(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

Speculators are driving up prices, blocking new home-buyers, and promoting destabilization of neighborhoods, displacement of long-time residents, and gentrification. Is this inevitable?

Those issues were the topic of my last newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/electpatjehlen/home-ownership-down-prices-and-rents-up-2686414?e=[UNIQID]

Here’s a side dish that is easy to prepare and is packed full of flavor. The addition of the lemon zest and juice brightens up the dish. This is a perfect throwback side that will have your guests craving more.

Giving thanks for our blessings is normally an easy thing to do. We may often get caught up in the day-to-day trappings of scratching out a living, ducking misfortune, and seeking out an occasional highlight to add to our mental scrapbooks. Usually, though, we come around to feeling and expressing that special sense of appreciation and gratitude that comes in moments of quiet reflection just in time to validate ourselves as worthy recipients of such blessings.

*

I spoke to Ian Judge recently about the Somerville Theatre, where he presides as Chief of Operations. The Somerville Theatre is an independent movie theater and concert venue in the Davis Square neighborhood of Somerville, Massachusetts. Founded in 1914, the Somerville Theatre started off as a vaudeville house and movie theater.

*
Janelle Solviletti is a writer from Boston, Massachusetts. She is the author of two poetry collections, Euphony and The Cameo. Previously, she published works in The Horn Pond Review, The Feathertale Review and The Lyrical Somerville. She attended Marist College in Poughkeepsie, New York, and currently lives and works in Boston.

Congratulations to the members recognized today at the 32nd Annual Firefighter of the Year Award ceremony in Worcester. They received a Citation for Meritorious Conduct and LT Danielle O’Hearn was the receipt of the Medal of Valor for their lifesaving actions at a 3 alarm fire on Kensington Ave last December. A proud day for the department!

The City of Somerville Election Department has released today, the official election results for the Nov 2, 2021 election.

Click here to see the results

Members of the Somerville Kiwanis Club gathered last week to provide a complete Thanksgiving Lunches for more than one hundred Somerville seniors.  For many years, the Somerville Kiwanis Club has served a complete Thanksgiving Dinner to local senior residents at Somerville High School, Culinary Arts.  With the construction of the new high school in 2019, the club moved the dinner to the George F Dilboy Post.  Then, in 2020, the annual event had to be cancelled due to the COVID 19 pandemic.  This year, with the pandemic still out there, President Mernaysa Rivera-Bujosa was not about to allow another year to pass without a way honor our senior residents with their annual  Kiwanis meal.  So, with the help of program chairman David O’Brien, the Somerville Council on Aging, and a group of dedicated club members, a solution was found. 

Arrests:
*

Brian Carbonneau, of Cambridge, November 18, 4:03 p.m., arrested at McGrath Hwy. on a warrant charge of larceny over $1200.

Here is the COVID-19 update for Monday, November 22, 2021. Please also check somervillema.gov/covid19 for information and resources that are updated frequently.  

Incidence rate rising again: After a brief dip in local case numbers in October, Somerville’s COVID-19 incidence rate has risen more than 50% over the past two weeks. See the latest Somerville case data at somervillema.gov/covid19dashboard.