The Somerville City Council has requested that the Board of Health consider ways to evaluate the necessity for implementing indoor mask mandates in the future.

By Jim Clark

A resolution was put forward and approved at the latest regular meeting of the Somerville City Council on Thursday, April 14, asking that the Board of Health consider setting a public standard by which to evaluate when an indoor mask mandate should be enacted at their next meeting, and consider whether the community has already met the criteria for implementing a local mask mandate.

Open Studios 2022 will take place on Saturday and Sunday, April 30 and May 1, from 12:00 to 6:00 p.m. Artists across Somerville will open their studios to the public to display their latest work and meet visitors. www.somervilleopenstudios.org.

By Kyle Dante

President Joe Biden and his cabinet released the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) in 2021. ARPA backs federal workers with a wage increase for those making less than $75,000. It also supports businesses in hiring more people if hit by the Covid-19 pandemic.

A Somerville Open Studios Member’s Exhibit: April 15 – May 16

A perennial favorite, Somerville Open Studios returns on April 30 and May 1 to bring art to the masses. As a part of this tradition, Somerville Open Studios, the Somerville Arts Council and the Inside-OUT Gallery present an eclectic array of works from seasoned members and newcomers for this annual show.

It began after a bad oil spill that took place in 1969 off the coast of California. A year later, the first annual Earth Day was celebrated to demonstrate universal support for environmental protection and responsible stewardship of the planet and its inhabitants.

Since then, public and official awareness of the negative impacts of human activity – such as air and water pollution – have been raised to a level where concrete action is being demanded to mitigate those effects and heal the ills that have been inflicted on our world.

Arrests:
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Jose Lopez Molina, April 11, 10:52 p.m., arrested at Tufts St. on a charge of operation of a motor vehicle under the influence of liquor.

Tenzen Thoulutsang, of Medford, April 16, 3:14 a.m., arrested at Broadway on a charge of operation of a motor vehicle under the influence of liquor.

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Daniel Senser writes: “I am thirty-six years old and have been writing seriously since I was around twenty. I attended the University of Cincinnati, where I received my BA in English. I have had poems published in Jewish Currents, Blue Nib, Bitter Oleander, and Penwood Review, among other journals. My second book of poems, Another Missed Connection, came out in 2020 and was published by Adelaide Books.”

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Lesley Bannatyne has a new collection of her short stories out, Unaccustomed to Grace. In this debut collection, everyday characters find a kind of magic, grace and redemption. Bannatyne told me she is the type of writer who can step out of her house and literally find a font of fodder for new work. My kind of writer! I caught up with her recently, and she generously agreed to answer a few questions…

(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)

From 2009 until 2019, I lived in 11 different apartments across Medford, Somerville, and Cambridge. Sometimes for more, sometimes for less, and always paying a broker’s fee. My first bedroom in a 4BR/1BA apartment near Teele Square cost $737 per month, adjusted for inflation. Today, a similar apartment costs at least $900 on Craigslist.

Poet, publisher, and instructor Doug Holder reads an original poem in celebration of National Poetry Month at Endicott.