By Sanjeev Selvarajah

“Cold Ass Honkey” painting and fabric portrait by Danielle Festa.

Over the weekend, with good spirit and energy, the Washington Street Art Gallery at 321 Washington Street in Somerville hosted a fundraiser, “A Heart Needs a Home” – many artists got together to acquire donations, for the homeless, of money and/or canned goods or winter wear –100 percent of proceeds went to the Somerville Homeless Coalition. Even though the opening reception has passed, bids will keep collecting till the 26th, the day after Christmas when gallery hours end, where they were on display every Saturday from noon till four. Jump aboard the silent auction: take a piece home as a gift and bid as frugal as you want, for a cause that pays itself forward.

By Institute for Justice

(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)

Residents have teamed up to fight a controversial land grab in the heart of Somerville, Mass. The Union Square Revitalization Plan (USRP) authorizes the use of eminent domain to demolish 279 privately owned properties for redevelopment as luxury condominiums and high end retail.  A group of property owners and residents are suing the city of Somerville and the Somerville Redevelopment Authority (SRA), arguing that the USRP is unlawful and violated their rights in the creation and execution of the plan. The lawsuit seeks to stop the city from using eminent domain to threaten and bully property owners for the benefit of private real estate developers.

By Ross Blouin

The gathering looked like a classic Rockwell painting as 59 children were treated to a Christmas party complete with falling snow and a visit from Santa Claus. Kiwanis President Toni Shelzi and Holiday Inn Manager Ryan Burkart are pictured here with the kids and Santa. Special thanks to the Somerville Kiwanis, Ryan Burkart, Jamie Bowdring and the Holiday Inn for their generous support for Head Start.

Three years ago Chapter 369, An Act for the Humanitarian Medical Use of Marijuana, was voted in by the people of the State of Massachusetts. Over the course of those three years, more than 12,000 chronically ill patients have been granted cards permitting them to acquire medical marijuana at one of the small number of dispensaries that have been established throughout the state.

Eagle Feathers #93 – The View from Cobble Hill

By Bob (Monty) Doherty

When the Puritans first purchased the land now known as the Inner Belt Industrial Area, it was a peninsula. It was an elevated area surrounded on three sides by a river and a tidal marsh. Today, the river, the marsh, and the historic high ground are gone.

The Somerville Department of Public Schools sent out letters to parents and guardians of the city’s students this week explaining its policies and procedures regarding its safety protocols. The text reads as follows:

A cold rain blanketed Somerville when I met with Ben Holmes and Randy Winchester at my usual corner at the Bloc 11 Cafe in Union Square. Holmes, who looks to be in his twenties, is the founder of the Aeronaut Brewing Company on Tyler Street just outside Union Square.

Heather Nelson writes: “I’m a poet, teacher, mother and recovering attorney. I studied writing under the poet C.D. Wright as an undergraduate at Brown University. Most recently I have studied poetry with Tom Daley and Barbara Helfgott Hyett. I am also a member of Poemworks, the workshop for publishing poets.

On Saturday, negotiators at the Conference of Parties (COP21) U.N. climate talks in Paris adopted a final agreement. We want to thank and congratulate President Barack Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry—along with their fellow world leaders—for succeeding in the difficult task of creating and adopting a deal that represents historic and meaningful progress to combat climate change.