I sell everything eventually and the beauty of what I sell is, it isn’t perishable. If I don’t sell it in a week, it won’t go bad or out of style- it’s already 50 to 200 years old. It just gets more antiquey (is that a word?).

Sometimes, if the item has a good easily searched for name or description (Tiffany, gold, diamond, etc.), I’ll post it on eBay. It has to be findable because of all the millions of items on eBay. Otherwise, it’ll just get lost.

Working group will review effects of changes to parking Central Hill Campus as a result of construction on the new Somerville High School

Site preparation is underway for construction on the new Somerville High School project, which has resulted in a reduction in parking on the Central Hill Campus (which includes City Hall, Somerville High School, and the Somerville Public Library) and the need for increased staff parking the surrounding public streets. The City is seeking residents impacted by the changes in parking to serve on the Central Hill Campus Parking Working Group.

Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan and law enforcement authorities are requesting assistance from the public on the anniversary date of the murder of a store owner in Malden on January 29, 2013.

It has been five years since the shooting death of Shawn Clark at Patriot Skateboards at 804 Main Street in Malden. Since the incident occurred, Malden Police and Massachusetts State Police assigned to the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office have devoted many resources and hours to investigating the circumstances of Clark’s death. Authorities have made some progress, but no one has been charged in connection with the crime.

Dear Somerville Elected Officials in Ward 5, Ward 6 and At Large,

(The opinions and views expressed in the commentaries and letters to the Editor of The Somerville Times belong solely to the authors and do not reflect the views or opinions of The Somerville Times, its staff or publishers)

I want to make you aware that as another challenging winter has come upon us with bitter cold conditions, and again the Benjamin Brown School Building is encountering challenges. This time the issue is with the heating systems. A few weeks ago as temperatures dropped into the teens the heating system in a first floor classroom broke down (2nd Grade – Mrs. Lynch Class.). The two second grade classrooms had to share a classroom for the day, which as you know is a very challenging and disruptive situation. I immediately contacted the principal that morning and expressed my concern regarding the potential damage that could be caused by freezing pipes. This should be a standard concern from anyone with experience in building facilities and construction. Luckily the issue was resolved within a day and the building experienced no damage.

Over the next few weeks Somerville residents will be receiving the 2018 Annual City Census in the mail and we urge everyone to fill out and return theirs. High census participation provides an accurate population count and helps the City plan municipal services and adapt as the population changes. The Elections Department also uses the census to help keep voting rolls up to date.

Completed census forms can be returned via the postage paid return envelope included in the mailing, by scanning the form and emailing it to census@somervillema.gov, by dropping it off in a census box located in City buildings and libraries, or by faxing it to 617-625-5642.

Contact 311 or 617-666-3311 with any questions.

Crystal Chandler (L) photographs Wansley Francois (R) after reading for the Dear Little Black Boy project.

By Genevieve Bien-Aime

For the past month, inside the Somerville Media Center, Essence bestselling author, Tia Hines, and media producer, Crystal Chandler, have been steadily filming men, women, boys and girls of all ages for a project they’re collaborating on called Dear Little Black Girl & Dear Little Black Boy.

Groundwork Somerville launched the 2018 Maple Syrup Project on Sunday. There was a great turnout of all ages to help tap nine sugar maples on Tufts University’s campus.

If you missed it, not to worry: you can sign up to help collect sap this month by emailing josia@groundworksomerville.org. You can also come to their next maple event on February 19, Maple Brunch at The Independent.

Ballot measure would give voters a say in an additional source of transportation and education funding

The City of Somerville along with the cities of Lawrence, Lynn, Medford, New Bedford, and Northampton filed an amicus brief Monday, January 22, in support of allowing the proposed “Fair Share Amendment” to appear on the 2018 ballot. Also referred to as the “millionaire tax,” the proposed amendment to the State Constitution would add a 4 percent surtax on income over $1 million. Funding from the surtax would be slated for transportation and education.

By Jim Clark 

Police officers were dispatched to a Perkins St. residence last Thursday on reports of a felony breaking and entering.

Upon arrival, the officers spoke to the reporting party, the victim of the breaking and entering, who told them that when he came down to the basement to his laundry from the washer to the dryer, he noticed that approximately half of his laundry was missing.

By Joseph A. Curtatone

(The opinions and views expressed in the commentaries and letters to the Editor of The Somerville Times belong solely to the authors and do not reflect the views or opinions of The Somerville Times, its staff or publishers)

Taking a closer look at notable city data – and interesting numbers.

15% fewer crashes, but…:

In 2017, 15% fewer crashes were reported on city-owned roadways, which was a marked decline from the previous year. By the numbers: there were 636 crashes in 2016 and 538 in 2017, or 98 fewer crashes this year. But while any decrease is encouraging, it is still early to draw any certain conclusions from this drop. Crash reports tend fluctuate year-to-year. The 2017 total also follows a spike in accidents in 2015 and 2016. So we need to continue to monitor this over the long-term. We also can’t allow ourselves to settle for the old standard of simply striving to decrease crashes overall. We also need to eliminate the kinds of crashes that do the most harm. This will be no simple task, but it’s possible.