The annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration event will take place Monday, January 20, at the East Somerville Community School. Festivities for this free family event will begin at 10:00 a.m. The celebration will be emceed by Marcus Santos and will feature musical performances by El Sistema Somerville and the Somerville High School World Percussion Ensemble, as well as readings by student essayists. A keynote address will be given by Aba Taylor, a social justice educator, facilitator and organizer. Following the speaking program, the Beautiful Stuff Project will facilitate the creation of a community mosaic. This year the Somerville Human Rights Commission will hold a drive during the event, to benefit Project SOUP. Attendees are invited to bring toiletries such as shampoo, toilet paper and soap. The event is organized in cooperation with the City of Somerville’s Health and Human Services Department, Somerville Public Schools, and the Somerville Human Rights Commission.

In response to inquiries about the educational material which was mailed to residences regarding lead in the drinking water, the city of Somerville has issued this high level recap:

Somerville Heroes by Stephanie Hirsch

Thank you this month to residents who helped make the holiday season magical. Some invented or carried on traditions, and some shared stories through different types of holiday displays. Thanks are also due to those people who had to work extra hard this season while many of us took breaks.
Here are a few signs of the season from around town…

— Photos by Claudia Ferro

People took advantage of record breaking temperatures  in the Assembly Row–Mystic River area last weekend.

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Serving the Davis Square area since 1996, The Burren is a wonderful venue to meet up with family and friends and enjoy the authentic Irish pub experience. They feature live entertainment seven nights a week, and offer up great food and the most proper pint of Guinness you can find in the square.

A hot topic of discussion in the city through the years is how best to deal with development and upkeep of our public recreational playing fields. Specifically, a debate is still underway concerning the use of artificial grass versus natural turf.

Those opposed to the artificial option point to safety concerns based on the chemical composition of the materials used, as well as the perceived unnatural way the turf responds to the activities of those who play on the fields. So called “heat islands” – i.e., excessive heat given off due to the nature of the turf’s materials – creates further cause for concern, in consideration of possible health risks to those who use the turf, along with larger scale environmental concerns.

Arrests:
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Lakeitha Haygood, of 224 Georgetown Dr., Hyde Park, January 5, 9:25 p.m., arrested at Assembly Row on a charge of receiving a stolen motor vehicle.

Terina Smith, of 330 Bowdoin St., Dorchester, January 7, 6:22 p.m., arrested at Canal St. on charges of possession of a class B drug and removal of theft prevention device, and on warrant charges of removal of theft prevention device, shoplifting by asportation, larceny from a person, utter false prescription, utter false check, and larceny over $1200 by single scheme.

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This article appeared in The Somerville Times in 2013.

If you want the full Shay Duffin experience, then listen and keep your mouth shut. Duffin, a master storyteller, is an accomplished Ireland-born actor and writer, who is in town performing his acclaimed one man show Shay Duffin As Brendan Behan: Confessions of An Irish Rebel, playing through March 31 at Jimmy Tingle’s Off Broadway Theatre, smack dab in the heart of Davis Square, Somerville.

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Patrick Cuff is a writer and editor by trade. He is a fourth generation resident of Somerville. One grandfather worked for decades as a railroad linesman in Davis Square (when trains ran past the Somerville Theatre) and the other worked as a Somerville firefighter. Today, he rides the Red Line and puts out fires when cooking in his kitchen.

Somerville High School was very well-represented at the SkillsUSA Fall State Leadership Conference in late November. Eleven SHS students earned several medals at the competition held in Marlborough, MA, bringing home four gold, a silver, and a bronze. Conference participants receive intensive training focused on the SkillsUSA Frameworks elements of personal, workplace, and technical skills, and have opportunities to earn the SkillsUSA Massachusetts Leader Award.