Newstalk for Wednesday October 19th 2005

Ok with all the rumors flying around out there about the Somerville Police Department, we couldn’t pass this one up, and hopefully it’s not true.  Remember our Mayor saying there’s nothing wrong with the Public Safety Building – even on TV?  The latest rumor out of the “mill” is that the administration is moving the Police Department out of the building entirely and moving them to the proposed City Hall Annex (the closed Powerhouse School) very shortly as well as having satellite offices in three other places in the city.  Does this mean that the building is unsafe now?  Does this mean that the Mayor was wrong?  Does this mean anything or nothing at all?  We do know that the administration intends on moving all outside City Hall offices to that building when the renovations are done – including closing down the building on Evergreen Avenue and moving the offices from the old Western Junior High building.

The Mayor has been spending his nights out there campaigning for his buddy Sean O’D – who is being challenged by John L. Sullivan – who has his own little army of support as well.  We recently heard from Sean’s campaign manager, well known local political activist Rob McWatters, that they’re not stressed about the election or the opponent and that they feel very comfortable what the outcome will be.

Funny stuff going on and alliances in the Ward 6 Alderman race.  Not so long ago, those great, outspoken guys at the Tir na nOg in Union Square – Feargal and Robert – hosted a fundraiser for Rebekah Gerwitz and the event reportedly saw Helen Corrigan there.  Meanwhile, Jack Connolly has been out nightly all over Ward 6 and his fundraiser is tonight (Wednesday the 19th) at Orleans in Davis Square – in his district.  What surprises us is why would Feargal & Robert would be against Jack since they’re down in Union Square.  We know Jack might be in trouble, but honestly we think his record will ensure his re-election.

The Alderman At Large race is heated up all over the city – signs for various candidates and the incumbents as well.  You almost get the impression that all three of the challengers in the race equally feel that one of the incumbents is vulnerable.  We’ve been seeing a lot of signs for local Attorney Steve Glines, who is garnering a large amount of support for a first timer in that race as well as local political activist Marty Martinez, who has been showing a lot of support as well throughout out the city.  We have seen plenty of Dennis Sullivan signs and a good amount of both Bill White and Bruce Desmond signs as well, but not too many for Denise Provost.  We think that Dennis, Bill and Bruce will return and if there’s a weak link, it just might be Denise – the “divestiture” issue might be the downfall of her.

There’s a new Sheriff in Town – well, not exactly – former Alderman and State Representative Vincent Ciampa was recently appointed as a Director on the Middlesex County Sheriff’s Uniform Officers Division.  We hear he’s enjoying his new job and also glad to hear that he’s doing a great job with it – we wish him luck.  Meanwhile, we heard a rumor that State Representative Carl Sciortino (who defeated Vinny last year) bought a house in Medford on Cottage Avenue – we haven’t been able confirm it right now but if it’s true, then it could be a good move on his part moving into a section of the district that could give him trouble next year, thereby appealing to the Medford voters.

Well we should hear soon about the scheduled dates for the State Representative special election – to fill Senator Pat Jehlen’s unfinished term of office.  We hear some names out there as potential candidates – more and more every day – there will be a lot of buzz about this race up to and then even more so after the local elections in early November.  Names we have heard are Ward 5 Alderman Sean O’Donovan, local political activist Liz Maroney, former Mayor Dot Gay and even Erin Mackey – Joe’s daughter.  The most recent name we heard was John Roderick from Ward 3 – who finished 3rd in the Ward 3 Alderman’s race a few weeks ago.

More and more people are visiting our website/weblog every day.  We are seeing literally hundreds of people per day – thousands per week – with comments from every type of reader/blogger.  Some comments have been ultra racy and we have explained that those that post known to be untrue comments or over the top and damaging remarks are the only ones that will be erased, when we are made aware of them (we don’t sit there 24 hours a day monitoring the site).  We ask everyone to come check it out and post any comments you might have on there – just remember to keep it fairly family oriented.  Also coming soon will be www.thesomervillenewsradio.com – where we will have an internet radio station associated with the newspaper.  We invite your comments and ideas for taped and live shows to broadcast – just email us at ideas@thesomervillenewsradio.com – and we will take all suggestions seriously.

Would you believe that the “Somerville Boxing Club” is still trying to rent in this city after being thrown out of the last three places they were at?  Recently we heard that they tried to rent some space at the Twin City Mall, but failed.  It seems that they are still using the same “Stoney” (you recall his foul mouth at a live boxing event which was a total embarrassment) to help them, along with some of the other losers who have done nothing but brought shame to that organization.  For example, here’s how smart they are – they gave as a reference one of their former landlords whom they owe tens of thousands of dollars to.  Come to think of it, who don’t they owe money to?  Well, they still use the Mayor and the Congressman to help them out.  Here’s a suggestion we have for them – maybe if you paid your bills and you didn’t use former landlords you owe money to as references, you might find a new home – it has been a year and a half now.  We feel bad for the kids/members that they still have these losers running the show and ruining the club.  Maybe someday things will change – if they change the leadership there – or will it?

The Cambridge Health Alliance – you know them locally as the Somerville Board of Health – is honoring former Mayor and current Middlesex South Register of Deeds Eugene Brune on October 24th.  He is being honored for his leadership and vision as a member of the CHA Board of Trustees in recognition of Gene’s outstanding career in public service.  They’re planning on dedicating the new Adolescent Assessment Unit at Somerville Hospital in his name.