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The Somerville High Scholarship Foundation drawing is Friday night at the Highlander Café over on the gym side of the school. Lots of door prizes, it's a fun night for everyone and a worthy local charity here in Somerville to help with Scholarships for High School students. Festivities begin at 7 p.m. so be early and help raise more money for a great organization.

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Big deficit for the city coming this year, some estimates of about $8 million in short fall, and the administration is looking everywhere to cut cost and unfortunately major layoffs will be happening. On the school side, we hear the Brown School might just be on the block to close since it's not election year for the School Committeeman in Ward 5.

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Congratulations to a special young lady here in Somerville, Miss Isabella Maria who just received her first holy communion this past Sunday at Saint Joseph's Church in Union Square. Immediately after her mother Maria Curtatone went all out and threw a huge reception fit for the princess Isabella at the Holiday Inn. Over 150 attendees enjoyed the festivities including dancing to a seven piece band and even a visit from the Roma Marching Band. Isabella is supposed to be submitting an article shortly on her school and class; we can't wait to publish it.

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We hear that the Holiday Inn will be taking on some major changes very shortly, via improvements throughout the hotel on Washington Street. We have been told that Distinctive Hospitality Group of New York has bought the hotel. The new owners have already put the pedal to the metal with some of the changes; many more to be expected within the next few months including their nightclub Choices which will become a state of the art entertainment center for the area.

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Reminder that the public installation of officers this Saturday, May 22, at 6: 30 p.m over at the Lion's Club. President Billy Tauro will be installed along with his officers for a second term. Tickets are $45 per person ($30 Senior discount), includes: full dinner (Hawaiian Luow Pig Roast, refreshments and live entertainment including a band & comedy show. For more info and reservations call (617)293-2016. We hear the Lions love Billy's leadership so much they won't let him go. We understand that the other organizations here in Somerville also want to recruit him, since he does a wonderful job in everything he does.

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A big get well goes out to City of Somerville Director of Operations and our good friend Ricky Willette who is out recovering from minor surgery. Rickey's a great guy and we wish him a speedy recovery…

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Congratulations to our good friend and Somerville resident Yuriko Nonaka. She is an Opera singer from Japan who now lives in the city and is a recent graduate from the Long School of Music in Cambridge. She has performed a leading role in the Madame Butterfly Opera all over Europe and recently has also performed this past January at Cambridge City Hall's annual inauguration. We wish her all the best in her career and maybe she will be asked to perform at the next Somerville City Hall inauguration as well.

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The Spring 2010 ResiStat meetings will be held over the next two months, beginning on Monday, May 17th with the Ward 7 neighborhood meeting at the Visiting Nurses Association (VNA), located at 405 Alewife Brook Parkway (entrance on Capen St.). In addition to updates on goals discussed in each ward at the fall meetings, the upcoming series of meetings will include a neighborhood walking tour to provide visual updates on community projects and initiatives. Mayor Curtatone and City staff will also discuss the Fiscal Year (FY) 2011 budget outlook. Residents who have already subscribed to their ward ResiStat alert lists will receive updates with additional information prior to each meeting. Residents who have not already done so may subscribe by visiting www.somervillema.gov, or calling 311.

ResiStat is a subset of the City's SomerStat data-driven management program, which brings data on City operations and policies to the neighborhoods and solicits input and ideas from residents. The program was piloted in 2007 and was funded through grants from the Boston Foundation and the National Center for Civic Innovation. Currently, there are 12 ResiStat groups: one per ward and a number of groups geared toward specific constituencies.

Each walking tour departs from the meeting location 45 minutes prior to the meeting time. Walking tours are optional. Upcoming meetings will be held as follows: Ward 7: Monday, May 17, 7:00 p.m., VNA, 405 Alewife Brook Parkway (On Capen Street). Ward 2: Wednesday, May 19, 7:00 p.m., Argenziano School Cafeteria, 290 Washington St., Ward 1: Monday, May 24, 7:00 p.m., Capuano Early Childhood Center, 150 Glen St., Wards 3, 4 and 5: Wednesday, May 26, 7:30 p.m., VNA, 259 Lowell St. Ward 6: Monday, June 7, 7:00 p.m., Ciampa Manor, 27 College Ave. For more information or to sign-up for neighborhood specific updates please visit www.somervilleresistat.org, call 311, or contact Daniel Hadley at DHadley@somervillema.gov.

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The Somerville Library has some great children's performers. On Monday, May 24th at 10:30 a.m. head over to the Central branch for the last in a series of sing alongs with local performer Suzanne Clark. Suzanne is a multi-talented singer, songwriter, children's entertainer and educator. She really enjoys being with children and knows how to pull in an audience. She sprinkles all of her endeavors and programs with a healthy dose of fun, humor, movement, and audience participation.

The Friends of the Somerville Public Library will hold a book sale preview at the Central Library on Thursday, May 20th from 5:00 to 8:00 p.m. for members of the Friends who joined at the $50 level or higher. The regular book sale will take place on: Friday, May 21st from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m.; Saturday, May 22nd from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.; and Sunday, May 23rd from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. You can get incredibly good deals on new and used books, movies, and music and show your support for the Library! Don't miss it! Proceeds from the book sale help support library programs for adults and children, including the popular "museum membership" program which allows Somerville residents to visit local museums free or at a discount.

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Discuss open space, green space and sustainability issues next week with Groundwork Somerville. Where can we have new parks and gardens? What will happen with the community path? Share your views on improving Somerville's natural environment Weddnesday, May 26 at 6:30 at Groundwork Somerville, 19 Properzi Way, Suite O (follow the signs from Somerville Ave)