Among other matters, planning for the properties flanking the site of Royal Hospitality are being addressed by the Somerville Redevelopment Authority.

By Joe Creason

The Somerville Redevelopment Authority held a meeting on July 21 to discuss ongoing plans for urban renewal and to offer the public an opportunity to comment on upcoming development projects.

A ground-breaking ceremony for the Union Square development celebrated the start of construction for the D-2 parcel located from 10 to 50 Prospect St on July 21.

By Camille Andersen

The second virtual town hall discussing a supervised consumption site, held on Thursday, July 22, focused on the impact opioids have on family members and loved ones. The panel was moderated by Doug Kress, Director of Health and Human Services for Somerville. It featured Brian Sink and Mark McLaughlin, both harm reduction specialists, and local community member Bonny Carroll.

Old Powder House tour docent Mary Mangan welcomed and informed visitors to the site last Saturday.

By Bella Levavi

Public parks serve many purposes. They can be a place for public gatherings, for jazz concerts, public theater, food festivals, quarries, pickle fermentation, grain mills, gunpowder storage, WPA projects made out of old train stations, and parking pass offices. Well, not all parks, but Powderhouse Park has a unique history that has been used for all of these and more throughout its tenure in Somerville. 

Somerville High Class of 1971 is looking for classmates for their 50th reunion on Saturday, October 23 at Anthony’s Function Hall in Malden from 7:00 to 11:00 p.m. The price is $65 per person. Please contact Rosalie DeLucia or Jimmy Del Ponte, or the SHS71 page on Facebook for more information. Wave high your guilded banners as SHS 71 celebrates their 50th!

Eagle Feathers #234 – The Battle of Winter Hill

By Bob (Monty) Doherty

On September 1, 1774, residents of Winter Hill witnessed 260 of King George’s British troops disembark from the Mystic River and march over the hill to attack the Powder House.

The city has been exploring the idea of operating a “supervised consumption site” in the city, to help lower the instances of death and serious injuries to those who use hard drugs, such as opioids and other substances that are injected intravenously.

The idea is to provide a safe, clean place where users can inject their drugs under medical supervision, without fear of interference by law enforcement personnel.

Josephine Rizzo recently received the Joe Carr “Spirit of Life” Scholarship from the Medford Rotary Club. Josephine is the daughter of Joseph Rizzo, an employee in the Information Technology Department for the City of Somerville. Pictured here is Joseph and Josephine with Mayor Brianna Lungo. Other scholarship recipients are: Leo McCabe Memorial Scholarship – Ruby Piscatelli; John C. Kirwan Memorial Scholarship – Jack Benoit and Rian Benoit; Medford Rotary Leadership Award – Amy Orcutt, Mark Egitto; “Service Above Self” Scholarship – Talia Ritchie, Charles; Oxnard Citizenship Award – Tyler Lam; and Joseph Mahoney Scholarship – Elizabeth Lazzaro.

Former Somerville Aldermen Bob Mcwatters and Bob Trane stopped by City Hall to wish outgoing City Clerk John Long well wishes on his retirement. John Long received a citation from the city at the last Council meeting, which partly read: “John Long is retiring after more than three decades of dedicated service to the City of Somerville. During his tenure, John served as Clerk of Committees for 7 years, Assistant Clerk of Committees for 3 years and as City Clerk for more than 20 years, serving under 5 Mayors and working with a total of 37 Aldermen/City Councilors.”

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I caught up with the multi-faceted Joshua Sariñana to talk about his new project with the Somerville Arts Council, titled Through These Realities, that will seek six local poets and photographers of color, who will create a series of images, inspired by prompt-guided poetry from poets.

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Lynne Zika’s poetry has appeared in numerous literary publications: Poetry East, Exquisite Corpse, The Anthology of American Poets, etc. She has written for newspaper and radio and for trade and consumer magazines. In addition to editing poetry and nonfiction, she worked as a closed-captioning editor for the deaf and hard-of-hearing. She received a Pacificus Foundation Literary Award in short fiction, and her photography has received the Celebrity Award and the 2020 Choice Award from Viewbug.