On Saturday, April 16, more than 300 youth are expected at the 10th Annual Somerville Youth Peace Conference at the East Somerville Community School, 50 Cross St. Somerville, from 12:30 to 5:30 p.m. The conference, Back From the Future, will feature original performances by Somerville teens based on their own lives, workshops, and a services fair, while also highlighting the growth of Somerville over the past decade. Attendees will share their own experiences in interactive breakout sessions facilitated by youth. The conference, presented by the Center for Teen Empowerment, Mayor Joseph Curtatone, Somerville Public Schools, and the City of Somerville, will examine teen violence, substance abuse, social media, bullying and other issues, with a special focus on destigmatizing mental health. Mayor Joseph Curtatone and other elected officials will join the mostly youth audience to listen to teens’ stories and ideas.

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The Green Line extension meeting is tonight at Somerville High School. Show your support for the GLX. Once again, we need you to come out in large numbers to let the decision makers know that they have to deliver on their promises to build the Green Line Extension, including light rail service to all stations (including Union Square), all the stations (including Route 16), and the Community Path.

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This coming up on Monday April 18th is the Patriots Day celebration at Foss Park. The ceremony begins at 10:00 a.m. The Somerville Historic Committee will have booths and information, as it has in the past. It’s a great time for history and a family outing. Bring the kids out to meet and greet the Paul Revere re-enactor ride in on his horse as he travels from Boston through old Somerville – in Colonial days this was part of Charlestown – up through Medford over to Lexington and Concord to warn the Minutemen that the British are on their way.

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Our own Dorothy Dimarzo, of “Dorothy’s Corner” fame, will be a guest Chef at the Taste Of Sicily event taking place this Wednesday and Thursday, April 13–14, 7:00 p.m. at The Fireplace New England Grill, 1634 Beacon St., Brookline, MA. Eight courses of Sicilian traditional dishes will be offered to the fortunate patrons who attend. $60 per person (wine and beverages not included). Gluten free options are available. Call 617-975-1900 to make reservations or visit www.fireplacerest.com.

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The Somerville High Scholarship Foundation is once again having its huge drawing coming up in May 13 at the Highlander Café at Somerville High School. Refreshments will be served beginning at 7:00 p.m. Drawing at 8:00 p.m. Several door prizes will be given out during the drawing for the $10,000 grand prize. Tickets for the drawing are $100 each. You can purchase one or share the cost of one with many in your home/office or with friends. It’s a great fundraiser for the kids. Over the years the SHS Foundation has benefitted many students. Make your check out to S.H.S. Raffle and send it to SHS Raffle c/o Joseph Favaloro, P.O. Box 440275 Somerville 02144. It’s been a great organization here in the city since 1990 and has grown over the years, serving many Somerville graduates to further their education. See you at the drawing. It’s a lot of fun and a great night out.

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Somerville Recreation will be holding a road race in conjunction with the Mayor’s Shape-Up Somerville Initiative. The race to be held on Sunday, April 24, with the kids race at 10:30 a.m., while the adults 5K race starts at 11:00 a.m. The proceeds will go to the Somerville Youth and Recreation Foundation (SYRF). This non-profit foundation was formed exclusively for charitable purposes. For more information go to www.SomervilleYouthRecF.org.

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Happy birthday to a lot of our friends and fellow Villens here this week: Happy birthday to Ida Fasano, a great friend and a well known real estate agent, now 30 years in the business. She’s a great lady. We wish her the very best while she’s enjoying nice sunny weather in FLA. She’s coming home soon. Happy birthday to Ward 7 Alderman Katjana Ballantyne, a very nice lady. We hope she has a great birthday for herself. Our good friend Chris Pedersen, we can’t say enough nice things about this guy. What a good person and kind heart. We wish him a truly happy birthday. A well known local guy from a great family, happy birthday to Greg Shackelford IV. We hope he has a great day as well. Cheryl Constatine Leatham is celebrating this week as well, happy birthday. Local realtor Winsland George is also celebrating this week. Big time happy birthday to Linda Rock-Coutoumas, who is celebrating this week. We wish her the very best. And a guy who grew up in Winter Hill is celebrating:wishing Mike Dilulio a happy birthday as well.

