Also, root for the brook, breezes, cooler summers, wildlife habitat, dense vegetation, air quality, and well-maintained wetlands. And support reasonable peace and quiet as well as stable home values for residents in an official Environmental Justice (EJ) neighborhood. At first…
Author: Sandra Storey
JP Observer: Local people asked to help choose new name for city street in Arboretum
In a “Call for Community Input” (CCI), people connected to Jamaica Plain and Roslindale are being asked this spring to consider five possible new, historic local peoples’ names for the city street that bisects the Arboretum. Responses are due by…
Public trees to be protected here as of March 28, But what’s next for the majority of trees—those that grow on private land?
Permission of the Parks and Recreation Department, through a Tree Warden, will soon be required for anyone—including city officials themselves—to have healthy trees removed from City of Boston property. Getting that permission will require a well-publicized public hearing. An ordinance…
JP Observer: How not to waste a vote for president
Voters Beware Tip #3 to prepare for the Nov. 5 election, in song: “Mammas, don’t let your babies grow up to be vote-wasters.” (Thanks to Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson for the “cowboys” lyrics inspiration.) Everybody knows it’s important to…
JP Observer: Election Warning #2: Watch out for media hype of poll ‘results’
“Don’t rely on misconceptions about aging when thinking about President Joe Biden’s—or any other person’s or candidate’s—competency.” That was Presidential Election Warning #1 in the JP Observer published in September. Voters should look at his specific job performance and actual…
JP Observer: City to Community on Recent Projects Seems To Be: ‘We Tell, Not Listen.’Needed Changes Can Bring Genuine, Productive Public Participation
Jamaica Plain residents and business people are dealing with some large, complex public projects this year including City of Boston plans for creating additional sections of a bike-lane network on JP streets; renovating White Stadium in Franklin Park to host…
JP Observer: Heat Pump Time: Energy-Efficient Home Heating-and-Cooling Options Available
Lots of people, including rafts of journalists and tons of Americans polled recently, say they want to put an upper age limit on who can be president of the United States. More than 70 percent of respondents—Democrats, Republicans and independents…
JP Observer: It’s time we check on air quality like we do the weather; here’s how
Open the windows. Take a walk. Get some fresh air. Sounds like good, commonplace advice. And it used to be, depending on the location. But we’re past the time we can think and talk about “climate change” in only a…
JP Observer: Heat Pump Time: Energy-Efficient Home Heating & Cooling Options Available
When I was a third-grader in Alabama I remember my dad pointed to a metal box near our house in the backyard. He said it was a heat pump that warmed the house in the winter. “It pulls energy from…
JP Observer: ChatGPT: Is AI Armageddon Upon Us?
As if newspaper columnists and other journalists needed something else to freak people out about this year, along came ChatGPT. It was released by nonprofit creator OpenAI in late November so people can have things written to order for them.…