Hey everybody. Hell of a day. Bad karma everywhere. If you're having a rough go of it, you are not alone.
AND LET'S DO A CIVICS!
How about a finance committee meeting? Sound good? Cool. Here we go.
somervillema.legistar.com/MeetingDetai...
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“Parents call 911 for help with mentally ill son, so cops come & kill him” is an EXTREMELY common story
But our elected officials & media live in daily terror of being branded anti-cop, so we’re not allowed to talk about it
why am I not surprised to see who is behind this
🤔
Feels important to uplift Rep Pressley's leadership. She puts in a lot of work on issues that others often don't see as a priority. I've appreciated her anti-criminalization work over the years. She's a worker.
Folks, it is -heartbreakingly- beautiful outside, but for reasons known only to me I am LIVE AND IN THE CHAMBERS for tonight's joint session of City Council and School Committee - at which we are going to get the bad news about our financial situation.
It's a $5.9M shortfall vs. level funding.
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when this happens in my neighborhood, I leave a note like "FYI the city *will* remove your bike" and that seems to work. (we do need more bike racks though.)
#mapoli just more behind-the-scenes, without public debate. Again, not a housing bill, or a plan to make health care affordable, they did pass a bill to make our electricity, heating, and cooling more expensive in a giveaway to corporations. But this... is a poorly thought-out rush job.
This is a problem the state could solve if it wanted to. From the article:
“‘Every raptor I hear of in Somerville or around Somerville that meets an untimely death is exposed to these rodenticides,’ Mary Vriniotis, co-founder of Save Somerville Wildlife, said.”
*I* have certainly always fought for that. Unfortunately the city has not made it a priority to include in street reconstruction, like the Washington St or Summer St rebuilds. Cost is one factor: Eversource charges about $1M per mile to underground them. But the even bigger problem...
I feel like it's a tell when the police themselves are asking to fund this! you just know that the chief wants to integrate video footage into one of the department's AI tools...
silver lining: now that there's plenty of evidence that body-worn cameras do not make us safer, it's easier to prevent their initial implementation than to roll it back.
bsky.app/profile/some...
Well folks, the deranged old pervert we elected president is threatening genocide and cultural eradication on the socials. I have no power whatsoever to do anything about that, so how about I live-blog a finance committee meeting instead?
Cool? Cool.
somervillema.legistar.com/MeetingDetai...
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keep this in mind as we undoubtedly see some Somerville city councilors make excuses for their "yes" votes to fund body cams for the police department.
Police departments do not want body cameras so they can hold officers accountable for misconduct and be more transparent to the public—they want them to win criminal cases, defend themselves against lawsuits, and create propaganda videos.
Proceeds from the license plates are also directly benefiting the K-9 PTSD Research Center, a nonprofit that James LaMonte founded in 2019 in Seekonk. LaMonte oversees a team of veterinarians, trainers and behavioral specialists working with retired dogs. The center is currently home to 15 retired dogs, even one that protected President Trump and President Biden. LaMonte estimates the annual cost of caring for each animal is roughly $18,000 “out of the pocket,” including about $300 to $500 in monthly medications per K-9.
The Seekonk resident started the center after he received a call in early 2019 inquiring whether he’d be interested in homing Dakota, a former Newton K-9 who helped track down Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. A handler at the Essex County Sheriff’s Department could no longer care for Dakota. LaMonte, who at the time was training working dogs through positive reinforcement with Wheaton College, cashed in his retirement accounts and sold his vehicles to pay for Dakota’s medical expenses. Dakota, a half German shepherd, half Dutch shepherd mix from the Czech Republic, had visible signs of PTSD when he arrived at the center, LaMonte recalled vividly. “Dakota was shaking, avoiding contact, but he was running in circles and defecating himself,” LaMonte said. “I was like, ‘What’s going on here?’ That’s what caused the attenton to Dakota.”
In this article about a bill to provide “pensions” for police attack dogs in #Massachusetts, we learn that some of these dogs are developing PTSD and it costs $18,000 a month to take care of them.
It should be illegal for police to train attack dogs.
www.lowellsun.com/2026/04/04/m... #mapoli
Massachusetts excise tax based on size and weight when?
screenshot of text reading Why It Matters for Residents Data isn't just a buzzword in Cambridge—it's shaping everyday life. Take the Cambridge Preschool Program, launched in 2024. After reviewing national research showing universal pre-K boosts literacy, narrows achievement gaps, and drives long-term success, the City acted. Today, more than 1,450 children have enrolled in free, high-quality preschool-giving families peace of mind and kids a stronger start. The first sentence is highlighted.
