Dates are set for the special election to fill Somerville’s soon-to-be-vacant City Council seats

Dates are set for the special election to fill Somerville’s soon-to-be-vacant City Council seats

Somerville will get an unusual Wednesday voting day next year as part of the special City Council election brought on by a departure for the Legislature and a resignation. In the special election for wards 2 and 3 to fill the seats of JT Scott and Ben... The post Dates are set for the special election to fill Somerville’s soon-to-be-vacant City Council seats appeared first on Cambridge | Somerville Independent.

dlvr.it

I was lucky to be at this event. Amy gave a great talk. I don't quite know what it should look like, but I'm convinced we need state-wide reform to remove historic harms that are still being perpepuated today.

Boston Indicators@bosindicators.bsky.social · 3d ago

At our “Conference on Housing Land Use and Building Reform,” buff.ly/0Rd539c Amy Dain explained how a long, local history of exclusionary policies has shaped today’s housing landscape.

I'm really proud of Somerville for doing this years ago and proving to the rest of Massachusetts that the sky doesn't fall without parking minimums.

Jonathan Berk 🏠@berkie1.bsky.social · 3d ago

"By eliminating our parking minimums, we would free up space for more housing units, open space, and other community-desired uses, which are essential to making sure Chelsea is a vibrant and affordable place to live." - Chelsea City Manager Fidel Maltez commonwealthbeacon.org/housing/chel...

“Local stores next to the protected bike-lane have seen a 49% increase in sales, compared to an average of 3% for Manhattan as a whole.” (Among MANY other public benefits.) Want To Make More Money? Build A Business On A Bike Lane. #CityMakingMath via @fastcompany.com #BikeLanesMeanBusiness

Want To Make Money? Build A Business On A Bike Lane

Research from New York City notes that newly installed protected bike lanes do more than keep bikers safe--they raise the income of the stores they are in front of.

fastcompany.com

I’ll definitely look closely into this. Thanks for bringing it to my attention!

Tom@badusername2121.bsky.social · last wk.

@somervilleinfr1.bsky.social would benefit from an emergency streets program. While we've had no fatal crashes since 2022, the dangerous street design that resulted in Steven Conley's death will not be fixed until 2027. @jake4somerville.bsky.social @jonlink.bsky.social

It should be illegal to buy a company with debt and then sell it off to a foreign owner, but that fight was lost long ago. Anyway, now the Saudis own a truly distressing portion of American entertainment, from Hollywood to Video Games to Sports. This is not neutral behavior. Anyway.

FCC lets Paramount sell 49.5% equity stake to Saudi Arabia, UAE, and Qatar

FCC rejects concerns about repressive governments buying influence over CBS owner.

arstechnica.com

Not enough people take seriously "funding delays"/"bureaucratic nonsense can kill people" but here it is right here. If I was mad when a patient died because it took a few extra months for lawyers to try to look for a legal basis for an international data transfer, I'm incandescent, now.

NIH funding cuts delayed a promising childhood brain cancer trial. Patients lost time they didn't have

A delayed clinical trial underscores the stakes of federal research funding cuts for children with DIPG, a deadly brain tumor with few treatment options.

cnbc.com

A Massachusetts Water Resources Authority (MWRA) plan for Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO) control is currently taking comment until Oct 30. Water & sewer bills in Somerville are the highest in the state and are set to double and CSO is why. Here's a short explainer and what you should do.

Lucky’s Picks: connect with clubs, Burning Man, accessibility and the art of verse

Lucky’s Picks: connect with clubs, Burning Man, accessibility and the art of verse

Oct. 2: Fully Versed (All She Wrote Books, Somerville) Come celebrate four new poetry collections by four Massachusetts-based poets at All She Wrote Books this Friday. The evening will feature a reading and Q&A with poets John Bonanni, Mckendy Fils-Aimé, Joey Gould and Danielle Jones. Their new... The post Lucky’s Picks: connect with clubs, Burning Man, accessibility and the art of verse appeared first on Cambridge | Somerville Independent.

dlvr.it

"Meanwhile, what we need to demand from universities far and wide is clear: Cease to be a place where sexual assault is often subject to less punishment than protesting and plagiarism." www.thecut.com/article/what...

What It Feels Like at Cornell Right Now

As a professor at the Ivy League school, Kate Manne has known many, many victims. There’s a palpable feeling on campus, she writes, that this is big.

thecut.com

Republicans in Congress got hours of free airtime in front of the American people. They spent it stating false facts as true and calling Jack Smith a dirtbag and a villain. Here's all you need to know, under oath.

