By George P. Hassett

Police arrested a Cambridge man for possession of marijuana after he allegedly ran a red light at the intersection of McGrath Highway and Somerville Ave.

Carlos Assis-Conceicao, 25, of 142 Gore St., Cambridge, was arrested and charged with failure to yield at a stop sign, possession of a class D drug and unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle.

Police said they detected a strong odor of marijuana emanating from the vehicle. During a search, officers allegedly found three baggies of marijuana in Assis-Conceicao‚Äôs car. 

Assis-Conceicao gave the officers a counterfeit Brazilian license, police said. Police arrested him for running the red light, possession of marijuana and operating a motor vehicle without a license.

By George P. Hassett

Police arrested a 27 year old man Sunday morning after he allegedly beat and choked two people with a mop handle.

At 5:21 a.m. Sunday, police said Eugene Colangeli, 27, of 222 Fellsway, stormed into his roommates room yelling and screaming. After being asked to leave, Colangeli opened the door and allegedly pushed it into one of the roommates. Police said he grabbed a mop and repeatedly struck both roommates with it. Colangeli then chased one roommate out into the street before re-entering the apartment and choking the remaining roommate, police said.

When police arrived, one victim was allegedly bleeding from the mouth and had a bloody lump on his left cheek. The victim allegedly told police, “Eugene is going crazy, he beat up {victim’s name redacted} and me with a mop handle. He’s really drunk.”

Police entered the apartment, where Colangeli was allegedly screaming and cursing.

After interviewing the victims, police “informed the screaming defendant that he was under arrest.”

By John M. O’Hara

With oil spill remediation still underway at both Somerville High School and the DPW yard, the details of how the city will fund the effort are still being ironed out.

“We’re going to wait while the administration formulates a proposal and see if maybe we can save on total costs, or at least on the costs of floating the bond,” said Ward 4 Alderman Walter Pero.

The Board of Aldermen was presented with a glut of invoices Feb. 8 relating to the remediation at the high school from the oil spill over Christmas break.  Total costs incurred were $268,000 and city officials have projected a total cleanup cost of $400,000, proposing to cover it with a municipal bond for the same to cover it, Pero said.

Due to the many invoices, aldermen determined the issue should be revisited at a later date so they could assess the costs with due diligence and allow the remaining invoices to come in, Pero said. 

“Of course, we just want to provide the proper oversight and make sure the city is getting its money’s worth from the contractor,” he said.

In the meantime, an oil leak was discovered at the DPW yard and remediation was begun by Commonwealth Tank Company, the same firm working at the high school.

“Now the administration will probably combine the requests,” said Alderman-at-Large William A. White.

By John Kudlicka

The president of the Board of Aldermen spoke at the Feb. 22 contributors’ meeting of The Somerville News, held at Davis Square’s Mr. Crepe shop.

“Everybody told me that you can’t take things personally when you get into politics, but the second I stop taking things personally, I’m not going to be the alderman anymore,” said Ward 7 Alderman Robert C. Trane.

Trane’s said that development is one of the key issues he is dealing with now. He spoke about both commercial development issues and civic infrastructure problems and solutions.

Regarding the dilapidated public safety building Trane said he “would not want to work there,” but stopped short of suggesting that the building should be immediately evacuated.

“I think it’s an embarrassment more than an emergency. It affects morale. If it isn’t causing sickness, just the idea that it is will psychologically affect people,” he said.

The idea of bringing a jail into Somerville would not be worth the free police station that would come with it, he said.  ‚ÄúWe‚Äôll get a police station, but we‚Äôre going to have to live with a jail for 100 years? I don‚Äôt think so,‚Äù he said.  Trane also said public safety offices in Somerville need to be consolidated into one building.

As Union Square is redeveloped, he said, more options will be open, and with so many different offices in different buildings all over the city, it would be advantageous to move them all into one building.

Is it possible that one of the cities legal minds (we‚Äôre trying to be nice) was out one night last week in Union Square at a local eatery/bar and was maybe having a bit too much to drink and was seen being mouthy to a patron or two, and even drove away drunk and stinking of liquor? Is that possible?  This is a small city, funny how rumors get around, you just never know whom you‚Äôre talking to do you?   

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Here‚Äôs one for the books, so there‚Äôs a resident of the city who allegedly reports his car stolen to the police, just to collect the insurance money (and we wonder why our insurance bills are so high here). This is where it gets interesting, he has the car in his garage and he‚Äôs in the process of dismantling it, when the local and state police show up and catch him in the act, with all the parts laying around on the garage floor. Seems they were in the middle of a sting, and the owner of the car had a loach devise on his car and when the police were notified of the car being stolen it automatically activated his loach.     This guy should be nominated for the dumbass award so far for 2007. We‚Äôre sure there will be some other nominees too though.

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‚ÄúShip em out ‚Äì I don‚Äôt care where they come from. Send them back, I don‚Äôt want them,‚Äù was Congressman Mike Capuano‚Äôs, D-Somerville response Wednesday. The subject was, should immigrants who commit serious crimes be deported back to their countries ‚Äì regardless of their legal status in the US?   ‚ÄúDo I think we should deport illegal and legal immigrants who commit serious crimes?   Absolutely!‚Äù he said.  Capuano also said the illegal immigrants who are already in the US should be granted legal status, however.   Just because they arrived in the county illegally does not mean they are terrorists, he pointed out.  We think the Congressman should take a slower ride by Foss Park any morning with a query check computer and run some of the local talent that hangs around there all day.   He could possibly fill up two or three police detention vans and then some!

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What‚Äôs new in Ball Square?    Now some would think a Furniture Store in Somerville never mind Ball Square might not be a good idea?  They‚Äôre wrong and we were wrong, the items there and prices will knock you over; we predict you will be pleasantly surprised.

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By David Taber

U.S. Rep. Michael Capuano, fielded questions from a roomful of over 100 constituents Feb. 24 in the aldermanic chamber at Somerville City Hall. 

‚ÄúYou are showing the best side of what is left of our democracy, and I thank you,‚Äù said Michael Brauer of Cambridge, praising the congressman for hosting the public forum.  Responding to audience questions, Capuano held forth on a wide range of subjects including healthcare, immigration, education, and the war in Iraq.

On immigration, he was closely questioned regarding statements he made at a similar event held in Brighton last week, where he defended his vote last year in favor of a bill that would enable the construction of a 700-ft. fence along the U.S.-Mexican border. Capuano said he is opposed to an open border because foreign nationals would flood the labor market and depress wages. 

He reiterated this argument at the Saturday forum.  ‚ÄúThis country, economically, cannot support a billion people at this time,‚Äù he said.

He said he did not know how many foreign-born wage earners the labor market could withstand, but determining that number is an important step in developing a coherent policy on immigration. 

“If it’s a million, it’s a million. It’s not two million, it’s not five million, it’s a million,” Capuano said.