Today the Baker-Polito Administration announced an order was placed with iHealth to supply the state with 26 million rapid antigen tests over the next 3 months. The tests will be prioritized to support K-12 schools and childcare settings. The agreement allows for shipments of tests to arrive on a rolling basis in the Commonwealth, but the Administration warns that the timing and shipment amounts will vary depending on international shipping and production variables.

Mayor Katjana Ballantyne and the City of Somerville Housing Division are pleased to announce an income-restricted resale homeownership opportunity in Assembly Row. 

Unit 602 at 375 Canal Street is a one-bedroom condo available to households with a yearly gross income at or below 80% of Area Median Income ($70,750 for a one-person household, or $80,850 for a two-person household). 

Mayor Katjana Ballantyne and Ward 1 Councilor Matthew McLaughlin invite you to a virtual community meeting to discuss roadway upgrades and traffic safety improvements on the eastern portion of Pearl Street, from McGrath Highway to Mount Vernon Street.

On a recent Sunday afternoon, Dr. Rosie Wagner, a general dentist in Somerville, opened her practice doors with a mission to help stop the spread of COVID-19. That day, she and several volunteers, administered 125 second-dose vaccines to children ages five through 11.

Life in the Ville by Jimmy Del Ponte

One of my former bosses gave me the nickname “Gimme DelPonte” because whenever he started the sentence, “Does anybody want this?” I’d say “yes” before he even finished the question. I didn’t even care what it was as long as it was free.

Well, about 60 years ago the nuns at St. Clement were getting a new piano and they were going to give the old one to one of the families, first come first served. My father was an usher at the church because he got free breakfast in the rectory. He heard about the piano and immediately said, “I’ll take it!”

By The Times Staff

It was a year that saw many of the previous one’s issues and challenges repeated, and in some cases amplified. In spite of the worldwide accessibility of COVID-19 vaccines, the incidences of infections continued to fluctuate, frustrating business’ – both small and large – efforts to recoup and recover.

Somerville Mayor Emeritus Gene Brune.

By Gene Brune

I recently learned that The Boston Strangler is being filmed once more in the surrounding Boston communities, bringing back memories of my minor, but exciting, association with the Boston Strangler.

During the 1960’s to 1979, I was working as a structural steel miscellaneous iron draftsman. I actually started out right here in Somerville in the engineering department of Groisser and Schlager Iron Works, which I am sure few Somerville residents still remember. It was located on Washington Street where Coble Hill Elderly Housing has been located since the 1980’s.

(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)

By Dr. Ian Halim

There is a myth that the mighty titan Prometheus betrayed Zeus by stealing fire and giving it to humans. In the ancient tale, the gift of fire allows humans to begin learning different crafts. To humankind, Prometheus came to represent a kind of tutor, the divine patron of the arts and sciences. But Zeus saw things differently and punished the great titan for his theft, ordering him chained to a rock, and commanding an eagle to tear out his liver again and again. Each time Zeus’s eagle ripped out Prometheus’s liver, the organ would regenerate, only to be pecked out again.