Somerville Voices

There’s been a fascinating discussion among Yahoo group members of Somerville-4-Schools. It started with a new parent complaining about back-to-school communications being lacking in some respects, but lead to some encouraging words from parent Melissa McWhinney (see below), and finally this great endorsement of the School Council’s efforts at Somerville High by Joe Beckmann

Come to a FREE screening of the award-winning documentary:
A Crude Awakening: The Oil Crash

Learn more about the film at www.oilcrashmovie.com

We are now reaching the end of the era of cheap, abundant oil,
but what will happen when oil production begins to decrease?

You already know more about Somerville than the kids who spend a year or two reporting here and then move on. You have years of personal experience understanding one or more important civic issues. The Somerville News, Somerville Journal, and this humble forum can certain benefit from your insights. And more than any time that I can remember, providing a decent future for all Somerville’s citizens requires our fully understanding our present and the past that created it.

Crossing guards are posted at the following corners every school day to make help students safely walk or bike to school. Each corner is staffed from approximately 7:30-8:30 AM and again from 2:25-3:00 PM.

The last thing you expect to encounter is a lilting Southern accent when you walk into the Director’s office at the Central Branch of the Somerville Public Library. But that’s part of the package you get with the new Director Nancy Milnor. Milnor is a native of Tennessee and has run libraries in Galveston, Texas, St. Louis Missouri, to name just a few locales. Milnor’s last job was the relatively “genteel” position of director of the Connecticut Historical Library. She left those tony environs to work in the milieu that is her first love: the public library system.

Either that or I am getting behind…not sure which. Fred Berman and Bill Bumpus have three more programs of interest to S’Villans. First: Disabilities with guest Eileen Feldman, 2′nd: The History and Community Importance of Community Television with guest Wendy Blom. Exec. Dir. of SCAT and 3′rd: All about Green Jobs with guests Mary Jo Connelly and Laurie Leyshon. Check out their Video Blog to watch these and other Progressive Voices Programs. Progressive Voices… Mondays at 6pm on Somerville Community Access Television. Ch.3 on both the Comcast and RCN cable systems in Somerville.

Join us for the re-opening of the Mystic Community Garden at the Mystic Housing Development. The opening takes place as part of the Mystic Providers’ annual picnic for Somerville Housing Authority tenants. Drop by anytime between 3 and 7 to tour the garden. Just drop by the The Welcome Project’s table in front of the…

Join us on Wed, Aug 20th Tuesday, August 19 for the re-opening of the Mystic Community Garden at the Mystic Housing Development. The opening takes place as part of the Mystic Providers’ annual picnic for Somerville Housing Authority tenants. Drop by anytime between 3 and 7 to tour the garden. Just drop by the The Welcome Project’s table in front of the Mystic Activity Center at 530 Mystic Ave. We’ll walk you over for a tour of the new garden.

The Committee to Re-Elect Rep. Carl Sciortino today announced the launch of a new website and mailing to residents of Somerville and Medford to raise awareness about Rep. Sciortino’s write-in campaign for re-election on September 16th.

When Jack Hamilton began serving as the Executive Director of CAAS (the Community Action Agency of Somerville), Ronald Reagan was President, postage stamps cost 20 cents, IBM had just introduced the first personal computer running on MS-DOS, and PacMan-mania was sweeping the country. After more than a quarter-century of service to Somerville’s low-income residents, Hamilton has announced he will retire as the head of Somerville’s anti-poverty agency at the end of 2008.

The Somerville Public Schools is looking for businesses, non-profit partners, volunteers and community experts to work with us planning and running afterschool activity clubs for students in Grades K-8 across the City. This is why we are inviting you to an Afterschool Activity Club Bidders’ Conference hosted by the Somerville Public Schools on Thursday, September 4th from 10:30 AM – 12:30 PM at the SPS Central Office (181 Washington Street – in the same building as the Boys and Girls Club).

