Welcoming Week 2026 was officially proclaimed by Mayor Jake Wilson at the latest meeting of the Somerville City Council.

By Harry Kane

Feeling welcomed and the courage to connect unite the community, say city officials. Mayor Jake Wilson proclaimed Welcoming Week 2026 for September 10 through September 19 at the latest City Council meeting to celebrate inclusion and diversity in the community.

Most change leads to new beginnings. That’s what they say anyway. We’ve been through some challenging times in recent years, and here we are once again with autumn on our doorstep, bringing with it the undeniable realization that change is inevitable.

Eagle Feathers #363 – The Highlands

Some of the meanings for the phrase “head for the hills” are to take the high ground during a battle, to move away to safer ground during a flood, and to flee from danger. If this is true, then Somerville should be one of the safest cities around, for she abounds with hills.

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Review by Lo Galluccio

For those of you who loved the Netflix series The Last of Us, which took place in the middle of the 22nd century after a fungal pandemic had destroyed the government and devastated the country with tribal divisions and a band of rabid infected, called “Clickers,” striking the healthy survivors, you will want to read BRM’s novel, Hope, a sequel to his first novel, Joy.

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Susan Sklan is a social worker and published poet, an Australian now living in the Boston area. Her poems have appeared in Constellations, Folio, Kalliope, Nixes Mate, Pleiades, Sojourner, Soul-Lit, The Centennial Review, The Muddy River Poetry Review, and other journals and anthologies. On passing an old lover’s address was chosen by the Cambridge MA, Sidewalk Poetry Program, 2018, and installed on a city sidewalk. Her poetry chapbook The Letters was published by Main Street Rag, 2023. Her poetry book The Lost Garden is to be published by Finishing LIne Press, 2026.

UPDATE 9/15 The Parking Department is open.

The City’s Parking Department (133 Holland St.) is closed to the public as of 9:45 a.m. on 9/15 and until further notice due to a power outage in the area. The nearby TAB building and Council on Aging Holland Street Center are not currently affected by the outage. Visit the City’s website for updates: https://www.somervillema.gov/

(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)

Erika Uyterhoeven has won the Senate seat. The campaign is over. Now comes the part that matters: results.

Erika has introduced plenty of legislation and attached her name to many proposals. But introducing a bill isn’t the same as getting it passed.