I have been a democrat my entire voting life.  My first election was my vote for Clinton in 1992.  I will state that I am not a native Somerville nor MA resident.  Since moving to Somerville, where I own my house, I have become very interested in the elected officials and their votes.  It comes as [...]

The Welcome Project has helped produce Digital Storytelling Videos of inspirational immigrant stories including one that seemed especially moving to me entitled “My Mom” by Rocky Man :

My life in school has been very fun so far. Mainly because my senior friends were around me and hanging out with me. Certainly I have more friends than them but I have more fun when I’m with them. But sadly, they are graduating this year and not going to be with me next year [...]

…about the proposed FY10 budget of the Somerville Public Schools? …about art and music instruction in the public schools? …about efforts by the schools to prepare students to succeed when they finish high school? These are the next three topics of discussion on the Superintendent’s cable access television show, Our Schools – Our City, broadcast regularly on local cable channel 15.

[ May 30, 2009; 7:30 pm; ] Music for Hope Concert to Benefit RESPOND
Saturday, May 30, 2009
7:30pm, Tufts University – Cohen Auditorium

[ May 26, 2009; 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm. ] Come on out to our next PDS meeting. There is a lot going on so come on out and get involved in one of the most exciting organizations in the city!

When: Tuesday, May 26 – 6:30pm to 8:30pm
Where: Blue Shirt Cafe – 424 Highland Avenue – Davis Square

From 6:30 to 7:30, we will have our [...]

Somerville by the numbers, our community’s carbon foot-print, and collecting resident immigration stories are just a few of the story ideas generated at last Sunday’s Brainstorming Session. Read on for more suggestions and please leave your ideas and feedback below in the comments. Some of these stories will soon be pitched (in more detail) for [...]

[ May 31, 2009; 2:00 pm to 5:00 pm. ] Join the Somerville Bicycle Committee and the Somerville Historic Preservation Commission for a bike tour featuring Somerville’s many historic houses of worship.

We’ll meet at Somerville City Hall, 93 Highland Avenue, at 2 pm on Sunday, May 31. We’ll take about three hours to ride about nine miles, stopping along the way to see various churches [...]

[ May 28, 2009; 7:00 pm to 8:30 pm. ] HONK! Neighborhood meeting, May 28th, 2009 7-8:30 PM at the West Branch Library in Davis Square, 40 College Ave. The HONK festival returns October 9-11th in and around Davis Square. This community meeting will be about how you can get involved in helping to make HONK happen again. Check out www.honkfest.org for more [...]

Learn more about the recent trip to China taken by Somerville High School teacher Mark Quinones over April vacation week. Quinones visited one of the nation’s largest trading partner as part of a teacher study team organized by Primary Source. Dr. Anne Foley, Principal of the John F. Kennedy School will take a similar teacher/study trip to China over the summer.

the Somerville Public Schools would be grateful for a letter of endorsement from you to include with our application to become an approved Supplemental Education Services provider with the Commonwealth. If we are successful in this application the district could potentially recoup up to $100,000 in elementary academic tutoring funds now distributed to outside vendors.

[ May 19, 2009; 7:00 pm to 8:30 pm. ] As announced in the Somerville Journal : What should happen with the former Powder House Community School?

Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone and Ward 7 Alderman Robert Trane invite all interested community members to a public meeting to discuss the Powder House Community School site at 1060 Broadway.

The meeting will take place from 7 p.m. to 8:30 [...]

[ May 19, 2009; 6:30 pm; ] According to the Somerville Journal:
Somerville Democrats will meet Tuesday, May 19, at 6:30 p.m. in the community room at the Visiting Nurses Association at 259 Lowell St.

Mayor Joe Curtatone will speak on “The Economic Challenges Facing Somerville.”
Note : this location is wheelchair accessible

[ May 14, 2009; 6:00 pm; ] Forum on Gentrification and Displacement!
Thursday, May 14th, 6 PM
Elizabeth Peabody House
277 Broadway (at Broadway & Grant Street) Somerville, MA 02145

Gentrification and Displacement: What do they mean?  What can we do about them in Somerville?
Please join us to watch the film “BOOM: the Sound of Eviction” about gentrification and efforts to prevent displacement, then hear [...]

