Monday, May 21, 2012
A summary of what's been happening with the Green Line Extension since last summer's news of delays.
News last year that the long-awaited Green Line extension, once expected to be complete by October, 2015, was delayed further, with a completion date now set for around 2019, raised questions about the state's commitment to the project. In the past two months, regional transportation planners have continued moving forward with the project, and there's been a round of relatively good news for advocates. Here are some quick updates about the Green Line Extension: The Boston Region Metropolitan Planning Organization, which is responsible for mapping out transportation projects in the region, has included the Green Line Extension project in a draft report, giving the project, for now, its blessing. The Transportation Improvement Program report…
Friday, May 18, 2012
Urban agriculture fans voiced support for a proposed ordinance that would allow farming in Somerville.
Khrysti Smyth, who lives near Porter Square, has eight chickens in her back yard. They live in a chicken coop she built herself, and she raises them for the eggs. "I have a huge waiting list, just amongst my friends, of people who want eggs, locally grown eggs," Smyth told the Somerville Planning Board and the Somerville Board of Aldermen's land use committee Thursday night. Chickens are becoming her life's work, she said, joking that "I've sort of become a chicken concierge" because she provides chicken-raising advice to others in Somerville and around Boston. (She blogs at thechickeness.blogspot.com.) Smyth spoke at a public hearing about a proposed zoning ordinance that would allow urban farming in Somerville. Yes, Somerville: the most …
Thursday, May 17, 2012
Boston Region Metropolitan Planning Organization sees big funding needs for the project.
The planning firm responsible for mapping out transportation projects for the greater Boston area envisions over $720 million being spent on the Green Line Extension by 2016, according to a recent report. A draft version of the Boston Region Metropolitan Planning Organization's Transportation Improvement Program report released earlier this month outlines the projected spending on the project from 2013 to 2016. The project plans to extend the MBTA's Green Line from Lechemere station in Cambridge, through Somerville to College Avenue in Medford. The report estimates the project should have $79.3 million in funding in 2013, $94.9 million in 2014, $235.8 in 2015 and about $310 million in 2016. The report pegs about $100 million in federal …
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
The city is holding a public hearing about a proposal to allow community farms and other forms of urban agriculture in Somerville.
Somerville is considering an ordinance that would promote urban agriculture in the city, and it's holding a public hearing on the matter Thursday. The ordinance would "create a framework for residential, community and commercial farming within city limits," according to an annoucement released by the city in April. The announcement said it would encourage things like hydroponics and aquaponics, which allow urban farmers to raise things like vegetables and fish in warehouse space. The public is invited to attend Thursday's hearing and comment on the proposed ordinance. The hearing is being held by a joint meeting of the Somerville Planning Board and the Somerville Board of Aldermen's land use committee. A description of the ordinance says …
42.38671
-71.09836
Somerville City Hall
93 Highland Ave, Somerville, MA
/articles/speak-out-urban-agriculture-in-somerville-public-hearing-on-thursday
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Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Somerville's mayor said better revenue projections and "efficiencies" will help close the gap, and he credited the city's switch to the GIC health care plan as a reason the gap isn't bigger.
Somerville will have to close an approximately $3 million budget gap when it shapes the fiscal year 2013 budget this June, according to a city ResiStat presentation. Somerville Mayor Joseph Curtatone, speaking at the Ward 5 ResiStat meeting Monday night, said, "That's where we are right now," in terms of planning the upcoming budget. Fiscal year 2013 begins on July 1, and the Somerville Board of Aldermen and mayor's office will spend much of June working on a final budget. The budget gap is the difference between revenue the city takes in and expenditures. At the moment, on the verge of June's budget season, revenue and expenditure estimates are still evolving. Relatively speaking, a $3 million budget gap in May isn't huge. Last May, the …
Monday, May 14, 2012
The state allows cities to recoup unpaid taxes, fees and fines, but the technology to do this isn't in place, according to the Somerville Board of Aldermen.
The Somerville Board of Aldermen ran into a snag at the state level over a proposed idea that would have helped the city recoup money owed to it, according to proceedings from the May 9 Board of Aldermen meeting. The idea, proposed by Ward 4 Alderman Tony Lafuente in April, was for the city to place liens on individuals' state income taxes for unpaid taxes, fines and fees owed to the city. "We have a fairly transient population in the city," Lafuente said at an April 26 meeting. "Whether it be parking tickets, the excise tax, if there's any kinds of fines or fees, people leave the city [and] they don't really care about making payment to the city on some of these liabilities. This would allow us to collect that money." The Board's …
Saturday, May 12, 2012
Indian claim stirs outrage among some Patch readers against US Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren.
The controversy over US Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren's claim to be part Native American is not going over well with Patch readers in the Greater Boston area, according to an unscientific Patch poll. As of Thursday morning 52 percent of the 304 Patch readers who took our unscientific poll said they believe US Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren is more of a hypocrite than incumbent Republican US Senator Scott Brown. Meanwhile some 19 percent who took the poll said they believe Brown is more of a hypocrite for voting against President Barack Obama's health care law while taking advantage of a key provision in it: the provision that allows him to keep his elder daughter on his congressional health insurance plan. 30 Comments Left on May 3 …
Thursday, May 10, 2012
Volunteers of America will redevelop a building in West Somerville to create 29 rooms of housing for low-income and homeless veterans.
Editor's note: This article was first posted on May 10. It was updated on May 11 to reflect comments from Tom Bierbaum, executive director of Volunteers of America. A West Somerville project that will create beds and housing for homeless and extremely low-income veterans has received $3.6 million in subsidies from the state, according to an announcement from the governor's office. The $3.6 million in housing subsidies comes from the Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development, according to the announcement. The $6 million project, at 1323 Broadway in West Somerville, at the intersection of North Street, will rehabilitate the existing building at the site to create a facility for housing and support services, according to …
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-71.1316
1323 Broadway, Somerville, MA
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Five states and the District of Columbia offer a full gamut of rights to gay people, according to The Guardian.
In the wake of North Carolina's decision to amend its Constitution to ban same sex unions, The Guardian website has created a model looking at gay rights in each state. According to the graphic, Massachusetts, Connecticut and Vermont, along with Washington state, Iowa and the District of Columbia, have the most rights afforded to gays. Massachusetts allows: Massachusetts prohibits: Also, Massachusetts' hate crime laws include crimes committed based on gender identity or sexual orientation. In addition to comparing states' level of gay rights, the Guardian graphic allows you to log in through Facebook and see what rights are afforded in the states where all your Facebook friends live.
The city is interested in seeing the building become a performing arts center, but it doesn't have plans to acquire the property on its own for that purpose.
The United States Postal Service, which over a year ago announced it would seek to sell the Union Square Post Office, officially put the building on the market a couple of weeks ago, according to an email from Dennis Tarmey, a spokesperson for the Post Office. The building, which opened in 1936, according to Tarmey, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is on the market for $2.5 million. The lobby of the building contains original murals painted by the Works Progress Administration during the Great Depression. The Post Office is not planning to close Union Square as a location, Tarmey emphasized in his email. Rather, the postal service is looking to sell the current building at 237 Washington St. and maintain a "retail …
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United States Postal Service
237 Washington St, Somerville, MA
/articles/union-square-post-office-officially-on-market-for-2-5-million
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Matt C
8:57 am on Monday, May 21, 2012
This project is critical to the development of a broad section of Somerville. I am excited to see it happening and disappointed that it has been delayed as much as it has. more ›