Plug your lights in, don your bike helmet, and hit your high notes for Somerville’s interactive Illuminations extravaganza. This year Illuminations includes self-guided car tours, a bike tour, porch caroling around town, and a community lantern project.

A possible reduction of parking spaces is a major concern in planning the Highland Ave. Redesign Project, scheduled to begin next year. — Photo by Bobbie Toner

By Eileen Qiu

Drafting designs for the Highland Ave. Redesign Project will start this winter with the goal of having a concrete blueprint by spring 2023 and starting construction at the end of 2023, according to Senior Transportation Planner, Viola Augustin.

The Union Square Farmers Market wrapped its highly successful 2021 season last week in Union Square. ~Photo by Fernando Cervantes Jr.

By Fernando Cervantes Jr.

Back in June, The Somerville Times covered a story on the beginning of the Union Square Farmers Market in Somerville. Last Saturday, was the last week of the season for the market.

Located in Union Square and running from May 15 to November 20, the market was advertised as a COVID-19 cautious market as it was held outdoors week in and week out.

By Eileen Qiu

Covid cases are expected to rise in the city as the holiday season nears, Director of Health and Human Services, Doug Kress, said during last Thursday’s Board of Health Meeting.

There were 210 new cases in November at the time of the meeting, but the number is expected to rise to about 300, Kress said.

By Joe Creason

The Mayor’s Office of Strategic Planning and Community Development held a public hearing on Thursday, November 18. The purpose of the hearing was to present the consolidated annual performance evaluation report (CAPER) for the July 2020 – June 2021 program year.

We here at The Times wish everyone a happy and safe Thanksgiving holiday. Please observe all safety guidelines to make sure we’ll all be together again for next year’s celebration. And don’t forget to shop local when starting your holiday gift shopping. This year more than ever it is important to support local businesses.

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

By State Senator Pat Jehlen

Speculators are driving up prices, blocking new home-buyers, and promoting destabilization of neighborhoods, displacement of long-time residents, and gentrification. Is this inevitable?

Those issues were the topic of my last newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/electpatjehlen/home-ownership-down-prices-and-rents-up-2686414?e=[UNIQID]

Here’s a side dish that is easy to prepare and is packed full of flavor. The addition of the lemon zest and juice brightens up the dish. This is a perfect throwback side that will have your guests craving more.

Giving thanks for our blessings is normally an easy thing to do. We may often get caught up in the day-to-day trappings of scratching out a living, ducking misfortune, and seeking out an occasional highlight to add to our mental scrapbooks. Usually, though, we come around to feeling and expressing that special sense of appreciation and gratitude that comes in moments of quiet reflection just in time to validate ourselves as worthy recipients of such blessings.

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I spoke to Ian Judge recently about the Somerville Theatre, where he presides as Chief of Operations. The Somerville Theatre is an independent movie theater and concert venue in the Davis Square neighborhood of Somerville, Massachusetts. Founded in 1914, the Somerville Theatre started off as a vaudeville house and movie theater.