The National Weather Service has issued a Heat Advisory through Thursday, July 17. High heat and humidity are expected with feels-like temperatures up to 100 degrees. It’s important to know how to keep yourself and loved ones cool and safe on high heat days. The expected weather conditions can cause heat illness if precautions are not taken. Visit www.somervillema.gov/keepcool for heat safety tips, which are also available in multiple languages, and more ways to keep cool in and around Somerville this summer.

(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)

On 7.8.2025, the National Education Association (NEA) voted to cut ties with the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) and not accept the ADL’s definition of antisemitism. This was a regretful decision that undermines the many efforts ADL undertakes to combat any form of racism and discrimination generally and antisemitism particularly, and puts many, if not most Jews around the country on high alert as it comes in the midst of a palpable and significant rise in antisemitic acts around the country following the October 7th attacks and the war that followed.

Eagle Feathers #333 – Person’s Ten Acres

By Bob (Monty) Doherty

In 1871 Person Davis was a member of the “Town” of Somerville’s last Board of Selectmen. The following year in1872, he was a member of the “City” of Somerville’s first Board of Aldermen. In business he was a successful grain dealer and merchant. In Massachusetts politics, he represented Somerville for two terms, served on the General Court, and worked on the Committee of Street Railways. Davis Square, which grew up and around Person’s house, gardens and orchards, was named after him in 1883. After the Civil War, West Somerville developed rapidly, and since then Davis Square has been at its heart.

The Somerville Arts Council’s ArtBeat festival has become a much-loved annual tradition here in the city for many.

One thing can be said for certain: it brings to the fore some of the most imaginative and unique creations one could ever wish to see, hear, and – sometimes – even feel.

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I recently caught up with New England Poetry Club advisory board member Gloria Monaghan. She has a new poetry collection out from the Lily Press titled The Diary of St. Marion.

From her website:

Gloria Monaghan is a Professor at Wentworth University. She has published seven collections of poetry. Her seventh book, Diary of Saint Marion, Lily Poetry Review (2025), was featured at the Association of Writers and Writing Programs (2025, AWP). Her poems have appeared in Nixes Mate, NPR, Poem-a-Day, Lily Poetry Review, Mom Egg Review, Quartet, and River Heron, among others. She has been nominated twice for the Pushcart Prize, as well as the Massachusetts Book Award and the Griffin Prize. She has also been nominated for the Sheila Margaret Motton Book Award from the New England Poetry Club. Thanks to a Bistline Grant from Wentworth Institute, she recently completed a film on the painter, Nancy Ellen Craig, Daughter of Rubens, which was accepted into the 2023 Provincetown Film Festival. She is currently working on another film about the Dominican painter, Jose Ricon Mora.

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Mel Schorin writes about nature and other things. He published a book of roadkill poems titled Raccoon Sympathy. He lives in Cambridge.

Year-long contract campaign involving hundreds of educators, caregivers, and students leads to greater investment in Somerville Public Schools and increased supports for the city’s most vulnerable students and educators

On June 23, the Somerville Educators Union ratified three new contracts which represent a huge step forward in reifying community values of inclusivity, accessibility, and educational equity. The union’s priorities and campaign included caregivers and community members; several caregivers served as silent bargaining representatives on the union’s bargaining team throughout the process, and union leaders hosted biweekly office hours for community members and organizations to learn about the bargaining process. These contract wins reflect a ten-month effort by educators, students, families, and community members to call upon Mayor Katjana Ballantyne to use the city’s reserves to fund its schools. 

The Middlesex Sheriff’s Office (MSO) is warning residents of a significant uptick in reported scam calls in which perpetrators are posing as members of the office. During June, the MSO’s Inner Perimeter Security (IPS) team reported receiving 59 complaints of scammers posing as officers or deputies – the most recently reported to the office in a single month.

Of the 59 people who reported receiving calls during the month of June, one individual reported losing more than $1,700.