Attend meetings on rats, dogs, snow spending, CharlieCards for students, Café Batifol and more
Public meetings this week look at stemming rat infestations, free dog licensing for seniors and an accounting for snow season; Café Batifol’s arrival in Kendall and Vitality Bowls in Central; ending off-street parking requirements; free CharlieCards for students; converting the Sacred Heart rectory into affordable rentals; and more.
Great blue herons are certainly a sight to behold, and we’ve got a dozen to behold near Alewife T
Who has not been dazzled as they walk along some shallow watery shore by the sight of a 4-foot-tall great blue heron standing almost motionless? We have many that make their home here in Cambridge, and they are fascinating to observe.
Up to 10 inches of snow is expected Friday
The city is expecting between 5 and 10 inches of snow starting at about 3 a.m. Friday and continuing throughout the day – hardly comparing with the 23.8 inches that hit Cambridge over the final weekend of January. The city isn’t even declaring a parking emergency, though neighboring Somerville is.
Though a harbinger of spring, American robins can use amazing insulating power to winter here
Everyone knows robins – the most abundant bird in North America. (There are 370 million of these guys!) But there’s a lot to know about them that may surprise you.
Cambridge snow parking ban ends at 6 p.m.; Emergency remains in effect in Somerville
After getting an estimated 17 to 18 inches of snow Saturday, Cambridge said it is lifting its snow emergency parking ban as of 6 p.m. Sunday and asks property owners to remove snow from sidewalks. A Somerville snow emergency stays in effect for parking, but snow removal requests are similar.
Bill by state reps would enact a ‘polluter’s fee,’ focus on utilities instead of maximizing profit
As the season keeps getting colder, I am eyeing my thermostat nervously and worrying about the higher bills that Eversource announced in December. Having to choose between heating my home and an exorbitant gas bill is the latest example of corporate greed.
Between 17 and 29 inches of snow are expected for Cambridge and Somerville. Are you ready?
As few as 17 inches of snow but as many as 28 inches are expected to land this weekend on Cambridge and Somerville according to National Weather Service estimates Friday, with wind chill factors potentially reaching -7 and gusts of wind as high as 50 mph.
Despite upgrades, 50 million gallons of sewage were released into the Alewife Brook over 2021
There was as much sewage-contaminated water discharged into the Alewife Brook last year as in 1997, before the implementation of a $200 million plan to modernize the area’s antique combined sewer systems – but 2021 was the 16th wettest year ever on record, a Cambridge official notes.
We like our wild turkeys, and not just as a dinner, and can coexist if we stop feeding them like pets
When early European colonists settled in Massachusetts, there were an estimated 11 million wild turkeys roaming North America. Now there are at least enough that you might be tempted to feed one a Somerville doughnut (but shouldn’t) or welcome one into your backyard.
There really are fewer chipmunks this autumn, for reasons less cute than the critters themselves
If you find yourself unhappy because of high heating bills this winter, think of the chipmunks hibernating away, preserving their food stores until spring. If your heating bill is low this winter, the chipmunks might be wide awake devouring their stores of food too early.