The Community Action Agency of Somerville (CAAS), the designated anti-poverty agency for the City of Somerville, MA, is seeking a Director of Finance and Administration. This position is responsible for managing financial, administrative, human resources and other operational systems and practices and is a key member of the senior management team. Reports to the Executive [...]

Thanks to Jessica, a senior in the Tufts class entitled “Experimenting with Philanthropy,” CAAS will receive $1,800 to hire youth interpreters to help the residents of Clarendon Hill build a stronger tenants’ association.

[ May 27, 2009; 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm. ] Please join us!
Spring Reception to Support

Rebekah Gewirtz
Ward 6 Alderman

Where: Sagra Restaurant, 400 Highland Ave Davis Square

When: Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Time: 6-8pm
Light appetizers will be served.
Suggested Donation is: $35, $75, $150
..but if you’re unable to make a contribution please come as Rebekah’s guest anyway.
$500 is the maximum contribution allowed by [...]

[ May 16, 2009; 10:00 am to 2:00 pm. ] ~ Come energize your spring + summer at the…

Living Green Festival
Saturday May 16th – 10AM to 2PM
Somerville High School – 81 Highland Ave
Presented by Somerville Climate Action
FREE Admission!

Step up your sustainability through amazing hands-on workshops and demonstrations…
• Attend great sessions on healthy cooking, bike repair, home gardening, insulation, and more
• [...]

The City of Somerville, as an Entitlement Community, receives millions of Federal dollars from HUD each year from the Community Development Block Grant, Emergency Shelter Grant, and HOME programs.  These monies must be spent on activities that primarily benefit low and moderate income Somerville residents in three areas:  
Provide decent affordable housing;
Eliminate slums and blight;
Enhance [...]

I live outside Davis Square and every time I ride the T, I stop and look at the tiles that line the entrance to the station. I grew up in Somerville at the same time as many of the people who made these tiles, so I usually look for someone I know, and I often [...]

[ May 5, 2009; 11:30 am to 1:00 pm. ] Based on the success of our first attempt at this, DARBI will be hosting another Networking Lunch at Green Tomato on Elm Street on Tuesday May 5th from 11:30 -1 (or as long as people want to hang out!). $8 for DARBI members/$10 for nonmembers. The buffet-style lunch will include a variety of sandwiches and [...]

This week, Craig Leach’s media class at Somerville High broke into four groups to discuss their use of social media. In this class, Facebook reigns supreme. MySpace is losing out. YouTube is very big. Twitter hasn’t caught on except for a few. Even Facebook seems on the decline—not as exciting as when it first took [...]

teenagers today get bored easily and use internet for many reasons which may not seem professional. One of the main reasons is interactivity. teens talk a lot with their friends. they share their everyday life with their friends and sometimes even the world. some examples of these are facebook, myspace, youtube, twitter etc. most teens [...]

We use myspace/facebook because we want to stay in contact with our friends and meet new people. Also it’s fun because you get to express yourself, what you like, and your personality. We use myspace to check out new bands and artists. W used to go on it everyday, now we just go on and [...]

As a group we came to a conclusion that we mostly use the computer for myspace.com, facebook.com, orkut.com, and youtube.com. The time we spend on these websites are approximately 2 hours a day. On these websites we communicate with old friends, people from other cities or states, and we also make new friends. On these websites we [...]

Twitter is a magnificent social website  where one can let people know what they are doing.  Many famous people have twitter and post on twitter. Twitter is a great place to show that famous people have social lives just like the rest of us. We find it amazing that we can interact with celebrities who we idol. [...]

[ May 17, 2009; 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm. ] Help us come up with ideas for great Somerville stories for our community-funded journalism experiment. We will post the ideas and ask for donations to get them researched and written. We’ll explain more at the meeting. You can also read more about it here and here.

We’ll meet in the Visiting Nurses Association assisted living facility [...]

Somerville Voices invites you to a brainstorming meeting to come up with great story ideas about our city.
We are about to start a new experiment in community journalism, and we want to use the ideas generated at the meeting.
In the year or so that Somerville Voices has been active, we have made an important discovery: [...]

[ May 3, 2009; 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm. ] Help us plan a May 17 community brainstorming meeting at which we will come up with story ideas for our new community-funded journalism experiment.

We’ll meet in the small dining room of the Visiting Nurses Association assisted living facility, 259 Lowell St.

The facility is accessible to all. We will not be providing child care or translation [...]

