Jessica Brayden

RESPOND, Inc., the oldest domestic violence agency in New England, is thrilled to announce the temporary return of Jessica Brayden to support the Philanthropy and Engagement Department as the organization celebrates its 50th year of service. Jessica Brayden, former CEO of RESPOND, brings her extensive experience and dedication back to the organization to further its mission of supporting survivors of domestic violence.

The Massachusetts Department of Public Health (DPH) has announced that Eastern equine encephalitis (EEE) virus has been detected in mosquitoes in Massachusetts for the first time this year.

While no human or animal cases of West Nile Virus (WNV) or Eastern equine encephalitis (EEE) have been reported, they are strongly encouraging community members to take steps to protect themselves from mosquitoes and mosquito-borne illnesses. Among their recommendations:

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Review by Off the Shelf Correspondent Ruth Hoberman

Amid summer heat and ghastly newspaper headlines, Cammy Thomas’s Odysseus’ Daughter blows in like a brisk, briny sea breeze. Nineteen poems beautifully printed, with a gatefold blue-gray cover bearing an elegant line drawing of Athena by the poet’s brother: the book is a pleasure to hold in your hands. And the poems make those familiar Odyssean characters come alive yet again: Penelope, Nausicaa, Cyclops, the sea nymph Leucothea, Argos, and others are transformed by Thomas’s precise, musical language into new guises. Anyone who has taught the Odyssey repeatedly – as Thomas has – knows how beautifully it opens up conversations about love, family, heroism, mortality, gender politics, and community.

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Andrew K. Peterson spent many nights on friends’ couches in Somerville during his twenties. He’s the author of six full-length poetry books, most recently Secret Equinox / Scorpio Journal (published by Spuyten Duyvil in 2023). In 2017 he co-wrangled for the Boston Poetry Marathon. He currently lives in Brookline, and continues to be a long-suffering Red Sox fan. Say hey at andrewkpeterson.com.

Grimes Park is a POPS (Privately Owned Public Space) park.

Now in its second year, Arts at the Armory’s Feet Keep the Beat Festival announces that it has commissioned five local percussive dance artists and one Musical Director
to create an evening length work to be premiered on August 2 in the Armory Performance Hall.

The next installment of Somerville’s SomerStreets festival series takes place on Sunday, August 4, at 2 p.m. Sing along at SomerStreets: Strike Up the Bands. 

By Dennis Fischman

In her Dublin Murder Squad books, Tana French did the literary equivalent of lighting a candle from a candle: a minor character in Book 1 would turn up as the central figure of Book 2, and so on. The Somerville Public Library Mystery Book Club liked her writing so much, we unofficially dubbed ourselves the Boston Murder Squad!