The city’s intentions for the immediate future of The Armory was discussed at a recent meeting of the Housing and Community Development Committee.

By Jim Clark

The Somerville City Council Housing and Community Development Committee held a meeting on Wednesday, October 19.

Prior to this meeting, 55 voters submitted a petition calling for a public hearing regarding the Arts at the Armory building. During the public hearing portion of the meeting, three speakers were invited to address the Committee Jess White spoke and clarified that the actual name of the building is The Armory.

(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)

Nearly ten years ago Somerville launched Union Square’s redevelopment. City leaders promised community-driven development “in the public interest” that would create the “mix of uses the community wants over time.” Ever since, community forums have identified a community center as critical to that “mix,” making Union Square not just a commercial district, but a neighborhood center that brings people together.

(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)

We scored an important win for road safety and immigrant rights in Massachusetts by voting the Work and Family Mobility Act into law this past June. The law allows all Massachusetts residents to apply for a driver’s license, regardless of their immigration status. Years in the making and backed by law enforcement, immigrant advocates, and labor unions, the law passed overwhelmingly with support of more than three-quarters of the Massachusetts House and Senate. This new law will ensure that all drivers on our roads are licensed and insured.

Mayor Katjana Ballantyne, the Somerville Commission for Women, and RESPOND, Inc. are honored to invite residents to join them for the annual Domestic Violence Vigil on Wednesday, October 26, to remember those who lost their lives to domestic violence in 2022. The vigil is scheduled to start at 6:00 p.m. at Statue Park in Davis Square. In the event of inclement weather, the vigil will move to the West Branch Library, Atrium, located at 40 College Avenue, Somerville, MA 02144.

Public schools are eligible for accreditation every ten years; accreditation offers confidence that schools have the resources to offer a high-quality education, framework for school improvement and growth.

The Somerville High School (SHS) leadership team and the Somerville Public Schools district are pleased to announce that SHS plans to seek formal accreditation by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC). Public schools have the option of seeking accreditation once every ten years. According to the NEASC website, accreditation is an ongoing, voluntary cycle of both internal and external assessments, planning, and reporting that allows schools to meet their unique goals while maintaining alignment with research-based standards that define characteristics of high quality, effective learning communities.

Cambria Hotel Boston Somerville

Cambria Boston Somerville has opened its doors and celebrated its opening with its neighbors on October 12. Local residents, business owners, and officials, such as Somerville Mayor Katjana Ballantyne, attended the festive opening day event. Situated on the Somerville-Cambridge line, the hotel converges with a unique moment in time for Somerville as it experiences a modern-day renaissance, and it adds to the exciting transformation that Somerville’s historic Union Square is undergoing. The Cambria Boston Somerville is located at 515 Somerville Ave, Somerville, MA 02143, 617-341-9040, https://cambriasomerville.com, info@cambriasomerville.com.

Eagle Feathers #265 – Somerville’s Shadows

By Bob (Monty) Doherty

You don’t have to look very far to find mysterious, frightening, supernatural, spine-chilling, spooky and ghostly tales, stories, and legends that are grounded in Somerville.

For some of us it feels like forever since we’ve shaken off the cares and concerns that seem to be bearing down so heavily as we observe the divisions and discord that has been so prevalent in our society over the past few years.

Another election is just around the corner, and the national election is coming up next year. The balance of power in Washington will be in play, and more than ever it seems as though so much will be at stake in that particular election cycle, no matter which side we align with.

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Review by Off the Shelf Correspondent Ruth Hoberman

Curb cuts, kneeling buses, closed captions, and audible walk lights were a start. But disability rights activists are now asking for more: representation. This means representation in positions of power as well as representations in the media that they have themselves created. “Growing up, I never read a book with a main character like me written by a disabled author,” Rebecca Burke writes at the start of In Between Spaces, an anthology of work by thirty-three writers who identify as disabled. In solidarity with other underrepresented populations, Burke insists that publishing – long dominated by its “cisgender, heteronormative, ableist, and white supremacist history” – must make room for more diverse voices. In Between Spaces addresses ableism in particular: the assumption that bodies and minds differing from social norms or notions of health are defined solely by that difference, and that they therefore need “fixing.” Look elsewhere, these writers collectively suggest – at infrastructure, attitudes, and institutions – for what needs fixing.

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Jim De Filippi writes: I am primarily a novelist, having published forty books. I am a Vietnam Era veteran and retired school teacher who has been living in Salem for ten years.