Nicole Genard performed at her usual high level by winning the Javelin with a throw of 120′ 9″.  The 4x100m relay team placed third with a time of 50.17. Running for SHS was Alison Kaba, Gelynne Berger, Michel-le Meranda and Nicole Genard. Emma Youte competed in the long jump with a best jump of 15’10 and Gelynne Berger also jumped 14’6. Gelynne made it to the semi-finals in the 200m with a best time of 27.4 and freshman Saragrace Magre ran a personal best time of 28.8. Natalie David competed in the Shot Put with a best throw of 29’9.

The meet was a showcase for what a great track and field facility Dilboy Stadium is. The Recreation Staff of Commissioner Jim Halloran and Dilboy Supervisor Fred Shamshak and his crew did a great job preparing the facility for the meet. Their attention to detail and hard work helped make this meet a great success.

The Boston Region Metropolitan Planning Organization is helping to push through plans to include the proposed GLX stop for Route 16.

By Jeremy F. van der Heiden

For years now, the City of Somerville, along with representatives of several other areas in the eastern region of Massachusetts, have fought to expand the Green Line further to reach more residents. Mayor Joseph Curtatone recently announced a victory for this battle, applauding the Boston Region Metropolitan Planning Organization’s (MPO) decision to approve a substantial piece of funding for this transportation project.

According to a release from the Mayor’s office, the MPO recently approved $8.1 million worth of funding to go toward the research, development and construction of a Rt. 16 Green Line stop as part of the Green Line Extension Project (GLX). The vote, nineteen to two in favor of the project, was in support of Governor Deval Patrick’s desire to make this part of the state’s Federal Fiscal Years 2013-2016 Transportation Improvement Project (TIP).

Communications from Massachusetts State Representative Carl Sciortino, 34th Middlesex District, indicate that last year officials were able to establish the project’s foothold in the 2016-2020 Federal Fiscal Years TIP. The recent decision, made at a Boston MPO April 19 meeting, will expedite the project and boast many rewards for those currently living in the target region.

After getting word that the aforementioned meeting might be an integral moment for the success or failure of the project, Representative Sciortino declared a call to action to attend the meeting and exhibit support of the GLX’s Rt. 16 project. Had the most recent decision not been made in its favor, Sciortino believed that it would have been much harder to keep the project alive down the road when the 2016 fiscal year rolled around. Additionally, this would have halted the important developmental operations that must be carried out to solidify the plan, such as further research of the area, surveying of the land, and more.

Had the decision not gone this way, it might have served a finishing blow to the Route 16 extension, as the project, legally, had viewed College Avenue as the terminus. The MPO’s approval sealed the Route 16 stop as one with the entire GLX project, as opposed to a separate project to be created at the overarching programs completion. Many involved believed it would likely never happen if talks would not resume until around 2016.

“It’s important to remember that the Route 16 stop was originally planned to be the terminus because it is ideal,” Representative Sciortino explained. “It’s located in an incredibly dense neighborhood at the intersection of Somerville, Medford, and Arlington, right on the Route 16, Alewife Brook and Mystic River biking-pedestrian pathway, which will be a feature of the stop.”

“The land use at that location has incredible economic development potential, and integrating it into the plan generates revenue back into the area, potentially funding more affordable housing for the neighborhood,” he continued.

Representative Sciortino knew that by keeping consistent and strong pressure on the Boston MPO, as well as showing the huge amount of support for the project that has been around since the beginning of the GLX talks, the region could come out with a victory. He also explained that this was a group effort by a variety of departments and individuals, and expressed his gratitude for these parties’ resolve.

Mayor Curtatone, a key player in this public triumph, described how the Route 16 stop will impact residents across the state.

“This is a project with incredible environmental benefits and for our quality of life, and also has a huge economic upside for the entire Commonwealth, creating tens of thousands of net new jobs and millions of dollars in new revenue,” he explained.

Additionally, Mayor Curtatone noted the strength of those he works with, across the region, to accomplish this goal.

