The information session for proposed Fiscal Year 2024 water and sewer rates took place on Monday, but written testimony will be accepted until 6:00 p.m. on Monday, May 22, and can be emailed to water@somervillema.gov or mailed to: Water and Sewer Department, ATTN: Hearing, 17 Franey Road, Somerville, MA 02145. The information session and public hearing will rebroadcast on GovTV (channel 13 on RCN, channel 22 on Comcast) and on the City’s YouTube channel, youtube.com/SomervilleCityTV.

Several parking and street marking amendments were considered and voted on at the latest meeting of the Somerville Traffic Commission.

By Ana Celerier Salcedo

On Thursday, May 11, The Somerville Traffic Commission met and voted on seven different agenda items.

A request was made for accessible parking spaces at 125 Pennsylvania Ave. The motion was accepted with three votes, yes, and two members of the commission abstaining. 

Eagle Feathers #279 –Memorial Day

By Bob (Monty) Doherty

The tradition began in 1868 with the men of the Grand Army of the Republic. They designated May 30 as a day for decorating the graves of those who had fallen in the Civil War with flowers. It later became a day when parades and orations celebrated the victories of both Armies, the Blue and the Gray. The graves of these veterans numbered over 600,000, and they are found in thousands of their hometowns throughout the country.

It seems as though we cannot get enough of the farmers market scene in Somerville. They have become time-honored traditions and perennial mainstays of alternative commerce in the city.

There is something special about shopping for fresh produce, discovering unique arts and crafts vendors, and enjoying live entertainment in the open air. We feel a sense of camaraderie, too, as we gather to take in the sights, sounds, flavors and aromas that permeate each market site.

*

Review by Andy Hoffman

In Joy and Pandemic, a world premiere at the Calderwood Pavilion of the Huntington Theater, playwright Taylor Mac locates the conflict between belief and reality in a children’s art school in 1918 Philadelphia. Joy, the founder of the school, believes devoutly in Christian Science, which will run head first into the bursting Spanish Flu pandemic, which will kill over 50 million people as troops returned home from the last battles of World War I. This apocalyptic moment tried whole nations’ faith in social hierarchies, in political solutions, and in moral values, but it fails to shake Joy’s belief in the religion founded by Boston’s own Mary Baker Eddy.

*

Nina Rubinstein Alonso’s work has appeared in The New Yorker, Ploughshares, Nixes Mate, Sumac, New Boston Review, Broadkill Review, Writing in a Woman’s Voice, etc. Her book This Body was published by David Godine Press, her chapbook Riot Wake by Cervena Barva Press, and her story collection Distractions En Route is being published by Ibbetson Street.

On May 18, at their new location at 81 Highland Ave. Full Circle and Next Wave School will be celebrating their 50th Anniversary with an open house from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. Started by concerned students, parents, and educators to meet the needs of students who left traditional schools, Full Circle and Next Wave faced many challenges in the early years. From gaining certification, to securing operating costs through non-profits and the contributions of individuals, to finding a place to call home, students, parents, educators, community groups and members, school committee members  and mayors all played a role in getting the school to where it is today.