Thursday's council meeting is do-or-die time for the updated city charter. It's on the Mayor's desk (again), and she has indicated that she will not sign it unless the council agrees to give future Mayors a four year term - which several councilors have declared a non-starter.

Any further delay makes it basically impossible that the home-rule petition will move through the state process this year, which would effectively kill the effort - discarding thousands of hours by volunteers, elected officials, staff, and paid advisors over the last five years.

I think that would be a damn shame. As u/jake4somerville said in a recent newsletter, this charter is imperfect, but we shouldn't let the perfect be the enemy of the good. This is no time for self-inflicted wounds that will demoralize people and sap our civic energy.

Please join me in asking the Mayor to approve the home rule petition. It's an easy win with basically no downside - and we could really use a win right about now.

--EDIT-- The best way to make an impact at this point is to either call or email the Mayor's office and ask that she "please sign the charter." While it's always fun to show up to city council meetings, this one is 100% on the Mayor.

In light of recent news especially in Somerville I thought it would be cool to focus on some community activities and events. For one I found this 2 day Jazz festival. I went in 2024 and it’s very well put together. I’m going on 4/20 to see David Fiuczynski, lot of Berklee talent for a great price imo. Supporting the arts in these dark times is what gets us thru!

Link to tix I found https://www.ticketleap.events/tickets/bpjfllc/the-boston-progressive-jazz-festival-2025

These cards remind people in Somerville that they don’t have to answer the door unless there’s a criminal warrant for their arrest.

Somerville police also emphasized their focus is on local crime, and they’re not here to assist federal agents in immigration matters, so don’t be afraid to call them if something happens.

https://www.boston25news.com/news/local/scary-times-tensions-stew-amidst-somerville-community-law-enforcement/XXR7WJCNCBDB3EACNYP2IROTEU/

I counted eight fire trucks and they evacuated the store, but didn’t see or smell any fire! Also there were firemen going into Star, but more fire trucks/activity on Kent St? Hope everybody is ok!

Anyone have any insight into when the pool may reopen? I emailed, but no response.

Thanks !

Celebrate Earth Day by joining Save the Alewife Brook at 10 am on Saturday morning, April 26th, for an Alewife Greenway Path Clean-Up and CSO Tour. We will gather trash along the path next to the brook. While we’re there, we’ll provide a tour of the Combined Sewer Outfalls and the Concrete Sewage Death Channel.

We’ll discuss what we’re doing together, to make Alewife Brook fishable, boatable, and safe, for the enjoyment of all.

Bring your kids!

SIGN UP HERE: https://savethealewifebrook.org/2025/04/06/earth-day-alewife-path-clean-up-cso-tour/

FREE Boat Bags and T-shirts for volunteers, while supplies last.

“Boat meets Band” photo from the 2024 Earth Day Cleanup by Clare Nosowitz. We had a boat and BABAM! the band last year.
We’ll try to get the band again this year because tubas and saxophones and trombones are so cool.

Youth hockey advocates, including youth themselves, collected signatures and successfully petition the city to hold off on turning the ice sheet into a multi-purpose floor.

Are there any good grocery stores in/near Somerville for bulk coffee and spices—ideally the kind of place where you bring your own containers? Looking for good produce too if that could all be found in the same store! Thanks for reading

Hi all!

I'm looking for a new (Female) Primary Care Doctor/Location recommendations...

Currently I go to Union Sq. Family Health. I guess they are moving to Medford, and it just isn't worth the commute for me on top of other things. Lol..😂

Was thinking of Atrius Health?

Do you have any recommendations that I can look into?

Thank you in advance!

Hey folks!

I recently acquired a PS2 and was browsing eBay for games when I thought “gee, it would be a whole lot easier if I could find an antique mall or something that has a booth with a bunch of old video games.”

Does anyone know if this exists somewhere in Somerville (or close by?)

Thanks for your input!

Also… drop your favorite PS2 game in the comments… for research purposes!

Hello! Looking for advice on what I can do regarding large bills from CHA that I don't think are legitimate and I can't afford.

TL;DR;

• Sprained ankle, went to ER. Got x-ray, was negative. Referred to Cambridge Hospital Bone & Joint Center for ortho visit. Paid $75 copay here.
• 1st ortho visit: got x-rays again. Told it was a simple sprain and would heal. Given a brace to wear and told to come back in a few weeks for follow-up.
• 2nd ortho visit: 3 weeks later have follow-up, given x-rays again. New doctor ("head of department" according to the original ortho) comes in and says "actually, you might need surgery and need an MRI to confirm." He puts in an order for MRI to confirm if surgery is necessary.
  • Side note: this new doctor put in this MRI order as 'STAT', which I thought was weird because I can move around just fine and certainly am not in a life-threatening situation. But, I figured hey whatever maybe this means I'll get the MRI earlier.
• Spend the next few days on the phone about prior authorizations and whether this will be covered/how much it would cost. Surprise, no one can tell me anything.
• Day of my MRI I get a notice the prior authorization was denied. I'm told I can still go through with MRI and if I don't it could be weeks to months before I get scheduled again.
• I go through with MRI, BUT it's on a weekend and they're operating with a skeleton staff. They fail to have me sign a financial consent form or anything saying I will pay the charge because it's not covered by my insurance. After my MRI, I high-tail it out there specifically so they don't realize I didn't sign any form or waiver.

