News in Brief: July 28, 2014
29 July 2014 - 4:20pm
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by Jonathan Adams
Tufts Educational Daycare Center – Somerville/Medford
Somerville
Somerville Plastic Bag Ban Moves Forward
3 July 2014 - 11:31am
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by Somerville Neighborhood News
Somerville, Mass. – Somerville may join the growing list of Commonwealth cities and towns that ban or restrict the use of plastic bags, and neither city officials nor most of those questioned in the streets recently oppose the idea.
Somerville Styrofoam Ban Largely Ignored
3 July 2014 - 11:24am
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by Somerville Neighborhood News
Somerville, Mass. – A citywide ban on expanded polystyrene or “Styrofoam” that went into effect last month is largely not being respected or enforced.
Somerville Mayor Announces Limits on City’s Cooperation with Federal Deportation Program
22 May 2014 - 2:00pm
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by Jonathan Adams
Somerville, Mass. - At a press conference at city hall on Wednesday, Somerville City Mayor Joseph Curtatone announced an executive order that will limit the city’s participation in the federal Secure Communities deportation program.
Former Herb Chambers Employee Alleges Raw Deal on Overtime Pay
8 May 2014 - 2:54pm
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by Jonathan Adams
Somerville, Mass. – A former auto-service advisor at Herb Chambers car repair in Somerville is suing the company alleging that he was wrongly categorized as an exempt employee and consequently not compensated overtime pay owed to him.
Scott O’Brien, a former Massachusetts resident now living in Pennsylvania filed the class-action lawsuit in federal court in Boston against the company after working at its Somerville dealership for an unspecified length of time.
Youth Homelessness On the Rise in Somerville
3 April 2014 - 4:06am
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by Somerville Neighborhood News
Somerville, Mass. - Youth homelessness is on the rise; at least 25 Somerville students are homeless. Some 13,000 students are homeless in Massachusetts, according to the state Department of Education.
Magoun Square is Changing
14 March 2014 - 11:19pm
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by Somerville Neighborhood News
Somerville, Mass. - Magoun Square resident Melody Chapin is not Brazilian. But, she told Somerville Neighborhood News, “I’m in solidarity with the Brazilians who are having a hard time keeping their businesses up.” As Chapin walked around Magoun Square recently, she stopped by a Nepali-owned grocery store and bought a Brazilian soda at her favorite bakery, but she also found shuttered shops and boarded-up windows.
Should Tufts University Pay Somerville More for All Its Tax-Exempt Property?
20 February 2014 - 3:46am
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by Somerville Neighborhood News
Somerville, Mass. - Tufts University pays the City of Somerville less than other major area universities pay in place of taxes on their tax-exempt properties. But is that fair to local residents? Jane Regan investigates in this segment from Somerville Neighborhood News #3.
Bay State Pregnant and Homeless Women Try to Find Refuge In a Bureaucratic System
23 December 2013 - 3:40pm
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by Sarah Betancourt
Somerville, Mass. - Katherine Smith, 34, had very few options when she entered an area shelter. “I was meaning to get into a shelter because I was homeless for over a year. I had been moving from house to house with my two kids. One is twelve, and the other is eight. It wasn’t a good situation.” Smith was housed in the family shelter by Somerville Housing Coalition last year.
Homeless mothers, especially pregnant ones, often face insurmountable obstacles while trying to find stability for themselves, and their families.
New Wage Theft Law Would Target Somerville Employers
11 May 2013 - 10:34pm
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by Jonathan Adams
Somerville, Mass. - Somerville officials are considering adopting a new ordinance that would see employers guilty of wage theft lose or fail to gain licenses and permits issued by the city.
The ordinance drafted by the city’s Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone came after Somerville residents and activists signed a petition in April seeking a public hearing by the Board of Aldermen on the issue of wage theft in the city.
