To help support the holiday spirit, the City of Somerville and the Somerville Arts Council are offering some fun ways to celebrate Halloween safely this year. The city is hosting a citywide Howl-o-Ween, inviting community members to don a face covering and then give their best Halloween growls, ghost boos, or to just politely holler out their COVID-19 woes and frustrations (keep it family friendly, please) from their doors and windows at 6:30 p.m. on Halloween, Saturday, October 31.

(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)

Gift cards totaling $50 can motivate smokers and vapers to quit
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Dear Editor,

Smoking and vaping may put people at higher risk of complications from COVID-19, especially because they can weaken the immune system and damage the lungs. So, this is an especially good time for those who smoke or vape to try to quit.

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I have always loved the theatre, and over the years I have interviewed a number of aspiring and accomplished playwrights, actors, directors, etc. So, it was a pleasure to connect to Ally Sass, who despite the pandemic keeps on keeping on.

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Listen is Steven Cramer’s sixth collection of poetry. The book’s inaugurating subject, a prolonged struggle with depression, brings closer to home the purely imagined speaker of Cramer’s previous book, Clangings (2012), whose language manifested the “clang associations” of manic and schizophrenic speech. Listen’s poems face what Dickinson called “that White Sustenance/Despair,” offering deeply intimate lyric testimony about a widespread human condition. But, as Kevin Prufer writes, “these poems begin in depression, but their territories are wide, diverse, and very vivid.” The later sections of Listen intensely grapple with the magical thinking that shapes, or misshapes, our deepest attachments; dramatize the anxieties of this especially perilous moment in history; and ultimately pay homage to the fragile consolations of art.

Reminders on upcoming deadline for vote by mail and the end of early voting

Three of Somerville’s polling places have been relocated for the November 3 election to accommodate COVID-19 safety measures. All other polling locations will remain the same as they were for the September primary election. If you plan to vote in person on November 3, don’t forget to double-check your polling location.

They touch on Cramer’s period of depression and his treatment, Robert Lowell and his poem Waking in the Blue, his years directing the MFA program at Lesley University, an upcoming reading at the Blacksmith House, and more.

Due to rising cases of COVID-19 connected to indoor ice hockey, the Massachusetts Department of Public Health issued a new public health order  prohibiting indoor ice rinks and ice skating facilities from operating from October 23, 2020 to November 7, 2020.

Open Positions: One position available
Term: 3 years
Availability: Immediate

 The City of Somerville is currently seeking applicants for one open position on the Somerville Conservation Commission. The Conservation Commission is devoted to preserving and protecting Somerville’s natural environment with an emphasis on wetlands, open space, and community gardens. Members are charged with administering and enforcing the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Wetlands Protection Act and Rivers Protection Act to protect the city’s wetlands and rivers. In addition, the Commission plays an important role as a sounding board for open space planning and initiatives. The City’s community gardens program, which offers gardening plots to residents, is also overseen by the Commission.

The annual Healey School apple-picking field trip was cancelled because of the pandemic, but Principal Cobbs alerted teachers, families, and students that helpers planned to bring the orchard to the Healey School community instead. Thanks to a generous donation from a Healey family, each Healey School prekindergarten through grade 4 student received a fall treat bag this week.