‘Tis the season to talk about holiday decorations in the Jamaica Plain business districts. What?! Temperatures are in the 80s and 90s these days! Strange as it seems—just as retail stores look ahead when ordering stock—the local business associations have to start thinking about decorating the business districts now for the winter holidays near...
Full Print Edition
Opinion
Letters:
Immigrants in a climate of fear This winter I was getting a haircut in Jamaica Plain. The barbers usually weave in and out of Arabic and English, but on this day there was little English. Rancorous debate filled the room. I could understand the emotions (not the words): Fear, uncertainty, frustration. They explained, “We...
Op-Ed: State House update
By Local State Rep. Jeffrey Sánchez On Wednesday, June 7, 2017, the House passed H.3736, an act relative to language opportunity for our kids, a bill that I sponsored to address the disparities in school performance between English Language Learners (ELL) and their native English-speaking peers. ELL students account for 20 percent of the...
Letters:
A note from JPNDC If you traveled back in time to the 1970s, you might not recognize JP. More people were leaving than moving in. If you wanted to buy a home, you probably needed cash because in most of the neighborhood, banks wouldn’t approve a mortgage. It seemed like fire sirens could be...
Op-Ed: How we’re making Boston an age-friendly city
By Mayor Martin Walsh What does it mean to be an age-friendly city? It means a city that adapts its structures and services to provide accessibility and inclusion to residents of all ages and abilities. That’s why we’ve created the Age-Friendly Boston Action Plan to serve as our City’s blueprint to make Boston the...
JP Observer: Historic arts school celebrates decade of progress; honors three leaders
The Eliot School of Fine and Applied Arts has seen dramatic, positive change in the past ten years. A celebration of that progress and three Jamaica Plain residents who were key to building the programs and stability of the local nonprofit took place last month at a supporter’s home in JP. Long-time board members...
Letters:
Racism is a headache A few weeks back in the Jamaica Plain Gazette, a reader wrote a letter stating that “racism is our limp.” Interesting metaphor but I see racism not as a limp but as a headache. We often spend to much time in our heads apparently in pain over a previous incident...
Op-Ed: Celebrating the opening of the JP Library
By Mayor Martin Walsh In September 2015, work began: we broke ground on a renovation to the Jamaica Plain Branch of the Boston Public Library, a $10 million renovation that aimed to revitalize this community space, and ensure Jamaica Plain has a new, innovative library for residents to gather. I’m so proud to announce...
Op-ed: House passes balanced budget
By Local State Rep. Liz Malia At the end of April, the Massachusetts House of Representatives passed a $40.4 billion FY18 budget. The spending bill protects vulnerable residents through investments in early education and care (EEC), higher education, mental health and substance use disorder initiatives, trauma prevention and intervention, homelessness programs, developmental disability services,...
Letters:
Educational activism As the son of two retired BPS educators, I was proud to see Jamaica Plain activate in support of our students and teachers in overwhelmingly rejecting Ballot Question 2 last November. Our organizing saved the state from turning down a dangerous path that would have drained our public school systems of hundreds...