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Lo Galluccio, poetry editor of The Alewife, interviews Timothy Gager for her "Words & Music" column in the September edition of the paper.
Gager is one of the founders of "Heat City Review" magazine and the impressario behind the Dire Series poetry readings, and with Douglas Holder, the Third Annual The Somerville News Writers Festival, which will take place at Davis Square's Somerville Theatre in November.
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Look for next "Roger That" column by Roger Nicholson in the September edition of The Alewife, where Nicholson chronicles the last minutes of Central Square's freak club ManRay.
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The the process of filling the concrete squares at the new Porter Square plaza began last week.
Alewife Photo by Neil W. McCabe
A city worker on attached to public works truck #34, while on Buenavista Park, tosses a plastic trash bin back towards the sidewalk after emptying its contents.
Alewife Photos
by Neil W. McCabe
Graffiti vandal Zipa tagged the Afghani restaurant Buzkashi at 2088 Massachusetts Ave. at the corner of Walden Street Sunday night.
Alewife Photo by Neil W. McCabe
by Neil W. McCabe
The construction company building the Trolley Square residential development on the corner of 
Massachusetts Avenue and Cameron Avenue, requested that the city's police force heighten its awareness of the comings and goings at the site.
The W. L. French company told police to pay special attention the excavator on the site after a similiar piece of equipment was stolen earlier in the month, according to public police records.
The residential development will include eight three-bedroom ownership units and 32 rental units, and is expected to open its doors in the summer of 2006. In addition to the residential units, there will be 1,400 square feet of commerical spaces on the ground floor.
by Neil McCabe
The leader of Cambridge Community Television, Susan Fleischmann, buffetted by complaints over nudity, beheadings and foul language, has decided stop broadcasting "BeLive" past 9 p.m.
Fleischmann was in the middle of developing new guidelines for its programing after nine o'clock in the evening, said Roger Nicholson, a CCTV member and columnist for The Alewife.
Nicholson, who was lost his Sunday at 9:30 p.m. time slot after Fleishmann objected to his
interviewing a topless woman for 10 minutes on his May 29 program.. On the same program, his co-host, Corey Blamire, applied lipstick to his own genitals.
After a successful appeal of his cancellation, Nicholson said he was promised by the CCTV board of directors that he would participate in the writing of official guidelines governing adult content on CCTV.
"There were no written guidelines, Susan told all of us nudity was okay, just no sexual contact," he said.
The process was supposed to take three months, afterwhich he could return to the schedule, he said.
As time went by, he was excluded from the process and was told the guidelines would take four months, instead of three, Nicholson said.
Fleischmann has been under pressure from politicians, since the October CCTV broadcast of Iraqi terrorists beheading a hostage, he said. "After the beheading, she started acting differently and on-the-fly changing her rules."
Nicholson said in the past, he has stood up to Fleischmann's critics in his columns and in conversations with other CCTV members. "I am shocked that a woman, who I have respected as a defender of Free Speech, has turned like this to save her career."
Developing...
by Neil W. McCabe
The management of the 99 Restaurant at 220 Fresh Pond Parkway reported Aug. 20 to city police that two men living in the alley next to the restaurant broke into the pub's returnable bottle shed. 
This was the fourth time the restaurant has complained to police about the men living in the alley stealing bottles from the shed.
Continue reading "Again: Alley dwellers accused of bottle theft " »
by Neil W. McCabe
The city's Board of Zoning Appeal voted five to one to grant the developers of the former Veterans of Foreign Wars post at 2101-2103 Massachusetts Ave. a continuance for their permit requesting relief from zoning ordinances as they convert the building into nine units of affordable housing.
The continuance was requested by the developers, so they can modify their plans to address the concerns raised at the Aug. 3 meeting they had with neighbors and interested community members.
Panels members will consider the permit at their Oct. 6 meeting.
By Neil W. McCabe
Officials at the North Cambridge Catholic High School on Norris Street reported to police Tuesday that the school building had been broken into by two individuals known to the officials.
The burglars stole school property worth less than $250, according to public police records.
We won this battle on May 13, when the Pentagon decided not to close Hanscom, saving 30,000 jobs in Massachusetts, and instead saw the immense potential for growth.
