Future plans for the property at 720-722 Broadway and 53 Chester St. was discussed at the latest meeting of the city’s Urban Design Commission. — Photo by Bobbie Toner

By Khoa Tong

The Urban Design Commission met to discuss plans for 720-722 Broadway and 53 Chester St. on Tuesday, August 8.

(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 Will Mbah
Candidate for Somerville City Councilor at Large

In the business press recently, I have seen several articles discussing the problem of shrinking retail activity. Then, with the news about the bankruptcy of the Christmas Tree Shop at Assembly Row, I thought it important to consider what may be the impacts of the trends of change in retail trade for Somerville?

The 9th Annual Evolution of HipHop Festival is happening this Saturday, August 19 (rain date 8/20) in Union Square (Somerville). Celebrate 50 years of HipHop at the festival. An Arts Union event produced by Wat’s Da Wurd Radio and Television.

A wide array of agenda items were addressed at the Somerville Traffic Commission’s most recent meeting. — Photo by Bobbie Toner

By Ana Celerie

On August 10, 2023, the Somerville Traffic Commission held a meeting to discuss requests for accessible parking, requests for establishments of fire lanes, and finally, requests for curb use changes and a few other changes to make school arrival and dismissal safer and more effective for the Healey and Edgerly schools. First on the agenda were two requests for accessible parking spaces, one at 303 Washington St. and another at 23 Melvin St. Adrienne Pomeroy, a coordinator with the city of Somerville, was in attendance to speak on the matter.

Somerville’s got a lot of great history. That we all know. Going all the way back to the Pre-Revolutionary War days and then some.

Thanks to the fine folks at the Somerville Historic Preservation Commission and the Somerville Museum, we can all join in on seeking out and exploring some of the incredible historical sites that exist within our immediate environs.

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Here’s a great dish that can be put together in under 30 minutes once all the items are prepared in advance. I originally made this dish with shrimp, scallops and lobster, and it’s one of the most requested dishes for dinner for family and friends.

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Review by Dennis Daly

First books of poetry rarely surprise. Clay Ventre’s initial collection, It’s Not Love Until Someone Loses An Eye, does. His first-rate love poems are off-beat and oddly self-demolishing. He chisels each quirky narrative to innovative perfection and then keeps on chiseling. The new, miniature worlds created by Ventre’s persona and his persona’s lover highlight reality’s instability and logical absurdness. But that’s alright. Creators (read poets), after all, are (for good or ill) gods and goddesses by virtue of their productions, and they make sense by rearranging the raw material of chaos.

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DeWitt Henry’s recent prose collection, Endings & Beginnings: Family Essays (MadHat Press, 2021), was longlisted for the PEN/Diamonstein-Spielvogel Award for the Art of the Essay, 2022. His first poetry collection, Foundlings, is available from Life Before Man/Gazebo Books in September, 2022, and his second collection, Restless For Words: Poems, in November from Finishing Line Press. He was the founding editor of Ploughshares and is Prof. Emeritus at Emerson College. Details at www.dewitthenry.com.

The Home Depot Foundation Grants Will Support Program Expansion and Facility Upgrades at the Massachusetts Bay Veterans Center in Somerville

Volunteers of America of Massachusetts (VOAMASS), a nonprofit that creates opportunities for individuals through residential and outpatient behavioral health treatment, re-entry for justice-involved individuals, veteran services and senior living, announced today that it has received two grants totaling more than $200,000 from The Home Depot Foundation for programs and projects at the Massachusetts Bay Veterans Center (MBVC) in Somerville.