by Neil W. McCabe

The city’s election office certified the signatures Friday securing a place on the  ballot for former Ward 6 alderman John M. "Jack" Connolly turned in for the May 15 special election to fill the alderman-at-large vacancy left by State Rep. Denise M. Provost.

"I got a call Friday telling me I was all set," Connolly said.

Connolly said he collected more than 200 signatures, but the city only certifies the 150 required plus 30 extra in case of a challenge.

The deadline for turning in signatures is Tuesday.

Robert Daut and James Thomas took out nomination petitions  bringing the roster of candidates to:

John M. Connolly, Martin Martinez, James Thomas and Robert Daut.

A source close to the proto-campaign of Robert W. Hardy Jr. told The News Hardy is out of town and unavailable for comment.

James Thomas run for the Ward 6 school board seat in 2006.

Developing…

by Doug Holder

Martha Collins, the author of the critically acclaimed poetry collection “Blue Front” (Graywolf 2006) walks into a room and exudes energy, intelligence and warmth.

Collins, who established the Creative Writing Program at UMass Boston, and currently holds the Pauline Delaney Chair in Creative Writing at Oberlin College, seems to have abounding enthusiasm for her work and an infectious curiosity about the world-at-large. Born in Omaha, Nebraska in 1940, she earned a bachelor‚Äôs at Stanford University and holds a doctorate from the University of Iowa. Collins is the author of five books of poetry, a chapbook Gone So Far, and two poetry collections, co-translated from Vietnamese. Her honors include fellowships from the National Endowment of the Arts, the Ingram Merrill Foundation and others.  In her most recent collection, Collins dissects a lynching her father experienced when he was a child in Cairo, Illinois. I spoke with Collins on my Somerville Community Access TV Show ‚Äú Poet to Poet: Writer to Writer.‚Äù

Doug Holder: The poet Richard Wollman told me he lives the “poetic life.” What would that be for you- and do you live it?

Martha Collins: I do. I write it. I’m not sure what it is. I think being a poet shapes the way you look at the world. I don’t write all the time. I don’t worry about it. There are periods when what I am doing is figuring out what I am going to do next.
It is work. It is natural work. It is work that engages me on every level, both on the intellectual and emotional level. So I don’t really know what the “poetic life” is. I am a poet, and my life gets filtered through that fact in ways I don’t even know.

by Nuria Chantre

A local writer and teacher spoke at The Somerville News contributors’ meeting held Feb. 1 at the Mr. Crepe shop.

‚ÄúSomething different about writing is, this isn‚Äôt true in newspaper writing, it‚Äôs true in creative writing, that you‚Äôre very autonomous. You are the boss. You are like the God of a very obscure little world,‚Äù said Steven B. Almond, author of ‚ÄúCandyfreak: a journey through the chocolate underbelly of America.‚Äù 

Almond said narcissistic, headstrong writing types usually don‚Äôt work well together, but that his recent collaboration with author Julianna Baggot on the epistolary novel ‚ÄúWhat Brings Me to You‚Äù ultimately had positive results.  ‚ÄúAfter a certain grace period, we were at each other‚Äôs throats. It got very nasty, but we both realized the conflict was making the book less gimmicky and more authentic.‚Äù

Steve Almond

Almond moved to the area in 1997 and became a founding member of the Grub Street writers program based in Ball Square, he said. He decided to teach because of his students’ promising potential and because he enjoyed an appreciative audience, not to make money, he said.

by David Taber

An alderman-at-large claims Somerville will be paying a record amount to service its outstanding debts by 2009, and some question where those funds will come from.   

‚ÄúProjected debt service for the city two years out is going to be 9.1 million dollars.  It is the highest I have ever seen, it could be the highest in the city‚Äôs history,‚Äù said Alderman-At-Large William A. White Jr.

The 9.1 million figure is about 2 million dollars more than the city is paying out now, he said.

To put it in perspective, that’s 20 police and 20 fire fighters you could hire, he said.

Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone said the city is operating within its means, and the increased level of debt is in line with increases in operating costs and an expanding revenue base.

“We have a diverse and sizable tax base that will continue to expand and diversify,” he said.

Curtatone said favorable bond ratings from Moody’s and Standard and Poor’s indexes show the city’s fiscally conservative approach to budgeting is paying off.

Has Jed Clampett just arrived in Somerville?

The recent spate of oil leaks on city property should raise concerns in every corner of the city. From the oil leak in the high school to the one in the DPW yard Thursday, this issue should be addressed by more than just the tree-hugging, Mystic Viewing crowd.