“The whole delegation has been strong advocates and are great partners to work with on this particular project. It was also impressive to have so many members of the public from Arlington, Somerville, Cambridge and Medford coming out, as they have so many times, to support the Green Line Extension,” he said.

The Mayor expressed his gratitude for the MPO’s endorsement as well as the support from MassDOT, and explained that he and the entirety of the delegation will continue to fight to ensure the project’s successful completion.

The project is now in the public hearing phase, while the final hearing regarding the decision will occur before month’s end. More information on this project can be found at the City of Somerville’s website http://www.somervillema.gov/.

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This coming Tuesday morning the Government Affairs committee of the Somerville Chamber of Commerce is hosting it new start up Breakfast at the Holiday Inn off Washington Street. This month’s guest speaker is Michael Glavin, who is the Executive Director of the Office Strategic Planning and Community Development. Chamber members $25. Non-members $30. For reservations contact by email smackey@somervillechamber.org.

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Then, on the same night across the street, Candidate for Registrar of Deeds, Maryann Heuston, is having a fundraiser “campaign kick-off event” hosted by the present Registrar of Deeds, our own and popular Gene Brune. Next Tuesday evening, May 22, 6-8 p.m. at the Somerville City Club. Maryann is working very hard for the seat being vacated by Gene, so she’s hoping a lot of locals will show up and show their support for her.

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The Somerville Police Department is offering a self-defense course for women coming up on June 5, 7, 12 and 14 at the Police Academy room down at the station. Call the police number for more details, but we understand it might be a free self-defense course.

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One of our senators here from Somerville (small but vocal part of the city), Sal DiDomenico, who is also co-chair on the Committee on Community Development and Small Businesses, is sponsoring “Small Business Week” – beginning with a Small Business Resource Fair on Wednesday, May 23, from 9 to 11 at the Great Hall of Flags, the State House. You can call Sen. Sal DiDomenico’s office for more details.

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Our sincere condolences to both Ray and Gayle Doane who recently lost their son Ray Douglas Doane, who passed away this past week. Our deepest sympathy to the family and all that knew him. He was a great young man and son.

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Happy Anniversary to our good friends Tom and Barbara Carli of Carli Fence, which was started here in Somerville. They are celebrating 31 years of wedded bliss. We wish them many more.

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We are very pleased to see Bert Gay around the city lately. He’s gone through a lot of surgery and hospital stays but has bounced back and is looking well.

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Big Time Happy Birthdays to some of our fans as well as famous ‘Villens. To Melissa Hurley, wife of our own Alderman At Large Dennis Sullivan. We wish her happy birthday.     Also, to newcomer and great guy, a recent graduate of MIT, Brian Whally. How can we miss the well known attorney Edwin Smith who is also celebrating his birthday this week?      Scott Diamond is celebrating his birthday this week as well. And Mark Macleod of the famous East Somerville MacLeod family. A great young man who has grown up and we hear is now a family man of his own. Robyn Vailliant is celebrating this week as well. Megan Foster, who used to serve on the School Board from Ward 5 and is now a teacher over in Malden, also celebrates this week.

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Back home and resting this week from Mass General is Patti Norton, who will be back to MGH this Thursday for day surgery, one of several being planned over the next several weeks. She wants to let everyone know that your thoughts and prayers sent to her were well received and she thanks everyone.

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Some very lucky people here in the ‘Ville received that special invitation to Bob and Dave’s wedding on June 17, a special day for both of them. You can spot Bob around the city now. He’s up and in good spirits and health. We recently found him at the Armory Coffee Café.

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OMG, how are some parents supposed to afford their children’s Somerville High School portrait photos for graduation? We heard that the local photographer who’s contracted to take the photos is charging up to almost $700 plus for student portrait packages. You would think in this economy that this local photographer would get it. Someone who has had this sweetheart of a deal for many years here in the ‘Ville should have a heart and do the right thing by lowering his outrageously inflated prices so that some cash strapped parents can afford their children’s 2012 class portraits without selling the farm. Not to mention the up to $75 sitting fees! Wow!

