The 19th century need for a parish in North Cambridge was fed by industrial development in clay pits and brickyards and the immigrants who worked in these industries, especially Irish and French Canadian Catholics.

Public meetings this week look at the city buying the Cambridge Gas Light Co. Building near City Hall; plans to reclaim Jerry’s Pond in North Cambridge; affordable senior housing on Blanchard Road in the Cambridge Highlands; and wrapping up a review of the city’s governing documents.

In a look ahead at a week of Cambridge and Somerville events, from “Underground Magic,” poetry with Tracy K. Smith and an Oompa concert to the return of the Harvard Plaza WinterFest, a farewell to ImprovBoston and examination of the darker sides of politics and social media.

State Rep. Dave Rogers, a Democrat in the 24th Middlesex District made up of two precincts of Cambridge, five precincts of Arlington and all of Belmont, has an upcoming office hour in Cambridge.

Protests disrupting City Council meetings. Physical clashes with police. The furious signing of petitions and letters and equally furious reactions to them. If a comeback for progressive activism is underway, here are two more items for the argument.

Public meetings this week look at school district plans and finances and a middle-income homeownership proposal by the city’s Redevelopment Authority.

Cambridge public notices for Jerry’s Pond.

Advocates for an expanded green space around a North Cambridge pond by affordable housing projects say their proposal is not defeated. They urge residents to speak up as a developer’s more modest plan makes its way through permitting.

Whatever your interest or motivation about the past, History Cambridge can help you find the resources to conduct your own local history research.

The tenant who died in a Tuesday fire in North Cambridge was identified by name Friday by police and fire officials, with no other information.