How Somerville News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

Wicked Local Since it's February, and almost a year since nearly all of Somerville’s public school students have been in a classroom, we’re taking a look at how reopening plans have progressed – or not – in neighboring districts. Over the summer, Somerville developed three plans to return to instruction as mandated by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education: a fully remote, hybrid, and in-person model. This school year, Somerville has been fully remote, only recently bringing a select few high-needs students back in to classrooms a few days a week. Since funding was appro...

Wicked Local In reviewing three candidates for the police reserve list, to fill current vacancies in the Somerville Police Department, a City Council committee voted against confirming the first name on the list. On Feb. 2, all five councilors on the Confirmation of Appointments and Personnel Matters committee voted against appointing Matthew Fairchild to the police reserve list. The other two candidates, Giovanna Lorenzet Marin and Jose DaCosta, were approved in a 3-2 vote. While police reserve list appointments have been a simple process in the past, the meeting played out like a slow motio...

In this round of police hiring, four candidates appealed a bypass. One case is closed, and reveals interesting traits in Somerville's proposed hires.

The Somerville City Council has questions about the police hiring process. At a January meeting, councilors on the Confirmation of Appointments and Personnel Matters committee discussed the process behind why these nine candidates are being recommended for the police reserve list to fill vacancies at the Somerville Police Department. Though these appointments were sent to the council in March 2020, the pandemic and ongoing conversations about police reform have delayed their discussion until now.  Questioning the hiring process On Dec. 4, 2019, Somerville reported 10 Police Department vaca...