At this month’s Somerville Garden Club, Warren Leach, talented garden designer and owner of Tranquil Lake Nursery in Rehoboth, MA, will recommend a diverse selection of superlative plants in his talk. He will discuss plant combinations that you can translate into your own garden, echoing leaf colors and texture to brighten the garden through the seasons.

Chain Locations were in Boston, Dedham, and Somerville

A Massachusetts candy store chain has been cited nearly $40,000 in restitution and penalties for various wage and hour violations including violating the child labor, overtime, and earned sick time laws, Attorney General Maura Healey announced on Friday.

By Corrine Lofchie

(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)

A: That’s something that people often get confused about – Medicare vs. Medicaid, or MassHealth.

So I’ll start by saying that MassHealth and Medicaid are the same thing. In Massachusetts, we call our Medicaid program MassHealth, because we wanted our own name for it. Some other states also have their own names, while others just call it Medicaid.

Many Somerville elementary school students gained some valuable leadership skills last week as they participated in Playworks New England’s eighth annual Junior Coach Leadership Convention at Northeastern University.

By Rebecca Danvers

On February 22 and 23, Playworks New England welcomed 150 fourth and fifth grade students, representing 29 Boston Public Schools and five schools in Somerville (Arthur Healey School, East Somerville Community School, West Somerville Neighborhood School, Albert F. Argenziano School, Benjamin Brown Elementary School), during the nonprofit’s eighth annual Junior Coach Leadership Convention at Northeastern University.

By Maureen Foster

This March, the Alex Foster Foundation (AFF) will host their first fundraiser. AFF is a 501c3 charitable organization whose mission is to educate and raise awareness about addiction, and to offer support to those who are struggling with addiction and their families.

By Jim Clark

While on patrol, westbound on Washington St., a police officer took note of a car parked at the rear of the Somerville No Touch Car Wash.

Taking a closer look, the officer noticed that the driver of the car, a male later identified as Daniel Graham, of Burlington, appeared to be reclining back in the driver’s seat sleeping.

Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan has announced a new partnership with Project Linus to provide blankets to children in Middlesex County who experience an opioid-related, or other trauma.

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 this month’s notable city data—and interesting numbers. 

$2.33: That amount represents the cost per early voter for the city to offer early voting during the November 2016 election. In order to staff and coordinate early voting, the City spent a total of $38,278, but with the fourth highest turnout in the Commonwealth at 31 percent, Somerville’s early voting operations were much more cost effective than many of our neighbors (Boston spent $7.98 per early voter and Cambridge came in at $3.75). When comparing across the Commonwealth, higher spending  was not a strong predictor for larger turnout. We’re glad we helped set the bar on efficiency.

~Photos by Claudia Ferro

The Somerville Times photographer, Claudia Ferro, visited the Construction Technology department at Somerville High School this week.

(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)

To the Editor:

I wanted to offer some questions I had after reading the paper. I just moved into my first apartment here the other day, so consider me a fresh set of eyes.

So, the mayor discusses 3 issues that don’t fit together, policy-wise. He discusses creating jobs (and economic development) for residents of Somerville, creating more affordable housing, and supporting illegal immigrants politically.