Saturday afternoon we went to Conway Park to see a skate demo by local youth and to sign a petition supporting a Somerville Skate Park.
I spoke with a mom from West Somerville who was at Conway Park with her dog, a broken coated Jack Russell Terrier, appropriately named "Ollie," cheering on her three sons. Her oldest, who is a junior at Somerville High School this year, helped start the petition. Her youngest let my daughter ride his skateboard!
We spent about an hour-and-a-half at the street-hockey rink and watched kids from age five to twenty-five doing tricks on home-made ramps, platforms and rails. Though it looked like a free-for-all, with people approaching the platforms and the jumps from different directions, it was clear that an etiquette was being observed. I didn't see any collisions; Several times I watched guys approach a platform and skate away to let someone else do a stunt.
It is clear that there is a need for a skate park in Somerville. I don't think that there is any other recreational activity (with the exception of off-leash recreation, of course) that five-year-olds can enjoy with twenty-five-year-olds. They can't play basket ball together, they can't play soccer together, they can't play street hockey together, but at Conway Park on Saturday afternoon, they were playing together, learning how to do amazing things with their bodies and learning the rules of the street (if not the rules of the road).
One suggestion I have for building support for a skate park more broadly in the community: helmets. When I bring my daughter to see the "big kids" who fascinate her, I'd prefer her to see her role models wearing helmets!
Strummer is the only excuse I need to take a walk, but in order to get the inertial member of our pack moving, sometimes we need to dangle a proverbial carrot in front of his nose. On Sunday the carrot was Kickass Cupcakes in Davis Square (378 Highland Avenue).
I asked the friendly young man at the counter to recommend their most kickass cupcake. With only a momentary concession to individual tastes, he recommended the limited-edition Green Monster, which had already attracted my attention with its dark-green frosting and "Made with Sam Adams Cream Stout" label.
Another kickass thing about Kickass Cupcakes: they're dog-friendly: They make Carob Peanut Butter Pupcakes, and they put out fresh water for dogs.
Putting a bowl of fresh water out for dogs is such a neighborly thing for a local business to do. It's not surprising that the owner of Kickass Cupcakes, Sara Ross, is a dog owner. She and her husband own two rottweilers.
Welcome to Somerville, Kickass Cupcakes, and thank you for helping to make Somerville more dog-friendly!
Every year since 2005, Somerville dog owners have walked our dogs in the City's Memorial Day Parade to honor our veterans.
The weather was perfect last year! Finn's owner, Leah, took pictures of the dogs while we were waiting in the queue to start the parade at City Hall. Finn is enjoying the breeze!
Last year was the first year that som|dog organized a group of people to wait with their dogs in Davis Square and file in to the Parade so that there would be fresh dogs to walk in the second half of the parade.
The previous year had been so hot! Even though we had extra water in the "waggin' wagon", by the time we got to Davis Square, the dogs were too tired to go on. Three Somerville dog owners remained in the parade (without their dogs) and carried the som|dog banner to Veterans Memorial Cemetery.
Here's Dunkin with his owner, Haley, waiting in the Parade queue before getting under way in 2006.
2005 was the first year that Somerville Dog Owners walked in the parade. That was before we had the waggin' wagon and before we had the idea to arrange for reinforcements to join us in Davis Square. Fortunately, we had a beautiful day, as you can see in this picture taken by Jessica, who owns the Lotte, a greyhound (not pictured).
The Somerville Dog Owners Group welcomes all dogs that enjoy the company of other dogs, that are licensed and up-to-date on vaccinations, that walk well on a loose leash and that are in good physical condition to walk in the Memorial Day Parade this year. You can start the parade with us at City Hall or you can join us when we get to Davis Square.
For more information and to walk your dog in the Memorial Day Parade with the Somerville Dog Owners Group, please contact Michele at somdog * AT * somervilledog.com; 617-290-9107.
I had a lot of fun putting together this amateur video of Strummer meeting and greeting and socializing with other dogs at the Off-Leash Recreational Area at Nunziato Field here in Somerville. My analysis of the dogs' behavior reflects my personal observations as an attentive pet owner.
Come to the community meeting Wednesday, February 20, at 6:30 p.m. at the Tufts Administration Building, 167 Holland Street and help make sure that parks for people and pets are a priority in the City's Open Space and Recreation Plan for the upcoming five years.
