An ordinance banning the use of facial recognition technology in the City of Somerville was unanimously approved by the City Council.

By Jennifer Grimes

During the latest City Council meeting, an ordinance banning the use of facial recognition technology in Somerville was discussed, in consultation with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), and advocated specifically by Ward 3 Councilor Ben Ewen-Campen.

Recently reformed and on the road, Velvet Crush brings its pop power to ONCE Lounge on Saturday, July 6.

Velvet Crush reunites and heads to ONCE
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By Blake Maddux

The rock ‘n’ roll subgenre power pop has never been reliably lucrative or considered to be particularly cool. However, since its emergence in the 1970s, each decade has produced its own batch of purveyors who have been kept afloat by an unfaltering fan base. In the 1990s, these artists included Matthew Sweet, Teenage Fanclub, Sloan, The Posies, and Velvet Crush.

The publisher and staff of The Somerville Times wishes everyone a happy and safe 4th of July. As a reminder, city offices will be closed for Independence Day. Trash and recycling collection will be on a one-day delay starting Thursday. Parking meters and resident permit parking will not be in effect on July 4, and street sweeping will be canceled. Prospect Hill Park and Tower will remain closed on July 4 due to ongoing construction. We know that this is a popular place to watch the fireworks, but this year it will not be possible to gather there.

The freshly renovated award winning house house at 22 Linden Ave.

By Marian Berkowitz

Denise Price is not your typical developer. When she purchases and redevelops a home in this area, she cares not only about design and construction, but also about the property’s history. She notes that every house represents a unique piece of local history and digging out old maps and census files of Somerville are a good place to learn more, as they can reveal the location and names of owners at each address.

Eagle Feathers #182 – Welcome Home

By Bob (Monty) Doherty

This past weekend the remains of United States Army Sergeant George R. Schipani were brought home to Somerville and laid to rest in the city’s Veterans Memorial Cemetery. The ceremony was concluded with full Military, Municipal, and Veterans’ groups’ honors.

At first blush, it may seem like a reasonably good idea. A high tech tool to help the good guys catch the bad guys. Is it as simple as that? Of course not. It is indeed “complicated.”

Many scientific studies have confirmed that the technology behind facial recognition systems is far from perfected. Horror stories abound involving wildly inaccurate matches being made, often at the expense of people of color. That alone should disqualify the technology as a viable option for utilization by law enforcement, security services, and others.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), in collaboration with the Mystic River Watershed Association (MyRWA), announced its annual Water Quality Report Card on the Mystic River watershed for 2018. For the fifth year in a row, water quality monitoring data show that water quality in the main stem of the Mystic River, including the Upper and Lower Mystic Lakes, is very good on a regular basis and meets water quality standards nearly all the time, especially in dry weather.

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Review by Wendell Smith

The title of this monograph on display at Porter Square Books grabbed my attention because reading Stoner by John Williams had provoked an abreaction five years ago. Once I read Almond’s introduction with my Sunday coffee I did not put it down except for bodily necessities until I finished it so I could go to bed. That kind of absorption is unique in my experience reading criticism.

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State Rep. Denise Provost has a new poetry collection out with Somerville’s Ibbetson Street Press, Curious Peach. She writes The Times, “I’ve always been highly attuned to seasons, weather, and the natural world around me. Several years ago, I collected a number of poems on these themes, arranged them chronologically through the passage of a year’s time, and kept rewriting every word and line until I was mostly satisfied. Most of these poems are hyper local. They include such subjects as Somerville street trees, the wild roses in the parking lot of the porter Square Star Market, and my neighborhood after a snow storm. This sonnet is about the effort to grow vegetables in our difficult urban garden – which, of course, is a metaphor for many other endeavors besides.”