By Bella Levavi

The Somerville Land Use Committee held their final meeting before their summer recess on Tuesday, July 29. They approved four zoning amendments, and discussed four larger amendments the committee has been working on.

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This quick and easy salad will make a great lunch or a side for a small gathering. The textures, color combination, and unique flavors will definitely leave you craving more.

It seems as though we cannot get enough of the farmers market scene in Somerville. They have become time-honored traditions and perennial mainstays of alternative commerce in the city.

There is something special about shopping for fresh produce, discovering unique arts and crafts vendors, and enjoying live entertainment in the open air. We feel a sense of camaraderie, too, as we gather to take in the sights, sounds, flavors and aromas that permeate each market site.

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Review by Off the Shelf Correspondent Denise Provost

US Poet Laureate Joy Harjo has said that “grief is a lifelong lesson.” Poet Eileen Cleary, in her arresting collection 2 a.m. with Keats, writes of her own lessons in grief to notable effect. With lush imagery and restrained but powerful incantation, Cleary pays tribute to her friend and teacher, the late Lucie Brock-Broido, to whom this volume is dedicated, as well as to John Keats, who is explicitly invoked.

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Carolynn Kingyens’ debut book of poetry, Before the Big Bang Makes a Sound (Kelsay Books. 2020), can be ordered through Amazon, Barnes & Noble, McNally Jackson and a few independent bookstores in NYC. In addition to poetry, she writes essays, book and film reviews, flash and short fiction. Carolynn resides in New York with her husband and two amazing daughters.

MassDOT, the MBTA, the City of Boston, the City of Somerville, the City of Malden, the Town of Brookline, the City of Revere, and the City of Lynn  announced a series of bus priority projects that will construct up to 4.8 miles of bus lanes and other pro-transit infrastructure upgrades across Metro Boston this summer to improve bus speed and reliability as the region re-opens from COVID-19-related regulations. These quick-build projects aim to address transit delay on some of the region’s most congested roadways in order to improve bus travel time and reliability, and move more people more efficiently to support economic recovery and public health.

(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

Many people wrote and called in opposition to Governor Baker’s poorly-thought-out solution to the tragic epidemic of drowning deaths this summer.   These terrible losses should make us look urgently for solutions, but not every idea is a good one.