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Speaking of Magoun Square, doesn't it look awesome? It's coming together and thanks to the support of Alderman Sean O'Donovan and Mayor Joe Curtatone, they have delivered what was promised. We are impressed daily with the work being accomplished and soon the Square will be right up there where it should be and active and vibrant square for the residents.

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Congratulations to our own Cam Toner here at the News, her immediate family threw a surprise 80th birthday party for her last weekend. She has such a large family they only could get her immediate members children and grandchildren plus great grandchildren. Cam's a very special lady here, not just at the News, but to everyone who enjoys her friendly and pleasant demeanor and sense of humor. Stop over at the News and give her your best this week, she'll appreciate it… She's the best.

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Congratulations also to Larry and Joyce Murphy on the birth of their new grandson Logan Murphy Mengold, Logan's parents Kristen and Jason told the News that the happy grandparents are ready to spoil him rotten, he was born last week weighing in at 8lbs 2 oz.

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Appears that the Breakfast Wars in Ball Square is heading to the courts with possible criminal charges against both owners. It'ss too bad that this whole situation has gone this far, we think that the two guys involved should just shake hands and move on in life, they are both doing a great business Рjust check out the lines outside their restaurants every weekend. We know that in the past, Mike from Ball Square Café has personally given a letter of apology to the Sounds Bite guy, but that was ignored and again that's too bad.

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Clarendon Hill Towers had a large ground breaking ceremony Monday, celebrating all the recent improvements and updates in modernizing the entire complex. In attendance was Mayor Joe Curtatone and Congressman Mike Capuano just to name a few. One expected guest who didn't show was Gov. Deval Patrick, he turned out to be a no show after saying he would be there, too bad.

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Crews unloading truck loads of trees to be planted along Lower Washington Street this week. Great to see that East Somerville is finally getting the attention it deserves with these newly planted trees to line the street – one of the most underrated neighborhoods in the city, a bunch of great restaurants, close to a T stop, and of course, Foss Park. Another ward alderman doing awesome work is Alderman Bill Roche; he has to be congratulated for his efforts in making East Somerville a better place.

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Now you can get breaking news, your favorite columnists and local arts coverage with the Somerville News on Facebook. We have about 4,400 face book fans who automatically receive our updates on their Facebook pages. Soon the Medford residents will begin to start to enjoy our home team approach to a paper over there – not a huge, faceless news organization based in Illinois or some link-laden Web site. Prospect Hill Publishing will expand into Medford, with Cambridge about to expand into print soon and the Somerville News, it will be easier for the residents of all three cities to view local, interesting and up to date stories. So far, the News is now in front of an estimated 20,000 readers weekly on all venues.

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Congratulations to Somerville Community Access Television. SCAT won two awards in the 2010 Alliance for Community Media's Hometown Video Contest. The awards were for Overall Excellence and for a documentary produced by SCATV's Next Generation Producers participant, Anthony Soto. The Alliance for Community Media is the largest organization of public access TV stations in the world.
The prestigious award for Overall Excellence recognizes SCATV's service to the community, and the high quality and diversity of programs produced by Somerville residents, organizations, and staff. This is the fifth time in six years that SCATV has won this award, since 2005. The contest involves submitting a 30-minute compilation of clips from shows that aired on Channel 3 during 2009. SCATV's compilation included clips from religious shows, talk shows, live entertainment, documentaries, music performance, promotions, political forums, youth-produced videos, and more. Many SCAT programs are in languages other than English, reflecting Somerville's large immigrant community. In addition, written materials are submitted to the judging panel that detail SCATV's involvement in community affairs, its training and internship programs, and its youth workshops. SCATV won in the category of mid-sized public access stations.
Anthony Soto's award was for a documentary he produced in the Spring of 2009 called "In Tune With Rasta," which explained the Rasta culture in America. Soto created the film as a member of the SCATV youth media workshop, Next Generation Producers. He learned to use SCATV's cameras and edit software in the workshop, with instructors Daniel Marques and Prince Charles.

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There will be a Public Hearing before the Board of Aldermen on Tuesday, June 22, 2010, at 7:00 PM, in the Aldermen's Chambers, 2nd Floor, City Hall, 93 Highland Avenue, on the Order of Alderman Maryann M. Heuston, Chairman of the Committee on Finance, for public input on the City of Somerville's proposed FY 2011 budget.

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ArtsUnion kicks off an exciting sixth season with performance art by Zoe Dance! Founded in 2002 by Callie Chapman Korn, Ivan Korn and Meghan Ballog, Zoe Dance (www.zoedance.org) performs in venues across Boston and will be performing their vening-length work "High Rise" in the enter of Union Square. The dance piece, set on two stages, explores the msquerade one lives in their daily life in public space and how that transforms when they go 'home.' ArtsUnion is a great program that brings a lot of interesting performances to Union Square each summer.