Newstalk for August 26

Sunset over the Mystic - last Wednesday evening Mayor Joe hosted an evening cocktail party for all the Department Heads (the current ones) and the Board of Alderman members. The Mayor played bartender and his apparent specialty drink of the evening is Watermelon Martinis, which we hear was the rave of the night. We hear through several sources that everyone had a good time as the sun went down over the River. *************** You heard it here first, get out your autograph books and get ready. The word is that locally born movie star Ben Affleck is scheduled to be on location on the 20th of October at the Twin Cities Plaza to film his latest movie. According to reliable sources, the movie production company will be filming in the shopping center parking lot for the entire day. Sources also tell us that film stars Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz will be filming other scenes for another movie here in the 'Ville throughout the fall season, we'll keep you posted as to dates and exact places. *************** Mayor Joe's annual Football Camp week is here again. The Mayor will be hosting and personally coaching the Somerville Football Team at Camp Leno in Lenox, MA. The week long training event is well applauded by all the students and they look forward to being worked hard by the Mayor and the other coaches. The camp is run from Thursday August 27th to Sunday August 30th, hopefully this will lead the team to a successful year. *************** We hear that Somerville will soon have a Halloween Head Quarters shop, which is set to open up shop at the old Circuit City location next to Home Depot real soon. At least the property won't look so abandoned where it is one of the gateways to the city and seen by thousands of motorists on a daily basis coming and going to/from Route 93. *************** Recently the Kiwanis Club of Somerville was well represented by its members at the 91st Annual New England District of Kiwanis Convention at the Crowne Plaza in Warwick, R.I. - Kiwanis clubs from six New England states and Bermuda attended. Seventy-nine (79) Kiwanis clubs were represented as representatives from Key Club International, Circle K International and Kiwanis International. The convention offered educational seminars, exhibits, leadership training and related activities. The Kiwanis Club of Somerville meets every Thursday at 12:15p.m. at the Mt. Vernon Restaurant. If you're a businessperson here in Somerville and looking to network and be involved in a great organization go online to www.somervillekiwanis.org *************** Save the date and stop by the Somerville Police Station in the Police Academy Room on Thursday, September 3rd between 8a.m. and 1p.m. to give blood and get a free Red Sox t-shirt. A few of us from The Somerville News staff team will be on hand to lend a helping hand for the day as well, so come on by and say hello, the American Red Cross is asking for your help. *************** Our condolences to the Craven Family on the recent loss of Marion Craven who sadly passed away this past week, Marion was a wonderful lady with a heart of gold and will be missed by many. *************** Last week grand opening of Mt. Vernon 3 at the Ship at Route 1 one was a huge success, over 300 attendees from all over and a huge contingent from Somerville. All to wish the Henry family much success and luck in their new venture. *************** Speaking of last weeks events, the Lions event at Wonderland was attended by a large Somerville crowd as well as a big contingency from the China Town Lions Club. Everyone had a blast, the food was great and from what some observers noted, not many lost at the races. King Lion - our own Billy Tauro - did a fantastic job, along with Gene Brune, and fun was had by all. They raised a substantial amount of money again for all the local charities the Lions are so generous with here in Somerville. *************** RCN will be sponsoring an American Red Cross Blood Drive on Wednesday, September 2nd, from 1pm to 6pm at the Somerville Community Baptist Church, Fellowship Hall, 31 College Ave, Davis Square. The American Red Cross is looking for all types of blood donations, A, B or O, positive or negative. *************** Quiet here in the 'Ville the last big weekend of the summer....you can almost hear the doors shut on Monday throughout Somervilla of the North and South. Back to the city and the traffic. To those of us left behind, not so bad of a summer here, either. *************** That barrier in front of the empty lot over on Cross Street is still there - a big hole with a fence around it - nothing happening there now for an extremely long time. One local long time business moved out, couldn't take it any longer with the congested traffic and no place to park. The guy that owns the lot is the head of the Zoning Board of Appeals - Mr. Herb Foster - and the bank with the money apparently invested in over there is the Winter Hill Bank, at least they're getting free advertising, but maybe not good advertising? You'd think with an eyesore like that, a bank wouldn't want their name associated with it, but hey it's the same bank that has the Barracuda of Winter Hill as it's head and it's apparent she has no feelings for East Somerville businesses, or the sign would be gone. We think it's a shame that a local bank and a person who is head of the Zoning Board of Appeals would keep this eyesore in this condition going on a few years now. Maybe an investigation needs to be done to get some answers? *************** Our good friend and former Publisher Bob Publicover is doing well in his treatment, he can be seen daily at the coffee shop on Highland and Cedar, there reading The Somerville News - his favorite paper. Stop by and sit and have coffee, he'd be very pleased, or you can follow his therapy on Facebook, it's easy to find him now that he spelled his last name correctly. ***************