The Somerville Department of Public Works (DPW) wishes to remind residents that the final days for yard waste collection this season are next week from Monday to Friday, December 8-12, 2025. Yard waste can be left out for pickup by DPW on residents’ scheduled trash collection days. Please note: yard waste cannot be collected if it is put in plastic bags.

Tours provide information for prospective families on selecting preferred school for Fall 2026

Somerville Public Schools’ (SPS) school enrollment period for prekindergarten and kindergarten students begins on Friday, January 2, preceded by a series of school tours for prospective families.

Somerville’s Ralph Waldo Christie & the Perils of the Mark 14 Torpedo

Somerville Museum presents a Tavern Talk with Dan Breen at Aeronaut Brewery on December 3.

Park on the Odd Side During Winter 2025-2026 Snow Emergencies, Unless Otherwise Posted

The City of Somerville is encouraging the community to get ready now for potential snowstorms by signing up for City Alerts and reviewing protocols for snow emergencies. Preparing now will help keep the community safe, as well as reduce ticketing or towing for snow emergency parking violations and ticketing for failure to follow shoveling requirements.

Around Hear: AMOR, AMOR, AMOR

Free concert, Sunday, December 14th, 2025, 2-4pm, Mystic Activity Center, 530 Mystic Ave. Somerville, MA

All you need is love, but there are three kinds that you shouldn’t miss out on, at least according to the Ancient Greeks. There’s eros: that Valentine’s Day kind of love that makes the knees quiver and heart sing. There’s philia: the love of friendship, such as the warm bond we musicians feel as we play together. And there’s agape, a term that encompasses holy love and the goodwill shared and felt by people in strong community, such as the musical community that we are creating together, month after month, year after year, through Around Hear.

Information and registration event on Thursday, December 11, 5 to 7 p.m.

Mayor Katjana Ballantyne and the City of Somerville’s Health and Human Services (HHS) Department invite community members to an information session to learn more about the Home Energy Assistance Program (HEAP), which can provide financial assistance with home heating costs this winter to eligible households.

The city’s warming center will reopen this winter with additional funding provided by a state grant.

By Harry Kane

More money is being allocated to help the homeless thanks to another generous grant from the state. The winter warming center will reopen on December 8 and provide safe sleeping spaces through April 12 at the former Cummings School building.

Life in the Ville by Jimmy Del Ponte

Thanksgiving … gone. Black Friday … gone. A month of hectic, frantic, and desperate preparation for Christmas has begun. The commercials may tell us that prices are low, but shoppers are high-strung. You saw the news reports that showed crazed bargain hunters throughout the country acting like they were giving away wads of cash. They stood in line overnight, rubbing elbows with the same people they would be willing to fight to the finish, just to save $100 on a flat screen TV or an Xbox. You would have to pay me at least $300 just to stand outside in the dark, freezing my butt off.