The Alewife

Bass found, returned

Microvard reunited with 1961 Fender missing after Lizard Lounge gig

neil,

thanks you so much! the bass actually was returned to me! yes, miracles do happen. 

thanks again!

mike

Glazed over

Neighborhood landmark forvever linked to Speaker Thomas P. "Tip" O'Neill

by Neil W. McCabe

The iconic doughnut shop that has become a symbol of the neighborhood announced Nov. 27  it will close Dec. 30.

"That's it," said Andrew D. Stasiak the owner of Verna's Donuts on the corner of Massachusetts Avenue and Norris Street.

At the end of the afternoon shift, workers lock up Verna’s Nov. 27, the day it was announced the shop would close Dec. 30. The shop traces its heritage back to Verna Stasiak’s first shop opened in Chelsea in 1941.

Alewife Photo by Neil W. McCabe

"I told myself when the new Dunkin' Donuts came in that I would be out within a year. It's been 16 months, so that's long enough," he said.

Stasiak said when he started 33 years ago, there were two Dunkin' Donuts in the city. "Now, there are 20."

"It was not as bad as I thought, but what they did was take the icing off the cake," he said. "They used to claim their doughnuts were made fresh every four hours, now they are probably made every four days and delivered from who knows where."

Stasiak said he came to realize that he was part of a different era. "I make everything by hand,  nobody does that anymore." 

He said, "What is happening is the times are dictating it's time to leave."

The owner of Verna’s Donut and Coffee Shop, Andrew D. Stasiak, takes a call from Thomas “Tommy” P. O’Neill III, son of the late Speaker, who just heard the news.

Alewife Photo by Neil W. McCabe

Recently he called on a friend to discuss passing on some of equipment. "I said to him that I wanted to get together some of the other doughnut shop owners to see if they could some of the machines and ovens. My buddy told me not to bother because they are all gone."

Tastes have changed, he said. People, who used to eat doughnuts three times a week, now will come in once a week.

The Stasiak family started commercial baking in 1941 when his mother, Verna, opened her doughnut shop in Chelsea, he said. "It was difficult in the beginning because during the Second World War the goverment rationed the eggs, sugar and shortening--even the flour."

Verna's closing?

Rumor has it that the North Cambridge landmark, Verna's Coffee and Donut Shop, will soon close its doors...

Developing...

Capuano cancels Chamber luncheon

by Neil W. McCabe

The congressman from North Cambridge, scheduled to speak Tuesday at a lunch sponsored by the city's Chamber of Commerce, flew to Washington on short notice this afternoon and sent his regrets.

Rep. Michael E. Capuano, D, North Cambridge, who is leading transition operations for incoming Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D, Calif., was on as of the morning, but fast-breaking developments at the Capitol demanded his attention, a source at the Chamber told The Alewife.

Developing...

MAR recognizes its RotY

Your 2006 REALTOR of the Year: Springfield Broker Kevin Sears   

Kevin M. Sears, a broker with Sears Real Estate in Springfield, has been named Massachusetts Realtor of the Year for 2006.  The formal presentation to Sears took place on Oct. 9 during the Massachusetts Association of Realtorsâ Professional Awards Dinner, which was held at the Westin Boston Waterfront Hotel.

The state’s Realtor of the Year is selected annually from among the nominees of the 16 local associations of Realtors and more than 23,000 Realtors in Massachusetts.  Judging for the award is based on service to the local community, business accomplishments, and service to the Realtorâ organization on the local, state and national levels.

Sears, who also was chosen as Realtor of the Year for the Realtor Association of  Pioneer Valley, has been a MAR director for the past six years and is currently serving his third consecutive one-year term as chairman of the state association’s Realtor® Political Action Committee in 2006.  A member of the MAR Finance and Government Affairs Committees, he also chairs the Grassroots & Local Activism Sub-Committee of the Government Affairs Committee. In addition, he is a regular participant in MAR’s Legislative Day on Beacon Hill activities, has been actively involved with the association’s International Council of Realtors, and has served on the MAR Business Planning and Forms Content Advisory Committees in recent years.

A Realtor since 1994, Sears has served the Realtor organization as a Federal Political Coordinator to Rep. Richard Neal, D, Springfield for nearly 10 years, and has been recognized as a RPAC “Sterling R” contributor for the past three years.  He has been an active member of the Realtor® Political Involvement Committee of the National Association of Realtors since 2003, and recently participated in NAR’s home build to support Habitat for Humanity’s Operation Home Delivery, an initiative to construct new homes for hurricane victims on the Gulf Coast.

On the local level, Sears is a director and chairman of the Government Affairs Committee for the RAPV.  The immediate past president of his local association, he also is a former treasurer and secretary of the RAPV, and a past chairman of its Finance and Strategic Planning Committees.  Additionally, he is a member and former chairman of the RAPV’s Communications Technology Task Force, and has served on the association’s RPAC Sub-committee since 1994.

In his hometown, Sears is a member and former director of both the Rental Housing Association of Greater Springfield and the local Forest Park Civic Association.  He also is an active member of the Springfield Chamber of Commerce and Springfield Rotary Club, and a director of the Mason Wright Retirement Community, an assisted living facility that provides housing for low-income seniors and elderly residents in the Greater Springfield area.

Drawing the curtains by Franklin W. Liu

"Maritius" has Rebeck's stamp

Escalating confrontation erupting between two sisters over the inheritance of a book of rare, priceless stamps is the basis of a highly charged comedy, “Maritius,” a premiering play currently presented by the Huntington Theatre Company at the Stanford Calderwood Pavilion in the Boston Center for the Arts.
Noted playwright Theresa Rebeck has local roots. In 1987, she received her M.F.A. in dramatic writing and in 1989, she earned her Ph.D. in English and American Literature, both from Brandeis.

She is active in the Playwright’s Platform, a Boston-based writers group. In 2004, her play, “Bad Dates,” was also a huge hit and enjoyed a highly praised presentation at the Huntington Theatre.

Dennis, the shady stamp buyer, looking at a sheet of stamps

Her plays are produced nationwide, garnering numerous awards and she was honored to have been a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. 

In “Mauritius,” where there is the smell of a big pile of money, unsavory characters with criminal intent are attracted to it like a shark to blood.

Crime is an arena playwright Rebeck is familiar with. She is an accomplished crime writer known for her TV work in “LA Law” and “Third Watch.” She wrote and co-produced “NYPD Blue.”

Mauritius, the title of the play, is the name of the southern African island where the first postage stamp was issued.

The play pivots on two half-sisters, although sharing the same mother, they have grown apart in adulthood.

The Fisheye View

We are grateful

Thank you!

We should say it more. We are very grateful for the support we have received from the neighborhood.

Two years ago, we started going around to local businesses with this idea we got plenty if feedback, some of it positive, most of it very direct. Somehow, enough businesses stepped up and took a chance on our drawings of what we wanted to do. Most of them are still with us, amazing. Thank you.

We should also say a word of thanks to our contributors, contributing editors and columnists. We know for a fact they are not in it for the money. Because of their hard work and expertise, the paper has broken important stories, given voice to our neighbors and weighed in with commentary on the issues of the day.

Behind the scenes, there is the artist. We cringed we she suggested it was time to renovate the fish and create a more coherent art program, but it worked. It worked so well we now take credit for the whole idea. Thank you, artist, it is a privledge taking bows for your genius.

