The Department of Fire Services posts a list of permitted fireworks displays and updates it each week through the summer. To view the list – and to learn more about the dangers of illegal fireworks – visit the DFS website.

Fires, explosions, and serious injuries related to illegal fireworks spike each summer in Massachusetts, and fire service leaders are hoping to reverse last year’s increase over 2024.

Several community groups will jointly host a multi-community forum for the 2nd Middlesex State Senate candidates on July 16, 2026 from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m., at Somerville High School, 81 Highland Ave. Doors will open at 6:30 p.m.

Life in the Ville by Jimmy Del Ponte

How do Somerville people cope with a heat wave? I asked them, and here’s what they said.

“It used to be a bus, then hitch a ride to the Mystic Lakes. Then a window fan or two in the ‘parlor’!”

Free bottled water available at City Hall and all library branches during regular business hours Wednesday-Friday 

The City of Somerville has declared a Heat Emergency, effective Wednesday-Saturday, July 1-4, due to the dangerously hot temperatures forecast for this week. Feels-like temperatures around 110 degrees are expected, and temperatures are not expected to cool down much overnight. The City is making bottled water free and available to anyone who needs it at City Hall and all Somerville Public Library locations during regular business hours on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday (while supplies last). 

Last Thursday at Project Outlook’s monthly meeting, seniors enjoyed making art and crafts for the 4th of July holiday. Project Outlook is organized by the Somerville Council on Aging, the group focuses on social connection, mutual support and enjoying a meal together in a welcoming environment. They meet monthly, typically on the third Thursday of the month at the Council on Aging’s Holland Street Center, 167 Holland Street.