By Andrew Firestone

Mario Oliveira returns to work

Sometimes heroism is as plain to see as the nose on your face. In Somerville, Detective Mario Oliveira proved that in spades. Wounded in an attempt to arrest a suspected gun-seller, Oliveira proved his mettle by quietly returning to work in March.

Accolades from the City and State aside, Oliveira has stayed out of the limelight. His dedication and perseverance have earned him the admiration of his superiors, who have said that most officers who suffer similar injuries do not return to work. Oliveira, however, is a self-described workaholic, and does not stop for any man.

You can still see him, performing details and handling his duties as a member of the Somerville Police Department. He’s a true hometown hero, even if he doesn’t want to admit it.

http://www.thesomervillenews.com/archives/13950

School official’s holiday remarks spark national controversy

Controversy erupted, generating national news headlines, when the Boston Herald wrote that Kennedy School Principal Anne Foley had spoke against the school celebrating Columbus Day, Thanksgiving and Halloween this October. While the Herald wrote that Foley was targeting “cherished holidays” the truth was a little less dramatic. Foley claims that she only meant to ask the staff to be sensitive to the cultures which were historically damaged in the past, such as indigenous native Americans. In the end, the Somerville Public Schools announced that there would be no changes to the celebration of these holidays, and Mayor Curtatone spoke saying that there no changes to Halloween celebrations, which was not mentioned in Foley’s letter.

http://www.thesomervillenews.com/archives/19821

The BOA votes in favor of District Improvement Financing bonds, brings in Assembly Square

In a key vote last May, the Somerville Board of Aldermen approved a $25 million bond to revitalize Assembly Square. Formerly the home to a car manufacturing plant and the Good Times Emporium, the large plot in East Somerville has lain vacant for years. In a one-of-a-kind agreement between the City, the State, and developer Federal Realty Investment Trust, the BOA sealed a deal that will reportedly leaveraged a $25,750,000 bond into a $1.36 billion project, including residential, commercial and retail development. Also as part of the agreement, a new Orange Line stop was approved, and has already gone out to bid.

While the full build-out remains to be seen, the project is being touted as a transformative measure not only for Somerville, but for the region as a whole. It is a vision that is hard to argue with: transit-oriented development on a waterfront property with shopping, condominiums and office space on a parcel of land very close to downtown Boston. The project has already received praise from the federal government, who gave $15 million in federal stimulus grants for infrastructure. In 2012, the picture will become clearer as to what the vaunted Assembly Row will look like, but with mega-corporations like Walmart vying for space nearby, it’s clear that the development will see Somerville’s stock rise.

http://www.thesomervillenews.com/archives/14946

City switches healthcare plan to Group Insurance Commission

After months of debate, the City approved a switch from their former healthcare plan to the Group Insurance Commission, saving the City $75 million from 2012 through 2018, and going a long way towards bridging the City budget gap. While many worried that retirees would suffer over increased increased premiums, the eventual decision was unanimously passed by the BOA. After a 30-day negotiation period, the City Unions failed to find a cheaper solution, and the GIC was brought to Somerville at the end of September.

http://www.thesomervillenews.com/archives/19267

Green Line Extension delayed until 2018

While Somerville has been pushing for the GLX since the Big Dig came to Boston in the 1990s, another setback was suffered over the Summer when the State announced that it would have to delay implementation until at least 2018. The announcement sparked outrage among residents and politicians in the City, who called the delay an insult. A grassroots campaign was started by City Hall, which led to thousands of signatures in an online petition, and demonstrations both in the City, where a mock groundbreaking occurred, and at the Boston Metropolitan Planning Organization, where dozens of residents crowded meetings to show their concern.

While the protestations eventually resulted in a revised “phasing” plan to get tracks on the ground as soon as possible, the future of the GLX is still up in the air. Current plans do not include the Route 16 stop in Medford, and the State transportation agency, MassDOT, says they have no plans to put that final leg of designed seven-stop extension in. While they have announced that the renovated Lechemere station in Cambridge could be opened by 2018, some, such as Congressman Michael Capuano, have said that the odds are slim of a College Ave. stop being opened by 2020.

Current obstacles to the GLX include land takings, and the need to move over existing commuter rail tracks. The debate is ongoing.

Mayor Joseph Curtatone has said that the City will exercise every legal option to ensure the GLX is fully built-out.

http://www.thesomervillenews.com/archives/20077

Meth lab upsets quiet neighborhood

On November 7, a quiet street near Union Square was disturbed by the arrival of a Somerville Police swat team. Raiding the house at 19 Oxford St. owned by Irina Kristy, a Professor of Mathematics at Suffolk University and Boston University, the group discovered a homemade Meth lab, one of the only such labs found in New England. Kristy’s son, Grigory Genkin, later turned himself in. The trial is currently ongoing.

The raid shocked many residents and neighbors, who had no idea that such a serious crime would be taking place right near their own doorstep. The SPD said they moved fast in order to properly take into possession all of the illegal materials, which included several bottles of highly unstable liquids used to produce the addictive drug.

http://www.thesomervillenews.com/archives/20864