By Rebecca Danvers

Valentine’s Day is almost here and nothing says “I love you” more than a gift for your beloved and your beloved community.

The deadline for applications to serve on the Union Square Civic Advisory Committee (CAC) has been extended to Friday, Feb. 20. The City put a call out for new members in January due to recent openings made available and a desire to expand and broaden the committee. Attributes and skills desired by the city and the CAC might include understanding of local population diversity; green, blue, and open space advocacy; emerging economic sectors expertise; fiscal analytics; or other applicable experiences. Community members interested in serving on the CAC should submit a short letter of intent detailing their interest, applicable skills or knowledge, and resume by email to amaher@somervillema.gov, or by mail to Amanda Maher, Senior Economic Development Specialist, 93 Highland Ave., Somerville, MA 02145. Please include contact information, with your phone number and e-mail address.

We have some interesting headlines for the latest Somerville Neighborhood News show, a community news production brought to you by the dedicated staff, volunteers and interns at Somerville Community Access TV.​ Here is one featured headline:

In accordance with the City of Somerville’s snow removal policies and the city’s traffic regulations, residents are reminded that residential permit parking stickers must be clearly visible as of 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 4, and that cars and parking spaces on public streets must be shoveled out by Thursday, Feb. 5, at 6 p.m. Mayor Curtatone asks residents to help the city’s snow removal crews by ensuring vehicles are free from snow and ice, alleviating the potential for damage to vehicles that cannot be seen from the street by snow removal crews, and freeing up additional parking for Somerville residents.

Arrests:
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Steven Cook, of 60 Elm St., Quincy, January 27, 1:17 a.m., arrested at Broadway on warrant charges of larceny from a building and utter false check.

Edmond Bradford, of 3780 Mystic Valley Pkwy., Medford, January 27, 9:07 p.m., arrested at 15 Hancock St. on a charge of disorderly conduct.

Marla Wessland and friends Maren Chiu and Alison Mitchell, with their children, deliver Cuisinart pots and pans from the Star Market/Shaw’s promotion, to the Project SOUP food pantry. Over 100 people collected 12,000+ coupons which resulted in 120 items donated.

By Douglas Yu

The winter storm in New England hasn’t ended yet. In severe weather like this, cooking a fresh meal in brand new cookware is a blessing for many former homeless people who were just relocated to new apartments.

Teresa Vazquez-Dodero,East Somerville Main Streets new Executive Director.

East Somerville Main Streets is excited to announce Teresa Vazquez-Dodero as its new executive director. The selection was made after an extensive regional search. Vazquez-Dodero brings a wealth of local knowledge and experience from her previous position as the Community Liaison for the East Somerville Community School. Vazquez-Dodero will begin her new position at East Somerville Main Streets on February 17, 2015.

Tickets are on sale for this year’s Somerville High School Musical production of Aida. Three performances of Aida, an Elton John/ Tim Rice collaboration, are scheduled for February 2015 at SHS’s newly renovated Centennial Auditorium. Adapted from the four-time TONY award-winning hit, Elton John and Tim Rice’s Aida School Edition is an epic tale of love, loyalty and betrayal chronicling the love triangle between Aida, a Nubian princess stolen from her country, Amneris, an Egyptian princess, and Radames, the soldier they both love. With an unforgettable score featuring soaring ballads and rousing choral numbers, Aida is a modern crowd-pleaser that embraces multicultural casting and exuberant dancing, staging, and amazing singing. Aida will be a great experience for the whole family! Get your tickets before they sell out.

The cleanup effort continues as residents and city work crews labor to dig out from the second wave of snowfall that hit the area on Monday. — Photo by Bobby Potaris

By Jim Clark

Just as residents and city workers began to make noticeable headway in digging out from last week’s record setting blizzard, a second front blasted through the region on Monday, piling on more snow and bringing otherwise routine activities to a standstill.

By Tom Bannister

The Tufts Neighborhood Service Fund (TNSF) committee recently awarded grants to twelve organizations in Somerville. TNSF collects donations from university employees throughout the year and then awards grants to community-based, charitable organizations that serve Tufts’ host communities (Somerville, Medford, Grafton and Boston’s Chinatown) and actively engage Tufts volunteers in their work.