News talk for the week of March 29th

We hear through several  sources that there may be some kind of ‚Äúsexual harassment‚Äù lawsuit filed against the Somerville Housing Authority by one of their own employees.  We can‚Äôt confirm it, but there was a lot of excitement down there these past couple of weeks, so much so that SHA Director Joe Macaluso has had meetings regarding certain porn related materials laying around the offices. Like we said more then one source but to be honest not a good source, and not enough time to go snooping, plus our staff didn‚Äôt have time to assign the story for this edition.   

Ok, enough is enough. Did you read the Farm Team‚Äôs article last week on the highest paid city personnel?  Maybe the Farm Team Editor should re-read the Civil Service findings on officer Alex Capobianco‚Äôs case – we have a copy if they would like to borrow it and read through it.  They‚Äôre still trying to infer that his cousin (Mayor Joe) helped him get his job back, which he didn‚Äôt.  Once again, they failed miserably to tell the real story and to post that the findings were unanimous and that the civil service found that it WAS politically motivated to fire him in the first place when Mayor Dot Gay did, otherwise why did he receive all his back pay and full reinstatement?  He‚Äôs a good guy, from a good family and they have all been through enough, so the Editor over there, who may have to report on Alex, should at least have the decency to say why he got his job back. Either that or stop mentioning it and rehashing something that‚Äôs not news. The news in that story was he did make a lot of money last year, and so did a lot of others, so what as long as they worked for it, we say good luck to them. We could have published the same information, but we chose not to. Apparently the Farm Team editor is jealous, otherwise why make the unnecessary comments regarding Alex and no one else? Yes, we like Alex so what?
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We‚Äôre happy to report that the outrageous water bill of over $11K that was sent to Attorney‚Äôs Sillari & Glines on Highland Avenue was quickly resolved.  It appears that the water department worked it out so that the bill went from $11K to approximately $390.00.  We‚Äôre not saying we had anything to do with it, but we‚Äôre glad it was resolved.  On the same subject, we understand that in about 18 months or so, when all the new meters are installed, homeowners will be receiving MONTHLY bills – won‚Äôt that be special.
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This past Sunday was the slowest day on our weblog (the people at the Farm Team hate this‚Ķ) we only had 562 visitors and not too many posted – only about 20 odd persons.  We acknowledge the significance of ‚ÄúSpeak Out‚Äù in the Farm Team‚Äôs paper, it is what it is, but we also know that the people who work over there also like to visit our weblog for story ideas and leads.  We aren‚Äôt stupid ‚Äì we know they‚Äôre the paper everyone knows and we are still fighting the little brother characterization ‚Äì even though we have a higher circulation and more distribution places then they do.  Not to mention our weblog being so popular and theirs is a complete joke – our blog is so successful they can‚Äôt touch us. We love it when they mock and insult us through a medium (their blog) that they are clearly imitating us on.  If you want to speak your mind and give your opinion, whether anonymously or not, check us out online and as long as you stay within the rules, you can type anything you like.  That‚Äôs freedom of speech, at least we don‚Äôt sit there and LISTEN TO THE MESSAGES LEFT, and if you must know we can‚Äôt tell who blogs or where they‚Äôre blogging from.
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Somerville Night at the Pops is coming up June 21st.    Premier table seats will be available, 5 to a table call 617 290-6842 for more information.
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Sources close to Alderman-at-Large Dennis Sullivan have confirmed that he is ready to jump into the Senate seat to be vacated by Jarrett Barrios this year. Only a small part of Somerville is in that district, so Dennis will have to work hard to be as well known and well liked in other communities as he is here. It had looked like City Councilor and former Cambridge Mayor Anthony Galluccio was going to be the only candidate, but since the story broke about an alleged drunk driving incident and a possible cover up afterwards, Dennis saw that there just maybe some eroding of support for Galluccio. 
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The Somerville Democratic City Committee will once again meet this Thursday evening at the VNA on Lowell Street. The guest speaker is State Treasurer Tim Cahill and word around the campfire is he will be besieged by angry Somervillians looking to pounce as a result of the Lincoln Park Community School not getting the funding it was promised from the state. Several elected officials say Cahill is to blame and has been backtracking on his promise to reimburse the city for the cost of the school. Some advice from News Talk to Mr. Cahill: Beware, angry Somerville parents are no joke and do not take kindly to politics interfering with their children‚Äôs relationships. But here‚Äôs the interesting part about the meeting itself, they‚Äôre voting on adoption of proposed rules (we want to know who proposed them and were the new proposed rules sent to everyone?)  We‚Äôre also wondering if Chairperson Helen Corrigan is stepping down. If so, will there be a new election for an impartial chairperson? Did we say impartial?  Just wondering, that‚Äôs all.   

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End of the month and still no word from Mayor Joe’s office regarding the Traffic & Parking heist back in December. We’re sure he wants to get this investigation over with. After all, traffic and parking is under his control. It’s been over three months now and still nothing is happening.
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Anyone other then us at the News notice (seems we get a lot of tickets on our cars) that if you forget to pay your ticket, the fine is doubled what it used to be before. Also, some meters only have been made to work on 15 minutes still instead of the half hour.      
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