Happy birthday to some of our Villens, both here and away from us. That includes our good friend Eamon Fee, who can be seen in the Ville almost all the time. What a great guy and fantastic contractor. Rod Kreimeyer of Best Pest is also celebrating this week, but he’s in Florida on vacation (long vacation). He’s another great Villen out of Davis. To a good guy and our friend Sean Fitzgerald, who is everywhere and very committed to Somerville and involved here as well, we wish him HB. And we can’t forget about Nancy Trane, the better half of Bob Trane, who is also celebrating this week. Happy birthday to Peter Miller, who is from here and has been very involved over the years.  And to good friend and former Boston Globe person Debra Canzater of JP, who is a great lady and always has a big smile, we wish her happy birthday!

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One of the many and gracious ladies here at The Times, Ms. Cam Toner, who does a great job, was recently in the hospital and should be home by the time this is out. We wish her the very best and hope she gets back on her feet very quickly. For all the fans of Ms. Cam’s Olio, know that she will have older ones – at least this week. Believe it or not, she’s never repeated the same questions. Like we say here, she’s the sunshine of the office and we miss her!

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It was nice to see a large attendance last Saturday morning for the Democratic caucus, which was held to elect delegates to the state convention coming up in June. And it was nice to see that the city is coming alive with activist again (maybe it was the ringing in of five new alderman?). We hear that this year’s budget talks will be very interesting. Maybe the mayor might be surprised at some of the talk of various department cuts. Reminds us of the days of Mayor Mike Capuano and back through to Mayor Ralph, when the Board of Alderman was not a rubber stamp for the administration. We have a feeling that some of these budget meetings will be well attended this year. Keep an eye out for more.

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Four job fairs next month, two of which are exclusively for Somerville residents, will feature employment opportunities at Assembly Row. Jobs are being offered at a variety of levels, including sales associates, manager and assistant manager positions. The fairs will be held at the East Somerville Community School from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, March 1 (Somerville residents only), 2 to 7 p.m. Sunday, March 2 (Somerville residents only), 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, March 8, and 2 to 7 p.m. Sunday, March 9. Confirmed job-fair participants include Pendleton, Brooks Brothers, Legoland Discovery Center, Chico’s, Fuji, Wilson’s Leather, Papagayo, AMC Theater, Tony C’s, JP Licks, PUMA, Nike Factory Store, Le Crueset, Sports Authority and Starbucks. More participants will likely be added before the fair. For more information about the job fairs, contact Andrea Simpson at asimpson@federalrealty.com.

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Did you know that Somerville’s birth rate surpassed Massachusetts’ falling rate a few years back? Or that the city has had a lower unemployment rate than the state and the nation since 2000? You can delve into this data and more with the city’s new open source website, Key System Indicators at somervillema.gov/dashboard, which includes data on living, working, playing and raising a family in Somerville. That data includes everything from property values and city revenues to the results of the city’s Happiness Survey and the number of temporary food permits approved each year. And for the first time, the city provides maps of property values and crime in Somerville. Check it out and see what interesting facts you can find.

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Boston author (and former Somerville resident) Terry Kitchen (Next Big Thing) and Newton author Rob Siegel (Memoirs of a Hack Mechanic) will be reading from their new books at the Somerville Public Library, 79 Highland Ave. at 7 p.m. Thursday March 6. Admission is free. As both are also singer/songwriters, they may also perform a few songs during the reading. For more information, call the Somerville Public Library at 617-623-5000 or visit www.somervillepubliclibrary.org.

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City Archivist Nadia Dixson wants to let folks know about the latest in a series of exhibits looking into Somerville’s historic past. It features Somerville’s Board of Health records from the early 20th century. The records in this exhibit came to the archives via the City Hall attic. The Historic Preservation Office safeguarded the letters and reports of Laurence Howard, executive clerk for the city of Somerville from the early 1900s until 1930. Just as today, the Board of Health oversaw a wide range of activities to protect public health, however the conditions in Somerville, the state of medical care, and national issues were very obviously very different than today. The exhibit can be found online at somervillearchives.omeka.net/. A mini exhibit is also set up at the Somerville Public Library’s Main Branch through the remainder of the month.

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Do you know a kid that loves arts and crafts, is really into technology, or just likes to build stuff? If you do, mark your calendars for this highly interactive, kid and family-oriented event exploring making, science, crafts and art in Somerville. There will be several hands-on engineering activities exploring and demonstrating DIY/Maker technologies from different organizations including: The Design Challenges team from the Museum of Science, Parts and Crafts, MakerState and possibly more. Union Square Plaza, Sunday March 2, 12 -4 p.m.

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The Davis Flea Spring Vintage Market continues on Sunday, March 16 at The Center for Arts at the Armory, Somerville. Rather than focusing on selling new products and crafts, the market will showcase dealers selling vintage, collectibles, re-purposed, up-cycled and antique merchandise. Shoppers will be able to find unique treasures, one-of-a-kind decorative items, while getting a glimpse of our past pop culture. The fun and social atmosphere of The Davis Flea provides an opportunity for people to make new friends or reconnect with old ones while listening to old-school music via vintage vinyl records being spun by our resident deejay. There will be beer and wine available for purchase in the main hall and the Café will be open as well. The Davis Flea is co-managed by partners Greg Ghazil and Maureen Nuccitelli.

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Little League tryouts are this Saturday, March 1, from 12 Noon-4 p.m, at the Brune Field House.