All of the top state health officials involved in the JP drug lab scandal have now resigned. But they were among the gentlest forced resignations in recent memory, handled by Gov. Patrick with such kid gloves that you would think these officials were victims of the crisis rather than its enablers. We fear this...
Opinion
Op-Ed: Making quality and justice keys to BPS plans
By Mary Battenfeld and Megan Wolf/Special to the Gazette Nine months ago, Boston Public Schools began a school assignment review. The assignment baby is yet to be born, but one clear reality has emerged. Boston doesn’t have enough seats in quality schools, and the ones we have are distributed unequally around the city. In...
Letter: New Casey paths will need better snowplows
Jamaica Plain and the state’s Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) are about to receive a new park at the southern end of the Southwest Corridor to take care of. The new Casey Arborway will connect Franklin Park, the Arboretum and nearby neighborhoods to this already bustling bike, walking and running route and most...
Letter: Casey bicyclists live here, too
Jonathan Baker refers to “a group of bicyclists passing though our community” on the proposed Casey Arborway. (Letter to the editor, Nov. 23.) No discredit to the “politically active and concerned residents,” but some of us are bicyclists, residents and politically active and passing through on our way around the neighborhood, i.e., your neighbors...
Letter: Congress should avoid ‘cliff’-hanger
Congress is pushing us towards a fiscal cliff, but this doesn’t need to be a “cliff”-hanger. There are things both sides agree on and can do right now. For starters, Sen. Scott Brown and other elected officials should simply extend tax cuts for the middle class, something just about everyone agrees on. I’m tired...
Letter: Not buying the Casey parkway plan
The most resent Casey Overpass meeting at English High on Dec. 13 had a couple of surprises revealed. Officials stated that with the addition of 25,000 cars moved to the surface road, traffic would have little effect. There would be major effect, especially during rush hour and school bus pick-up and drop-off, and with the addition...
Letter: Casey project will restrict access, boost pollution
I’ve lived in Jamaica Plain for 26 years and never owned a car. And I’m for a bridge to replace the Casey Overpass. A six-lane, street-level highway running across South Street at Forest Hills will not only restrict our access to the Orange Line and Roslindale, but will make it impossible for anyone who walks...
Editorial: When ‘affordable’ isn’t
With Boston housing costs at truly obscene levels, any foothold of affordability is welcome. The community’s recent success at gaining affordable units at 161 S. Huntington and the new pressure for them at the Norbert School are meaningful. However, we should not assume that “affordable” is affordable. In fact, it is often still quite...
Editorial: Thanks for bus stop move
The MBTA deserves thanks for putting aside red tape and relocating a dangerous Monument Square bus stop. As we noted in September, the stop was illegally placed across crosswalks, blocked the view of traffic lights, and prevented pedestrians and drivers from seeing each other. Instead of delaying for months or years more, the MBTA...
Editorial: Welcome back, Mr. Mayor
It is good to hear that Mayor Thomas Menino is out of his recent major hospitalization and rehabbing in preparation for returning home. We wish the mayor well and look forward to seeing him in JP again soon. The mayor has been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, a serious, chronic disease requiring lifestyle changes....