Finally, we thank you, the readers. Your feedback and encouragement keep us pumped and jacked. For two years, we have endeavored to inform, agitate and entertain you. Thank you for giving us a shot.

Afaa Weaver weighs in on the festival fracas

Hi Doug, Tam, and everyone else here,

I did stay for the second half, and it was fine.  David Godine was visibly pleased.

Afaa Weaver

Overall, I would say the festival was a success, having organized a few such things in the past.  It is impossible to please everyone.  There are things that could be improved, but one of the major factors for success as I see it was the venue.  Jimmy Tingle's is the perfect place.

If you think it was a wild time, we should reflect on some wilder times the poetry scene historically has had, and I must admit that lately I have been a little concerned about a growing sense of what I call "Wall Street Careerism in Poetry".  It is nice to see a little of what some think is unevenness...or perhaps the "great growl of a roughened poetry." 

Call it whatever...Baltimore's poetry renaissance of the early eighties made the Somerville festival look tame.   & don't forget Ginsberg's unveiling of his metaphor in San Francisco where Phyllis Diller (sp) was one of the poets in black.

I am glad there is so much energy, and although I live on one of the hills here in the town, it is not because I think there is a place for looking down or looking up.....just looking out over the landscape of things.  I like to curb the Poet Ego whenever I can....need it as we do...let us not let it bite us in the caesura.

So I say look forward to next year.  Give much thanks to Jimmy Tingle...give much thanks to Doug & thanks to Tam and everyone else who wants to add to all of the "great growling."

best,
--Afaa the Cave Canem Elder Who Lives in a Cave

Fox meets the Queen of Mars

Partying at the Porter Square Books reception before The Somerville News Writers Festival, Lo Galluccio, the paper's poetry editor, mugs with legendary poet and small press titan Hugh Fox.

Photo Courtesy of Douglas Holder

Neville answers Holder's response

Doug,

Yes, now I wish I had stayed for the second half.  Many others told me it was much the better half. I won't go on any longer -- I appreciate your response and no, I've never run anything like this and I would be MISERABLE at it.  I appreciate, as always, the work you do for the poetry community.

Looking forward to next year --Tam

Holder reponds

Hi Tam-- I can certainly agree with you about Lisa Carver, but you said both 'women" were an embarrasment--You couldn't mean Joanna Nealon, she read in the second half ( You weren't there?)...and people raved about her she is very accomplished  got great reviews for her book "Living It" from X.J.Kennedy,  she is a Fullbright scholar, etc... Do you mean the singer Meg Hutchinson?--I mean she went on too long--but she certainly wasn't an embarrasment. A lot of people liked her singing. I had a number of people who were upset about the lack of women, and the behavior and sensibility of some of the readers.

Overall- and I got a lot of emails-- people enjoyed the festival. I got high compliments from David R. Godine, Sharon Shaloo ( Mass. Center of Books) said it was uneven but she still really enjoyed it, a lot of people said they had a good time and it was a nice break from so many stuffy readings.

I don't know if you have ever organized anything like this-- but you wind up putting up your own money--you get endless complaints, calls from folks  asking why they weren't included, unexpected and rude behavior from some of your readers, a lot of headaches..but still you do it...because in spite of it all you love doing it--holy fool that I am.

Thanks for your input, and we will implement the many suggestions we get... I wished you had stayed for the second half, as I think this might have tempered your opinon of the festival a bit.

Doug Holder

When Barrios takes that state job...

We hear Democratic tongues are wagging over the upcoming game of musical chairs.

1.  State Sen. Jarrett T.  Barrios, D, will take a job in the new Deval Patrick  administration;

2.  State Rep. Alice K. Wolf, D,  will run for the state senate seat against City Councilor Anthony D. Galluccio for the vacated seat;

3.  Then, City Councilor Marjorie Decker will run for the then-vacated Wolf seat.

Stranger things have happened.

Roger that by Roger Nicholson

Jesus Camp

I recently went to go see the film “Jesus Camp,” an independent documentary exposing the evangelical Christian’s movement geared toward “inspiring” and “educating” the Christian youth of America toward the righteous path of the Gospel and Jesus Christ.

The annual summer program called “Kids on Fire” is located, ironically enough, at a place called Devils Lake, North Dakota. It’s run by Becky Fischer, a fast talking, overweight, tongues speaking, fire and brimstone, pancake make up wearing, Tammy Faye Baker, wanna-be preacher.

This woman is hideous, and is a great example of what goes wrong when some people end up getting “right” with God.

Throughout the movie, Fischer espouses her twisted agenda, which seems to reek of untreated megalomania. She’s also quite good at seducing the young minds of her camp.

In several scenes she seems to incite an almost mass hysteria of young children.

Roger Nicholson

One scene shows a girl of maybe seven years old with tears streaming down her face, while many others collapsing on the floor in convulsions, and still others entranced and speaking in “tongues.”

This movie will no doubt scare the hell out of any rational thinking person, wondering what in the name of God Almighty is becoming of America.

Personally,  brought back memories of my own childhood, being raised by my father who was “saved” by Christ. My uncle was a minister for the Church of God. The two had m4any heated Biblical debates at my house when my uncle came to visit.

My dad and he would argue for hours over some passage in the Bible and what its real meaning was. The message presented to these kids was uncomfortably familiar, and had me reflect on how I ended up getting through all the dogma and indoctrination that was pounded through my head when I was only six years old.

Developing...

Tam Lin Neville blasts The Somerville News Writers Fesival

Poetess questions festival founder Douglas Holder on the content and lineup of the 2006 event:

Letter to Doug from Tam Lin Neville:

Doug,

What was going on Sunday night? You couldn’t call that a writer’s festival. Who wants to go along with bad jokes and more bad jokes? I’m not a prude (and I often think that many poetry readings would be better if they were more vaudvillian) – but there was so little to admire last night in the way of writing skill and delivery. I want to say there should have been more women, but judging from the two I saw ( as a woman, I found embarrassing) that would not necessarily have helped. Why weren’t there any good women writers like Sue Miller and Lan Samantha Chang? After seeing last year’s show, I had high expectations for this one.

We left at the intermission. Maybe the second half was better? I’ll never know.

I don’t send this off lightly because I’ve always admired what and how much you do. So what was going on? I was surprised – after the excellent show last year.

Developing...

Winters cites grave error in City Council agenda

On his Web site Cambridge Civic Journal Robert Winters spotted four like objects, but one was tragically unlike the others:

Coming up at this Monday's (November 20) City Council meeting:

Can you spot the mistake in this list of congratulatory resolutions?

11. Congratulations to Senator Robert Travaglini on his re-election to the Massachusetts Senate.   Councillor Sullivan

12. Congratulations to Senator Warren Tolman on his re-election to the Massachusetts Senate.   Councillor Sullivan

13. Resolution on the death of Senator Jarrett Barrios on his re-election to the Massachusetts Senate.   Councillor Sullivan

14. Congratulations to State Representative Timothy J. Toomey, Jr. on his re-election as State Representative.   Councillor Sullivan

This has to be the funniest (and most ironic) error I've ever seen in the Council agenda.

Realtor Reality by David Wluka

Mass. demand at 10-year low

Sales of single-family homes and condominiums declined in Massachusetts for a sixth consecutive month in September compared to their year-ago levels, even as lower home prices and a drop in mortgage rates boosted affordability, according to data released by the Massachusetts Association of Realtors.

