Music and Art Faculty, from left to right, are Alec Waugh, Meghan Allen, June Krinsky-Rudder, and Joanna McKenna.

For some high school students, art and music are more than school activities. They are, in fact, means for personal expression, serving as metaphorical mirrors that reflect life experience.

That’s just how some of the students described their work on display at the Senior Showcase at the Revere High School library last Thursday afternoon, when graduating seniors performed music and exhibited over a hundred paintings, photographs, and sculptures in displays that transformed the reading room into a miniature gallery.

“The students do beautiful work,” said Joanna McKenna, a visual arts instructor who teaches dark-room and digital photography at Revere High. McKenna went on to say that the showcase, a fixture at the school, grows every year. “The more we exhibit art in the high school, the more it’s seen by the kids,” she added.

“I think it’s a wonderful event,” Dr. Lourenco Garcia, Revere High principal, said of the showcase. “I believe art is a way of expressing. . . People can express wonderful things. It is clearly shown here,” he said of the students’ work.

Revere High offers about 33 different art courses. In addition to photography, students at Revere have the opportunity to study painting, sculpture, and calligraphy, which are taught by the school’s art department trio: McKenna, June Krinsky-Rudder, and Meghan Allen.

“[We] teach what students want,” Krinsky-Rudder said of the curriculum’s student-centered approach. And the work presented at the showcase was representative of every creative class.

Art student Javier Para, who also studied at the Art Institute of Boston last summer, created a calligraphy design of a cat made from a pop tart riding a rainbow, a concept taken from the viral YouTube video “Nyan Cat.” Para’s design employs a minimalist technique, whereby the work is constructed from repeated use of a single word “nyan”—a Japanese term for “meow”—in arrangements akin to those found in the orthographic poetry of E. E. Cummings.

And speaking about a small guillotine he constructed out of toothpicks, Para said that he was interested in the theme of combining opposites. “I wanted to make something menacing out of something not menacing.”

Some students adapted Leonardo da Vinci’s “Mona Lisa” by using computer graphics. Mary Corio’s “Modify the Mona Lisa” treated da Vinci’s famous smiling woman to a purple necklace, sapphire ring, and blue eye shadow with the vista of a modern city serving as background. Daniel Henao-Rodriguez portrayed his iPhone-handling Mona Lisa with green skin in a grey toboggan. The background is grey sky and a long stretch of empty beach.

Among other pieces, Lina Martinez Amador created a life map—a narrative time line of her own experience—onto a drawing of a left hand, with her birth town of Bogota, Colombia situated at the beginning of the hand’s lifeline.

Some artwork even dealt with a recent tragedy. A sign bearing the calligraphy-written phrase “Thank you Stephen Perez” hung in the lower right corner of Javier Para’s display. Para held the sign as the funeral processional of Stephen Perez, a Revere High alumnus, went past the school over a week ago.

“These people in my class, they’re really good at what they do,” Omar Morales, an eleventh grade art student, said while examining some of the ceramic work on display. He added: “They have really impressive work. They’re perfectionists…”

Music students set up a mini concert stage along the broad side of the room adjacent to the art exhibits. The music performed, similar to the visual arts on display, reflected a student-centered approach to education.

The decision brought an end to the ongoing fight over former Revere native Vincent Giachetti’s application to place a 24 by 48 foot billboard at the Squire Road hotel.

The issue drew wide-spread resistance in late February, when the council held a public hearing over Giachetti’s proposal to install the billboard. A flyer, floated about town at the time, drummed up support for opposition to the sign. Opponents continue to state that billboards contribute to lower housing values and are, in general, an eyesore for a city that already possesses over eighty of them.

The drama came to a swift conclusion at a meeting of the zoning subcommittee, which met prior to the full council meeting Monday.

“I never had such an outcry of phone calls, emails, flyers in the neighborhood,” Ward 6 Councillor Charles Patch said. “The people in Ward 6 are strongly against it, and I hope my colleagues will go with me in [following] my vote to vote this down,” he added.

Speaking in opposition, Ron Champoux of the Revere Beautification Committee said: “The city’s changing. We want to focus on beautifying the city to make it good for all citizens in the future… We have enough billboards in the city, and it’s not a benefit to the city, for the neighborhood especially.”