Below is a letter I submitted to the City of Somerville License Commission in favor of the above petitioner and his application to obtain a conditioned liquor license for Churassco (now Pampas) Buffet and Grill Beer at 505 Medford Street in Magoun Square.

Isn’t it odd that there has been no discussion in Somerville at all about the Cambridge Biolab 3, pending in East Cambridge?? The requirements for transporting its contents mandate “no tunnels” so everything that goes to Logan goes through Somerville. And everything is virtually all that’s in the Biolab 4 except fissionable materials!

Folks,

Just a reminder about this meeting about a proposed bio-lab in Cambridge.  As residents of Somerville, we can speak to the danger of the materials going through our city to get to Cambridge.

158 Spring St…

You may not have heard, but a developer is planning a Level Three biotech lab in Cambridge , to test toxic gases and other intriguing Cantabridgian products. What’s particularly interesting and notable to Somerville is that such items cannot be legally transported through tunnels, so, if they come from the airport, they come through Somerville . Nobody in Somerville seems to have noticed, but such a lab could kill your kids. Level Three labs are legitimate alternate testing sites for Level Four substances on occasion, and lack only the security conditions for that higher status.

Seeking musicians for a new brass quintet to be based in Somerville. Rehearsals will be once or twice weekly. The intended skill level is proficient amateur, but if people would like to build up their skill level through the group, that’d be great too. We won’t take ourselves too seriously, but once we put together a solid set of pieces, I’d like for the group to have the goal of performing in the community.

Fred Berman and Bill Bumpus interviewed a student at Tufts University about the ongoing contract negotiations between the Janitors at Tufts and the subcontractor for the school. If you would like to hear what Kevin Dillon has to say about the “Janitors Alliance” please click the link that will take you to the new blog for the Progressive Voices television show cablecast on Somerville Community Access Television. Channel 3 on the Comcast and RCN cable systems in Somerville.

I attended another positive, constructive Charter Advisory Meeting this morning. Discussion focused on the Board of Aldermen structure (elections, terms, make up, selection of president).
Proportional representation and other changes that could increase participation and representation were discussed. All agreed that increased participation and representation are a top goal for any changes.

Attention Young Somerville,, Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone and the City of Somerville’s Young Somerville Advisory Group announced today (7/31) that they are now accepting applications for all interested Somerville residents, ages 21-35, to serve on the Advisory Group for the 2008-2009 term.

My name is Greg Nadeau and I am serving as a resident representative on the Mayor’s Charter Advisory Committee. This committee will spend 6 months developing recommendations to change the city’s charter (base constitution). All changes would need to be ratified by the Aldermen, then Legislature,then voters.

One of the questions that is being considered is the structure of the Board of Aldermen.

I would be interested if anyone on this service has had experiences with our current Alderman structure that suggest improvements to the structure(at-large vs ward, terms, committees, public participation, etc).

Hello everyone, Due to the overwhelming success of the initial sale of tickets to the October 4th Somerville Youth Soccer Family Night, the New England Revolution have made additional tickets available, so if you missed the August 1st deadline - no worries! Tickets are now available until August 29th!

This is the question we will ask students of all ages at the National Night Out on Tuesday, August 5th. Join us at the National Night Out begining at 5:00 PM in Foss Park - not just to be interviewed for TV, but also to enjoy an evening of family fun and a celebration of peace and community.

There’s an interesting story in the Sunday Globe’s City Edition about Somerville residents (several of whom are part of the Somerville Voices group), who have taken down fences and built stronger ties with their neighbors.…

At the Dept. of Public Works yard, 1 Franey Road. You must be able to show you’re a Somerville resident. No businesses or property owners who don’t live in Somerville. Here’s a list of what they take…

The OPENAIR Circus is an amazing phenomenon with an improbable history. If you’ve got kids, take them this weekend and think about joining. After this weekend, the next major performance will be in Boston’s First Night parade.…