This past weekend we were hit with the coldest temperatures we have had this winter. All emergency responders, plumbers and other emergency services were working around the clock handling cold related problems. We thank the city’s services, Somerville Homeless Coalition, first responders and everyone who worked so hard helping those in need and especially the vulnerable unhoused members of Somerville stay safe this weekend. For future planning about cold-weather safety and local resources, go to somervillema.gov/coldweather.

“Waterlines: Water Meditation” will take place on Saturday, February 11, at the Somerville Museum.

Join in for a water meditation led by artist Faith Johnson as part of the current Community Curator exhibition, Waterlines: Stories of Ebb and Flow curated by Arlinda Shtuni at the Somerville Museum on Saturday, February 11.

Eagle Feathers #272 –Gentle Giants

By Bob (Monty) Doherty

It has been called a buffalo, a steer, a cow, a bison or a bull, but for the familiar, this gentle giant’s name is simply, the ox. The first English livestock arrived in her American settlements in the 1630’s, most being brought to the sprouting Massachusetts Bay Colony in the north.

Valentine’s Day is coming around once again, an occasion that many hold dear and cherish. For some, in fact, it is one of their favorite days of the year.

Sure, many people think it’s a corny tradition. Just another gimmick to ramp up sales of candies, cards, wine and what-not. For others, it’s a special time that provides an opportunity to express their deepest affections to the one – or many – who mean so much to them.

Marcia Narh-Botchway, GBL Girls Long Jump Champion.~ Photos by Alex Fredette

Team Results:

SHS Boys finished 2nd as a team with 87 points.

SHS Girls finished 2nd as a team with 73 points.

Individual Results (top 6 from each finals event received a ribbon):

Ed DaSilva retired from the city on February 3 after 33 years working in Information technology. Mayor Ballantyne presented DaSilva a citation congratulating him on his retirement and public service.

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By Andy Hoffman (Off the Shelf Correspondent)

The Huntington Theater has staged the world premiere of Kate Snodgrass’ The Art of Burning at the Calderwood Theater at the Boston Center for the Arts. Directed by Melia Bensussen, the Artistic Director of the Hartford Stage, the play moves to Hartford at the end of its run in Boston, giving audiences all over southern New England plenty of opportunity to enjoy being among the first to embrace this great new drama.

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Michael Todd Steffen is the recipient of a Massachusetts Cultural Council Fellowship and an Ibbetson Street Press Poetry Award. His poems have appeared in journals including The Boston Globe, E-Verse Radio, The Lyric, The Dark Horse, and Ibbetson Street. Of his second book, On Earth As It Is, now available from Cervena Barva Press, Joan Houlihan has noted Steffen’s intimate portraits, sense of history, surprising wit and the play of dark and light … the striking combination of the everyday and the transcendent.

Arrests:
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Christopher Johnson, of Attleboro, January 31, 7:07 p.m., arrested at Middlesex Ave. on warrant charges of assault and battery on a police officer, resisting arrest, trespassing, disorderly conduct, and disturbing the peace.

The ADA Community Survey Will Help Inform Updates to Somerville’s ADA Transition Plan

Mayor Katjana Ballantyne and the Department of Racial and Social Justice (RSJ) are announcing the launch of the ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) Community Survey, which will begin on February 6, 2023.