Council to review Mayor’s Request for Home Rule Petition to Grant Municipal Voting Rights to 16- and 17-Year-Olds

Members of the public are invited to attend and speak at two April 4 Public Hearings on a request from Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone to file a Home Rule Petition to the State Legislature requesting that 16- and 17-year-old Somerville citizens be granted legal voting rights for municipal elections.

Council to hear testimony on traffic safety, traffic calming, and the Traffic Calming Petition

Members of the public are invited to attend and speak at a Public Hearing on traffic safety, traffic calming, and the Traffic Calming Petition submitted by the Somerville Pedestrian and Transit Advocacy Group and signed by approximately 350 people. The hearing will take place on Wednesday, April 3, at 6 p.m. in the Council Chambers at City Hall.

The City of Somerville has been working to produce a strategic plan to guide its safe streets work, using the global “Vision Zero” movement as a framework to eliminate traffic crashes that result in severe injuries and fatalities.  A series of community engagement opportunities have been scheduled for residents and stakeholders to discuss the city’s public policy framework around safe streets.

Upcoming opportunities include:

The Welcome Project, an immigrant advocacy group in Somerville, is excited to be celebrating the 10th Anniversary of their Yum: A Taste of Immigrant City event on April 11 at The Armory in Somerville.

The YUM event showcases local immigrant owned restaurants by inviting attendees to sample their authentic cuisine.  Featured this year are flavors from Mexico, Ethiopia, India, Turkey, a variety of Asian countries, and more! The festivities will kick-off at 7:00 p.m. with the lively Latin stylings of the Clave and Blues Band.  There will be dancing, a photobooth, raffles, a cash bar, in addition to an uplifting program honoring members of the immigrant community.

The empty lot by the East Somerville Stop & Shop that was once Harris Park is set to be transformed into a new community green space. Join your neighbors and City staff at the Harris Park Community Meeting on April 3 to discuss the landscape plan for the renovation. The meeting will cover landscape features designed to provide both a welcoming green space and air quality improvements. Tree plantings and removals, as well as other plant choices, will also be discussed. The meeting will take place at the Cross Street Center, 165 Broadway on Wednesday, April 3, from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. Interpretation into Spanish, Portuguese, or Haitian Kreyol available upon advance request (at least 3 business days advance notice needed). For additional information or to request interpretation, please contact Cortney Kirk, Streetscape and Public Space Planner, at ckirk@somervillema.gov.

How to Navigate your Smartphone: Tuesday, March 23, 11:00 a.m. – 1:00 pm at Somerville Media Center, 90 Union Sq.

In this two-hour workshop students will learn how to navigate your smartphone. Instructors will teach you simple applications that will make your life easier, introduce just a handful of the thousands of useful apps out there for you and will help build your confidence with the basics of using a smartphone so you can continue to get more and more from your technology. Please bring your own device.

The man who is managing it all, John Dalton, General Manager of the Green Line Extension, sat down with Joe Lynch at the Somerville Media Center to chat about the bridge closures, construction and station design.

Drawing a cardioid with straight lines during Pi Night at the Healey School.

A great way to celebrate a transcendental number

By Erica Voolich

Thursday, March 14 was Pi Day (3.14). What better excuse is there to have a celebration of math with middle schoolers than π? On Pi Day, well over 250 students, parents, teachers, and volunteers from the high school, PTA and community celebrated π at the Healey School by eating pizza for dinner then spending an evening estimating, creating, collecting data, answering questions, and ending with pies for everyone.

(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 Joseph A. Curtatone

Taking a closer look at notable city data—and interesting numbers. 

25% of our population: In Somerville, 25% of our population is made up of immigrant residents. Among that group are people of a variety of different immigration statuses – some are naturalized citizens, some have green cards, some have a work or student visa, some were granted temporary protective status (TPS) or asylum, some are “Dreamers” – people who were brought to America as children, and some, who are not counted in that stat, are here without authorization.  Some have been here for decades and others are newcomers. Other residents, like myself, are first generation Americans born to parents who, like so many immigrants, came here for a better life and to contribute to our country.  America is proud of its melting pot heritage, and Somerville is an example of the best of that.