Somerville’s Municipal Voucher Program (MVP) is one program that aims to address the housing crisis by providing a subsidy to make housing more affordable for low-income residents. ~Photos by Maile Blume

By Maile Blume

This budget season, in response to community organizing, Somerville allocated $3 million to the Affordable Housing Trust Fund for flexible rental assistance starting this July. However, community organizers say more needs to be done to address the ongoing housing crisis.

The previously announced 42-day suspension of Green Line service between Lechmere and Union Square Stations from July 18 to August 28 will not take place. The repair work on the Squires Bridge has been postponed until September 2023. For updates visit the MBTA’s website: www.mbta.com/.

(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 Jason Mackey

“Massachusetts politics is a funny thing. The Commonwealth is full of vibrant debates, clashes of ideologies, and sometimes, surprising paradoxes. A particularly glaring paradox today centers on the Massachusetts House of Representatives, specifically, two self-proclaimed Democratic Socialists: Somerville Representatives Erika Uyterhoeven and Mike Connolly.

(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 Will Mbah
Candidate for Somerville City Councilor at Large
willmbah.com

On July 1, 2023, Somerville and other cities in the Commonwealth have launched a new era of development and construction regulation. A new set of updated energy-efficiency regulations, called the Specialized Stretch Code, have taken effect. All buildings in the city that will be newly built or reconstructed will have to incorporate systems for heating, cooling and electric power supply, which conform to the best standards of efficiency and carbon-reduction.

By Beatriz Leite

The Somerville Health and Human Services Department held their monthly meeting for the Somerville Commission for Women, this past Friday, July 7.

The Somerville Arts Council’s ArtBeat festival has become a much beloved annual tradition here in the city for many.

One thing can be said for certain, it brings to the fore some of the most imaginative and unique creations one could ever wish to see, hear, and – sometimes – even feel.

Eagle Feathers #283 – The Creators

By Bob (Monty) Doherty

Thomas Alva Edison, the father of over one thousand patented creations, gadgets and devices was said to be a genius. His own description of that word was “Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration.” His initial inventions, first a municipal vote counter, and second the ticker-tape machine, came to life in the electrical shop of Somerville’s Charles Williams.

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Review By Andy Hoffman

Tony winner for Best Play in 2022 The Lehman Trilogy, playing at the Huntington Theatre through July 16, 2023. It tells the history of Lehman Brothers investment bank from its roots as a dry-goods store in Montgomery, AL, in the 1840s to the last involvement of anyone named Lehman in 1969, with the death of Robert Lehman, grandson of the founders. Over the course of three acts running three and a half hours, the play reveals the evolution of three Jewish European brothers on the make in America, and what their ambitions wrought.

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Barb Ariel Cohen lives with her husband in the Boston area. She is a scientist and entrepreneur who also practices the complementary discipline of writing poetry. She has been published in The Penmen Review.