Today at about 2:30 PM Cambridge Fire Department personnel responded to a fire at 105 Sciarappa Street in East Cambridge. The fire in the first floor apartment was said to have started when "an air conditioned blew out" according to neighbors. One person was at home at the time, but exited without injury. Their dog Jackpot was carried out safely.

The three unit building on the west side of Sciarappa between Hurley and Spring, owned by Walter Tauro, Is listed in City of Cambeidge records as in an overall condition of fair.

Cambridge Fire Department sent five trucks and had the emergency dealt with in a little over a half hour.

The second photo shows a front window being broken out by a firefighter's axe.

On Monday June 1st I went on the East Cambridge Public Art Tour sponsored by Cambridge Multicultural Arts Center as part of their BoomTown Festival. Here is a link to the interactive East Cambridge Public Art Tour Map. We met at CMAC located at 41 Second Street for the tour which lasted about forty five minutes. read more...

From today until June 11th the Cambridge Multicultural Arts Center will be sponsoring the BOOMTOWN FESTIVAL. The festival will include art exhibits, concerts, dance, and walking tours of public art in East Cambridge. Be sure to check it out.

An edited version of this was published in the May 7, edition of The Cambridge Cchronicle headlined
The Bob Healy Conundrum

Has Cambridge had enough of Bob Healy? He has been City Manager for going on thirty years. During that time he has handled city finances in a reasonable manner. He has had a staff of budget and finance professionals to make that happen.

What he has not done is run our city to the benefit of the citizens. For decades he has appointed every member of every board and commission in city government. He has made it his mission to see that things are run as he sees fit. In the Healy administration you do not rock the boat. You don’t even get on the boat without His blessing. As we’ve seen recently,it can be tough if you don’t go along. read more...

He is the very model of a modern anthropologist. read more...

The Museum of Science installed the first two wind powered electric generators of it's research and demonstration project. One is a fairly conventional pinwheel design, and the other is a vertical rotor design that looks kind of like a radio antenna. Some of these designs have shown good efficiency. According to David Rabkin who is overseeing the project at the museum, they both should fully installed and tied into the electric grid within a week or so. They will need a final inspection by Nstar before that can happen.

Yesterday workers were on the roof adjusting the sway and stability of the mountings. You can see the vertical shaft generator spinning in the wind already, but the "propeller" design unit will not spin freely until it is connected to the grid. read more...

According to Beal Co. Senior Vice President and General Council Peter Spelios, the company filed a formal withdrawal of their zoning petition yesterday. read more...