By Gabriela C. Martinez

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If you have been planning to try out some of Somerville’s international cuisine, The Welcome Projects invites you to the Armory on April 16, where you will have the chance gastronomically travel around the world and experience the cuisine of Mexico, Ireland, Ethiopia, Brazil, and India in one place. The Welcome Project, an organization dedicated to providing support to Somerville’s immigrant communities, will be hosting YUM: A Taste of Immigrant City. The event will also be an opportunity for the Welcome Project to celebrate its 25 years as a non-profit.

Under the training of Somerville High School Career and Technical Education (CTE) Teacher Mario Sousa, six SHS Carpentry students earned a 30-hour OSHA credential, an extremely valuable credential to have when entering the employment field. The group pictured at right (one student who completed the training is not pictured) is the first SHS class to earn this 30-hour OSHA card in-house. Mr. Sousa completed a two-course training last summer at Keene State in New Hampshire, to become a 30-hour OSHA “train the trainer” instructor. The training was funded by a Perkins grant awarded earlier this year to the SHS CTE program. Congratulations to all the students on this outstanding accomplishment.

By Joseph A. Curtatone

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

The storms of February have made our transportation deficiencies glaringly obvious, and those failures and deficiencies didn’t happen by chance. We created them. We created them by saddling the MBTA with $3.3 billion in state debt, a failed funding formula, and a watering down of Gov. Patrick’s Way Forward funding plan. We are trying to be competitive in the 21st century economy with Nixon-era infrastructure. It doesn’t work. We have before us a choice, an opportunity, and a challenge. The Boston region is one of the most important regions in the world—part of the reason Boston is designated an “Alpha City” by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network, meaning that it links major economic regions and states into the world economy. The challenge is: will we remain competitive in the future? Will our capital remain an Alpha City? Business and municipal leaders joined together last week to send a message to our leaders on Beacon Hill: Let’s capitalize on the opportunity before us. Let’s make the choice to invest in a well-maintained and an expanded MBTA system, so we can meet that future economic challenge.

Calling all vinyl fetishists! Enter your most wacky album cover in the Somerville Arts Council’s Bizarro Album Cover Contest!

 By Jim Clark

Police were called to a Kilby St. location shortly after midnight last Saturday on a noise complaint.

Upon arrival, three males were spotted standing outside at the reported address in the alley that leads to Lake St.

The Mayor’s Fitness Challenge “on ice” took place last Thursday at Veteran’s Memorial Ice Rink.

By Patrick McDonagh

Other than his busy family, there is no one else hovering around the mayor of Somerville at the ice rink. He helps his son clean up after hockey practice. I imagine before our meeting to see at least someone within close proximity of the Mayor holding a clipboard speaking at inaudible speeds about the Mayor’s schedule. My stereotypical imagination of political figures might be jaded by binge watching the Netflix series House Of Cards.

By Tom Bannister

Union Square Station Associates (US2) announced this week that its detailed planning and design efforts for two “gateway” development sites in Somerville’s Union Square would follow a more comprehensive planning effort on all seven blocks as part of the ongoing community-based planning process led by the City of Somerville. US2 is the City’s designated development partner for seven sites in Union Square.

Ward 7 Alderman Katjana Ballantyne and other members of the Board of Alderman have expressed a need for detailed clarification on various provisions of the proposed zoning ordinance changes.

By Jim Clark

City of Somerville officials are continuing their in-depth study and refinement of the proposed new zoning ordinance, seeking clarification from planners as well as soliciting comments and concerns from residents and commercial interests who will be affected.

In collaboration with the Somerville Farm to School Project, the Somerville Family Learning Collaborative held Literacy Pop-Up Events at eight Somerville schools in June 2014 that were attended by over 500 families.

By Melissa E. Pike

In December of 2013, Somerville Public Schools were honored with a $45,000 dollar grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to begin the planning and development of Somerville Farm to School, a recent runner-up winner in the Northeast Farm to School Recipes for Success Contest.

Coming up on Saturday, April 11 at 6 p.m., “Under the Roof Benefit 2015” for the Somerville Homeless Shelter’s 30th Anniversary. The Somerville Homeless Coalition (SHC) will host the dinner at the Center for Arts at the Armory in Somerville. To mark this milestone, a number of founding members of the SHC will be in attendance and honored for their initiative, vision, and compassion. While they are still “working to put themselves out of business,” they are committed to helping those in need for as long as there are homeless and hungry people in our community. Visit www.shcinc.org to learn more about the SHC or this event. For questions, please contact Kathryn at 617-623-6111 or kbenjamin@shcinc.org. They hope you will participate in this terrific event.