By Kyle Dante

On Wednesday, June 1, ten Somerville residents appeared before the Somerville City Council’s Appointments and Personnel Matters Committees seeking roles in the City Council or higher positions within their current city departments.

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I like adding tomatoes to my salads, but a lot of the time they tend not to have much flavor. One of the ways I get added flavor to tomatoes is to roast them. Roasting brings out the natural sugars in the fruit. These tomatoes are not only great in a salad, but on sandwiches as well.

For those of us who are fortunate enough to have had a strong, loving father figure in our lives, we have indeed been truly blessed.

They have served as our providers – along with mom, of course – our enablers, our staunch supporters, our coaches, our towers of strength.

Most of us love our dads year-round unconditionally, but we are immediately reminded of just how much they mean to us whenever Father’s Day rolls around in the month of June.

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Somerville Artist Jeannie Motherwell met me at her studio at Miller Street Artists Studios in Somerville. She has a large space with many of her expansive paintings both on the floor and the walls. Originally Motherwell had worked in her home studio in Cambridge, but eventually she needed a new and larger space.

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Willy Ramírez is an educator, poet, and cultural advocate residing in Massachusetts. He is the founder and organizer of La Guagua Reading Group and of the annual La Guagua Poetry Festival, hosted by Middlesex Community College, where Ramirez is Professor of English.

Arrests:
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Elida Salazar, of Wilmington, June 9, 9:17 p.m., arrested at Linwood St. on charges of operation of a motor vehicle under the influence of liquor, negligent operation of a motor vehicle, and failure to stop for police.

William Smith, of Dorchester, June 10, 8:47 a.m., arrested on warrant charges of assault to murder and assault and battery.

A COVID-19 vaccine clinic for initial doses and boosters will be held Wednesday, June 15 from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. at the Somerville Public Library (Central Branch), 79 Highland Ave. An appointment is required. Sign up at somervillema.gov/vaccine or call 311 (617-666-3311).

Funds to support adventure, leadership programming for target student populations

Somerville Public Schools is one of 140 local nonprofits to receive grants of $100,000 to $500,000 each through Cummings Foundation’s $25 Million Grant Program. The Somerville-based organization was chosen from a total of 580 applicants during a competitive review process. SPS will receive a $25,000 award in the next school year, renewable annually for three additional years.

Failed to implement an enterprise-wide cyber security awareness training program

In an audit of Bunker Hill Community College (BHCC) the Office of State Auditor Suzanne M. Bump (OSA) found BHCC did not accurately record and report all federal COVID-19 pandemic related institutional funding. The audit specifically identified the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act (Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund, or HEERF, I), Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act (CRRSAA) (HEERF II), and Governor’s Emergency Education Relief (GEER) Fund monies, all of which were in a single account of BHCC’s accounting system. Additionally, the audit found that BHCC had not implemented an enterprise-wide cybersecurity awareness training program for newly hired or existing employees. The audit examined the time period of March 1, 2020 through June 30, 2021. 

The City of Somerville has passed an amendment to its landmark Housing Stability Notification Act (HSNA) to significantly expand awareness of tenant protections. The amendment requires landlords to provide tenants with information about their rights and resources at the start of all new housing rentals, rather than only when pursuing an eviction, as stipulated in the original legislation. At-Large Councilor Willie Burnley, Jr., originally proposed the amendment. The City Council passed it unanimously, and Mayor Katjana Ballantyne signed it April 28. The amendment will go into effect on July 13.