Cycling has grown in popularity and practice in recent years, and the numbers of those who commute to and from work or school, go shopping, or simply take leisurely rides on their bikes has grown considerably. It is a trend that has taken hold nationwide.

Foss Park in Somerville will be undergoing major renovations over the course of the next few weeks and months. The state’s Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) plans to invest $1.2 million in a new, multi-sport turf field, field drainage improvements, field lighting, and pathway upgrades.

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Pamela Annas wrote a review of Holder’s The Man in the Booth in the Midtown Tunnel. Many of the poems from that collection are included in this new book. To order go to Amazon, http://bigtablepublishing.com, or directly from the author at dougholder@post.harvard.edu.

Doug Holder is above all an urban poet, an observer chronicling the everyday sights and absurdities of Somerville, Boston and New York City in plain talk flavored with cool irony and sudden startling bursts of imagery. His settings include hospital rooms, bars, coffee shops, Harvard Yard, the post office, buses and subway trains, the Boston Public Library, Shea Stadium, housing projects, city streets, and the Midtown Tunnel from Queens to Manhattan which is the location of the book’s title poem. His characters are bizarre and ordinary like all of us. Several of the poems are inspired by newspaper stories – about a woman who sat on a toilet for two years in her boyfriend’s apartment, about an old man who murdered his equally aged wife, about a middle aged man who died on a subway train: “the Daily dropped/ From his hands … The trains backed up/ From Cambridge to Dorchester.”

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Dennis Daly, among other things, is an Off-The-Shelf correspondent for The Somerville Times. He writes, “Memorious-You is one poem of a book-length series of rondels that I am presently preparing for publication. The rondel (or rondeau) originated in 14th century France. A century later, Francois Villon used a shortened variation of the form.”

Arrests:
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 Gregory Brothers, July 6, 9:30 a.m., arrested at Putnam Rd. on warrant charges of assault and battery and assault with a dangerous weapon.

Steven Hixon, July 7, 3:34 p.m., arrested at Union Sq. on a charge of larceny over $1200.

A two-alarm fire broke out at Brookings St. residence in Medford early Monday morning at approximately 2:00 a.m. The first arriving company found a heavy fire underway, with entrapment reported inside. A mother and son escaped the blaze with the aid of firefighters.

— Photo by Ron Newman

As part of the Green Line Transformation (GLT) program, work is continuing on the Lechmere Viaduct Rehabilitation project, in which the MBTA is rehabilitating and replacing track on the historic, concrete arched structure. Marine mobilization has begun and starting Wednesday, July 15, construction access will require utilization of property adjacent to Education First.

All We Have Left, by artist Liana Percoco, is a performance installation activating vacate storefronts in Somerville that wonders how our bodies have adapted expressively during months of social isolation. When allowed to engage publicly, how do we now perform what is no longer normal/socially appropriate/safe, but once was? Secured behind glass partitions of storefronts, three performers invite you to observe and engage intimately; distantly.

(click to enlarge)

All Massachusetts voters will be able to vote by mail in both the September 1 State primary and the November 3 general election this year. By July 15, the Secretary of State will mail all eligible voters (who have not already requested an absentee ballot) a vote by mail ballot application. Voters can use that application to apply for a ballot for the primary election, general election, or both. Please note that in-person voting is also an option for both elections.

Guidelines and requirements for reopening to be announced

Phase 3 Step 1 business establishments in Somerville will be allowed to reopen on Monday, July 20, assuming all safety protocols are met. New indoor and outdoor gathering guidelines will also go into effect on July 20 with additional restrictions beyond those imposed by the State. The city is currently working in collaboration with area businesses to finalize enhanced safety requirements and guidelines, which will be issued next week.