Due to the weather forecast last weekend, SomerStreets: Carnaval was moved to the June 14 rain date. The festival will take place on Sunday, June 14, from 2–6 p.m. and will once again transform Broadway into a vibrant, walkable celebration of community and culture. The festival will stretch along Broadway, from McGrath Highway to Pennsylvania Avenue, creating a welcoming space for everyone to enjoy. https://www.eastsomervillemainstreets.org/carnaval2026.

(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)

Re: Please Amend the FY27 Budget to Fund the School Committee-Approved School Budget

Dear Mayor Wilson, Council President Davis and Members of the City Council, Members of the School Committee, Superintendent Carmona, and SPS CFO Robert Berretta:

I submit this letter in my individual capacity as a Somerville parent, resident, and disability advocate.

I am writing to ask that the FY27 budget be amended to fund the full School Committee-approved school budget of $123,101,384.

Eagle Feathers #356 – A Banner Weekend

Somerville is the first location in America to celebrate its flag before the constellation of stars on it began to grow. After the Battle of Bunker Hill, Colonial troops withdrew to fortify Prospect Hill. It was there, during the next year, that America’s union began to form. Prospect Hill became known as General Washington’s Citadel, his command post during the siege of Boston.

Alongside all the hubbub and hurrah of military parades and the sweetness of familial love that Father’s Day can bring, another special event should not be forgotten this time of year.

Flag Day is not an official federal or state holiday, but June 14 is the date designated by proclamation of President Woodrow Wilson back in 1916 as a day to officially honor the stars and stripes that we solemnly revere today.

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Reviewed by Sarah Stern

In Suzette Bishop’s Unbecoming, the reader is reminded of this: “how thin the border is between health/ and illness.” In her profoundly moving and deeply felt chapbook, Bishop makes art from her life with Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS).

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Chad Parenteau hosts Boston’s long-running Stone Soup Poetry series. His work has appeared in journals such as Résonancee, Molecule, Ibbetson Street, Pocket Lint, Cape Cod Poetry Review, Tell-Tale Inklings, Off The Coast, The Skinny Poetry Journal, The New Verse News, dadakuku, Nixes Mate Review, and The Ugly Monster. He has also been published in anthologies such as French Connections, Sounds of Wind, Reimagine America, and The Vagabond Lunar Collection. His newest collections are All’s Well Isn’t You and Cant Republic: Erasures and Blackouts. He serves as Associate Editor of the online journal Oddball Magazine and co-organizer of the annual Boston Poetry Marathon. He lives and works in Boston.