The Pentagon's proposal was a confirmation of the value of our technology intellectual capital. It's unfortunate that the Pentagon misclassified the jobs in their recommendation, making it difficult for the commissioners to endorse additional new jobs at Hanscom.
Even though the commission did not approve the additional new jobs at Hanscom, they did recognize that it would be appropriate to send additional research and development jobs to Hanscom, and would allow the Defense Department to do so outside of the BRAC process.
Before the Pentagon's recommendations were announced, many believed that Hanscom and Natick were on the chopping block. But we knew that they are strong assets to our nation's defense. Hanscom's technology has greatly improved our military's response time, reducing the time it takes to identify and strike a target from 72 hours to 20 minutes.
Natick Soldier Center is also crucial to our national security and a contributor to this defense cluster. Natick produces the tools that the soldier will need in the future, including smaller and lighter gear and better communications. Massachusetts has expertise in the areas that are necessary to make these improvements, like nanotechnology, sensors, medical research, wireless networking, and next generation textiles.
Continue reading "Kennedy statement on local BRAC successes" »
by Neil W. McCabe
The poetry editor of The Alewife, Lo Galluccio, will be one of two headliners tonight at the "Emack and Bolio's Presents" poetry night in Roslindale Center.
Galluccio will be joined on the bill by Richard Wilhelm. Wilhelm is the arts editor for The Ibbetson Street Press the Somerville-based literary magazine, which regularly features Galluccio's poetry and reviews, said Marc Widershien, the series' curator.
After Galluccio and Wilhelm, audience members will be invited to take part in an open mike session, he said.
The poetry series, since its beginning in April 2003, has been held on the last Thursday of the month in the art gallery in the rear of the ice cream boutique, he said. The show begins at 7 p.m.
by Neil W. McCabe
The city's Board of Zoning Appeal will hold a public hearing tonight on the request by developers for a comprehensive permit to convert the former Veterans of Foreign War post at 2101-2103 Massachusetts Ave. into nine affordable housing units.
In the permit, the developers, Cascap Realty, Inc., and Michael Haran c/o Malik Aziz, are petitioning for relief from five specific zoning ordinances.
The hearing will be at Central Square's Cambridge Senior Center at 806 Massachusetts Ave. and is scheduled to be considered at 9:30 p.m.
by Neil W. McCabe
Graffiti vandals Zipa and Sire fouled Raymond Park and
other properties in the neighborhood overnight Tuesday.
In Raymond Park, the vandals tagged two black utility boxes with white spray paint.
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Continue reading "Zipa, Sire attack Raymond Park, local businesses" »
by Neil W. McCabe
A manager reported to city police that overnight Thursday into Friday, a burglar broke into the rear door of Porter Square's Christopher's restaurant.
by Neil W. McCabe
Graffiti vandal Zipa and his sidekick, Sire, returned to North Cambridge last week.
In addition to the tennis practice wall next to the Stephen F. Anderson Basketball Courts on Pemberton Street, Zipa tagged the wall of the Modern Brewer store on the corner of Rice Street and Massachusetts Avenue.
by Neil W. McCabe
At or around 6:05 p.m. Friday, two city police officers investigated the building and grounds of Thomas G. Gallagher Inc. at 54 Washburn St. after the site's burglary alarm sounded.
After spending 10 to 15 minutes inside the fences of the business, the police left.
A neighbor said this was the fourth time the alarm has gone off this summer, which she attributed to its advanced age.
John has been regaling the week-end crowd at
Frank's for almost four years with his blend of campy humor and
compelling ballads.
Accompanying himself on the piano, John presents a
formidable bravado deftly through his repertoire encompassing the
standards of Gershwin, Berlin, and Porter together with the ever
popular Broadway Song Book.
In cabaret, John treats his audiences to
some of Bostons premier cabaret and stage performers who perform for
their love of their art and for their love of John.
Regularly headlining at Boston nightclubs such as The Encore Lounge in downtown Boston and The Ice Palace in New Yorks Fire Island, an evening with John O'Neil promises the cabaret fan a night to remember!
