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Taped on August 12 at Somerville Media Center, Keri Rodrigues moderates a debate among candidates (Alexander H. Anderson, Becca Miller and Judith Pineda Neufeld) for City Councilor Ward 7.

L to R: Newly appointed Director of SCES’s Adult Family Care (AFC) program Nina Cohen and her predecessor, Jeanne Leyden.

Longtime Somerville-Cambridge Elder Service (SCES) Social Worker Nina Cohen has been promoted to Director of the agency’s Adult Family Care (AFC) program, effective August 1.

Cohen has been with SCES for 14 years, serving as a Protective Services Case Worker, Director of Protective Services and Social Work Manager for AFC during that time. 

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Somerville Media Center hosts mayoral candidates: Katjana Ballantyne, Mary Cassesso, Wilfred (Will) N Mbah, and William (Billy) Tauro.

— Photos by Yetsenaria “Jessie” Alvira, Resident Services Coordinator at Clarendon Hill Towers.

Six Somerville organizations received “Keep Cool Somerville” grants to pilot projects improving resilience to extreme heat this summer.

Keep Cool Somerville, a partnership between the City of Somerville and Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC), invited groups to propose small-scale projects to address the health impacts of climate-driven heat.

Update: Due to forecast— Yart Sale has officially moved to the rain date of Sunday, August 15

Did your children make tons of macaroni artwork during quarantine? Did you find the postcard collections from your great-, great-, great-grandparents in your basement? Or are you an artist making lots of artwork and need to sell or exhibit? Yart Sale is an opportunity for you to showcase or sell artwork from the comfort of your yards, driveways, and porches and for art lovers to browse new work and maybe pick up a new piece or two. Think of it as a yard sale for art.

By Rachael M. Hines

For those looking to spend time outdoors while the weather remains warm, Groundwork Somerville welcomes all to enjoy Somerville’s very own Urban Farm at 138 South St. Currently, the space is open for volunteers, picnics, or touring from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., on Saturdays between July and October.

The Somerville Fire Department will begin the annual inspection of all fire hydrants on Monday, August 23, and conclude on or around Saturday, September 4. This procedure requires the flushing of water from the hydrants as well as a check of the mechanical operation of the hydrant.

City also ahead of schedule to fully fund retirement system

For the second year in a row, the City of Somerville’s Retirement Board was ranked first out of 106 retirement boards in the state on its investment returns. In 2020, the city’s retirement investment portfolio earned a 27.59% annual rate of return. This distinction is part of a longer trend of high investment returns. The Somerville Retirement Board has a five-year investment return of 13.77% and a 10-year investment return of 11.31%, both of which also rank first among Massachusetts retirement boards.