The slower sales pace reflects consumer cautiousness and softening demand following two years of record home sales across the state, and has led to a steady rise in the inventory of unsold homes and listing time for homes and condos in the past year, MAR reported.

David Wluka, president of the Massachusetts Association of Realtors.

In the detached single-family home market, sales fell 23.9 percent, from 4,516 homes sold in September 2005 to 3,435 this September. Last month’s sales total is the lowest September home sales volume in a decade, dating back to September 1996 when 3,388 homes were sold.

Additionally, condo sales decreased 27.8 percent in the past year, declining from a September record of 2,140 units sold last year to 1,546 this September.

The September 2006 sales volume is the third highest on record for any September in state history, topped only by the 2,140 sold last year and the 1,750 sold in September 2004.

Today’s market reflects the more relaxed, even guarded, approach adopted by many buyers who are waiting to see if prices have bottomed out.

Decoding the Deal by Paul Martinez

Buy your home smartly

Making the decision to sell your home yourself is not an easy one. It may seem a bit overwhelming at first, but with the right information it is certainly possible--no matter what the real estate market in your area is doing.

The single most important factor in successfully selling your home without an agent is making sure your home is priced correctly.

No amount of marketing will get a buyer to pay more than your home is really worth. With the advent of online access to public information, homebuyers can research everything from recent home sales to area pricing trends to the sale history of YOUR home--all in a few minutes.

Today’s homebuyer is usually very educated about the market and the process of buying, so pricing your home above what the market will bear simply won’t work.

There are a lot of great tools out there to help you get a handle on home values; www.CambridgeHouseValues.com is an excellent one—plus, it’s free and doesn’t obligate you to anything.

Cambridge Politics by Sam Seidel

Diversity needed in top cop spot shop

City Councillor Anthony D. Galluccio was exactly right when he said that the citizens of Cambridge should take a time out and consider what kind of city it wants to be.  One of the city’s top officials is preparing to step down.  The time couldn’t be better.

Police Commissioner Ronnie Watson, after 10 years on the job, will be handing over the reins as top cop, perhaps as early as the end of this year.

His decade on the job witnessed a decline in violent crime in the city. 

Indeed, the most recent Cambridge Police Report states that first quarter crime totals for 2006 are at their lowest point in 30 years, and overall are down from one year ago.

Sam Seidel

His successor will inherit this legacy, and many issues as well, including a recent rash of shootings in the Area IV neighborhood.

The choice of the new commissioner will say a lot about this city.  Will, for example, the new commissioner be promoted from within the ranks of the Cambridge Police Force, or will it be a candidate parachuting in from outside?  Commissioner Watson is on record as saying he thinks his successor should come from within the force. Watson had a career on the Chicago police before arriving in Cambridge. 
People say that Cambridge has a certain rhythm to it.  A commissioner who comes in understanding the uniqueness of the city will make a smoother transition to the challenges of the city. 

We won’t (and shouldn’t) have comparisons other cities’ problems, such as the comparison Mayor Ken Reeves’ made earlier this year between Cambridge gangs to Detroit gangs.
Roy Bercaw, a community activist who has many opinions on many things, distributed an email earlier this month calling for public participation in the choosing of the next Commissioner.

In Bercaw’s estimation, if Harvard University can involve students in the choosing of the next president of their 370-year-old institution, then the city of Cambridge can do the same for its police department.   The City Council is of course the first stop on citizen input.

Religion in life by Dave Schmelzer

You--Yes, You! Can be rich

I heard recently from an estate-planner for elderly wealthy people who said that his clients were consistently miserable. 

This wasn’t your garden-variety misery that stopped with them. 

Their children were miserable!  In anticipation of the imminent death of Old Moneybags, the jockeying had begun.

How do you feel about money?  Let me guess: you’re in favor of it, as are we all.

But, I’ll tell you, both the risks and the rewards of it are becoming more evident to me as I age and as I see how it mysteriously ruins some people and yet gives only upside to others.

A few years back, a friend passed on a book by a psychology professor named Tim Kassar called The High Cost of Materialism which detailed study after study about the correlation between money and happiness.

Dave Schmelzer, the senior pastor of the Vineyard Christian Fellowship at 170 Rindge Ave.

What the book argues, in laborious detail, is that money does demonstrably improve our happiness—if we lack basic necessities. 

After that, however, studies in dozens of cultures say that additional money doesn’t make us any happier—we just adapt to it as our new reality and move on.  The kicker in these studies, though, was the next point: a desire to become rich is positively correlated with misery.

That one got me.  I’m a pastor—obviously I didn’t get into this for the money.  But, deep down, did I someday hope to be rich?  (By which, of course, on any standard of the world I mean super-rich.  I’m American, so by definition I’ve already hit the status of the merely “rich.”)  Of course I did!

Did I hope there was an unknown great-uncle getting ready to leave me his controlling interest in Exxon? 

Yes I did.  So, like those rich people getting estate planning advice, was I on the road to torment?

Heavy rains cause Nov. 17 sewage overflow into Alewife Brook

The city DPW reports:

In accordance with the conditions of the Department of Environmental Protection's (DEP) Alewife Brook/Upper Mystic River Variance we are hereby notifying you that a Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO) occurred at CAM401B on November 17, 2006 and discharged into the Alewife Brook. The Variance approved workplan requires the Cambridge Department of Public Works (DPW) to notify local health agents, DEP, EPA and MRWA within 24 hours of when a CSO event occurs.  It was determined that 401B was the most active outfall and would be the most suitable indicator of CSO activity along the Alewife Brook.  This notification does not reflect the absence of any activation at other sites.  Rather, the notice is intended to be confirmation to users of the resource that untreated sewage discharges to the Brook/River have occurred.

The water quality in Alewife Brook is often impaired due to bacterial and other pollutants from a number of sources, including stormwater runoff, CSOs and cross connections between sanitary sewers and stormwater drains. Water quality in the brook during both wet and dry weather generally fails to meet state bacteria standards for fishing and swimming. Contaminant sources originate in the watershed communities of Belmont, Arlington, Cambridge and Somerville, all of which are undertaking programs to identify and control the sources of pollution to the brook.

diMio delivers gourmet pizza

by Christopher S. Pineo

A local gourmet pizza shop is fighting for its slice of local business and has started daytime delivery.

The diMio restaurant at 1782 Mass. Ave. will delivery its unique pizza recipes and fresh salads to anywhere in the neighborhood, said Daniel S. Adelson, the shop’s owner and mastermind. “We’re going after everyone, students, residents of Porter Square, and the local community.”

Driver Matthew B. Carroll (left) goes over a neighborhood map with diMio owner Daniel S. Adelson. The gourmet pizza restaurant has just launched daytime delivery, Adelson said.

Alewife Photo by Christopher Pineo

Some of the services that the restaurant offers include an entertaining atmosphere and pizza delivery, which was not part of the original business plan when diMio opened the week of the 2003 Super Bowl. “People where calling and they where complaining, how could we be a pizza place if we didn’t deliver,” he said.

It was more important to establish a strong foundation, he said.

“We had just opened, you know, we wanted to simplify, make sure we did things right in a restaurant,” he said.