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The City of Somerville is seeking craft vendors, musicians, performance artists, dancers, visual artists, storytellers and other creative artists to participate in SomerStreets, one of the area’s largest public events where we close the streets to cars and open them to residents for walking, cycling, running, etc. The 2012 schedule is: Carnaval on East Broadway:  Sunday, June 3, Temple Street to Pennsylvania Avenue; Seize the Summer: Sunday, July 29, Walnut Street to Cedar Street; Going Green on Rt. 16:  Sunday, August 19, Dilboy Field to Broadway; Rolling on the Mystic: Saturday, September 15, Location TBD; MonsterMashed Up on Somerville Avenue: Sunday, October 28, Washington Street to Beacon Street. Events are noon-4:00 p.m. and are rain or shine. For more information or vendor applications, please visit http://www.somervillema.gov/alerts/2012-somerstreets-series or contact Carlene Campbell-Hegarty, Director of Community Relations at ccampbell@somervillema.gov or (617) 625-6600 ext. 2615.

Josh Zisson (the cyclist), Laurie Deitemeyer (the T-rider) and Ken Carlson (the motorist) get set to race from Davis Square to Kendall Square on different modes of transportation during Monday morning rush hour. – Photo by Elizabeth Sheeran

Rush Hour Race from Davis to Kendall Square

By Elizabeth Sheeran

A motorist, a cyclist and a T-rider meet up at Redbones in Davis Square.

No, that’s not the set-up for a local-flavor joke. Rather, it was the scene at the starting line of Somerville’s first-ever Rush Hour Race.

Just after 8:30 on Monday morning, Ken Carlson pulled away from Redbones in his Volvo station wagon, Josh Zisson hopped on his single-speed bike, and Laurie Deitemeyer set off on foot for the Davis Square Red Line station. Their goal: to see who could be first “to work” in Kendall Square, Cambridge, without breaking any laws.

“It’s going to be a tight one, but I predict that I’m going to get there first,” said cyclist Zisson, an attorney who advocates for bike safety on his bikesafeboston.com website.  Zisson was undeterred by Google Maps estimates that put cycling time for the route – mostly along Beacon and Cambridge streets – at nearly twice the travel time by car. “Google’s been wrong about a lot of things,” he said, noting that bikes aren’t subject to rush hour gridlock.

Zisson was far from alone in predicting victory for the bike commute. In fact, that was the consensus forecast among the crowd gathered for pre-race festivities on Chester Street.

“I think as the driver I’m going to get bogged down in traffic,” said Carlson, a regular bike commuter and member of the Somerville bicycle committee, which co-sponsored the event as a way to kick off Bay State Bike Week and promote alternative ways to get to work. “When I’m biking to work, I’m usually passing cars stuck in traffic.”

Deitemeyer, who tweets about public transit at @RideLikeCharlie, said it would be tough to beat the cyclist, especially since wet weather could cause delays in her commute on the T. “When’s the last time the Red Line ran on schedule?” she asked.

Their predictions were borne out just a short time later, when Zisson sailed into Kendall Square, locked up his bike, and strolled through the finish line in the lobby of a Genzyme office building, just 20 minutes after leaving Redbones.

Deitemeyer, who said she had to wait six or seven minutes on the platform at Davis Square for the next train, crossed the finish line a full nine minutes later.

Carlson arrived still later – just over half an hour after the start of the race – despite shaving a few minutes off the commute by taking side streets to avoid stop lights, and easily finding a parking spot in the building garage. “It was a breeze through Kendall Square, but really slow around Porter and Inman,” said Carlson. “It was interesting being in a car and watching cyclists go by me.”

And it wasn’t just cycling and public transit that turned out to be a better bet than driving for the Davis-to-Kendall commute. Runner John Wichers was unable to sign on to the race in an official capacity, but left Redbones at the same time as the three official participants and still arrived ahead of both Deitemeyer and Carlson.

All that’s good news for the event organizers, who said they’re not against people who drive to work; they just want commuters to consider other ways to get there.

