By Tom Bannister

The City of Somerville has announced that the Somerville Arts Council, in partnership with Kitchen Inc. (a culinary incubator in Union Square) and the Office of Strategic Planning and Community Development, has launched the Nibble Entrepreneurship Program (NEP), an 8-week workshop and mentoring program designed to educate and empower immigrants interested in launching culinary careers while strengthening the city’s existing reputation as a hot and diverse food destination.

Somerville by Design is hosting a 3-day design charrette in Union Square that kicks off today to get the community’s ideas for what the neighborhood will look like in the future. Community members are invited to stop in the former Union Square Post Office, 237 Washington St., anytime from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Monday, March 9 and Tuesday, March 10, and from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Wednesday, March 11. There will also be scheduled discussion groups happening throughout the day on Monday and Tuesday, and on Wednesday night from 7:30-9 p.m., the pin-up presentation will showcase ideas generated by the community through the charrette for the future of Union Square. For more information, visit somervillebydesign.com.

Students in Framingham, Tyngsborough, Somerville, and Westford receive honors

Left to right: Tristan Khim, Alexi Delcid, District Attorney Ryan, Chormrern Chan, and Nick Rioux.

Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan and Middlesex Partnerships for Youth, Inc., are pleased to announce that Tristan Khim, a student at Nashoba Valley Technical High School in Westford is the winner of the third annual 2015 Poster Project. Honorable Mention Certificates were awarded to: Nick Rioux, a student at Keefe Technical High School in Framingham; Chormrern Chan from Greater Lowell Technical High School in Tyngsborough; and Alexi Delcid from Somerville High School.

Leaders of Somerville’s faith communities are invited by Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone and the Somerville Health and Human Services Department to the first meeting of the newly reorganized Inter-Faith Council.

Last updated Sat., Mar. 7, 10:00 p.m.

• PARKING BAN: The citywide snow emergency parking ban is still in effect, meaning all cars must park on the odd-side of the street (unless otherwise posted), or unless the ban has been lifted on your street. 
• ROLLING LIFT OF BAN: See below for a list of streets no longer under the ban. 
• ADDITIONAL PARKING: Parking is also available in City lots in business districts or at Dilboy Stadium. Please note that Mon.-Fri. school lots are available for overnight parking only from 6 p.m. to 7 a.m., and at all hours on weekends.
• CLEAR SNOW OFF CARS: All cars parked on roads where the ban has ban lifted must be cleared of snow within 48 hours of the ban lifting on that street. Cars not cleared of snow by the time noted after the street will be subject to ticketing and towing because the uncleared cars are safety hazards.

Somerville Youth Soccer League (SYSL) is seeking community members and soccer enthusiasts to assist us with our successful in-town (intramural) program—U5/U6 and U7/U8 coaches and assistant coaches.

Eight new members are joining the Union Square Civic Advisory Committee (CAC), which is expanding and broadening the committee’s experience, diversity, and representation of the neighborhood, as the community planning process for the square continues this spring.

Life in the Ville by Jimmy Del Ponte

(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)

I figured I’d do a story that could at least get our minds in a summer sort of mood. I’m going to talk about those great old days when our bikes were so important to us.

Make sure to check out some of the latest news headlines from Somerville Neighborhood News, a news production of SCATV.

Here is one featured news segment:

There’s no Business like Snow Business

​By Laura Onyeneho

Somerville small businesses impacted by snow this winter can apply for $5,000 to $10,000 micro-loans through a new fund, Gov. Charlie Baker and the Massachusetts Growth Capital Corporation (MGCC) announced.