When the City conducted a survey in 2002 about the most needed types of open space, eleven (11) respondents selected "dog run" in their top five.1
Today the Nunziato Off-Leash Recreational Area (OLRA) is used by hundreds of residents every week. It is more than just a "dog run," it is a place where people enjoy the benefits of socializing and exercising our dogs off-leash.
The OLRA at Nunziato Field serves many people in addition to those of us who enjoy it with our dogs. Because people have a place where we can play with our dogs off-leash, dogs are kept out of the adjacent field.
Somerville needs more places like the Nunziato off-leash recreational area. Over one-third of households own dogs, and not all of our homes are in walking distance to the Nunziato OLRA.
This year the City is again asking residents what types of open space are most needed in the City. Thousands of us need parks that we can enjoy with our pets. Let's speak up Wednesday evening for more off-leash recreational areas and more parks where we can walk our dogs on leash!
Somerville Community Growing Center Holiday Wreath Sale
The Somerville Community Growing Center, located on Vinal Avenue adjacent to Nunziato Field, welcomes leashed dogs. Support the Community Growing Center by pre-ordering a hand-decorated wreath for a special price of $25.00!
If you love the smell of pine and misletoe, you can volunteer to help decorate the wreaths.
via e-mail
Please help support the Somerville Community Growing Center this season by participating in our Holiday Wreath Sale
The Somerville Community Growing Center Holiday Wreath Sale
The Growing Center is pleased to offer fresh evergreen wreaths artistically hand-decorated with dried flowers, berries, pine cones and an attractive bow. Wreaths are $25 each for orders received by November 26extended! November 29.
Wreaths will be available for pickup at:
Union Square Winter Craft Market on December 1 from 11 am to 4 pm or
Walnut Street Center, 35 Charlestown Street (near Target on Somerville Ave.) on December 3 or December 4 from 5:30 to 9:00 pm
There are three ways to order:
By email: info@thegrowingcenter.org
By telephone: 617-666-2969
By mail: Holiday Wreath Sale c/o Holly Travis, Walnut Street Center, 35 Charlestown Street, Somerville, MA 02143.
Please include with your order: your name, address, telephone, email, preferred pickup location and date, number of wreaths and your choice of bow color (red, burgundy, or purple).
You may include payment with your order or pay at time of pickup. Cash or check accepted. Checks should be made out to Friends of the Community Growing Center.
You must order by November 28 to take advantage of this special pre-market price of $25. A limited number of wreaths will also be available for purchase at the Union Square Winter Craft Market at market price. Orders received after November 28 will be at market price.
All proceeds support the Somerville Community Growing Center and collaborative programs with the Walnut Street Center.
Volunteers needed for Wreath Decorating
The Growing Center is also seeking volunteers to help with hand-decorating the wreaths. Please email the Growing Center at info@thegrowingcenter.org if you can help out. Any time you can spare would help us immensely.
Dates: Thursday November 29, Friday November 30, Monday December 3, Tuesday December 4
Time: 5 pm 9:30 pm
Location: The Walnut Street Center 35 Charlestown Street Somerville (near Target on Somerville Avenue)
Please vote today in the municipal elections for Mayor, the Board of Aldermen and the School Committee.
Check out the responses from the candidates for Mayor and Aldermen to the Somerville Dog Owners Group's questionnaire.
The City of Somerville Election Department allows voters to bring our dogs with us to the polls: dogs must be on leash, remain close to their companions at all times and must not bother other people.
On Tuesday, April 10, Somerville residents are voting in the preliminary election for the vacant at-large seat on the Board of Aldermen.
The candidates participated in a forum at the Somerville Dog Owners Group (som|dog) meeting on March 26. A summary of the forum is available on the som|dog website.
The City of Somerville Election Department allows voters to bring our dogs with us to the polls: dogs must be on leash, remain close to their companions at all times and must not bother other people.
The Somerville News presents: a Candidates Night for the city's Special Election for Alderman-at-Large hosted by Baratunde R. Thurston. Join us Monday, March 5th at the Independent Restaurant 75 Union Sq Somerville from 6PM - 7:30PM
Public Hearing about Construction Vehicles on the Community Path Extension
Auditi Guha reports in the Somerville Journal that a public hearing is scheduled for March 1, 6 p.m., at City Hall regarding the rezoning of the Maxpak site and a covenant issued by the city allowing developers KSS Realty to use the future Community Path (between Cedar and Lowell Streets) for construction vehicles to access the site. The public comment period for the project also begins March 1 ("Bike path users not notified of new covenant").
