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Join The Somerville Homeless Coalition us for their 15th Annual Pig Pickin’ Benefit for the Somerville Homeless Coalition. Monday, July 25 (rain date: Monday, August 1), 5:00–9:00 p.m. at Redbones, 55 Chester Street in Davis Square. Pig roast with all the fixings plus beer garden and live music. Pig Pickin’ Dinner: $15, pork with 2 sides, biscuit and watermelon.
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Happy Birthday to a lot of our friends and fellow Villens here this week: Big time happy birthday and many good wishes for years to come, former mayor and former Register of Deeds – but more importantly a guy who is dedicated to Somerville – Eugene C. Brune celebrates his birthday this week. We hope he has a great time. Happy birthday to Somerville Police Officer Mike Wyatt, a great guy who is dedicated to his job of serving and protecting the residents of Somerville. We hope he has a great day. Happy birthday to Charlotte Farrar-Pye, who is celebrating this week as well. What a nice lady from another great Somerville family. Also, another nice lady and lifelong resident, we hope that Judy Podymatis has a great birthday for herself. She is very active in Eastern Star. We hope she has a great day. A big happy birthday to Joe Vanessa of Modelo’s Market Cafe.
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The City of Somerville budget for fiscal 2017 is on our website, at over 200 pages. We will be working to put the school department budget online as well at www.thesomervilletimes.com.
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With the Board of Alderman raises taking affect this month, we bet there will be a lot of attention on some if not all the alderman seats. People are thinking about running for the seats. We heard that a couple of people are seriously considering running in couple of wards here in the city, as well as some people talking about running at large. The city elections are next year, and if you think you might be interested in running, now is a good time to start thinking about it and how much money and time will be required to commit to it.
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The mayor submitted to the Board of Alderman a 2.5 property tax override to be on the ballot this November. The committee will be submitting their recommendation to the full Board of Alderman this week (Thursday night). If you’re interested in watching the meeting on local government access TV, we know that Comcast has it on channel 22. The override is expected to cover the city’s portion of building a new high school. If you own property or rent, you should be interested to see what the ramifications are and how it will affect your property tax bill. That’s Thursday night, this week.
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A good friend of ours and East Somerville guy, Russell “Rusty” Smithe Sr., suffered a heart attack recently and is now facing serious heart surgery over at Mass General; he’s in a good place. Surgery is scheduled for this week and we along with his many friends and family are sending him prayers. Rusty is one of the nicest guys, and knows the meaning of friendship. He has many friends.
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We enjoyed breakfast at Renee’s Café on Holland Street the other day, with the best waitress, Patty Oppedisano, an all around nice lady who smiles every time you see her. Stop in, you’ll see what we’re talking about. She’s the best.
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Speaking of Patty Oppedisano, her daughter Vanessa Oppedisano just went through some tough surgery – over 11 hours – at Cambridge City Hospital. We hope she’s doing better and is on the path to recovery. We send her our best wishes.
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Local resident Philip Mitza has told us he’s a candidate for Congress, the seat presently held by Mike Capuano: “I am writing to inform you of my forthcoming aggressive write-in candidacy against longtime incumbent Mr. Michael E. Capuano for Representative in Congress (CD-7) … effective July 1st. I’m an ordained minister, a former Auxiliary Coast Guard Officer, and a former candidate for Mayor of the City of Somerville, MA. I will be campaigning under the Constitution Party banner. Thus far, I already have $3,231.”
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There’s a new website in town. Check it out at www.somervillema.com. The Somerville Times is on the site. Also check out www.medfordma.com. Someone asked online why we keep these two websites in Newstalk. We guess it’s because we like them.
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For those that might be interested in obtaining certification for firearms should look up the Lawrence Rod & Gun Club. They provide an extensive program at the end of which you receive certification for Massachusetts/NRA Certified Firearm Safety Classes. They run a class once a month, which is limited to 10 people and we hear that this is the place to go to learn safety when handling guns. Email gunclub@earthlink.net for more information and or go to their website at www.lawrencerodandgunclub.org and read up about the course. We’ve been told that the course has seen a major increase in people applying for it, especially women. We can tell you first hand here that it’s a great course and quite thorough. The same goes for this in Newstalk. The club has informed us that many residents of Somerville have called or gone to the club to find out about certification.
