Summertime is a great time for outdoor gatherings and celebrations. Part of the fun is indulging in the pleasures of grilling and sharing good food and drink with family and friends.

But certain safety measures must be followed to make sure that these grand epicurean hoedowns don’t end in catastrophic property – and personal – damage caused by fire gone out of control.

Eagle Feathers #358 – The Fourth Day of July

It was one hundred and nine years ago this past spring that Americans began arriving in Paris to help their French allies in the war against Germany. In a symbolic salute, General John Pershing presented an American flag at a Frenchman’s tomb. It was the grave of the Marquis de Lafayette, who had greatly aided us during our revolution. The French and American patriot so loved America that he was buried in soil dug from Bunker Hill. At the presentation, the Americans announced, “Lafayette, we are here.” The date was the 4^th of July in 1917.

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I caught up with New England Poetry Club poet Lisa J. Sullivan about her debut collection of poetry, Theory of Impact.

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Tom Driscoll is a poet and essayist who lives and works in Lowell, Massachusetts. His poetry has appeared in Abraxas Review, Rock Salt Journal, Scapegoat Review, The Worcester Review, Oddball Magazine, Carcosa Magazine, The Ekphrastic Review, Decadent Review, Drawn To The Light, What Rough Beast and Second Coming from Indolent Books and in several Moonstone Arts Center’s Poetry Anthologies. Tom’s poem Leave Home won the Robert P. Collén Poetry Prize in 2017. Notes on Demolition was selected as an Editor’s Choice for the Allen Ginsberg Prize, and This isn’t the first time received Third Place in The Frank O’Hara Prize, both in 2021. Upon Stealing Smithsonian Folkways from Franklin Library, Summer 1974, won The Letter Review Poetry prize in 2024. His most recent book is Echoes, A Collection of Ekphrastic Poems.

(The opinions and views expressed in the commentaries and letters to the Editor of The Somerville Times belong solely to the authors and do not reflect the views or opinions of The Somerville Times, its staff, or publishers)

Dear Members of the Somerville City Council,

Tonight at 5:30 PM, many residents of Cobble Hill Apartments will gather at 50 Washington Street to watch the public Zoom meeting to decide the path forward for the redevelopment of 90 Washington Street.

Abundant Housing Massachusetts (AHMA) has announced its endorsement of Representative Mike Connolly for reelection to the State House representing the 26^th Middlesex District, Somerville City Councilor Will Mbah for state representative in the 34^th Middlesex District, and Somerville City Councilor Ben Ewen-Campen for state representative in the 27^th Middlesex District.

Union Square Plaza set the scene for the 2026 edition of the Big Gay Dance Party. ~Photo by Megan Senturk

By Christa Lee

Pride Month went out with a bang at the Big Gay Dance Party the last week of June in Union Square Plaza. It was free and included vendors, a live DJ, drag performers, and plenty of dancing, with an extra hour added this year.

Beginning the week of July 6, Mayor’s Summer Jobs Program interns and Public Works staff are bringing MassDEP’s Recycling IQ program to Somerville. We will be conducting recycle bin checks in neighborhoods across the city to identify common recycling mistakes and share information with residents on proper disposal.