Allowing construction equipment to access the site from the Path will have an impact on Alipne Street residents, as the Path runs behind their properties. It may also have an impact on the project to extend the Community Path.
It is therefore inexcusable that the Friends of the Community Path and members of the City's Bicycle Committee were not consulted on the covenant. The Friends of the Community Path and the Bicycle Committee have been working in partnership with the City and other communities on a multi-phase plan to extend the Community Path from Cedar Street to the Charles River. Both groups have also participated for the past two years in the community process to develop the Maxpak site.
I spoke yesterday with Joel Bennett of the Friends of the Community Path. My understanding is that the Friends have two concerns about the covenant:
Stakeholders in the community were excluded from and not informed about the discussion to route vehicular traffic off the streets and onto the future Path;
There will be no benefit to the future Community Path and the community it will serve from the development.
In August 2005 Senators Edward Kennedy and John Kerry, and Representative Michael Capuano succeded in getting $900,000 earmarked for Community Path extension in Somerville from the federal transportation spending bill. The Friends are realistic about the possibilty of federal transprotation funds for bicycle and recreational paths being redirected to other transportation projects. Currently, construction of the Community Path from Cedar Street to Central Street is scheduled to take place in 2009.
Since the developers will benefit from the Community Path both during the construction of 199 residential units and becuase access to the Path will make the development attractive to customers and investors, it seems reasonable for the community to request from the developers a contribution to the Path project, such as removing the tracks from the abandoned railbed and extending the path from Cedar Street at least to their property.
The Somerville News presents: a Candidates Night for the city's Special Election for Alderman-at-Large hosted by Baratunde R. Thurston. Join us Monday, March 5th at the Independent Restaurant 75 Union Sq Somerville from 6PM - 7:30PM
The Independent Restaurant is hosting the Somerville News Candidates Night, Monday, March 5. The event is an opportunity for voters to get to know the candidates in the special election for the Alderman-at-Large seat vacated by Denise Provost, who resigned in October. (Provost is State Representative for Massachusetts Twenty-seventh Middlesex district.)
Tuesday, February 13, 2007, was the last day to submit Nomination Papers to the Board of Election Commissioners (see the City of Somerville's Calendar for the Special Election), According to the Somerville Journal, three people submitted nomination papers: Jack Connolly, Robert Daut, and Marty Martinez. Names and addresses of certified candidates will be posted by the Board of Election Commissioners Wednesday, February 21, 2007.
Get involved with the Somerville Conversations Project!
The Somerville Conversations Project is series of roundtable community dialogues taking place in March and April of 2007 - Join us as we celebrate and strengthen our community through dialogue!
Facilitators - both new and experienced - are needed to lead discussion sessions. Each small discussion group will be led by two (adult) or three (one adult and two youth) facilitators. Youth between the ages of fourteen and nineteen are invited to apply for a stipend. Training for both youth and adult facilitators is scheduled to take place on February 24 (alternative arrangements can be made if necessary). Our aim is for both facilitators and participants to reflect the diverse backgrounds and experiences of the people in our city.
Youth applying for a stipend must submit completed applications by Thursday, February 15, 2007. All other persons interested in facilitating should submit their applications by Thursday, February 22, 2007. The facilitator application form is available online or by calling 617-625-2200 x2165. Completed applications should be sent via e-mail (humanrights@ci.somerville.ma.us), fax (617-625-1023), or mail (19 Walnut Street, Somerville, MA 02143).
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More about the Conversations Project:
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Started in 1996, the Somerville Conversations Project is a series of community roundtable discussions. Residents come together in facilitated discussions to share experiences and communicate about their hopes and concerns. The mission of the Conversations Project is:
To promote dialogue between groups that have little contact with one another
To create relationships between diverse people and build a respectful community
To encourage residents to learn from the experiences of their neighbors
To promote leadership and civic participation in our city
Beginning in March of 2007, approximately two hundred people will participate in group discussions of ten to twelve people. Groups will reflect the diverse population of Somerville - long-time residents, new and old immigrants, people of all ages and backgrounds. Each group will be led by trained facilitators and will meet for four two-hour sessions. Dialogue will center around the changing face of Somerville and the roles of youth and young families in our community. The Conversations Project is hosted by the Human Rights Commission and is open to anyone who lives or works in Somerville.