“We knew we where going to deliver but I just wasn’t ready to do it just then,” he said.

Adelson said, “We where busy, busy, busy, enough with just takeout.”

The owner, who is a former rugby player, said delivery was implemented at DiMio two weeks after opening. “We never really did any kind of daytime delivery up until recently.”

Belmont to ban all smoking

California municipality to be the first to outlaw smoking except in single family homes.

Developing...

Cuisine Klatch by Julie Burba

The drive for oysters

Fall knocked on New England’s door last month, ending our summer before it got started.

The autumn in New England is legendary for foliage, apples, cranberries, and the sweet, briny gems of the sea—oysters. All of which are the subject of some sort of October festival throughout New England—my last opportunity to hustle to small town celebrations for the last bit of fresh, seasonal goodness before the winter sets in. My destination on the weekend of Oct. 14 was the Wellfleet Oyster Festival.

I set off early that Saturday morning for the two-and-a-half hour drive to Wellfleet from Watertown on possibly the most gorgeous day of the fall.

Julie Burba

The drive on Route 3 south was simply beautiful: the trees were a-blaze with golden yellow, fiery reds, and bright orange leaves and the sky was of the bluest blue.

My roommate thought I was crazy driving that far simply for oysters, little does she know my passion. Plus, the thought of the plump delights harvested that day for the festival made my stomach earn for the sea-salty goodness.

I met up with two friends in Brewster and we jacked ourselves up on coffee and hit the road. The small Wellfleet town center was teeming with hundreds of people.

Most of the oyster action was in the activity tent, with a half dozen or so oyster farms plus a few restaurants shucking to the beat of the live music on the center stage and Buzzards Bay and Westport Rivers Winery pouring their respective libations. There were, however, a few food vendors peppered here and there among the arts and craft tables. The most popular being the Sausage King.

The Sausage King made a live appearance in full regal attire, scaring all of the kids, while their parents stood in line for that late-night culinary delight that reminds most of being drunk on Lansdowne Street or Faneuil Hall—sausage and peppers.

The melee in front of the Sausage King cart by the 40-somethings was a sight to behold. Did my heart good seeing that.After a quick tour of the goods for sale, we headed to the action. We didn’t attend the oyster shucking contest or many of the scheduled events. By 3:30 many of the oyster farms were low on product.

I didn’t let this deter my mission of tasting a few oysters from every vendor.

Each oyster farm offered the succulent mollusks on the half shell, shucked to order, with all the fixin’s. My friends stuck to the crustacean offerings: shrimp cocktail, lobster bisque and lobster rolls.

Capuano to support Murtha for Majority Leader

Developing...

Words & Music by Lo Galluccio

Richard Cambridge: A visionary in our midst

Richard Cambridge’s third book is "Pulsa," his first full-length book, a marvelous work of his own visionary beliefs that are and aren’t quite theological.

It is about a logic of God in one sense, and a belief system of faith, along a path of enlightenment.
Richard writes about a struggle with the divine born of a visitation he experienced in the 60’s, an awakening that had to do with the “cresting” of social movements at the time and a vision of Christ, Christ telling him to give up poetry and become a “living poem ‘’ an epistle,” which Cambridge writes about in his Book of Psalms.

At a time when Nixon was invading Cambodia, four Kent State students were killed in a tragic clash with the National Guard and the Black Panthers were on the rise, Cambridge also experienced a call to drop out of normal institutional endeavors – school, the Catholic church – and drop in to what was really going on beneath the surface.

He went his own way with a partner who had been teaching at Northeastern, setting up information centers about racism in colleges, among other things. Born in New Jersey, just outside of New York City, Cambridge migrated to Boston in his teens knowing he needed to uproot himself from home to learn in the unfamiliar. Boston was the City that pulled him forward.

Richard said those who experienced the 60’s full brunt and inside, aren’t living in the past, they were seers of the future, a future that remains with them. We talked at Café Paradiso on a warm October day. After a 20-year hiatus, he began writing again with a manifesto-theatre piece about his fierce intractable addiction to cigarettes.

A man who loves chocolate and was trained by Sufis, Cambridge’s writing is sublime and pure. Pulsa consists of six books: the the Book of Psalms, the Book of Canticles, The Book of Maps, the Book of Oracles, the Book of Breath, the Book of Maps and the Book of Manuals.

Loosely fashioned after Rilke’s Book of Hours which are essentially love letters to God, in each Cambridge sets up an epigrammatic introduction and frames his lessons in a different numerology and spacial format.

I met Richard at a reading at the Newton Free Library in October where we both featured.
He is an angelic looking man in a tweed jacket with longish brown hair fringed gray. Cambridge took the stage with magical ease and delight.

He opened with the epigram to his Book of Psalms:

Well, Being I won
And wisdom, too
I grew and took joy in my growth:
From a word to a word
I was led to a word,
From a deed to another deed.
--The Poetic Edda (1200 ad)

This is his favorite book because in it is the crux of his journey. His sometimes pithy, sometimes spacious abstractness can be challenging but the classical even, post-modern humor and awe with which he writes indeed about a spiritual struggle with God is completely engaging. It is a passage he describes as being marked by Fire…

“It was worse then his worst trip on acid.
All he wanted was chocolate bars, the pain
Was so bad. Then the shaping began – God’s

Hands all over him, around his heart, between
His legs, painful and sweet, so…intimate,
God’s hands on his body – molding, shaping

Then came the Fire…we won’t even talk
About the Fire. Some things are Mysteries.
God has a reputation to maintain.”

Asking Cambridge if he believes God changes in relationship to humans and their situation on the earth, he answered, “Absolutely.”

Capuano to lead day-to-day House transition

by Neil W. McCabe

The congressman for North Cambridge was named Monday by his party's majority leader Rep.  Nancy Pelosi, D. Calif, to head the daily operation of taking over their branch of Congress.

"I am deeply honored that Rep. Nancy Pelosi, the future Speaker of the House of Representatives, has entrusted me with this responsibility and I will work tirelessly to ensure an organized, seamless transition," said Rep. Michael E. Capuano, who chairs the Democratic Caucus's Committee on Organization, Study and Review, overseeing a comprehensive review of the internal rules of the Democratic Caucus.

Rep. Michael E. Capuano, D, North Cambridge

Capuano said he will work with the Leader's office on a host of issues, from establishing the Democrats' agenda to logistical matters.

"Mike Capuano is an expert in the rules and procedures of both the Democratic Caucus and the House.  His knowledge, experience, and leadership will be invaluable during the Democratic transition into the majority," said Pelosi. 

"I look forward to working with him in the coming weeks as Democrats prepare to restore civility, integrity, and bipartisanship to the House of Representatives," she said.

"Preparing for a Democratic majority in the U.S. House of Representatives is a new and welcome experience for me. During the 8 years I have been in office, our party has not had these opportunities or these responsibilities. I have no idea what to expect, but I am looking forward to finding out," Capuano said.

"I also want to say thank you, for signing on as a subscriber, and for taking an interest in the day-to-day work of the House of Representatives. I look forward to sharing more news with you from the perspective of the majority party," he said.

"Congress is currently in the midst of a lame duck session. Much work remains, including nine of the eleven annual appropriations bills necessary to fund the government through the next fiscal year.  Because of the impending power shift in the Congress, no one can really predict how we will proceed, but I will report back in the weeks ahead, on votes we have taken and on my work heading the transition," he said.

