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Posted by Melissa McWhinney a 8:30 am on June 12, 2009
The message below was sent by Richard Saunders, Director of Music for the Somerville Public Schools. He is rightfully outraged by a bill currently being considered by the House of Representatives, (Bill H111)which would require school music department to sterilize instruments.
Here's a Globe article about it.…
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Posted in City Finances, Schools and Youth, Uncategorized | 1 Comment »
Posted by Linda Haviland Conte a 9:41 pm on June 6, 2009
I thought it was strange that Boston was closing schools. I hadn't heard of any cases in Somerville since that first lady that got it a couple of months ago. So, then when I heard of many absences at the Brown School, I wondered "What could it be?" Now the scuttlebutt from…
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Posted in Public Health & Safety, Schools and Youth, Uncategorized | No Comments »
Posted by Barry Rafkind a 10:18 pm on June 5, 2009
How many Somerville residents blog or tweet regularly about life in Somerville? Which blogs or Twitter accounts do you check regularly? I'm not into the Twitter scene yet, but here are some of the local blogs I'd recommend.…
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Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
Posted by Barry Rafkind a 9:40 pm on May 28, 2009
From the
SPS homepage, entitled "A message from Tony Pierantozzi, Superintendent of Schools"
... The extent of the impact of the current financial crisis on fiscal year 2010 remains unclear. We do know that the impact of the revenue decrease at the State level will require creative solutions and difficulty in maintaining our services…
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Posted in Arts and Culture, City Finances, Economy & Poverty, Events, Schools and Youth, Uncategorized | 7 Comments »
Posted by JasonCorey a 8:14 pm on May 1, 2009
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…
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Posted in Special, Uncategorized | No Comments »
Posted by Melissa McWhinney a 10:34 pm on April 10, 2009
Apropos of Barry's belief that Somerville needs more and better investigative reporting, you can learn to do it yourself! Northeastern University School of Journalism and the New England First Amendment Center are offering a May 1 workshop on investigative reporting and freedom of information.
http://www.neu.edu/firstamendment/news_and_announcements/workshop_registrationRead More.>>
Posted in Announcements, Media, Uncategorized | 1 Comment »
Posted by Marty Martinez a 9:28 am on April 7, 2009
Come out to the Progressive Democrats of Somerville (PDS) Annual Meeting. See what exciting things are happening with PDS as it celebrates the start of its 6th year.
When: Tuesday, April 21 - 6:30pm to 8:30pm
Where: Independent Restaurant - Union Square
The short program will include electionsRead More.>>
Posted in Announcements, Arts and Culture, Environment and Open Space, Events, Politics, Uncategorized | No Comments »
Posted by revmolly a 10:16 am on April 2, 2009
This Sunday at 9a the West Somerville area churches invite y'all to our olde, olde tradition of recalling Jesus' paradoxically humble entry into Roman-occupied Jerusalem amidst the poor and disenfranchised, the People! The original grassroots act of guerilla theatre against the forces of economic and political oppression.
Which is all to say: bring your kids or…
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Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
Posted by dlg3963 a 9:49 am on March 16, 2009
Thanks for Barry and Dave for setting up this blog and the Google group on this issue, and who ever got the Globe to provide some coverage of this issue on Sunday - good stuff!
I've been in a dialogue with my Alderman (I contacted the Mayor first), and Parking enforcement on this issue. I…
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Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
Posted by Joeb a 12:40 pm on March 15, 2009
On Friday I was a guest at the high school's Multicultural Fair. It was the most dramatic and most successful cultural event I've ever seen - beating everything from Lincoln Center to the MFA.
Dozens of cultures were brilliantly represented with music, dance, food and talk. The presentations were person-to-person, with teens talking with teens, reflecting…
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Posted in Arts and Culture, Schools and Youth, Uncategorized | 1 Comment »
Posted by eila a 12:23 am on March 7, 2009
March 6, 2009: Today, President Obama and Attorney General Holder announced funding allocations for state and local law enforcement assistance. MA is allocated State joint funding, plus 148 MA cities will also receive local government individual shares. Somerville's allotment is only exceeded by 20 other cities in MA.
