Somerville is looking for crossing guards. Crossing Guards provide essential public safety by ensuring safe student crossing at intersections along the routes to school. The salary is $37 per day with some incentive bonuses. Uniforms and on-the-job training are provided. Access to a motor vehicle is preferred but not required. Work BOTH mornings and afternoons based on school year calendar. Must pass a pre-employment CORI and drug screen. Applications are available and must be submitted to City Hall Personnel Office, 93 Highland Ave. Somerville, MA 02143 or fax @ 617-666-4426. You can also email resumes to: employment_opportunities@somervillema.gov. Inquiries can be referred to School Safety Officer Sean Sylvester at 617 625 1600 X7248 or by email: ssylvester@police.somerville.ma.us.

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Happy birthday this week to the following: Happy birthday Marion Joyce, a retired Somerville High teacher. A nice lady that still lives here in the city and can often be seen in Ball Square. We hope she has a great birthday. Happy birthday to another well-known lady, Katie McDaid is celebrating this week. We also wish her the very best of birthdays. Happy birthday to Bill Rogers of Winter Hill. We hope he has a great day. Happy birthday to Phil Forsyth, who grew up here in Somerville. A nice guy, and we wish him a great birthday. Happy birthday to Donald Johnson, who is celebrating this week. To all the others celebrating this week, we wish you a big happy birthday!

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Our condolences to the family of Barbara Koty, who passed away this week. We knew Barbara, she was a very nice lady who always had good things to say about everyone. She worked for the school department for many years in Somerville. She will be remembered for her great personality and will be greatly missed. Arrangements as of press time were not made known but when we get them we will post them online to our site.

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It appears that Somerville might be getting an “Axe Throwing” bar sometime later this summer – “Urban Axes” – should be a lot of fun. What a unique concept for a bar. Can you imagine the relief of frustration just throwing one of them? The company presently is scouting out not just various locations but the process of getting a license here in Somerville. We wish them best of luck, and hopefully the officials will help make it happen. We were curious, since they have a website, that there would be many questions, so we found the website and looked at it. The site is very informative and answered a lot of the questions we had, so go online and see for yourself: https://urbanaxes.com/faq. We think it’s a great idea. What do you think?

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We heard that the Somerville City Club (not yet a done deal, but close) is being sold, but will still be around. Rumor has it that the Holiday Inn parent company is planning on putting together a larger hotel on the corner of Roland Street to run out to Innerbelt Rd with 178 apartments and the club at the end of it on the ground floor. We just hope they finally call it the Somerville-Boston Holiday Inn and not the Boston. Maybe the various boards that have to give approval might want to ask why Somerville is not used in the name.

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The next Citywide Democratic meeting will be Tuesday, January 30, at 7:00 p.m. in the Somerville High School Library. Secretary of State Bill Galvin and Lt. Governor candidate Jimmy Tingle will be speaking. We have our own local Somerville Candidate for Lt. Governor, Bob Masse – just saying.

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The first Board of Aldermen meeting headed by Ward 7 Alderman Katjana Ballantyne as the new President of the Board went off smoothly for a first time out. She will do just fine this year with all the new members. We, of course, wish her best of luck in her tenure as President of the Board in 2018.

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Congratulations to our good friend Bill Chambers, who was installed as the new Vice President of the Lawrence Rod & Gun Club. Bill is a lifelong resident and a nice guy who is also a certified instructor and mentor to many here in Somerville on firearm safety. We wish him the very best in his position at the Club. He is one dedicated person when it comes to something he really likes.

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It was called to our attention that James McMahon, longtime DPW Parks Department Foreman for the City of Somerville passed away in December. He will be missed by many who have worked with him over the years. His full obituary can be seen on Keefe Funeral homes’ website, or here: http://www.keefefuneralhome.com/book-of-memories/3375761/McMahon-James-P/obituary.php.

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The Annual Meeting of the Somerville High School Scholarship Foundation will be held in the Library at Somerville High School at 7:00 p.m. on Monday, February 12, when they will elect Directors to three-year terms. The meeting is for current officers, directors, and members. New members are welcome. For information, contact Noreen Santucci, correspondence secretary, at :NFSLEARN@aol.com or at 617-448-0145.

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Non-profit organizations in Somerville are invited to apply for grants from the Tufts Neighborhood Service Fund (TNSF). The TNSF collects donations from faculty and staff at Tufts University throughout the year and then awards small grants to community-based, charitable organizations that serve Tufts’ host communities. All of the TNSF funds go to nonprofit organizations. Applicants must also have Tufts volunteers actively working with their organizations. In this way, TNSF supports not only community organizations but also the work of the many Tufts students, staff, faculty, and alumni who volunteer with them. Last year, 13 programs and projects in Somerville were granted awards. Interested organizations should contact the Government and Community Relations office at Tufts University at (617) 627-3780 or obtain an application at http://go.tufts.edu/TNSF. Individual grants will be made in amounts ranging from $250 to $2,000. Applications are due by Friday, March 2, and awards will be announced before April.

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Turn up the heat against domestic violence at RESPOND’s Chili Cook-Off. The event takes place Thursday, January 25, 6:30 – 9:00 p.m., at the Holiday Inn Boston-Bunker Hill, 30 Washington Street in Somerville. Purchase tickets at https://www.respondinc.org/chilitickets.