Councillor-at-Large John Correggio agreed: “I have to support my colleague, the Ward 6 Councillor, and also the Beautification Committee. We’re strictly a residential city. We don’t have commercial development here. We’re trying to make the city a lot neater, cleaner-looking city. Billboards are an eyesore, there’s no doubt about it.”

Other councillors raised concerns that a billboard placed so close to Route 1 would present further traffic hazards there. “I believe it could be a dangerous situation, especially at Copeland Circle, one of the most frequently accident-prone [places] in the city, probably within the state,” Councillor-at-Large Robert Haas said.

Ward 3 Councillor Arthur Guinasso agreed and went on to say: “People need to be cognizant of the fact that, believe it or not, texting on cell phones, making calls on cell phones, billboards, any distraction from driving impairs your ability to drive properly. It’s in the community’s best interest that we not allow this to take place.”

And Ward 4 Councillor Stephen Reardon added: “We’re talking about something that has a substantial visual effect on very closely adjoined neighborhoods in our city. We’re an extremely dense population… We have narrow streets, limited land, and it’s difficult for residents as it is to avoid some of the problems of congestion.” He continued: “The last thing we need there [close to route 1] is a distraction.”

But not everyone was persuaded. Representing Mr. Giachetti, Attorney Larry Simeone argued:  “We have always believed that this is an appropriate site… In this particular case there’s already an ordinance on the books; it allows for special permits in the highway business district.”

“I’ll probably end up voting this down because everybody’s going to vote it down,” Councillor-at-Large Anthony Zambuto said, but added that “If there ever was a place where a billboard would be appropriate; this was would be [it].”

He cautioned his colleagues:  “I would ask that we go after the things that are truly a problem and not [after] something that I consider [to be] in an appropriate place.”

Council President Richard Penta, speaking before the final vote at the full council meeting, said that he agreed with Zambuto, but, “I’ll go along with the Beautification Committee with this and vote it down with the council.”

Council addresses foul balls at Curtis Park and Merullo Field

In a separate issue, Ward 2 Councillor Ira Novoselsky presented a motion for the mayor to request an extension of the backstop and side fences at Curtis Park and Merullo Field to prevent foul balls from hitting nearby homes and cars.

“I’ve been making an annual event of this motion,” Novoselsky said. “I hope that Mayor Rizzo will look at this. There’s no one to blame—it’s a ball field.”

The councillor raised the motion as long ago as 2005, though the request was never completed.

Late Communications/Motions: problem with flammable storage licenses

A late communication from City Clerk Ashley Melnik to the council revealed that nine holders of city flammable storage licenses have failed to either file the required annual certificate of registration or pay the registration fees to the city.

Property owners Steven Addario, Gilberto Aleixo-Filho, NIAC Realty Trust, First Tower Funding LLC, Parkway Mobile Homes, NECCO, Waters Edge Limited Partnership, and even FedEx were each supplied with a final notice indicating license revocation by registered mail, according to the communication.

The city clerk recommends that the city council call a public hearing to ascertain the reasons for the property owners’ negligence.

Councillor Zambuto, after requesting that the communication be read aloud for the record, said that he wanted residents who live in the properties to know that the owners are not acting responsibly. “I’m sure people living there would like to know their owners are not paying their expenses,” he said.

The mobilization will continue through June 3 and encompasses Memorial Day, a holiday that heralds the opening of summer, bringing with it increased traffic in Revere.

Anyone pulled over in vehicles and found not wearing a seat belt will be ticketed, according to an e-mailed Revere PD press release this week.

The Click It or Ticket mobilization comes by way of a grant through the Police Department’s partnership with the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security’s Highway Safety Division.

The Revere Police Department has received the grant for two years, but this year the money has increased due to the success of the previous mobilizations in the city, Revere Police Sergeant Chris Giannino said in a phone call.

The increases will result in 24 extra four-hour shifts for the Police Department to use to patrol the streets and neighborhoods.

Giannino explained: With the grant, at no cost to the city, the police department can increase the number of troopers in neighborhoods and areas with high accident rates. “We have guys out there noon to midnight… We can target anytime we want.” North Shore Road and Squire Road are problem areas, particularly for speeding. Some drivers fail to realize that the speed limit is 35 miles per hour on Squire Road.

