Continue reading "The View From Prospect Hill for July 21" »
Continue reading "The View From Prospect Hill for July 21" »
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Now in 2010, there has been (painfully) slow progress but news broke this week that the completion date has been pushed back yet again to 2015. |
Continue reading "The View From Prospect Hill for July 14" »
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In Somerville, the pain is particularly severe because we rely more on diminishing state aid than almost any other city or town in Massachusetts. And, with a long tradition of supporting organized labor, we don't like to see the jobs of our neighbors on the chopping block. But Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone has to close an $8.1 million budget gap and some job cuts are going to be neccessary. He presented a lean budget to aldermen and this week the city announced 10 layoffs. |
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That is what makes the situation at the Healey School so distressing. Two worlds exist within one Meacham Street building: in the neighborhood program, 90 percent of kids come from low-income homes. In the Choice program it's less than 40 percent. |
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Some experts are saying the recession is over. Ask most business owners in Somerville if we're still in an economic slump and the experts may get an earful. |
Continue reading "The View From Prospect Hill for April 21" »
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Census data is used to distribute more than $400 billion in aid for essential services such as schools, hospitals and transportation. But 43 percent of households in Massachusetts have yet to submit their forms. With corruption, waste and fraud seemingly rampant in government, it may seem reasonable to wave off census obligations this year and think to yourself, 'What's one missed home?" |
Continue reading "The View From Prospect Hill for April 7" »
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Last year it was the All America City competition that got us all fired up and ready to bring home the bacon, so to speak. This year, it's all about competing with 1,100 other cities and towns from across the nation - smallest to the largest imaginable - for the chance of Google Broadband being brought into Somerville. There were over 194,000 individual responses/recommendations as well.
In contrast to last year's adventure, this is a lofty goal, for sure, based on the sheer number and size of the other cities that are interested, but arguably, few of those 1,100 have the fervor or the tenacity of our 'villens - from the every day resident to the Mayor himself, with quite the eclectic mix in-between. It's this eclectic mix that makes Somerville a viable standout amongst the mob, along with a number of other more technical and somewhat nerdy details of course (the grid-like layout of the city, etc.)
Continue reading "The View From Prospect Hill for March 31" »
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In this tough economy, it is more imperative than ever to thank those who volunteer their time, effort and in many cases, money, to organizations such as the Little League for our children's future. In addition to thanking those people, if we come together a little closer, even those who don't have young children, and also pitch in - we can ensure that the kids have activities that promote teamwork, advancing themselves in sports and academics and create an air of camaraderie that playing sports instills in everyone who is involved. |
Continue reading "The View From Prospect Hill for March 24" »
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Continue reading "The View From Prospect Hill for March 10" »
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And while changing civil service eligibility/status and/or privatizing certain city functions has proven much more cost effective and convenient in the past, there is a real argument for the occasional "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" argument. However, to hang your hat on preventing cronyism/nepotism by keeping or getting rid of it is merely a red herring. |
Continue reading "The View From Prospect Hill for March 3" »
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So there is a "movement" they say to run for elected office and get away from incumbents getting a free ride. That seems strange to those of us who have lived here for more than 20 years, because prior to 1990, there were always multiple candidates for every office locally - in some cases, more than a dozen. |
Continue reading "The View From Prospect Hill for February 10" »
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Two such men have made a distinct impact on the people who live and work here, both leaving this past week - both moving on to further their careers elsewhere. Both men have been here only a relatively short period of time, but have had a massive impact in their respective positions in city government. |
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You don't have to be a card-carrying member of Mensa to grasp the phrase "money begets money," so there's no shock that when people that have it want more of it, they hire former members of boards, contribute to political campaigns, hire well-connected local attorneys. You get the idea. |
Continue reading "The View From Prospect Hill for January 27" »
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Scott Brown can look back on the last couple of months and know that it was his own personal work ethic that won out in the end. One can assume that most political analysts will probably declare that Scott Brown was in the middle of the "perfect storm" politically on Tuesday. They would be right. |
Continue reading "The View From Prospect Hill for January 20" »
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Continue reading "The View From Prospect Hill for January 13" »
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Depending on who you talk to when you walk around Somerville, there are very different takes on the major stories of 2009. Some would say Barack Obama being sworn in as our 44th President and Senator Ted Kennedy losing his health battle were the top takers. Others might be a little more local, mention Obama briefly, talk about the local budget a bit, get excited about the All-America City award and the insane fees and fines and new parking regulations coming up. |
Continue reading "The View From Prospect Hill for December 30" »
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The Green Line hadn't come yet and some doubted it will Somerville Ave. is almost complete with all new sewer mains, Hopefully it will be done before we all have gray hair and need walking canes While Mayor Curtatone and Chief Holloway say goodbye, The Chief must decide on which airline he'll fly Jim Kotzuba's leaving and replacing him Bob Bradley may be the lucky one! And even though Frankie Santangelo's stepping down, he'll always be the skipper and the Ville's favorite son! Mayor Joe's role may be expanding as he thinks who's seat he'll have, With his popularity climbing maybe he's looking at 1300 Pennsylvania Ave! |
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The Somerville News endorses former Mayor of Somerville and current Congressman Michael Capuano for Senate. There are so many great reasons why he is the best choice to fill Ted Kennedy's seat, that it is near impossible to find fault in his candidacy - that is how convinced we are that if given the opportunity, Mike will do the Kennedy legacy proud. Sure, you could claim that we are biased for the hometown guy, and quite frankly you would be right - but not for the obvious reasons you might think. The reason we and most people outside Somerville should like Mike hearken back to his days as an Alderman and later Mayor of Somerville, where he "cut his teeth" so to speak. Back then, Capuano became an expert at constituent services and overcame his ability to rub people the wrong way with his brash, in your face style of passion he brought to bear as an elected official. That passion made you either love him or hate him - but either way - you came to respect him. When the fabled 8th Congressional seat opened up - after Joe Kennedy decided to leave the political arena - Capuano ran and won with a promise to stand true to his political style. He arguably delivered on that promise and caught the eye of the Democratic leadership, specifically Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi. Standing out in a body of 441 members is no simple task, but in the 8th District, voters have come to expect greatness from those they have elected - including former President John F. Kennedy, former Speaker of the House Tip O'Neil and Joe Kennedy. Proof positive that Mike has never lost his fiery temper and willingness to call a spade and spade - his February 11th explosion on several bankers testifying before the House Financial Services Committee. He went ballistic on them - and asked what everyone else has been wanting to ask - why they weren't up against criminal charges. That's Mike for you - and now he can add "YouTube legend" to his list of accomplishments. His only problem is Martha Coakley has been preparing to run for this seat a whole year in advance. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out something is up when the Attorney General's office, which normally issues a press release once every other week, opens the flood gates and unleashes several per day for no apparent reason - wink, wink. At the end of the day, standing shoulder to shoulder with the other candidates in this race, it is clear that they all have good intentions, but none of them can match up with Mike Capuano when it comes to proven experience in dealing with national and international issues - experience you can only get by serving in Congress. That is an inarguable fact and possibly the most advantageous attribute of anyone seeking to be elected to the Senate, period. Don't let low voter turnout keep the right candidate from winning on Tuesday, December 8th - make sure you, your family and every person you know - votes for Mike Capuano for Senate. |
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