Somerville Voices

Come see the power of words and the power of girls join forces at Teen Voices’ annual Pens of Power Conference! Join over 100 Boston teens for a Saturday devoted to the power of the written word. Local female poets, novelists and journalists will lead exciting workshops and talk about what motivates them to write. Enjoy free lunch, prizes and beats from DJ D’hana.

Tired of getting ever higher energy bills? There are many ways you can reduce your energy consumption, save money and reduce your impact on the planet. Check out Somerville Climate Action for practical energy saving information and videos. Somerville Climate Action (SCA) is a group of volunteers working to reduce energy use and resulting global warming gases in Somerville homes and businesses.

Sustainable Somerville — a nascent network of community organizations working to make/keep Somerville a great place to live, work, and play — is sponsoring a Sustainability Scavenger Hunt at ArtBeat (Saturday, July 19th in Davis Square), to show how the common thread of sustainability connects the work of the

Another of the city’s popular family events, Family Fun Day includes a variety of activities for residents of all ages. Obstacle courses, games, watermelon eating contests, dancing, and a dunk tank are only a few examples of the day’s events! Dunk the Mayor! Dunk your Alderman! Eat your weight in watermelon! Bring your children, your parents, and your friends.

When can I drop off hazardous household waste? When does school start? Now you can find out on Somerville Voices.…

Just a heads up: the Somerville Garden Club is presenting a self guided garden tour  “Urban Gardens  Revealed,” TOMORROW June 21, from noon to five.  Be aware that tickets ($12) have been selling out, indicating more interest than the Garden Club may have anticipated.  As I write this they are still available at Pemberton and…

What would you like to know that could help you live better in Somerville?

So far, we’ve put together on this web site information about summer activities for kids, and property tax breaks available to many residents.

We’d like to do more along those lines—offering useful information in an easy-to-use format. What shall we work on…

Here’s an idea for formulating one’s beneficial worth to a community:

If you have a job serving the public, and you’re not doing it, then take the number of people you are not serving adequately, divide it by 10, and place those zeros to the left of one. Then put a decimal point at…

Even though today I feel like words are ultimately meaningless, I’m gonna start a little idea train here, asking what makes a community:

I would like to invite you to the East Coast Theatrical Premiere of SOUR, which is screening with the upcoming Boston International Film Festival series mid-day on June 14th. Filmed in 2006 during the Second Lebanese War, SOUR presents a new look at the grassroots peace process begun by 9 young skaters from Israel and…

All are welcome to join our open meeting tomorrow, Sunday, June 1st, 6-8pm in the 3rd Floor Community Room at the VNA at 259 Lowell Street. We’ll be brainstorming stories for the blog and discussing ways to improve the website.  Please RSVP to info(at)SomervilleVoices.org if you plan to attend. If you’re not able to come…

Take a look at the strong article by Somerville veteran Matt McLaughlin in the Somerville News. It’s about the controversy over Sen. James Webb’s bill to restore the GI Bill to what it was when FDR signed it during World War II: a ticket to college for American veterans.…

I’m due to get some of this incentive money from the federal government. Perhaps some of you are too. Since it isn’t in my budget, I’d be happy to pool it with others for some good community cause.

We have been waiting for years to have a double pole — two utilitiy poles lashed together — turned back into a single pole in front of our house. The extra pole blocks visibility, obstructs strollers and impedes snow removal. Recently we stumbled upon someone who actually seems to know how the process works! …

Winter Soldier: Iraq and Afghanistan will feature testimony from U.S. veterans who served in those occupations, giving an accurate account of what is really happening day in and day out, on the ground.…

The mayor of Somerville, Joseph Curtatone, has courageously and accurately called casino revenues “fool’s gold,” while other mayors, such as Michael Bissonnette of Chicopee, are shilling for the casino industry—along with Governor Patrick and Senate President Therese Murray. The reality for Somervillians is that bringing a casino into the Greater Boston area will cost them money, eventually quite a bit of money.…

Save Our Somerville would like to welcome home Sargent Matthew McLaughlin…