Tonight at the Precinct Bar in Union Square from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. – The Somerville News is hosting a thank you party for all of our readers, advertisers and people associated with the paper over the past five years of new ownership. Come and say hi to the owners and staff of the paper and find out what’s going on.   

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Election day here was interesting to say the least; a lot of ‚ÄúOut of Towners‚Äù flocked to Somerville and Medford the night before handing out stickers where they could for Stickers Carl. Some even looked too young to vote, and even lost looking for houses and numbers. Funny how four years ago when they had a sticker candidate the rules were different. Many times, in one precinct, workers were crossing the 150-foot boundary drawn up by the Election Department – some were caught on video.    

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A hush hush suspension the other day – rumor has it that at the DPW, seems like popular TB was caught on video taking city property from the yards – everyone is closed mouth about it but we got it off the record by several sources that its true and that everyone is upset over it, TB is very popular within the DPW — workers and bosses alike.

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The dedication of the Senator Charles E. Shannon Beach at Mystic Lakes was nicely attended by a lot of Charlie’s family and friends this past Saturday morning. A showing of about 100 attended and listened to some memories of Charlie and nice words spoken.  We’re sure if there was more publicity about the event in the first place a lot more of Charlie’s friends would have been there. 

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Wow can you believe the ‚ÄúFarm Team’s‚Äù nasty cartoon at the last minute practically accusing Bob Trane of stealing the missing ballots – even the editor over there can’t believe that was what happened. Now a lawsuit? Maybe her bosses in Fairport, NY who just bought the Journal might not be too happy, but who knows? They are very much outsiders‚Ķtruly the nickname Farm Team fits here now even more so, as they own about 135 newspapers in Massachusetts and we hear they don’t care about editorial content as much as raking in the dough. Have you noticed the price has gone up to $1? Now more than ever, we’re seeing hundreds, if not thousands, unsold papers thrown in the trash by local store owners at the end of the week. We’re proud to be nothing but local news and locally owned and operated‚Ķno matter what the Farm Team says, we’re around to stay and have some nice surprises coming very shortly.

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Rumor around the city is that Ames Envelope may be closing its doors. Or, at the very least, they’re pulling up their stakes and getting out of the city in the not so distant future. We hope the rumor isn’t true, but as recently as last week they began laying off some people.

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The tearing down of the Good Times building in Assembly Square means its moving ahead now after all those years, Ikea should be having a ground breaking very soon.

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Nice to see two new businesses open there doors here in the city, first is “Space Self Storage” located at 51 McGrath Highway. Stop in and say hi and welcome co-managers Carol and Roy and ask for a tour of their state of the art facility. Good luck to the both of them. Also opening here is Stra-8-Edge Barber Shop, Mark Meddonca owner of Stra-8-Edge has just opened its doors for business on Somerville Avenue and we wish him the best of luck.

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Remember that guy who got arrested for cutting off and stealing a boot that was placed on his car by the tow company? Seems he got booted again for not paying off those tickets he owed from the first time – some people never learn.

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Celebrating their 55th anniversary of doing business in the city is Murphy the Florist on Highland Avenue. Tom Murphy Sr. opened the florist shop in 1953 immediately after coming back from service from the Korean War! Congratulations and Happy Anniversary.

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Congratulations to Jean Santos, a 2008 graduate of Boston College High School from Somerville. Jean won the Botolphian award at senior class night last week. The Botolphian award is given to students who served the school’s literary community through their work as editors on The Botolphian. Santos provided editorial insights, planned the layout, and oversaw the creation of the most recent issue. Santos also won the Library Council Award.

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The Visiting Nurses are now accepting Applications for Residency at their new VNA Senior Living Community at 405 Alewife Brook Parkway in Somerville, on the borders of Arlington, Medford and Cambridge. There are 99 one bedroom apartments, all handicapped accessible, with safety features such as emergency call systems and 24 hour staffing. The Visiting Nurses will be on site as well as other healthcare providers, home visiting physicians and medical services. Personal care and support services will be available as needed to assist with bathing, dressing, grooming, medications, as well as housekeeping and laundry. A full service dining room and convenience store will offer meals, snacks and household supplies. In addition, there will be a wide range of recreational, educational and fitness activities for residents as well as a hair salon and transportation services. Approved applicants will be selected by lottery by November 1, 2008.