Mothers Out Front member Bonnie Cohen made an impassioned plea to the Somerville City Council last week asking for its support of legislation aimed at improving gas safety and promoting renewable energy.

By Jim Clark

The Somerville City Council, at its latest regular meeting last Thursday, voted on and approved two resolutions, one supporting House H.2848, an Act to Ensure Gas Safety and Consumer Fairness, and the other Supporting House H.2849 and Senate S.1940, an Act for Utility Transition to Using Renewable Energy (Future).

(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 State Rep. Mike Connolly

Over the past few weeks, my office has received numerous reports of intolerable, chaotic traffic conditions on weekday mornings at the intersections of Broadway and McGrath Highway, as well as Pearl and McGrath Highway and other nearby locations. In response, I reached out to the Massachusetts State Police and requested a police detail to help ensure drivers do not continue to block these major intersections.

The Somerville Historic Preservation Commission’s walking tour of historic sites throughout the Ball Square area brought dozens of participants out on Sunday. — Photos by Jeanine Farley

On Sunday, September 29, the Somerville Historic Preservation Commission (HPC) hosted Boulders, Bricks, and Brunch: Exploring Somerville’s Ball Square, a lively walking tour of Somerville’s Ball Square led by Ed Gordon, President of the New England Chapter of the Victorian Society in America, and HPC Executive Director Brandon Wilson.

The Somerville Museum and Faith in a City will be presenting Faith in a City: Showcasing Local Religious Music on Sunday, October 6, 7:30 – 9:30 p.m. at Distler Performance Hall, Tufts University, 20 Talbot Ave, Medford. The concert will feature original music by Mina Cho, Contemporary Music Director, Somerville Community Baptist Church, featuring church member and drummer George Lernis, bassist Manos Stratis and the Gugak Jazz Society; musicians of Gurdwara Sikh Sangat Boston; and Wylsner Bastien, lead pianist, Sion Seventh Day Adventist Church. Tickets are available through Eventbrite.

— Photos by Adam Parise

The second annual Gilman Square Block Party took place on Saturday, September 28. Hundreds of party people came down to enjoy food, beer, live music, crafts, and fun kid activities.

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One of my favorite things to do when I was a kid, was going candlepin bowling at Sacco’s Bowl Heaven. Often going with my grandmother on a Sunday morning before we went back home to have Sunday gravy, yes, gravy, if you want to call it sauce, that’s your prerogative, ha!

On Sunday, October 6, from 3:30 – 5:00 p.m., Somerville Poet Laureate Lloyd Schwartz will be joined by David Surette, author of Malden, and Linda Flaherty Haltmaier, poet laureate of Andover, to read selections of their poetry. A reception will follow. This event will take place at the Somerville Community Growing Center, a 1/4-acre urban garden oasis in Union Square located at 22 Vinal Avenue. They are happy to welcome these talented writers and hope you will join in for this free event.

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From the Honk! Festival website:

Throughout the country and across the globe, a new type of street band movement is emerging – outrageous and inclusive, brass and brash, percussive and persuasive – reclaiming public space with a sound that is in your face and out of this world. Called everything from “avant-oompah!” to a “brassroots revolution,” these bands draw inspiration from sources as diverse as Klezmer, Balkan and Romani music, Brazilian Samba, Afrobeat and Highlife, Punk, Funk, and Hip Hop, as well as the New Orleans second line tradition, and deliver it with all the passion and spirit of Mardi Gras and Carnival.

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Gary Margolis is the author of four poetry books, Raking the Winter Leaves: New and Selected Poems (Bauhan Publishing, 2013); Fire in the Orchard (Autumn House Press, 2002), which was nominated for the 2002 Pulitzer Prize for poetry; Falling Awake (University of Georgia Press, 1986); and The Day We Still Stand Here (University of Georgia Press, 1983). A Robert Frost Fellow at the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference and a recipient of a Vermont Council on the Arts award, Margolis has published his poems in Poetry, American Scholar, Poetry Northwest, and other literary magazines.

Arrests:
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Rudney Morais, of 43 Glenwood St., Malden, September 23, 9:08 a.m., arrested at College Ave. on charges of operation of a motor vehicle with a suspended license and speeding.

Gaetano Silvestri, of 101 Cross St., September 24, 8:45 p.m., arrested at Cross St. on charges of reckless operation of a motor vehicle and operation of a motor vehicle under the influence of drugs.