He further explained: Other accident-prone locations include the Route 107 circle—where drivers simply cut through without seeing the traffic coming into the roundabout—and the nefarious Copeland Circle—where some drivers ignorant of the 25 mile-per-hour speed limit take the turns at 40 miles-per-hour. “It’s one of the worst places in the city for crashes, and the accidents that occur there are not minor ones.”  Traffic to and from Boston also cuts through the city.

“If we can get one kid to slow down five miles per hour, it could save a life,” he added.

“People don’t realize that there are problem areas,” Giannino continued. He added that some people, when pulled over, can hardly fathom what they are seeing when shown evidence of the traffic problems. “If you stood with us for half an hour, you would not believe it.”

Giannino took care to say that the enforcement program is not intended to target innocent people. Rather, the goal of the increased presence in these areas is go after aggressive drivers.  He stressed that the program is primarily educational in that it emphasizes seat belt safety, especially for parents who travel with young children.

I don’t know how many times I’ve seen children bouncing around in the backs of cars going down the road, Giannino said. “If we can get one parent to put kids in properly, that makes a difference… If we’re aggressive on [the problems], it makes it better for other drivers.”

“It was a tight game that had a lot of pressure with it being played under the lights at Salem State,” said Revere Head Coach Joe Ciccarello. “This was an atmosphere that we would see in the state tournament.”

After the Big Blue scored one run in the bottom of the first inning, the Patriots tied the game in the top of the third. Alex Ambrosino reached on an error and went to second on a sacrifice bunt by Lindsay Gurska. Kristina Stella then delivered an RBI single to tie the game. However, the Big Blue were able to plate two runs in the bottom of the fifth.

Pitcher Sabrina Palermo took the loss to fall to 4-3 on the mound. She went all six innings, giving up the three runs, eight hits, and one walk and she struck out six.

Revere’s offense had six hits. Logan DiCarlo was the team’s lone multiple hitter, going 2 for 3.

The game at Lynn Classical scheduled for Monday night was rained out and will be made up this Sunday night at 6.

Next Monday night the Patriots host Salem at 7. They visit Peabody next Wednesday at 4 and then host Medford next Thursday at 4 in the regular-season finale.

With the win the Patriots record improved to 7-5 overall and 6-2 in the Northeastern Conference. They now need just one more win to qualify for the Div. 1 state tournament.

At first singles, Nick Tran had his match suspended after the second set. He won the first set, 6-3 and lost set two, 5-7, but when Revere clinched the win, the match was called.

Mladen Pepic played second singles and won: 6-3, 6-1. Nick Mucci won at third singles: 6-4, 6-4. Soun Lee and Duong Nguyen won at first doubles, in three sets: 6-3, 2-6, 7-5. William Troung and Ryan Tran lost: 6-4, 6-4.

“That win at first doubles in three sets was big,” stated Revere Head Coach Mike Flynn. “We would have had to make up that first singles match had we lost there.”

The day before, the Patriots won at Salem, 4-1. Nick Tran lost at first singles in two 7-6 sets. He lost in the first tiebreaker, 7-3, and the second tiebreaker, 9-7, in a tight loss. Pepic won at second singles: 7-5, 6-1. Mucci won at third singles: 6-1, 6-3. Lee and Nguyen won at first doubles: 6-0, 6-4; Truong and Ryan Tran won: 6-2, 6-1.

“We played well as a team on Monday,” said Flynn. “We just got that match in before the rain stated to fall hard.”

On May 10 the Patriots won at Lynn English, 4-1. Nick Tran won at first singles: 6-0, 6-1. Pepic won at second singles in three sets: 5-7, 6-4, 7-5. “That was a hard-fought win for Mladen,” recalled Flynn.

Lee played at third singles in this match and he posted a 6-1, 6-4 win. Sela Leng and Nguyen played at first doubles and lost: 7-6 (7-3 in the tiebreaker) and 6-4. The second team of Mucci and Troung rolled to a 6-0, 6-1 win.

“We are peaking at the right time,” said Flynn, about the winning streak.

Next week the Patriots will wrap up the regular season. On Monday they visit Danvers, while on Thursday, they play at Lynn Classical again. Both of these two matches will start at 4 p.m.

Council President Richard Penta presented a late motion at the April 23 council meeting requesting Mayor Daniel Rizzo send a letter to state legislators to address a number of problems at 248 Bellingham Avenue. That property is used as a shelter for homeless women and children and is known as Sylvia’s Haven.

