Life in the Ville by Jimmy Del Ponte

Remember the flocks of pigeons that hung around inside Sullivan Square Station? Here are some memories of the old Sullivan Square station.

“I was young and in my memories looking back it’s like a black and white Vincent Price movie. The human turnstiles were murderous looking, the steel screeching wheels filled the air as pigeons took wing, enough to make you look up and dripping water if it was raining. Or is my memory real? Maybe it was a movie?”

The streets of Somerville are home to a wide diversity of tree species, including this flowering crabapple tree (front) and white pine (back).

By Molly Rains

As the growing season approaches, Somerville’s urban foresters are gearing up for a busy spring. The Urban Forestry Division plans to plant 175 trees in the next few months, said Senior Urban Forestry and Landscape Planner Dr. Vanessa Boukili. The springtime plantings should begin in May.

The Somerville City Council has requested that the Board of Health consider ways to evaluate the necessity for implementing indoor mask mandates in the future.

By Jim Clark

A resolution was put forward and approved at the latest regular meeting of the Somerville City Council on Thursday, April 14, asking that the Board of Health consider setting a public standard by which to evaluate when an indoor mask mandate should be enacted at their next meeting, and consider whether the community has already met the criteria for implementing a local mask mandate.

Open Studios 2022 will take place on Saturday and Sunday, April 30 and May 1, from 12:00 to 6:00 p.m. Artists across Somerville will open their studios to the public to display their latest work and meet visitors. www.somervilleopenstudios.org.

By Kyle Dante

President Joe Biden and his cabinet released the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) in 2021. ARPA backs federal workers with a wage increase for those making less than $75,000. It also supports businesses in hiring more people if hit by the Covid-19 pandemic.

A Somerville Open Studios Member’s Exhibit: April 15 – May 16

A perennial favorite, Somerville Open Studios returns on April 30 and May 1 to bring art to the masses. As a part of this tradition, Somerville Open Studios, the Somerville Arts Council and the Inside-OUT Gallery present an eclectic array of works from seasoned members and newcomers for this annual show.

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One of my favorite breakfast comfort foods is bagels with cream cheese. On occasion, I like to have a choice of either a sweet or savory cream cheese to go along with my bagel. There are many choices in the supermarket for flavored cream cheese, but there are so many additional ingredients added that I find I’m either unable to pronounce or even know what I’m looking at unless I look it up! To stay away from artificial flavors and unnecessary ingredients, I came up with these flavor combinations that fit the bill. The great thing is you can add your own flavor combinations to your liking. These recipes below have a really nice balance of flavors and textures. Feel free to make your own flavor combinations. It’s that easy!

It began after a bad oil spill that took place in 1969 off the coast of California. A year later, the first annual Earth Day was celebrated to demonstrate universal support for environmental protection and responsible stewardship of the planet and its inhabitants.

Since then, public and official awareness of the negative impacts of human activity – such as air and water pollution – have been raised to a level where concrete action is being demanded to mitigate those effects and heal the ills that have been inflicted on our world.

Arrests:
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Jose Lopez Molina, April 11, 10:52 p.m., arrested at Tufts St. on a charge of operation of a motor vehicle under the influence of liquor.

Tenzen Thoulutsang, of Medford, April 16, 3:14 a.m., arrested at Broadway on a charge of operation of a motor vehicle under the influence of liquor.

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Daniel Senser writes: “I am thirty-six years old and have been writing seriously since I was around twenty. I attended the University of Cincinnati, where I received my BA in English. I have had poems published in Jewish Currents, Blue Nib, Bitter Oleander, and Penwood Review, among other journals. My second book of poems, Another Missed Connection, came out in 2020 and was published by Adelaide Books.”