The Somerville News

Aldermen extend embattled trash collector's contract

By George P. Hassett

After weeks of discussion, and despite allegations of labor law violations, aldermen renewed the city's contract with trash collector F.W. Russell Disposal this week for the next year.

The trash collector has been embroiled in controversy in the last month after a labor dispute with Teamsters Local 25 in December ended in arrests for 10 Teamsters and Russell owner Charles Carneglia donning a red sombrero while stomping on union signs in an act of apparent triumph. The video of the melee can be seen on YouTube.

Neighbors push IKEA on traffic issues

Some satisfaction with jobs agreement, but oversight committee wanted

By Kimberly Geronimo

IKEA, and all of its low priced furniture, is coming to Somerville. And with it more jobs, more construction, and a lot more traffic.

Somerville residents met with city officials, developers, and IKEA representatives at a community meeting last Wednesday to discuss the retail giant's arrival and other development plans for Assembly Square.

Newstalk for Wednesday January 30th 2008

Last weeks Board of Aldermen meeting was interesting - the main subject being Russell Disposal's new one-year contract. We almost had the possibility of no rubbish pickup because of Aldermen like Gewirtz, White, Sullivan and Trane. We hear that the Mayor was very upset over Alderman Trane and his vote change at the last minute. Apparently Russell is under investigation by the AG's office for unfair labor practices - charges that the Local 25 Union is hurling at Russell…  What ever happened to you're innocent until proven guilty? It's an investigation, not a trial people. 

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Two things you don't do in Somerville if you're a Politician - 1. Don't collect the rubbish and 2. Don't plow the streets.         

Car crash ends 20 ft below street on Lower Broadway

At approximately 9:45pm this evening, a Ford Explorer lost control in the area around 80 Broadway and  Franklin Street and crossed the median - ending up through a fence and down to the bottom of a recently excavated lot of land slated for development. The driver was transported to a local hospital, injuries unknown. It was noted by people on scene that the car would have to be lifted out using a crane, given the location of the vehicle to the street. Pictures by Donald F. Norton.

 

STEP Workshop tonight at the VNA on Lowell St

The Somerville Transportation Equity Partnership (STEP) is holding their second workshop tonight for the proposed stations for the neighborhoods of Magoun Square and Ball Square tonight at the VNA (259 Lowell Street). The Open House begins at 6:00pm and the meeting will begin at 6:30pm.
For additional information, visit the STEP web site.

Trane won’t rule out run against Sciortino or Jehlen

By Keith Howard

Last year’s president of the board of aldermen spoke at the Jan. 25 Somerville News contributor’s meeting about the initiatives and challenges of his year leading the board.

“[Being] President is a lot of work. It was a little tough,” said Ward 7 Alderman Robert C. Trane. Especially with the heavy workload before the special elections were over and the added pressure of picking up the slack for a missing alderman – outgoing Denise Provost, he said.

Somerville produces a mighty reggae star

by Kimberly Geronimo

It was a tiny, neglected room: a tarnished mirror stuck on one wall, forgotten duck-tape hanging off the  door frame, and one lonely, naked light bulb in the middle of the ceiling were all the decor it could muster.

The musicians and their singer had somehow managed to maneuver themselves and their equipment into the space, although to say it was cramped might be an understatement. The keyboard took up a third of the room, the drum set another third, and three big stereos were stuffed into a corner, which left the two guitarists and the singer squeezed into whatever space was left.

What would I do if I didn't call you a moron?

By William C. Shelton

(The opinions and views expressed in the commentaries of The Somerville News belong solely to the authors of those commentaries and do not reflect the views or opinions of The Somerville News, its staff or publishers.)

As I was saying, Somervillians are the people who I like most and have chosen to live with. Yet in these times, they call each other names more than other people that I know. 

There seem to be ever more conditions that legitimately evoke anger, but fewer clear opportunities to change them. Posts on the Somerville News' website catalog these conditions.

David Surette: A poet who finds it ‘Easy to Keep: Hard to Keep In’

Off The Shelf by Doug Holder

David Surette is the author of the new poetry collection:  “Easy to Keep, Hard to Keep In.” Surette is also the author of the poetry collections titled “Malden,” “Good Shift,” and “Young Gentleman's School.” He also co-hosts the ever successful Poetribe Reading Series in East Bridgewater.

Award-winning poet Frannie Lindsay writes of his new collection:  “David Surette is a steward of humility in its many forms: from his blue collar Arcadian roots to his lowly yet noble farm animals. With charm and affability, yet neither of these at the cost of implicit depth, this collection impresses…”  I spoke with Surette on my Somerville Community Access TV show “Poet to Poet: Writer to Writer.”

Nave exhibit celebrates Somerville and its Villen's

By Walter Smelt

“You need to feel good, to do good things.” These words, along with many others, were inscribed on an unorthodox art-object: a skateboard deck that had been painted gold and suspended from a ceiling. The transmogrified skateboard is part of “Be a Villen,” an exhibit of work by young Somerville artists that opened Friday night at the Nave Gallery in the Clarendon Hill Presbyterian Church.

