The View From Prospect Hill for December 7

The last three years have been hard on Somerville schools. School aid from the state has decreased 20 percent, enrollment in public schools is down 12 percent, and school districts have been pitted against one another in a battle over the precious few resources still remaining.
So no one would argue they could use a little help in the classroom.

Angry school workers speak out at City Hall
By George P. Hassett

   The paraprofessionals who complement the teachers in Somerville classrooms took advantage of a Nov. 30 public meeting at city hall to express their outrage.
   "We have no salary advancement for five years. We get no paid holidays or vacation days and we have little or no chance to earn overtime," said Linda Vitiello, president of the Somerville Teachers Association (STA).
    The public hearing was organized by state rep. Carl M. Sciortino, D-Somerville, and Ward 7 School Committee member Mary Jo Rosetti to discuss the future of Somerville schools. But Vitiello and more than thirty other paraprofessionals used it to call attention to what they believe is an unfair situation.

No butts about it
Sales of cigarettes to minors are down
By Andrea Gregory

   Cigarette sales to minors have drastically decreased over the last decade. Despite hefty budget cuts to government anti-smoking organizations and the long standing myth that cigarette smoking is cool, the Five City Tobacco Control program based in Somerville has managed to beat the odds.
    Shortly after Five City Tobacco Control was established sting operations went into effect. Minors, working undercover for the organization, are paid a small stipend for trying to buy a pack of smokes or other tobacco products at local businesses. They are all under the age of 18 and none of the smoke, according to Cesar Pungirum, director of the Five City Tobacco Control.
    ‚ÄúMore than 80 percent sold tobacco to minors. People were selling to minors left and right even though the law exists,‚Äù he said. That was in 1993.

Man sprayed after allegedly fighting a cop
By Andrea Gregory

It may have looked like the man in a red hat and plaid shirt was playing in traffic, but the game was over when police arrived on the scene.
Police received a call on Saturday around 5 p.m., for a man who appeared intoxicated or under the influence of drugs, walking in and out of traffic near Derby Street.

Off the Shelf for the week of Dec. 7

Interview with Judah LeBlang: A Storyteller with a Universal Tale to Tell.

Judah LeBlang is a writer, teacher, storyteller, and a former Somerville resident. In fact he used to have a column with that “other” paper in our fair burg. His stories have been published in “Northern Ohio Live Magazine,” and have been featured on radio. His most recent CD of stories is “Snapshots,” which takes place in his native Cleveland Ohio, and the Boston area where he now resides. His stories explore universal themes: the meaning of names, the trails and travails of being a gay Jewish man, and his mercurial love affair with the Cleveland Indians. He currently works at Lesley University and performs in the area.

Doug Holder: Why have you chosen to work in the medium of storytelling as opposed to poetry?

Here you go bloggers, your twice monthly serving of the inside scoop on all things Somerville. But to read Newstalk in its entirety, you will have to do it the old fashioned way — walk out into the real world, pick up a newspaper with your bare hands and open it up. But until then, boys and girls, here’s a little taste just to keep you satisfied.

Newstalk for Wednesday December 7th 2005

Merry Christmas & Happy Hanukkah to everyone from us here at The Somerville News.  We sincerely hope everyone gets what they want for the holidays.  We are grateful to all the residents of Somerville for our blessings this past year.  Becoming a weekly newspaper was our goal for 2005 and we achieved that goal.  We have more plans for 2006 that will be very creative for a local newspaper that will, quite frankly, make us the only viable all-local newspaper.  We‚Äôve got a lot of improvements to implement and new goals to reach here – and we‚Äôre moving ahead full steam.  A lot of feedback from people in the community has been very helpful to us and we think it‚Äôs great that Somerville has two newspapers that have, at times, different points of view and different types of stories.

It was kind of interesting recently watching some national news on CNN and Fox – both networks mentioned that our own Congressman Mike Capuano was one of only 6 Congressmen that were present but didn‚Äôt vote on the resolution to pull the troops out of Iraq.  The way the networks told it, he was present but refused to vote.  Those of us who know Mike‚Äôs reputation of telling it like it is can‚Äôt believe that – they must have gotten our Congressman mixed up with someone else.

Caught: the Average Joe bank robber’s last heist in Somerville
By Andrea Gregory

  Local media may have dubbed him the ‚ÄúAverage Joe‚Äù bank robber, but it was the know-how and quick thinking of local authorities that lead to his arrest.
  On Wednesday, Nov. 30, police arrested Somerville Joseph Hart on Concord Street in Charlestown. Hart is believed to be the average Joe bank robber. He allegedly robbed a dozen banks in a three month time span. The last bank he hit was East Cambridge Savings Bank at the corner of Highland Avenue and Cedar Street.

Externalizing the Costs; Internalizing the Profits

A Commentary by William C. Shelton

(Editor’s note: The views and opinions expressed in The Somerville News’ commentary section, belong solely to the authors of the articles and do not neccessarily reflect the views of The Somerville News.)

The company that wants to build an Assembly Square furniture store the size of six DeMoulas markets has achieved extraordinary business success with a strategy that is as innovative as its product design.  Readers may be interested in knowing how, with only 160 stores worldwide, IKEA has annual sales conservatively estimated at 13 billion dollars.  Or how the company‚Äôs owner replaced Bill Gates as the richest man in the world.