The publishers, staff and everyone associated with The Somerville Times wish everyone a very Happy Holiday, Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah, as well as a prosperous and healthy New Year in 2021. We are happy to see 2020 go and welcome a healthier 2021!

****************************

The Somerville Times staff is taking a small holiday vacation beginning this week, with the next issue coming out on January 6, 2021. Anything that comes in and is Somerville related through that period will be posted online to our website. We want to thank all our readers and fans for your support this past year. Thank you for sticking with us! Don’t forget, you can go online to our website and register online for a free subscription of the entire paper.

****************************

Word has it that nearly half of the city’s Department of Public Works staff were out sick during the recent snow storm. That, combined with a few employees also being off duty on vacation, made for a difficult situation in clearing city streets. Many were reportedly not cleared at all for quite some time. Let’s hope that these essential city workers get well soon, both for their own sakes and for ours.

****************************

With the recent snowstorm, the City of Somerville has ended street sweeping for the season. Street sweeping will resume April 1, 2021. Make sure you are up to date on City of Somerville snow policies at somervillema.gov/snow.

****************************

The Best of Somerville 2020 winners will be announced in the January 6, 2021, edition of our paper. There’s still time to cast your vote for the best. Email, mail or call in your vote for who and what you think is the best. We’re also looking for the Best Idea of 2020 here in the city. If you have anyone or anything you’d like to suggest, let us know. What a year 2020 has been.

****************************

Happy birthday for the next two weeks while we are on break: Happy birthday to our good friend Zachary Atwell, who is celebrating this week. Happy birthday also to Jim Henry, a well-known man in Somerville. A great guy as well. Happy birthday to former East Somerville guy Jack Basset. We wish him a great day as well. Happy birthday to another East Somerville guy who grew up here, Paul Peddle. Happy birthday to Kristen Marie Butler as well. We hope she has a great day. Big time happy birthday to Maria Curtatone, who is the Register of Deeds for Middlesex County. We hope she has a great day on her birthday. We wish all of our Facebook friends, such as Debbie Hurley, Erica Voolich, Natalia Caliman, Fallon Leigh O’Brien, Caddy Villen, Kathreen Jackson, Caroline C Carafotes, Liz-Mary Jelinek, Richard Murphy, Bob Cammarata, Win Win, Bobby Martini, Christopher Kenney, Thomas Ross, John Brady, Martha Rheaume, Jimmy Deoliveira, Matthew Martino and Marie Miele a very happy birthday. We hope everyone has a great day. To all the others we may have missed, we sincerely wish them the very best of birthdays.

****************************

Somerville Public Schools’ winter break starts Thursday. Normally, food service stops but this year there will be two times to pick up free Grab and Go meals, thanks to their dedicated staff. Feel free to pick up extra meals this Wednesday and then stop by the following sites and times during Winter Break: Monday, December 28, 9:00 – 11:00 a.m., Wednesday, December 30, from 9:00 to 11:00 a.m. at the East Somerville Community, Healey School, Winter Hill Community School and West Somerville Neighborhood School. Find more information about free food resources for families in Somerville at the website Food Resources for Students and Families | Somerville Public Schools: https://somerville.k12.ma.us/district-departments/food-nutrition-services/food-resources-students-and-families?fbclid=IwAR06ynrXGI-2rPEnTitdecMBrLWJ6s1bT01pDu6T9DKTjmXK6moszUMyGDs.

****************************

In collaboration with The Beautiful Stuff Project, the City of Somerville, and with generous support from Cradles to Crayons and individual donors, Somerville Family Learning Collaborative volunteers distribute free diapers to Somerville families every Wednesday from 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., outside of the East Somerville Community School, 50 Cross St., (Glen St. side) and West Somerville Neighborhood School, 177 Powderhouse Blvd. Home deliveries provided for emergency and quarantined families. You can help raise awareness and resources to address diaper need by contributing here to The Beautiful Stuff Project’s diaper wish list, or contacting the SPS/SFLC Volunteer Coordinator at JCapuano@k12.somerville.ma.us to volunteer or donate diapers.

****************************

If you need assistance accessing food, there are several resources available to you locally. Visit the COVID-19 Help page at https://www.somervillema.gov/departments/covid-19-help-food-housing-and-financial-assistance to learn more. There you will find a chart that includes local food pantry schedules, contact information, languages spoken at the food pantry, and whether or not you need to bring ID.

****************************

Hate incidents impact victims as well as the community. In an effort to make reporting Hate incidents easier for the residents of Somerville, you may now report Hate Incidents using the SPD’s online form. Visit the Somerville Police Website under the Home tab and submit your Hate Incident report: www.somervillepd.com/home/

****************************

CHA Somerville Hospital offers free testing at Assembly Row. To make an appointment, call 617-665-2928, Monday – Friday, 8:30 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. The mobile COVID-19 testing unit also offers testing in our neighborhoods. Mobile testing schedules and more information on both can be found under the “Symptoms, Testing, & Medical Info” tab on somervillema.gov/covid19. The state also operates several Stop the Spread testing sites, including in the nearby communities of Chelsea and Everett. For more information, visit the state’s website: https://www.mass.gov/info-details/stop-the-spread.

****************************

There’s still time for you to help by donating to the Somerville Homeless Coalition. Your support helps reach even more people in need. This year, they have distributed over 33,000 bags of groceries, and expect to prevent over 200 evictions by the end of the month. They could not have done this work without your help. Donate to keep their clients housed through the winter. Your contributions will go directly to providing warmth, care, and food to those most in need. To donate visit: https://crm.bloomerang.co/HostedDonation?ApiKey=pub_3d74e456-2be2-11e9-9f3d-0aa640fb8062&WidgetId=5308416

****************************

Vaccines are coming, but keep up COVID safety. The state recently released a timeline for when COVID-19 vaccines will be available. While this news provides some much-needed hope, now is not the time to relax COVID safety measures. Although health workers and persons at long-term care facilities may start getting vaccines as early as this month, the vaccine is not expected to be available widely until April-June 2021. In the meantime, it is important that we all continue wearing face coverings (over your nose and mouth), socially distancing, and keeping up other COVID safety measures. As more information about the vaccine becomes available, including information on how to get it locally, we’ll be sharing it in these updates and at somervillema.gov/covid19.

****************************

Reminder: city buildings are still closed to the public. Although city buildings remain closed to the public, a number of city services are still available online or by calling 311. Check the “City Service Status” tab on the city’s COVID-19 page for more information.

****************************

Don’t forget, if you would like to subscribe to receive a digital edition of our paper, go directly online to our website over to the right side and fill out your email address to receive a free, full PDF copy of the paper.