PONDSIDE—It is taking a little longer than expected, but plans to revive the long-underused historic home of legendary Boston politician James Michael Curley are still ongoing. Richard Dennis, head of the Friends of the James Michael Curley House, which is spearheading the revival effort, said that the group’s plans to take over operations at...
Monthly Archives: August 2012
Mayor’s rep observes JP for 24 hours
Jullieanne Doherty, Jamaica Plain’s coordinator for the Mayor’s Office of Neighborhood Services, recently spent 24 hours observing JP and talking to its residents as part of an effort by the City to give the coordinators a different perspective of the neighborhoods they cover. “I learned some things and gained valuable experience in the off...
Regan League’s 43rd season wraps up with champs, picnic
By Harry Smith, Special to the Gazette The 43rd season of the Jamaica Plain Regan Youth League has come to a close with another successful year of close pennant races, thrilling championship games, and friendships and memories that will last a lifetime. The league continued to reflect the diversity of the neighborhood, with 800...
City census finds zero homeless on JP streets
The number of homeless people living on the City streets dipped to the lowest level since 1997, according to the City’s 2011 homeless census. And in Jamaica Plain, no homeless people were found on Jamaica Plain streets on the night of the census, said a City official. The census, which is normally released during...
30th anniversary for South St. businesses
Joy Silverstein, owner of Fresh Hair salon at 62 South St., and Jeffrey Ferris, owner of Ferris Wheels Bike Shop at 66 South St., are celebrating 30 years of doing business in Jamaica Plain this year. The celebration, scheduled to coincide with First Thursday on Aug. 2, after the Gazette’s deadline, was expected to...
Obituary: Warren Hagar; raised in JP
Warren Arnold Hagar, 99, loving father, husband, grandfather and great-grandfather, passed away on July 13, 2012, at Park Lane Assisted Living, Monterey, Calif. He led a full life as manager of J.J. Newberry’s; high school English teacher, Yucaipa, Calif.; state rehabilitation counselor, Riverside; social worker, Redlands, Calif.; top salesperson, Encyclopedia Britannica; member of the...
Editorial: Remembering Fred Ciampa
One lunch hour at Same Old Place, a clumsy guy, who today happens to edit this newspaper, dropped a freshly made Italian sub all over the counter and floor. From his perch behind the cash register, owner Fred Ciampa teased the customer relentlessly about how everyone’s a food critic. Then he offered up another,...
Editorial: JPNDC’s crisis of faith
Blessed Sacrament is looking more like Cursed Development for the Jamaica Plain Neighborhood Development Corporation, an affordable housing organization that is being criticized by longtime friends for selling much of the church campus to luxury builders. The JPNDC itself is clearly not thrilled about it. It struggled, delayed and cajoled its for-profit partner for...
Letter: Seize the chance to improve our streets
In Jamaica Plain, we are fortunate to enjoy not just world-class green spaces, but also a lush and vibrant streetscape. Our public ways are the seams that bind our civic lives together: culture to culture, “1 percent” to “99 percent,” young to old. When an opportunity to rejuvenate a neglected part of our streetscape...
Letter: The easy way to regain Casey trust
MassDOT admits that there are trust issues with the community regarding the Casey Overpass (“MassDOT chief: We’ll fix Casey ‘trust issue,’” July 20). They say they want to regain the community’s trust. It’s quite simple: Stop manipulating the traffic counts, pay attention to the buses, treat the citizens of the advisory group and their elected...