By Mark Niedergang, Peter St. Clair and Patricia Wild

(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)

We urge the Somerville Retirement Board to divest from all companies in the fossil fuel business. All three of us are vested members of the Somerville City Retirement System. We support divestment for two reasons: (1) We believe that our children’s and the City’s future is in peril if humankind does not drastically reduce our use of fossil fuels; and (2) we want to protect our retirement and our pensions. We believe that fossil fuel companies are poor investments that will not only generate less return than other, comparable stocks and bonds, but are becoming increasingly volatile and risky investments, likely in the future to lose money for the Somerville Retirement System.

— Photos by Donald Norton

By Donald Norton

The public was invited to an information session about the proposed zoning ordinance overhaul on Tuesday, Jan. 20, at the Somerville Armory. The session included a presentation on the new code followed by an opportunity to review the code and map and discuss them with city staff. Following this information session, the Land Use Committee of the Board of Aldermen and the Planning Board have scheduled a joint public hearing on the proposed ordinance for Tuesday, Feb. 10, at 6 p.m. in the Aldermanic Chambers at City Hall, 93 Highland Ave.

One of my all time favorite greens is broccoli rabe. It has a bright but slightly bitter flavor and is found predominantly in Southern Italian, Portuguese and even Spanish cuisine. It’s part of the mustard family and is in the same subspecies as the turnip. (Wikipedia.org)

By Jim Clark

Police were dispatched to a Medford St. location at around 2:00 a.m. last Sunday on reports of a larceny of a motor vehicle in progress.

This is a new book from writer/poet/scholar Bert Stern of Union Square, Somerville. It is reviewed by Somerville Bagel Bard, Lawrence Kessenich.

Robin Stratton is the founder of Big Table Publishing, and the Boston Literary Magazine. I am glad she has shared a poem with the LYRICAL.

— Photo by Brianna Bemel

Somerville’s snow emergency will be lifted tomorrow, Wednesday, Jan. 28 at noon. Residents who parked in a municipal or school lot will have until 2 p.m. to move their vehicles. Parking meters will be back in effect when the emergency ends, as will enforcement of 48-hour parking. Resident permit parking enforcement will resume at noon on Thursday, so make sure your permit is visible on your car. Find out more about the end of the snow emergency and all the City’s snow policies at http://www.somervillema.gov/snow.

Somerville got its share of snow on Tuesday as Snow Storm “Juno” blew through the region leaving sidewalks, walkways and streets in need of a massive dig-out. ~Photo by Bobbie Toner

By Jim Clark

The anticipated snowstorm that has been christened “Juno” hit the northeast hard, as was expected, and residents and city work crews have been spending most of Tuesday digging out and trying to keep up with the snowfall.

Arrests:

Tevon Ngomba, of 25 Canal La., January 19, 8:31 p.m., arrested at 20 Memorial Rd. on a warrant charge of armed robbery.

Brandon Levins, of 65 Ashland St., Medford, January 20, 2:42 a.m., arrested at 190 Broadway on a charge of indecent exposure.