By Nathan Lamb and Jeanne Leyden

Adult Foster Care (AFC) helps thousands of families across Massachusetts provide the best possible care at home for loved ones. But the program is facing unprecedented budget cuts, and that has supporters statewide planning a show of support at Beacon Hill in March.

The first annual Adult Foster Care Awareness Day will be held Wednesday, March 8, from 9-2 at Nurse’s Hall at the Statehouse.

Charles Bulfinch and the Barrell Mansion
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Enjoy an entertaining and informative talk by Joseph Cornish, Preservationist, past president of the New England Chapter of the Society of Architectural Historians and Bulfinch aficionado. Cornish will discuss the architecture of Charles Bulfinch (1763-1844) including his design of the Barrell Mansion. The mansion and gardens were built on Cobble Hill in Charlestown in 1792 (now Somerville) and eventually became the McLean Insane Asylum. The Somerville Museum is now the home of the elegant double flying staircase of the original mansion.
For more information, visit our website: www.HistoricSomerville.org.

On Monday, February 20,  City and Somerville Public Schools offices will be closed for Presidents Day. Trash and recycling collection will be on a one-day delay all week. On Monday parking meters and resident parking permits will not be enforced.

Don’t miss the chance to watch Somerville High High School Quiz Show team compete on WGBH Saturday, February 25 at 6:00 p.m. The show repeats Sunday, February 26 on WGBH 2 at 10:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m.

http://www.wgbh.org/schedule/index.cfm

By Jim Clark

Police officers were dispatched to the Burger King on Somerville Ave. on reports that a customer was trying to pass a counterfeit bill.

Upon arrival, the officers spoke with the manager who said that an employee had received a counterfeit $20 bill from a customer and notified her immediately when the counterfeit pen showed positive and the safe would not accept the bill.

By Rebecca Danvers

Two grants from the Tisch College Community Research Center at Tufts University (TCRC) will support upcoming research projects in Somerville and Medford, continuing the TCRC’s decade of work backing studies that contribute to Tufts’ host communities. This year’s $25,000 in grant awards will fund studies that seek to evaluate local residents’ access to healthy food in Somerville and gauge the efficacy of a series of community-based discussions in Medford.

Apply now for the 2017 Urban Ag Ambassador Program
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The Mayor’s Urban Agriculture Initiative grew out of the city’s effort to further encourage the growing of healthy, local foods. The initiative includes the passage of the first municipal Urban Ag Ordinance in New England, the Urban Agriculture Ambassadors Program, the raising of the first city farms at South Street, and other projects which promote growing and eating of local food.

By Nathan Lamb

(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)

February is budget season at Beacon Hill, and that has advocates from across the Commonwealth converging at the Statehouse for Elder Lobby Day on February 27.

Somerville-Cambridge Elder Services (SCES) will be there backing several proposals for Home Care and other community-based supports. As an elder services agency, we know that the vast majority of older adults prefer to live in their homes as long as possible, and we also know it’s crucial that lawmakers hear from constituents about how important these programs are.

The Master Land Disposition Agreement (MLDA) between the Somerville Redevelopment Authority (SRA) and Union Square Master Developer US2 was submitted to the SRA for review at their meeting on February 16 and is scheduled for consideration at a special meeting to be announced. A copy of the MLDA is available online at www.somervillema.gov/US2MLDA.

~Photos by Claudia Ferro

Mayor Joe Curtatone, Jimmy Del Ponte and the Moonlighters sang to Somerville seniors at the Alewife VNA and Little Sisters of the Poor last week to celebrate Valentine’s Day.