Monthlong series of events includes conversation with U.S. Rep. Ayanna Pressley, wellness workshop, and film screenings  

To honor Black History Month, the City of Somerville is hosting free public programming throughout February designed to create space for reflection, learning, and community – including a wellness workshop, film screening, and a fireside chat with Somerville’s U.S. Representative Ayanna Pressley. Programming is led by Somerville’s Department of Racial and Social Justice, in partnership with local partners.

Comedian and journalist, Alexa Albanese, kicks off the night by introducing herself to the audience at The Rockwell in Davis Sq. — Photos by Matthias Gat

By Matthias Gat

Alexa Albanese hosts “Truth, Jest, and the American Way,” a comedy show inspired by “SNL’s Weekend Update.” A panel of comedians and journalists followed, discussing the way journalism and comedy act as a means of delivering the truth.

— Photo courtesy of the City of Somerville

By The Times Staff

Developer Copper Mill has filed for a Chapter 40B permit to construct a 26-story, 502-unit apartment high-rise at the corner of Elm and Grove Streets, with 25% of the units designated as affordable housing.

To honor Black History Month, the City of Somerville is hosting free public programming throughout February designed to create space for reflection, learning, and community – including a wellness workshop, film screening, and a fireside chat with Somerville’s U.S. Representative Ayanna Pressley. Programming is led by Somerville’s Department of Racial and Social Justice, in partnership with local partners. For questions about any of the City of Somerville’s Black History Month events or to learn more about the specifics of each event, please contact RSJ at rsj@somervillema.gov or visit somervillema.gov/rsj.

Open survey allows students, parents, educators , and community members to inform how statewide graduation requirements can be implemented and designed

The Healey-Driscoll Administration is inviting the public to help inform how high school graduation requirement recommendations will take shape and be put into practice before the final K-12 Statewide Graduation Council report is released in June 2026. Students, parents and caregivers, educators, district leaders, businesses, and community members can complete a survey online. The survey should take 10-12 minutes to complete.

“I’m hopeful that people will leave this year’s concert feeling hope,” says Stacie Clayton, founder and director of the annual Community Gospel Choir concerts, which have been held in honor of Black History Month almost every February since 2005.  The Choir is made up of community members of all races and backgrounds, from Somerville, Medford, and neighboring towns.

The Presidents Day holiday puts us in mind of those great leaders who governed us throughout our country’s tumultuous history: The American Revolution, the Civil War, two world wars, the Great Depression, the Civil Rights movement, and so on.

Greatness was thrust upon certain holders of that office by events that shaped their legacies, while others are relegated to general obscurity due to a lack of conflict and controversy during their times in office. Each one’s tenure in office should be regarded as equally important, seeing that great events could have elevated their place in history at the drop of a hatpin.

Eagle Feathers #348 – Sleds and sleighs

By Bob (Monty) Doherty

Boston Street on Prospect Hill is aptly named. From the top of the street on a winter day, it looks like you could coast down her elevation and not stop until you crossed the Charles and continued on into Boston. From this spot, your line of sight to the Prudential Building is dead on.

*

Recently, I caught up with my fellow New England Poetry Advisory Board Member Wendy Drexler to talk about her new collection of poetry, Harvest of What Remains.

From her publisher: In Harvest of What Remains, Wendy Drexler navigates her intense journey as primary caregiver for her husband as Alzheimer’s wraps its great arms around them, irrevocably altering their relationship in ways that call upon depths of grief and survival strategies of dissimulation as well as the imperative to sow seeds of love and compassion.