Musician robbed at Lizard Lounge

Bassist Microvard pleads for the return of his 1961 Fender

man, do i not want to be doing this at the end of the night. i  just got home from a gig with my band club d'elf at the lizard  lounge, and i am without my baby, my '61 fender jazz bass (see  picture).

someone walked off with it, took it right off the stage  under everyone's nose in the confusion and relaxed hanging atmosphere of the post-gig. the thing that smarts the most, other  than this is like my favorite bass, one that is like an old  friend and that i've had for over 16 years and used on countless  sessions and gigs and is simply irreplaceable - no, the thing  that really gets me is that it was taken by someone who sat there  and watched us play - maybe the whole night, 3 hours worth -  watched us play a REALLY good gig, and then decided they could  take something so precious to one of the musicians who just  entertained them for the evening. it blows my mind. it's late and  i need to get to sleep, and in the morning i'll dig up more  pictures, whatever, but in the meantime i would appreciate it if  you would keep your eyes out for it. it's going to be hard to  sell this bass in this area, as there are so many distinguishing  features, the most recognizable of which is a deep, wear mark  just over the pick guard. the bass has a sunburst finish, and the serial number is #67657.

please, if you have any info, drop me a  line at this address : microvard@clubdelf.com, or call  617-513-7976, and i'd appreciate it if you could forward this  around. no questions asked. i just want it back.

Porter Square's USAlliance branch cuts ribbon Oct. 27

by Nyrie N. Emslie

The branch manager of the newly opened credit union in Porter Square spoke at the Sept. 22 contributors meeting of The Alewife held at the back table of the Porter Square Books.

“As a smaller financial institution, we are very selective about where we choose our branch locations. Ideal areas have a minimum population of 50,000, and a wide range of income, socio-economic status and nationality,” said Carmen J. Tirado, who has led the branch since its soft opening in August.  The official blue ribbon cutting was Oct. 27.

The credit union moved into a 100-year-old building, at 1960 Mass. Ave., in the Porter Square. “We were so proud of the building,” which had been newly restored by Dammon & Allison.

Carmen J. Tirado

Although they had a bidding contest for contactors,” said Christopher J. Lazowy, who joined Tirado at the meeting and is the credit union’s assistant vice-president for branch services.

“We made a conscious decision to get a local architectural firm, so the fact that Dammon & Allison were in such close proximity to us was helpful. They are a great firm, and their work is evident in the building.”

The credit union was established in 1966, he said. It is a full-service financial institution founded to provide financial services to employee groups in New York such as IBM and American Express, which were centered around the Westchester County, N.Y. USAlliance now caters to individuals who live and work in Middlesex, Somerville, Suffolk, Norfolk, Plymouth, Barnstable, Essex, and Worcester counties. Encompassing most of Massachusetts, they currently have 36,000 members and are growing nation-wide.

The Haitian Firefly

The Somerville News Writers Festival Returns to JimmyTingle's

by Jacques Fleury

The literary world is alive and well indeed. Sunday fourth annual Somerville News Writer’s Festival hosted by Jimmy Tingle and sponsored by The Somerville News, Grub Street Writers and Porter Square Books will revisit Tingle's to wow us with the best of the best in the world of poetry and prose.  The event has also been held at the ubiquitous Somerville Theatre in the past.

Timothy Gager and Doug Holder co-founded the festival and have been coordinating the festival since it’s inception back in 2003.

Jacques Fleury, the Haitian Firefly

Gager said, "I hoped that this event would encourage more people to do larger events like this. I’m optimistic that it will be influential to other series.”

The festival has attracted a plethora of distinguished writers such as Pulitzer Prize winners Robert Olen Butler and Franz Wright last year.  And this year the feature is Nick Flynn among 11 other writers.  Flynn will read from his book “Another [expletive] Night in Suck City.”  A critically acclaimed memoir that is being adapted for the big screen by writer-director Paul Weitz, whose previous credits include “About a Boy”, “American Pie,” and “In Good Company.”

The other writers reading in this event are as follows. First for the fiction category are: Steve Almond, Michael McGlone, Christoper Castellani, Lisa Carver and Timothy Gager.

For the poetry category: Hugh Fox, David Levitt, Marc Wildershien, Marc Goldfinger, Joana Nealon, and Doug Holder.

The featured musical performer will be Meg Hutchinson, who won many Boston awards for her debut album “Against the Grey.”

“I have worked or read with many of them in the past,” Gager said.

Norton featured in Financial Times of London

The owner of The Somerville News and the Ball Square real estate agency ERA Norton Group, Donald Norton gives Europe's leading financial newspaper the story behind the story:

To some, Union Square's revival was only a matter of time. Donald Norton, who has sold houses in Somerville for 26 years and also owns the Somerville News, the local newspaper, says he remembers the neighbourhood's glory days and is eager for them to return. "When I was a kid, Union Square used to be a vital neighbourhood filled with shops. It was where everyone went to do their Christmas shopping," he recalls. "Then the 1960s happened, the community changed and half the stores were boarded up. For a long time after that, Somerville was a place that people made fun of. The politicians were corrupt and it was just an unattractive city."

Nowadays Union Square is coming back to life, he says. "There are several coffee shops that have moved in and there are more on the way. And coffee shops bring in the more educated, artsy crowd."

Vets called to wear medals on Veterans Day

WASHINGTON (Army News Service, Oct. 19, 2006) – Leaders of major veterans organizations joined Veterans Affairs Secretary R. James Nicholson here yesterday in launching an effort to “kindle a new spark of patriotism” by asking men and women who have served in the military to wear their medals on Veterans Day.

“We are announcing a ‘Veterans Pride Initiative’ to remind Americans of the pride and honor in the hearts of those who have served,” Nicholson said at a news conference at VA headquarters.

“We expect Americans will see our decorated heroes unite in spirit at ceremonies, in parades and elsewhere as a compelling symbol of courage and sacrifice on Veterans Day, the day we set aside to thank those who served and safeguarded our national security.”

The campaign is modeled after a tradition in Australia and New Zealand, countries who honor the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps on April 25 each year, VA officials said. Nicholson said he hopes a U.S. tradition will ensue to emulate this pride in being a veteran and in honoring the nation’s veterans.

VA is offering information about the campaign at www.va.gov/veteranspride, where veterans also can obtain information about how to replace mislaid medals and learn how to confirm the decorations to which they are entitled.

Toomey leads city's Veterans Day ceremony

The Cambridge Veterans' Organization (CVO), in conjunction with the City's Department of Veterans' Services will hold their annual Veterans’ Day Observance on Saturday, November 11, 2006 at 11 a.m. The observance will be held at the World War I Veterans’ Monument, located adjacent to the main gate of the Cambridge Cemetery, 76 Coolidge Ave.

Veterans, Police and Fire Department’s Color Guard Units will lead the opening procession to the World War I Monument.  Vice Mayor Timothy J. Toomey, Jr., will give the City’s remembrance and City Councillor and Chair of the Veterans’ Committee, Marjorie C. Decker will read the City Council’s Veterans’ Day Resolution. CVO member, Vincent Micozzi, will serve as Master of Ceremonies.

