(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 Ian Halim

In biology, little things make big things happen. Take, for instance, the spike protein that projects from the virus that causes COVID-19. Despite a length measured in mere billionths of a meter, it is this spike that allows the virus to attach to our cells and infect them, much like a mosquito extending its long snout to prick us. The spike protein is also the target of the COVID vaccine. Indeed, the mRNA COVID vaccine gives our body instructions so that we can make copies of the protein, get to know it, and thereby recognize the peril when confronted with the actual virus. Virtually everything that happens in living things, in fact – the action of drugs, the genetic information encoded in our DNA, even the flexing of our muscles – is thanks to tiny machine-like structures within us. And the power of penicillin – the first antibiotic, and the subject of this essay – arises from its tiny patterned structure too.

Life in the Ville by Jimmy Del Ponte

My sister Christine (Somerville High class of 1970) planted an evergreen tree in the front yard in 1969. It eventually grew too big to avoid hitting up against the house. It couldn’t maintain its traditional symmetry so we had to have it removed in 1983.

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Haitian Flag Day is the celebration of the Haitian flag. Raising the flag is an opportunity to celebrate and bring communities together to learn about the contribution of Haiti to freedom and human rights through out the world.

PJ Dionne Company, a proud signatory to UA Plumbers Local 12 and the Greater Boston Plumbing Contractors Association, recently organized a field trip for Somerville High School plumbing shop students to help inspire them as the next generation of plumbers.

Thank you for celebrating the 100th Anniversary of the Somerville Rotary Club. Tuesday night was a fantastic evening and a great deal of fun. Special thanks to our honorees, Nancy Kavanagh, Star Market, and Pat Reardon.

Sargent Avenue tenants and those representing their interests rallied for protection measures to be implemented in favor of renters. — Photos courtesy of CAAS

More than 70 residents gathered at 22 Sargent Avenue in Somerville last Monday to urge legislative action on pending tenant protection measures and demand that real estate investor and landlord Ryan Pinto negotiate in good faith with his tenants.

(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 Chris Dwan

Rafi Properties submitted a revised version of their proposed zoning overlay to the City Council last Thursday and it may come as a surprise to some when I say there’s a lot to like about this one. The development team has clearly been listening to the community, both in public sessions like the ones hosted by the Union Square Neighborhood Council (USNC) and also in smaller sessions in living rooms and meeting spaces around town.

Somerville’s Memorial Parade will step off at 11:00 a.m., Sunday, May 26, from the Davis Square rotary. The parade will go up Holland Street and proceed through Teele Square, ending on Broadway and North Street. The annual Memorial Day remembrance ceremony at Veterans’ Memorial Cemetery (on Broadway between Alewife Brook Parkway and North Street) will follow on Monday, May 27, at 10:00 a.m. To learn more, visit somervillema.gov/memorialday. The ceremony will be livestreamed on the CityTV Facebook page (facebook.com/SomervilleCityTV) and broadcast after the event on GovTV (RCN channels 13 or 613; Comcast channel 22) and on the city’s YouTube channel (youtube.com/SomervilleCityTV).

Expectant mothers in Cambridge, Somerville, and Medford are invited to Riverside Early Head Start’s free community baby shower on Wednesday, May 29.

Riverside’s Early Head Start (EHS) program prepares children to successfully enter preschool and helps families learn important parenting skills. To introduce families to the program, they are holding a free community baby shower on Wednesday, May 29, at 474 Broadway, Somerville, from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m.