The City of Somerville is currently seeking applicants for seven members of the public to re-establish the Urban Forestry Committee. The Committee’s input is intended to support and guide policies and plans currently being reviewed and advanced by the Mayor’s Office of Strategic Planning and Community Development and the Department of Public Works. The Committee will advise the City on matters related to the management and maintenance of all existing and new trees and shrubs on public grounds and public ways. Members may also review issues related to the health, effective maintenance, and protection of existing trees and shrubs on public grounds and public ways; update information in the tree inventory; support public education and outreach on urban forestry; and provide comments during any city permitting review processes.

Join Somerville Media Center for one of the most brutal sporting events of the month: The Spelling Bee! Want to be a part of the fun festivities, sign up at https://goo.gl/KQedKV.

Re-live your glory years as a grammar school know-it-all. Show your 6th grade English teacher you turned out literate after all. Prove to your friends that you are “indeed” (not “indicted”) a good speller and it’s your phone’s autocorrect getting you into trouble. This is a fundraiser event for SMC.

Somerville Cares About Prevention (SCAP) announced today the results of the program’s annual “Shoulder Tap Surveys,” designed to discourage adults from purchasing alcohol for people under twenty-one. During the project, youth worked to measure the willingness of a complete stranger to purchase alcohol for a minor.

SCAP also announced this fall the beginning of their annual Compliance Checks, assessing how Somerville establishments perform in regards to preventing underage sales to minors. Compliance checks will continue at random through September 2019.

Gilman Square GLX Block Party set for 9/15; “A Ball for Squares” planned in Ball Square 9/30.

With construction for the Green Line Extension Project (GLX) now underway and ramping up in the coming weeks, the City of Somerville is partnering with local business organizations to host pop-up events at locations for several of the future GLX stations. Please join us for one of the following events this month, and stay tuned for additional events as GLX construction continues.

 Gilman Square Block Party September 15

(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)

By Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone

A monthly look at ways to get involved with your city: Don’t just live in Somerville, be Somerville!

GLX Community Meeting to Discuss Upcoming Bridge Closures, September 24

Although timelines are subject to change, current plans for construction of the Green Line Extension (GLX) call for the full closure of the Broadway Bridge, just east of Ball Square, for one full year beginning in January 2019. While the bridge is closed, detours will be in place for cars, bikes, pedestrians, and MBTA bus routes 80 and 89.

By Jim Clark

A Somerville police officer was dispatched to the Holiday Inn at 30 Washington Street last week for a check condition call.

Upon arrival, the officer spotted the reported vehicle in the parking lot of the Holiday Inn. The subject of the call, Abner Puig, was sitting in the driver’s seat and another individual was sitting in the rear passenger seat.

The Somerville Auxiliary Fire Department was recently recognized by the Federal Emergency Management Agency and Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency as a CERT (Citizens Emergency Response Team). A CERT is trained in emergency responses for disasters in our community. Each member is trained in CPR/first aid and is trained in emergency response situations. Our team is located at 259 Somerville Ave (public safety building). If you would like to become part of your community CERT, please call 617-623-1700 ×8410 or message us on facebook somerville Auxiliary Fire/Cert team. Be a part of your community, join today

As stated below, going forward, the City of Somerville will officially observe Indigenous Peoples’ Day. The official proclamation was officially entered into the public record at 3 p.m. Thursday. A statement from Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone is below.

STATEMENT FROM MAYOR JOSEPH A. CURTATONE

This year on Monday, October 8, the City of Somerville will observe Indigenous Peoples’ Day. We will join – among many others – Alaska, Vermont, Durango, Colo., and Traverse City, Mich., in doing the right thing. It’s been an issue we’ve given careful consideration, and many inside and outside our city have made compelling arguments for this change.

Life in the Ville by Jimmy Del Ponte

On this past Election Day, I remembered what my dad always said. “Vote for the Italians first!” Ah, the wisdom of our fathers.

When my dad got mad he turned into a very religious person. “Jesus, Mary and Joseph!” Jesus sometimes was referred to using the middle initial of “H.” In my eight years of parochial incarceration at St. Clements school they never mentioned a middle initial. Dad also made many references to Hell and who should go and how they should get there.