Mayor Curtatone announces next steps in ongoing efforts to provide just, unbiased, and compassionate community policing

Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone announced today that the City of Somerville will continue ongoing efforts to deliver just, unbiased, and compassionate policing to the community via a number of new initiatives and efforts that draw from policy platforms developed by Campaign Zero and the 10-point plan released yesterday by Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley and other elected officials of color in Massachusetts:

The City of Somerville is taking its celebration of LGBTQ Pride Month virtually this year. Mayor Joe Curtatone will lead a virtual Pride Flag raising ceremony on Sunday, June 7.

Visit the city’s Facebook page (www.facebook.com/SomervilleCity) at 10:30 a.m. to watch a livestream of the short, socially distanced ceremony. At 11:00 a.m., hop over to the Somerville Arts Council Facebook page (www.facebook.com/SomervilleArts) for the Big Gay Dance Party Virtual Dance Brunch.

A fire early this morning, June 3, resulted in heavy damage to a vacant, two family dwelling located at 32 Webster Avenue. The fire was first reported at 1:34 a.m. and arriving firefighters found fire on all floors of the vacant, boarded up home. The dwelling has been vacant for many years. Five firefighters suffered minor injuries. The cause of the fire is currently under investigation by the Somerville Fire Investigation Unit, Somerville Police and the State Fire Marshall’s Office.

Representatives of the City of Somerville signed on to a bill submitted to the state legislature in support of a cap on fees charged by third party delivery services.

By Alberto Gilman

An open letter to the Massachusetts state legislature and governor, signed by 41 elected officials, was submitted on Tuesday, May 26, calling for a cap on third party delivery fees.

Ward 3 Councilor Ben Ewen-Campen put forward this resolution, which had unanimous support, two weeks earlier at the previous City Council meeting. Bill HD.5054 is currently being pushed in the state house.

The Union Square and Davis Square farmers markets are operating once again, this year with guidelines to help protect shoppers from COVID-19 exposure. — Photo courtesy of Union Square Farmers Market

By Isabel Sami

On a normal Saturday, the Union Square farmers market has about 50 vendors. On Saturday, May 30, it had about 25. Strict guidelines due to the COVID-19 pandemic forced new protocols to be put in place for open-air farmers markets nationwide, and in Somerville the market organizers are being as cautious as ever to keep residents safe. Both the Union Square and Davis Square markets had to adapt before re-opening.

City buildings will remain closed to the public beyond Monday, June 1. In the coming weeks, some city offices may begin to reopen for in-person business. More details will be shared as they become available. As a reminder, all city-sponsored and permitted events are canceled through the end of the year. Many city services are still available online and 311 is available 24 hours a day to answer any questions or for service requests. You can find more information on the city’s COVID-19 response at www.somervillema.gov/coronavirus.

— Photos by Claudia Ferro

Full Circle/Next Wave started the celebration of their  seniors with a Cap & Gown drop off on May 28 –  the principal, assistant principal and teachers caravanned to each of the 16 graduate homes to drop off their caps and gowns, lawn signs and a few small gifts (class of 2020 SWAG).

(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 Sir,

Inequality is the root cause of the region wide affordable housing crisis. The efforts by Somerville to remedy the affordable housing is like whack-a-mole, it just keeps coming. We will never be able to build enough affordable housing to satisfy the demand. That’s because we are addressing the symptom and not the cause of the problem. There are two obvious major issues that impact affordable housing that are not being addressed.

*

Over the past couple of years, I became interested in meat curing after checking out some curing and smoking sites on Facebook. I did some online research about the method and decided to give it a try.

The sense of anticipation is rapidly building as we all await and live through the gradual reopening of various businesses and services in the city.

So many of us need and want our haircuts and styling – we’re even willing to go without the blow dry. It’s one of many small steps that will eventually lead us back to business – and life – as usual.