CRLS Drama student, Brianna Conrad, will read the Governor’s Proclamation and Music students, Amelja Kukli, Odaine Williams, Arlee Bennett, Luigi Sanon, and Brianna Conrad will sing the “National Anthem” and lead the audience in the singing of “God Bless America.”

Michael Resca, Commandant of the Chelsea Soldiers Home will deliver the keynote address. Cambridge’s Veterans Director, Bob Stevens, will place a memorial wreath at the WWI Veterans Monument in honor of all Cambridge veterans who have served our country.

Bagpiper, Edward O’Callaghan, will play “Amazing Grace” followed by the CVO’s Firing Detail’s “Rifle Salute”. Bugler, Robinson Pyle will blow “TAPS.”

Following the observance, a collation will be held at the VFW Mt. Auburn Post, #8818, located at 688 Huron Avenue in Cambridge.  The public is invited to attend.

For further information, please call Cambridge Veterans’ Services at 617-349-4761 or email at: veterans@cambridgema.gov.

Trolley Square trends

by Lindsey Parietti

Today the stretch of Massachusetts Avenue between Trolley Square and the Alewife-Brook Parkway is a visually depressing, grey and noisy strip of road. Yet developers are eating up every inch of available space as they prime North Cambridge to become something more like neighboring Davis Square.

“Davis Square is a cool, hip, funky predominately middle class area that is starting to bleed into Cambridge,” Sam Seidel, an urban planner affiliated with local politics said. “We are watching North Cambridge transition. It used to be a place that people drive through, but it is becoming a place that people drive to.”

Along the roughly 10 blocks between Cameron Avenue and the Alewife-Brook Parkway there are seven new buildings advertising available space, many still under construction.

The most recent additions are the 40 affordable housing units and 1,200 square feet of retail space at Trolley Square, former home of the early trolley barns used by the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. The MBTA traded the land to Cambridge in exchange for a site to develop the Alewife subway stop, said Susan D. Glazer, deputy director of the Community Development Department.

“Certainly Mass Ave. is a major link between Arlington and Harvard Square, but in the past five years more people are seeing it as an opportunity to develop,” Glazer said. “The city rarely has extra land that it can build upon, so it was also an opportunity for us.”

Glazer said the city has involved residents by holding community meetings throughout the development process.

Yet locals are still worried about overcrowding, and with good reason said City Councilman Craig A. Kelley, the only member of the council living in North Cambridge.

Danish twist on a Nigerian theme

[We should stop posting these, but sometimes it hurts too much not to share. --Editor.]

Dear friend:

I'm happy to inform you about my success in getting those funds transferred under the cooperation of a new partner from Denmark Presently I’m in Denmark for investment projects with my own share of the total sum. Meanwhile, I didn't forget your past efforts and attempts to assist me in transferring those funds despite that it failed us some how.

Now contact my lawyer in South Africa his name is Barrister Williams Kon, 16 Jarat st, Randberg J, Burg, South-Africa. Tell: +27- 7355-98655. e-mail (ingod1111@yahoo.com) ask him to send you the total of $900.000.00 which I kept for your compensation for all the past efforts and
attempts to assist me in this matter. I appreciated your efforts at that  time very much. So feel free and get in touched with my lawyer Barrister Williams and instruct him where to send the amount to you.

Please do let me know immediately you receive it so that we can share  the joy after all suffer that we went through at that period. At the   moment, I'm very busy here because of the investment projects which I and  the new partner are having at hand, finally, remember that I had  forwarded instruction to the Lawyer on your behalf to pay the amount above to  you, so feel free to get in touch with him Williams Kon, he will send the amount to you  without any delay.


Yours sincerely,

Nancy Lopez

Vandals attack $65k bus stop project

Seven of the rose-colored glass panes of the Russell Field bus stop were attacked in mid-September, one month after the art piece was unveiled.

Alewife Photo by Neil W. McCabe

Developing...

WBZ TV CBS4 polls FDR v. Reagan

The news department at WBZ TV CBS4 has commissioned a poll, which among other questions and scenarios, asked reponders to choose between Democrat Franklin D. Roosevelt and Republican Ronald W. Reagan.

The poll also queried on the following head-to-head White House matches: "Republican" Don Imus v. "Democrat" Howard Stern and "Republican" Bill O'Reilly v. "Democrat" Keith Olbermann.

Developing...

Brownsberger wins

Voters gives Brownsberger 68%

The Belmont selectman running to succeed, State  Rep. Anne M. Paulsen, D, in the 24th Middlesexx seat, William N. Brownsberger, D, beat Republican M. Elizabeth Firenze.

Brownsberger, an attorney and instructor at Harvard University, stood with his campaign manager Elizabeth Grob outside the Belmont Library polling station.

The 24th Middlesex district includes wards of North Cambridge, East Arlington and all of Belmont.

Alewife Photo by Neil W. McCabe

Playing hooky for Deval

Students spend the schoolday in Porter Square holding signs today's election.

Alewife Photo by Neil W. McCabe

Endorsements from JessieKB

Jesse Kanson-Benanav, author of the View from the 'Bridge blog, puts forward the following endorsements for Tuesday:

As has been the tradition for the past few years, I would like to tell everyone who I endorse in the upcoming election. I will discuss here the contested statewide races, ballot initiatives, and come local races as well. Please feel free to pass these on to others.

It's possible that this list may result in my removal from the Cambridge Ward 3 Democratic Committee...'

Also, if you're participating in the 2006 Election Pool, be sure to return your brackets by 7:00 A.M . Tuesday.

Senator

If you haven't been paying much attention to this election, you may not realize that not only is Ted Kennedy up for re-election, but he does have a Republican challenger. This is a simple endorsement -- please help re-elect Ted Kennedy. Kennedy may be an entrenched Democratic stalwart, but he is one of the most progressive, entrenched Democratic stalwarts. We should hope for the day that the entire Democratic Party has the positions and voting record of Ted Kennedy.

Governor

It's probably no surprise to anyone that I endorse Deval Patrick for Governor. As a progressive candidate I have been amazed by his and his campaign's ability to use grassroots political organizing to sweep past the Democratic establishment machine of Tom Reilly and the big money of Chris Gabrieli. Patrick has put together a strong, grassroots-based campaign, the only one of it's type I've seen on a statewide election since my days working for Wellstone in Minnesota. This has been a campaign driven as much by the charisma and positions of the candidate as by the hopes and dreams of his dedicated supporters. With the likely election of Deval Patrick, Massachusetts is poised to elect only the second African American Governor in U.S. history.

I do want to make it clear that I have my problems with Deval, particularly his past employment as corporate lawyer in some huge, multinational corporations. As most of you know, I'm generally not the type to run out and support corporate lawyers for office (I generally tend towards the Paul Wellstone professor/organizer types, of which there are few). But what separates realists from idealists is the understanding that no candidate, lest no person, is perfect. I have had the opportunity to sit with and talk to Deval Patrick, and I am confident that he is honest in his desire to end the corruption and insider dealing on Beacon Hill and bring real people into the political process. This is what his campaign has been built on and I know this is what his administration will be built on too.

I do have much respect for Green-Rainbow candidate Grace Ross and would love to see a world where a person like her can be elected Governor. However, without serious electoral reforms that will not happen. We must work and fight for those reforms, but until that happen we can not let spoiler politics elect Republicans.

