The Somerville City Council wants to make sure that all eligible voters be allowed to apply for absentee ballots for the upcoming primary and presidential election.

By Jim Clark

An order was put forward at the latest regular meeting of the Somerville City Council on April 7 asking that the Election Commissioner discuss mailing absentee applications to registered voters for the upcoming primary and general elections.

Callie Chapman of the Zoe Dance Company will be featured on SAC’s kickoff live-streaming event on Thursday, April 16 at 7:00 p.m.

By Anna Schaeffer

The Somerville Arts Council (SAC) is launching the Home Alone Art Series (HAAS) in response to COVID-19 social distancing measures. The debut performance of HAAS will be held Thursday, April 16 at 7:00 p.m. via Facebook’s live stream function and scheduled continually as long as physical distancing measures are implemented.

(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.)

By Imari Paris Jeffries

As a father of three and the leader of a non-profit that works directly with parents, I know this pandemic has intensified the challenges families face in their daily lives.

Street-sweeping is delayed again, and will now begin on Monday, May 4. To prevent residents from having to move their cars during the statewide stay at home order, street sweeping will now start one-month later. For more info on this and other services visit the city’s website at www.somervillema.gov

Mayor Curtatone and Governor Baker held a press conference last Saturday to demonstrate the new mask sterilization facility in Assembly Square. The site will be able to clean up to 80,000 N95 masks per day for hospitals from all over New England.

Eagle Feathers #202 – Near Disasters

By Bob (Monty) Doherty

On the morning of April 1, 1980, a Boston news station aired an April fool’s joke. It was reminiscent of Orson Wells’ War of the Worlds, and it totally backfired. The station told their listeners that the Blue Hills were volcanically erupting, spewing lava in all directions This caused hundreds of viewers in the Dorchester and Milton areas to be panic-stricken. Later that night, the news station apologized.

We hear a lot about front line workers these days, and rightfully so. These are the people who are fighting to save lives and lessen the misery inflicted by the COVID-19 epidemic. They are the world’s heroes.

But it goes beyond the medical profession. When we think of all those who are putting themselves on the line to aid and protect us we need to also consider our dedicated first responders. Police, fire, EMTs, and members of the military. They come to our aid when we are in need and help to keep order in the midst of this strange and trying time.

Easter Sunday is a day a lot of families and friends spend together, but due to the coronavirus pandemic, people are listening to officials and not holding family gatherings. Some still found creative ways to see their family and friends last Sunday. On Easter morning, Sal Ferro put a ladder to his parents’ house to get to second floor window and say “Hi” to Claudia and Sal Ferro. Their daughter and some of her grandchildren also stopped by with a blanket and wrapped her and her husband in a blanket so they could give them a hug.

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Review by Off the Shelf Correspondent Dennis Daly

Poignant to the point of defining poignancy, Eileen Cleary’s first book of poems, Child Ward of the Commonwealth, shakes the soul with her truth-telling narratives of childhood trauma and dysfunction. Cleary somehow melds a mature poetic sensibility with a child’s wide-eyed ability to see the world’s wreckage with wonder and awe. Her persona relates adventures of fairy-tale-like brutality, not unlike fables from the Brothers Grimm. However, Cleary’s anecdotes are not mythologized; they are direct and very personal.

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Lynne Viti is a lecturer emerita in the Writing Program at Wellesley College. She is the author of two previous poetry collections, Baltimore Girls and The Glamorganshire Bible, and the recently published Going Too Fast: Stories. Her website is at lynneviti.wordpress.com.