MONUMENT SQ.—A dangerous MBTA bus stop that blocks crosswalks and drivers’ views of traffic lights is under review after a resident complained to state officials. The inbound stop in front of the Loring-Greenough House on in Monument Square is already slated to be moved farther down South Street as part of the Route 39...
Monthly Archives: September 2012
Occupy JP splits up for now
Occupy JP, a local version of the Occupy Wall Street movement, split up earlier this year, but might “reconvene” around an important cause in the future, according to one of its members. “It was not really any ideological split,” said Joe Cugini, a Jamaica Plain resident and former Occupy JP member, in an email...
Ward committee to hold ballot question forum
The Ward 19 Democratic Committee is holding a public forum on the controversial ballot questions for this year’s election, according to a press release. The forum will start at 6:45 p.m. on Oct. 2 at the Nate Smith House at 155 Lamartine St. One ballot question would legalize medical marijuana, while another question would...
Cardinal installs JP’s new Catholic pastor
By Patrick E. O’Connor, Special to the Gazette Rev. Carlos Flor was formally installed as pastor of Jamaica Plain’s three Roman Catholic parishes in a Mass led by Cardinal Seán O’Malley at Our Lady of Lourdes Church on Sept. 22. An overflow crowd filled the Brookside Avenue church and included visitors from Everett, East...
Editorial: Review all state labs
Following the horrendous crisis about drug evidence testing at the State Lab, the state must do a top-to-bottom review of all of the other sensitive lab work done there. The epic failure at the drug lab, which is putting thousands of drug convictions in question, is properly drawing immense government and media attention. But...
Editorial: Supporting Main Streets
First Thursday, the monthly arts event in central JP’s business district, is one of those things that is so successful and smooth that it seems to happen by itself. But it is actually the product of immense work by JP Centre/South Main Streets, a nonprofit that is essentially one staff person and a small...
Editorial: How to move a bus stop
The MBTA’s dilly-dallying about moving the dangerous bus stop in Monument Square is government bureaucracy at its worst. The only real cause for delay is the plan to create a shelter at the new stop location, which is nice, but not necessary. What is necessary is not endangering people. The bus stop signs could...
Op-Ed: Parents must demand real change from BPS
By City Councilor John R. Connolly, Special to the Gazette Two transformative opportunities for the Boston Public Schools hung in the balance as students began the new school year. First, students desperately needed a longer school day and a system that kept good teachers in the classroom. Unfortunately, this opportunity came and went, as...
Letter: Good riddance to school’s racism-tainted name
I can only speculate why the Boston School Committee of the 1970s named a public school after a scientist who was one of the most outspoken proponents of the idea that Africans were a separate and inferior species. The Louis Agassiz Elementary School in Jamaica Plain was permanently closed in June 2011, may his...
Letter: No to condos in church building
I think the Blessed Sacrament Church should be a community center so it can be for everyone. I don’t think it should be condos. I have lived in JP for about five years, and it would make me so sad to see the church turned into private, expensive condos. Tandin Johnson-Ward KidsArts! Multicultural After-School...