The most important question to ask is, what will city leaders do to keep us safe? On the plus side, the high school leak was handled quickly and admirably.

On the negative side, City Hall failed to admit their knowledge of seven abandoned oil tanks, including one that may still be leaking, until The Somerville News obtained proof that high-ranking officials in Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone’s administration had known of them for over three years.

City leaders must continue the quick responses they carried out for the high school and DPW yard leaks and open up information flow to the public to avoid the appearance of withholding information.      

Over the past several weeks various names have been mentioned as possible candidates in the special election that is up coming, but as the timeframe for nomination papers comes to a close, it looks as if former Alderman Jack Connolly and progressive candidate Marty Martinez are ready and now a new name,  from a very popular family in Somerville – Bob Hardy of Summer Street in Ward 6 – who is a Vietnam veteran and a Past Commander of the Dilboy Post, is said to be throwing in his name, making it an official primary to be held in April.  People are scratching their heads trying to figure out who‚Äôs backing who and who‚Äôs getting people in the races.  Sources tell us that Jack Connolly, although probably the most qualified, isn‚Äôt perceived by the administration to win this election just yet and it also seems that the progressives could be split with Marty as well – seems he doesn‚Äôt appeal to the entire organization.
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Is it possible that the Homans Building (city owned), once known for storing a city department head‚Äôs boat, is now rumored to be storing another city department head‚Äôs shall we say ‚Äúitems‚Äù?  Rumor has it that this department head was storing a lot of ‚Äústuff‚Äù in boxes in the building, but then there was a lot of weather damage done to the building and now they‚Äôre all ruined.  Does the administration know about this?  Or is this department head one of the untouchables?  Cell phones nowadays with cameras on them come in handy, don‚Äôt they?
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Former Publisher of this paper Bob Publicover is not doing too well lately. H e‚Äôs home, recently under the stress of new medicine, which hopefully can get him to gain some weight back.  He wants to say hi to everyone out there and to let you know he has a lot of Red Sox tickets available for this year‚Äôs game.
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by George P. Hassett

A couple walking home from Davis Square was robbed Saturday when a thug stuck them up with a silver and black handgun.

Both victims described the suspect as a white male about 5 feet 10 inches tall wearing baggy blue jeans, black sneakers, black hooded jacket and a blue baseball cap, police said. His face was clean-looking with a mustache and goatee, police said.

Police said the crook surprised the victims when the girlfriend slipped and fell to the ground, going up the first step to her home. The suspect ordered the boyfriend to drop a bag containing a bottle of wine  on the ground and asked for his wallet, police said. The boyfriend handed over the wallet.

When the crook saw the girlfriend holding a purse, he ordered her to give it up, police said. The thug then grabbed the bag and ran down Morrison Avenue towards Willow Avenue, police said. The suspect remains at-large.

by George P. Hassett

A Malden man attacked a Marshal Street man with a knife Saturday, cutting him several times with a kitchen blade. 

Edson Laureano, 29, of 44 John St., Malden, was charged with assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and assault to murder after police responded to a report of a fight involving a knife at 27 Marshall St.

The victim asked Laureano to leave his home, but Laureano refused and said he was “going to kill everybody,” according to the incident report filed by police.

The two men exchanged blows and broke the nearby kitchen table, police said. Laureano then threw hot candle wax on the victim and grabbed a kitchen knife, police said.

Police said Laureano attacked the victim with the knife and cut him several times, while the victim screamed hysterically. Eventually, the victim managed to push the defendant out the back door and called the police for help.

Here it is, Black History Month, offering an opportunity for healthy dialogues so often lacking from the other 11 months of the year and our everyday lives. Let’s make these 28 days count and focus not only on history and contrition, but also, more importantly, on progress, both achieved and potential.

Indeed, we should reflect upon not only established histories, but also on the process through which history develops and the pliable nature of our accepted narratives. We should continue the process of rewriting the struggles and triumphs of adversity in our academic and cultural records.

School children across the country will pick up texts on Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks this month, yet how many adults will take the time to pause and acknowledge the importance of this period of national reverence?

For example, the City of Somerville Web site notably lacks mention or recognition of the month’s significance. Special events are undoubtedly planned throughout the city, however publicity and support for these activities is distressingly hard to find.
Is it fair to ask, if someone looking could not find it, how do they expect to reach a wider audience?

This month citizens should consciously endeavor to look beyond PBS specials, and acknowledge the omnipresent, yet obdurately silent, conflicting thoughts of penitence, hope and frustration which surround issues of race here in this city, the state, throughout the country and beyond.