The end of the additional $600 per week unemployment benefit will likely create new financial hardship for people in our community. If you’re lucky enough to have some extra money, please consider a donation to the Somerville Cares Fund. This donation-based fund provides direct assistance to Somerville residents, workers, and parents of school children so that they can cover basic expenses like housing, food, and utility bills. If you’re unable to donate you can still help by sharing information about the Somerville Cares Fund with your friends and family.

(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)

Dear Somerville School Committee and Somerville Teachers Association,

We are Somerville parents of PK-high school students. We work in education, science, public health, and medicine. Using published scientific evidence as our guide, we ask that Somerville prioritize an option for the return of our most vulnerable students to the physical classroom setting. We support the option of remote learning for any family that chooses it, and we stress that our most vulnerable students – including elementary aged children, children with special needs, and English learners – deserve the chance to go back to school in-person. This matters not only for our children, but for all children in Somerville. Although we may not represent all vulnerable children within the city, we value and are focusing here on equity for all students.

Before and after the renovation at 18 Billingham St.

By Marian Berkowitz

In 2015, Dylan and Jamie Welsh noticed an old single-family Victorian period house for sale on Billingham Street just outside Davis Square where Dylan is involved in the hospitality field. Even though the property had been renovated in the past, it had been on the market for some time and clearly needed a lot of work.

— Photos by Bobbie Toner

Stop & Shop workers rallied Saturday August 1, 2020 at the Stop & Shop at McGrath Highway in Somerville. Workers are demanding their hazard pay be reinstated. Workers, members of the community, union leaders, political supporters such as Joe Kennedy III and Somerville City Councilor Kristen Strezo came out Saturday to demand hazard pay be reinstated to the workers, hazard pay was stopped on July 4.

Eagle Feathers #210 – Our Mystic Shores

By Bob (Monty) Doherty

The seven-mile Mystic River meanders down from the lower Mystic Lake into Boston’s historic harbor. She flows immersed in her own American history. Some say the name Mystic is gleaned from the Native American language.

Even though the summer weather is enticing and it draws us out into the open for social and athletic activities, it is important to remember that the risk of catching the COVID-19 virus is still very real.

More than ever, it is important to follow the established safety guidelines as we continue our efforts to flatten the curve, lower infection rates and ultimately defeat the scourge that has rendered our lives heavily restricted and our patience taxed to the very limits.

Somerville, MA receives $254,840 to assist fire department in latest round of grants

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) announced today $59 million in direct assistance grants to 392 fire departments nationwide through the agency’s Fiscal Year (FY) 2019 Assistance to Firefighters Grant (AFG) program. Additional phases will soon be announced.

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It was a blazing hot day in July, but being the holy fool I am I walked from my apartment in Union Square to Davis Square to meet Stan Eichner. Eichner has an exhibit at the Inside/Out Gallery that is situated in Davis. The “gallery” is in a storefront window – that gets a lot of traffic – perfect for a photographer who wants exposure (pardon the pun).

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Robin Stratton is the author of four novels, including one which was a National Indie Excellence Book Award finalist (On Air, Mustang Press, 2011), two collections of poetry and short fiction, and a writing guide. A four-time Pushcart Prize nominee, she’s been published in Word Riot, 63 Channels, Antithesis Common, Poor Richard’s Almanac(k), Blink-Ink, Pig in a Poke, Chick Flicks, Up the Staircase, Shoots and Vines, and many others. Since 2004 she’s been Acquisitions Editor for Big Table Publishing Company, Senior Editor of Boston Literary Magazine since 2009, and she was Director of the Newton Writing and Publishing Center until she moved from Boston to San Francisco in 2018. Now she leads the popular “Six Feet of Poetry” and “Fiction by the Foot” series. Her latest book is Some Have Gone and Some Remain. She’d love to have you visit at robinstratton.com

Somerville Fire, Police, DPW workers, and Somerville Auxiliary Cert Team are busy cleaning up from the high winds of Tuesday night’s storm which is knocking down trees and tree limbs taking down power lines in Somerville.   There have been reports of falling tress and limbs throughout the city. Pictured here is  Bay State Avenue around 5:00 p.m. where  live wires have been knocked down.