.25¢ www.TheSomervilleNews.com Vol. 40 No. 22 • JUNE 8, 2011 Somerville’s only independent community newspaper
[email protected] Inside: State official ‘tremendously impressed’ by AS public/private partnership By Andrew Firestone It has been several weeks now since the DIF vote passed in Board of Aldermen, and the Assembly Square development inches closer to being real- ized. Jeffrey Simon, Director of the Massachu- setts Recovery and Reinvestment Office within Governor Deval Patrick's cabinet visited the site and toured the "spine of the project," Assembly Square Drive. The road was part of the 70-acre development that Simon oversaw $12 million of Somerville’s Class the $14.9 million total funds authorized from of 2011 federal stimulus monies in the Recovery Act. page 6 He was joined by Mayor Joseph Curtatone and Federal Reality Investment Trust (FRIT) executive Don Briggs, who detailed the progress of the development at their marketing center in the middle of the development. Briggs began by thanking Simon for the funds, which he deemed critical at the time for maintaining the $300- $350 million development. The tour was an opportunity for Briggs to ex- Photo by Andrew Firestone plain the stages and overall scope of the project and he was diligent in explaining the various ins- and-outs of the area. Jeffrey Simon, Director of the Massachusetts Recovery and Reinvestment Office meets with FRIT “This is a project that from Executive Don Briggs and Mayor Joseph Curtatone. Continued on page 17 ‘Carnaval’ hits the streets Farmers market sweetens Somerville pages 12-13 By Carrie Stanziola “Organic,” “locally grown,” and “ethical” were key words at the Somerville farmer's market in Union Square on June 4.