Persons interested in participating in the group dialogue sessions should complete the participant application form. Completed applications should be submitted by March 9 via e-mail (humanrights@ci.somerville.ma.us), fax (617-625-1023), or mail (19 Walnut Street, Somerville, MA 02143).
Persons interested in volunteering may contact Mary Lu Mendonca at mmendonca@ci.somerville.ma.us or by phone at 617-625-6600 x2165.
Public open space truly serves the public interest when our parks welcome all our neighbors.
Two letters to the editor of the Somerville Journal, both from residents of Ward Five, address the issue of public open space that accommodates the many and diverse needs all residents. Today's letters respond to the unneighborly letter last week from Joe Lynch, who criticized the Somerville Mayor and the Ward Five Alderman for recent improvements that make the Community Path welcome to more members of the community.
While we continue to spend precious city manpower and resources discussing and maintaining dog parks and quietly installing city-paid-for signs allowing on-leash dogs on the busy bike and pedestrian community path, the youths who use the half-court basketball courts have been patiently waiting for the city to reconfigure the courts to a full court. And the city’s suggestion that the organizers of that effort hold bake sales to help fund the reconfiguration is just plain asinine. Call me crazy, but it is my belief that keeping teens and 20-something basketball players constructively occupied and physically healthy trumps a dog’s need to socialization and to run free every time.
Rebecca Rogers shares Lynch's interest in improving the municipal park system in general and Lexington Park and the Community Path in particular. Rogers also appreciates the new signage that welcomes families to enjoy the Community Path together with their dogs ("Looking for city commitment to parks"). She understands that park users in Somerville include different groups who have a shared interest in public open space:
I do not think that it was a mistake for the city to have purchase[d] a handful of signs clarifying its policy that dogs remain on-leash in city parks. I am optimistic that Somerville can serve the interests of both youths and dog owners in Ward 5. Both groups are active users of Lexington Park and the Community Path, and both groups deserve to be represented in any money the city might spend on improvements to the city’s parks.
Indeed, the new signs inform Somerville park users: "All Dogs Must Be On A Leash And Clean Up After Your Dog." These informative and welcoming signs are a much more responsible use of public funds than the old, exclusionary signs—many of which remain posted in municipal parks—prohibiting neighbors from enjoying our parks together with our pets.
In another letter, Pat Dains observes that, despite their demonstrated commitment to public open space, residents with dogs remain underserved by municipal parks in Ward Five ("Sadly, some aren’t satisfied"). Pointing to the happy results in Ward Three of the successful cooperation of the City Administration and Somerville residents, Dains reasons:
The success of the Nunziato Field off-leash recreation area proves that more, and not less, consideration should be given to creating dog-friendly areas in the city before providing more money for renovating a park that doesn’t need it.
People who own dogs use public open space together in the company of our dogs more than alone. Let's be honest, to exclude dogs from public open space is to exclude people—neighbors, citizens, taxpayers and voters—from public open space.
It's a new year and this year Somerville's Canine Good Citizens are sporting gold dog bones—2007 Somerville dog license tags!
Did you know that the Somerville Public Library was funded in part by dog licenses? I learned that on the Somerville Illuminations Holiday Tour. The tour guide on my trolley was Elections Commissioner, Nicholas Solerno. Did you miss the tour? Somerville City of Lights, a 36-page book illuminating the families and traditions surrounding Somerville's vibrant holiday light display, is available from local vendors.
Information about obtaining a dog license is available online from Somerville City Clerk's Office:
Residents of Somerville may obtain, in person or by mail, a dog license from the City Clerk's Office at the following address:
City Clerk's Office
Somerville City Hall
93 Highland Avenue
Somerville, MA 02143
(617) 625-6600 x4100
The City Clerk's Office provides dog licenses Monday-Wednesday, 8:30AM-4:00PM, Thursday 8:30AM-7:00PM, and Friday 8:30AM-12:00Noon.
The fee is $16.00 for a dog license, or $10.00 if the dog has been spayed or neutered. The City accepts checks or money orders only by mail, and checks, money orders or cash in person. Checks should be made payable to "City of Somerville."
For requests in person at the City Clerk's Office, bring the following information with you:
the owner or owners' name(s), address(es) and telephone number(s).
the dog's name, breed, color, age or date of birth, and gender (male/female).
evidence of the dog's most recent rabies vaccine.
evidence that the dog has been spayed (female) or neutered (male), if applicable.
For requests by mail, complete and submit an application, available from the City of Somerville website as a PDF file.
