Concerns over contaminated PPE littering are prompting the city to actively confront the issue.

By Alberto Gilman

The Somerville City Council gathered Thursday, May 14 for their regular weekly meeting. All 11 members were in attendance remotely.

On the agenda for the night, item eight of 46, ordered by City Councilor At-Large Kristen Strezo, was discussed due to health concerns for Somerville residents.

James Beard Best Chef Award nominee, Cassie Piuma, chef and owner of Sarma.

By Isabel Sami

Cassie Piuma, chef and owner of Somerville restaurant and bar Sarma, was recently nominated for the James Beard Award for Best Chef in the Northeast for the sixth year in a row. A native of Duxbury, Massachusetts, Piuma has been cooking for over 20 years and has worked in the kitchens of Oleana, Sel de la Terre, and The Butcher Shop in Boston before opening Sarma in 2013.

In an effort to provide more walking and biking routes that allow for more social distance, the city’s Mobility Team has been developing a shared streets plan based on international best practices and customized to Somerville’s public health needs. By the end of May, the first shared route will be set up and more will follow citywide over the summer. For Shared Streets, low-volume or residential side-streets are opened up to pedestrians, cyclists, and other users while still allowing vehicles but limiting those vehicles to abutters, first responders, and delivery. Shared Streets provide new options for residents to safely make essential trips for food, healthcare, or other needs, while also offering the wellness benefit of new routes outdoors. Signage and flexible barriers alert all users to the shared use to help keep everyone safe. Somerville’s program will use temporary materials that can be modified based on our experience with the pilot. More info to come.

Artist Lily Sayre’s new exhibit is being shown at the Inside Out Gallery in Davis Square. — Photos by Heather Balchunas

By Shira Laucharoen  

The Inside Out Gallery may very well be the only art gallery in Somerville that is open at this time. The space, operated by the Somerville Arts Council, can be found in the window of the CVS store in Davis Square, a public art display that viewers can see while passing by. An exhibit by Lily Sayre is currently being showcased there, having gone up on May 10. Sayre’s acrylic paintings, created on canvases that are taller than they are wide, reflect her interest in skydiving.

It should go without saying that littering in public – as well as private – spaces should be avoided at all times. It is especially imperative when it comes to the disposal of used personal protection equipment (PPE) that could be contaminated with the COVID-19 virus.

Incredibly, one can walk the streets of Somerville and find used masks, gloves, and wipes carelessly discarded on the ground or in any number of inappropriate places.

(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.)

While several states across the country have re-opened their economies, Massachusetts has just begun to roll out their plan to re-open the economy while continuing the fight against COVID-19.

The two pillars of our economy are healthcare and education. Knowing that we will not see our economy bounce back until people feel confident enough to shop, play and eat at a restaurant, we need to ensure that Massachusetts is prepared for a second wave of this pandemic. We need to be prepared for additional strain on the healthcare system.

Ishivita Bali, recipient of the 2020 Statewide Youth Leadership Award.

This year, the annual Kick Butts Day event at the Massachusetts State House could not take place. However, youth from The 84 Movement still wanted an event to celebrate their efforts to reduce the influence of the tobacco and vaping industries in their communities. So the young leaders created and participated in a virtual training and awards ceremony via Zoom on April 29.

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This is not a review, but a reflection and impression of this new poetry collection by Lynne Viti.

The collection is titled Dancing at Lake Montebello. Viti, who lectured at Wellesley College for many years (and I had the pleasure to read with at a Sam Cornish tribute reading at the New England Book Fair), has penned a collection that has much to recommend it.

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Poet Kevin Carey writes The Times, “My friend and poet Sean Thomas Dougherty called the poems in my new collection Set in Stone “grief songs.” I feel like that’s an accurate description. Many of the poems deal with regret, the penance of the past, some of the joy of getting over. As in my two previous collections, the poems are pretty narrative, telling personal stories about me or people I’ve known over the years. Some about my love of basketball. I guess I can’t get out of my own way when it comes to writing poetry. I do think this is an honest collection and for that reason alone I’m proud of it. It’s let me get to know me better.” https://cavankerrypress.org/product/set-in-stone/

Arrests:
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Paul Phaneuf, of Woburn, May 15, 9:14 p.m., arrested at College Ave. on charges of disorderly conduct, malicious wanton defacement of property, and resisting arrest, and on warrant charges of larceny over $1200 and felony nighttime breaking and entering.