By George P. Hassett

Peace has broken out in Assembly Square and two longtime combatants, the Mystic View Task Force (MVTF) and the administration of Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone, are looking forward to putting a contentious past behind them.

“Now that we’re not fighting, I hope we can roll up our sleeves and work together for the best development possible at Assembly Square,” said Wig Zamore, a member of MVTF, a grassroots group of citizen activists.

MVTF, developer Federal Realty Investment Trust (FRIT), Swedish retailer IKEA and the city finally settled a decade of disputes and legal battles Oct. 17 when they reached an accord allowing construction of a grand mixed-use project consisting of office space, a hotel and more than 3,000,000 square feet of residential space in Assembly Square. Previously, MVTF and city officials like Curtatone had spent years trading barbs and criticism in the press and opposed one another in several lawsuits.

But today, the grassroots group of activists and city officials share a common goal of a transit oriented development at Assembly Square, Curtatone said.  ‚ÄúInstead of bumping shoulders, we‚Äôre rubbing shoulders and moving forward in a unified way,‚Äù he said.

Curtatone credited MVTF with raising the level of debate.  ‚ÄúMystic View was the first group to raise the question of what Assembly Square can look like 10, 20 and 30 years from now,‚Äù he said. ‚ÄúThey put Assembly Square on the radar screen and raised the expectations for what it can be.‚Äù

News Talk for Wednesday, February 21st 2007

Rumors are flying around the city regarding this year‚Äôs race for Mayor‚Ķwe hear that former mayoral candidate Tony LaFunete is being promised over 100K – some are saying it‚Äôs actually 180K ‚Äì apparently by a large segment of the Portuguese community here and in Cambridge, we hear he‚Äôs lining up his troops.  We also hear that a lot of his support from three years ago isn‚Äôt there now, so this should be interesting.  This is going to be a good election year for Somerville‚Ķwe also hear that various wards around the city are also going to be seeing some races.  The best ones that we have heard so far are – Joe Lynch, the well-known Magoun Square resident, has been lining up his support very quietly ‚Äì don‚Äôt look for the same kind of race like two years ago.  We‚Äôre still hearing that former candidate for Alderman at Large and resident of Ward 4, Stephen Glines, is considering a run in that ward and we wonder what former Ward 2 Alderman Kevin Tarpley might do now that he lives in Ward 4 as well‚Ķwe‚Äôll have to wait and see but some low on the radar grapevine rumor has him running for something.   
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The race is official for the Special Alderman at Large Election race – now we know there will be a Primary.  Progressive candidate (or is he really?) Marty Martinez and former Alderman from Ward 6 Jack Connolly are both in the race with a third person ‚Äì a spoiler if you will – long time resident Robert Daut who is a former Middlesex County ADA‚Ķit appears that he in particular may have some very strange and interesting support from various camps around city who might not like either of the other two candidates.  Keep in mind that the first ‚ÄúCandidates Night/Debate‚Äù will be in Union Square at the Independent Restaurant on March 5th and it will be sponsored by The Somerville News.
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Lieutenant Paul Kelly of the Somerville Police Department will be wrapping up a 30 year career this coming Friday, February 23rd with a retirement party at the Mount Vernon Restaurant. We wish him well and thank you for a job well done!
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We hear that the well-known and established ElGuapo‚Äôs Mexican Restaurant, which is owned by Billy Johnson and his family, was recently sold for a whopping $1.4 million dollars.  The new owner is the guy from ‚ÄúSound Bites‚Äù – the breakfast place next door – who is originally from Syria‚Ķis this going to continue to be a Mexican Restaurant or a combination of Mexican/Syrian food?  And what about the liquor license? 
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Somerville Red Sox Night tickets are being sold fast for this years games – especially now the list of talented players that will hopefully bring another (doesn‚Äôt that sound strange) World Series Championship title to Boston.  Tickets are easy to purchase, just email bobpublicover@aol.com or call 617-290-6842 and ask for Bob – the three dates for ‚ÄúSomerville Night at the Red Sox‚Äù are June 12th, June 15th & September 1st.  Hurry, because they are going fast.
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The Somerville High School Adult Education classes are beginning and they are accepting registrations for various courses being offered, including the Real Estate License course…call 617 625-6600 and ask for Jane Cummings, the Principal of the Evening School for details.
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Don‚Äôt forget the Guns & Hoses hockey game this Sunday February 25th at 5pm at the Somerville Veterans Rink ‚Äì proceeds and donations to benefit the Somerville Youth Hockey Association.  Come on out and support both the dedicated professionals who work for the Somerville Police and Fire Departments
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By Nuria Chantre

