By Maeve Lawler

The Somerville Redevelopment Authority (SRA) reviewed the Request for Qualifications (RFQ) draft to go forward with the redevelopment plans for 90 Washington Street at its December 21 meeting.

(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)

I am a 7th grade teacher at the Arthur D. Healey School in Somerville. I recently had my students write editorials on why school start times should be later for teenagers.  — Emma Daniels

By Lan Patterson-Vides, 7th Grader at the Arthur D Healey School

Here’s a question, do you like zombies? Brainless, Braindead piles of flesh, you like those? No? Well what if I told you that almost every teen is a zombie. Well, they aren’t really rotting undead corpses, but from the moment most teens wake up, they are so tired that they basically are zombies. Now why is this? It’s because teens have to get up to the horribly early start times of most schools. 7:45 A.M., 7:15 A.M., 7 freaking A.M.! They also have to get up an hour before the start of school, so most kids are waking up at 6 in the morning! They also have to stay up late doing homework, so most teens end up running on about 4 hours of sleep! And they are expected to learn and be engaged! So now you see why almost every single teen is a zombie, and if you don’t, well you have the rest of this gosh darn paper to read.

The staff of The Somerville Times would like to wish everyone a very happy New Year. May the year to come bring one and all good health and prosperity, and continue through to the following years to come.

Looking back to the year just passed is an interesting thing to do. Sometimes sobering, at other times amusing, yet always somewhat inspiring if one considers what has been accomplished and what else is left to be done.

*

I met Somerville artist Sophia Ainslie at the Vernon Street Studios on a cold day in November. She was part of their Open Studios event. She is a woman that exudes flashes of energy and her work is reflective of that energy.

*
Jac-Lynn Stark was born in the Bronx and currently lives on the North Shore of Boston where she enjoys pondering life either from near the ocean or in the woods. She recently retired from 14 years of teaching English at Bunker Hill Community College in Boston. Some of her previous work has been published in Muddy River Poetry Review, Global Poemic, Drunk Monkeys, Zig Zag Folio, and forthcoming for an anthology called American Graveyard, calls to end gun violence from Read or Green Books.

Spring Hill Sewer Separation Project

Beginning on or around January 3, City contractors will begin working on subsurface utility improvements in the intersection of Highland Ave. and Central St.

While work in the intersection is underway, access to Highland Ave. from Central St. will be restricted (details below).

(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 Representative Christine P. Barber

 After decades of advocacy, I was thrilled to celebrate the opening of the Green Line Extension through my district in Somerville and Medford last week. This public works project is the result of years of hard work from countless community members, laborers, activists, and colleagues at all levels of government. I’m proud that we made it to our opening day to celebrate this momentous occasion.