The Somerville Traffic Commission has approved the installation of a rideshare pickup location at the Somernova complex. – Photo courtesy of Google Maps

By Bella Levavi

The City of Somerville Traffic Commission unanimously approved creating an Uber and Lyft pick up location at the Somernova complex located at the corner of Properzi Way and Tyler Street in their meeting on Tuesday, August 17.

Justin Schreiber, Transportation Planner for Somerville, explained that the intersection is often crowded with traffic and pedestrians, and creating designated spaces for loading to enable quick arrival and departure will decrease traffic in the area.

The Somerville Fair Housing Commission asked a series of six questions of the mayoral and City Council candidates concerning housing issues in the city. Over the past two weeks, we published the first four questions and answers. We are presenting answers here from the mayoral candidates of the final two questions presented to them. The questions were presented to all of the candidates, and the answers presented here were the ones received by the Commission.

(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)

Some of you may recognize us from years of working for the betterment of our neighborhood, Ward 5 and for our City. Some of you may not recognize us because you may be a recent arrival. And some of you who know us, gasped when you saw this photo of us together considering some long ago public disagreement we had with each other.

The Somerville Urban Forestry Committee is continuing its work of managing the city’s trees and shrubs.

By Rachael Hines

Somerville’s Urban Forestry Committee met virtually on Thursday evening, August 19.

The meeting focused on city and private tree removals, planting plans, and their upcoming urban forest management plan. The committee also approved the upcoming removal of three large trees on Irvington Road, as well as plans to remove salt-damaged trees on Grand Union Boulevard.

The Somerville Board of Health (BOH) approved a face-covering mandate for all indoor public spaces at its August 19 meeting that is in effect as of Friday, August 20. The mandate applies to anyone two or older, and face coverings can be removed when people are actively eating or drinking. Masks should have a snug fit and cover the nose and mouth. The order can be read at https://www.somervillema.gov/sites/default/files/COVID-19-Mask-Order-Proposed-8.21.pdf. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends everyone in areas of high or substantial COVID-19 transmission wear face coverings when in indoor public spaces regardless of vaccination status. Currently, all Massachusetts counties have either high or substantial transmission. For more coronavirus and vaccine information, visit somervillema.gov/COVID19 or somervillema.gov/vaccine and sign up for City alerts at somervillema.gov/Alerts. We urge you to sign up for every alert method you are able to receive phone call, text, email. Also please follow FB.com/SomervilleCity and @SomervilleCity.

(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)

Steve Roix

Ward 5 will benefit from choosing Todd Easton for City Council, as will the entire City. Todd has been an advocate for youth and families for many years, volunteering in the Schools, assisting families struggling with food security, and donating countless hours to support youth sports in our community.

Eagle Feathers #235 – Flight #93

By Bob (Monty) Doherty

One hundred fifty years ago this year was a fire wake-up call across the United States. The reason was the Great Chicago Fire of October 8 and 9, 1871. This remained the worst fire in American history until the September 11, 2001, terrorist attack on the World Trade Center in New York City.

So, public school in Somerville begins again on September 1, and with it a new slew of rules, regulations and guidelines to follow in the shadow of the lingering threat from COVID-19 and its Delta variant to both students and faculty.

This time around, the schools will not offer remote learning options for the 2021-22 school year, meaning that all enrolled students will return to full in-person learning this fall. This is considered to be an important advantage by many, in that they feel the in-person option offers the best opportunity for learning as well as social development for the kids by way of personal interaction with their peers.

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Review by “Off the Shelf” Correspondent Denise Provost

R.F. Foster needs no attention from me to burnish his reputation, any more than Seamus Heaney needs Foster to add luster to his. On Seamus Heaney, however, adds welcome layers to our understanding of Heaney as a poet and of the kind of public intellectual who attains moral standing in the wider world. This review aims mainly to draw attention to a valuable book possibly overlooked in the chaos of COVID, and to alert US readers to the merit they will find in Foster’s other writings.

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Dona Luongo Stein, a former Stegner Poetry Fellow at Stanford University, has had poems printed in U.S. and world literary journals. Her fifth poetry collection is Leaving Greece (Shanti Arts Press, 2018).