By State Senator Pat Jehlen

Last year, Gov. Baker proposed tax cuts totaling $700 million. The House and Senate each proposed a tax cut package of around $500 million. But we never reached agreement, after discovering that a 1986 law required returning $3 billion to taxpayers because of a “surplus.”  (More on the surplus soon.)

One of the greatest things about our American democracy is its resilient capacity for freedom of expression, along with lively engagement with our governing bodies. This extends from the highest levels on the national level down to local civic affairs.

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I noticed that the Somerville Media Center is to have an art exhibit in April and George Teshu is one of the exhibitors. I caught up with Teshu recently, and we talked about his colorful and evocative paintings, and his perception of art and life.

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Gianna is a junior studying English at Endicott College. She is involved on campus as the Editor-in-Chief of the Literary Arts Magazine as well as the News Editor for Endicott’s newspaper. She is from Richmond, Rhode Island, a small town by the coast. Being one of five, Gianna grew up in a warm and happy home that has been difficult to be separated from. But Gianna believes you can have roots and wings. Her love for reading and writing has evolved into a passion that she hopes to maintain with a career in book publishing. She is grateful for her family at home and at school for their unwavering support.

“Make the Voices Stop!”

Interview by Doug Holder

Recently, a student in my Boston Literature and Film Class at Endicott College told me he is going to have a short documentary that he produced screened as part of the Boston Student International Film Festival Showcase. The film, along with many others can be viewed at the old and storied vaudevillian Somerville Theatre in Davis Square, Somerville, Massachusetts at 1:00 p.m. on April 29. According to the budding filmmaker, undergraduate Foster White:

On May 7, Somerville-Cambridge Elder Services will be among over 3,000 participants to lace up for Project Bread’s 55th annual Walk for Hunger. For the second consecutive year, the Somerville-based nonprofit will raise money to fight hunger. They are participating in the Commonwealth Program, which gives organizations addressing food insecurity 60% of all funds they have raised to support their own hunger relief programs, with the remaining 40% applied to Project Bread’s statewide anti-hunger effort. Last year, Project Bread awarded nearly $2,000 to Somerville-Cambridge Elder Services.