Here is the COVID update for Wednesday, January 19. Please also check somervillema.gov/covid19 for more information and resources.  

First, the numbers and a brief message: Somerville saw 2,357 positive COVID-19 tests in December, more than double the previous monthly record of 1,138 in December 2020. This is part of a national surge in cases fueled mainly by the Omicron variant. Hospitals across the region are hitting capacity and canceling surgeries, including some that are not considered elective. While Omicron can result in milder infection, especially for those who are both vaccinated and boosted, please remember that this variant spreads so easily that it finds its way to the people it can hurt the most, such as the elderly, the immunocompromised, and the unvaccinated.

The Somerville City Council is once again looking into establishing review and accountability agencies for the city’s Police Department.

By Jim Clark

At the newly seated Somerville City Council’s first regular meeting of the year, a resolution first put forward by Ward 6 City Councilor Lance L. Davis last year calling for the creation of a police commission and a community police review agency was taken up again for consideration.

The intersection of School St. and Avon St. in Somerville. — Photo by Bobbie Toner

By Fernando Cervantes Jr.

On Thursday, Somerville’s Traffic Commission Meeting held its monthly commission meeting. The meeting, held virtually, was attended by both members of the public and the commission.

For this month there were a few items on the agenda, most importantly requests for handicapped parking and moving parking spaces in various locations.

COVID-19 vaccine booster clinics will be held January 19, and 26 from 12:30 to 2:30 p.m. at the City Hall Annex, 50 Evergreen Ave. The Moderna booster will be offered. Registration is required. Please register at tinyurl.com/SomervilleVax or call 311. The clinic is free, and open to all people 18 years or older, regardless of immigration status or health insurance. Identification is not required. Please bring your vaccine card with you to your appointment, and arrive at the time of your appointment to avoid overcrowding in the building.

Alexandra Rozenman’s “Diving into Modernism” will be among the works on display at Brickbottom Gallery January 27 – February 26.

From January 27 to February 26, Brickbottom Gallery will be presenting Space Color Movement: Lyrical Realism into Poetic Abstraction, featuring the work of three painters – Alexandra Rozenman, Jo Ann Rothschild, and Philip Gerstein, friends and allies in real life.

The artists come together in this show, delighting in the seeming contradiction of their styles.  The intention is to present both realist and abstract paintings together, grouped in trios.

The Somerville Historic Preservation Commission (HPC) will be holding a public meeting and hearing on Tuesday, January 25, concerning the requested demolition of two structures on Broadway, the building where Lyndell’s Bakery is located (274 Willow Ave. / 720 Broadway) and the house next to it at 722 Broadway. This is the first of two steps in the Demolition Review Process.

The annual celebration of Martin Luther King Jr. Day reminds us of the importance of tolerance and embracing diversity in this modern age, just as it was in the days when Dr. King walked among us.

The civil rights movement of the 60s may seem like a distant and detached part of American history for some, perhaps as remote as the civil war itself in the minds of the young who did not live in that time. And yet, there was never a time in our history when the principles involved in that struggle were more relevant and meaningful than today, and even more so as we step forward into the future.