“Childhood Summer” by Alison Amick.

By Manna Parker

The 4th annual Somerville Toy Camera Festival (STCF) is now one of the largest toy camera festivals in the world. The festival, which features photographs submitted by a diverse range of artists, is running from September 8 to October 15 this year.

By Tim Talun, Dominique Stassart, Sam Engelstad and Eric Fellinger on behalf of the Union Square Neighbors Traffic Calming Group

The flow of traffic through Somerville is among the greatest challenges affecting the quality of life for residents. In recent years, consensus has grown among Aldermen, the Mayor, city staff, and residents that traffic calming measures are necessary. We must now find the vision and the will to make traffic calming a reality throughout our neighborhoods.

Project MUM, a Somerville-born outdoor dance party was created to transform underutilized spaces takes place on Saturday, September 24 at 8:00 p.m. -Sunday, September 25 at 1:00 a.m. MUM stands for Meet under the McGrath, which was held there for three years. With this spirit they have shifted the party across the street from the McGrath to their current transformational space, the former waste transfer site and future home of ArtFarm. Come out as artists and performers collaborate to create a cosmic light and sound show. Free to the public. MUM is produced in partnership with Sadiya Carr at Firefly Arts Collective.

On Sunday, September 25, 2016, performance venues across the nation – including ONCE and Sally O’Brien’s Bar and Grill right here in Somerville – will be remembering the forgotten victims of America’s gun violence epidemic with The Concert Across America, a series of live events from coast to coast.

By Jim Clark

A Somerville police officer on a detail assignment with a two-person work crew from Hi-Way Safety Systems painting road markings on Medford St. last Friday witnessed an alleged hit and run incident at which time the work crew’s truck and equipment had been struck by a passing car.

~Photos by Claudia Ferro

On Tuesday, September 13, food-loving participants took a cultural crawl through the East Somerville restaurant corridor. The authentic foods represented the sights and smells of Ethiopia, the tastes of El Salvador and the colors of Haiti. One ticket allowed generous sampling of some of East Somerville’s best restaurants.

By Joseph A. Curtatone

(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)

A few years ago at one of our ResiStat neighborhood meetings, a resident brought up an issue with the street sweeping schedule. Because of schedule specifics – and unpredictable New England winters – her side of the street would often miss out on sweeping for months at a time. After she brought this to our attention, we got all the necessary parties at the table and figured out a solution sooner than we probably would have otherwise. And this is just one example of the many ways that residents have helped us improve city services and policy just by showing up. We’re getting ready to kick off this fall’s round of ResiStat meetings, and I hope you too will show up.

Thursday, Sept 22, at 6 p.m. Somerville Overcoming Addiction will be holding a vigil at Somerville High School Field House, 81 Highland Ave, Somerville. The vigil is to recognize, to remember and to celebrate loved ones all of whom were lost to addiction.

Anyone is invited to attend and remember their loved ones.

Come on down to Union Sq. this Saturday for a sweet and sticky educational experience, as “What the Fluff? A Tribute to Union Square Invention” celebrates its 11th annual celebration.

By Charles Lane

Now in its 11th year, “What the Fluff? A Tribute to Union Square Invention” is a madcap festival honoring the invention of Marshmallow Fluff and draws over 12,000 annually.

Join the celebration of the genius of Archibald Query, who invented Fluff right in Union Square in 1917, on Saturday, September 24 (Raindate: Sunday, September 25), 3:00 – 7:00 p.m. in Union Sq.

Powderhouse Studios founder and director Alec Resnick (left) with Founder and staff member Bakhtiar Mikhak (center) and Director of Operations and Co-Founder Shaunalynn Duffy (right) discussing the new “Super School” coming to Somerville.

By Joe Ruvido

The XQ Superschool Project announced last week that it has awarded a $10 million grant to a new school in Somerville called Powderhouse Studios.

The school’s mission is to provide traditional classroom education alongside long-term, community-centric research projects outside the classroom. Its goal is to fill a void in the achievement gap for students who are left behind by traditional education. The school will be located on Broadway across from Packard Ave.