Event will feature activities for children, refreshments, city department tabling, and more

Mayor Katjana Ballantyne and the SomerViva Office of Immigrant Affairs, in collaboration with Saint Benedict Church, invite community members to a festive Three Kings Day celebration on Sunday, January 5, at the Prospect Hill Charter School cafeteria (17 Franklin St.) from noon to 3 p.m.

City buildings will be closed Wednesday, December 25, in observance of the Christmas holiday.

There will be no street sweeping on Christmas and meters and parking permits will not be enforced.

Trash and recycling collection will be on a one-day delay all week.

Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta (FHLBank Atlanta)  announced the recipients of its 2024 Affordable Housing Program (AHP) General Fund awards. Through the program, more than $55 million in grant funding is being awarded to 66 affordable housing initiatives in 12 states and Washington D.C. to assist in the acquisition, construction, rehabilitation, or preservation of more than 4,200 affordable rental and homeownership units.

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.

The Pickle, Every Saturday at 9 pm. Someone in the audience will go home with a free jar of pickles at the end of the night!

By Jeffrey Shwom

This is the second of three articles in a series titled “Laughing around town: Somerville’s comedy scene”

A gray, partly cloudy afternoon meet-up with Union Comedy co-founders Ben Scurria and Pat Kearnan turned out just the way we wanted … a meet-up at Forge Baking Co first (such tempting pastries) with an informal invitation to Union Comedy’s current space across the street at 593 Somerville Ave. Ben and Pat were excited to show and share their post-pandemic success story in building a strong enough community to move onward and upward within Somerville.

~Photos by Bobbie Toner

The 45th Anniversary of the Bill Rodgers Somerville Jingle Bell Run & Walk took place this past Sunday. The 5k run/walk started in Davis Square, made its way through the Teele and Ball square areas ending back in Davis Square. Runners were encouraged to wear their best costumes.

Reports from the Public Safety for All Task Force, Civilian Oversight Task Force, and the Anti-Violence Working Group will be Posted Online Starting Tuesday, January 28 

Mayor Katjana Ballantyne and Somerville’s Department of Racial and Social Justice (RSJ) are inviting all to join a community event presenting the completed reports from the Public Safety for All Task Force, Civilian Oversight Task Force, and Anti-Violence Working Group on Tuesday, February 4, 2025  (rain date Thursday, February 6) at Somerville High School (81 Highland Ave).