“We wanted to raise awareness of the different options they have,” said Alex Epstein, chair of the Somerville Bike Committee, which partnered with the Cambridge Bike Committee, the Livable Streets Alliance, Redbones and Genzyme to bring the commuter race idea to life, and test the theory that other options can easily compete with cars as efficient ways to get to work.

“We wanted to prove they’re competitive, and we’ve just proven that they are,” said Epstein.

To see what the race looked like for the driver or the cyclist, check out “helmet cam” video at livablestreets.info.

The Somerville News Person of the Week, Frank Senesi.

Meet Frank Senesi, lifelong resident of Somerville, who lives, works, and raised his family here. Frank is married to Cathy, who is also from Somerville. Both are from East Somerville on the Charlestown line. Frank recently retired as Director of Veterans Services. When he took over the job he took it to the next level.

He is truly a great Somerville resident who brought back the Memorial Day parade to a level of excellence not seen in this city in decades. He was personally instrumental in making sure veterans who served our country in many wars and conflicts were recognized here in the city. In his capacity as Director he was all over the city and when a dedication was being planned he made sure it went off with ease, making the family members proud of their relative’s service to their country and to Somerville. Frank and Cathy are seen all over the city even now in retirement, probably helping out his replacement. And what shoes that guy has to fill with Frank being on the job. Mayor Joe Curtatone made a wise choice in selecting Frank years ago when he first became mayor and the job opened up. Personally, Frank is a real nice guy, smiles a lot and is also cheerful and respectful when listening to people. He is, in our opinion, another great choice as Person of the Week here in Somerville. We know he won’t just retire but will remains active in many of the things going on throughout the city. So, if you see him say “Hi” and thank him for his dedication to the city and to all the veterans here.

A typical three-decker off Highland Ave.

By Amanda Rhodes

Around 25 people gathered on a beautiful Mother’s Day to find out more about an icon of New England architecture and to celebrate National Preservation Month. The Somerville Museum hosted the lecture, entitled The Menace of the Three-Decker: The History and Architecture of a New England Icon by Dr. Stuart Brorson, an electronics and systems engineer with an avid interest in architecture. He and his wife are heavily involved with the Arlington Historical Society, where they are members.

The triple-decker of today was originally called the three-decker and was named after a warship that had three rows of guns. The structures were built in New England during the 1870’s – 1920′s. It was an important housing option for Boston and its suburb communities, including Somerville. The typical three-decker is a building with three one-story apartments on top of one another, with balconies off the back and often on the front of the apartments as well. The detached buildings were economical and served as entry-level apartments meant to be a steppingstone for immigrants and newcomers. Often extended families would share a three-decker, with the oldest family members living on the bottom floor.

At the time of its development, the country was mired in a progressive movement comprised of various social movements aimed at reforming the social ills of the time. Sanitation and housing reform were key areas that needed improvement. Although there were no zoning laws at the time, the overcrowding of tenements in cities led to regulations being developed. Three-decker apartment buildings allowed builders to construct residences without complying with tenement guidelines, the most influential being that a building was a tenement if it housed more than three families. The apartments were also an improvement from the tenements that created health and sanitation issues in a crowded urban fabric.

This new style was a natural evolution from the two-story building with a mansard roof. By providing a full story on the top floor, landlords could rent an additional apartment for more rental income.  The apartments appealed to the residents’ growing aspirations for a middle-class life by including detailed woodwork, cornice details, beautiful entryways, and glasswork. Many of the three-deckers also included generous daylight by including bay windows. Often, they also provided china cabinets to display the new amenities of middle-class life.

Although the three-decker appeared to be an ideal housing situation, many community leaders were against them and fought hard to ban and eliminate them. As Dr. Brorson mentioned, he read many newspaper articles from the early 20th century that indicated the level of concern over this building type. One major concern was fire. Large parts of Boston, Salem, and Chelsea were destroyed by fire and there was concern that these buildings were constructed too close to each other and that the wood frame construction would lead to dangerous fires. There was also great concern over the moral denigration of the kinds of people who lived in these structures, primarily immigrants. Long-time residents complained about trash and living conditions in the apartments, as well as their property values.

