Two days before the biggest mayoral race in Boston’s history was appropriately sidelined so the Hub could manage tragedy, our city got a visit from conservative stalwart and Harvard alum Grover Norquist. The small-government crusader was in town entertaining Tea Partiers on Boston Common, where a gaggle of conservatives—who presumably utilize no public resources,...
Opinion
JP Observer: Popular history walks reveal marvels in many areas
Jamaica Plain has a rich and varied past, and people here seemed more fascinated with local history than residents of other places. For the past 17 years, local interest has been evidenced every spring by the appearance, not just of flowers and leaves on the trees, but of small crowds of people walking and...
The shock in the Back Bay
Perhaps I am still in sense of shock as the details and the reality of the bombing at the finish line of the Boston Marathon sink into my mind. One is almost immune when you hear about civilian targeted bombs exploding in those places of unrest like the Middle East or Africa. Today, I...
Editorial: Boston and Marathon will be defined by us, not bombs
In the wake of the diabolical bombing of the Boston Marathon, a vile act of random mayhem and one of the most heinous crimes in this city’s long history, there is natural anxiety, fear and confusion. When a fellow human being, possibly a neighbor from Cambridge, is capable of such a thing, who are we?...
Letter: No surprise to state’s Casey bias
I’m a JP resident who lives south of the Forest Hills T Station. I read Rebeca Oliveira’s article in the last Gazette about the Massachusetts Department of Transportation bias in the Casey Overpass matter with interest. (“Casey documents suggest at-grade bias,” April 12.) It comes as no surprise to me that the documents released...
Letter: Casey opposition uses bad history, scare tactic
I would like to address two points that are loudly repeated by the proponents of a new Casey Overpass but I believe are misguided. First of all, I believe proponents of a new Casey Overpass are misreading history by saying that opposition to extending I-95 through JP supports their cause. Both the extension of...
Letter: Suggestions for T station fixes in Casey project
A version of this letter was sent to the Massachusetts Department of Transportation as comment on the Casey Arborway project: As a longtime Jamaica Plain resident, I strongly support and commend your decision to dismantle the Casey Overpass and replace it with an attractive, functional, at-grade configuration of roads, green spaces and public transit access points....
Letter: Kerry should oppose Keystone pipeline
I urge our new U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry to consider the legacy of catastrophic climate change that we are leaving to our children when he decides on the fate of the Keystone XL oil pipeline. In coming months, his State Department will issue the final environmental impact statement on the project. Along with jeopardizing...
Letter: Gazette used wrong term for child rape
Might I gently suggest you find a term other than “seduction” to describe former Boston Mayor Andrew Peters’ relationship with his 11-year-old cousin Starr Faithfull? No doubt you but reproduced a previous generation’s description thought to be diplomatic at the time, but as a modern newspaper, plain labeling would be less confusing and far more...
Letter: Failed Senate gun vote is cowardice in tragedy
We are a society that is quick to look for heroes and heroic acts when tragedy strikes. Understandably, it makes us feel hopeful through the despair over the loss of loved ones as a result of tragic events like the massacre in Newtown, Conn., and the bombings in Boston. And that’s good. Perhaps it would be equally...