Sophie Tuttle and her 190-foot mural at the Somernova innovation campus.

Rafi Properties, Owner and Operator of Somernova, the 7.4-acre innovation campus and community dedicated to helping people and companies iterate and grow faster, unveiled a 190-foot mural by local artist Sophy Tuttle at Somernova. Tuttle’s mural celebrates the work of Somernova’s leading tough tech and climate-tech innovators, including Form Energy, Greentown Labs, and Sublime Systems, who are dedicated to building a more resilient future and changing the world through climate action.

A flag-raising ceremony commemorating the Juneteenth holiday took place at the Somerville City Hall concourse on Tuesday, June 18. — Photos by Harry Kane

By Harry Kane

The end of slavery is something that has been on the minds of many for a long time, and in Somerville, we raise a flag to remember those who’ve been enslaved, but also to prevent others from being enslaved knowingly or unknowingly in modern day America.

(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 State Senator Pat Jehlen

On Thursday of last week, the Senate passed (38-2) an important comprehensive bill to reduce the use of single-use plastics. Hundreds of you, my constituents, have asked us to reduce the use of plastics.

Join the city’s Mobility Division for a pop-up event: try out BlueBikes (e-bikes too), learn about current mobility projects in the city, and register for annual and income-eligible BlueBikes memberships. This event will be held on Wednesday, June 26, on the Community Path at Lowell St. from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. For any questions, email transportation@somervillema.gov.

The Somerville Community Corporation (SCC) is thrilled to announce that several of its affordable housing projects have received significant funding from the Affordable Housing Development Grant Awards, recently announced by Governor Maura Healey. This vital financial support is part of a larger effort to increase affordable housing availability across Massachusetts.

The Fourth of July holds a special significance in the hearts of truly patriotic Americans. Not only is it a time to celebrate the birth of our nation, but it also happens to fall at the best time of year to make good times happen, summer.

Who among us doesn’t enjoy the occasion? Who can resist the warm glow of good fellowship between friends, neighbors and families as the “birthday” of our nation comes around?

Somerville was part of Charlestown and her history until 1842. The most accurate account in early writings places the arrival of English Captain Thomas Graves, a Charlestown engineer and street planner, as the date of Charlestown’s founding. Older than Boston, she was born on the fourth of July, 1629.

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By Off the Shelf Correspondent g emil reutter.

Somerville poet Gloria Mindock’s passion, raw and honest, holds Putin and his regime accountable for the atrocities committed in Ukraine since the beginning of the war. The poet gives voice to the voiceless, documents the atrocities committed by Russians who have lost all sense of morals and faith.
Images and metaphors light up the page in the poem, Bells of Kyiv:

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Hilary Sallick is the author of love is a shore (Lily Poetry Review Books, 2023), which is on the 2024 longlist for the Massachusetts Book Award, and Asking the Form (Cervena Barva Press, 2020). Her poems appear or are forthcoming in Permafrost, Potomac Review, Jet Fuel Review, Notre Dame Review, Ibbetson Street, Small Orange, and other journals. She served as vice-president of the New England Poetry Club from 2015 to 2024. A teacher with a longtime focus on adult literacy, she lives and works in Somerville. (www.hilarysallick.com)