[ January 31, 2009; 12:00 pm; ] The days are lengthening and the sap will soon begin flowing. That’s right, it’s Maple Syrup Time! The Somerville Maple Syrup Project will be kicking off the 2009 season this Saturday, January 31st at 12pm!

For more details read It’s Time to TAP for SAP

The days are lengthening and the sap will soon begin flowing. That’s right, it’s Maple Syrup Time! The Somerville Maple Syrup Project will be kicking off the 2009 season this Saturday, January 31st at 12pm!
We’ll be tapping the trees on Tufts Campus. Meet at the corner of College Ave and Professor’s Row on Tufts Campus. [...]

I want to share with you a call I received this week from an 80-year-old Somerville woman. Olga is a retired math teacher who is recovering from hip replacement surgery. After hearing President Obama’s Inaugural Address and his call to service, she picked up the phone, saying she was moved to “give back any way I can.” Olga will be tutoring math at Somerville High School three hours a week. I know that there are many more Olgas in Somerville and beyond who are searching for meaningful ways to connect with and give back to their community.

This sounds like a proactive and timely step on the part of the mayor, but is this “outside” panel of “experts” truly a good source of guidance for our city in these dire times?

Dear colleagues and neighbors,
At least three times a week I get email from members of our community offering advice on ways the website of the Somerville Public Schools can be reorganized to better meet their information needs.
There is no question the Internet is a valuable and powerful information source for many people.  And the management [...]

The Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) can put up to $5,548 in your pocket this tax season! EITC is the federal and state income tax credit available to low and moderate-income working families and individuals. Don’t miss out! Last year, more than 50,000 eligible working families in Massachusetts failed to apply for EITC, leaving an estimated $75 million in unclaimed money in Washington, D.C. Couldn’t you use that money where you live?

Do you see the effects of the economic down-turn here in Somerville? Have you seen for-sale and foreclosure signs in your neighborhood? Have you or your neighbors lost jobs? Do you see businesses closing or reducing hours? Have you noticed higher prices at the supermarket and in your energy bills? How are you affected?

Somerville Adult Evening School Winter 2009 Classes start the week of February 3.
 
Whether you long to learn to ice a cake like a pro, play an African drum, speak Portuguese, deliver CPR, design a web page, do your own home improvements, or simply cut your home energy costs, Somerville Adult Evening School has an affordable [...]

[ January 27, 2009; 4:30 pm to 6:30 pm. ] The young people from Centro Presente’s Pintamos Nuestro Mundo, and The Welcome Project’s Youth Program would like to cordially invite you to: “A Dialogue with Youth on Welcoming Massachusetts” .
Tuesday, January 27th from 4:30 to 6:30pm
Cross Street Senior Center, 165 Broadway, Somerville

For more about this event, read A Dialogue with Youth on Welcoming Massachusetts.

This event is an opportunity for Somerville youth and community partners to meet in person, build community, and discuss how Somerville can become a safer and welcoming place for everyone. At the event, our youth members will present personal stories, and sit in small dialogue groups with adults.

Following Gov. Patrick’s announcement today of $128 million in local aid cuts, Mayor Joe Curtatone told CBS radio station affiliate WBZ that Somerville could lose “close to $3 million in this fiscal year”. How much pain will that mean for jobs and services in our city?

Aldermen Gewirtz and Desmond, and simultaneously Aldermen White and Sullivan, have introduced measures to stem the flow of unwanted phone books (text below the cut). If you have an opinion about unwanted phone books, the My Somerville page is a good way to find out who your aldermen are and let them know.

Order

By Ald. [...]

Learn more about the Unidos program at the February 3rd Open House/Tour at the Capuano Early Childhood Center (150 Glen Street).  The Open House starts at 8:30 am.
Families of children who will be 5 by August 31, 2009 are invited to learn more about the Unidos program at this open house. Unidos is a bi-cultural/bi-lingual [...]

On Tuesday, January 27 from 4:30-6:30 pm, Centro Presente and the Welcome Project will be holding an event focused on the rights of immigrants in the area of Boston. We will be talking about the unfairness and inequality of treatment for immigrants. We’re also going to talk about the abuse of I.C.E. breaking happy families, [...]

Click “Read more” to learn about:

- College Goal Sunday on January 25th
- Kindergarten registration paperwork help, January 26-29
- Bye Bye Birdie at Somerville High School February 6-8
- Student art on exhibit at the Nave Gallery
- Somerville Special Olympics Swim team

The Food Services Department is starting a Student Advisory Board in February to give students the opportunity to voice their thoughts about school meals.  Students will meet with the Food Service Director and Nutrition Outreach Coordinator on a monthly basis to advise on the school breakfast and lunch program through the rest of the school year.  [...]

[ January 20, 2009; 8:00 pm to 11:00 pm. ] A couple weeks shy of a year since I first heard it, I checked in to Dipdive.com to listen to will i. am’s “Yes We Can Song,” and must report with mild embarrassment that it still chokes me up.  Will tomorrow’s inauguration speech be more than a reworking of the stump speeches we’ve all [...]

[ January 25, 2009; 2:00 pm; ] Read more information here.

I’m helping the School Department with publicity for College Goal Sunday, on January 25 at 2:00, in the Somerville High School cafeteria. Please pass this information on to students who could use some help completing the FAFSA financial aid form.

Seriously, I am feeling like celebrating.  Our friend Seth Itzkan (Planet Tech, Davis Sq.) took off for DC yesterday at dawn.  He said that they would be closing the roads after that so you couldn’t get in later if you wanted to.  He left on the Lucky Star bus from Boston, and caught the NYDC [...]

