One good thing about bulk mail is that unlike its distant cousin, the telemarketer, it can’t wake you up or interrupt your dinner. But that said, it does have a way of clogging up your mailbox in any given week with lots of paper and not necessarily much else of interest. So what can you do about unwanted bulk mailings? A call last week to a Boston-area post office confirmed there are some “Do Not Mail” options to go along with the “Do Not Call” list. The Federal Trade Commission has a page with various links for people to use, depending on what kind of mail they wish to stop receiving. For …

The Somerville Winter Farmers Market ended its season on April 13, and that means the city has to go without a major farmers market for over a month. But don't fret, summer is on the way, and with it come outdoor farmers markets. Union Square The Union Square Farmers Market kicks off on June 1 and runs through Nov 23.It takes place Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the heart of Union Square, outside Precinct. Davis Square The Davis Square Farmers Market, which takes place on Wednesdays in the parking lot at Day and Herbert streets, starts May 22 and runs through Nov. 27. It's hours are 12 p.…

Buses will replace Red Line trains between Harvard Station and Alewife the weekend of April 13 and 14, according to the MBTA. The bus diversions will allow workers to perform track, power and signal work as part of the Red Line Floating Slab Project—part of a nearly $35 million series of improvements to the tunnel, which opened in 1985 and is in need of substantial repairs.  The improvements, with their occasional bus diversions, are expected to be conducted into 2016. On April 13 and 14,  buses, not trains, will make stops at Harvard, Porter, Davis and Alewife stations. All buses will be …

About 200 of you may have woken up this morning to find six or seven inches of snow on the ground and that your car had been towed. That—200—is about how many cars were towed Monday night and early Tuesday morning due to the snow emergency in Somerville, according to Jackie Rossetti, a spokesperson for the city of Somerville. That number "might be slightly higher" than with most snow emergencies, but it's not "abnormal," Rossetti said. She said most snow emergencies lead to the city towing between 100 and 200 cars. "Our hope is not to tow that many," she said. When Somerville declares a snow …

Considering a switch to an electric vehicle? Do you already own one and need a place to charge your ride? In Somerville, the closest charging stations are in Cambridge, accoridng to a crowd-sourced website, carstations.com. One of your best options for charging might be the Porter Square Shopping Center. You can also try: Alewife Transit Station Public Works at 147 Hampshire St. Traffic Department at 55 1st St. CambridgeSide Galleria Carstations.com allows users to upload new car charging locations to a Google map and (when applicable) provide information about the stations. According to the …

After five development groups in February put forward proposals to build a hotel in Davis Square, a number of people have asked about the details of those proposals. The city recently posted the proposals online, and you can see them, in their entirety, there. The hotel would be built at the site of the current Herbert and Day streets parking lot, where the Davis Square Farmers Market is held. One of the development groups, a partnership with OTO Development, LLC and Palmetto, withdrew its proposal, according to the website. Here's a quick look at the remaining four proposals: Davis Square …

We now know five candidates are running for Senate in Massachusetts this year. The race will determine who replaces John Kerry, now secretary of state. We know the primary in this special election takes place on April 30 and the final election takes place June 25. One person recently asked me, "So, when do I need to register in order to vote in this election?" According to the city of Somerville Election Department's website, the deadline to register for the primary is April 10 at 8 p.m. The deadline to register for the final election is June 5 at 8 p.m. Remember, in Massachusetts, even if …

With a special election scheduled this spring to fill the Senate seat formerly occupied by Secretary of State John Kerry, local election departments across the state are scrambling to organize. Some have asked how much the special election will cost Somerville. I asked Jackie Rossetti, a city spokesperson, who forwarded some email questions to the Somerville election department about the matter. The election department said special elections cost the city about $65,000 a day. So, with a primary scheduled for April 30 and the state election scheduled for June 25, this year's special election …

Thanks to the recent blizzard, which closed Somerville schools for a few days, a couple of people have asked, "When's the last day of school?" You see, when students miss a day of school, they have to make it up at the end of the year. I spoke briefly to Vince McKay, assistant superintendent of Somerville Public Schools, and he said the last day of school is currently scheduled for June 27. Apparently, Somerville has already reached its allotment of canceled school days for the academic year. The school district builds into its calendar the option of having five additional days of school in …

In regard to the recent snow storm, we heard some questions about the occasional—but perhaps not frequent—references to the storm as "Nemo." While it makes for some good jokes about that cute little orange fish, Nemo is not the brainchild of the Disney Corporation, but rather, a pre-determined name The Weather Channel gave to this latest storm.  If you missed it: The Weather Channel in October announced it would name "noteworthy winter storms" in the 2012-2013 winter season. Sure, snowstorms have been informally named after the fact (remember Snowtober?) This is the first season, however, …