The Ward 6 alderman spoke at The Somerville News contributors‚Äô meeting held Feb. 8 at Davis Square’s Mr. Crepe shop.

“Ever since I saw the movie ‘An inconvenient truth,’ I’ve been talking excessively about the environment, what we can do on the local level to make change and to address this problem that inches closer toward a crisis,” said Rebekah L. Gewirtz, Ward 6 alderman.

Gewirtz said she agrees with the film’s consensus that people go from disbelief to despair once they understand global warming, but never stop to take action. One of her goals, as alderman is to counteract this attitude of discouragement and to promote engagement in environmental issues, she said.

In January, the city joined over a 100 other communities across the country in a nationwide green-cast to discuss ways to address environmental concerns, she said.

‚ÄúI‚Äôm very happy that the president of the board of aldermen decided to convene a committee on environment and energy and appointed me to that committee,‚Äù Gewirtz said.  ‚ÄúI‚Äôm looking forward to the follow-up from the meeting.‚Äù

As the budget session approaches, Gerwitz said the environment is not the only issue she is concerned about. 

She is enthusiastic about the changes in Davis Square, including the construction of the new building at 1 Davis Sq., which will house a CVS and a Boston Sports Authority, in addition to the non-profit organizations formerly located at this address, she said.

Gewirtz said she plans to support Marty Martinez in the upcoming special elections for the position of alderman-at-large.

“Marty Martinez is a tremendous asset to the city of Somerville. He
is committed to values I care about, that I share. I would be glad to
have him as a colleague on the board of alderman.”

By Pam Rosenblatt

His “Stretching Torso” sculpture can be found outside The Rose Institute of Yoga on Elm Street, and a metal tree of his design stands in Union Square. While his work spans throughout the city and beyond, production is done close to home. So close, this artist doesn’t even need to drive to work, he just has to open his back door and walk across the courtyard to his workspace.

“To me, it’s incredible,” said David Tonnesen, a metal sculptor who has been a member of the residential community at the Brickbottom artists’ building since its inception 20 years ago.

‚ÄúI mean I wouldn‚Äôt be doing what I‚Äôm doing now if I was not involved in Brickbottom. Actually, I was one of the developing members of about 80 artists originally from the Fort Point district down there in South Boston. We were looking for buildings, and we were joining forces with another group, and they found this building.  In a couple of years, three years, we developed it into artists‚Äô housing, live and workspace. It was a commercially zoned area. We got a variance to make it residential as well.‚Äù

Known as a designer and fabricator, Tonnesen said he has created custom-made metal sculptures for the past 15 years. His works are always based on the organic, he said. 

In addition to Tonnesen’s two pieces in the city, his works include a six foot tall hanging chandelier, an eight foot tall stainless steel menorah, the 20 foot tall “Fountain of Life” for Legal Seafoods, and the 45 foot long cod-fish wind sculpture located on the waterfront.

by John Kudlicka

From a pre-Civil War house across the street from St. Catherine of Siena Church on Summer Street a 26-year-old order of  Roman Catholic brothers minister to students on four campuses in three states.

“We bring the New Evangelization proclaimed by John Paul II primarily to college students at secular universities, reaching out to inactive and uncommitted Catholics,” said Brother Rahl J. Bunsan, General Superior of the Brotherhood of Hope in Somerville.

