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It appears that
Ward 4 Alderman Walter Pero has the votes necessary for President of
the Board of Aldermen – which he's been wanting for a long time. On the
School Committee front, we hear that Ward 1 member Maureen Bastardi
will become the new Chairperson of the School Committee – we wish them
both luck in their roles this coming year.

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One
name is already surfacing from the rumor mill about running for
Alderman at Large – former aide to Senator Shannon and Mayor Kelly-Gay,
Sean Fitzgerald – who has been seen around town having a lot of coffee
with various political figures. Apparently Sean wants to test the
waters to see if he can unseat one of the incumbents. Sean currently
lives in Ward 7 with his wife and family and works in Boston at the
State House as an aide to Rep. Jay Kaufman.

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Oh
and by the way, even though the official word from the Police
Department is that there is no Sergeant who was suspended, we still
stand by our earlier comment that a Sergeant was suspended for
allegedly doctoring court attendance sheets. The official word might be
that "it's not true" and that no one is suspended, but several other
sources say differently.

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Ward 6
Princess Alderwoman Gewirtz, we hear, is pretty upset that her
committee on the Condo Review Ordnance now won't be heard until after
the first of the year, if at all. Not to worry – a lot of the taxpayers
across the city – the regular people will be watching very carefully
for any behind the scene maneuvers. We all know she hates not having
her way – you have to be careful, those PDSers are known to have had
secret meetings in the recent past.

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Speaking
of the PDSers, Prince Carl is back from demonstrating in California we
hear – although he's not talking to The Somerville News – we guess
since we didn't endorse him in the recent election…oh well. Don't
worry Prince Carl, we will keep your name alive here in Newstalk in the
good old Somerville rumor mill, which depending on the side you listen
to (Left, Right or even the Middle), can be pretty interesting.

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We
said it here first back 4 months ago, that another major Real Estate
office was closing its doors here in Somerville. Coldwell Banker has
announced to its agents that the Somerville Office on Highland Avenue
is closing its doors for good here in Somerville – the office is
apparently loosing money and already agents are jumping ship. We
predict another good size local Real Estate company (but not owned
locally) will also be closing its doors within six months. Seems as if
truly local real estate offices like Bremis, Buccelli and Norton will
survive. For those keeping track – that's 3 offices we predicted
closing in 2008 – and all 3 closed. It doesn't take a degree in rocket
science to know that this is normal for offices that flourished when
the money was good and the three offices mentioned that will probably
survive have people associated with them have been through this before.

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Kat
Powers, Editor of the Somerville Journal and Jamie Norton, Managing
Editor of The Somerville News will be appearing live on "Somerville
Pundit", Wednesday December 3 with popular activist Joe Lynch as the
host. The show starts at 8pm and it is live – on Channel 3. Call in and
ask them questions, should be interesting.

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The
Somerville News Writers Festival VI, held last Saturday night at the
Dilboy Post, was standing room only with over 200 attendees – thanks to
the efforts of our own Doug Holder and Tim Gager – who are already
lining up guests for next year's event. Great work guys and an awesome
evening was had by all.

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On December 8th
from 7:00-9:00 PM the High School will host a family workshop called
"Financial Aid Night: Getting Your Fair Share" which will demystify the
college financial aid process and help families begin to consider key
decisions to maximize their future high school graduates college
financing option. For more information about programs and services to
help families negotiate the financial aid and college application
process, please contact SHS Assistant Principal John Oteri at
617-625-6600 x6100 or joteri@k12.somerville.ma.us.

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Christmas
trees and wreaths will be sold by Full Circle and Next Wave students,
under the supervision of staff, at Foss Park from December 3 through
21. Trees come in varying sizes and prices; wreaths are 14" in diameter
and festooned with a red velvet ribbon and cost $12 each. Wreaths and
may be pre-ordered now for early December delivery – to pre-order a
wreath, please contact Agnes Gallant at Full Circle/Next Wave
(agallant@somerville.mec.edu) or call 617-625-6600 x6860.

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What
city department has two major employees home a lot and being paid for
working full time? Several phone calls into the News tip line have
asked for someone to investigate why in these hard economic times city
employees would risk not coming to work – unless of course their
director is okay with it…

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The Brown
School is now home to a Weatherbug Platinum Station donated by Miriam
and Beverly Schwartz as a gift to the school – students and staff from
across the District can use the Weatherbug Station to track weather
conditions for class projects using a web portal (www.weatherbug.com).
Users can type in the Brown School's zip code (02144) and receive the
same weather statistics that meteorologists use to make forecasts.
Anyone who has access to the Internet can see this information.

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A
brand new seven-foot Yamaha concert grand piano is now making its home
in the Somerville High School Auditorium courtesy of the Somerville
Lodge of Masons. The Masons donated $10k of the $13.5k cost of the
brand new piano to the School. The old piano needed $17k in repairs, so
this was a very good use for the money. The new concert grand piano
will be debuted at the annual winter concerts held at Somerville High
School on December 11 and 18 – both concerts will be at 7:00 PM and
complimentary tickets will be available after Thanksgiving. For more
details on the new piano or to get your hands on some tickets, contact
the K-12 Supervisor of Music Education, Mr. Richard Saunders at
617-625-6600 x6143 or rsaunders@k12.somerville.ma.us.

***************

Apparently
all is good now at the DPW – it appears that TB is back to work at the
DPW…its been very hush-hush there about the goings on and the lack of
goings on – talk about maintaining the "Code of Silence"!

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Our
condolences to the family of Bobby Martini for the recent loss of his
son Robert E. Martini – it's another sad day here in Somerville with
this loss, many will miss him!

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A sure
sign that the holiday season in the City of Somerville is upon us is
when the annual tree lighting ceremony on the City Hall Concourse
happens – well, this year it will be on Tuesday, December 2nd beginning
at 5:30pm – the public is invited to gather at City Hall for
performances by local artist Patrice Peris, the Somerville High School
Band and the Somerville Community Chorus. Following the tree lighting,
guests are invited inside the Aldermanic Chambers – where all children
will have the opportunity to have a photo taken with and receive a gift
from Santa. Light refreshments will be served.

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Mayor
Joseph A. Curtatone and Somerville Youth Arts Coordinator Jimmy
DelPonte announced that auditions will be held Tuesday, December 10 for
a new after-school arts enrichment program called "Klass Klownz." The
auditions are open to any Somerville resident in Grades 7 thru 9, and
will be held Wednesday, December 10 at 6:00 p.m. at the West Somerville
Neighborhood School, which is located at 177 Powderhouse Boulevard.
Performers should prepare a one-minute skit that can take the form of a
funny song, an impression or a parody of a TV ad or character. CD
player will be provided for those auditioners that have their own music.

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Congratulations
to Southern Middlesex Register of Deeds Gene Brune on his
accomplishments with regards to the registry of deeds for taking it out
of the dark ages and brining it into the modern 21st century! Together
with Secretary of State Billy Galvin, a social gathering and open house
was hosted this past Monday night and the event was well attended –
we're not surprised Gene has a reputation of doing good, whatever he
touches.

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