(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 State Senator Pat Jehlen

The main argument given for reducing taxes is that we need to be competitive with other states.  Some tax credits, like most of those the House and Senate initially approved last year, benefit people across income brackets.  

Mayor Katjana Ballantyne attended the topping out ceremony at 74M building at Assembly Square last week. — Photo by Daniel Phillips

Last week, Mayor Katjana Ballantyne joined Greystar and Consigli to celebrate the topping out of 74M, a 17-story, 465,000 square foot purpose-built lab office building in the Assembly Square district of Somerville, which is redefining itself as a hub for research and development.

The 2023 season of the Union Square Farmers Market is now open and will run every Saturday through October 28. — Photos by Beatriz Leite

By Beatriz Leite

Join the local vendors on Union Square and enjoy the fresh, organic and innovative products they have to offer for the season. The 19th edition of the Annual Union Square Farmers Market is officially active every Saturday from May 13 until October 28. The market has over 50 local vendors with a large variety of products from all around Massachusetts. The market takes place at Union Square Plaza from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.

(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 Wilfred Mbah
Candidate for Somerville City Councilor at Large

Two weeks ago we listened in to the meeting of the city’s Community Preservation Act Board, at which the Somerville Affordable Housing Trust made its annual update report. This account of the key indicators and plans gave us the chance to reflect back on the programs and policies that the City Council enacted in 2018-2020. How are they succeeding? Are they achieving the outcomes that we anticipated?

The information session for proposed Fiscal Year 2024 water and sewer rates took place on Monday, but written testimony will be accepted until 6:00 p.m. on Monday, May 22, and can be emailed to water@somervillema.gov or mailed to: Water and Sewer Department, ATTN: Hearing, 17 Franey Road, Somerville, MA 02145. The information session and public hearing will rebroadcast on GovTV (channel 13 on RCN, channel 22 on Comcast) and on the City’s YouTube channel, youtube.com/SomervilleCityTV.

Several parking and street marking amendments were considered and voted on at the latest meeting of the Somerville Traffic Commission.

By Ana Celerier Salcedo

On Thursday, May 11, The Somerville Traffic Commission met and voted on seven different agenda items.

A request was made for accessible parking spaces at 125 Pennsylvania Ave. The motion was accepted with three votes, yes, and two members of the commission abstaining. 

Eagle Feathers #279 –Memorial Day

By Bob (Monty) Doherty

The tradition began in 1868 with the men of the Grand Army of the Republic. They designated May 30 as a day for decorating the graves of those who had fallen in the Civil War with flowers. It later became a day when parades and orations celebrated the victories of both Armies, the Blue and the Gray. The graves of these veterans numbered over 600,000, and they are found in thousands of their hometowns throughout the country.

It seems as though we cannot get enough of the farmers market scene in Somerville. They have become time-honored traditions and perennial mainstays of alternative commerce in the city.

There is something special about shopping for fresh produce, discovering unique arts and crafts vendors, and enjoying live entertainment in the open air. We feel a sense of camaraderie, too, as we gather to take in the sights, sounds, flavors and aromas that permeate each market site.

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Review by Andy Hoffman

In Joy and Pandemic, a world premiere at the Calderwood Pavilion of the Huntington Theater, playwright Taylor Mac locates the conflict between belief and reality in a children’s art school in 1918 Philadelphia. Joy, the founder of the school, believes devoutly in Christian Science, which will run head first into the bursting Spanish Flu pandemic, which will kill over 50 million people as troops returned home from the last battles of World War I. This apocalyptic moment tried whole nations’ faith in social hierarchies, in political solutions, and in moral values, but it fails to shake Joy’s belief in the religion founded by Boston’s own Mary Baker Eddy.