A “No Parking Here to Corner” at Walnut Street and Sunnyside Avenue was deemed unnecessary by Director of Parking Suzanne Rinfret, advocating instead for stricter parking enforcement. — Photo by Bobbie Toner

By Jordan Pagkalinawan

 The Traffic and Parking Committee met on Monday, October 27th, to discuss various speed control measures and debate several issues related to the testing of autonomous vehicles.

Walnut Street “No Parking Here to Corner” Sign

The committee first heard from Director of Parking Suzanne Rinfret, who explained a work order to evaluate a request for a “No Parking Here to Corner” sign at Walnut Street and Sunnyside Avenue. After the department frequently checked the intersection and noticed only three tickets issued between October 24 and 27, Rinfret said such a sign would not need to be installed.

Congratulations to the new Mayor of Somerville, Jake Wilson, the City Councilors, and School Committee members. We congratulate them all on their well-run campaigns and wish them the best as they delve into their roles as Somerville’s latest group of civic leaders.

Eagle Feathers #341 – Trum Field

By Bob (Monty) Doherty

War memorials salt the city’s landscape from East Somerville to West Somerville. If you read them – and you should – they bring remembrance and note the dedicated sacrifice of this city’s residents during all the wars America has been involved in. Being the most densely populated city in New England, this regrettably translates into very large losses. The sons and daughters of this patriotic city, commonly referred to as the Brooklyn of Boston, or the city of homes, or the blue-collar bedroom of Boston, suffered more than her small area would show.

We honor them every year, and we regard them with awe and deepest admiration. Proud, but humble in countenance, they seem to simply play their part in our annual celebration of appreciation for their courageous contributions to the well-being of our nation—the well-being of ourselves as a society.

The flesh-and-blood reality is even more awe-inspiring as we realize how fragile life truly is, and yet these brave men and women each took a stand and declared that no harm should come to their fellow countrymen. Not on their watch.

Former Alderman Bob McWatters visited the Brady Towers on Halloween with Holly Simione, a candidate for City Councilor at Large. Bob is shown here with Eleanor Rances, Commissioner for the Somerville Housing Authority.

*

One day I got an email from the accomplished Somerville sculptor Ann Hirsch about a talented outsider artist – Robert Wright. She told me he has this strange but very compelling art on display in a little park in Gilman Square. On a crisp morning in October, I walked over to Gilman Square in Somerville to meet the man and view his art. It was a bit nostalgic, as the old Paddock Restaurant site was across the street, a place I used to frequent years back. Wright was walking with a friend of his, and I introduced myself. Wright told me that he is a resident of the Park Street Senior Center and started working on this art among a little warren of trees next to his residence. He revealed that he had once been an ironworker and was severely injured in a work-related accident, and since then, he had been looking to fill his time with something interesting.

*
Parmit Kumar Singh is a scientist at Harvard and a multilingual poet based in Arlington, Massachusetts. He writes in Hindi, Bhojpuri, and English, and is the founder of Global Voices in Verse, a series that celebrates world poetry across languages. His work bridges cultures, revives Bhojpuri folk traditions, and explores the shared humanity in poetic expression. He was a featured reader at the Old Manse Reading (New England Poetry Club, 2022) and has participated in events such as the Boston Poetry Marathon.

Last day for hazardous waste drop-off Saturday, November 8

The Somerville Department of Public Works (DPW) wishes to remind residents that the last days for hazardous and yard waste collection this season are quickly approaching. DPW collection of these materials will resume in Spring 2026 as per the usual seasonal cycle.