This program is called the
Edward Byrne JusticeRead More.>>
Posted in Crime, Public Health & Safety, Uncategorized | No Comments »
Posted by eila a 6:12 pm on March 2, 2009
Perhaps a SomervilleVoices.org blogger can be the next Elizabeth Neuffer Fellow?
The International Women's Media Foundation announces the Elizabeth Neuffer Fellowship for full-time, part time or freelance journalists working (for at least 3 years) on human rights or social justice issues. This fellowship will allow recipients to spend 9 months in a research program at MIT…
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Posted in Announcements, Contests, Media, Uncategorized | No Comments »
Posted by Bill Shelton a 12:02 pm on February 27, 2009
Students learn concepts in their classes and learn from practicing the concepts in their communities. The concepts guide and inform the practice; the practice illuminates and tests the concepts.
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Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments »
Posted by revmolly a 12:42 pm on February 5, 2009
The Jesus fish kissing the Darwin fish? Why not? Our church is celebrating the 200th birthday of
Charles Darwin and the 150th anniversary of the publication of The Origin of Species this weekend with a special worship service. John Olson, a…
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Posted in Announcements, Uncategorized | No Comments »
Posted by Barry Rafkind a 9:50 pm on January 28, 2009
This sounds like a proactive and timely step on the part of the mayor, but is this "outside" panel of "experts" truly a good source of guidance for our city in these dire times?
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Posted in Economy & Poverty, Government Reform, Politics, Uncategorized | 1 Comment »
Posted by Pat Jehlen a 9:03 am on January 15, 2009
Rep. Denise Provost and I invite people to join us in a celebratory inauguration lunch at Orleans Restaurant in Davis Square on Jan. 20 at 11:30. There will be a large-screen TV tuned to the inauguration, and lunch will be Dutch treat.
A lot of people worked hard for our new president, and would like to…
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Posted in Events, Politics, Uncategorized | No Comments »
Posted by Alex Pirie a 10:38 pm on January 9, 2009
I was looking for some general information about Portland, OR and went to their city website and there, right in full view(!), was a link labled "
Request Public Records." The link leads to a pretty amazing page considering the stonewall sometimes encountered in Somerville. There's even a link from this to a standard…
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Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment »
Posted by Gretchen Kinder a 11:09 am on January 2, 2009
ECIP is an integrated early childhood program with a mix of standard and special education children ages three and four. Classes meet four days per week for 5.25 hours per day. There is one teacher and one paraprofessional in each class for a maximum of 15 children.…
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Posted in Announcements, Schools and Youth, Uncategorized | No Comments »
Posted by Gretchen Kinder a 8:37 am on December 1, 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 from 4:00-5:30 PM for students in Grades K-8 across the City. We know you have great experience helping students learn in innovative ways, enthusiasm for afterschool learning, and a desire to help students develop the knowledge, skills and attitudes needed to be successful throughout their lives.
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Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
Posted by Linda Haviland Conte a 2:18 pm on November 28, 2008
This winter, the Somerville Homeless Coalition will serve hundreds of men, women, and children who would otherwise have no place to call home or enough food to feed their families.
Jump to their website to learn how to donate, or read on.
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Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
Posted by Barry Rafkind a 11:14 pm on November 13, 2008
Nearly a third of Somerville residents were born outside of the United States. Who are we in this immigrant city? What dreams and aspirations brought us here? How did we cope in a new community and in a new country? What brings us together - what pulls us apart - across generations of immigrants?
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Posted in Announcements, Arts and Culture, Immigration, Uncategorized | No Comments »
Posted by Barry Rafkind a 1:06 am on November 10, 2008
On November 1st, I submitted a grant proposal for $390,000 on behalf of the Somerville Voices team to the 2009 Knight News Challenge titled
Transforming the News and Each Other. Please take a look. Your comments would be appreciated. We should find out if we make it past the first round on Nov 15th, so stay tuned for more details.
