News Talk for the week of June 14

There‚Äôs some shuffling going on up at City Hall. The city posted the position of Director of Planning at the Office of Community Development on Craig‚Äôs List, at a very nice salary of about $1,500 a week. We also heard that Phil Erccolini is going to get the job and Paul Mackey will get Phil‚Äôs job.  Remember Phil? He‚Äôs the one that tried to salvage the mayors‚Äô condo conversion (some say rent control) ordinance before the aldermen and a large crowd of angry homeowners on the 27th of May. Someone should tell Phil not to lecture he was only there to answer questions. And we know careful readers will remember Paul. He‚Äôs the guy that runs those ‚ÄúSomerville First Time Home Buyers Seminars‚Äù with Cambridge realtors, and no Somerville representatives. Who says there is no loyalty here in Somerville? The more things change the more they stay the same. Next the mayor will be promoting Cindy The Loser, so he can move Joanne The Mouth up to management.

Alleged drunk driver should have stayed in Vegas

By George P. Hassett

A Nevada man was arrested at 1:53 a.m. this morning after he crashed into a Burger King drive-through window while allegedly driving drunk.

Justin Gardner Momany, 25, of 1050 E. Cactus Ave. #1005, Las Vegas, Nevada,  admitted that he "had had a few" at the Black Rose, a bar in Boston before driving through a window, said police.

Lowell  St. bridge to open soon
By George P. Hassett

   After 2,205 days of being closed, dozens of neighborhood meetings and countless traffic diversions, the Lowell Street bridge is finally on the verge of opening, according to state officials.
   ‚ÄúI understand the anxiousness to get the project done, but we‚Äôre almost there now,‚Äù said Massachusetts Highway Department spokesperson Jon Carlisle, who predicted the opening of the bridge within a month.

Sheriff wants a new prison, patrolmen’s union wants their space
By George P. Hassett

   Sheriff James V. DiPaola is touting his plan to build a new prison in East Somerville as a way to also provide a new headquarters for city police. But the police DiPaola said he wants to help strongly oppose the idea.
   ‚ÄúWe don‚Äôt want anything to do with DiPaola. We do not want him to use us as an excuse to build his own police department and further his own goals,‚Äù Patrolmen‚Äôs Union President Jack Leutcher said this week. ‚ÄúOur feeling is DiPaola wants to establish his force as a police department. If he‚Äôs going after money to build a new facility, why can‚Äôt we? Who has more of a need? I think we do. Does the city have to sell its soul to Mr. DiPaola to get a new police station? I don‚Äôt think so.‚Äù

Off the Shelf by Doug Holder for the week of June 14

Mark Pawlak is a longtime editor of the respected small press Hanging Loose, http://www.hangingloosepress.com , and the author of the poetry collection “Official Versions."
           His poetry and prose have appeared in ‚ÄúThe Best American Poetry 2006,‚Äù ‚ÄúNew American Writing,‚Äù ‚ÄúOff the Coast,‚Äù ‚ÄúPemmican,‚Äù and ‚ÄúThe Saint Ann‚Äôs Review,‚Äù among other places. In addition, he is editor of four anthologies, most recently, ‚ÄúPresent/Tense: Poets in the World,‚Äù a collection of contemporary American political poetry, featuring work from some of the country‚Äôs best-known writers. Pawlak is Director of Academic Support Programs at the University of Massachusetts Boston, where he also teaches mathematics. He has been the recipient of two Massachusetts Artist Fellowship awards. He lives in Cambridge with his wife and his teenage son. Mark was recently a guest on my Somerville Community Access TV show: ‚ÄúPoet to Poet/Writer to Writer.‚Äù

Residents address unsafe crossing conditions along McGrath

East Somerville Neighbors for Change (ESNC), a group of residents representing a spectrum of ages, languages and cultural backgrounds, is currently taking on a campaign to improve crossing standards for pedestrians along the McGrath-O’Brien Highway.

Homeless Coalition reluctantly celebrates 20 years
By George P. Hassett

     Sam McDuffie was down and out and out of luck. He had just been released from prison and had nowhere to go. An ex-con and a recovering addict, McDuffie couldn‚Äôt find anybody to help him. Until, that is, he found the Somerville Homeless Coalition (SHC).
     ‚ÄúI was doing bad. I was breaking into cars to find a place to sleep, everything I had was in one book bag. I was looking for a way out, anything. I wanted to drink just to escape this reality,‚Äù McDuffie said.
     McDuffie would escape the frightening reality of homelessness, not through alcohol, but through the Somerville Homeless Coalition.

CAAS Survey: Working poor in need of legal services

By George P. Hassett

   Low income working people in Somerville are in need of expanded legal services, according to a recent survey by Community Action Agency of Somerville (CAAS).
   Over 50% of the 249 survey respondents stated that they would use free legal services if CAAS provided them, said CAAS Advocacy Director Melissa McWhinney.  Only 6% said they would not use the services. Each respondent was from Somerville.

News Talk for the week of June 7

Alderman Bill White came out ahead at the ‚ÄúCondo Ordinance‚Äù committee meeting last Tuesday night – he asked some tough questions and City Attorney Ann Thomas who either drafted the proposed ordinance or at least had a part in it, was put on the spot by him.  Make no mistake, maybe it doesn‚Äôt say Rent Control as we knew it in the 70‚Äôs but it‚Äôs a form of rent control when it has to do with regulating rental increases and how evictions are handed out.  The crowd of over 250 present was clearly overwhelming against this ordinance.  Why is the city fooling around with the present ordinance anyways, are they opening a can of worms that‚Äôs going to come back and bite them?