Somerville High School junior Anthony Melchor, shown in the center of this photo, rowed in the famous Head of the Charles Regatta on Sunday. Melchor joined teammates Mohammad Anwar, Kevin Bui, James Hickey and Daniel Doza (the coxswain), all from Malden, as members of the Gentle Giant Rowing Club. They are coached by Malden High School teachers Sarah Hones and Shauna Campbell. Melchor and his team rowed in the 5000 meters event. The Gentle Giant Rowing Club, which rows on the Mystic River, promotes the sport rowing in communities—such as Somerville—that aren't traditionally rowing communities…

Residents and officials met at the Elizabeth Peabody House Tuesday to support a local hiring ordinance and to share their experiences about looking for work. The ordinance would require that, on major construction developments in Somerville—those receiving at least $50,000 in subsidies from the city—30 percent of total work hours be performed by local workers. Also, the ordinance would require that at least 10 percent of total work hours are performed by disadvantaged workers. The ordinance is currently in the Board of Aldermen's Legislative Matters Committee, where committee members have …

If you walk by Bloc 11 in Union Square and Diesel Cafe in Davis Square, you'll see something new on the street: a bike corral. The corral takes up one parking spot, but it provides space for 14 bicycles. According to the Somerville Bicycle Committee, a third bike corral is soon coming to Ball Square, too. Bike corrals are popular in other cities, and according to the bicycle committee they help support local business by offering easy-to-find bike parking in bike-heavy areas, while keeping sidewalks more clear for pedestrians. Got a cell phone photo that tells a story? Text it to (617) 306-…

Activist street bands, Bavarian beer gardens, a road race … Davis Square is "bumpin'" this weekend … … Assuming the weather cooperates. HONK! is happening, rain or shine, but the rain date for Oktoberfest is Oct. 9. We want to see what's going on. Snap a photo with your cell phone and share it with the Somerville community. Text it to (617) 306-6164 Send it to chris.orchard@patch.com Share it on the Somerville Patch Facebook Page Post it below

On Sunday, Boston closed down Storrow Drive to cars and opened up the roadway to bicycles for Hub On Wheels. Somerville residents Harriet, Reuben, Dorea Vierling-Classen and Yoni Edsell-Vetter rode 10 miles along Storrow Drive and then enjoyed the Boloco Block Party in Boston City Hall Plaza. Got a cell phone photo that tells a story?  Text it to (617) 306-6164 Send it to chris.orchard@patch.com Share it on the Somerville Patch Facebook Page Post it below Include your name and a short blurb describing the photo and the story it tells. If the photo's not from a cell phone, no problem.

People gathered at The Center for Arts at the Armory Tuesday night for the Somerville Housing Symposium. Dana LeWinter, the city's housing director, said she hoped the symposium would become a yearly event. Sam Zimbabwe, from Reconnecting America, was the keynote speaker; he talked about building communities around transit. The symposium discussed citywide and regional housing trends, in addition to housing goals and strategies for meeting those goals. A city of two-bedroom homes This photo depicts one of many charts taped to the wall at the symposium. This chart breaks down all housing in …

Every morning, Meredith Bennett, owner of Found, a new vintage designer clothing store in Davis Square, cleans trash and debris out of a broken phone booth in front of her shop. It's a phone booth without a phone. Well, to be fair, there's space for two phones, and while one side is completely empty, the other side does have a phone installed. But it doesn't have a dial tone, and the buttons don't seem to work. In an emergency, don't rely on it to call 911. "People leave food" in the empty phone booth, Bennett said, and sometimes people with mental health problems pick up the broken receiver …