This Halloween, Saturday, October 31, the city invites all residents to join in celebrating Howl-o-ween. Put on a face covering at 6:30 p.m. and give your best Halloween growls, ghost boos, and woops (or to just politely holler out your COVID-19 woes and frustrations) from your door or window. Closer to Halloween, the Somerville Arts Council will also be sharing a map of Halloween decorations if you’d like to plan your own spooky stroll, as well as a list of virtual Halloween happenings. https://somervilleartscouncil.org/.

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Join SCC on November 7 at 6:00 p.m. for a Light Up Somerville Illuminated Walk. Join in for a socially distant and safe Illuminated Walk to spread awareness about the dire need for affordable housing in Somerville. Walk participants will be given a handmade lantern representing one of SCC’s 100 Homes. They will walk from Dunkin’ Donuts, 220 Broadway through the streets in safe pods of less than ten and end in Leathers Park. If you care about keeping Somerville equitable, inclusive, and affordable, please be a part of our inaugural walk. This is a family friendly event. Masks required. #SomervilleforAll #KeepSomervilleLit

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Happy birthday this week to several locals: Happy birthday to a very good friend a super guy Richard Hart of the famous Hart family. We wish him a very happy 80th. He deserves the best. Happy birthday to one of Somerville’s nicest real estate agents, Clifton Verdieu, who also grew up in East Somerville. He works for Century 21 North East Norton Group RE. Happy birthday to a former alderman and great guy, Dennis Sullivan. A nice guy who served Somerville for many years. We wish him a very happy birthday. Happy birthday to Eric Erb, from Somerville, who is celebrating this week. Happy birthday to another good guy who served Somerville years ago, Charles Chisholm. We hope he has a great birthday. And finally, happy birthday to another great guy and writer, Timothy Gager. A very talented guy. We hope he has a great day. A belated birthday to our own Mike Rais, who you see delivering the papers each week for us. We wish him a great year to come. We wish all of our Facebook friends, such as Jeffery Varney, Diana Riel, Dorothy O’Malley, Russell Chiary, Erin DiBenedetto, Gene Beraldi, Candy Feldt, John Blute, Katie Marsh, Cathryn Chandler Dubay, and Diane Sylvester Ames 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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Mental Health and Wellness Covid-19 Town Hall, Wednesday, October 28, 6:00 p.m. As part of a series of virtual ResiStat meetings being held this fall, join the mayor, City Councilors, and staff for a meeting geared toward mental health and wellness during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. They will also take your questions. You can either call in, join on Zoom, or watch on City TV. Details at somervillema.gov/virtualtownhall. Spanish interpretation and English captioning will be available. To request Portuguese, Haitian Kreyol, and Nepali interpretation, email sbernt@somervillema.gov.

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Don’t forget the Union Square Farmers Market is still open but is in its final stretch of the season. Union Square Main Streets runs a COVID-19 prepared market with a $15 SNAP match every Saturday until November 21, 9:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m., Union Square Plaza, 9:00 – 9:30 a.m. reserved for seniors and immuno-compromised shoppers. For more information visit https://www.unionsquaremain.org/2020-season.

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Covid case counts as of October 25: a total of 1,417 Somerville residents have tested positive for COVID-19 since March, another 109 are considered probable positive cases (some current, some in the past), 1,332 have since recovered, and sadly there have been 44 deaths. See more Somerville case data on the city’s COVID-19 Dashboard.https://public.tableau.com/profile/cityofsomerville#!/vizhome/SomervilleCOVID-19Dashboard2/Dashboard3.

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Schools Reopening Town Hall, Thursday, October 29, 6:00 p.m. The Somerville Public Schools and the City of Somerville will be jointly hosting a second online Schools Reopening Town Hall on local efforts related to the 2020/2021 school year amid the pandemic, including updates on building ventilation and COVID-19 testing plans. Spanish, Portuguese, and Haitian Creole interpretation will be available. More information on the meeting, including how to join, is here https://www.somervillema.gov/events/2020/10/29/schools-reopening-town-hall.

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Early voting for the November 3 election ends this Friday, October 30. All early voting takes place at City Hall, 93 Highland Ave., and you can find a list of early voting hours at https://www.somervillema.gov/departments/elections/early-voting. By taking advantage of early voting, anyone wishing to vote in-person can help spread out crowds, which will help with social distancing.

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Information on utility shutoffs: There are several circumstances under which your utilities cannot be shut off without permission of the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities, even if you owe money to your utility company. For example, shutoffs are prohibited without DPU permission between November 15 and March 15, and if the utility service is necessary to heat your home. If you are having trouble paying your utility bills, you may be eligible for fuel assistance. You can also contact your utility company to try and set up a payment plan.

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CHA Somerville Hospital offers free COVID-19 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 to make access easier for residents. Mobile testing schedules and more information on both can be found under the “Symptoms, Testing, & Medical Info” tab on somervillema.gov/covid19.

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Teen Empowerment is looking for Somerville youth ages 13 – 21 to join their team of youth organizers. Learn more about Teen Empowerment at https://teenempowerment.org/somerville/. Sign up for an interview this month at https://tinyurl.com/ApplyTESomerville.

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Kitty Connection, an all-volunteer non-profit dedicated to rescuing and finding safe, loving homes for local cats and dogs, will hold its fourth annual Silent Auction online this year due to health and safety concerns during the COVID-19 pandemic. The online event will run from 6:00 p.m. Thursday, November 12 through 6:00 p.m. Sunday, November 15 at www.myminiauction.com/kittyconnection. Kitty Connection will share auction guidelines and policies on the auction website the week before the November 12 – 15 online event. Items up for bid will be listed at the auction start time. Kitty Connection is still accepting donations for the silent auction. To donate, or for any questions, please email kcsilentauction@gmail.com. To learn more about Kitty Connection and pets available for adoption, visit: www.kittyconnection.net.

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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.

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