Voters have until Wednesday, October 13, to register to vote or update their voter information for the Tuesday, November 2 election. In this election, voters in Somerville will cast ballots for Mayor of Somerville; four City Councilor-at-Large seats; Ward City Councilor in Wards 2, 5, and 7; and School Committee Members in Wards 3 and 7.

Every 10 years, Massachusetts cities and towns are required to review their population data from the most recent U.S. Census and submit an updated ward and precinct map to the State for approval. The State provides municipalities with strict guidelines that must be followed for this process. An internal working group is collaborating with the Secretary of the Commonwealth’s Office to propose new ward and precinct boundaries that will be submitted to the City Council for local approval on October 28.  

The 16^th annual HONK! Festival returns to the streets for one day only this Saturday, October 9, with its signature spirit of joy and justice in a new, hyperlocal format. 

This year’s festival will feature multiple neighborhood events cosponsored by grassroots community organizations across Greater Boston. Throughout the day, HONK! performers will join activist groups in their own neighborhoods, playing music and raising awareness for arts and social justice causes. More than 15 local brass and percussion bands will take to parks, squares, and street corners across Somerville, Boston, Cambridge, and Chelsea.  

— Photos by Bobbie Toner and Heather Balchunas

An evening of international eats, fire throwers, roving entertainment, and a celebration of global culture took place in the Union Square plaza on Saturday evening. 

Life in the Ville by Jimmy Del Ponte

This week, I am featuring guest writer Diane (DiNitto) Suffredini with her report on the SHS Class of 1960 Reunion

The Class of 1960 started planning its reunion in September 2019. My husband, Peter Suffredini, and I, both 1960 graduates, have been spearheading these reunions for many years, with a constant committee since 1965, when the first one was held.

By Joe Creason

On Tuesday, September 28, a joint hearing of the Land Use Committee and Planning Board was held. Members of the of the public were given the opportunity to speak, with each speaker having up to two minutes to give their opinion on the various agenda items being discussed at the forum.

Ward 3 Councilor Ben Ewen-Campen and Michael Capuano chaired the Land Use Committee and Planning Board respectively.

A GoFundMe fundraising effort has been established to help the Peréa-Roberson family cope with the challenges of dealing with the incident involving their child.

By Eileen Qiu

Tense pauses, stutters and silence fell over last Thursday’s Legislative Matters Committee meeting as City Council members discussed the city seeking to overturn a ruling from the Public Records Office that will let parents acquire records for their child, who was accused of inappropriately touching a classmate. 

Shirley pop-up kitchen owner/operator Chef Kat Bayle.

By Fernando Cervantes Jr.

Chef Kat Bayle has worked in kitchens from San Francisco to Slovenia to Paris. For almost a year now, Bayle has been running a weekly pop-up kitchen in restaurants around Somerville and now plans to do a soft opening.

Shirley, a pop-up kitchen, which was formerly known as Blueberries for Sal, is set for a soft opening on October 16 at Union Square’s Bow Market.

L to R: Kurt Redgate, Katjana Ballantyne, Anthony Slocum, and Christian Martinez.

The City Councillor and current mayoral candidate Katjana Ballantyne sat down for a conversation with Next Wave/Full Circle students Anthony Slocum, Christian Martinez, and Kurt Redgate.

Anthony Slocum: How did you end up in Somerville?

KB: Great question. It was affordable, I had been living in Chelsea for five years and my housing situation changed. I was single, roommates and all that, and I moved to Winthrop for a year and a half, two years when the house had a fire and I got displaced. I lost everything and my friends let me sleep on their couch for three months here, two weeks there until I was able to find a place.

By Matt McLaughlin
City Councilor, Ward 1