Happy Thanksgiving to everyone here and elsewhere who are fans of our paper. We hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving Turkey.

***************************

Don’t forget, if you would like to subscribe to receive a digital edition of our paper, go directly online to our website – www.thesomervilletimes.com – over to the right side and fill out your email address to receive a free, full PDF copy of the paper. By the way, if you scroll further down, a link to former editions of the paper are online as well, and all recent legal ads have been online for anyone who needs the legal ad they just ran.

***************************

Happy birthday this week to several locals: Happy birthday to our very special good guy – Lauren’s better half and Vickie’s brother – Bobby Potaris, who celebrates his 34th birthday this week. We hear Lauren made him a pumpkin pie or cake or something like that. A great guy, he also writes those screwy weird and quirky dad jokes here in the paper. Happy birthday to another good friend, Dakota Rea, a new friend who is only 31 and just moved here to Somerville. He loves Somerville and has made many friends. He’s also the founder of a multi-million-dollar international energy drink known has Neon, shortly to be on shelves here in the Boston area. Dakota is smart and a good guy. He will be starting his Harvard PhD program shortly. Not bad for 31, already a self-made millionaire. Look for his drink on the shelves. It’s an awesome, all natural energy drink with no preservatives. And he loves Somerville like he’s a native! We wish him a very happy birthday. Happy birthday to Joan Puglia, a lifelong resident and activist who is celebrating this week as well. She’s the wife of former Alderman Andy. A very nice couple who love Somerville. Happy birthday to another good friend of ours and longtime associate, Malitta Knaut. A great lady who is in Somerville just about every day. She is now a proud horse owner and trainer as well. We wish her the very best. Happy birthday to Diane Johansen, another lifelong and well known resident who lives in Winter Hill. A gracious and great lady, we wish her the very best on this her birthday. Happy birthday to a good guy and former East Somervillian who also loves Somerville, John Hight. Happy birthday to Joshua Lewin, of Juliet in Union Square. A nice guy, a great place and awesome food. We wish him the very best. Happy birthday to Geraldine Nolan-McLaughlin, another lifelong Somerville resident and a great lady. And finally, Happy birthday to one of Somerville’s well known activists, Joe Beckman. A nice guy with a great sense of humor. You can always enjoy a great conversation with him. We wish him the very best of birthdays. Happy birthday to everyone here and from the city who is celebrating this week. We wish every one of them a very happy birthday.

***************************

We heard that a major contractor for the city and good friend of the mayor had a huge fundraiser at $500 per ticket recently. Very recently. Apparently, they raised big. Maybe his contract is up for renewal? We heard from sources that the mayor has had one other within a week or so. Not as much though, only $250.

***************************

Miss watching the Board of Aldermen meetings on TV? You can view them in their entirety on Comcast channel 22, as well as on YouTube. Watch your city at work and see how these dedicated members of our community are serving you, the public. We can’t say this enough, watch the meetings on either cable broadcast live, or go online to YouTube to watch them. You will find some pretty hysterical information there about what’s happening in the city. This should be required viewing for everyone who cares about what is happening here. Even the committee meetings are online. After all, the Board of Aldermen is voting to spend your money. Wow, the raises some department heads are getting. Ask yourself, if you own property has your taxes gone down or stayed the same over the past 14 years? And do you remember what they kept telling us what the benefit of Assembly Square would be to our tax base? Watch and remember. Don’t let a small minority of a certain group run our city, be aware of what is going on, and VOTE.

***************************

The Somerville City Club is looking to increase its membership, for the time being membership is open to any resident here in the city, a great organization that has been around a long time, with lots of activities that support local charitable groups here. Contact the club on Innerbelt Road across from Holiday Inn for more details.

***************************

Have you thought you’d like to do some writing, a little story about Somerville as either a newbie or Villen? We have about 80K people and we would love to hear about your adventures here in the city. Maybe you want to write about a particular subject like our Bob Doherty and Dorothy DiMarzio, or like Jimmy Del Ponte with his stories about the city. Or maybe you’d like to express your opinion like Bill Shelton. Not just the politicians, but those from our community. Give us a call at 617-666-4010 or email news@thesomervilletimes.com and tell us about your idea. We would love to tell it to the rest of Somerville.

***************************

Are you retired and looking for part time work, and you’re experienced in sales? Give us a call here at The Somerville Times at 617-666-4010. We are looking for advertising telemarketers.

***************************

Our favorite friend and attorney, Damien Gilletti, was recently presented an award for his good work by the Middlesex Bar Associates. A great guy and awesome attorney who always works hard.

***************************

40 days from the 21st is New Years.

***************************

Have you noticed what the food stores are doing?Stop and Shop is now pushing self-checkout lanes without cashiers.Oh, and yes, BJ’s is going all out on self-service registers. Every time you use one is one day closer to getting rid of some of the employees. Think about it. McDonald’s is preparing you as well for no actual person taking your order, but rather a computer. We need to think about how this is going to affect our community, doing away with these jobs. Sometimes a job that you would have while you’re in school, or a part time job to help out with extra income for yourself. Think about all those online things you might purchase instead of going to a mall. Maybe in the near future malls will be a thing of the past. Think about how many jobs will be lost. Some of us here won’t use these self-checkout lanes, and maybe if more of us refuse to use them they will decrease in number.