Tonight, Wednesday the 25th, the Board of Alderman will be holding a Public Hearing on the city’s snow ordinance before it is amended. This is your time to go to City Hall tonight at 7 p.m. and offer the Board your opinion, good or bad, on the snow ordinance. The ordinance calls for snow and ice removal no later than a few hours after a storm, with fines up to $200 from the city. Just think if they had enforced this ordinance over these past few storms? One has to wonder if it’s a “revenue” issue or…? Let your voice be heard!

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This coming Monday night, March 2 at 6 to 8p.m., Alderman at Large Mary Jo Rossetti will be having her kickoff campaign party at the new “Tony C’s” at Assembly Row. Alderman Rossetti has been extremely active in her first year as Alderman, and involved with a lot of community issues. In fact, she’s become more popular than ever now that she’s an Alderman. This is her campaign kickoff for her first re-election. With leaders like Mary Jo Rossetti on the Board of Alderman we are very lucky to have such great representation.

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“Flashback Friday” is March 6th at the City Club, 7-11 p.m. Do you still have that poodle skirt? Maybe your bell-bottoms and platform shoes? What about those ripped jeans or hammer pants? Break them out! Take a journey back in time and dance the night away to songs from the 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s. (Costume dress optional) Tickets are $15. There will be cash bar, raffle tickets and 50/50. Tickets are being sold now and at the door. All proceeds benefit The Somerville PTA Scholarship Dinner Dance. They award 5-6 high school students scholarships every year for the last 40 years. They want to start giving these students more. What better way than to have a dance. So come join us for a great evening.

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Medford Street Bridge is closed as of this week until sometime (the city says) in September. Detour down Pearl Street.

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The Homans Building on Medford Street, which the city purchased back in the 90’s under former Mayor Capuano, is now being watched very carefully. The city is afraid that it might suffer severe damage from all the snow. The front of the building is being blocked off. The good news is that one of the city’s most popular gas stations with an always friendly touch, Good Gas, directly across from Holman’s, is open for business. Drop by and say “Hi” to all the guys there, including our good friend Vinnie who is still working on cars 2-3 days a week.

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We want to wish the following Villens here and from here a very Happy Birthday: First of all, to Celia Taylor, who is married to Tom. She’s a very special kind of person, and everyone that knows her says the same. We wish Celia the very best of birthdays this year. A popular guy around the city, Roy Kreimeyer, is celebrating with his lovely wife Nancy this week in FLA. We wish him the very best as well. Another popular guy who is very involved with the PTA and various other organizations is Sean Fitzgerald, who is also running for Alderman At Large. We wish him a special birthday as well. We wish our good friend Eamon Fee the very best in celebrating his birthday this week. And finally, to a wonderful, always kind and considerate lady, Nancy Trane (you know, Bob’s wife), we wish a very special birthday.

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Rumblings and rumors are flying regarding who might be running for office and who won’t. But since there are going to be three open seats on the School Board, we expect a race in every ward of at least two candidates. Wards 3 and 4 are being vacated by the present incumbents and we heard that in Ward 6 the present School Committee member has been handpicked to run for Alderman Rebekah Gewirtz’s seat, for which she is not seeking re-election. We hear that maybe some are mentioning two names to run in Ward 1 against the present incumbent, Matt McLaughlin. We also heard someone might be running in Wards 5 and 7 against the present incumbents. We know Sean Fitzgerald is the first one to let it be known he’s seeking office and we also hear that Courtney O’Keefe is letting it be known she wants back on the Board of Alderman. Call the Election Department at 617 625-6600 and ask for details on what you need to do to run for office. We heard that even Mayor Joe might have an opponent, but we’ll see on that one. What do you think? Make your comments on our online blog at www.thesomervilletimes.com.

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It’s great to see that Jason and Nancy Fucile are back to work at Victors in Ball Square. Look for some new additions on the menu. We wish them the very best, but by the looks of it the Deli is even more popular with its wide variety of items on the menu.

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Be a writer…write now! Are you an aspiring writer? A beginner’s journalism course is being taught by popular Somerville Times columnist, Jimmy Del Ponte. Enrollees will have their stories published in The Somerville Times in a new segment that will be named by the students (their first writing assignment). The course will be held after school in room 239 at Somerville High School, Wednesdays from March 11 through May 6. Limited to 10 Students. Contact JDelponte@somervillema.gov, or 617-625-6600 x 2616 for more info. Sponsored by the City of Somerville Executive Office of Communications.

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The City of Somerville is sponsoring the 2015 Urban Agriculture Ambassador Program (UAAP). Taught by Green City Growers, a Somerville-based urban agriculture company, the program is now seeking applicants for the 2015 class. TheUAAP, which started as a pilot in 2013, will train 20 residents in urban growing techniques in exchange for 30 hours of volunteer service in garden projects across the city. Four intensive workshops will take place on Saturdays in April and May (April 25, May 2, 9, and 16), covering topics including building raised beds, planting and harvesting, troubleshooting pests, and an introduction to bee- and chicken-keeping. In exchange for the free training, the residents will be asked to volunteer for at least 30 hours at a community based gardening project in Somerville. The program is open to all Somerville residents and the deadline is March 13. Applications can be picked up at a Somerville public library, City Hall or can be downloaded at the City’s website at http://www.somervillema.gov/urbanag or by emailing urbanagambassadors@gmail.com. More information on the City’s urban ag initiatives can also can also be found on the City’s Urban Agriculture Blog: http://somervilleurbanag.tumblr.com.

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As of press time, the snow emergency is still in effect, with a rolling lifting of the parking ban underway. School lots have only been open to residents 6 p.m. to 7 a.m. on weekdays. Let’s hope all of this goes away soon. We’re sure that everyone is tired of it.

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Veterans and Founders Memorial Ice Skating Rinks are offering advertising opportunities. The Somerville Rinks are  great advertising tools and it benefits the youth! Advertising revenue helps support the Recreation Dept. To learn more about this great opportunity contact Joan Liddell 1-857-523-9125, jmliddell@somervillema.gov