Farmers' Markets in Somerville - November and winter

[ron_newman]

The Union Square Farmers' Market will continue for three more Saturdays, November 3, 10, and 17, from 9 am to 1 pm.

The Davis Square Farmers' Market will continue for three more Wendesdays, November 7, 14, and 21, from noon to 5 pm (not the usual 6 pm). The market must close earlier because of darkness, as we are setting the clocks back an hour this weekend.

The Somerville Winter Farmers' Market at the Armory will begin on Saturday, December 1. It will continue for 20 Saturdays through April 13, from 9:30 am to 2 pm. (It's ending earlier in the spring than it did last year, leaving a 6-week gap in late April and May with no local markets.)

Barred Owls

[rachel02144.livejournal.com]

At 7 pm on Halloween, we saw a pair of Barred Owls on Elm Street.  How cool is that?!?  We figure they got blown into the city by the hurricane.  Has anyone else seen them?

Massive public safety drills in Boston Saturday

[redcolumbine.livejournal.com]

On Saturday, the area will host Urban Shield: Boston, a 24-hour training exercise that simulates large-scale public safety incidents in the metro-Boston area. Urban Shield: Boston will begin at 8 a.m. Saturday and conclude at 8 a.m. Sunday. It will include personnel from the City of Boston, (including Boston Police, Fire, and EMS) Metro-Boston Homeland Security Region, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA), the Conference of Boston Teaching Hospitals and UMass Boston, and the United States Coast Guard. This exercise will assess each team’s ability to successfully respond to, and manage, public safety events and other emergencies occurring simultaneously throughout the Boston area.

Full details here.

(Insert requisite grumbling about costly security theatre here)

Room available now in shared apt ~15min from Davis Square, near Teele Square

[aedifica]

I'm still looking for a roommate or two, and now that I've moved in to the apartment myself I have a much better idea of what it's like and so forth. It's near Waterhouse & Broadway. Anyone interested? Also, other than Craigslist, do you have any suggestions where else to look for roommates?

( More details )

Stand up for Davis Sq. - Say NO to national franchises and help keep Davis Sq. uniquely independent!

[save-davis-sq.livejournal.com]

The time has come to stand up for Davis Square and to say NO to the national franchises that are slowly taking over the square.  Davis Square is a thriving neighborhood because of the diverse and independent mix of businesses that have invested in the community.  Unfortunately this uniqueness is at risk because the multi-national franchises are starting to flex their muscles and push out the locals.  We have a Dunkins, McDonalds, Starbucks, CVS, Orange Leaf, and now the latest entry is Pinkberry, which has a Special Permit application for 263 Elm Street before the Somerville Zoning Board.  Pinkberry is applying for special permits to open a "Fast food establishment" as well as a special permit for relief from the required parking.  According to the planning staff report, In special permit applicaions for fast-order, take-out or automobile oriented food establishments, there shall be establishment of a need for such a facility in the neighborhood or in the City, and impacts on traffic circulation, parking and visual, physical, or historical characteristics of the particular location shall not be detrimental.  The Pinkberry application will negatively impact the square as they will not be providing the (6) parking spaces the change of use requires and moreover, there is no "need" for such a facility in the square with (3) shops (JP Licks, Orange Leaf, iYO cafe) with the same use all located within two blocks from each other.  A diverse retail mix makes for a stronger community.  Perhaps a flower shop or gift store?  We also have to ask ourselves if we want Davis Square to go by the way of Harvard Square and turn into a glorified urban mall?   If you want to help preserve the uniqueness that is Davis Square then it is time to make your voice heard.   Here are a few ways: (trying all 4 would be the loudest)

1: Attend the Zoning Board of Appeals Hearing in person and speak your mind 

Wednesday, November 7th, 2012, 06:00 PM

City Hall - Aldermanic Chamber
93 Higland Avenue
Somerville, MA 02143

and/or

2. Call or send an email to the board by contacting the ZBA adminisrator: 

Dawn Pereira
617-625-6600 x2533
DPereira@somervillema.gov

and/or

3.  Contact the local alderman Rebekah Gewirtz

Rebekah.gewirtz@gmail.com
617.718.0792

and/or

4. Sign the online petition

http://www.change.org/petitions/somerville-ma-zoning-board-of-appeals-deny-the-special-permit-application-for-pinkberry-in-davis-square

This is the first step.  Please help start the public conversation on what kind of community we want Davis Square to be in the future.

Meeting Spaces?

[ebagslolz.livejournal.com]

Howdy!

I'm hoping to find a couple of spots here in Davis that could handle 15-20 people for weekly meetups and whatnot, hopefully with a projector for speakers, etc. Any suggestions?

Mr. Ho's Orchestrotica plays at the Nave Gallery: Fri, Nov 2

[navegallery.livejournal.com]

"Just about all the original stars of exotica...are gone--here, at last, is their successor." --Huffington Post

Join us tomorrow night as Mr. Ho's Orchestrotica plays at the Nave Gallery for the first time.

8-9:30. $15/advance, general admission $5/under-18 (w/ adult ticket, available at door only)

Referencing the exotica of Martin Denny, Milt Raskin, Tchaikovsky, and Shostakovich among others, Mr. Ho's, Orchestrotica--as a vibraphone quartet--presents an original third-stream collection of updated jazz, chamber, and world music reaching towards the South Pacific via Asia, the Middle East, the Balkans, and Latin America. Led by, multi-percussionist, vibraphonist and composer Brian O'Neill (Mr. Ho) the group normally features bass flute/woodwinds (Geni Skendo), percussion (Noriko Terada), and acoustic bass (Jason Davis). This concert will feature special guest and frequent collaborator Tev Stevig on oud.

Buy your tickets online at www.navegallery.org.

Discussion: Somerville ballot questions 4-7

[squirrelitude]

Hi all, I thought it might be interesting to open up a discussion of the questions that are unique to the Somerville ballot. The latest Resistat linked to the Somerville elections page, which includes some nearly illegible very nice scans of ballots for the various wards as well as a PDF of questions 4–7 (1–3 being the statewide questions.) This is the first time I've seen these questions, and I haven't seen any discussion of pros/cons. Is there anything voters should know about questions 4–7?

( Somerville questions 4-7: Text from PDF )