Though speakers on Riverbend Park included leaders of the local NAACP and Cambridge Black Pastors Alliance, the person raising race and class issues was city councillor E. Denise Simmons, an opponent of expanding park hours.

In a look ahead at a week of Cambridge and Somerville events, there’s music and dance galore, including “Ink in Motion” at The Foundry and “This Love Unbound” at Arts at the Armory, as well as Arbor Week events, nature challenges, a Hypnothesis music experience and “Hand Me Down” art exhibit.

In a look ahead at a week of Cambridge and Somerville events, there are Patriots’ Day celebrations, school vacation fun, things to do for Earth Day but also “Weeding Out the Stoned,” a touring game show in which audiences find the narc among the stoned.

Some Riverside neighborhood residents have two weeks to enjoy victory in minimizing the hours Riverbend Park is open before Cambridge city councillors return to session. That’s when debate can reopen over a motion asking that park hours be expanded again.

The state has broken its silence on Cambridge’s Riverbend Park, saying the stretch of road will be open only Sundays only from April 30 to Nov. 12, returning to a schedule last seen before the Covid pandemic that is against the wishes of many residents and a majority of city councilors.

In a look ahead at a week of Cambridge and Somerville events, there’s a “Pests: How Humans Create Animal Villains” reading, Nick Zaino’s 100 Years of Boston Comedy, Urbanity’s “Of the Ether” dance and a “DM Mayhem” show of horrifying texts from men.

Neighbors have raised important concerns about traffic impacts that are deserving of respect, analysis and action. We must work together to implement fixes.

The addition of Saturdays to the schedule in past years prompted strong debate between those in favor of the Memorial Drive park and those who worried about additional traffic detouring onto side streets, especially in the Riverside community.

By pushing our government to mitigate traffic impacts we can have a future in which everyone has access to the open spaces they need and deserve.

Two traffic and police issues were put on hold after the removal of a request to look into trying unarmed traffic stops; an order around closing Memorial Drive to car traffic for weekend recreation was also paused.