The annual Next Wave/Full Circle Tree Lot will be open November 30 through December 19. Stop by and pick up a holiday tree and/or wreath, and support Somerville youth. All proceeds from the Tree Lot sales go toward student programming. The Tree Lot will be located at the Full Circle Garden on Cross Street, between Otis and Bonair Streets. The Lot is staffed by Next Wave/Full Circle students and staff and will be open from 4:00 to 8:00 p.m. Mondays–Fridays, 10:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Saturdays, and 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on Sundays.

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Illuminations Tour 2018 takes place Saturday, December 15, 4:30 to 9:15 p.m. Tickets go on sale Sunday, December 2, at 10:00 a.m. at Blue Cloud Gallery in Ball Square, 713 Broadway. Celebrate the folk artistry of residents who transform their houses and yards with lights, illuminated ornaments, and shrines of devotion and fantasy. 45-minute Trolley Tours leave from (and return to) Somerville High School Field House, 81 Highland Ave. This is a new location this year, which is located between the Central Library and the High School. Coffee, hot chocolate and cookies will be served. In addition, craft activities for children and the Somerville Community Chorus will perform. Each year the tour changes, so do not expect the 2017 tour to be the 2018 tour. This is a fundraiser for the Arts Council. For more info visit www.somervilleartscouncil.org.

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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.

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Happy birthday this week to several locals: Happy birthday to the co-chief cook and smiling face at the counter every day at Victor’s Deli as Jason Fucile celebrates this week. His better half, Nancy, celebrates next week. We wish Jason a great birthday. And FYI, if you haven’t tried the macaroni and cheese yet, get over there to Victor’s in Ball Square early. Happy birthday to Craig Resmini. We wish him a great birthday. Happy birthday to one of Somerville’s nicest guys, Peter Forcellese. We wish Peter a very happy birthday. Happy birthday to Karen MacLeod-Fraser. We wish her a very special day for herself and family. Happy birthday to everyone here and from the city who is celebrating this week. We wish every one of them a very happy birthday.

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Yikes! Mayor Joe was hospitalized this week with a severe case of shingles virus. We hope he gets taken care of. This is one of the worst things you can get.

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We heard that the Ward 3 alderman was complaining about all the rats being dug up from the high school that is being taken down. We heard that the alderman and the mayor came up with the idea of utilizing owls to help eradicate the high school area. However, they didn’t realize that poisoning the rodents would also cause health risks to the owls. With taxes going up (again and every year the mayor has been in office), the aldermen might want to work on getting the real workers in the city unions a contract.

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On Saturday, December 1, Ward 2 Alderman J.T. Scott is having a fundraiser over in Ward 3 at Cantina La Mexicana. We hope he gets a big crowd, but in our opinion maybe any night other than Saturday or Sunday would be a good night to attract more contributors. But with all the nice places in Ward 2 that he represents, you’d think maybe he might hold it at one of the places in his ward.

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Don’t forget to park on the EVEN side of the street once they call a snow emergency. And no, you can’t park in the school yards anymore, they put gates on them. Let’s hope the city doesn’t call for snow emergencies unless it’s a real emergency like a blizzard.

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Congratulations to Ward 7 Alderman Katjana Ballantyne on being re-elected President of the Board of Alderman for 2019. Also, congratulations to Ward 1 Alderman Matt McLaughlin for being re-elected Vice President for the same term.

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Did you know that originally the excise tax on automobiles and other vehicles was intended to pay for upkeep of the roads? Did you also know that a lot of the streets are shortened for bike lanes and one of the worst lanes is in East Somerville. So your car excise tax pays for upgrades so that bikers who pay nothing can shorten the streets.

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To prepare for and reduce the effects of climate change, the City of Somerville has developed a comprehensive climate change plan, Somerville Climate Forward, which will officially be presented during a special “Green Carpet” event on Wednesday, November 28, 6:00 to 8 p.m.at Somerville’s own global clean tech hub Greentown Labs. The event will feature several speakers from the Somerville community as well as a special Climate Forward video, ways for Somerville community members to take meaningful action around our climate and carbon neutrality goals, networking with city staff and community experts and stakeholders, and information about some of the cutting edge clean energy technologies being developed in Somerville at Greentown Labs. After the official launch event, the plan and video will be available at www.somervillema.gov/climateforward.

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To that person (fictitious or not) who wrote a letter accusing us of being jealous of the so-called rag because we constantly write about the Winter Hill Yacht Club for Criminals: We have some news coming their way in a couple of weeks they may not like. But we still stand with the residents of the city who think that the club should be converted for public use. After all, 80% of their members don’t even live in Somerville, so we hear, including some dubious individuals who are members there.

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Board President Katjana Ballantyne has called for a Special Meeting of the Board of Aldermen on Thursday, November 29, at 5:30 p.m., to determine the percentage of local tax levy to be borne by each class of real and personal property for Fiscal Year 2019, as required by MGL c40 s56. This meeting will include a public hearing, and Frank Golden, Chief Assessor and Chairman of the Somerville Board of Assessors, will provide information and data relevant to making a determination, including the fiscal effects of the available alternatives. The meeting will be held in the Aldermanic Chambers, 2nd Floor, City Hall, 93 Highland Avenue. The public is welcome to attend and be heard.