Recently, the Massachusetts Senate unanimously passed a pair of bills that advance its commitment to health equity by promoting safe and easy access to menstrual products.

One of the bills, S.2640, expands access to necessary products like tampons and pads in public schools, homeless shelters, and jails and prisons. The legislation requires that these disposable products be made available at no cost to people who need them. An Act to increase access to disposable menstrual products, also known as the I AM bill, addresses the struggle to afford menstrual products, a key necessity for personal hygiene, for many menstruating adults, students and children with lower incomes or housing instability. The 2025 State of the Period survey, conducted by The Harris Poll, found that 24 per cent of teens in the United States struggle to afford menstrual products. The poll also found a high number of teens missing out on class time as a result while 39 per cent of teens reported an impact on their schoolwork as a result of limited access to menstrual products.

Municipal Election Day is Tuesday, November 4. Make your voice heard. Early Voting will take place at Somerville City Hall, 93 Highland Ave., on the following dates and times: Wednesday, October 29, 8:30 a.m. –4:30 p.m. and Thursday, October 30, 8:30 a.m. – 7:30 p.m. For more information about voting in Somerville, go to www.somervillema.gov/elections.

Somerville Public Schools is one of five Massachusetts school districts leaning into doing school differently at a pivotal moment when Massachusetts is reimagining its high school graduation standards and federal funding continues to wane. Somerville Public Schools, along with Chicopee Public Schools, Randolph Public Schools, Pittsfield Public Schools, and Whitman-Hanson Regional School District, have been named the 2025 cohort of the Barr Foundation’s “Strengthening School Leadership” initiative starting in October. These districts, representing a range of geographic locations across the Commonwealth, each support at least six schools, including a high school, and serve between 2,500 and 8,000 students in their communities.

*

The artichoke is a great appetizer that can be made ahead the day before or the morning of your gathering. Of course, I don’t usually wait for a gathering as an excuse to make these. I was very lucky as a child as these were practically a staple in my house. If given the choice of sweets or an artichoke for a snack, I chose the artichoke.

Mayor Katjana Ballantyne and Ward 1 Councilor Matthew McLaughlin invite community members to join the City of Somerville for a ribbon-cutting ceremony celebrating the new shade structure at Capuano Playground. The event will take place on Thursday, October 30, at 3 p.m., at Capuano Playground (150 Glen St).

For some of us, it feels like forever since we’ve shaken off the cares and concerns that seem to be bearing down so heavily as we observe the divisions and discord that have been so prevalent in our society over the past few years.

The local election is just around the corner, and the midterms are coming up next year. The balance of power in Washington will be in play, and more than ever, it seems as though so much will be at stake in that particular election cycle, no matter which side we align with.

*

This essay is in Ibbetson Street 57, the latest issue of this Somerville-based magazine:

Tribute to Danielle Legros Georges (1964–2025)

By Off the Shelf Correspondent Martha Collins

When Danielle Legros Georges passed away earlier this year, I, like many others, lost a dear friend.

I met Danielle in the 1990s, when she was a participant in a summer translation workshop at the William Joiner Institute at UMass Boston. Some years later she became a colleague who taught that workshop herself and was instrumental in welcoming more writers of color into the Joiner community.

*

Poet Greg Hill writes: “It has been some time since I myself lived in Somerville (54 Bay State with four roommates), but I am fond of the time I spent there in the Davis Square area and in and around Boston.” Greg Hill is a poet and a flash fiction writer in West Hartford, Connecticut. His work has appeared in Barzakh, Grub Street, Have Has Had, NonBinary Review, and elsewhere. He and his wife enjoy the struggle of raising three determined feminists. Website: https://www.gregjhill.com.

The City of Somerville is seeking one new youth member to join the Somerville Urban Forestry Committee. If you’re passionate about protecting and cultivating our local urban forest, this is a great opportunity to make an impact.