Sylvia Anthony, 82, the matriarch of Sylvia’s Haven, purchased the Bellingham Avenue property in 2006 after moving from Fort Devens, where she operated a similar shelter. The current shelter, a 501c3 non-profit organization, has received state money in the past but now primarily relies on donations, Anthony said.

According to the unofficial property card from the city assessor, the Beachmont house used for the shelter has a zoning code of RB, designating it as a residence. But the card also indicates the property use as “rooming.” The shelter falls under the protection of the Dover Amendment, which exempts any religious, agricultural, or educational corporation from local zoning laws.

“I see these girls every day,” Sylvia Anthony said in an interview at the shelter last week. “There’s no drugs going on.”

She said that she maintains a residence on the house’s second floor. “I sleep there every night,” she added.

The resident rules for Sylvia’s Haven forbid alcohol, drugs (other than prescription), and weapons on the property. The rules also state that random drug tests will be administered every month. Residents suspected of using illegal drugs are asked to submit to a drug-screening test, the rules state.

The application packet that residents are asked to fill out includes an agreement which, when signed, allows Sylvia’s Haven to perform drug tests at any time during a resident’s stay. The rules also place tight restrictions on visitors. Male visitors are not allowed to visit the premises for any reason, the document states.

“I don’t allow men in the place,” Anthony said. The rules are clear, she added, stating that she has even tossed men out of the premises for helping the women who live there fold clothes.

But neighbors say they have witnessed men leaving the housing, sometimes only half dressed, Penta said at the April 23meeting.

“The kids there are unsupervised. People are doing drugs on the deck. Something needs to be done,” reported one neighbor on the phone, who asked to remain anonymous.

Complaints of drug use have been specific. “People have been seen smoking grass there, maybe even crack,” Penta said.

One neighbor recently offered photographs, one purportedly showing someone on the back deck of the house smoking what appears to be a ceramic pipe. Though pictures of drug paraphernalia are not enough to provoke an official investigation, Anthony did not deny the contents of the photo.

“I didn’t condone the activity… this stuff happens sometimes… I can’t be here every single moment of the day,” she said. Anthony went on to say that she did not recognize the individual in the photo, who may have been a visitor or former resident.

Over the past 25 years, Sylvia’s Haven has serviced 1,065 women and children, Anthony said.

“I have a ninety-five percent success rate… One in 1,065 is a bit much,” she added.

She alleged: “I’ve dealt with persecution for twenty-five years… This is about ‘not in my back yard.’ People don’t like it because it’s a shelter, [but] these are human beings, too.”

Following the motion nearly two weeks ago, Mayor Rizzo sent a letter and the text of the motion to State Senator Anthony Petruccelli and House Speaker Robert DeLeo, asking them to request the state to investigate the allegations at the shelter property, City Clerk Ashley Melnik said.

A spokesman from Speaker DeLeo’s office said that Mayor Rizzo’s letter was received and that Senator Petruccelli, Speaker DeLeo, and Representative Kathi-Anne Reinstein are aware of the complaints raised by the neighbors. At this point, they are looking into the matter to determine whether Sylvia’s Haven is receiving any state money whatsoever and, in addition, are working with Councillor Penta to seek the best possible solution.

Not all councillors are happy with the motion, especially since its late submission did not provide the councillors with enough time to look into the issue, according to Councillor-at-Large Robert Haas.

“It seems like [Sylvia] does a tremendous job,” Haas said in a phone call. “Her cause is absolutely tremendous,” he added. That support may not be enough for the council president, who also happens to represent Ward One, where the shelter is located.

Penta later said: “If people want to sell their house, it has to be a real problem… I’m in a rock and hard place here, but I have to stand up for the neighborhood.”

Major Edward Amodeo of the Massachusetts State Police commented that Revere Beach is a prime location. “It’s a special place. It draws a lot of activity not only from the people who live in Revere, but the most beautiful beach in the Commonwealth attracts people from Boston and the surrounding places,” he said.

Revere Beach attracts a large number of people and always has, said Acting Revere Police Chief Joseph Cafarelli. “We have a good working relationship with the State Police [and] we will continue to work with the State Police and Fire Department,” he went on to say.

Addressing the council, Mayor Rizzo said: “We want to make sure the public is protected as much as possible. I know you all have the same concerns… I want to give the public a level of comfort…that they are well protected and well taken care of.”

