The Somerville High School Groundbreaking ceremony held last week marked a milestone in this historic project, as the school year comes to a close and the start of demolition and construction work approaches. Demolition of the B wing is slated to begin on Friday, June 22.

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It was an unusual chilly morning for mid-May, so I found myself huddled in the backroom of my old haunt, the Bloc 11 Cafe in Union Square. A balding man with a biblical beard took his place at my table. His name, Michael Russem.

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Benjamin D. Carson is a Professor of English at Bridgewater State University. His creative work has appeared or is forthcoming in Red Fez, The Ampersand Review, Cactus Heart, Free Inquiry, The Bitchin’ Kitsch, and the Charles River Journal.

Front row: Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone, Tim McNabb, IBEW 103 Business Agent Rich Antonellis, and Brayan Andrade.Middle row: Superintendent Mary Skipper and Tom Bent, Bent Electrical.Back row: SHS Headmaster Sebastian LaGambina, Guy Ando – SHS Electrical Instructor, SHS Associate Headmaster and CTE Director Leo DeSimone, Joe Marino – SHS Electrical instructor

Tim McNabb, Brayan Andrade enter apprentice program at Bent Electric

Class of 2018 Somerville High School (SHS) graduates Tim McNabb and Brayan Andrade entered a five-year apprentice program after each student earned an I.B.E.W. Local 103 scholarship for the pre-Apprentice Partnership Program at Bent Electrical Contractors, Inc. The apprenticeship program allows participating students to become members of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.  I.B.E.W. Local 103 represents all of eastern Massachusetts.

Arrests:
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Michael Shippee, of 54 Sydney St., June 13, 3:59 p.m., arrested at Washington St. on charges of larceny from a building, larceny under $1200, receiving a stolen credit card, identity fraud, forgery of document, and improper use of credit card under $1200.

New survey finds widespread misconceptions about blood donation

As part of an international movement, the American Red Cross is launching the Missing Types campaign today to recruit new blood donors – and those who have not given recently – to ensure lifesaving blood is available for patients.

During a lighter moment, Rose Cheyenne (right) from Samaritans of Boston loaded SCES nurse Nkera Rukubanuka down with plastic cups, to demonstrate how many small issues can collectively become overwhelming, during a suicide prevention training at Somerville-Cambridge Elder Services.  SCES photo

Tips for identifying and assisting elders at-risk for suicide was the focus of a recent clinical training at Somerville-Cambridge Elder Services (SCES).

The discussion was led by Rose Cheyenne from Samaritans of Boston, a not-for-profit that provides suicide prevention services. Speaking to roughly 40 SCES case managers, social workers, and nurses, Cheyenne described suicide as a complicated issue that impacts many older adults, noting the highest suicide rate in 2016 was among people aged 45-64– with people over age 85 a close second. She also described listening as a powerful prevention tool.

With construction on the new Somerville High School building project underway and set to ramp up in the summer months, gradual changes to parking options on the Central Hill Campus (which includes City Hall, Somerville High School, and the Somerville Public Library) and the surrounding public streets have begun.

William Turville

Doug Holder interviews sculptor and architect William Turville at the Bloc 11 Cafe in Somerville, MA. Turville has left his mark on many venues in and around Somerville, MA.

Listen to the interview here.