The newly renovated and restored Somerville Public Library West Branch at 40 College Avenue will open for indoor services Tuesday, July 13, welcoming visitors into the historic site for the first time since it closed for construction in early 2019. A ribbon cutting ceremony and celebration will be held at a later date. The Central and East branch buildings reopened July 12. All staff and visitors are required to wear face coverings while inside the libraries. Library programs will continue to be held either outside or virtually until further notice. Public access to library meeting, conference, and programming spaces is also limited until further notice. For more information, please contact the library at 617-623-5000 or visit somervillepubliclibrary.org.

A local senior expressed displeasure with the proposed SomerVision 2040 plan during the Housing and Community Development meeting last week.

By Bella Levavi

After Victor Nascimento, Outreach Coordinator for Office of Strategic Planning and Community Development, presented additions to SomerVision 2040 in the Housing and Community Development virtual meeting on Tuesday, July 7, a senior citizen spoke out denouncing the plan.

Summertime is a great time for outdoor gatherings celebrations. Part of the fun is indulging in the pleasures of grilling and sharing good food and drink with family and friends.

But certain safety measures must be followed to make sure that these grand epicurean hoedowns don’t end in catastrophic property – and personal – damage caused by fire gone out of control.

Eagle Feathers #233 – Four of a Kind

By Bob (Monty) Doherty

Gothic architecture has been popular since the early European twelfth century. In Europe, this design took root with fortresses, strong holds and castles. Centuries later with the early development of America, the historic trend swept here. As time passed, Gothic-style armories, churches and municipal buildings sprouted across the country. Gothic-designed fire houses gained popularity in the late 1800’s.

Arrests:
*

Laurence Scudder, July 7, 3:40 a.m., arrested at Pitman St. on a charge of misdemeanor breaking and entering.

Colette Olcot, of Boston, July 10, 4:52 p.m., arrested at Assembly Row on warrant charges of trespassing, resisting arrest, receiving stolen property under $1200, misdemeanor breaking and entering, and disorderly conduct.

*

By Off the Shelf correspondent Ed Meek

If you’ve had enough of climate denialists, doomsayers, distorters and deflectors, Michael Mann’s new book provides the antidote of hope with which to fight what many are now calling the war on climate change. Michael Mann is a member of the US National Academy of Sciences and a distinguished professor of Atmospheric Science at Penn State. He is famous for what is referred to as the “hockey stick” diagram that outlines the rise in global temperature since the Industrial Revolution (between 1 and 1.5 degrees Centigrade).

*
Timothy Gager is the author of sixteen books of fiction and poetry. His latest, an Amazon #1 Best Seller, Poems of 2020, is his ninth of poetry. Timothy hosted the successful Dire Literary Series in Cambridge, Massachusetts from 2001 to 2018, and as a virtual series starting in 2020. Timothy was the co-founder of The Somerville News Writers Festival. He has had over 600 works of fiction and poetry published, of which seventeen have been nominated for the Pushcart Prize. His work also has been nominated for a Massachusetts Book Award, The Best of the Web, The Best Small Fictions Anthology, and has been read on National Public Radio.

Somerville residents have a few more free opportunities to learn gardening basics. After a successful pilot earlier this summer, the City’s Health and Human Services Department will host additional Growing Gardeners workshops for residents who are brand new to gardening in July and October.

The newly renovated and restored Somerville Public Library West Branch at 40 College Avenue will open for indoor services Tuesday, July 13, welcoming visitors into the historic site for the first time since it closed for construction in early 2019. A ribbon cutting ceremony and celebration will be held at a later date.