— Photo courtesy of Somerville Police Department.

City of Somerville Mayor, Katjana Ballantyne, and the Somerville Police Department would like to welcome three new police officers. Officer Brian Clancy, Officer Matthew Lorizio, and Officer Igor Bitencourt recently graduated from the Police Academy and were sworn in on Tuesday, July 30. Chief Charles Femino, Lt. Carmine Vivolo, Lt. Michael Perrone, and Sgt. Tim Van Nostrand attended the graduation. Best of luck for a safe and successful career!

The Frances Perkins Workplace Equity Act was recently signed into law by Governor Maura Healey.

Governor Maura Healey today signed into law An Act relative to salary range transparency,which increases equity and transparency in pay by requiring employers to disclose salary ranges and protecting an employee’s right to ask for salary ranges.

(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)

In response to Shalom Somerville’s July 17 letter to the Editor, If Not Now Boston does not believe that showing Israelism, a film critical of Israel, is antisemitic. Instead, we are grateful to Arts at the Armory and Somerville for Palestine organizers for creating a space for learning and exchange of perspectives.

On August 11, 1834, an Ursuline Convent on Mt. Benedict, in what is now Somerville, was vandalized and then burned to the ground by an anti-Catholic mob. Author and Salem State Professor Emeritus Nancy Schultz will explore the tensions over class, gender, religion, ethnicity, and education that fueled the convent’s destruction. Tickets are $12 and include one drink from Aeronaut Brewing. For details, see http://www.somervillemuseum.org/calendar-events/ursuline. Tavern Talk: the 190th Anniversary of the Ursuline Convent Burning, Sunday, August 11, 1:30 p.m., 2:30 p.m., Aeronaut Brewing at 14 Tyler Street, Somerville.

Executive Director of the Somerville Museum, Stephanie Marlin-Curie

The Somerville Museum has announced Stephanie Marlin-Curiel as the new Executive Director of the Museum. Stephanie brings a wealth of experience from her role as Visual Arts Manager at The Umbrella Arts Center, where she oversaw gallery programming, managed artist studios, and curated public art initiatives.

Local Poet Gloria Mindock will be presented with the Sam Cornish Award this coming Sunday, August 11.

Somerville Poet, Gloria Mindock, will be honored with the Sam Cornish award at the Longfellow House – Washington’s Headquarters National Historic Site on Sunday, August 11, at  3:00 p.m.

Eagle Feathers #310 – Oxford

By Bob (Monty) Doherty

Oxford, Massachusetts lies in the southern part of Worcester County, just one town away from the Connecticut border.  As early as 1682, the Massachusetts Bay Colony offered land grants to this area for people who would colonize the then, unbridled frontier land.

So, Boston’s arguably controversial bid to host the 2024 Summer Olympic games ultimately fell through, as proponents of the plan failed to meet the required expectations of the United States Olympic Committee in the allotted time.

Then Mayor Martin J. Walsh reportedly felt pressured to formally submit the city’s bid without performing due diligence in terms of cost and infrastructure demands, and had asked the U.S.O.C. for more time. Ultimately, the Committee dropped Boston as a contender for the 2024 games.

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Alexander Levering Kern is a poet, chaplain, editor, and Quaker educator originally from Washington, DC and based in Somerville and (whenever possible) Chebeague Island, Maine. He is the author of a book of poems, What an Island Knows (Shanti Arts, 2024), and a forthcoming poetry collection from Cervena Barva Press. Alex is the editor of the anthology Becoming Fire and founding editor of Pensive: A Global Journal of Spirituality & the Arts (www.pensive.com).