Attorney General

This is a difficult race for me to make an endorsement in. Democrat Martha Coakley has little chance of losing to Republican Larry Frisoli, and for that reason I don't feel any strong reason to give her my support. The fact is, while it's important to have women in powerful offices, I can't in my right mind lend strong support to someone who has been the Democratic Party establishment's anointed successor to Tom Reilly. The Massachusetts Democratic Party, though liberal, is not progressive. They resist -- no, the abhor change, and would like to see this remain a state where patronage and graft is the modus operandi. Coakley is an example of this. Please help send a message that we will not rubber-stamp candidates, and leave the ballot line for Attorney General blank.

Off to the races by Charlie Cook

Heading Into The Home Stretch, It's The Dems By A ....

Tuesday, Nov. 1, 2006

As Election Day nears, the fundamental dynamics of this cycle have not changed on either the national "macro" level or the "micro" level. Looking at the individual 435 House, 33 Senate and 36 gubernatorial races, this still looks to be a very ugly midterm election for the GOP.

Charlie Cook

Although this election is now down to the individual race level, it's still useful to look at the national poll data to make sure that the fundamental dynamics haven't changed. In the latest Cook Political Report/RT Strategies poll [PDF], taken Oct. 26 to 29 among 1,764 registered voters (MoE +/-2.3%), Democrats led Republicans in a generic ballot test by 13 points, 52 percent to 39 percent. This is not fundamentally different from the three weeks of combined polling since Oct. 5 to 8 among 4,291 registered voters (MoE +/- 1.5%) that shows the Democratic margin at 12 points, 50 percent to 38 percent.

Patrick to take helm in January

From "Enough Room" by Roy Bercaw

City land used for political purposes

For the past two weeks about 10 signs for the ballot question # 3 "Yes on 3 for kids," http://www.yeson3forkids.org were in the Joan Lorenz Park along
Broadway.

On Thursday November 2, 2006, I reported this to the election commission, Mr. Kaplan. He told me that the police or the DPW enforce that law. He said he would call them to report it. In any case on Saturday November 4, 2006 the signs were still there between Ellery Street and Trowbridge Street. If Barrios can do it why can't we? Cambridge's and Harvard's own state senator statethe lead example for others. What a guy! What a role model.

Here's one more example of laws not being enforced in the city, uh, except for the three minute rule at City Council meetings and the speak-to-an-item-on-the-agenda provocative tactic of the Mayor to discourage public participation in government.

Hypocrisy was never a strong trait of politicians or government officials. 

Brute power abusing vulnerable citizens is.

--
Roy Bercaw, Editor
ENOUGH ROOM
PO Box 400297
Cambridge MA 02140 USA

McCabe responds

Roger Nicholson is free to express his opinions, but he has confused our endorsements with our news coverage.

Neil W. McCabe, editor of The Alewife

The paper has never been accused of bias in its reporting and we will continue to maintain its high standards with a heavy emphasis to attribution.

We have the right to make endorsements in primaries and elections, as well as make editorial comments in our "Fisheye View" piece in the "Alewife Forum" section of the paper.

Nicholson blasts The Alewife Slate

Editor Neil W. McCabe is out of his mind. I take extreme offense to anyone in favor of embryonic stem cell research being compared to Josef Mengele, and am almost certain there has never been any honest debate as to whom to The Alewife should endorse. Neil uses the pronoun "we" a lot, as if there was an exchange of ideas as to who should or should not be endorsed by people other than himself.

But being on the "inside" here at The Alewife, and knowing Neil personally, I seriously doubt the candidates endorsed and opinions expressed where authored by any more than one person.

I am grateful for the opportunity to write for The Alewife as a columnist, and to have the chance to voice my thoughts and views on life in print every month. But I also must admit the truth to myself and everyone else, and call bullsh#t on what I see as a clearly unobjective, politcally charged and religious bias presentation by the editor of The Alewife.

Roger Nicholson

The "Bridge" is a slanted, left wing, piece of sh#t newspaper which is only in print to propagate it's anti-American, Bush-hating inflamatory rhetoric and doing so under the guise of "journalism." So too, it would seem, is The Alewife, but it's function seems to be the one to promote the Republican Party and the doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church. To Neil's credit, The Alewife is a lot more subtle in masking it's political agenda, but is becoming, in my opinion, an instrument of propaganda.

Either way, I disavow both schools of thinking and would like to encourage this paper to be the one paper here in Cambridge to be grown up enough to set an example of truth before politics.

I also want to say, on a personal level, that I consider Neil McCabe a true friend and advocate, and someone for which I hold in high esteem and have a great deal of respect and admiration for. Neil is one of the smartest people I know, and I enjoy talking to him at length about a wide variety of topics and subjects. I always learn a great deal by talking to Neil. I am able see past his political and religious veiws, and for that, I am rewarded by having a great freindship with him.

But Neil and I differ on many issues, which is fine. But I felt in necessary to weigh in on what I felt about this month's edition of The Alewife, and call him on what I see as bullsh#t. Just as, I'm sure, he will mine.

Military News

Military funeral detail oriented

by Neil W. McCabe

Before the family arrived at the gravesite for the burial at the Heaven’s Gate Cemetery in Eastview, N.Y., others made preparations.

Workers having dug the hole, set the green gurney with black tires at the curb. Then they went to the truck to wait for the call to lift the remains of Harry Rossi, who served as a corporal in the Second World War, out of the hearse and up the 20-foot slope to his final resting-place.

Behind a cluster of trees, a friend of Rossi’s, and fellow homing pigeon enthusiast, set down a cage of 10 birds that he will release at the end of the ceremony.

There too, standing next to their blue government sedan, the three Soldiers of the 77th RRC Funeral Honors Detail checked out each other uniforms and tried to stay loose.

When the motorcade arrived, the Soldiers took their positions.  One at the curb and to the side and two staked out their space next to the grave. “It is important for us to stand next to the grave,” said Staff Sgt. John Aguilar, who is a human resources specialist with the 408th Transportation Company.

Otherwise, the workers will block the space with they need with flowers, planks or dirt.
“We are really just protecting the territory we need to do our job,” he said. “This is the final benefit a Soldier receives.”

Aguilar said the Soldiers performing funeral honors take pride in giving another Soldier a proper send-off, as well as giving the family something to hold on to. “The idea is to leave a final positive impression of the Army and their loved one’s service.”

“Every time they are a veteran, we ask the family for the discharge papers and make the request,” said Anthony J. Guarino, a funeral director at Yannantuano Burr Davis Sharpe Funeral Homes based in Mount Vernon, N.Y. “It is an honor they deserve.”

The Alewife Slate

Months ago, we were thrilled by the prospect of making endorsements in the General Election.

Now, with the moment upon us, we are tempted to shirk. As we tossed the task around the office, some of us thought there was little point.

After all, the courts are now in-charge of all the important decisions.

Some of us wondered aloud what would be the point of passing along endorsements to an electorate thoroughly programmed by its master to pull the “D” switch.

Still, having the forum the paper allows, it would be a dereliction of duty not to weigh in on the contested races found on the neighborhood’s ballots.

Fans of the multi-party democracy should not fret. There are now many “third” parties stepping over what was once called the Grand Old Party. Question 3 on this year’s ballot addresses this problem, but we weigh in on it further on.

