The Somerville Fire Department responded to a reported house fire at 18 Autumn Street on Wednesday night, July 21. The fire was reported at 11:35 p.m. Arriving fire companies were met with heavy fire conditions on the second and third floors. The fire also spread into the attic space and through the roof requiring walls and ceilings to be pulled open to extinguish spreading fire as well as ventilation holes in the roof. A second alarm was sounded bringing all Somerville fire companies to the scene as well as assistance from Everett and Cambridge.

Life in the Ville by Jimmy Del Ponte

A world renown, future hall of fame rock band rehearsed right in the middle of Somerville back in the day.

As always, these details and dates are as close to exact as possible as we are relying on our memories. These events tool place around 1987–1991.

The City of Somerville Community Design Team is asking residents to contribute their ideas for the further development of Union Square. — Photo by Bobbie Toner

By Bella Levavi

Last weekend a Community Design Team (CDT) led a community outreach session at the Union Square Farmers Market to get input from Somerville residents about a possible redesign of Union Square.

Facts concerning a proposed supervised consumption site in Somerville were presented and questions answered at a recent virtual town hall meeting.

By Camille Andersen

Somerville held its first of three virtual town halls on Tuesday, July 13, to facilitate the conversation about opening a supervised consumption site.

Supervised consumption sites are harm reduction interventions that provide clean and safe spaces for people to use substances with medical staff present who can intervene in an emergency.

Organizers of the Bastille Day celebration at Bow Market say the event was a great success. — Photo courtesy of Bow Market

By Fernando Cervantes Jr.

On Wednesday, July 14, a Bastille Day event was held at Bow Market. Commemorating the storming of the Bastille during the French Revolution, Bastille Day has been celebrated for 232 years.

This year’s event was organized by Alexandra Whisnant, one of the many shop owners at Bow Market. She said the reason that she wanted to bring Bastille Day to the market was that “it was the celebration of French culture.”

Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone, Ward 2 City Councilor J.T. Scott, Ward 3 City Councilor Ben Ewen-Campen, and the Union Square Community Design Team invite you to participate in a series of community engagement pop-ups to inform the future of Union Square’s public spaces. The Community Design Team is a diverse group of 11 Somerville residents leading the research and engagement effort for the Union Square Plaza and Streetscape Redesign project. This team is using participatory action research (PAR) to engage community members to imagine and share new ideas for Union Square. To kick things off this summer, the Community Design Team is hosting three pop-up events with activities designed to collect public opinions about Union Square’s streets, plaza, and public spaces. Join in at one of the next two events: Friday, July 23, 5:00 – 8:00 p.m., Union Square Plaza (rain date: Friday, July 30, 5:00 – 8:00 p.m.) and Saturday, August 7, 11:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m., Union Square Plaza (rain date: Sunday, August 8, 11:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.) For more information, visit bit.ly/UnionSqRedesign.

By Rachael Hines

The Somerville Commission for Women (SCW) met virtually on Monday night to discuss their transition to the Department of Racial and Social Justice, the Somerville Safe Streets Alliance, and the hiring of a new commissions coordinator.

The city’s Food and Nutrition Services Department is once again engaged in its annual summer meals for Somerville youth program. Kids under the age of 19 can get free meals at various locations throughout the city from now through August 13.

It’s a great way of making sure that the city’s youth get the nutritional support they need, regardless of financial or social standing.

*

Review by Karen Klein

They don’t call Elizabeth McKim, aka e/liz, the Jazz Poet of Lynn for nothing. The 3 R’s she so skillfully employs aren’t the “reading, ‘riting, and ‘rithmatic” we learned in grade school. Hers are rhyme, repetition, rhythm. Listen to them as in HEY DANGER, she insouciantly calls “Come on in/We’re waitin’ for this dance to begin….” repeating her invitation.

*
My friend, the poet Julia Kanno, wrote this poem for my wife Dianne Robitaille. Dianne is at our home and is receiving hospice care. Julia is one of Dianne’s great caregivers. Julia writes: “I am the mother of two amazing young men ages 27 and 17. I am from Appalachia and Botswana. I am an artist and also work in healthcare. I have self-published with my co-pilot levin pfeuffer two books of prose a storm is cuming and The hardest helmut. My first reading was done at Northeastern University and since then I have read at the Somerville Armory two times. I consider myself an introverted artist/writer. I give birth to my works including those that have been displayed at the Decordova Museum as well as Howard University and local gems such as The Middle East and Out of the Blue gallery. I will be published in Tell magazine featuring my textiles and art in the spring. Currently, I am studying behavioral science and psychology because there is a need for more people of color to be there for people of color to help end the stigma of seeking mental health.”