A study confirms some fears for independent businesses, though commercial gentrification appears to not have quite kicked into gear in Central Square.

Where you choose to put your money says a lot about your personal values, and where your money goes matters in the context of local communities.

It will take a long time and a lot of money to build the 200,000 units officials believe Massachusetts needs. Gov. Maura Healey’s proposed Affordable Homes Act will cost $4 billion and expects to produce 40,000 homes over the next five years.

As credit card use increases, so do the cost of credit card swipe fees. The lack of competition among card companies – Visa and Mastercard are essentially an industry duopoly – is a problem.

In this Valentine’s Day month, I pay homage to W.E.B. Du Bois’ 1924 novel “Dark Princess” because it highlights the least-talked-about subject then and now: Black love.

Valentine’s Day isn’t some “Mad Men” type day when a beleaguered husband grabs last-minute flowers and candy for a stay-at-home wife! Even the concept of a “couple” has changed. As a 62-year-old divorced straight able male heterosexual, I’m an expert.

Over the past few years, more businesses have asked Cambridge Local First for help with finding employees, and the organization has pursued a range of interventions. But the staffing shortages remain, and will continue to.

If we wait too long to act to ban rat poisons that go up the food chain, it will be too late. We will lose the animal species we once fought so hard to save.

Most days, living in Cambridge can feel like paradise – but the city isn’t perfect. Here are some best and worst moments from the past year, people we lost and businesses that closed (or opened).

There will be other events and issues that strike the 90,000 hearts and nervous systems of Somerville residents as the best or worst things to happen in or to their city over the past 12 months. Here are some to get the memories flowing.