The 24th Middlesex District State Representative

This has been an intriguing race. Both M. Elizabeth “Libby” Firenze, the Republican, and William N. Brownsberger, the Democrat, have given the voters a real campaign of ideas and passion.
Both candidates have put themselves in front of the voters, whether door-to-door or in public debates—the best of which was sponsored by this paper.

We endorse Firenze. This is for big reasons. The Democratic super-majority on Beacon Hill is smothering not only free debate of ideas, but it is smothering the taxpayers and our citizens’ freedom of conscience.

Firenze a long list of objectives, but but first and foremost, she proclaims with a passion we forgot about that she standing up to confront the current hegemony. This is what we need.

Were Brownsberger to win, the district would be blessed with a dedicated, legislative professional. He is bright and surprisingly good-humored. But, if we have to pick a candidate, we must give Firenze the nod.

The 25th Middlesex District State Representative

The incumbent, Alice K. Wolf, the Democrat, has a small office in the deepest, darkest corner of the State House basement.

In her 10 years in office, she has been the champion for progressive causes that Cambridge folks dig. Meanwhile, the Porter Square MBTA stop is a filthy testament to her influence and political pull in our capital.

The escalators are always broken, the state-owned grove is a haven for derelicts and the proposed partnership with Lesley University has been spiked.

The traffic we are mired in from the closing of the Walden Street bridge could be put at her door as well. Wolf’s tenure betrays the lie that we must vote for the Democrats or we will be ignored.
We endorse Henry R. Irving. Yes, he is a Republican. He is also a hard-working, compassion and aware. He is for the citizens’ right to petition and the taxpayers’ right for a breather.

U.S. Senator

We endorse Kenneth G. Chase. Chase is the Republican opponent to Edward M. Kennedy, Democrat.

What are we supposed to say? We are glad he sobered up. We are glad his wife suspended his hunting license. We are sorry that girl was found dead in his car and some people think he had something to do with it.

Now can we please have a reasonable senator represent us in Washington?

If for no other reason, we are pumped up when Chase calls Kennedy out on wind power, which Kennedy supports, except when it interferes in his view from the beach.

But this is also an endorsement for a man, Chase, who is a vigorous supply-sider and champion of our liberties.

U.S. Representative

We endorse Michael E. Capuano. The Democrat is a great congressman. As the junior member of a minority party, he gets the job done.

When the Democrats take over the House of Representatives, Capuano will find those skills useful as he takes on the leadership positions he richly deserves.

We are sorry he has gradually fallen away from his support of our mission in Iraq, but there is no way his opponent, Laura Garza, the Socialist Workers candidate, would be better. If he is anything, Capuano is a realist, which always trumps a dreamer.

Governor

This is the one that drove us the most crazy. One of our number saw an ad for the Republican, Kerry M. Healy, where she promised that as governor she would be just as eager as the Democrat, Deval Patrick, to kill the unborn and conduct Mengele-inspired experiments on embryonic stem cells.

What gives with her anyway?

As we hit the reset button, we had no choice but to go with Healy. At least, she will not green light the great taxpayer looting the Democrats are gearing up for as our economy recovers and the tax receipts sneak into surplus. We hope. We have no hope for capital punishment’s return or any of the other tough solutions Healy puts out.

What is wrong with Patrick? He is a coreless man.

If this was a Republican state, Patrick would be holding rallies with Rudolph Guiliani in the Centrum.

So, in the battle between two phonies, we went with the one most likely to hold back spending.
Not the one promising to spend every last dime.

State Attorney General

We endorse Larry Frisoli. Frisoli is the Republican, but like many people around here he was a Democrat. He was a Democrat when he was a 12-year-old volunteer for JFK in 1960.
He was a Democrat when he served on the city council and as vice-mayor. He became a Republican when his birth party left him and his idealism behind.

When he brings that passion for fairness and honesty to the attorney general’s office, the state will be a better place.

Martha Coakley, the Democrat is trouble. Forget the Somerville cop with Teamster connections she is protecting.

We know of two other cases she has declined to pursue against politically powerful persons.
Both involve morals charges and are beyond the scope of this exercise, but trust us when we say she should have done more.

Secretary of State

We endorse William F. Galvin. Galvin, the Democrat, is opposed by Jill E. Stein of the Green-Rainbow Party. Thank you.

Treasurer

We endorse Timothy P. Cahill. Cahill, the Democrat, is opposed by James O’Keefe of the Green-Rainbow Party. Thank you.

State Auditor

We endorse A. Joseph DeNucci. DeNucci, the Democrat, is opposed by Rand Wilson of the Working Families Party. Thank you.

Ballot Questions

Question 1: We oppose the expansion of wine sales to grocery stores.
The current regime works and there seems to be no shortage of cheap wine in the Commonwealth. It makes sense to us that this proposal will lead to more underage drinking.

Question 2: We support fusion voting. It works in New York and other states and it may be our last chance to avoid the one-party dictatorship the Democrats are promising us.

Question 3: We oppose the forced unionization of home-based state subsidized childcare providers. There is no way this is going to save anybody money or improve childcare. Is this really on the ballot?

Wow, go figure.

Been There by Neil W. McCabe

Acorns: The new game in town

Two local men invented a new board game whilst passing the time across the street from the Alewife MBTA station.

"It's called 'Acorns,'" said Michael J. Gainus (left), who developed the game with his colleague William J. "Billy" Graham.

Gainus said the two men spend at least two hours daily field testing the game and refining the rules on their only prototype model.The game is played on a milk crate that sits on a bread tray with each man on their own milk crate, he said.

Taking turns, each player tosses an acorn until one has fills the holes on the other player's side, he said. Then, with a tip of the crate, it is time for another go.

Developments by David Taber

New eatery, not luxury condo, to replace Ristorante Marino; City Council to reconsider downzoning 

Raftery: Unreasonable for NCSC to act as neighborhood's shadow government

The Cambridge Licensing Commission voted unanimously Oct.26 to approve the transfer of Ristorante Marino's liquor license to a local restaurateur who planning to open a new Italian eatery, named Bam-Bachi, at the same location.

“'Bachi' means kiss in Italian and 'Bam' I think is just a nice word,” Gary Strack, co-owner and head chef of the Central Kitchen said.

The prefix is a nonsense word and has no meaning in Italian, Strack said at hearing before the  Licensing Commission on Oct. 24.

George H. Katis of Stone River Properties, who attended the hearing, is planning to purchase the restaurant and lease it to Strack, pending approval of the liquor license transfer by both the City of Cambridge and the State-run Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission, he said.

For years area residents have been frustrated by the management of the restaurant and, at the same time, feared that the property would be sold to residential developers who would take advantage of the sites unusually permissive spot zoning to build high rise luxury condominiums,  said Michael Brandon, clerk of the of the North Cambridge Stabilization Committee.

Strack said that he hopes to be through with the approval process, to  have completed cosmetic renovations and be open for business with in six months.

“You can never tell how long these things are going to take,” he said.

Strack met with North Cambridge residents at a meeting hosted by the committee, a week before the hearing, and area neighbors were generally pleased with what they heard, Brandon said.

“There is no doubt that the consensus of the neighbors who have met with us is that this is a great opportunity to remedy an operation that has been problematic,” he said.

Despite their enthusiasm, the stabilization committee did not immediately endorse the transfer, Brandon said.

Paper releases endorsements

Check out the 2006 Alewife Slate in the November edition of the paper on the streets and in the mail now!