A great big birthday goes out to Patrick Tauro. The son of one of the News publishers, Patrick is 17 this week. Best of luck from his friends here at the paper.

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Also happy birthday to Somerville native and long time resident Jim Rogers as well as his son Bill Rogers who are both celebrating their birthdays in Somerville this week.

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Friday evening Jan. 28 from 7 to 10 p.m. at the Somerville City Club a fundraiser for Detective Mario Oliveira will be held, tickets are $20.00 each. Mario was seriously injured in a Nov. 3 shooting. Mario is a great guy, we are hoping that the place is filled wall to wall with his friends here in Somerville. Put the date down and mark it.

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Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone and Ward 2 Alderman Maryann Heuston invite all interested community members to a neighborhood community meeting to review and discuss preferred design options for the Quincy Street Park Open Space.  The meeting will be held on Tuesday, January 25th from 6:00 – 7:30 p.m. in the community room at the Public Safety Building (Union Square Police Station), 220 Washington Street.  At the meeting, landscape architects will present three schematic designs for discussion.   For more information on this meeting or other park renovation projects, please call the Mayor’s Office of Strategic Planning and Community Development (OSPCD) at 617-625-6600 ext. 2500.

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The 2010 flu clinic schedule is continuing through January 2011.  All Somerville residents over the age of two are eligible to receive a free flu vaccine. Remaining flu vaccines are available at The Somerville Health Department, 50 Evergreen Avenue on Thursday evenings, from 5:00 P.M. to 7:00 P.M. No appointment is necessary. Residents are asked to bring Medicare or Medicare HMO card, if you have one.

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Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone, Green Streets, and the Somerville Post Office announce a “Best Shoveled Sidewalk” contest for the 2010-11 snow season.  Throughout the contest, which runs through March 2011, individual streets may be nominated for best adhering to the City’s snow removal ordinance, which states that property owners must clear at least a 42-inch pathway by six hours following a snow event.  Winning street(s) will be announced at a ceremony at the Somerville Post Office in Union Square on March 25, 2011. Nominations for the “Best Shoveled Block” may be sent to Margaret Dimock, Somerville Post Office Station Master, via e-mail at Margaret.C.Dimock@usps.gov, via telephone at 617-666-2332, or via U.S. mail:  Somerville Post Office Station Master, 237 Washington Street, Somerville, MA 02143.  Nominations are due on Walk/Ride Day in February (Friday, February 25, 2011).  Somerville letter carriers will serve as official judges, and winner(s) will be announced at a ceremony on March 25, 2011. For more information, visit the Shape Up Somerville page on the City’s website, http://www.somervillema.gov/, or visit http://www.gogreenstreets.org/.

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Michael Capuano is holding Community Office Hours. District residents can meet a member of Mike’s staff at a nearby location. Staff members hold monthly office hours at locations including Somerville City Hall, Aldermen’s Chamber and 93 Highland Avenue on the fourth Thursday of every month from 4 to 5 p.m.

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Somerville Public Schools Kindergarten registration begins on January 22! Open Houses for prospective families are being hosted at every school January 19-21. Visit www.somerville.k12.ma.us/register to learn more about Kindergarten registration and to get advice on how to decide which public school is best for your child.

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Free workshops and activities for parents and guardians and Somerville families are taking place throughout January –March. Visit http://www.somerville.k12.ma.us/families to explore these opportunities.

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Have an inside look at your neighborhood. Be more involved with your community. Meet your neighbors. There’s no day like today! Become an East Somerville Main Streets volunteer!  Aside from receiving a free East Somerville T-shirt to sport your pride, ESMS volunteers can volunteer at times that work for their schedule, and in areas of interest to them.  Whether assisting with an event, helping around the office, or joining a committee, ESMS would love your help. Volunteers are the life force behind our organization! To get involved contact Carrie at carrie@eastsomervillemainstreets.org or call the office at 617.623.3869!

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Somerville and Cambridge elders with vision problems can now receive free support and training from a Carroll Center for the Blind vision rehabilitation teacher. For the past 75 years, the Carroll Center, located at 770 Centre St in Newton, has been helping those who struggle with vision loss regain their independence. Now, their expertise is available at home to elders with vision loss. The vision rehabilitation specialist will go to the home and teach simple techniques to adapt to vision loss, make your home safer and help organize your environment for greater proficiency.  In addition, the Carroll Center provides diabetes self-management education, travel instruction and vision assessments. The Carroll Store also sells a variety of adaptive devices for people with vision impairment.  One in eight elders experience vision loss from macular degeneration, cataracts, glaucoma, or diabetic retinopathy. Vision loss is also one of the leading causes of falls in the homes.
If you or a loved one are struggling with vision loss, contact the Carroll Center for the Blind. For more information contact Dina Rosenbaum, 800-852-3131, ext. 238 or email dina.rosenbaum@carroll.org

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SAV-MOR  Liquors is now open, due to water damage suffered on Friday they were forced to close until  this Monday.  But, due to the help of a lot of people, they are now fully open and stocked with their usual merchandise at low prices. The owners would  like to thank the following departments and personnel who assisted them through the weekend to get them reopened as soon as possible: Inspectional Services Division , Code Enforcement the Fire Department and also thank Service Master; McSweeney & Ricci Insurance Agency and  SMW Public adjusters.

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Now that we have a new chief in place and it’s a new year, maybe the department should think about investing for the future with a Somerville Police Department Truck Enforcement Unit. A few years back when Somerville Police Sgt. Jim Rooney advocated for the issue, he pointed out the fact that a huge number of commercial trucking passes through the city as a short cut each day, putting local residents at risk. That idea was shot down by some lobbyist. A truck team in Somerville could monitor the situation and pull unsafe and illegally registered trucks off our roads and out of harm’s way, not to mention the revenue it could generate for the city.