(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

Our country generates staggering amounts of waste. In fact, the average American produces more than 4 pounds of trash every day, which means that, collectively, we are creating 700,000 tons of garbage not every year or every month, but every single day. Sure, part of that waste gets recycled, but recycling is no longer enough.

Like many others, I’ve long been under the impression that I was doing enough by recycling cans, plastic, and paper – dragging my full recycling cart to the curb once a week. And while recycling is better than throwing things in the trash, it’s becoming increasingly clear that we can all do more. At the end of the day, recycling is still waste. So, to get to the root of the problem, we need to reduce the amount of waste we create in the first place.

Somerville maintains strong growth district-wide in new Next-Generation MCAS Assessment
*

Brown School among 52 MA schools to earn “School of Recognition” designation

The Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) released results of its spring 2018 state-wide assessment, the new Next-Generation MCAS. Several changes in how accountability results are calculated – including additional indicators and different comparison groups for each school based on a school’s average percentile between 2014 and 2016 – establish the spring 2018 Next-Gen MCAS as a new baseline year for the state’s assessment. The spring 2018 results will serve as the baseline for target-setting for 2019 and beyond, and should not be compared to last year’s Next-Gen or previous years’ Legacy MCAS accountability ratings. The spring 2018 next-generation MCAS was again administered only to students in grades 3-8. Students in grades 10 will begin taking the new MCAS assessment this spring.

By Jim Clark

31-year-old Michael C. Lacey, of Boston, turned himself in today at Somerville District Court after being sought by authorities for the September 10 incident involving desecration and vandalism of portions of Somerville Veterans Memorial Cemetery.

The incident was witnessed by a Somerville resident, George Gatteny, who took photographs of the suspect and reported the incident to police. According to the witness, Lacey allegedly removed four American flags from a grave site, flung them to the ground and urinated on them.

By Jim Clark

Police officers were dispatched to the Mt. Vernon restaurant on Broadway last week on reports of an intoxicated individual who was refusing to leave.

Upon arrival, the officers encountered the manager of the restaurant and its owner, along with the customer in question, later identified as John Delaney, of Charlestown.

According to reports, Delaney appeared to be agitated and was arguing with the restaurant management staff.

Life in the Ville by Jimmy Del Ponte

We can rebuild him! When NASA astronaut Steve Austin is injured in the crash of an experimental aircraft, he is “rebuilt” in an operation that cost six million dollars. Hopefully, our co-payments for today’s replacement surgeries won’t ever be that high.

I’m going in next week for my second hip replacement. Oh boy!

City doubles down on upping the green
*

Where have all the flowering trees gone? And why are they going? These and many other questions are being explored by city officials after many have said enough is enough.

By Jim Clark

City of Somerville officials have been feeling the heat over the past several months, and not strictly from the summer sun, unfortunately so for the many who are concerned concerned with the issue keeping enough healthy trees around.

In a flurry of arboreal zeal, the city’s Board of Aldermen have bandied the issue about for some time now. From questions about why certain numbers of trees have been taken down, to proposals for regulating tree removal on private property, a lot of talk has been going down, with much more to come.

(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 Jack Connolly

Battle lines between the mayor and his administration are being drawn as Somerville aldermen failed to re-appoint longtime accomplished native Somervillians Nancy Busnach and Joe Favaloro to the Somerville Redevelopment Authority and the Planning Board at its latest BOA meeting on September 13.

This Sunday, September 30, 12:00 to 5:00 p.m., it’s the very first “A Ball for Squares” block party in Ball Square. Join all the merchants of Ball Square in celebrating Somerville’s bounciest square for a beer garden from The Pub, food from all of Ball Square’s wonderful restaurants, crafts, activities, bands, and more. Sponsored by the Ball Square Business Association and Mayor Joe Curtatone. More information to come as time goes by. It’s going to be a great day here in the square and city.

By Kristen Strezo
Co-chair of the Somerville Commission for Women

The Somerville Commission for Women and RESPOND invite you to attend our annual Candlelight Vigil to commemorate Domestic Violence Awareness Month. Our vigil this year will be held on Wednesday, October 3, from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. at Statue Park in Davis Square.

Our focus is threefold. First, we wish to recognize those whose lives were lost to Domestic Violence in Massachusetts over the past 12 months. We do this by reading their names and observing a moment of silence.