[ January 27, 2009; 6:45 pm to 8:45 pm. ] [Note, I am the Endorsements Chair of PDS - Barry]

Come out to the first meeting of the new year!

What: PDS January Meeting
When: Tuesday, January 27th – 6:45pm to 8:45pm
Where: Visiting Nurses Association, Community Room, 259 Lowell Street, Somerville
Agenda includes:

upcoming campaign and candidate training
endorsement discussion on the condo coversion ordinance
PDS’ campaign on how Somerville will [...]

I want to tell you about Pintamos Nuestro Mundo (We Paint Our World), which is the youth group of Centro Presente.
What I like about PNM is that it feels like a second home. When I go there I feel very safe. There is nothing to fear when I go there. Everyone is nice and [...]

[ January 20, 2009; 11:30 am to 1:00 pm. ] Rep. Denise Provost and I invite people to join us in a celebratory inauguration lunch at Orleans Restaurant in Davis Square on Jan. 20 at 11:30. There will be a large-screen TV tuned to the inauguration, and lunch will be Dutch treat.

A lot of people worked hard for our new president, and would like to [...]

[ January 19, 2009; 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm. ] Got ideas for improving and expanding Somerville Voices? Come talk about them. 6 to 8 pm at the Somerville Visiting Nurses assisted living facility, 259 Lowell Street, in the small dining room.

The Benjamin Brown School, a Somerville public school located at 201 Willow Ave (corner of Kidder), will hold its Open House week the same hours as the rest of the district’s schools, with the addition of open house hours on Tuesday, January 20th, starting at 8:30 a.m and ending at 1:30 p.m.  Open House will continue Wed, [...]

[ January 19, 2009; 12:00 pm; ]
Volunteer on National Service Day with Somerville Climate Action
MLK Day, Monday, January 19th
Spread the word on energy-efficiency in underserved communities!

On Monday, January 19th (Martin Luther King Jr. Day), we will be going door-to-door in poor and moderate-income communities of Somerville, to spread awareness about simple home improvements to save money, energy, and (well, yes) the [...]

I was looking for some general information about Portland, OR and went to their city website and there, right in full view(!), was a link labled “Request Public Records.” The link leads to a pretty amazing page considering the stonewall sometimes encountered in Somerville. There’s even a link from this to a standard fee schedule. [...]

The Board of Directors of CAAS, the Community Action Agency of Somerville, is pleased to announce that Kimberly Smith-Cofield is the new Executive Director of Somerville’s anti-poverty agency. She began work on Monday, January 5.

“We are very lucky to have found someone with as much passion for CAAS’ work as Kim,” said Board President Paul [...]

[ January 23, 2009; 3:30 pm to 8:30 pm. ]
Retirement Party
For Jack Hamilton
Date: Friday, January 23, 2009
Time: 3:30-8:00 p.m.
Place: Dante Club, Craigie Street,
Somerville, MA
Price: $15 (well wishers $10)

Make checks payable to:
CAAS/Retirement Party
(Must receive by January 16)
Send to CAAS, 66-70 Union Square #104, Somerville, MA 02143, attention: Ellie Blute.
For more information, please call Ellie at (617) 666-5747.
Come and celebrate Jack’s legacy!

Read more for details…

The period after the December break is always a time of high activity in the schools.  What follows is a list of events and activities which might be of interest to all residents, business owners and others across the city:
1. The Food Services Department is starting a Student Advisory Board this February!  The [...]

On my way down to the train at Davis Station around 8:30am this morning, I was about to pass through the gate when a transit officer asked me to submit to a bag inspection. There was a group of about 4 or 5 officers wearing yellow and black jackets standing next to a small folding table with a machine on top.

ECIP is an integrated early childhood program with a mix of standard and special education children ages three and four. Classes meet four days per week for 5.25 hours per day. There is one teacher and one paraprofessional in each class for a maximum of 15 children.
There is always high demand for the “typically developing [...]

Students who will be 5 by August 31, 2009 are eligible for free, full-day kindergarten in the Somerville Public Schools. Kindergarten registration begins in January! Registration materials will be mailed home to the parents/guardians of every age eligible child born in Somerville.

[ January 19, 2009; 10:00 am to 12:00 pm. ] 10 A.M. – Noon, Monday, January 19, 2009

Somerville High School auditorium, 81 Highland Ave

Keynote address
2009 MLK awards
Musical Performances

This event is free and open to the public

Free Refreshments generously provided by the Somerville Public Schools

Co-sponsored by the Somerville Public Schools

For more information, contact: the Human Rights Commission at

617-625-6600 x2406 or Sonja Darai sdarai(at)somervillema.gov

Accessible at main entrance [...]

[ January 20, 2009; 7:30 pm; ] Somerville Climate Action fights global warming by helping Somerville residents, businesses, and the municipality to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. We promote energy-conservation, energy-efficiency and the adoption of renewable sources of power through education, advocacy, and coalition building. We believe that this process will result in Somerville’s greater economic, social, and environmental sustainability, building [...]

[ January 1, 2009; 11:30 am to 2:00 pm. ] Come learn about the important role YOUR city played in the American Revolution at the annual flag raising on January 1st. We will meet at City Hall at 11:30am and follow General George Washington on horseback up to Prospect Hill for a Program to start at 12:00 pm.

Q: Where was the FIRST American flag flown?
A: [...]