Here are five reasons why Strummer has a 2007 Somerville dog license:
If Strummer got lost (gods forbid), finding her, a kind soul could call the City Clerk's office (617-625-6600 ext. 4100), get my contact information and contact me so that I could bring her home.
One of the rules for Somerville's off-leash recreational areas (OLRAs) is that dogs must have a valid license to enter the areas. Somerville's first OLRA opened in Nunziato Field in 2006!
I support the government's efforts to prevent rabies. Massachusetts law requires that all dogs, cats and ferrets be vaccinated against rabies (MGL c. 140, s. 145B). Through dog licensing, the City of Somerville, like all Massachusetts cities and towns, ensures that dogs in the Commonwealth are vaccinated against rabies.
The City of Somerville Election Department allows voters to bring our dogs with us to the polls: dogs must be on leash, remain close to their companions at all times and must not bother other people.
But did you know that April also posts lost and and found pets and pets available for adoption on the Animal Control page on the City's website? Check it out!
A follow up story in the Somerville Journal today, about Sister Stephen Marie and her dog, Lori, is the impetus for some catch-up blogging on Somerville dogs who have made the news recently.
Sister Stephen Marie is moving to a a nun's retirement home in Framingham after living at St. Benedict's convent in East Somerville since 1968. Last week, Journal readers learned that Lori, her six-year-old adopted dog and constant companion, is not welcome at the retirement home. According to the article, Sister Stephen Marie has no living family members. She has made arrangements for Lori to live with her groomer.
Another Somerville dog that has been featured in the Journal is Jake, the house mascot of the Somerville Home, a residential care facility that has served the community for more than 100 years. Recently, the Somerville Home celebrated Jake's fifteenth birthday—that's 105 in dog years! The golden retriever has been the resident pet therapist at the Somerville Home since an administrator rescued him from the pound 2-1/2 years ago.
Pet-assisted therapy is not the only way that Somerville dogs contribute in society: Molly walked in the AIDS Walk with her companion, Tom Santaniello: The team has raised $3,050 to help the AIDS Action Committee stop the HIV/AIDS epidemic through prevention, education and direct services to people living with HIV.
Once the dogs located [the suspect], he was arrested on charges of assault and battery with a deadly weapon, resisting arrest, failure to stop for police, negligent operation of a motor vehicle, failure to stop at a stop sign, operating a vehicle with a revoked license and walking on railroad tracks.
cross-posted on www.somdog.org, the website of the Somerville Dog Owners Group (som|dog)
The Nunziato OLRA will be closed tomorrow, Thursday, June 22, so that the fencing contractor can install the double gate at the Putnam Street entrance and reconfigure the entrance to the OLRA at the tree well on Summer Street. For more information, please contact Carlene Campbell, Community Outreach Director, Office for Strategic Planning and Community Development, City of Somerville: 617-625-6600, ext. 2500; ccampbell at ci.somerville.ma.us.
We will all enjoy safer access at the Putnam Street gate and better access at the tree well when the OLRA reopens on Friday, June 23!
A neighborhood walk is scheduled for Tuesday afternoon, June 13, in East Somerville. According to Amber Espar of Groundwork Somerville, the walk will begin at 5:00 at the East Somerville Health Center, 42 Cross Street. The route of the walk is stenciled in 2,000 yellow footprints and passes by the Youth and Senior Center (165 Broadway), the East Somerville Community School (115 Pearl Street), Glen Park (150 Glen Street) and Grace Baptist Church (59 Gross Street).
Later that evening there is a community meeting to discuss the challenge to pedestrians crossing McGrath-O'Brien Highway. The meeting, at 7:00 in the East Somerville Community School cafeteria, is sponsored by East Somerville Neighbors for Change with the Somerville Community Corporation.
For Public input on the proposed FY 2007 budget, Alderman William A. White Jr., chairman of the Committee on Finance has ordered a public hearing before the Board of Aldermen, Tuesday, June 20, at 7 p.m. in the committee room on the second floor of City Hall, 93 Highland Avenue.
Alderman at Large, Bill White, in an e-mail correspondence, provided this thumbnail summary of the municipal budget process.