LAS VEGAS, Nev. -- After experiencing light headedness on Tuesday evening, Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nevada, at the urging of his wife Landra, sought medical attention and learned he had experienced a Transient Ischemic Attack, said Tessa Hafen, a spokeswoman for the Senate's minority leader.
"Senator Reid feels fine. There are no complications or any restrictions on his activities," she said.
"He has undergone evaluations this week, and his doctors have recommended that he take advantage of the summer congressional recess for some down time," she said.
by Neil W. McCabe
At 3:30 p.m. Thursday city police officers arrested an Arlington man for shop lifting at the Porter Square Star Market.
Star Market security officers said to police they observed the man on video cameras pilfering two $27.98 bags of shrimp and two $3.97 packages of Ballpark Franks.
The man was held in the store's security office until the police arrived.
City police would not release the arrested man's name.
by Neil W. McCabe
The suspect in Monday night's stabbing at the Cambridge Housing Authority development on Rindge Avenue has not yet been apprehended, according to public records of the city's police department.
The victim told police the suspect, who stabbed him three times in the chest, was a black man wearing black clothes, the records said. The victim was treated at Beth Israel Hospital and the wounds are not considered life-threatening.
Upon his capture, the suspect would be charged with assault with intent to murder and assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, the records said.
By Neil W. McCabe
Twenty-four boulders to be placed in the new plaza in Porter Square arrived Thursday from their quarry in Rockport.
The boulders, along with 50 to 60 other smaller rocks, which will range from one to two feet in diameter, will be put into place by the project's designer, Toshihiro Katayama, over the next few weeks.
For now, the boulders are resting on four-by-four boards in the center of Massachusetts Avenue.
by Neil W. McCabe
Cambridge's Danny Nugent, playing for the Abbot Financial Angels, drove in the winning run in the Oldtime Baseball Game Wednesday at St. Peter's Field with a bottom of the ninth bases loaded smash to deep left field to beat the Helping Hands of American Hawks 5 to 4.
Shown here, Nugent cocks up for that fateful pitch from the losing pitcher, Carlos Rosario.
The Angels entered the hometown ninth down 4 to 2 before Rosario walked in two runs to set the stage for Nugent's heroics.
The Angels had two other Cambridge players, Tim Dunphy and Joe Fournier.
City firefighters rushed to the Cambridge Head Start Day Care at Jefferson Park on Rindge Avenue shortly after 10 p.m. today.
The alarm was triggered by the smoke from a fan belt in the facility's HVAC unit, said a firefighter on the scene. There were no flames and or injuries.
Shortly before 9:30 a.m.today, four fire engines and a paramedic unit from the Cambridge Fire Department responded to a fire on MBTA bus #0333 at the Alewife MBTA station.
The cause of the fire appears to have been overheating brakes, said a MBTA Transit Police officer at the scene.
The bus was not in service at the time of the fire and there were no injuries, he said.
by Neil W. McCabe
The chairman of the North Cambridge Stabilization Committee at 7 p.m. will launch his campaign for city council at his headquarters at 2032 Massachusetts Avenue.
"I would like to provide that fresh outlook, bringing my years of neighborhood and public school advocacy to City Hall," said Craig Kelley, who ran unsuccessfully for the city council in 2003.
"I want to make sure that when neighborhood residents speak, bringing their unique wisdom to the discussion, that the city government listens and addresses their local concerns. I want our school system, the system my children attend, to actually draw people into Cambridge rather than drive them away," he said.
Kelley said pets and children are welcome at the campaign event.
More information is available the campaign's Web site: CraigKelley.org or at (617) 499-0909.
by Neil W. McCabe
Shortly before 10 p.m., neighbors around the intersection of Clifton Street and Rindge Avenue heard the yelling and screaming of an
argument and stabbing in front of Building 9 of the Cambridge Housing Authority's residential community.
The victim is a black male, who is being treated for multiple stabs wounds in the abdomen at a local hospital, said Sgt. James DeFrancisco, the duty public affairs officer for the Cambridge Police Department.
DeFrancisco said the matter is under investigation.
Developing...
by Neil W. McCabe
Three Cambridge baseball players will be among the amateur players showcased at the 12th Annual Bank of America Oldtime Baseball Game Aug. 17 at St. Peter’s Filed on Sherman Street.