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For the best coffee and donuts, again we hope you consider Demet’s Donuts on Mystic Avenue in Medford. We need a real donut shop here in the Ville that is similar. Don’t forget, their egg breakfast sandwiches are made fresh and much better than those sold at franchise places. Also, you can pick up a copy of The Somerville Times there as well.
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Local guy and business man Zachary Zasloff, who is SVP of www.shoebuy.com, was recently appointed by the mayor to the Condominium Board of Directors. He’s a good guy who we know will bring new enthusiasm to that board.
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Drop over to Sally O’Brien’s any night and see live entertainment and, of course, get some great burgers. Lots of friendly people there, and you can enjoy some good conversation and be entertained at the same time. The other night we tried their famous hamburger and fries that we have been hearing about, hands down the best anywhere in the city. Try them out you’ll love them. By the way, if you like to play poker they have a tournament every Wednesday night as well. On Thursdays it’s open mic for any bands that want to get up there and let people hear them. Liam is the best, he has something going every single night of the week!
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The 16th Annual Golf Tournament for the John T. Forcellese Memorial Fund will be held this year once again at the Falmouth Country Club in Falmouth, MA. Saturday, September 10. Tee time is 8:30 a.m. If you’d like to play or sponsor go online to www.johns-team.org for all the information regarding this excellent fundraiser for a worthy cause.
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We heard that the La Hacienda Restaurant, one of Somerville oldest restaurants, has closed its doors and has been sold. We’ll miss their pizzas.
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The Somerville Council on Aging in collaboration with Teen Empowerment presents From Seniors to Kids and Back Again With Acclaimed Storyteller and Musician John Porcino. Join this great intergenerational storytelling workshop. John will first meet with the kids from Teen Empowerment on the morning of Tuesday, July 19 and then with the older adults from the Somerville Council on Aging in the afternoon on the same day, giving each group a chance to share stories and memories. Tuesday, July 19, 2016 at 1 p.m,.Cross Street Center located at 165 Broadway. Then, on the afternoon of Thursday, July 28 at 1 p.m. John returns and meets with both groups for a shared experience and one I am sure you will never forget. How does it work? Visit John Porcino’s blog at:http://www.johnporcino.com/blog or give us a call with your questions. Please RSVP by calling Maureen at 617‐625‐6600, ext. 2335.
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The Nashville-based, nationally touring rock ’n’ roll band Cordovas will be playing a show at The Burren on July 17 at 9:00 p.m. In the past two months, Cordovas have been performing non-stop in Nashville, including gigs at Centennial Park for the highly-attended Musicians Corner Festival, a residency at the legendary venue Family Wash, and the famed 3rd and Lindsley for AAA radio station Lightning 100’s Nashville Sunday Night live on-air broadcast, among many other performances. They’re also performing this year at Nashville’s prestigious Americana Festival. Prior to that the band spent the winter in Baja Mexico writing and demoing songs for their latest album. They’ve also done two in-studio performances and interviews for Lightning 100 in support of their single, I’m The One Who Needs You Tonight, and forthcoming LP produced by Kenneth Pattengale of The Milk Carton Kids. The Cordovas are Joe Firstman, Lucca Soria, Jon Loyd and Graham Spillman. Out of Nashville, TN, Cordovas’ sound is based in harmony, song, and musicianship. Firstman released two albums on Atlantic Records in the early 2000s, including the acclaimed War of Women. Baby Genius, 23-year-old songsmith, Des Moines’ Lucca Soria, sings and plays guitar. The keyboardist, Jon Loyd, is an original Cordova from Macon, GA. Loyd’s high notes and piano style make the sound unforgettable and recognizable. His musical genius is well known in Nashville circles. Redondo Beach, California’s Graham Spillman is on drums. The 25-year-old Berklee College of Music dropout also sings and pens tunes for the group. The band spent the past winter in Baja Mexico writing and demoing songs for their latest album produced by two-time Grammy nominee Kenneth Pattengale of The Milk Carton Kids, which will be released this summer. Jamie Ruben, Nashville legend and owner of the storied music venue Family Wash, says of the band, “They’re fantastic! Beautiful and real music, a rarity these days.”