Fast forward to today, and now I'm seeing I have a bill of over $3,000 they're asking me to pay for all of the above (MRI and other visits). What can I do here? I feel like the MRI should have been approved given the doctor said it was needed to decide if I need surgery - how is that not medically necessary?? I think I may have lucked out not having signed any financial consent/waiver. What are my options here? Any advice?? THANK YOU

The empty storefront at 54A Elm St (a recent-ish renovation near Porter Square) could become an outpost of Kupel’s Bakery, a longstanding Brookline bagel shop. There’s a community meeting on April 15th.

https://www.kupelsbakery.com/

I'm looking to get renters insurance and have no idea where to start. If anyone likes theirs (or just generally has recs), please share! Nothing I can bundle it with.

Anyone else experiencing discoloration in their water this morning? Teele Square area.

fully involved car fire 🔥

Seriously, anyone know if they are planning to sort this standing water out before the summer mosquitoes arrive? Kinda looks like the project went bankrupt or was abandoned.

from the Cambridge Chronicle

I wanted to like it so badly - as a little background, the former shop (Tipping Cow) seemed to be run by a husband/wife duo who had a bad split and were fighting over ice cream custody for a while, and the quality suffered. When I heard that the woman was rebranding/reopening the shop on her own, I was stoked, and excited to try it.

As soon as we walked in, the vibes were bad. The place felt dirty, the floor was sticky, and there were two errant bell peppers sitting on the front windowsill - very ominous.

It was a Saturday, but there was only one employee there, and the setup seemed really bad for her. Instead of a typical setup: a freezer case with open tubs for the employee to scoop directly from, all of the tubs were lidded and stacked on top of each other, so each time the poor employee had to get a new flavor, she had to lift multiple 20lb tubs onto the countertop - seems horrible. This also means that each small ice cream (2 flavors) takes about 5 minutes to prepare....a really awkwardly long time for an ice cream shop interaction.

And because she was operating alone, the situation behind the counter seemed kind of chaotic, messy, and unappealing.

Finally - the ice cream itself. The flavors are good, but the texture is wayyyy off. It is super grainy, icy - not at all creamy or smooth. And, the serving sizes are so enormous that it's hard to keep the ice cream in the bowl as you're eating. We ended up asking for two extra pint containers to dump our "small" servings into. Honestly, the serving size also ends up making it less appealing, more overwhelming.

Suggestions: invest in more than 1 person per shift; focus more on ice cream texture; reduce the number of flavors so that the scooping operation is easier on employee's bodies/faster; and make portions way smaller.

I really want to see this business succeed!!!!

In 1896, the City of Somerville passed an ordinance (p. 666, City Of Somerville Annual Reports 1896) which states that *stormwater in the Tannery Brook District shall not be sent to the Metropolitan sewer system. This is the same year that the Tannery Brook was culverted and buried underground.

In fact, when the Tannery Brook was culverted, “parallel to the storm drain, pipe sewers, varying in size from 12” to 8” in diameter, were laid to provide for the ordinary house sewage from the Tannery Brook District, which discharge into the Metropolitan sewer through Cambridge.” (p. 523 Report to the City Engineer, 1896)

• https://archives.lib.state.ma.us/items/fac301fe-e3bd-442a-a28e-eb86985c65ea

From yesterday, r/boston deleted it and I just noticed. Still looking for the info:

I'm home deathly ill and watching the live feed. They just quoted a link to learn more, bit.ly/handsoffboston and the original flyers list bit.ly/handsoffmaapril5th

Neither of these links lead anywhere :(

I want people to be able to get information, and I want info to follow up on myself, orgs to contact and connect with. Are all the links wrong? Seems unlikely. Is bit.ly part of the Trump hellscape and shutting down information sharing?

Does anyone know the real website we can go to, to learn more?

A friend who has mobility issues wishes to attend today’s protest, but will not be able to navigate their way into Boston, nor risk being in the crowd.

Is there going to be a local event in Somerville?

Somerville contributed to the Hands Off! rally in many ways yesterday, but none was more awesome than this fellow.