Not since 1968 has Somerville seen a local fireworks display celebrating Independence Day. Somewhere between five and six thousand residents attended and enjoyed the festivities on July 1st. Everyone who was there had a great time—congrats to Mayor Joe for putting on a great follow-up to the parade on Memorial Day. He and the members of his team have managed to bring back memories of long ago and reinvigorated a sense of community pride across the city. The best part is that the entire cost was covered by Comcast. We hear next year will be even bigger and better—we can’t wait.

Well known political activist and commonly known errand runner for “Video Boy,” Herb Vargas is at it again. The newest “word” from Herbie is that former mayoral candidate Tony LaFuente is planning on running in the next election for Alderman at Large. It seems that he has his sights clearly set on getting rid of Dennis Sullivan. We doubt he will be successful, but good luck anyways Tony. Remember, Tony—Herbie and Video Boy can’t keep a secret.

Rumor has it that Herb Chambers—the auto sales giant—is planning on buying the bankrupt office data building near Brickbottom. His plans are to rehab the entire building and make his private offices there with the first floor housing the Police Department as a new headquarters. An additional rumor we heard was that if this goes through as planned, Herb Chambers will also purchase the incinerator currently leased by Waste Management and expand his dealership from next door onto that site as well. Anything there would look better than that incinerator, in our opinion. Anything.

We talked about the Democratic National Convention before, but now we have more details on just how messy it’s going to be. Starting on Monday, July 26th, Highland Avenue, Broadway, Mystic Avenue, Somerville Avenue, Prospect Street and half dozen other streets will become four lane streets for traffic. That will mean two lanes going in one direction and two going in the other direction—all in order to accommodate the massive amount of traffic that will flow into the city while the convention is underway. There will be no parking at all on these streets and you will be towed if you’re parked on them— so beware. What a mess!

We have said it before—we aren’t Mayor Joe’s personal cheerleading squad—but we can’t help it that he’s actually delivering the goods. The budget process is over and Mayor Joe and his team have shown how responsible and diligent it can be just six months into the first year of his term. The process went so smoothly and effectively that the Board of Aldermen voted unanimously to approve. Not only are there no layoffs, but all of the personnel laid off during the previous administration were hired back. Some are saying that this year’s budget process was the smoothest in recent history. Mayor Joe and his team continue to impress the pundits.

The dark cloud that was called the “city wide smoking ban” that has cut revenue throughout our city and forced a few out of business because of lack of potential customers spending their money in their fine bars and restaurants, has gone statewide on July 5th. The only places that are exempt from this ban are private clubs only.

The recent proposal by the Mayor to do away with the Board of Health and replace it with a Health Chief that reports directly to the Mayor has been derailed recently by the Board of Alderman with an overwhelming vote of “no”. Our only opinion to date has been to replace the out of towners that sit on and control the board, especially Dr. Osler. There are plenty of local doctors that live in Somerville that would serve the citizens of this city and not the Cambridge Health Alliance. If this city is going to continue with a Board of Health, it should remain free of special interests and care more about the residents.

We hear that the Twin City Plaza Shaws/Star Market is closing at the end of August. The original plan was to extend the current building out to McDonalds, but wiring and plumbing issues forced that idea to be scrapped. Now they will demolish the current building and then build a brand new “Super Shaws” with an estimated completion date sometime in early Spring of 2005. The regular customers will miss this convenient store while it is closed for construction.