Screenshot of text reading Why This Matters CALEA Accreditation isn't just a plaque on the wall-it's the gold standard in law enforcement. Out of roughly 18,000 police agencies in the U.S., just 1 in 18 hold any level of CALEA accreditation, and even fewer achieve the advanced level. Cambridge now joins that elite advanced level group, becoming the largest municipal police department in Massachusetts to earn this distinction and one of only four municipal departments statewide to do so. The first sentence is highlighted
Screenshot of text reading Looking Ahead By expanding local protections, Cambridge continues to lead with laws that are responsive, forward-thinking, and rooted in fairness. These changes aren't just legal updates—they're a statement of values: that every family and every relationship deserves dignity and respect. The last sentence is highlighted
Screenshot of text reading What does a future shaped by artificial intelligence look like—and who gets to decide? In December 2025, nearly 150 artists, scientists, policymakers, students, and community members gathered at the Cambridge Public Library to answer that question together. The event, Al and Us Town Hall, wasn't just a discussion—it was a movement toward building a more humane and equitable Al future. The last sentence is highlighted
if you really hate someone, teach them to recognize LLM-generated text
Navigating Elm & Porter is terrible for anyone not in a car 😕 The Elm-Beacon Connector quick-build can't come soon enough!
MA shouldn't be giving tax breaks for more data centers. What a terrible way to do economic development. #mapoli
commonwealthbeacon.org/energy/shift...
I love articles that quote various wealth managers saying, with no evidence, that rich people are fleeing the state because of higher taxes.
That's not news reporting: that's just a free ad for every wealth manager quoted.
My latest for the @csindie.bsky.social:
Some grants are more trouble than they are worth, and overtime is a dumb way to provide core services.
csindie.com/somerville-c...
when you’re arguing about politics here on bluesky just remember there’s a young sheldon spinoff called george and mandy’s first marriage that’s watched by millions of people
@wbur.org this is a bad look and you know it
Overview Where the speakers are always on. It’s back: The WBUR Festival will return in 2026! Join us for lively conversations, podcast tapings, musical performances and plenty of surprises. Once again, it’ll be serious stuff — and wicked fun, too. Our guest list is heating up. Check out just a few of the big names who’ll take the mic on Friday, May 29 and Saturday, May 30: José Andrés, renowned chef, author and founder of World Central Kitchen John Bolton, former U.S. national security advisor and author of “The Room Where It Happened: A White House Memoir.” Samantha Power, journalist, Pulitzer Prize-winning author and former administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development, or USAID. Bryan Stevenson, public interest lawyer, founder of the Equal Justice Initiative and New York Times bestselling author of “Just Mercy.” Public media friends including Jad Abumrad, musician, storyteller and founder of WNYC’s Radiolab; Allison Aubrey, NPR health and science correspondent and founding host of Life Kit; Mary Louise Kelly, co-host of NPR’s All Things Considered and host of the Sources & Methods podcast; and Katherine Maher, NPR president and chief executive officer. https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-wbur-festival-tickets-1781855099569?aff=GENERAL&discount=MEMBER20&utm_id=185240&sfmc_id=16854187
John Bolton, Former U.S. National Security Adviser: It's totally justified. Whether it's carried out in a successful way on many different aspects is open to question. But, to me, the case to eliminate this, not only proliferation-minded barbaric regime, but to eliminate its international terrorist threat, is ample justification for doing what the president has announced. I don't think you need to make an argument that the threat is imminent. The threat is bad enough as it is. Judgments of imminence can be wrong. I think we're perfectly entitled to do it. I think it is a war of choice, as most wars are. And I think it's something that, if it were explained to the American people, they would support. That hasn't happened yet, and that's one of the things that troubles me. But the objective of overthrowing the regime is critical, because the regime has consistently shown it will not abandon its pursuit of nuclear weapons and it will not abandon its use of terrorism and its support of terrorist proxies. If anybody wants peace and stability in the Middle East, this regime has to go. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/bolton-says-iran-war-justified-and-critical-for-peace-and-stability-in-middle-east
who is asking for John "the war in Iran is totally justified" Bolton to be at the podcast festival
Some of Massachusetts’ top lawmakers, and the girl’s attorney claimed the girl had been detained as “bait” in order to detain another family member. Top immigration officials, meanwhile, claimed they were rescuing her from suspected gang members.
www.wgbh.org/news/local/2... @gbhnews.bsky.social
Looking forward to Councilor Strezo trotting out this line when she votes to accept funding for body-worn cameras as part of the city's "public safety for all" plan.
somervillema.legistar.com/LegislationD...
