Public meetings this week look at street cleaning without tows, green zoning, a municipal property inventory; conservative “birthing” clinics, board Stipends and bank frontage; and zoning to decide where labs are allowed.

In a look ahead at a week of Cambridge and Somerville events, holiday shopping is underway and so is the Harvard Square Business Association’s Giving Tree tradition, and there’s comedy, music, book readings and interactive events such as the Cardboard City Big Group Build at The MIT Museum.

Harvard Square has been a special place for generations of people, and especially generations of Harvard students. A recently introduced class at the school exposes students to the square’s history and encourages them to get more involved in civic life by considering how it might be reenvisioned.

Attorney Kenneth J. Chesebro, who has been identified as a “mastermind” in the undermining of the 2020 election for former President Donald Trump, was a longtime Cambridge resident and Harvard grad.

The wide-ranging, 12-artist “Sanctuary City,” the Somerville Museum’s first exhibit since an ambitious construction project, is in its final week exploring the meanings of home and safety through the lens of immigration.

In a look ahead at a week of Cambridge and Somerville events, Petsi Pies founder Renee McLeod shares her secrets for a good cause, a Holiday Plant Enthusiast Market is coming, there are open studios by Brickbottom/Joy Street artists, Robert Pinsky reads, “Something Strange” returns and much more.

In a national midterm election that could decide if America continues to have a functioning democracy, Cambridge and Somerville voters saw a blue tide rolling predictably back in – and many stayed home.

The Cambridge City Council has scheduled a “a communications training” retreat for Wednesday, without explanation of what that means.

The NAACP National Office, using a digital platform called Election Buddy, will have polls open from 5 to 9 p.m. Nov. 30 to select officers and at-large members.

Underlying much of the so-far very theoretical conversation by Cambridge’s Charter Review Committee was concern about the relationship between the city manager and council, with debates that will sound familiar to anyone following local politics over past years.