L to R: Troy Martini, Chief Charles Breen and Seamus Lynch.— Photo courtesy of Somerville FD

Two new firefighters were sworn in during the Tuesday, October 23, Board of Aldermen meeting. Seamus Lynch and Troy Martini will start orientation with the department on November 5 for two weeks and then report to the MA Firefighting Academy in Stow.

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Somerville resident Juan Casillas Alvarez is a poet, essayist and educator born in Puerto Rico. Alvarez completed his undergraduate degree in literature and history at the University of Puerto Rico and his MA at the University of Connecticut. His first book of poetry, Lugar Profano, was published in 2015 by Isla Negra. He has been a featured poet for many literary conferences and festivals throughout the United States. His poetry and political essays have been published in various literary journals and newspapers. He has been a teacher in the public schools of Chelsea and Cambridge, Massachusetts.

It’s a Park EVEN Snow Season for Winter 2018/19 

Parking Will No Longer be Allowed in School Lots During  Snow Emergencies

As snow season approaches, the City of Somerville reminds all residents that for the winter season 2018-2019, the side of the street where snow emergency parking is allowed is the even side. The City’s snow removal policy for public streets requires that residents park only on one designated side of the street during snow emergencies (unless otherwise posted). One-sided parking is needed to allow plows to push snow to the other side of the street to ensure safe passage for emergency vehicles and others. Any exceptions for designated streets will be posted with official roadside signage. For example, roads that have parking only on the odd-numbered side of the street year-round will also park on the odd side during snow emergencies.

New Parade planned to honor our veterans following cancellation of 2018 Memorial Week Parade. Somerville’s is one of only two parades

The 2018 Veterans Memorial Parade is just two weeks away! Earlier this fall, Mayor Joseph Curtatone and Director of Veterans Services Bryan Bishop announced a brand new ceremony to honor our City’s and our nation’s Veterans. On Sunday, November 4, 2018, the Veterans Memorial Parade will step off at noon from the City Hall Concourse, and continue through Davis Square to Teele Square. Somerville’s will be one of only two parades in the region in honor of Veterans Month in November (the second is the Veterans Day Parade currently planned in Boston for November 11).

The Somerville Board of Aldermen Committee on Land Use, and the Somerville Planning Board, invite all interested community members to a joint Public Hearing on the adoption of a new Somerville Zoning Ordinance. The Hearing will take place on Tuesday, October 30, at 6 p.m. in the East Somerville Community School auditorium, 50 Cross Street. The new ordinance would supercede the current ordinance as originally adopted in 1990.  Public comments will also be accepted by mail to OSPCD, Planning Division, 93 Highland Avenue, Somerville, MA 02143; by fax to 617-625-0722; or by email to planning@somervillema.gov.

In light of the massacre in Pittsburgh…