Ward 7 residents: You have an election this Tuesday!

[ron_newman]

It's a preliminary election to reduce the number of candidates for ward 7 alderman from three to two. Incumbent alderman Bob Trane faces two challengers, Katjana Ballantyne and Joan Puglia. This is Somerville's only preliminary election for 2011. (Final election, citywide, is November 8.)

I'm going to take the liberty of repeating in full gruene's recent informative comment on the race:

Joan Puglia http://joanforward7.org/
Katjana Ballantyne http://www.katjana.org/
Bob Trane -No Current Website- Cache of 2007 website: http://portfolio.dfresh.org/bobtrane.org/index.html

The Patch did profiles of each of them:
http://somerville.patch.com/articles/election-in-ward-7-katjana-ballantyne
http://somerville.patch.com/articles/election-in-ward-7-joan-whitney-puglia
http://somerville.patch.com/articles/election-in-ward-7-robert-trane

Go to http://www.somervillema.gov/residents/address-lookup to find your polling place.

Polls are open from 7 am to 8 pm

Green Line delay means no mo' Boloco on Boston Ave in Medford

[ron_newman]

from Medford Green Line Neighborhood Alliance blog:
Medford Boloco to close; owner cites GLX delay as factor

The Boloco restaurant at 340 Boston Ave. will close on Nov. 30, Boloco CEO John Pepper told the Medford Green Line Neighborhood Alliance in an email Sunday night.

Responding to an email reminder about a public meeting this week about the latest Green Line delay, Pepper said the fact that the project is languishing was a factor in his decision to close the Medford location.

Zing Pizza: closed indefinitely

[emcicle.livejournal.com]

Zing Pizza was closed the last two (?) weeks in August for vacation and has not reopened yet. I called the other day, and their message says they are experiencing a reorganization and will be closed indefinitely. I asked the people at Cafe Zing and all they would tell me is, yes, closed indefinitely. I asked if they would ever open again, and they told me to assume that they won't, and if they do, I'll be pleasantly surprised.

this is disappointing. their pizza is really good.

anyone know any more information?

Word to the wise: Do not use All Seasons Home Remodeling in Somerville!

[rigel.livejournal.com]

Just a tip to those in the Davis Square area to avoid local contractor All Seasons Home Remodeling. I chose them because they were Better Business Bureau accredited. Things seem to have gone downhill for them, as far as I can tell, as they both got every single aspect of the repair wrong and, after offering to perform the repairs as originally stated and being told the lead contractor was on the way with new materials, had him cancel on me without informing me or their dispatcher. (I waited for an hour for him to arrive, called for an ETA, and when she called him, found out he just . . . wasn't coming. Ever. They made the 'ever' part clear, much to the dispatcher's chagrin.)

More details can be found here: http://rigel.livejournal.com/1945190.html

Crime Alert - Sexual Assault, Wallace Street

[ron_newman]

I just got this from two different e-mail lists, and then a robo-call, so it seems important to post here.

This is Deputy Chief Paul Upton of the Somerville Police Department with an important public safety message for your area. At approximately 12:45 a.m. on Saturday morning, a 25 year old woman was assaulted as she walked on Wallace Street. The victim was grabbed from behind and indecently assaulted before she screamed, apparently scaring off the suspect. The suspect then fled down Wallace Street toward Holland Street.

The suspect is described as a dark skinned white male, possibly in his twenties or thirties, 5-foot-4 to 5-foot-7, clean shaven, with thick eyebrows and dark colored eyes. He also had a slight unknown accent. He was wearing blue jeans, a very dark hoodie shirt that had some type of design on the chest. The hoodie was pulled up so she couldn’t see the color or length of the suspect’s hair.

An artist’s sketch of the suspect can be found on the Police Department website, http://www.somervillema.gov/police-department. Anyone who has information about this incident, or the identity of this suspect is urged to contact Somerville Police at 617 625-1212, or text SPD617 to Tip411. All text messages will remain anonymous.

As always, we urge residents, particularly women, who may be walking alone at night, to remain vigilant and aware of their surroundings. For your safety, you should avoid wearing headphones or earbuds and keep your cell phone readily available.

The police department has increased patrols of both marked and unmarked cars in this area. If you see anyone or anything unusual, please call 911 immediately. Thank you.

FOUND is now open, next to Foundry on Elm

[ron_newman]

FOUND, a (used & new) (men's & women's) clothing shop, is now open next to Foundry on Elm, in the space formerly occupied by Poor Little Rich Girl. Coincidentally, the owner of the new shop is named Meredith, as was the owner of PLRG.

Their hours are nominally 11 am to 7 pm, but you may sometimes find them open later, as they were tonight.

They are using PLRG's old dressing booths.

A sign on the door says they are accepting men's clothes for consignment.

Davis Square now has a bicycle shop: "Bike Boom"

[ron_newman]

Bike Boom is a newly opened used bicycle shop in a space I never thought a business could occupy: 420 Highland Avenue, off the tiny little alley between Sessa's Italian Foods and Snappy Sushi.

You have to walk down the alley past the dumpster and turn left to find the business. I hope they can do something to improve their visibility.

They sell used bikes and accessories, and they're also a repair shop.

ETA: Somerville Patch has an article about the store.

Hillside Auto

[kapara19.livejournal.com]

Anyone know what time Hillside Auto on Broadway opens? I need to take my car in tomorrow morning but there are no hours on their web site and no voice mail when you call them.