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Nothing about the Winterhill gangster yacht club this week? I’m disappointed. I know the Times has good sources of information but you people dropped the potato this week. Maybe I should become a news contributor.?. Many members of the state legislature, the governors office and his council were notified this week by phone calls, written letters and emails regarding the issues surrounding the Winterhill gangster yacht club. It is rumored that several members of this exclusive club (on State property) are convicted felons and just as many are non somerville residents. Some of the longtime members are quietly and strategically organizing a behind the scenes strategy to rid the club of these criminals before the State steps in and revokes their lease and evicts them all. Many boat owning residents of Somerville and the booming Assembly row neighborhood are forced to join privately owned clubs in surrounding cities at yearly costs ranging from $3,000 to $10,000 per boat per year. The whyc only charges it’s members between $120 to $240 per year! Residents are beyond upset that they cannot even apply for membership to this good ole boy club unless they are sponsored by a number of existing members or unless you are politically connected. Many residents of the City are very angry that the Mayor (an honorary lifetime whyc member) wants to override proposition 2 1/2 because of shortfalls in the city budget. Yet he refuses to charge the members of his yacht club excise taxes, mooring, or slip fees for their luxurious yachts! It is mandated by the State that each city or town that has marinas or yacht clubs to collect these fees. The club itself does not turn over taxes for slips, moorings, hall rentals, alcohol, prepared meals, or services rendered. They do not pay the city for water or sewer services, utilities or trash pickup. This is Tax evasion and corruption at its rotten core! It will be interesting to see how this is handled. If I were an elected official in Somerville, I would be petitioning the board of aldermen and the State to turn this valuable waterfront land over to the city so the city can manage it, expand it, collect the proper member fees, taxes and open the membership up to All residents of Somerville! Not just the chosen criminal friends of the self proclaimed elite
It would be better if at least their collection of boats were something you’d actually want to look at. But they’re all just nondescript hulking fiberglass monstrosities.
I’d agree – abolish the WHYC and find some other way to administer the place. It would also be fun if someone started some kind of water shuttle / tour service up & down the mystic, stopping at assembly, the back side of Medford square, and anywhere else one might want to get on / off. Could be a fun thing to do on a hot summer evening after dinner.
We have a “real donut shop” on Bow Street in Union Square, and another is supposed to open soon in the Community Credit Union building in Davis Square.
Union Square donuts is the bomb and they are huge which justifies the cost. For a more economical option, Lyndell’s makes great local donuts.
The city took all the land around the yacht club by eminent domain to develop what you see today at Assembly Row. How did this private yacht club remain on the most valuable piece of waterfront land? Is it because the land is owned by the state and the politicians that are members protected themselves and the privileged members? I’d like to know how this happened. Can the Times look into this? How is this possible in today’s world of fiscal transparency that our City would donate taxpayer funds to build a T station without first looking at all other feasible means of obtaining the revenue? That land is worth a fortune! Why didn’t the City take it like it did Dilboy field and the Skating rinks? Or like they want to do in Union Square? It’s time for some answers! Anyone else care to contribute?
That’s great, the mayor gets a 50% pay raise in the last 4 years, the aldermen get an 80% pay raise. Meanwhile the Police are dealing with people rioting in the street(see previous story) and they are in their 5th year WITHOUT a contract. The mayor talks about what a great police force we have here in the city, how stuff like Ferguson, Baltimore and Minnesota won’t happen in Somerville. So why are you making your police officers go to arbitration to get a contract. This city should be ashamed of itself. 50%, 80% and Zero%. Also don’t forget the 2 1/2 tax override he wants. Unbelievable. 5 YEARS!