By Khoa Tong

The Somerville Human Rights Commission (HRC) discussed plans to recruit new members to the group in their monthly meeting held on Wednesday, July 19. The meeting was attended by members Christopher Spicer Hankle, Lara Versari as well as Latoya Saulters, Commission Coordinator for the city’s Racial and Social Justice Department.

(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

At the very end of May, the Special Subcommittee of the City Council on Charter Revision finished its work and sent to the Mayor the draft Amended City Charter. This text was based on the earlier draft that the Charter Review Committee of citizens and city officers had prepared during 2021 and 2022.

The Somerville Mobile Farmers Market is open for the season, selling fresh, local produce through October 28. The market schedule is as follows: Thursdays: 4:00 to 6:00 p.m.: Clarendon Hill Towers (1372 Broadway), Fridays: 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.: Council on Aging/SCALE (167 Holland St.), 2:30 to 4:30 p.m.: East Somerville Community School (50 Cross St.). Saturdays: 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.: Mystic Housing Development (25B Memorial Rd., at the playground). The market accepts cash, debit, credit, SNAP, WIC Farmers Market Coupons, and Senior Farmers Market Coupons. All are welcome. To learn more, visit: somervillema.gov/farmersmarket.

Eagle Feathers #284 – Cooperstown

By Bob (Monty) Doherty

No one knows exactly who or where baseball was created. The spirit of the game really goes back to our own backyards. Colonial New Englanders mixed Cricket, a game played with a bat or striker, and Rounders, a British children’s game, which gradually evolved into the American sport. Through the years, the interest in the game has varied between fair-weather fans, die-hards, traditionalists and collecting fanatics.

The city is once again engaged in its annual summer meals for Somerville youth program. Kids 18 or younger can get free meals at various locations throughout the city from now through August 11.

It’s a great way of making sure that the city’s youth get the nutritional support they need, regardless of financial or social standing.

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Interview by New England Poetry Club Co-President Doug Holder

In (2007) when I was running workshops for the Voices of Israel organization based in Israel, one of the workshop members was a young poet, Dara Barnat. Well, since then she has become a distinguished academic at Tel Aviv University, and has come out with a fascinating piece of scholarship. I caught up with her recently to talk about her new book Walt Whitman and the Making of Jewish American Poetry.

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Rusty Barnes lives in Revere, MA, with his family and a herd of cats. His work appears widely He is the author of the poetry chapbook Dear So and So and the co-editor of Live Nude Poems.

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Rental opportunities at the properties at 124 College Ave. and 300 Somerville Ave.