Mayor Katjana Ballantyne is announcing that the City of Somerville, and the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), have successfully reached a collective bargaining agreement that will provide better wages and benefits for these essential public safety employees.

Life in the Ville by Jimmy Del Ponte

There have been tons of stores in Somerville that we used to shop in. I thought it would be fun to go back and revisit some of these places. I asked this question: what stores of old did you do your Christmas shopping at?

The National Digital Inclusion Alliance (NDIA) has named the City of Somerville as a 2023 Digital Inclusion Trailblazer, recognizing the city’s efforts to close the digital divide. The NDIA is focused on advancing digital equity by supporting community programs and equipping policymakers to act.

Efforts to assist the unhoused in East Somerville were discussed at the latest meeting of the Public Health and Public Safety Committee. — Photo by Bridget Frawley

By Bridget Frawley

The Somerville City Council discussed efforts being taken to assist the unhoused population in East Somerville during their monthly Public Health and Public Safety Committee meeting on December 11.

The Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) has announced an investment of $28 million in funding to improve climate resiliency and provide significant flood protection for the environmental justice communities surrounding the Amelia Earhart Dam (AED) on the Mystic River between Somerville and Everett and Draw Seven Park in Somerville.

(The opinions and views expressed in the commentaries and letters to the Editor of The Somerville Times belong solely to the authors and do not reflect the views or opinions of The Somerville Times, its staff or publishers)

By State Representative Christine Barber

Auri is a single mother living in Salem, Massachusetts who pays over $800 per month for a health insurance premium through her employer to cover herself and her two children. On top of that premium, Auri also pays hundreds of dollars a month in co-pays and other costs for medications and specialist visits related to chronic health issues, including asthma. For her asthma, Auri needs four different inhalers which cost about $40 for each prescription. These health costs—which compete with other family expenses like food, utility bills, and her mortgage—leave Auri worried she won’t be able to afford her life-saving medications each month.

The publishers, staff and everyone associated with The Somerville Times wish one and all a very Happy Holiday and Merry Christmas, as well as a prosperous and healthy New Year in 2024.

*
In 1912, a boy named Giuseppe Montalto emigrated to the United States from Mineo in the Catania region of Italy at the age of 13. He eventually married his bride Josephine and started a family where they had four children.

The shopping is done, the presents are (hopefully) wrapped, and the plans for the big day have been made. Now is the time to slow down, relax and enjoy the holiday and all the finer things that come with it.

Being with family, friends and loved ones and sharing warmth of the occasion is unquestionably at or near the top of the list of things we like most at this time of year.

L-R Gunnery Sergeant Curtis Dunham, Kiwanis President Dawn Austin, Program Chairman Distinguished Past President Jay Lynch, and Lance Corporal Matthew Rankey, hold a few of the toys that were donated.

On Thursday, December 14, the Kiwanis Club of Somerville, along with their friends from the Somerville Lions Club and Somerville Rotary Club hosted their annual Toys fFor Tots luncheon at the Mount Vernon Restaurant.