From October to May the volume of people on the beach is low, Amodeo said. In those months, law enforcement officers at the State Police barracks on Revere Beach Boulevard are largely responsible for patrolling the area. But when the weather improves and temperatures soar to 70 degrees and higher, visitation, traffic, and even gang activity increase in the area, Amodeo continued.

During the busiest season, which runs from May through October, the police take a three-pronged approach to the beach. The first relies on the barracks and the staff there. The second involves a 12-trooper Community Action Team (CAT) team. Then third comprises dedicated patrol units staffed with troopers on an overtime basis, such as the Revere Beach Enforcement Initiative, which patrols the beach every Friday and Saturday night after May 13.

The goal of this five-trooper unit, Amodeo said, is to identify gang activity and drug issues. “It’s been pretty successful for the last two years,” he told the council.

The barracks, in addition, have had a significant success rate. The Revere barracks made 952 arrests, ranking them second in the Commonwealth for call-to-service and fourth in total arrests, State Police Lieutenant and Barracks Commander James Mills told the council.

Funding for the patrol units, like the Revere Beach Enforcement Initiative, comes from the state legislature, Amodeo said. And State Representative Kathi-Anne Reinstein reported that the recent House budget restored funding for the dedicated patrol units, setting aside one million dollars.

“Hopefully it will survive the budget process… It’s been something we’ve been fighting for for fourteen years… It’s vital,” she stated.

Councillor-at-Large Brian Arrigo inquired if money from the budget will be ready available in July and August.

“Hopefully if it’s signed in time, we will have the money right away,” Reinstein answered.

The Revere Fire Department, though, continues to work with limited manpower and funding.  “The Pines Station is not open. We don’t have the personnel. We don’t have the overtime money,” Fire Chief Eugene Doherty said.

And traffic presents other problems, especially on the Boulevard, Revere Street, and Ocean Avenue areas, which can become gridlocked when high volumes of travelers come in and out of the beach.

“I can assure you that fire apparatus will still be able to get down to Oak Island and the Pines,” Chief Doherty said. “I have never seen us not get to where we need to go.”

The council on the whole commended the public safety officials for the work they perform for the city.

Councillor-at-Large Anthony Zambuto took time to thank the legislators for securing the necessary funds for the services. “We don’t show you people enough how much we appreciate your effort… It starts with the state delegation,” he said.

Ward 1 Councillor and Council Present Richard Penta said in conclusion: “That’s what it’s all about. When you have limited resources, you have to work together… I think the residents feel safe when they have you people looking out for their best interests.”

  Wayne Ramos, Sr. 50, of 98 Roland Road was charged with assault & battery; resisting arrest; and possession of a Class B drug.

  Wayne R. Ramos, 20, of 98 Roland Road was charged with assault.

Fernando Ferreira Marciano, 31, of 57 Columbus St., Chelsea was charged with failure to yield at intersection; and unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle.

Virginia Dunbar, 51, of 1 Brackenbury Lane, Beverly was charged with possession of a Class B drug; and possession of a Class E drug.

Chhaiden Van, 30, of 116 Shirley Avenue was charged with possession of a Class B drug; possession of a Class C drug; and possession of a Class E drug.

Le Xiong, 31, of 394 Ocean Avenue was charged was charged with assault.

Wednesday, May 2

  No arrests were reported.

Thursday, May 3

  Jordan Brown, 21, of 47 Delano Avenue was charged with resisting arrest; disorderly conduct; and possession of marijuana.

Robert K. Odoardi, 52, of 54 Amelia Place was charged with breaking & entering into a building in the nighttime for felony; malicious destruction of property over $250; resisting arrest; disturbing the peace; two counts of attempting to commit a crime; trespassing; and violating the city knife ordinance.

Friday, May 4

  Andre J. Banks, 19, of 8 Halborn St., Boston was charged with an arrest warrant.

Saturday, May 5

  No arrests were reported.

Sunday, May 6

  Jamil Quinone, 34, of 39 Hyde Street was charged with malicious destruction of property over $250; sell/possess an electric stun gun; and an arrest warrant.

William McKenna, 44, of 589 Broadway was charged with an arrest warrant.

Jonathan J. Dillon, 31, of 185 Hamilton Ave., Lynn was charged with an arrest warrant.

Monday, May 7

  Teresa M. Spera-Meadowcroft, 48, of 237 Lantern Road was charge with a Fugitive from Justice Court Warrant.