By Alderman-At-Large Stephanie Hirsch and Ward 5 Alderman Mark Niedergang

Residents reach out to us constantly about their frustrations and fear regarding traffic. Different people are aggravated by different aspects of traffic. Here’s some of what we hear:

Happy birthday this week to several locals: Happy birthday to a well-known sort of historian and good guy, Matt Hoey. We wish him the very best on this his birthday week. Happy birthday to former East Somerville, now Magoun Sq., sign guy, Dominick Silvestri Jr. We wish him the very best. Happy birthday to Theresa Rodriques, who is celebrating this week. Happy birthday to one of nicest ladies, Bonnie Raboin Carriger, who is also celebrating this week. Happy birthday as well to a good guy, Ken Sprague. Finally, to one of Somerville’s finest first responders and all around nice guy, Kevin O’Donovan, who is one of our best firemen. We wish him a great birthday. Happy birthday to everyone here and from the city who is celebrating this week. We wish every one of them a very happy birthday.

(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 Marshall Collins

Recently, the Board of Alderman shared their tax classification report for the upcoming fiscal year, and one thing is clear: we sorely need more commercial businesses in Somerville to help reduce the tax burden on residents.

Sometimes the wheels of bureaucracy grind along at an agonizingly unhurried pace, leaving much needed change far behind in its timeliness and degree of import. In one such case, the matter of renaming one of our city’s primary governing bodies in a manner more fitting and acceptable to contemporary sensibilities, the update appears to have been put off far too long – by a measure of 100 years or more.

An experimental music gathering in Somerville
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The Co-Incidence Festival is a gathering of experimental composer-performers for ten days hosted by Non-Event at Washington St. Gallery in Somerville.

The project is based on an expanded view of what constitutes art, music, and the traditional concert. Following the example of the revolutionary arts community Black Mountain College, it will bring together a group of radical artists operating in the boundary-zones of their practice to take part in a residency curated as “social sculpture.”

The Somerville Public Library and Somerville Media Center are excited to announce our 2019 workshops as part of our collaborative training program for improving people’s digital and technology skills called, Lunch & Learn Digital Literacy Series.

The next Lunch & Learn workshop is Tuesday, January 15 from 12:00 to 2:00 p.m. at Somerville Media Center, 90 Union Square.

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Anne Elezabeth Pluto is Professor of Literature and Theatre at Lesley University in Cambridge, MA where she is the artistic director and one of the founders of the Oxford Street Players, the university’s Shakespeare troupe. She is an alumna of Shakespeare & Company, and has been a member of the Worcester Shakespeare Company since 2011.

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Meg Smith is a writer, journalist, dancer and events producer. Her poetry has recently appeared in Lyrical Somerville in The Somerville Times, The Cafe Review, Poetry Bay, The Horror Zine, Star*Line, Good Fat Poetry Zine, and more. Her poetry books Dear Deepest Ghost and This Scarlet Dancing are available on Amazon. She welcomes visits to megsmithwriter.net.

Arrests:
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Angelo Devito, of 9 Gilmore Rd., Framingham, January 2, 11:57 a.m., arrested at Paulina St. on a charge of receiving a stolen motor vehicle and on warrant charges of receiving a stolen motor vehicle, larceny by check over $1200, forgery of check, and utter false check.

Glens Stocki, of 16 Webster Rd., Lexington, January 2, 11:57 a.m., arrested at Paulina St. on warrant charges of operation of a motor vehicle with a suspended license, motor vehicle lights violation, operation of a motor vehicle under the influence of liquor, negligent operation of a motor vehicle, and marked lanes violation.

Boston’s own Performing Fusion Theatre invites submissions for the Somerville Theatre Festival. The Rockwell (formerly The Davis Square Theatre) will host the Festival on April 18, 21, 26 and 27. They are looking for short plays, 10 minutes or less, to showcase at the Festival for a four day run. Five finalists will be chosen and the winning playwrights will have their work cast, produced and staged by Performing Fusion Theatre at the Rockwell. The deadline for submissions is February 15.