(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 Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone

May 13 through 20 was Infrastructure Week. “Infrastructure” includes a wide range of systems that help us get where we need to go and deliver crucial services like water and electricity. Maintaining our infrastructure, especially aging systems, is a challenge both locally and nationally. Infrastructure Week was a good time to remember how central our infrastructure is to our day-to-day lives and think about how we will tackle the challenges of maintaining and updating it.

Celebrate Pride month in Somerville with an LGBTQ+ dance party. The event is free and open to all!

The Somerville Arts Council and the Department of Health and Human Services present the Big Gay Dance Party! In celebration of Pride Month 2019, this third annual ArtsUnion will take place on Saturday, June 1, from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m., in Union Square Plaza. The event features music by  LUNAMARIPOSA, who will be spinning a variety of songs throughout the evening, and drag performances by Amanda Playwith and Severity Stone. The event is free and open to all ages. In addition to dancing there will be tabling by local community organizations that serve the LGBTQ+ community.

By Jim Clark

Police officers were dispatched to Bairos Liquor store on Broadway last week on reports of a man who having punched someone in the face.

A police officer arriving on the scene spotted the suspect, later identified as Noe Hernandez, walking westward on Broadway, shouting in Spanish.

When confronted by police, defendant allegedly shot at officer

A Rhode Island man was arrested and charged today in federal court in Boston in connection with an armed bank robbery in Somerville on May 1, 2019, that resulted in shots fired. 

Life in the Ville by Jimmy Del Ponte

The songs Happy Together, Something Stupid, and Groovin’ were playing on our transistor radios as we listened to WRKO AM.

It was the summer of 1967 and four Somerville kids ages 11-14 were excited to have been on furlough from the local adolescent detention center. Actually, we were on summer vacation from St. Clements Parochial School.

Registration and regulation of short term rentals such as Airbnb units is being recommended by the City Council’s Legislative Matters Committee.

By Jim Clark

Correction: We regret that there were some significant inaccuracies in the May 22 page 1 article Short term rental ordinance set for recommendation to the City Council.” The article was based on an earlier draft of the ordinance. The short term rental ordinance did pass the City Council on May 23. That version can be found at www.somervillema.gov/strs

A final draft of an ordinance that would require the registration of short term rental properties was submitted to the City Council’s Legislative Matters Committee by the City Solicitor at the Committee’s latest meeting on May 16, 2019.

By Denise Keniston

John Hallam and Terri Swartzel consider themselves amateurs on Somerville’s flourishing home gardening scene. They relish the challenge of growing crisp, colorful vegetables and bright, bouncy flowers in an urban environment set against the backdrop of New England’s often inhospitable growing conditions.

We here at The Somerville Times wish everyone a happy and safe Memorial Day Weekend. Here’s looking forward to a fun summer season ahead.

By Marshall Collins

The City of Somerville has been focused on increasing open space for years, but the issue is coming into focus now more than ever before: The city council and planning board meet regularly to discuss the matter, and the city is more broadly looking at the future of open space as it reevaluates its goals in SomerVision 2040.

— Photos by Alonso Nichols, Tufts University

Alfre Woodard, award-winning actor, producer and activist, delivered the 2019 commencement address at Tufts University this past Sunday morning.