First of all we want to wish Bob Publicover, our former Publisher and close friend, a speedy recovery ‚Äì he was recently in and out of the hospital with all sorts of tubes in him and him trying out new medication.  He still manages to hold his sense of humor up through it all and we wish him the best, as always, Bob has been a friend to many people here in Somerville.

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Coming up on the 24th of June is the ‚ÄúSecond Annual On the Hill Tavern Road Race‚Äù to benefit various Somerville youth & recreation organizations.  The race kicks off at 11:30 a.m. from 499 Broadway – at the Tavern – all those that would like further information please call 617 629-5302.  There was a great turnout last year for the first one and this year should be even better.

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Well known politician and local friend to many, Register of Probate John Buonomo, is having his ‚Äúyearly‚Äù fundraiser over in Cambridge at the Marriott in Kendall Square.  As usual, John usually packs the place, and lets see if he can break last year‚Äôs record of over $100K in funds raised.  We still think that someday, who knows when, he‚Äôs going to make that leap to statewide office – but he won‚Äôt even tell us‚Ķwe‚Äôll have a snoop there to find out.

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Its looking like nobody is going to challenge the Mayor this year, at least so far, with just under 3 weeks left to take out papers.  The Mayor is having a re-election campaign kickoff party on Wednesday, June 13th at the Holiday Inn on Washington Street.   

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On the local front, we heard one potential candidate took out papers against Rebekah Gewirtz ‚Äì local real estate Bob Adams – but we still hear through the underground rumor line that there is one more, maybe two more, candidates going to wait till the last minute to take out papers.  A good source tells us that the PDS‚Äôers are trying to field candidates for Ward 2 & 7, but haven‚Äôt had much luck, maybe they‚Äôre waiting to see how it looks for Rebekah?   

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Happy Birthday to Maurice Haddad, a long time friend of many here in Somerville and the former owner of the Global Gas Station on McGrath & Broadway.  Maurice was a daily fixture and entertained a lot of locals with his wit, charm and sense of humor ‚Äì and he was also was the trainer for a well-known East Somerville squirrel who did tricks for everyone daily.  All of Maurice‚Äôs friends from the station wish him a long life and enjoyment in this his retirement years.

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We heard this, but can‚Äôt get it confirmed – so you decide – but it seems like a certain former local politician left office owing a hefty and long overdue Election Night bill to a popular establishment ‚Äì the past due bill goes back only a few years and the sources close to the management say for the most part calls and requests for payment go unanswered or ignored.  What‚Äôs interesting is that this person left office with a lot of money still left in their campaign account‚Ķat least that‚Äôs what he heard.

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Every now and then we have to bring up and remind our readers a few things so that no one misunderstands our goals.  First of all Newstalk is just that – a ‚Äúrumor‚Äù piece ‚Äì it‚Äôs up to you if you want to believe it or not.  No one that writes for the paper is involved with Newstalk – there are about 20 outside individuals that contribute to the column.  Second is the website ‚Äì for the first time in over four years we are finally averaging over 1,000 unique hits per day ‚Äì some days going over 1,100.  We are very proud to be able to offer a forum where people can offer their opinions freely ‚Äì but there are rules.  No vulgar language and no out of the ordinary or creepy remarks with named individuals (initials work out just fine), also no external links to other online publications.

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The Democratic Ward/City Committee is holding citywide meeting on Tuesday, June 12th at 7p.m. at the VNA on Lowell Street – the guest speaker will be Massachusetts Democratic Committee Chairman John Walsh.

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The Farmers Market is scheduled to open this year on June 9th down at Union Square – so get ready for some fine local grown produce from a lot of Mass local farms.

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The owners of Diesel are opening in July in Union Square at the old Bank Building on Bow Street; they‚Äôre naming the new place ‚ÄúBloc 11‚Äù.  We have a feeling it will become as popular the one in Davis Square and we wish the owners the best. 

 
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Former MBTA policeman Helder ‚ÄúSonny‚Äù Peixoto jumped off a Palm Beach high-rise last week after he allegedly killed his fashion model girlfriend!  Peixoto, 34, formerly of Cambridge, unsuccessfully ran against Rep. Tim Toomey for his Cambridge City Council seat and after he lost had moved to Florida to start a new beginning.  Sonny was a friend to some of us here at The News.  The news of his death and the allegations of what he did was a complete shock to many of us, who have never seen any bad side of him ever.

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Senator Pat Jehlen is having a fundraiser on Wednesday, June 6th at the Holiday Inn with Gov. Deval Patrick as the guest.