The Medford City Council granted a common victualler license Tuesday for a new sandwich shop at 213 Middlesex Ave. that will replace Kennedy Fried Chicken & Pizza. Mark's Sandwich Shop has listed owners as Therese Gigliotti and Mark E. Reading, according filings with the state Secretary of State's office. Gigliotti, a Medford resident, told the council the hours of the new store will be 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday. Gigliotti indicated the shop will have a "scratch kitchen" in addition to a basic menu where customers will be able to order any kind of sandwich they'd like. City …

The special primary election for the vacant U.S. Senate seat will be held throughout the Commonwealth of Massachusetts today. The Democratic primary will has U.S. Congressman Edward Markey of Malden and U.S. Congressman Stephen Lynch on the ballot, with Brett Rhyne of Needham as a write-in candidate. Republican combatants will be former U.S. Attorney Michael Sullivan of Abington, U.S. Navy SEAL veteran Gabriel Gomez of Cohasset and State Rep. Dan Winslow of Norfolk. The seat was vacated by John Kerry when he was confirmed as U.S. Secretary of State. The seat is currently held on an interim …

Medford's spring street sweeping schedule has been posted on the city's website and is available to view to the right in PDF form. The sweeping schedule is split into 14 different zones. It starts Monday, April 22 and concludes Thursday, May 9. To find when your street is going to be sweeped, check out the PDF.

Cambridge artist David Fichter helped students at Medford's Andrews Middle School with their new Mystic River mural, according to a post on the Medford Public Schools website published this week. The mural will be unveiled to the community on May 17 at the 10th Annual River Day at AMS. Fichter has been working with youth groups on art projects for three decades with perhaps the best-known being the Mystic River mural on Mystic Avenue in Somerville. The school department said Janet Walton, an Andrews parent, "led a $10,000 fund-raising drive to bring Fichter to the school as an artist in …

A few weeks ago, we answered a question regarding what the last day of school would be for Medford Public Schools amidst all of the days lost due to poor weather. Since then, Medford's had two more snow days, first on March 8 and then again last Tuesday, March 19. So what is now the last day of school before students head off for summer vacation? Any students reading may want to avert their eyes. Your final day will now be Friday, June 28, according to Superintendent Roy Belson. There have been a total of seven days lost due to weather this school year.  In answering another question posed to…

It’s a question we get asked a lot: “How do I submit a Letter to the Editor?” There are two ways to submit a Letter to the Editor to Medford Patch: 1. As a blog post. Submitting a Letter to the Editor as a blog post is easy (really as simple as writing an email) and immediate (as soon as you hit “Approve,” it’ll be live on the site). If you plan on submitting multiple letters over time, submitting them as blog posts will also allow you to establish a voice or presence on the site. However, still feel free to submit as a blog even if you only plan on writing one. 2. By emailing it to Medford …

Drivers who are considering a switch to electric vehicles or current vehicle owners looking for a place nearby to charge their rides have a couple of places to find their outlet. In Medford, the closest charging stations are in Cambridge at the Alewife Transit Station and the Porter Square Shopping Center according to crowd-sourced website carstations.com. Carstations allows users to upload new car charging locations to a Google map and (when applicable) provides details on the station. According to the site's About section, "this website is designed to encourage participation and welcomes …

You know the old saying "Fall back, spring forward." Well, it's almost time to spring forward.  So, what date does Daylight Saving begins this year? This year we move the clocks overnight on Sunday, March 10. Don't forget to move your clocks ahead one hour before going to bed Saturday night (Don't worry, we'll remind you again). Officially Daylight Saving is 2 a.m. on Sunday. Yes, moving the clocks ahead does mean we all lose an hour of sleep, but in return it will be light later in the day. Besides, the lost hour falls on Saturday night, so just sleep in a bit on Sunday before getting up and…

Poor conditions from Hurricane Sandy and the major winter storm from this month have resulted in five lost schools days due to weather for Medford Public Schools this year. So when will the final day of school be for Medford now? The answer: Wednesday, June 26, according to Medford Public Schools Superintendent Roy Belson. The calendar for the school year on the school website also reflects that date as the last day of school. With no snow days, the last day of school would have been a week earlier, Wednesday, June 19.

It appears another major winter storm is headed to the region this weekend, but just exactly how much snow Medford will get appears to be up in the air. Chris Lambert of WHDH said the snow is expected to start between 4 and 7 p.m. Saturday. Rain will be mixed in with snow along the coast, according to Lambert, and that will be changed over to wet snow by Sunday morning. In places where there will only be snow, Lambert expects the snow to total about a foot. NECN's Matt Noyes said over a foot of snow is possible for some interior communities in the storm that is expected to develop Saturday …

You've probably heard occasional—but perhaps not frequent—references to this winter 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 November 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, that The Weather Channel is naming them as …

At Tuesday's Medford City Council meeting, the council unanimously approved the calendar of dates for this year's Medford city election. Nomination papers for the city election will be available starting Tuesday, June 18. The city's preliminary election would take place Tuesday, Sept. 17, followed by the city election Tuesday, Nov. 5. Here is a full rundown of the election calendar as approved by the council: Tuesday, June 18 Nomination papers available from the Registrar of Voters Office, Room 102, City Hall  Tuesday July 25, 5 p.m. Last Day and Hour to obtain nomination papers from the …

Although the flu is on everyone’s minds this season, the winter vomiting bug, or the norovirus, is making its rounds. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that the norovirus causes about 70,000 hospitalizations and 800 deaths each year, mostly in young children and the elderly. Some of the virus' common symptoms include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and stomach pains. The CDC points out that the norovirus is often referred to as the stomach flu. In an e-mail, Medford Public Health Nurse Janet Leahy said she has not had any reported cases of norovirus in Medford this …

TV3 Medford Community Cablevision's Director of Operations Daniel Sarno, Jr., announced last week the community access station will be closed due to "building safety issues" at its 5 High St. headquarters. Over the weekend, Sarno gave Patch an update on what is going on with the station: The property manager of 5 High Street and a team of engineers have determined that the cause of the consistent flooding was a failed sump pump located under the main elevator shaft. It was difficult for engineers to locate the pump initially. The pump was repaired on 1/17. TV3 will remain closed for portions …

Yesterday the Medford Chamber of Commerce sent along information regarding nominations for the 2013 Chamber Citizen of the Year. Nominations are open now through 12 p.m. on Feb. 19. The nomination form can be accessed in the PDF to the right. Jodie Coyne, the chamber's executive director, said in an e-mail to Patch that "nominations are open to anyone who would like to nominate someone in the community they feel would qualify for the prestige position." Coyne said the chamber and past recipients of the honor choose the Citizen of the Year based on the nominations. Rules regarding nominations …