A general use policy governing the operation of surveillance technology in the City of Somerville is being studied by city official for possible implementation in the near future.

By Thalia Plata

The Somerville City Council’s Legislative Matters Committee discussed a new ordinance called the Surveillance Technology General Use Policy at their latest meeting on January 28.

The policy would build off the Public Oversight of Surveillance Technology ordinance passed in October of 2019 which will go into effect on October 15, 2020.

1965 rendition of a “New Boston,” depicting the new Government Center taking the place of Scollay Square.

By Sue Minichiello

Yesterday’s urban renewal is today’s gentrification. A bold statement? Perhaps, but there is no doubt that when neighborhoods are redeveloped in ways that exile their longtime residents and businesses, just as much — if not more — can be lost as gained.

AARP is taking appointments to help with income tax preparations starting February 10 at the Holland Street Senior Center at 167 Holland Street. Please call Josephine to schedule an appointment, at 617-625-6600 ext. 2300.

Before school started Thursday, January 30 at the West Somerville Neighborhood School, Somerville Teachers Association (STA) members gathered in the frigid weather in their parking lot with signs to walk in solidarity for paraprofessionals.

(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.)

Star Market Site/299 Broadway

I have not been able to attend any meetings regarding the Star Market site on Broadway because of my work schedule.

I therefore need to express my opinion, as a Winter Hill resident and as a real estate attorney in Boston, via email that the City’s proposal to take this private property by eminent domain is a gross overstep of power. As a Winter Hill resident, I would obviously also like to see the property occupied, but the answer is not to forcibly take the property from a private owner and hand it over to another private owner whose vision for the property aligns with City Hall’s.

The news that all the bridge reopenings will be delayed by several months was something of a blow to those in the area most affected by the closure.

While nearly all of us have been put through the mill over the past year dealing with the traffic snarls, noise and general hubbub that the GLX project has wrought, none have felt it more keenly than the business owners who have been all but cutoff entirely from conducting business as usual.

Eagle Feathers #197 – Old Put

By Bob (Monty) Doherty

He was born and raised in Salem Village, today’s Danvers, Massachusetts. As a young man, he moved to Connecticut when it was still considered a frontier. He was a Major with Rogers Rangers during the French and Indian War and narrowly escaped death at the stake as an Indian prisoner. He aided in the capture of Havana in 1762, the relief of Detroit during Pontiac’s War in 1764 and preceding the Revolution, was a charter member of the Sons of Liberty.

The Boston Science Fiction Film Festival will run from February 7 to 17 at the Somerville Theatre.

The Boston Science Fiction Film Festival (Boston SciFi) is an 11-day cinematic event held at the historic Somerville Theatre from February 7 to the 17.

The 2020 edition marks its 45th anniversary as the longest running genre fest in America. The first nine days consists of a traditional film festival. Whether they be features, shorts, webisodes, workshops, parties or a new Hollywood film, BostonSciFi emphasizes emerging directors with distinct visions from around the globe.

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Review by Off the Shelf Correspondent Dennis Daly

Well-titled and well-introduced, Timothy Gager’s new poetry collection, Spreading Wild Flowers, both celebrates and broods on everyday life and the persistence of a medieval-generated, but contemporary version, of a morally centered Everyman. Gager’s wiry verses come at you from all directions, each bloom well-rooted and well protected against predatory aesthetes and lackadaisical flower pickers. Lushness seems beside the point to this poet. Themes of hardscrabble continuity and day-to-day endurance drive these poems.

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Carolynn Kingyens was born and raised in Northeast Philadelphia. She grew up in a row home, the youngest of seven children. Her poems have been featured in Boxcar Poetry Journal, The Potomac, Glass: Journal of Poetry, The Orange Room Review, Red Eft Review, Across the Margin, Eunoia Review, Tuck Magazine, Schuylkill Valley Journal, Haggard & Halloo, and Word Riot. She was nominated for Best New Poets by Silenced Press. Carolynn often draws inspiration from the Earnest Hemmingway quote: All you have to do is write one true sentence. Write the truest sentence that you know. Her latest collection is Before the Big Bang Makes a Sound.