Newstalk for May 27

We here at Newstalk, along with the thousands of residents that saw The Memorial Day Parade, thought it was very successful. Frank Senesi and Mayor Joe predicted the parade would be the biggest one so far - and it was. Congratulations for a job well done to everyone involved and big congratulations to the DPW crews out on the streets immediately afterwards another job well done. *************** The Winter Hill PTA & the Student Council are having a yard sale on Sunday, May 31st, from 9:00am until 2:00pm in the Winter Hill Community School Cafeteria. Items will be selling from .25 cents and up. There will be furniture, clothing, toys, books, pocketbooks, kitchen items and much more. There will also be face painting, music, slush and snacks for sale. All money made from this event will go directly towards our school for field trips and school supplies. A portion of the profits will go towards the 8th grade banquet & award ceremony. **************** Another heroic story coming out of our Police Department - apparently early am Tuesday morning, Police Officer Cliffy Mansir was the first to respond to fire call at a house on Powderhouse Blvd. When Officer Mansir arrived he found that all the occupants were still in the house, he immediately evacuated the entire house and then proceeded to put out the fire on the porch. We heard that on Monday during the day they were varnishing the porch and left the cans lying around when somehow they ignited. *************** Somerville Public School's Music Dept Presents: the annual SPRING STRING FLING, a wonderful concert full of student string players. The event will be on Thursday, June 4th at 7pm - in the Somerville High School Auditorium, 81 Highland Avenue. Admission is free - and this will be the orchestra director's last concert - the amazing Rita Ranucci is retiring. **************** Funny how some PDSers look at things - take for instance the PDSer from Ward 5 SC member Mark Neidergang - he was the only elected official in the parade that had his clip board and nomination papers with him so he could have them signed while marching in the parade. He probably thinks that was what Memorial Day was all about - getting his signatures - and not to remember those that fought for our country! Then just prior to the ceremony at the Veterans Cemetery he got up and left, maybe he had an emergency? Well, at least he was there for the parade. You might remember he said at a school committee meeting that Good Friday should be done away with and that Bunker Hill Day was an "annoying" - we're trying to keep record of his holiday opinions. *************** The online desperate antics of the Farm Team last week accusing us here at The News of plagiarism, a charge that was posted by their Assistant Editor Auditi Guha, might have backfired in her face. We were thinking of getting her a Dictionary, but then we thought about it, and changed our minds. But Apparently she or someone realized that the heading on the blog page was too strong and they changed it...from accusing us of Plagiarism to Copycatting - but alas, not in time to be saved by one of our readers in PDF form. We have a feeling that it's not the last she's heard of this! *************** The Somerville Police Department is sadly loosing two great guys! Sargent John Christensen and Detective David Lyons are retiring after many years of devoted service to the department and the city. The two are being honored with a farewell dinner on June 5th at the Mount Vernon Restaurant. We wish them both the best in their travels and thank them for their service. **************** The Welcome Project Graduation and Celebration will be Sunday, June 7th from 4pm to 7pm at the Mystic Activity Center, 530 Mystic Avenue. This will be a special celebration for the first class of high school students to complete their training in LIPS -- the Liaison Interpreters Program of Somerville - and the progress our adult learners have made in their English for Students of Other Languages classes this year. LIPS trains bilingual high school students to assist with language interpretation at community meetings in Somerville. In addition to learning formal interpretation techniques to connect people who do not speak the same language, LIPS also builds the leadership of young people from immigrant families to be knowledgeable and engaged in issues that affect themselves and their community. Fourteen youth participated this year, learning to assist with interpretation between English and three target languages - Haitian Creole, Spanish, and Portuguese. *************** We hear that West Somerville resident Bob McNary recently suffered a heart attack and we hear he's home recovering. Bob is a popular guy around the city, and lots of Newstalk readers wish him well and back to his old self very soon. *************** Somerville youth earns Boston College High School Honors - Spencer W. Camara-Harrison ('12), of Somerville, achieved Honors for the Third Quarter at Boston College High School. For Honors, a student must have at least a 3.2 quality point average and all grades "C-" or higher. Boston College High School is a Jesuit, Catholic, college-preparatory school for young men founded in 1863. The school enrolls approximately 1,300 students from some 100 communities in eastern Massachusetts. *************** Traffic and Parking recently approved a measure to increase meter rates across the city as well as to go citywide on Permit Parking. The hearing was this past Thursday night, just a matter of when it will take effect. *************** The "Taste of Somerville" is back, sponsored by the Somerville Chamber, will be coming on June 9th at the Holiday Inn. More then 20 Somerville restaurants will present samples from their menus and wine and beer tasting. Tickets for the event $35.00 and it runs from 5:30 to 8:30 pm. *************** Brazil @ SCAT is a new initiative to serve Somerville's vibrant Brazilian community. SCAT now offers production classes in Portuguese, and beginning on June 24th, a Brazilian film monthly screening series. The first film of the Brazil@SCAT screening series will be "Hour of the Star" (1985). After the death of her aunt, Macabéa (Marcelia Cartaxo) moves from the Brazilian countryside to the big city of São Paulo, where she lives in an all-female boardinghouse, takes a job as a typist and meets a man (José Dumont) who has dreams of becoming a congressman. Director Suzana Amaral also penned the screenplay for this coming-of-age drama based on Clarice Lispector's best-selling novel by the same name. Portuguese with English sub-titles. Time: 7:30pm at the SCAT studio at 90 Union Square. It is free; however, donations are appreciated. Only 30 seats - so get there early! ***************