Beginning in 1912, housing acts began changed the rules and made three-decker apartments cost-prohibitive and challenging. Eventually the affordability and popularity of the automobile allowed residents to move further into the suburbs and three-deckers were no longer built.

Today, the style is again popular and the buildings are being restored and even emulated in new construction. The style that is unique to New England is reemerging and providing those same opportunities for growing families. As Dr. Brorson said, “what’s not to like about a three-decker”?

This is just one event honoring National Preservation Month. The Somerville Museum is holding many other events. To find out more information, visit the website at http://somervillemuseum.org/.

– Photos by William Tauro

“The iBall: Keeping it Surreal” fundraiser for the Center for Arts at the Armory was a huge success. The event took place at the Armory, located at 191 Highland Avenue in Somerville, on Thursday evening.

This spring marks the third anniversary of The Armory opening as a community arts center under the leadership of the non-profit organization Center for Arts at the Armory. Funds raised will benefit Arts at the Armory’s cultural programming, which provides some of the most inventive music, theater, dance, poetry, talks and more in the Boston area. Events have included TEDx Somerville, the City’s Inaugural Celebration, and the Somerville Winter Farmer’s Market. Providing educational programming for adults and children is also at the core of its mission.

Performances during the main event included funk/brass band Revolutionary Snake Ensemble, led by saxophonist Ken Field, and Boston rock institution Willie “Loco” Alexander.

The inaugural Arts at the Armory Billy Ruane Awards were presented to some of the organization’s big champions, including the Saters from the Middle East Restaurant, and Mario Leon from Somerville restaurant Dali. Ruane and his family have been ardent supporters of Arts at the Armory and this is a fitting way to honor Ruane, who meant so much to the music scene and Boston.

Former Somerville Mayor Gene Brune was the special speaker of the evening as well as presenter of the awards.

Ray Zonghetti was one of the three recipients presented an award for helping the Armory build their organization.

The Head-Out Angled Parking program, currently underway as a pilot test on Bow St., represents a good example of something that may look good on paper or ring well in our ears when touted by proponents, but in the end may take some serious getting used to by local residents and by visitors to our fair city.

Let’s face it, we are accustomed to approaching a parking space head-on, giving little extra thought whether or not we should face in, out, up, down, or sideways. This new variation adds a little wrinkle into the process and, therefore, taxes our cognitive abilities at just the most inopportune moment: when we’ve reached our destination and just want to stop, get out, feed the meter, and be on our way. Oh, the humanity.

It does seem like a somewhat odd maneuver, backing into the parking space. But we do this in other circumstances, don’t we? Backing into a driveway, for example. It can’t be that difficult, after all.

Proponents of this scheme claim that the program will create more parking spaces, improve safety for vehicles, pedestrians and cyclists, and is easier to perform than traditional parallel parking.

All we can do is give it a fair test and see how it goes. Here’s hoping that our brave test pilots will come through their trials A-OK.

Police were called to the parking lot at 111 South St. last week on reports of fighting in progress at that location.

Upon arrival, officers were informed by the reporting party that he was chasing a man who had just physically assaulted him and vandalized his car. The man reportedly said that he and a friend had chased an individual to the nearby La Hacienda Restaurant.

Police checked the restaurant and found a man fitting the alleged victim’s description inside the back kitchen area. At the man’s feet was a black jacket with a white pentagram design on the back. A rounded piece of wood was found inside the jacket, police said.

The alleged victim reportedly told police that he and his friend had been accosted by a group of four men as they were talking, one of which was the suspect found at the La Hacienda Restaurant. He said that the men smashed windows of his friend’s car and that he was also struck with a club by the man being held by police.

The alleged victim further stated that three of the four assailants get into a vehicle and drove away, but that one of the men had been left behind and that is when the alleged victim and his friend chased the man to the restaurant.

Based on witness testimony and that of the alleged victim police placed the man found in the restaurant, Daniel Nelligan, 23, of Whitman, under arrest and charged him with assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and malicious damage to a motor vehicle.