Mystic Learning Center youth and Somerville policemen playing at the second annual community unity basketball game. — Photos by Mina Rose Morales

By Mina Rose Morales

Mystic housing project youth and Somerville policemen gathered on Wednesday, August 3, for the second annual community unity basketball game to honor the late basketball coach Stephenson Aman, known as Hollywood.

Finally, relief from the heat! We hope everyone was safe during the recent heat wave. Check out the city’s site for info on how to cool off and stay safe the rest of the summer somervillema.gov/keepcool.

The Somerville Homeless Coalition has been helping families and individuals in need of food and shelter since 1985.— Photo courtesy of Somerville Homeless Coalition

By Gina Ingrando

The Somerville Homeless Coalition was established in 1985 in response to the homelessness social crisis. They are on a mission to give support to individuals and families who are homeless or are almost to the point of homelessness. The coalition’s goal is to help these individuals and families to obtain and maintain affordable housing.

Project focuses on fostering inclusivity and support for LGBTQIA+ students across district

The It Gets Better Project recently announced that Somerville Public Schools (SPS) has been awarded a “50 States. 50 Grants. 5000 Voices” grant. Somerville Public Schools will use the funds to support  LGBTQIA+ students by providing our district’s Gender/Sexuality Alliances (GSAs) with materials, event funding, and inclusive and representative books for school libraries.

Just as we start seeing a cooling off of the sweltering heat we’ve been contending with in recent weeks, we suddenly get hit with the somewhat devastating news that will make many T riders decidedly hot under the collar.

It seems that the entirety of the MBTA’s Orange Line will be shut down for approximately one month beginning on August 19 in order to improve infrastructure and safety systems on the line.

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I met Sandra Allik in her space at the Miller St. Studios in Somerville. Her studio is a bubble of color – with many vivid paintings lining the walls.

Allik told me she finds the artistic environs in Somerville pleasing. She said, “I love my studio. I moved here in 2009; and presently there are a great group of artists working here. Recently, I exhibited at the Inside/Out Gallery, which is basically a CVS window in Davis Square. I sold one of my paintings for 1800 dollars. I was surprised it sold because it was in an unassuming store window.”

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Bob “Monty”  Doherty is a local historian. You can find his Historical Fact of the Week column in The Somerville Times. He has written over 200 of the columns to date. Doherty joined the Somerville Fire Department in 1974, before retiring in 2012 he  was one of the city’s Fire Inspectors. While on that job he would try to learn as many historical facts as he could about the house he was inspecting. You can see him at a table of many local events willing to talk about the history of Somerville.

Open Positions: Four;Term: Three years

The Somerville Commission for Persons with Disabilities (SCPD) seeks four new members, and Somerville residents are encouraged to apply. Three of the openings must be filled by people who identify as having a disability, and one must be filled by a Somerville resident who is a family member of a person with a disability.

The next-gen LEGO® Discovery Center will open in early 2023 

Opening in spring 2023, LEGO® Discovery Center Boston will give families in Boston and across the northeast the opportunity to experience the next generation LEGO Discovery Center following a $12 million-dollar renovation. This will be the world’s first renovation of a LEGOLAND® Discovery Center to a LEGO Discovery Center along with a sister attraction in LEGOLAND Discovery Center Atlanta.