Winter Walk Boston, taking place on February 12, was among three upcoming events discussed at the recent meeting of the Somerville Human Rights Commission.

By Ana Celerier Salcedo

On Wednesday, January 25, the Racial and Social Justice Department Human Rights Commission of the City of Somerville met virtually to discuss the upcoming Boston Winter Walk, Spring into Action event, and Turtle Island project.

(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)

By Marianne Walles

Somerville has been considered a leader in addressing the housing crisis that faces its residents. Policy makers and elected officials talk often about affordable housing, increasing the housing stock, tenant protections, and rent control. All of these are critical, important policies that will help ameliorate our housing crisis.

Be a part of the selection process for the Somerville Arts Council’s next Artist of the Month.

The Somerville Arts Council (SAC) is looking for the next Artist of the Month. Nominations for Artist of the Month are for Somerville based artists. They want to recognize creators of all artistic disciplines and types (artists, writers, dancers, musicians, etc.) in the community and to spread the word about who they are and what they do. Artists must live, work, or volunteer in Somerville, MA. Nominate someone whose work you admire.

Join city staff and the Gilman Square Civic Advisory Committee for a virtual meeting this Wednesday, February 1, at 6:00 p.m. to get updated on the newly published Flood Mitigation and Water Quality Master Plan, the status of the Community Path, and potential short-term activation of the site in the coming year. Learn more on the city’s website. Zoom link: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/83497380624,Meeting ID: 834 9738 0624

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Oysters are a low calorie, protein rich food that contains vitamins and key minerals that have important nutritional values that are proven beneficial for overall health. See key health benefits, nutritional facts, and risks of eating oysters here, https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/oysters.

The quaint old custom of looking to an oversized rodent every February 2 for a generalized weather forecast for the following immediate future is warmly amusing to some, irksome to others.

Groundhog Day is a popular North American tradition observed in the United States and Canada. Its origins are traced to the Pennsylvania Dutch superstition that if a groundhog emerges from its burrow on the given day and sees its shadow due to clear weather, it will go back into to its den and winter weather will continue for six more weeks. If it fails to see its shadow because of cloudiness, then spring will invariably arrive early.

The official results for Everett at Somerville meet from January 27 are SHS 49.33-Everett 31.66/Girls and SHS 48-Everett 33/Boys. SHS Girls record is now 5-1 and the Boys record is 6-0. This Friday will be the GBL Championships Meet. There were max efforts and personal records seen in just about every event, the meet was a window to what SHS can be. The athletes stepped up their game and it was needed. The high jump alone resulted in the best jumps for both teams all season. The field events helped cover some early difficulty in running. The athletes back each other in all events. Boys hurdles had their best day all season. — Photos by Alex Fredette

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I received word that Curtis has passed. Here is an interview I conducted with him some years ago:

An afternoon with the Atlantic fiction editor

The Wilderness House Literary Retreat Hosts Atlantic fiction editor C. Michael Curtis.

On a sweltering early summer morning Somerville poet Linda Haviland Conte and I were ferried by golf cart up a long and winding forested hill to the “Wilderness House Literary Retreat,” in Littleton, Mass, to spend the day with C. Michael Curtis, the fiction editor of The Atlantic magazine. The Atlantic is moving from its long-time home in Boston to Washington, D.C. It will now be publishing its fiction and poetry in one large annual issue; rather than individual issues. C. Michael Curtis, who will edit this annual, gave the group in attendance a sneak preview of the issue and an illuminating discussion of his life in the rarefied environs of the literary world.

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Scott Ruescher has been placing new poems in the Common Ground Review, the Latin American Literary Review, Nine Mile, Pangyrus, and other places, and working on a follow-up to his 2017 book, Waiting for the Light to Change. Retired from working at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and from teaching in the BU Prison Education Program, he writes publicity materials for The Neighborhood Developers in Chelsea and helps teach citizenship and ESOL classes at Immigrant Learning Center in Malden.