Street-sweeping is delayed again, and will now begin on Monday, May 4. To prevent residents from having to move their cars during the statewide stay at home order, street sweeping will now start one-month later. For more info on this and other services visit the city’s website at www.somervillema.gov

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Readers of our print edition will will notice that we are running fewer pages this week. This is due to the fact that so many of our regular features such as Villens on the Town, the Council On Aging listing, Somerville Police arrest reports, etc., are not being produced because of the lack of activity in the city during the coronavirus stay at home advisory. Be assured that we will continue to publish and include the latest and most vital news you need to get, both here in print and on our website at www.thesomervilletimes.com, and will return to our usual usual page count as conditions warrant. And remember, we invite everyone to submit their Somerville Sheltering Stories, photos, anecdotes, etc., to news@thesomervilletimes.com. We want to know how everyone is doing while we are all going through this uniquely challenging time.

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Happy birthday this week to several locals: A big happy birthday to Ward 7 Councilor Katjana Ballantyne. We hope she has a great birthday for herself with her family. Happy birthday to former alderman and great guy, Jack Connolly of Wedgwood-Crane & Connolly Insurance in Davis Sq. We hope he has a great birthday. We wish all of our Facebook friends, such as Mark Hnl Kaye, Eileen Langille, Lia Sophia, Karen Muti Standel, Missy Julien-Thelemarque, Janet Grigg-Uttaro, Olga Solomita, and Joanne Veneziano Finnegan 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.

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On April 18, the Somerville Public Library will be hosting Let’s Talk About a Poem with Lloyd Schwartz – Online! 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Join in for another lovely morning with Somerville’s Poet Laureate Lloyd Schwartz, this time online. This month Lloyd will be putting together a collection of poems to celebrate National Poetry Month. Reach out to Martia at mcoombs@minlib.net for your meeting invitation. Please note that you must receive a meeting invitation in order to participate in this event.

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Project SOUP is looking for donations. They are looking to stock up with plastic bags, pasta and rice (normal sized bags) this week. Hours of operation and times to drop off deliveries are provided on their website https://www.somervillehomelesscoalition.org/food-security/. Please arrange to drop off or have deliveries sent to our food pantry during their hours of operation. Their address is 165 Broadway, Somerville, MA 02145. The telephone number during hours of operation is 617 776 7687

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Did you know the City of Somerville used to have a game show? You can blast to the past while you are staying at home and watch old episodes of Wicked Smaht here: tinyurl.com/WickedSmahtSomerville

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It’s also a great time to take a careful walk outdoors. The City of Somerville put together a map of walks on side streets to support social distancing: https://www.somervillema.gov/walkingroutes.

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If you’re struggling with food security during this difficult time, sign up for the Somerville Emergency Food resource at tinyurl.com/SOMCovidFood and visit the somervillema.gov/coronavirushelp “Food Access” tab for more information about where to get food support.

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We need nature more than ever. Explore together environmental news, fun and science activities to connect with nature while protecting it. With most of us social distancing and worrying, it is reassuring to be in nature marveling at swelling buds and observing wildlife waking up. Meanwhile, Earthwise Aware invites you to join EwA virtual nature meetups for sharing together stories, news, EwA community science program updates, and ideas to explore in nature alone and with our loved ones. Upon registration on EwA’s Eventbrite event you’ll gain access to the webinar. Register at https://ewa-april-nature-virtual-hour.eventbrite.com.

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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. and have extended their season through April 25. 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 preorder or for more information, go to https://www.somwintermarket.org/vendors SNAP/EBT are accepted. Market pickup is outdoors and all social distancing guidelines will be followed, including line management and no touch transactions.

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To discourage organized games and contact sports that could hasten the spread of COVID-19, Tufts University’s athletic fields, including the Ellis Oval, are now closed. In accordance with the City of Somerville guidelines, the playground on Powder House Boulevard has been closed as well. The vast majority of the Medford/Somerville campus, including the academic quad, the President’s Lawn, the Triangle Park (corner of Powder House Boulevard and College Avenue) and Fletcher Field (corner of Professor’s Row and Curtis Street), will remain open for walks and passive use. These decisions are being made on an ongoing basis with great care and consideration for public health. The university has never taken such extraordinary actions in its history. They ask for your patience and sincerely thank you for your cooperation, understanding, and flexibility as we move forward together.

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The Somerville Library has been hosting virtual story hours live on their Facebook page. Besides Cathy reading to her pup Rocky, the Children’s Librarian staff are going to try to keep their regular story time schedule on FB Live.

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Support local business and enjoy the best of Somerville’s culinary scene by ordering takeout or delivery during this difficult time. Check out https://www.somervilledelivers.com for a list of restaurants accepting orders now. Don’t see your restaurant listed? Add it here: Somervillema.gov/covidbizhelp.

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Cambridge Health Alliance (CHA) is accepting masks. The link provided here offers a pattern and provides more details. Thanks to many local sewers who have already been hard at work on this. The link for CHA’s Call for Masks is: https://www.challiance.org/about/newsroom/personal_protective_equipment_ppe_homemade_donatio_1180.

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Everyone should also remember to please support our local businesses in any way they can. Even though restaurants closed and most are only available for takeout, you are encouraged to order out and buy gift cards at the restaurants and small businesses for future use.

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To contact us at The Somerville Times during these closures, please go to news@thesomervilletimes.com. We are still up and running but will be working remotely.