Here is a COVID-19 update for March 31, 2020. We know many community members are experiencing financial hardships due to the crisis. Below you’ll find a list of support that the new $2 trillion CARES Act may be able to offer you, your business, or your employer. Please also be sure to check www.somervillema.gov/coronavirus for additional information on the city’s COVID-19 response and resources available to residents and businesses during this public health crisis. The website is updated frequently as more information becomes available.

In response to COVID-19, the Somerville Winter Farmers Market will be a pre-order only market held in the Armory parking lot from 9:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. on Saturday, April 4 and 11. You can order from several of their vendors this week, and then pick up your goods on Saturday. This is a great way to support vendors, especially smaller vendors who do not have the capacity to set up their own delivery systems at this time. Please consider purchasing some of their delicious products. To pre-order or for more information, go to https://www.somwintermarket.org/vendors. SNAP/EBT are accepted.

By Mike Festa
AARP Massachusetts State Director

Even in ordinary times, the 840,000 of unpaid family caregivers in Massachusetts face a daunting set of daily tasks. Oftentimes with little or no training, they may be responsible for wound care, tube feedings, dressing, managing the finances and medical bills of their loved ones, transportation and more.

By Shiao shen Yu

Shiao shen Yu writes to The Somerville Times: I am an 80 years old Chinese woman, and I like to share my Chinese culture with others. I have been in Canada and the United States since I was 26. Before I came to Cambridge MA to be close to my daughters, I wrote columns about Chinese for Pueblo Chieftain, a daily newspaper in Colorado (1986-1994). I wrote and self-published two books: Chinese Mosaics and Two Swordmasters in 2017. They are on Amazon.com and BN.com. There are many Chinese people in Somerville and everywhere in the States. I wish, with my writings, to give the readers some glimpse of the Chinese.

The Chinese refer to the Dragon Boat Festival or Spring Festival as the Double Fifth because it falls on the fifth day of the fifth month of the lunar calendar. That date corresponded to June 5 in 1992.

Eagle Feathers #201 – Four-Hundred Years

By Bob (Monty) Doherty

The first Governor of Massachusetts, John Winthrop, arrived in America from England in 1630. The Governor first settled in the Ten Hills section of Charlestown/Somerville, where he assembled the first ship built in New England. He christened this ship, The Blessing Of The Bay.

The people who know what they’re talking about aren’t fooling around. Health care professionals have advised the public and public officials how important self-isolating and social distancing is in the face of the coronavirus threat that everyone – and they do mean everyone – is facing. That means both now and the near future, until that imminent threat subsides.

Knowing how to keep kids on an established schedule during school closures is important for families at this time. — Photo © Wavebreakmedia / iStock / Getty Images Plus

School closures have forced families nationwide to readjust to the current reality. However, a sense of structure is important for children’s developmental growth. To create a routine for your kids that sticks, consider the following tips:

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I wrote this 11 years ago before walking became a life threatening activity…

Recently I made my yearly winter pilgrimage to the Chelsea Hotel in New York City. I was invited to read at the Cornelia Street Café in Greenwich Village, on the weekend of a major snowstorm. But like any toughened Somervillian it takes a lot of snow to dissuade me from my God-given path.

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Phillip Temples resides in Watertown, Massachusetts and works as a systems administrator at a local university. He’s had over 140 short stories and a novella published in various print and online publications, along with two mystery-thriller novels and a short story anthology. Phil’s third novel is slated for publication in April, 2019. In addition to his writing, Phil is an amateur radio operator and sings in a garage band.

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Mayor Joe Curtatone talks about the City’s order to cease all physical evictions and ban apartment showings in order to protect public health.