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There’s a new website in town. Check it out at www.somervillema.com. The Somerville Times is on the site. Also check out www.medfordma.com. Someone asked online why we keep these two websites in Newstalk. We guess it’s because we like them.

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For those that might be interested in obtaining certification for firearms should look up the Lawrence Rod & Gun Club. They provide an extensive program at the end of which you receive certification for Massachusetts/NRA Certified Firearm Safety Classes. They run a class once a month, which is limited to 10 people and we hear that this is the place to go to learn safety when handling guns. Email gunclub@earthlink.net for more information and or go to their website at www.lawrencerodandgunclub.org and read up about the course. We’ve been told that the course has seen a major increase in people applying for it, especially women. We can tell you first hand here that it’s a great course and quite thorough. The same goes for this in Newstalk. The club has informed us that many residents of Somerville have called or gone to the club to find out about certification.

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Special guest comedian and local celebrity Jimmy Del Ponte will be with us for the 4th Annual Highland Masonic Building Association “Giggles Comedy Nite” on Wednesday April 20, at the Prince of Pizza on Rte. 1 Saugus. The public is welcome. A private room with some of Boston’s finest comedians, great pizza included for $25 and a silent auction with many donated items will be available afterwards. Everyone wins. Contact Donald Norton at 617-623-6600 x 11 for information. Tickets at the door – or you can reserve – are again only $25 donation to the HMTA insurance fund, which is not a tax deduction. Last year well over 100 attended a great night of laughs, food and good friends.

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Please join The Welcome Project for their largest fundraiser of the year. YUM: A Taste of Immigrant City takes place on Thursday, April 14, 7:00–9:00 p.m. at Somerville Center for the Arts at the Armory, 191 Highland Ave., Somerville, MA 02119. Explore food from eight immigrant-owned restaurants, including cuisine from Mexico, Ethiopia, India, and more. The evening will include a silent auction and raffle and the event will honor the work of Rep. Denise Provost and Elena Letona for their work in the community. Tickets are $35 in advance, $40 at the door. To purchase tickets now, visit www.tinyurl.com/yum2016. For more information visit http://www.yumsomerville.org.

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The public is invited to the fifth annual Keri McCarthy Comedy Night Dinner Show at Montvale Plaza on Friday, April 29 at 7:00 p.m. Keri was a Somerville native who died of melanoma in 2010 at the age of 35. The show features comedians Christine Hurley, Graig Murphy, and Artie Januario. Proceeds support the Melanoma Education Foundation, a Massachusetts-based non-profit that provides free skin cancer lessons to over 1700 high schools and middle schools in 49 states. Tickets are $60 per person and include the show, a full buffet dinner, $10,000 in raffle prizes, and a live auction. Tickets may be ordered online at http://www.skincheck.org/store.php, by phone (978-535-3080), or by mailing a check to MEF Comedy Show, PO Box 2023, Peabody, MA 01960.

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The Fletcher IDEAS Exchange is an annual TED-type event featuring faculty, students and guest speakers. This year’s theme is Human Security Approaches to Peacebuilding: Putting People First. Issues being explored in the talks include: The international community has made combatting corruption a global priority, but despite significant international assistance for anti-corruption efforts over the last 15 years, the results are meager. Why?  UN peace operations are facing a crisis of legitimacy. From a dysfunctional Security Council to hostile host governments and the challenge of protecting civilians in asymmetric threat environments, the problems keep mounting. A story about one particular failure during the 2014-2015 epidemic demonstrates how a human security approach can help us better respond to future emerging infectious diseases threats. It is globally acknowledged that sexual violence during war needs to be addressed. Speakers will include Alex de Waal, executive director of the World Peace Foundation; Ian Johnstone, who served in the Executive Office of the Secretary-General of United Nations; and Dr. Nahid Bhadelia, Director of Infection Control and Medical Response at National Emerging Infectious Diseases Laboratory at Boston University, among others. Each speech will be between 6-8  minutes long. Thursday, April 14, 6:30–8:30 p.m., ASEAN Auditorium, 160 Packard Avenue, Medford, MA 02115.