I stopped by the Merchants Committee meeting Wednesday morning at the Outlaw Cafe - they meet at  8:30 a.m. every Wednesday - and there's always lots to talk about. Here are a few of my notes:

There is a meeting tonight at Northeast Community Center at 5 p.m. featuring Mayor Condon and city council member Mike Fagan, addressing the proposed cuts to senior, community and youth centers across town. Northeast Youth Center, which is threatened with closure, will be there with a big presentation and encourages everyone to show up.

The Greater Hillyard Business Association is having a meeting on Feb. 9 at 6:30 p.m. at the Northeast Community Center. This meeting features a tax accountant who'll share advice for the upcoming tax season.

Merchants are taking donations for the community yard sale. The yard sale is usually held on the first weekend of June at the same time as the Chalk Art Walk  - but an earlier date is being considered. The merchants are hoping for donations of useful items, not just leftovers from other yard sales. More volunteers to help out before and during the yard sale are desperately needed. As Marv Peterson of Hillyard Variety put it: "We really need some fresh people."

A conversation about parking was had. There are no parking meters on Market Street, but parking is limited to two hours. Some merchants worried that bigger events that take longer than two hours, fill up the parking spots on the street. Business owners were encouraged to park in back parking lots - or at Northeast Youth Center - to avoid blocking street parking for customers.