The scores of T riders who complained to MBTA Acting General Manager Jonathan Davis about proposed service cuts at a Jamaica Plain meeting on Feb. 1 probably did not know that they were speaking to one of their own. The MBTA’s universally hated plan would kill the 326 express bus from Medford that Davis...
Monthly Archives: February 2012
JP Observer: Has JP become gentrified?
A lot has been said recently about the characteristics of the people of Jamaica Plain—and often with some passion. Results of the 2010 census came in last year. Whole Foods, with its hip image, moved into a spot occupied for a long time by Hi-Lo Foods, with its Latin flavor. The change gave rise...
‘State of JP’ talks hyperlocal issues
Jamaica Plain showed its colors as a hyper-engaged community as residents gathered to discuss politics affecting the neighborhood and their hopes for the future at the second annual “State of Our Neighborhood” Forum held in the auditorium of English High School Feb. 9. “We’re here to ask ourselves where we want JP to be...
BPS ‘university’ brings in parents
HYDE SQ.—U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan visited the John F. Kennedy Elementary School Feb. 6 to observe the Boston Public School’s (BPS) Parent University program. The program, which was an initiative Superintendent Carol Johnson started in 2010, is a parent-engagement strategy. It allows parents of BPS students to attend a full day of...
Homeless care project might return to court
PARKSIDE—Neighbors of a proposed care and housing facility for the homeless on Walnut Avenue have begun the process of appeal for a lawsuit that seeks to halt the project, according to the defendants. A group of 11 residents filed a lawsuit against the Boston Redevelopment Authority (BRA) and the developers in December 2010, hoping...
Supreme Court ruling could affect arson case
The federal case against a man charged with one of the arson fires that plagued Jamaica Plain in 2005-2009 may be in trouble after a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling. Jose Baez, 38, of Dorchester was arrested in 2010 after investigators put a GPS device on his car without a warrant and tracked him...
Basketball program steers youths away from trouble
Hoopz Excellence, a basketball program started in Jackson Square, is celebrating a decade worth of helping at-risk youths. Robert A. Lewis, a JP resident, founded the program so kids would have a safe environment to go to after school. Besides teaching basketball, the program focuses on education and keeping the kids free from gangs...
Councilor wants improved traffic safety
District 6 Councilor Matt O’Malley is pushing for various traffic-calming measures, including “virtual” speed bumps and glowing crosswalks. Following an order filed by O’Malley, the City Council’s Committee on City, Neighborhood Services and Veterans Affairs will hold a hearing Feb. 21 at City Hall on how to improve traffic safety. “The issue of traffic...
Tributes to Hailey pour in
Tributes to Mildred Hailey were offered by local leaders this week after her retirement from Bromley-Heath housing development’s groundbreaking Tenant Management Corporation (TMC) was announced. State Rep. Jeffrey Sánchez: “She’s the mother of the tenant management movement. That’s big! She was always the first one to be angry when people tried to stir up...