Happy Halloween to everyone! We hope everyone out there is careful driving tomorrow night when children will be out trick or treating. Be safe!

Call to Arts, a newly formed grassroots effort to advocate for and advance the work of local artists, has launched a Create the Vote campaign for Somerville’s 2019 municipal elections. Create the Vote is a non-partisan, grassroots campaign to engage voters and candidates for office on the vital role that arts, culture and creative expression play in improving our schools, strengthening our economy, and building neighborhoods where people want to live, work, and play.

The SHS Highlanders improved to 2–6 with a victory over the Medford Mustangs last Friday night.

By Adam Parise

The Somerville High School Highlanders won last week’s football conference game vs. the Medford Mustangs with a final score of 21-16. The game was played last Friday, October 25 at Hormel Stadium.

By Michelle Hillman

Rolando Rojas, 24, is fulfilling the motto “Lift as You Climb” by returning to Guatemala for the first time in six years to deliver school supplies to children who lack the basics like shoes and books.

Rojas learned the motto while at Year Up, an educational nonprofit in Boston that helps young adults move from minimum wage jobs to professional careers in one year. Rojas graduated with honors from Year Up and is now using an $800 grant from the organization to lift up his community.

On Saturday, October 26, Somerville’s Deborah Mason Performing Arts Center hosted Scrooge’s Tricks and Treats – A Halloween Boogie Benefit to raise money for the eleventh annual Cambridge Youth Dance Company’s (CYDP) production of the holiday dance-theatre tradition What the Dickens! December 14. 15, 21, and 22 at John Hancock Hall.

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I met Evan Northrup at my unofficial office at the back of the Bloc 11 Cafe in Union Square, Somerville. Northrup certainly has a stage presence. He speaks in an upbeat cadence and flashes a winning smile. I have never interviewed a magician before, but from my childhood I remember some darkly attired men, pulling an unfortunate bunny out a top hat, or of the enigmatic smile of an attractive woman about to be in cut in half, and miraculously brought back to her whole state.

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I am glad The Somerville Times is alive and healthy, but this is not true for many newspapers. It is harder and harder to find a community newspaper, as they have been closing at a rapid pace across the country. Lawrence Kessenich addresses this in his poem Obituary. This poem first appeared in his book Age of Wonders, published by Big Table Publishing Company. To order go to: lawrence-writer.com.

Seven residents have applied to fill the “general public” seat, which carries a three-year term.

The Somerville Community Preservation Committee (CPC) is seeking public feedback on current applications for the Committee’s open seat, for which seven Somerville residents recently applied. Per city ordinance, the Committee must solicit feedback from the community prior to appointing any person to an open seat.

Arrests:
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Harlan Dossantos, of  Quincy, October 23, 2:51 p.m., arrested at Washington St. on a warrant charge of larceny under $1200 by single scheme.

Kenneth Reed, of  Boston, October 26, 4:18 p.m., arrested at Artisan Way on a charge of fugitive from justice on court warrant, and on a warrant charge of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon.

— Photos by Bobbie Toner

By Jim Clark

An fire broke out in a multi-family home on Jackson Rd. at approximately 3:00 a.m. Monday morning.

A second floor resident of the building, Chris Jeffrey-Paul, reportedly noticed the blaze and alerted other residents of the three-story home, who evacuated the building with no injuries reported.