“We are still working on the roster,” said Steve Buckley, the WEEI personality and Boston Herald sportswriter, who leads the team of volunteers, who put on the game every year.
The players from the city are: Tim Dunphy, who plays at Brandeis University, Danny Nugent, a recent graduate from Cambridge Rindge and Latin, who plays for American International College and Joe Fournier, Buckley said.
Buckley said he started the annual game with the help of listeners to his “Quality Hang” radio program on WEEI to celebrate the game as it was meant to be played.
The majority of the players are in high school or college programs, and more than 10 past participants have signed contracts with Major League clubs, including Detroit Tigers first baseman Carlos Pena, he said.
Pena is the first Oldtime Baseball Game alumnus to play in the Major Leagues, he said.
Last year’s buzz was for former Red Sox pitcher Dennis “Oil Can” Boyd, who is now at 45 pitching for the independent Minor League Brockton Rox.
Continue reading "12th Oldtime Baseball Game Wed. at St. Peter's Field" »
by Neil W. McCabe
One of the driving forces behind "The Burren Project" CD, singer/songwriter Chiemi will host an evening of female folk rock at the SkyBar pub at 518 Somerville Ave., in Somerville.
The featured performers will be Lisa Locke, Pam Steinfeld and Holly w/Hill and I, Chiemi said.
The idea for the show came to Chiemi after she noticed that most folk show and open mike playbills are dominated by guys with guitars, she said. "Starting at 8 p.m., and going into the wee hours with revolving half hour sets for each of us chics."
The Folk Chic Night gives Chiemi and other singers the rare chance to perform with other women, she said. "I used the term chics for double entendres and not invoke pejorative thoughts."
At noon today, the Dunkin Donuts on 2480 Massachusetts Avenue opened for business with balloons, free cups and beach balls.
by Neil W. McCabe
One of the many construction projects around Porter Square is the creation of a rock wall lined entrance to the shopping mall and a Japanese garden with large boulders.
When the artist selection committee approached him to take on the project, he told the members that his vision was not for paintings or sculptures, rather the entire area should be landscaped as total art, said Toshihiro Katayama, the project’s designer, who is a now a professor emeritus of the practice of graphic design at Harvard University, where he taught for 30 years.
This is not his first work by MBTA station, in 1985, Katayama unveiled the 15-foot stainless steel circle with a hollow letter T that marks the entrance to the Alewife T-stop, he said.
Fifteen candidates and one surrogate participated in the candidates forum hosted by the Progressive Democrats of Cambridge Tuesday at the city's senior center in Central Square, before the group met and endorsed seven candidates and tabled consideration on two others.
City Council candidates endorsed by the PDC:
Vice-Mayor Majorie C. Decker (Incumbent), Henrietta Davis (Incumbent), Kenneth E. Reeves (Incumbent), Brian Murphy (Incumbent), E. Denise Simmons (Incumbent), Jesse Gordon, Samuel Seidel.
Decisions on the endorsements of Lawrence Adkins and Craig Kelley were postponed until their group's Aug. 18 meeting.
Candidates: Mayor Michael A. Sullivan (Incumbent), Anthony D. Galluccio (Incumbent), David P. Maher (Incumbent), Andre Green, William Hees, William La Tremouille and William Hees participated in the forum, but in the edorsement meeting did not receive a nomination to be considered for an endorsement when their name was called.
Timothy J. Toomey Jr.(Incumbent) did not attend the forum.
"The abuse of power and the cloak of secrecy from the White House continues.
It's bad enough that the Administration stonewalled the Senate by refusing to disclose documents highly relevant to the Bolton nomination. It's even worse for the Administration to abuse the recess appointment power by making the appointment while Congress is in this five-week recess. It' s a devious maneuver that evades the constitutional requirement of Senate consent and only further darkens the cloud over Mr. Bolton's credibility at the U.N.
It's shameful and irresponsible for the Administration to go forward with the appointment in the teeth of the revelation that Bolton misled Congress by denying he'd been interviewed in the State Department-CIA investigation of faulty pre-war intelligence on Iraq."
Sen. Edward M. Kennedy
A group on self-described concerned citizens with union sympathies walked an informational picket at the construction site of the Trolley Square project last week.
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