Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone, the Somerville Health & Human Services, and Somerville Police and Fire Departments announced today that, in collaboration with the efforts of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and the “, Somerville will celebrate “National Prescription Drug Take Back Day” on Saturday, October 27, 2018 from 10 a.m. until 1:30 p.m. The focus of the national event is to raise awareness about preventing prescription drug abuse, pollution, and theft by properly disposing of unwanted medications safely.

Arrests:
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Anthony Hooker, October 15, 4:03 a.m., arrested at Foley St. on a charge of possession of a class B drug and on a warrant charge of assault with a dangerous weapon.

Sean Callahan, of 72 Glenwood Rd., October 15, 8:06 p.m., arrested at home on warrant charges of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, assault and battery on a police officer, assault and battery, and disorderly conduct.

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Here is a review of Somerville writer Timothy Gager’s latest collection of flash fiction: Every Day There Is Something About Elephants (Big Table Publishing)

Review by Leah Brundige

Timothy Gager’s engaging new collection of flash fiction, Every Day There Is Something about Elephants, shows a novelist’s interest in human interactions and vivid details coupled with a poet’s gifts for compression and figurative language. The book’s 107 stories vary in tone, scope, and length, but none is longer than four pages. Some – such as The Lottery Winner, a tour de force at just a page in a half – deploy and develop an extraordinary number of characters relative to their size, while others navigate the constraints on their length by more poetic means, turning on a single pun (Chiller) or extended metaphor (How penguins break). The reader is carried along by their expert pacing and, in many cases, by their sheer shock value. Gager is a master of the twist ending.

Groundwork Somerville’s one and only annual public event at their urban growing space will include fresh apple cider tasting and other free fall festivities

Somerville, MA: Groundwork Somerville is announcing its highly anticipated annual Cider Day Party. Join them on Thursday, October 25th, 2018 from 4:00-6:00 PM at South Street Farm, 138 South St, Somerville.

Copies of “Exit West” now available at all three library branches.

The 2018 “Somerville Reads” program officially begins on Saturday, November 3, with a block party at our East Branch Library beginning at noon! This Exit West inspired celebration will feature live music performances by local groups El Sistema Somerville and Grooversity, as well as refreshments, and activities for all ages.

A public service announcement from the Somerville Media Center Board Members Joe Lynch and Guillermo Hamlin

As part of their ongoing negotiation of a community benefits agreement, the Negotiating Committee of the Union Square Neighborhood Council (USNC) and US2 (the designated master developer for the Union Square Revitalization) today stated that the groups have engaged in weekly meetings since July 30, 2018.

To begin the process, the parties agreed to a set of negotiating ground rules and the USNC also shared a report that it had compiled of inputs from over 150 community members and key stakeholder organizations in the neighborhood, solicited through two “CBA summits” held at the beginning of the calendar year. Recognizing the need for information sharing as a precondition to successful negotiation, the parties have been working topic by topic to understand different aspects of the proposed development and solutions that would best meet local needs.  To date twelve (12) ninety-minute meetings have been held on topics including arts and the creative economy, sustainability and environment, green and open space, indoor civic space, parking, housing, and jobs, and support for small and local businesses.

Please join Ward 7 Alderman Katjana Ballantyne, and staff from the city’s Engineering Department and Office of Strategic Planning and Community Development on Wednesday, October 24 at 7:00 p.m. in the cafeteria of the West Somerville Neighborhood School at 177 Powder House Blvd. to discuss upcoming improvements and paving to Powder House Blvd.