The City's fiscal year runs from July 1 through June 30, so that the proposed budget that has been submitted would run from July 1, 2006 through June 30, 2007. With regard to the proposed budget, the Board of Aldermen only has power to cut from various line items, the Board cannot add or switch money around. As part of the budget process, when the Mayor submits the budget, the Mayor demonstrates where the revenue is to come to fund the budget. A city must have a balanced budget and cannot run a deficit, unlike the federal government. Basically, the revenues that you see in the proposed budget are estimates. Usually in December, the Mayor submits the items to the Board of Aldermen that are necessary to set the property tax rate. Once set, this tax rate cannot be changed. If revenues do not come in as anticipated during the year, the City either must lay off workers to reduce expenditures or transfer funds from free cash, which is basically a reserve.
The Mayor's budget presentation to the Board of Aldermen is this evening.
The Mayor submitted the proposed FY 2007 Municipal Budget to the Board of Aldermen (BOA), Thursday, June 1, 2006. Some items of interest:
The proposed budget projects a 160% increase in revenue from dog licenses (p. 6).
The cost of a dog license will increase by 66.6% for spayed and neutered dogs (from $6 in FY '06 to $10 in FY '07) and by 33.3% for sexually intact animals (from $12 in FY '06 to $16 in FY '07).
The proposed budget projects a 4900% increase in revenue from the sale of land (p. 8). Whereas the budget shows $10,000 in revenue on the FY '06, $500,000 in revenue is projected from sale of land in FY '07.
On March 23, the Mayor requested that city-owned property at 0 New Washington Street, consisting of approximately 146,013 square feet of vacant land, be declared available for disposition pursuant to Massachusetts General Laws, c. 30B, § 16 (file #180747). Somerville dog owners will recall that the Dog Owners Task Force has been discussing this land behind the Holiday in in Cobble Hill and how to turn it into useable open space since November of 2005. As recently as March 9, 2006, the City's liaison to the Task Force told residents that an Off-Leash Recreational Area (OLRA) on New Washington Street was on schedule to open this Spring at the same time as the Nunziato OLRA.
Again in FY '07, no funds have been proposed for off-leash recreational areas.
This is disappointing, though not surprising. The Mayor has explained that, in our current fiscal situation, the budget cannot accommodate residents' need for open spaces where we may safely and legally socialize and exercise our dogs off-leash. The Board, too, supports fiscally responsible appropriations for OLRAs. On April 14, 2005, Alderman Taylor and the entire Board resolved that the Administration appropriate seed money to establish Off-Leash Dog Runs (file #178465).
The BOA Committee on Finance is scheduled to meet as a COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE seven times in June for the purpose of discussing the FY 2007 Budget and any and all business. According to the City's online calendar for the month of June 2006, the Committee on Finance will meet as a COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE in City Hall, 93 Highland Avenue, in the Aldermanic Chamber on the second floor, at the following times:
Tuesday, June 6, at 6:00 p.m.
Wednesday, June 7, at 6:00 p.m.
Monday, June 12, at 6:00 p.m.
Tuesday, June 13, at 6:00 p.m.
Monday, June 19, at 6:00 p.m.
Tuesday, June 20, at 6:00 p.m.
Wednesday, June 21, at 6:00 p.m.
The Board of Aldermen will also meet regularly on the second and fourth Thursday of the month on June 8 and June 22.
The City Clerk's Office will be issuing dog licenses at Somerville's Sixth Annual Rabies Vaccination Clinic on Saturday morning, June 3, 2006, from 10:00 to 12:00, at the Animal Control Office in the Public Works complex on Franey Road, across from Trum Field.
The fee is $12.00 for a dog license, or $6.00 if the dog has been spayed or neutered. The cost for the vaccine service is $5.00. No prior record is needed, but vaccines will be for one year only unless a current rabies certificate is supplied. All dogs must be leashed and cats must be in carriers.
The Somerville Dog Owners Group (som|dog) is working to improve the rate at which Somerville residents license our dogs with the City. The Commonwealth of Massachusetts requires that dogs over the age of six months be licensed annually in their city or town. Through dog licensing, municipalities ensure that dogs in the community are properly vaccinated against rabies.
While owners are required by law to license our dogs, there are many other good reasons for Somerville dog owners to get our 2006 dog licenses now:
1. If your dog gets lost, a license tag on your dog's collar is the fastest way for local authorities to return him to you.
2. Your dog's license tag tells people in the community that you are a responsible dog owner: your dog is properly vaccinated against rabies.