[ May 9, 2009; 10:00 am; ] The rain date is Sunday, May 10th. For information on where to go in your neighborhood, see: http://www.somervillema.gov/newsDetail.cfm?instance_id=144

Saturday, 5/9, 10:00 a.m., Locations throughout the City.

[ May 3, 2009; 10:00 am; ] The City will be hosting our first annual Shape up the Old Somerville Road Race, a 2.7 mile race/walk beginning and ending on the City Hall concourse. A children’s “Fun Run” will begin from the concourse at 10:00 a.m., with the 2.7 miler beginning at 11:00 a.m. Following the race, there will be a Health [...]

[ May 1, 2009; 10:00 am; ] Mayor Curtatone and Ward 7 Alderman Trane invite all interested individuals to attend Somerville’s Arbor Day celebration on Friday, May 1st at 10:00 a.m., at the West Somerville Neighborhood School, 177 Powderhouse Boulevard. The event will include two tree plantings in front of the school grounds, as well as a brief ceremony acknowledging the renewal [...]

[ May 27, 2009; 7:00 pm; ] Wednesday, May 27th, Cross Street Elderly Center. From Dave Ficociello’s post on the Somerville Parking Problems group:
Regarding parking and other city policies, I encourage you all to
attend Somerville’s spring “ResiStat” meetings. The Mayor, the head
of Traffic and Parking, and your Ward Aldermen will be at all of the
meetings. This is a great opportunity to explain [...]

[ May 26, 2009; 7:00 pm; ] Tuesday, May 26th, 7:00 p.m., VNA Community Room, 259 Lowell Street. From Dave Ficociello’s post on the Somerville Parking Problems group:
Regarding parking and other city policies, I encourage you all to
attend Somerville’s spring “ResiStat” meetings. The Mayor, the head
of Traffic and Parking, and your Ward Aldermen will be at all of the
meetings. This is a [...]

[ May 20, 2009; 7:00 pm; ] Wednesday, May 20th, 7:00 p.m., First Congregational Church of Somerville, 89 College Avenue . From Dave Ficociello’s post on the Somerville Parking Problems group:
Regarding parking and other city policies, I encourage you all to
attend Somerville’s spring “ResiStat” meetings. The Mayor, the head
of Traffic and Parking, and your Ward Aldermen will be at all of the
meetings. [...]

[ May 12, 2009; 7:00 pm; ] Tuesday, May 12th, 7:00 p.m., Senior Center, TAB building, 167 Holland Street. From Dave Ficociello’s post on the Somerville Parking Problems group:
Regarding parking and other city policies, I encourage you all to
attend Somerville’s spring “ResiStat” meetings. The Mayor, the head
of Traffic and Parking, and your Ward Aldermen will be at all of the
meetings. This is [...]

[ May 11, 2009; 7:00 pm; ] Monday, May 11th, 7:00 p.m., Central Library Meeting Room, 79 Highland Avenue. From Dave Ficociello’s post on the Somerville Parking Problems group:
Regarding parking and other city policies, I encourage you all to
attend Somerville’s spring “ResiStat” meetings. The Mayor, the head
of Traffic and Parking, and your Ward Aldermen will be at all of the
meetings. This is [...]

[ May 5, 2009; 7:00 pm; ] Tuesday, May 5th, 7:00 p.m., Healey School, 5 Meacham Street. From Dave Ficociello’s post on the Somerville Parking Problems group:
Regarding parking and other city policies, I encourage you all to
attend Somerville’s spring “ResiStat” meetings. The Mayor, the head
of Traffic and Parking, and your Ward Aldermen will be at all of the
meetings. This is a great [...]

[ April 29, 2009 to May 1, 2009. ] The Somerville High School Art Fair starts on Wednesday, April 29th and runs through Friday, May 1st. Special opening reception will be start at 6:30 PM on the 29th. Student work is on display throughout the Atrium of the High School.

[ May 3, 2009; 10:00 am to 3:00 pm. ] The Mayor’s Office recently announced that the City of Somerville will host a 2.7-mile “Shape Up the Old Somerville Road Race,” combining an old tradition in the Recreation Department’s “Old Somerville Road Race,” and a new tradition with the Shape up Somerville component. The run will take place on Sunday, May 3rd at will start [...]

[ May 16, 2009; 10:00 am to 2:00 pm. ] An all-ages fair of forward-thinking fun. Get your spirits up and your footprint down!