To quote Indian Jones: “it belongs in a museum”

The Guardian@theguardian.com · 2w ago

Van Gogh goes on display before sale of ‘almost mythical’ private collection

"Are we kinda being pricks?" Volume 2. The Winthrop Edition.

Mark your calendars: @smoorearch.bsky.social, me, and several others are planning a great night of music on Friday, December 11 at the Crystal Ballroom as a benefit for the Dana-Farber cancer care access program. I hope to see many of you there.

One step closer to justice for my dad, Lorenzo Salgado Araujo.

Texas Tribune@texastribune.org · 2w ago

Breaking: The Texas Tribune has identified the ICE agent who witnesses say fired through an open van window and killed 52-year-old Lorenzo Salgado Araujo in Houston nearly three months ago.

I don’t claim to understand the financial market but reading about a loss-making company that warns its product might wipe out humanity does not motivate me to buy their shares.

Jim Pickard@pickardje.bsky.social · 2w ago

as a satire on so-called late stage capitalism how could one beat investors pouring a trillion into a company offering to wipe out humankind

Tech companies suddenly decide they can, in fact, moderate content on their platforms after all

David Roberts@volts.wtf · 2w ago

Class solidarity.

Empty home near Somerville businesses is gutted in three-alarm fire

Empty home near Somerville businesses is gutted in three-alarm fire

A three-alarm fire tore through an empty duplex home early Thursday at 8-10 Park St., which is by a commercial district in Somerville’s Ward 2 – immediately behind a Boston Garden cannabis dispensary, across from the Cambria Hotel and Josephine restaurant, and by a Walgreens pharmacy and Conway... The post Empty home near Somerville businesses is gutted in three-alarm fire appeared first on Cambridge | Somerville Independent.

dlvr.it

ooh yafa opening up a second location in the old posto location in #davis #SomervilleMA https://csindie.com/yafa-bakery-cafe-looks-to-convert-empty-space-near-davis-square-into-its-second-location/

csindie.com

Somerville friends, do you have an opinion about Davis Square? You've got until Sunday to share your thoughts for "baseline" visioning.

Davis Square Neighborhood Plan Survey

Please click the link to complete this form.

cityofsomerville.jotform.com

This will hurt city budgets. Please let the governor know what you think of this plan.

StreetsblogMASS@mass.streetsblog.org · 3w ago

The Governor's office estimates that the proposal would reduce the state's Fair Share funding for transportation and education investments by approximately $120 million: #mapoli mass.streetsblog.org/2026/09/23/i...

This is an attack on public education, on public transportation, on everyone who worked on Fair Share, and on the will of the voters.

StreetsblogMASS@mass.streetsblog.org · 3w ago

The Governor's office estimates that the proposal would reduce the state's Fair Share funding for transportation and education investments by approximately $120 million: #mapoli mass.streetsblog.org/2026/09/23/i...

Wtaf is this question my university just asked me about my project?

The GOP keeps talking about “phantom patients” hoarding Affordable Care Act cash. But the real story is more complicated.

JD Vance is coming for your Obamacare

Are you really young and healthy—or are you a "phantom patient" trying to con Dr. Oz?

motherjones.com

What a horrific way to spend money meant to improve all the infrastructure and institutions we’ve neglected.

Tracy O’Connell Novick@tracynovick.bsky.social · 3w ago

I already knew that Gov. Healey's proposal to roll back the gas tax was bad policy, but then I learned she wants to make up the difference with FAIR SHARE money (aka: the millionaires' tax), and NO. That's money for schools and for transportation, not to make up for terrible national foreign policy!

Davis Square is getting its first community yard sale. Put on by the Davis Square Neighborhood Council & city. Buy cool stuff on: Sunday, Sept. 27, 1-5pm (Rain date: Sunday, Oct. 4, 1-5pm) Live in Davis? Sellers can sign up to sell from your home or statue park. Sign up: bit.ly/4HDUULM

Somerville is working on a home rule petition. Give your input into how the city should preserve creative spaces.

Build your Ideal Somerville Municipal Cultural Trust

Please click the link to complete this form.

form.jotform.com

Please support local 26 as they fight to get fair pay better healthcare from an organization making tens of millions of dollars in profit. Workers deserve to live lives with dignity.

Thanks to the Somerville Library's online newspaper archive I discovered other businesses in the Hobbs Building when the Somerville Theatre opened Some we knew about, like the bowling alley and the auditorium/ballroom, but nobody knew about the undertaker who maybe worked where theaters 2 and 3 are

Four Somerville households lost their homes in Tuesday's fire on Dartmouth Street. Everyone is safe, but they're starting over with nothing. Clothes, medicine, groceries, a place to sleep. Give what you can to the Homeless Coalition's Emergency Fund: secure.qgiv.com/for/emerfun