Founded in New Jersey in 1980 by Father Philip Merdigger, the Brotherhood’s main focus has always been campus ministry, Brother Rahl said.

‚ÄúFather Philip had a conviction that the Lord wanted him to begin a brotherhood of men who pray and do ministry and live together,‚Äù he said.  ‚ÄúSo, we‚Äôre brothers.‚Äù

Brothers eat, sleep and pray in the house, and spend most of the rest of their day doing campus ministry, he said. There is a chapel in the house, where they hold Mass every morning. “As you can see by the simplicity of the place, we really do take a vow of poverty,” he said.

Brother Rahl said brothers are to monks what sisters are to nuns. “Men who take vows of chastity, poverty and obedience, who live in a community together and serve as brothers.”

The difference between a brotherhood and a monastery is that monks, as well as nuns, have people coming to them, looking for a place for prayer and retreat, whereas brotherhoods and sisterhoods are more actively involved in the community around them, he said.

We need Black History Month

In the face of Michael Richards’s startling racial tirades, we need to view this as an opportunity to begin dialoguing about the ails of our broken society. We need to view this as a harbinger of the racial disharmony that continues to divide this country. I once heard that “what you pay attention to grows stronger” and, in this case, we must pay attention to our true feelings about race within our families and local communities.

In this attention-deficit, disordered world, we need to focus our awareness, on respecting each other by continually commemorating one another‚Äôs long legacies and continuous contributions to modern society. We need to understand that Black History Month is not just about Black history.  It is about American History within the context of African-American contributions to the U.S. population.

I grew up as part of the middle class in Haiti (contrary to popular beliefs, there are more than just the poor and the poorer in Haiti).  My mother and I lived in an inherited house left to her by my grandparents.  My father was a property owner, avid businessman and entrepreneur, who divided his time between living in the U.S. and Haiti for business purposes. However, when our economic situation began to plummet, my father attained a five-year visa for me to come to the U.S. as a tourist in 1984.

Today, I am a published poet (just published my first poetry collection with Warbler Books, aptly titled “Sparks in the Dark: A Lighter Shade of Blue”), a freelance writer, columnist, producer and host of my own television show, “Dream Weavers” at Cambridge Community Television.

by Doug Holder

The small or alternative press does not have a small place in literary history. Poets as diverse as Whitman, Frost, Ginsberg or Bukowski, have cut their teeth in the world of little magazines and small presses. The thousands of small presses, defined as press runs of fewer than 5,000 and less than twelve titles per year, have provided a way for the emerging poet to have his or her art find an audience.

Major university libraries like University of Buffalo, Brown University, and the University of Wisconsin at Madison have huge collections that archive many of the booklets, chapbooks, and broadsides which have been produced to date.

For instance, Mike Basinski, the curator of the University of Buffalo Poetry and Rare Books Collection, is dedicated to collecting first edition poetry books from small press poets and publishers from around the globe.

Somerville has a rich history of small presses. From Robert Smith’s still thriving Yellow Moon Press to the now Brookline-based Zephyr Press, there have always been a number of small presses publishing in the area. Magazines such as Dark House, Aspect, and the Boston Literary Review, all have roots in Somerville.

Feb. 19 at 8:00 p.m., three Somerville small presses, Ibbetson Street, Sunnyoutside, and Cervena Barva Press will take part in a celebration of the city’s small presses at Club Passim at 47 Palmer St. in Cambridge.

Presented by Richard Cambridge’s resident “Poet’s Theatre,” the event will include selected readings by poets from said presses such as Catherine Sasanov, Mary Bonina, Timothy Gager, Lo Galluccio, Ann Carhart, Philip Burnham, Nate Graziano, Jason Tandon, Deborah M. Priestly, and Molly Lynn Watt, to name a few. Poet and vocalist Jennifer Matthews may make the scene as well. There will also be a book table with books from all the publishers.