The Somerville YMCA (Somerville Y) is pleased to announce they are actively working to secure a site to build a new YMCA in Somerville. The new facility will allow the YMCA to provide transformational programs, services, and opportunities to an ever-broadening cross-section of the Somerville community. To assist this effort, the Economic Development Division of the City of Somerville, which support new entities and nonprofit organizations in their search for Somerville locations, is aiding the process.

In spite of the vastly divergent range of opinions held by all of us here in Somerville and in our neighboring communities, we can unite in the spirit of hope and bipartisanship as we congratulate and honor those who took their respective oaths of office this week.

It is so easy to sit back and play “armchair quarterback” as our city officials wrestle with the day-to-day and long-term issues that impact our lives to greater or lesser degrees. We can question and kibitz and complain until we are blue in the face. At the end of the day, it is those men and women who have taken up the burden of leadership who must deliver on their promise to serve our best interests in the most efficient and productive ways possible.

Eagle Feathers #244 – The Forgotten

By Bob (Monty) Doherty

It wasn’t long ago that a stately animal worked as a lifeline to our civilization transforming communication, farming, construction and power. He has been with us for over 4,000 years working alongside man sharing his strength and stamina.

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Review by Off the Shelf Correspondent Denise Provost

Translating poetry, perhaps even more than writing poetry, is a labor of love. It is also a prickly intellectual and linguistic task, posing unanswerable questions at every turn. Not just each line of poetry, but every word presents a judgement call; each poem a series of seemingly impossible choices.

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After retiring from Brandeis faculty, Karen Klein returned to studying modern dance and began writing contemporary lyric poetry. She performed for eight seasons with Across the Ages Dance and 15 seasons with Prometheus Dance Elders Ensemble. Her poems have been published online and in print, read on radio and television, and choreographed for dancers. The first use of her poems as structure for dance performance appeared in Prometheus Dance Company’s full-length, evening production Desiderare in 2011 and 2012. In 2016 she founded teXtmoVes, a collaborative of poets, dancers, and musicians; teXtmoVes has performed steadily since then, most recently at Starlight Square, Cambridge. Klein continues to study dance, to perform, and to write poems. She is a member of Steeple Street Poets and the Bards.

Hello residents of Somerville and Happy New Year. I am speaking to you, as I have for the past two years, from a remote location due to the Covid-19 pandemic.  While we continue to combat this crisis, there are many things to be grateful for in the new year.

The City of Somerville’s 2022 Virtual Inauguration includes the swearing-in of Mayor Katjana Ballantyne and remarks from City Council President Matt McLaughlin, School Committee Chair Andre Green and U.S. Senator Ed Markey. Community activist and Padres Latinas co-leader Paula Magnelli introduces Mayor Ballantyne.

Mayor Ballantyne was sworn in this morning at 9:00 a.m. in City Hall.

Don’t miss her virtual Inauguration Ceremony tonight at 6:00 p.m. The organizational meeting before the Inaugural to swear in City Councilors and School Committee members will also be held remotely at 5:00 p.m. Visit somervillema.gov to tune in to both events live.

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— Photos by Bobbie Toner
Saturday, January 1, 2022 Somerville residents met at Prospect Hill Tower to learn about the important role our community played in the American Revolution.