Want to go green while practicing social distancing? Here are a few ideas to consider:

• Maximize your time at home by planting a garden. Not only will the plants you grow help to reduce carbon dioxide in the Earth’s atmosphere, but you’ll also be creating a healthy habitat for birds, insects and other small critters. Plus, if you plant vegetables, you can reduce your carbon footprint by reducing the amount of food you need to purchase that was shipped long distances.

Life in the Ville by Jimmy Del Ponte

All I ever wanted to do was sit home, not work, eat snacks and watch TV. Well I got my wish but this is getting ridiculous. Who would have thought a situation like this could ever happen in this day and age?

City of Somerville and United Way launch fund to support community member’s essential needs amid COVID-19 crisis

Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone and United Way of Massachusetts Bay and Merrimack Valley announce the launch of the Somerville Cares Fund to support the essential needs of Somerville community members most impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The fund, created in partnership with the United Way, will provide emergency funding to all Somerville residents, regardless of immigration status, as well as all Somerville workers, including those recently laid off from their jobs.

The Somerville City Council wants to make sure that all eligible voters be allowed to apply for absentee ballots for the upcoming primary and presidential election.

By Jim Clark

An order was put forward at the latest regular meeting of the Somerville City Council on April 7 asking that the Election Commissioner discuss mailing absentee applications to registered voters for the upcoming primary and general elections.

Callie Chapman of the Zoe Dance Company will be featured on SAC’s kickoff live-streaming event on Thursday, April 16 at 7:00 p.m.

By Anna Schaeffer

The Somerville Arts Council (SAC) is launching the Home Alone Art Series (HAAS) in response to COVID-19 social distancing measures. The debut performance of HAAS will be held Thursday, April 16 at 7:00 p.m. via Facebook’s live stream function and scheduled continually as long as physical distancing measures are implemented.

(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 Imari Paris Jeffries

As a father of three and the leader of a non-profit that works directly with parents, I know this pandemic has intensified the challenges families face in their daily lives.

Street-sweeping is delayed again, and will now begin on Monday, May 4. To prevent residents from having to move their cars during the statewide stay at home order, street sweeping will now start one-month later. For more info on this and other services visit the city’s website at www.somervillema.gov

Mayor Curtatone and Governor Baker held a press conference last Saturday to demonstrate the new mask sterilization facility in Assembly Square. The site will be able to clean up to 80,000 N95 masks per day for hospitals from all over New England.

Eagle Feathers #202 – Near Disasters

By Bob (Monty) Doherty

On the morning of April 1, 1980, a Boston news station aired an April fool’s joke. It was reminiscent of Orson Wells’ War of the Worlds, and it totally backfired. The station told their listeners that the Blue Hills were volcanically erupting, spewing lava in all directions This caused hundreds of viewers in the Dorchester and Milton areas to be panic-stricken. Later that night, the news station apologized.