By Jim Clark

Police officers were dispatched to a Lowell St. location last Saturday evening on reports of a non-responsive man inside a motor vehicle that was blocking a driveway.

Upon arrival, the officers observed a man, later identified as Moises Reyes, in the driver’s seat of a car. Reyes was wearing sunglasses and appeared to be asleep. The car was running and had been running long enough for the engine’s heat to radiate to the car’s hood. According to reports, the hood was much warmer than the other surfaces of the car.

Life in the Ville by Jimmy Del Ponte

In 1965 I was 12 years old. We were still the new family on my street having moved there in 1960. My street was full of families with kids. On a typical summer night there were at least 20 kids playing Buck Buck, Red Rover or Relieve-E-O in someone’s driveway or right in the middle of the street. I was never taller than about 5 foot 7, so I learned early to befriend bigger and tougher friends.

~Photos by Bobbie Toner

The Annual Fourth of July Fireworks with live entertainment took place on Thursday, June 27, at Trum Field in Somerville.

An ordinance banning the use of facial recognition technology in the City of Somerville was unanimously approved by the City Council.

By Jennifer Grimes

During the latest City Council meeting, an ordinance banning the use of facial recognition technology in Somerville was discussed, in consultation with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), and advocated specifically by Ward 3 Councilor Ben Ewen-Campen.

Recently reformed and on the road, Velvet Crush brings its pop power to ONCE Lounge on Saturday, July 6.

Velvet Crush reunites and heads to ONCE
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By Blake Maddux

The rock ‘n’ roll subgenre power pop has never been reliably lucrative or considered to be particularly cool. However, since its emergence in the 1970s, each decade has produced its own batch of purveyors who have been kept afloat by an unfaltering fan base. In the 1990s, these artists included Matthew Sweet, Teenage Fanclub, Sloan, The Posies, and Velvet Crush.

The publisher and staff of The Somerville Times wishes everyone a happy and safe 4th of July. As a reminder, city offices will be closed for Independence Day. Trash and recycling collection will be on a one-day delay starting Thursday. Parking meters and resident permit parking will not be in effect on July 4, and street sweeping will be canceled. Prospect Hill Park and Tower will remain closed on July 4 due to ongoing construction. We know that this is a popular place to watch the fireworks, but this year it will not be possible to gather there.

The freshly renovated award winning house house at 22 Linden Ave.

By Marian Berkowitz

Denise Price is not your typical developer. When she purchases and redevelops a home in this area, she cares not only about design and construction, but also about the property’s history. She notes that every house represents a unique piece of local history and digging out old maps and census files of Somerville are a good place to learn more, as they can reveal the location and names of owners at each address.

Eagle Feathers #182 – Welcome Home

By Bob (Monty) Doherty

This past weekend the remains of United States Army Sergeant George R. Schipani were brought home to Somerville and laid to rest in the city’s Veterans Memorial Cemetery. The ceremony was concluded with full Military, Municipal, and Veterans’ groups’ honors.

At first blush, it may seem like a reasonably good idea. A high tech tool to help the good guys catch the bad guys. Is it as simple as that? Of course not. It is indeed “complicated.”

Many scientific studies have confirmed that the technology behind facial recognition systems is far from perfected. Horror stories abound involving wildly inaccurate matches being made, often at the expense of people of color. That alone should disqualify the technology as a viable option for utilization by law enforcement, security services, and others.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), in collaboration with the Mystic River Watershed Association (MyRWA), announced its annual Water Quality Report Card on the Mystic River watershed for 2018. For the fifth year in a row, water quality monitoring data show that water quality in the main stem of the Mystic River, including the Upper and Lower Mystic Lakes, is very good on a regular basis and meets water quality standards nearly all the time, especially in dry weather.