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Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment »
Posted by Bill@SCAT a 9:06 pm on November 4, 2008
As promised here is the latest and greatest from Somerville Community Access Television. Check out the footage from the Community Arts Festival and from a Nepali Community Event. See a separate posting for the interview with Bill Shelton about Charter Reform on Fred Berman and Bill Bumpus' Monday evening show, Progressive Voices.
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Posted in Arts and Culture, Media, Politics, Uncategorized | No Comments »
Posted by eila a 8:59 pm on October 8, 2008
This week's Somerville Journal includes an Op-Ed regarding our rights as voters. Voting is a fun community activity, and no voters should be steered to vote absentee-unless they prefer it that way (or will be out of town on the 4th). Here are 2 photos showing a polling site that was entirely inaccessible (right at the entrance), for wheelchair using voters of Ward 7, Precinct 2, during the Primary, September 16, 2008:
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Posted in Accessibility, Uncategorized | No Comments »
Posted by JayW a 1:41 pm on October 7, 2008
Has anyone heard when Somerville Avenue, affectionately known to neighbors as The Little Dig, is supposed to be finished? It seems to be a really big job so I'm not complaining, but it would be good to know.
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Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment »
Posted by Jonathan Rich a 12:26 am on September 17, 2008
At 7:30 this evening I was out knocking on doors in Medford, although at that point I had to stop under street lights to read the list of Sciortino supporters that I was supposed to be encouraging to get to the polls. At one of my last doors, I was grateful to hear a woman…
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Posted in Uncategorized | 11 Comments »
Posted by empowerment a 11:18 am on August 28, 2008
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?
Read More.>>
Posted in Events, Uncategorized | No Comments »
Posted by Doug Holder a 8:51 pm on August 20, 2008
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.
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Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
Posted by Danielle Peereboom a 9:39 pm on July 20, 2008
This is an announcement to all Somerville residents about Somerville's fifth annual National Night Out (NNO) against crime and drugs. Please pass on the message about this important community and crime prevention event.
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Posted in Crime, Events, Uncategorized | No Comments »
Posted by teenvoices a 10:08 pm on July 8, 2008
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.
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Posted in Events, Schools and Youth, Uncategorized | No Comments »
Posted by Lori Segall a 9:34 pm on July 6, 2008
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.
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Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
Posted by fberman a 7:43 am on July 4, 2008
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
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Posted in Arts and Culture, Development and Zoning, Environment and Open Space, Housing, Uncategorized | No Comments »
Posted by Linda Haviland Conte a 4:45 pm on June 26, 2008
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.
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Posted in Arts and Culture, Events, Neighborhoods and Squares, Schools and Youth, Uncategorized | No Comments »
Posted by Alain Jehlen a 6:27 pm on June 23, 2008
When can I drop off hazardous household waste? When does school start? Now you can find out on Somerville Voices.…
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Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
Posted by Jonathan Rich a 5:16 pm on June 20, 2008
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…
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Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
Posted by Alain Jehlen a 5:24 pm on June 18, 2008
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…
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Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments »
Posted by eila a 1:27 pm on June 3, 2008
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…
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Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
Posted by eila a 10:41 pm on June 2, 2008
Even though today I feel like words are ultimately meaningless, I’m gonna start a little idea train here, asking what makes a community:
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Posted in Uncategorized | 5 Comments »
Posted by Linda Haviland Conte a 10:17 pm on June 1, 2008
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…
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Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
Posted by the editors a 4:48 pm on May 31, 2008
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…
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Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
Posted by Alain Jehlen a 10:29 pm on May 28, 2008
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.…
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Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments »
Posted by Barry Rafkind a 2:37 pm on May 16, 2008
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.
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Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment »
Posted by David Booth a 10:42 pm on April 23, 2008
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! …
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Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment »
Posted by Barry Rafkind a 1:14 am on April 6, 2008
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.…
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Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
Posted by William Bennett a 8:10 pm on March 31, 2008
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.…
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Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment »
Posted by Saveourvillens a 1:09 pm on February 8, 2008
Save Our Somerville would like to welcome home Sargent Matthew McLaughlin…
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Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