Despite the suspicious-sounding nickname “villen” (an acknowledgement of their Somerville roots), the artists were certainly doing “good things” -- a portion of the proceeds from the show will go to a scholarship fund for Somerville High School students.

When east meets best

On The Silly Side by Jimmy Del Ponte

(The opinions and views expressed in the commentaries of The Somerville News belong solely to the authors of those commentaries and do not reflect the views or opinions of The Somerville News, its staff or publishers.)

I was the emcee at The Fire Recovery Benefit for the recently ravaged East Somerville Community School last Thursday night at the Holiday Inn - you can catch it on City Cable. Yes, that's me hob-knobbing with Gene Brune and Jack Connolly. Along with just about every other politician in the city, there were wall-to-wall teachers and school administrators in attendance.

The View From Prospect Hill

Ten years in the middle of Davis Square has done a lot to establish McIntyre and Moore as a local literary staple. They have enjoyed their large space and their even larger following in the community, which is great, but at the end of the day, doesn't pay the bills. Being an independent local business is not an easy thing - it doesn't matter if you're selling milk, used books or a free weekly paper - trust us.

Without a major corporation and its deep pockets behind them, these are the businesses that are the first to fall when trends change, even slightly. Some businesses recuperate by evolving and adapting - other businesses not so much.

Star Market closing leaves Winter Hill hungry

By Elizabeth Bernardi

With this month's closing of the Star Market at 299 Broadway, many Winter Hill residents no longer have a grocery store within walking distance, and even more are anxiously awaiting some announcement of what will replace it on the property.

The Star Market, in a building dating back to the 1960s, announced in November that it would close at the end of January. Originally, the store was slated to close on Jan. 26, but that was moved up, as Theresa Pero discovered Saturday morning, when she and a friend tried to stop by the store.

IKEA to consider E. Somerville residents first

By George P. Hassett

East Somerville residents will have the first opportunity to apply for 500 new jobs the IKEA in Assembly Square is expected to bring. Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone announced the local hiring agreement Friday.

According to the agreement, IKEA will contribute $100,000 toward an employment training program for Somerville residents and provide six computers to be placed throughout the city for use by residents applying for positions at the new store. 

AG investigating city's trash collector

By Tiffany Razzano

The disposal company responsible for picking up the city's trash is being investigated by the attorney general's office for allegedly refusing to pay its employees a fair wage.

At a Jan. 16 Finance Committee meeting Michael Lambert, chief of staff for Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone, told aldermen that Assistant City Solicitor David Shapiro was present at a meeting where officials from the attorney general's office confirmed an investigation into F.W. Russell Disposal was underway.

Police charge juvenile for hoax calls

By George P. Hassett

Police have charged a fifteen year old juvenile from Somerville with three counts of making false bomb threat reports earlier this month. Capt. Paul Upton said officers tried to get an arrest warrant for the boy but were denied one.

Statement by SPD regarding bank heist

Captain Upton of the SPD releases statement of the bank robbery on Wednesday night.

King's legacy: Be dangerous

By George P. Hassett

The celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King at the Somerville High School auditorium Monday was almost post-race. Issues of racial equality were raised but more often speakers at the event encouraged the audience to keep King's legacy alive through ending poverty, supporting worker and immigrant rights, offering help to recovering heroin addicts and honoring local measures such as the mediation program at Somerville High.

Keynote speaker Byron Rushing, a Democratic state representative from Boston, spoke of King's work to unionize trash collectors in Memphis and maintained King's legacy was one of radical change and revolution.

Police investigating bank robbery on Highland Ave

By George P. Hassett

A Highland Avenue bank robbed of more than $200,000 in May was again the scene of a heist tonight as a lone masked gunman entered at closing time, tied up four employees, took an undetermined amount of money and fled in a car belonging to one of the employees, according to police.

Newstalk for January 23rd 2008

Word from the Somerville Police Station is that the new Police Chief Anthony Holloway is the real deal! According to sources, the new chief strongly believes and is strictly enforcing the chain of command rule. It' said that if a patrolman is not called to his office by the chief himself - that he or she has no reason for ever stepping foot in this office at all - his orders are that if you have a problem, see your Sergeant, if your Sergeant has a problem then he can see his Lieutenant and then to the Captains and so on. Another rule is that he does not like liars, so if you lie, you're fired! This all sounds great, but let's see how long it lasts. Oh, by the way, that controversy over the Chief's new car? It seems that a brand new Crown Vic was in the garage underneath the station at least a week before the story.

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New bank in town on Winter Hill - apparently to get a leg up on all the other local banks - they recruited the former manager of Citizens here in Somerville, who now is trying to take business away from Citizens. At the same time, we heard a strong rumor now that this bank “Citi Bank”, which just opened might be having major personnel cuts throughout the region and the newly opened bank and its staff are on the top of the list to be cut, unless they can convert some major business from the other local banks and fast.