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The Somerville News has learned that a number of candidates have lined up to succeed the late Charles E. Shannon Jr., for the Second Middlesex state senate seat, which includes all of the city’s Wards 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7, and parts of Wards 1 and 2, Medford, Winchester and parts of Worburn.
The word is now that Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone’s political organization is consolidating behind Ward 5 Alderman Sean T. O’Donovan.
Stan Koty told the paper he will not run.
The mayor returns from Israel Sunday.
O’Donovan would join other city politicians Alderman-at-large William A. White Jr., and State Rep. Patricia D. Jehlen, D-Somerville.
Somerville residents who are also considering runs include Bruce M. Desmond, the president of the board of alderman and businessman Ross Blouin.
White would run if he was unopposed in the Republican Primary, but we have learned that Winchester’s Eric Shediac is now in the race for the GOP nomination.
Shannon’s chief of staff, Sean J. Fitzgerald, who was the communications director for former mayor Dorothy A. Kelly Gay, is considering a run as well.
Kelly Gay will not run.
Other hats in the ring:
State Rep. Paul Donato, D-Medford; State Rep. Paul Casey, D-Winchester; Governor’s Councilor Michael Callaghan, D-Medford; Medford City Councilors Robert M. Penta and Paul A. Camuso; and Medford School Committee Member William J. Brady.
The dates of the primary and special election have not been set.
Developing…
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by Julia C. Reischel
Every Sunday afternoon a popular Ball Square café begins to flash with knitting needles and flutter with yarn as it fills with members of a local knitting group called Stitch ‘n Bitch.
“Here, socializing is almost as important as knitting,” said Kristina D. Cairns, one of the ten or so Stitch ‘n Bitchers that sat at True Grounds on a recent Sunday. “I look forward to it.”
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Suspects will be arraigned today at Somerville District Court after the special state police narcotics unit assigned to the office of Middlesex County District Attorney Martha Coakley excecuted a search warrant Tuesday on the campus of Tufts University and found a significant cache of illegal drugs.
Developing…
Last month Assembly Square Limited Partners’ (ASLP) sold its holdings to Federal Real Estate Investment Trust for $64 million. Press coverage did not report that ASLP’s profit was in the neighborhood of $30 million, nor that virtually all of that value was created by the actions of Somerville’s Mayor and Aldermen.
Here is how it happened.
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Alderman-at-large William A. White Jr., told The Somerville News he is considering a run for the state senate seat left vacant by the passing of Charles E. Shannon Jr., as a Republican.
White said he expects a special election to be called later this week with a primary in the middle of June and a final election in the middle of July.
His campaign would focus on three of Somerville’s priorities that must be addressed at the state level: the extension of the Green Line through the city, the creation of an Orange Line stop at Assembly Square and the increase in local aid funding, he said.
White said as the three-year chairman of the Board of Aldermen’s Finance Committee, he is uniquely qualified to make the city’s case on Beacon Hill.
In the state senate, his being a Republican is of almost no consequence. The Democratic Party’s dominance of the legislative branch is so broad, it does not matter if they lose or gain one seat in the senate, he said.
However, because it would greatly improve the political discourse statewide to have a Republican voice from an urban center.
In addition, he would have access to the Romney administration that the city needs to press its case, he said.
Shannon’s death was a shock to White, and so he has not completely worked out his campaign plans or even made his final decision, he said.
There are many factors involved, but White expects to make his decision within the next few weeks, he said.
The Lord called Charlie home, like a thief in the night. It was too fast, too soon and too much to bear.
Many of us at the paper knew the late State Sen. Charles E. Shannon Jr. as a subject or a source, but some of us knew him as a friend—and that made it hard.
It was hard to see him suffer and it was harder to hear the whispers, the painful, painful whispers from those who should have known better.
Much has already been said about his life dedicated to public service, but nothing we could say speaks louder than the repair of the Lowell Street Bridge which began after a four-year stall in the last week of his life.
During that delay, that name, the Lowell Street Bridge, had come to symbolize our frustration with a state government that ignored our most basic pleadings.
But now we see that the bridge has come to represent something else. We see that even as he took up his final physical challenge, Charlie was still fighting the fight to get the job done.
Why not then take the next step?
When the ribbon is cut to re-open the new bridge, we are calling here and now for the new name to forever capture that spirit of relentless public service: The Charles E. Shannon Jr. Bridge.
In the coming weeks, this space will be devoted to those men and women who are striving to succeed Charlie on Beacon Hill. They may win his seat, but they will never take his place.
And when a candidate approaches us about a possible endorsement, our first question will be: Do you support the naming of the Shannon Bridge?
By Neil W. McCabe
Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone has been picked April 5 as one of 13 mayors in the nation to participate in the 23rd Annual Jerusalem Conference of Mayors.
“This is great honor for me and for the city of Somerville,” said Curtatone.
“It’s a chance for me to learn about challenges faced around the world and it’s a chance for mayors from around the world to learn about some of our innovative programs here in Somerville,” the mayor said.
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By Kate Hill
Every night after dinner Jason Hellendrung administers a shot of insulin into his stomach—the same stomach he is counting on to sustain him for the 26.2 miles of The Boston Marathon.
Hellendrung, a Davis Square resident who is living with Type 1 diabetes, will be running the marathon on April 19 as part of Team Bay State Games and Saucony 26 in an effort to raise money for charity. “I’ve been learning how critically important it is to some of the charities,” Hellendrung said about the value of running the marathon.
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by Abigail A. Ferrante
Family, friends and supporters packed Winchester’s St. Eulalia Church April 9 for the funeral Mass and final good-bye to the late State Sen. Charles E. Shannon Jr.
The senator is survived by his wife Dorothy and their two sons, Michael and Charles E. “Chuck” Shannon III. He lost his battle with cancer April 4 while recovering from treatment at Massachusetts General Hospital.
“Fear was as foreign to Charlie as was removing him from people. It shows in the careers he chose, a police officer, then a local politician and finally a state senator,” said Deacon Thomas Rafferty.
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Join Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone, residents, and Somerville community members for a clean up of the Mystic River on April 23 from 10-12:30 p.m., at the Blessing of the Bay Boathouse at 32 Shore Drive. (Rain date: April 24, noon – 2:30 p.m.)
Sponsored by the City of Somerville, Boys and Girls Club of Middlesex County Community Water Watch, and the Mystic River Watershed Association.
Gloves, tools, and refreshments will be provided — or feel free to bring your
own! Please wear old clothes.
For more information, please visit www.mysticriver.org, or call Janet at the Mystic River Watershed Association, at 781-316-3438.
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