News Talk for the week of Oct. 11

We‚Äôve all heard lots of gossip lately regarding Marty Martinez. You know him, the former failed candidate for alderman in Ward 7 against popular Bob Trane and then the failed candidate for alderman-at-large. First of all, we heard he bought a house in Ward 5, we assume to live there, maybe near his buddy Alderman at Large Denise Provost. Does that mean he‚Äôll run against Ward 5 Alderman Sean O‚ÄôDonovan? Maybe he won‚Äôt even have to make the effort though because now we hear that Denise is trying to make back room deals for her buddy Marty, so she can resign as Alderman after November and hopefully have enough votes on the board to get him to replace her. What‚Äôs so hard to believe is that Denise is supposed to be a ‚Äúprogressive‚Äù against all back room deals? But off the record the rumor has it that she has Rebecca Gerwitz and Bill White solidly in her pocket on this vote. Didn‚Äôt Denise used to detest these kinds of dealings years ago in Ward 5? Say it ain‚Äôt so Denise, say it ain‚Äôt so.   

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Traditionally the President of the Board of Alderman spot usually goes to the previous year’s vice president with the exception of only a couple of times over the last 30 odd years. The good Alderman Trane from Ward 7 is the current Vice President, and now it appears there is a movement stirring in back rooms all across the city to make someone else the president. It’s looking more and more like a Deval Patrick win in November (and then everything will be perfect right?) and rumor has it that Mayor Joe will get his ticket punched for that big cushy job we all dream of and when that happens, Alderman Bill Roche wants to be the Board President so he can be once again be acting mayor. Those back rooms must get crowded this time of year. Maybe that’s why we’re always being asked to leave.
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The 40th Reunion of the Somerville High School class of 1966 was held Saturday night at the City Club. Only about 120 attendees from the class were present. Our Publisher Donald Norton had a lot of fun meeting with old friends and wondering what happened to others. One thing for sure the 59 year-old crowd doesn’t look like their parents at this age. The baby boomers there were in great shape, reminiscing about the wild times back in 66. Donald attended along with the well known Scott Lucas who ran into old girl friends he hadn’t seen in 40 plus years. Surprisingly enough, there’s still a good representation of those folks still living here in Somerville, or right next door in Medford.
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Community Activist and Real Estate agent Ilya Tysmbol was recently in a very bad accident in Charlestown, he is at the Massachusetts General Hospital undergoing a series of operations. There is a Web site established for his friends and family to get updates on his health. Our thoughts and prayers are with him, his wife and family. If you want to see how he‚Äôs doing go to www.ilyatsymbal.blogspot.com.       
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Our condolences go out to Former Mayor Dorothy Kelly Gay and her family for the loss of her brother Gerry. Gerry lost his battle with cancer last Thursday evening in a London hospital.    
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Now is it true that Tony Lafuente is running for mayor next year? We say YES, but did he really do some kind of announcement at an Irish pub on Beacon Street recently or was that some of his people just talking loud and drinking?      
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So far the comments for the Scott Trant story (the fired ex-cop who some say is a victim of City Hall maneuvering) is ranking right up there as one of the most active blogging stories with over 130 comments so far in just a week. And for the record, those of us at News Talk who know Scott, can honestly say he was a good cop and a good guy, and for himself and family we wish him the best. But we also don‚Äôt believe that Mayor Joe did this to retaliate against former Mayor Gay for her firing of his cousin.             

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So the Mayor and the Board of Aldermen may be getting pay raises? Well, over here at News Talk, we think Mayor Joe deserves a raise but not just Joe — any mayor in the city who is honest and works the long hours the job requires deserves the same kind of money as the mayors in cities like Medford. As for the aldermen, some deserve more money and some don‚Äôt. They know who they are. But if it‚Äôs the money some of them are after, tell them to get a second job working in a kitchen or something. There‚Äôs nothing wrong with working in the food service industry, a lot of good people work in kitchens.