Smoke pushes from the roof in Teele Square during the Five-Alarm fire on September 30. (SFD photo)

Community members encouraged to donate to support 43 residents displaced by September 30 fire

The City of Somerville and Somerville Homeless Coalition have activated the Emergency Displacement Fund to support residents displaced by the September 30 five-alarm fire in Teele Square.

By The Times Staff

The Finance Committee met on Tuesday, September 22, via remote participation and took up a 10-item agenda, said City Councilor Ben Wheeler.

Life in the Ville by Jimmy Del Ponte

Remember how we used to roll our eyes when our parents told us how they could see five movies, buy candy, soda, and popcorn, ride the trolleys all day, and still come home with change of a quarter? Well, let’s congratulate ourselves because we have officially become our parents.

The Start Where We Are Earth Music Festival brought climate crisis awareness to Bow Market Last week. ~Photos by Roman Villarreal

By Eliot Josti

At Bow Market, set in the heart of Somerville, music and local connections came together with one common mission, bringing awareness to the environmental and climate crisis across the world.

The Somerville City Council recently voted in favor of supporting the “Yes in God’s Backyard” housing initiative.

By Harry Kane

City Councilors Jon Link and Wilfred Mbah advocated in support of a proposed housing initiative filed as Bill S.1430, known as “Yes in God’s Backyard” legislation, during the September 24 City Council meeting.

(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)

Public hearing notice October 1

 By Bill White
Former Somerville City Councilor for 24 years

I have previously written articles about the impact of the City’s current zoning ordinances that promote developers to purchase two and three-family homes, demolish them and then construct a luxury three-family condominium.

Community members are invited to join Mayor Jake Wilson, the City Council, and the School Committee during the 2026 Neighborhood Connect meeting series. The next meetings will be on Ward 7 (West Somerville, Teele Sq., and more): Thursday, October 1, West Somerville Neighborhood School Cafeteria, 177 Powder House Blvd., and Ward 3 (N. Union Sq., Prospect Hill, Spring Hill, Central Hill, and more): Wednesday, October 7, Somerville High School Cafeteria, 81 Highland Ave. Meetings will kick off with quick citywide updates and a brief welcome from the Mayor and Ward Councilor before breaking to allow attendees to move about for one-on-one and small group conversations. Unsure about which ward you live in? Find out with the MySomerville address lookup tool at somervillema.gov/mysomerville.