With complimentary bike valets and Bluebikes rides beginning on April 19, Blue Cross continues to broaden accessibility to vaccines 

To boost access to COVID-19 vaccines and support transportation needs as more Massachusetts residents become eligible, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts (“Blue Cross”) will sponsor free Bluebikes rides to and from vaccination sites located within the Bluebikes system beginning on Monday, April 19. Providing equitable access to vaccines is a critical priority for Blue Cross, which recently made a $1 million commitment toward transportation to and from vaccination sites in underserved communities across the state, in partnership with Lyft and the Massachusetts League of Community Health Centers. Residents are eligible for two complimentary Bluebikes Adventure Pass rides, available across the system’s 10 municipalities: Arlington, Boston, Brookline, Cambridge, Chelsea, Everett, Newton, Revere, Somerville and Watertown. Blue Cross is the title sponsor of Bluebikes, which is owned by the municipalities and operated by Lyft.

The Somerville Community Preservation Committee is holding its annual Community Preservation Plan public hearing on Wednesday, April 28, at 7:00 p.m.

The Community Preservation Plan establishes how $2 million in Fiscal Year 2022 Community Preservation Act (CPA) funds will be allocated across affordable housing, historic resources, and open space categories. The draft plan is available at somervillema.gov/CPA.

Here is the COVID-19 update for Friday, April 16 followed by other City news and events. Please also check somervillema.gov/covid19 for information and resources that are updated frequently.

Do you have ideas on how to keep cool in the heat? The City of Somerville, in partnership with the Metropolitan Area Planning Council, is now accepting applications for the Keep Cool Somerville Community Projects Grant Program to support creative and impactful cooling solutions this summer.  

Somerville, along with the 19 other communities that make up the Resilient Mystic Collaborative (RMC), was recently awarded the Environmental Business Council of New England’s Award for Leadership by a Non-Profit Organization. The Environmental Business Council of New England presents annual awards to recognize companies, organizations, and individuals for outstanding accomplishments in environmental management, energy resources and management, and climate change. 

The City of Somerville Department of Veterans’ Services invites local Veterans and family members of Veterans to submit short video messages to celebrate Memorial Day.

Veterans and Veteran families are encouraged to record short videos, about 10 to 15 seconds long, to share what Memorial Day means to them or a message for troops deployed overseas. Submissions will then be compiled into a larger video to mark this year’s holiday.

By Jim Clark

Somerville Police officers were dispatched to Bairos Liquors on Broadway last Saturday evening on reports of an intoxicated customer who refused to leave the store after the manager refused to sell liquor to the defendant, Tyler Manning.

Life in the Ville by Jimmy Del Ponte

“Wow! Nobody believes me when I tell them about this truck!”

A hot summer’s night, many years ago. People sitting on their front porches. Kids with popsicles and the sound of fans in widows. A truck pulls up and all the kids run over to it, but it’s not the ice cream man. After stopping and getting money from their parents, the kids line up for a ride on The Whip! Along with the frenzied kids, what I remember most was the sound of the motor and the smell of exhaust. But boy was it a blast!