The Presidential Primary Election is on Tuesday, March 5. Take steps to make sure you are prepared: Submit your “Vote by Mail” application by February 27 at 5:00 p.m., Vote early at City Hall (93 Highland Ave.) through March 1. Learn more at somervillema.gov/elections .

(The opinions and views expressed in the commentaries and letters to the Editor of The Somerville Times belong solely to the authors and do not reflect the views or opinions of The Somerville Times, its staff or publishers)

By Jenny Bonham-Carter

How often do we hear this startling statistic on the news? There are 140 million poor and low-income people living in the U.S. today. This includes more than half of our children, 74 million women, 38 million Hispanic people, 23 million black people, 8 million Asian people, 2 million Native people and 66 million white people, with a disproportionate number of LGBTQ+ people and people with disabilities.

Don’t miss this year’s Maple Boil Down, coming up this Saturday.

By Joei Chan

Join The Growing Center at 22 Vinal Avenue in Somerville for their 25th annual Maple Boil Down. Fans of maple syrup will not want to miss this event on Saturday, March 2, from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. (rain date March 9)

*

How quickly a year has gone by! A truly much needed addition to the neighborhood, this family-owned coffee shop offers a variety of specialty coffee drinks like, latte’s, cappuccino’s, macchiato’s, cold brew, and pour overs.

The Presidential Primary is just around the corner, on Tuesday March 5, and the national election is coming up a few months later. The balance of power in the country as a whole will be in play, and more than ever it seems as though so much will be at stake in that particular election cycle, no matter which side we align with.

Dunfermline. — Photos by Denise Provost

Enjoy the scenes of Scotland Denise captured from her recent trip

*

Review By Off the Shelf Correspondent Andy Hoffman

Setting a show in a school brings up so many production problems. How do you maintain the illusion of the adults playing kids and that the teacher/student power dynamic has actual consequences? The Huntington Theatre shows how with John Proctor is the Villain, tightly written by Kimberly Belflower and expertly directed by Margot Bordelon.

*
Lo Galluccio is a poet, memoirist and vocalist whose most recent publication is Not for Amnesia on Cervena Barva Press. This collection is composed of 15 poems she wrote in Brooklyn, NY in 1989-90 while working as night high school teacher, after a romantic break up. Lo is a Harvard graduate with a BA in Social Studies and an MFA in Creative Writing from Stoneocoast’s program (2019). She lived on the Lower East Side of NY for 11 years before moving back to Boston in 2001. Her first chapbook, Hot Rain, was released on Ibbetson St. Press, followed by a prose-poem memoir, Sarasota VII, on Cervena Barva Press. In 2012 her third chapbook, Terrible Baubles, came out on Alternating Current Press and was subsequently turned into a CD with music by pianist Eric Zinman and cellist Jane Wang.

Separating nutrition facts from fiction will be the focus of lunchtime presentations at the Cambridge and Somerville Councils on Aging in March.

The MBTA will host a virtual public meeting on Tuesday, February 27, from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. regarding proposed MBTA fare changes.

The MBTA is proposing an expansion of reduced fares eligibility to riders with low income and other fare changes, including replacing change tickets with CharlieCards on buses and the Green and Mattapan lines and a permanent $10 Holiday Weekend Passes. If approved, these changes will go into effect in spring 2024. Riders and the public are encouraged to attend and can learn more at mbta.com/2024FareChanges.