Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone, Ward 1 City Councilor Matt McLaughlin, Ward 2 City Councilor J.T. Scott, and city staff invite you to a virtual community meeting to introduce the Public Safety Building Project. The meeting will take place Wednesday, March 31, at 6:00 p.m.

The Public Safety Building Project will provide new facilities for the Somerville Police Department’s Headquarters and the Somerville Fire Department’s Engine 3 at 90 Washington Street in East Somerville, as well as space for additional civic, residential, and/or commercial functions. 

— Photo by Bobbie Toner

By Shira Laucharoen
Somerville Wire

For too long, McGrath Highway, known for slicing through neighborhoods and creating unsafe spaces, has been “a scar on the Somerville landscape,” according to Rep. Mike Connolly. Now, the Massachusetts Department of Transportation is finally moving ahead with plans to revamp the highway and take its elevated section down. The McGrath Highway Resurfacing Project will reduce the number of automobile lanes to four and include bike paths. However, Connolly and other political leaders are calling for other critical safety measures to be included in the plan.

The nutrition program at Somerville-Cambridge Elder Services (SCES) is celebrating National Nutrition Month 2021 by sharing tips about healthy food and lifestyle choices.

Observed each March, National Nutrition Month is sponsored by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.  Speaking during a recent webinar to mark the occasion, SCES Dietitian Andrea Svartstrom said the annual campaign promotes good food choices and healthy routines.

Mary Elizabeth (Byrne) Snow, of Somerville and Dania Beach, FL, passed away at home surrounded by her family on March 9, 2021. She was 83. Born and raised in Somerville she was the daughter of the late Rita E. (Callan) and Charles C. Byrne.  In addition to her role as a devoted wife and mother, Mary was a general partner in Captain’s Development Company and Investment Firm and Vice President and Treasurer of Captain’s Builders Group Inc., offering investment advice and council for various company ventures. She was also a legal secretary, serving the R.A. Snow Law Firm, Davis Sq. Somerville for over 55 years.

Raised garden beds create visual interest and an ideal growing environment.

Fairly easy to construct and even easier to maintain, raised garden beds are a great way to raise plants and vegetables in the comfort and convenience of your backyard.

In a recent episode of the Exmark Original Series, Done-in-A-Weekend-Extreme, landscape designer and show host, Doug Scott, spoke to organic gardener Joe Lamp’l of Growing a Greener World about the ins and outs of raised garden beds.

Because COVID-19 is less likely to be transmitted in outdoor settings, the City of Somerville has updated its COVID-19 guidelines to allow some outdoor performances to resume, both in public and private spaces, such as parks, plazas, or restaurant outdoor dining areas. Performances must have no or very low aerosol projection, meaning activities that do not include speaking or other vocal projection. For example, dance performances or instrumental music using non-wind-instruments are allowed, but a performance involving singing, speaking, or playing a woodwind or brass instrument is not. Crowd size is capped at current outdoor gathering limits of 25 persons or at the approved venue capacity.

This story was originally printed on July 12, 2008. I decided to update, tweak, and recycle it as The West Branch Library renovation nears completion.

As in all of my recollections, this timeline is as close to reality as my memory allows it.

About 10 years ago, my oldest boy and I went to the West Branch Library on College Avenue. Up the winding, creaky stairway on the top floor of the library is the attic – or rotunda, if you will. There is (was) a small stage along the back wall (see photo) – a stage that local bands, including my band Shadowfax (in photo) used to perform on during a very short period in the early 70’s. You see, there use to be a Teen Center on top of the West Branch Library, until the craziness of those times destroyed it.

Join Andre Green, Ward 4 Somerville School Committee member and SMC’s Joe Lynch for their School Committee update.

Join Ben Ewen-Campen, Ward 3 and SMC’s Joe Lynch for their city council update.