3. A current dog license is required if you want to bring your dog to an Off-Leash Recreational Area in Somerville.
4. On July 1, 2006 the fee for a Somerville Dog License will increase to $16.00 (or $12.00 for spayed/neutered dogs)
Dog Licenses are issued at the City Clerk's Office, City Hall, 93 Highland Avenue, Somerville, MA 02143, Monday-Wednesday, 8:30AM-4:00PM, Thursday 8:30AM-7:00PM, and Friday 8:30AM-12:00 Noon. Requests are also accepted by mail.
The City accepts checks or money orders only by mail, and checks, money orders or cash in person. Checks should be made payable to “City of Somerville.” For all requests, please include the following information:
- the owner or owners' name(s), address(es) and telephone number(s).
- the dog's name, breed, color, age or date of birth, and gender (male/female).
- evidence of the dog's most recent rabies vaccine.
- evidence that the dog has been spayed (female)or neutered (male), if applicable.
"The proposed swap calls for [Swedish retailer] Ikea to give its 16 acres on the river to Federal Realty Investment Trust. Federal, in turn, would give the furniture company 11 acres behind Home Depot, closer to the highway. . . .
"Federal Realty said the trade would allow it to build 1,300 more condos and apartments than it had planned, for a total of 2,646. Federal also would build 15,000 square feet of office space. The plan also calls for a 200-room hotel and 230,000 square feet of ground-level retail space, including a supermarket."
Of course, for the livability of the mixed-use development at Assembly Square, adequate open space must be planned for residents, visitors and commuters. For the safety and enjoyment of all, open space in Assembly Square should be planned to address the needs of dog owners with an adequate area for off-leash recreation, facilities for waste removal, and signage advising people that they must leash and clean up after their dogs in areas that are not deisgnated for off-leash recreation.
Bacon's person has posted (on flickr) what may be the first photograph of legal off-leash recreation in Somerville, MA.
I was in Florence the day the fence for Somerville's first off-leash recreational area (OLRA) was installed in Nunziato Field and the "No-Dogs-Allowed-Yadda-Yadda-Yadda" sign was removed from the Putman Street entrance to the OLRA.
The Grand Opening of the OLRA at Nunziato Field (on Summer Street at Putnam Street) will be Sunday, April 9, 2006, from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
On Tuesday, March 14, Ward Two School Committee Member told the Finance Committee, "there is no school now and there needs to be one. ... I know I didn’t have to bring parents here to explain it to you." Cardosa was quoted in a story in the Somerville Journal about the construction of a new school on the site of the former Lincoln Park Community School.
Somerville's School Department has seven elementary schools: Brown School (Ward 6), Cummings School (Ward 3), East Somerville Community School (Ward 1), Healey School (Ward 4), Kennedy School (Ward 5), West Somerville Neighborhood School (Ward 7), and Winter Hill Community School (Ward 4). With the demolition of the Lincoln Park Community School there is no elementary school in Ward Two. There are schools just over the border in Ward Three (the Cummings School on Prescott Street) and Ward Five (the Kennedy School on Cherry Street), but there are no public elementary schools in Ward Two.
According to a press release from Anthony Pierantozzi, Superintendent of Schools,
Currently the students of the former Lincoln Park Community School are attending school at (a) Lincoln Park at Thurston Street, formerly the St. Anne’s School adjacent to the Winter [Hill] Community School [Ward 4] and (b) the Lincoln Park at Edgerly, located in the Edgerly Education Center at the intersection of Cross Street and Bonair Street [Ward 1].
Construction of the proposed Dr. Albert F. Argenziano School at Lincoln Park will not proceed until the Board of Aldermen approves a bond for an additional $14.5 million. For reasons of lack of information and lack of public input, the Finance Committee—comprising Alderman at Large William White, Ward Seven Alderman Robert Trane, Alderman at Large Denise Provost, Ward Two Alderman Maryann Heuston, and Alderman at Large Dennis Sullivan—voted on Tuesday to postpone discussion. The Journal quotes the reasons Finance Committee Chair, William Roche, gave for not being ready to vote on whether or not to approve the $14.5 million debt needed to construct the new school:
The previous year had been so hot! Even though we had extra water in the "waggin' wagon", by the time we got to Davis Square, the dogs were too tired to go on. Three Somerville dog owners remained in the parade (without their dogs) and carried the som|dog banner to Veterans Memorial Cemetery.
Please vote today in the 
Pet-assisted therapy is not the only way that Somerville dogs contribute in society: 
A neighborhood walk is scheduled for Tuesday afternoon, June 13, in East Somerville. According to Amber Espar of 
The East Somerville Neighborhood Walking Route was described in an 