Opponents and proponents of the ballot questions to legalize medical marijuana and to allow terminally ill patients to commit suicide sparred during a Ward 19 Democratic Committee forum on Oct. 2. About 15 people attended the forum at the Nate Smith House, where the most contentious issue appeared to be whether to legalize medical...
Full Print Edition
Warren habla sobre religión, violencia
Elizabeth Warren, la candidata democrática para el Senado, habló sobre varios temas comunes de su campaña durante un foro reciente en Roxbury Community College (RCC), pero también mencionó los temas menos comunes como la libertad de religión y la violencia urbana. El foro, patrocinado por el NAACP entre otras organizaciones, tomó lugar el 26...
39 bus to move for Casey project
FOREST HILLS—The state Department of Transportation (MassDOT) Casey Arborway design team proposed relocating the 39 bus stop and adding a left-turn lane to the new Shea Square during its Oct. 1 Design Advisory Group (DAG) meeting. The state team also presented possible mitigation measures for the Asticou neighborhood, which is located immediately adjacent to...
School bus traffic brings street closures
JP SOUTH—The controversial new school bus traffic on Carolina Avenue is getting mixed reactions, but is already forcing police to shut down the street for an hour a day, with City and Boston Public Schools (BPS) officials pushing for closing a side street and restricting parking. “The street patterns need to be controlled,” said...
One developer under fire puts heat on another
The developer behind a controversial luxury condo plan for the former Blessed Sacrament Church is rallying the opposition to another controversial luxury project at 161 S. Huntington Ave., according to emails obtained by the Gazette. Peter Roth, whose New Atlantic Development is at the center of a gentrification debate over his church plan, is...
161 S. Huntington vote slated
S. HUNTINGTON— The controversial luxury apartment project proposed for 161 S. Huntington Ave. will be heard and voted on by the Boston Redevelopment Authority (BRA) board at its Thurs., Oct. 18 meeting, according to BRA Director Peter Meade. It has a high likelihood of being approved, as BRA staff only submit projects to the...
Family Dollar opposed for JP site
WASHINGTON ST.—Family Dollar, a national discount-goods chain, aims to open its first Jamaica Plain store at 3383-3389 Washington St., next year. But about 30 residents roundly opposed the plan for its looks and competition with local businesses at an Oct. 9 community meeting. “This is Anyplace, U.S.A.,” said resident Bill Reyelt of the design...
Political Notes: O’Malley targets ‘pig parking’
City Councilor Matt O’Malley, who lives in and represents Jamaica Plain, filed an order to have a hearing on examining ways to improve traffic in the city, according to a press release. “Parking, traffic and pedestrian safety all play a role in how we travel through this city,” said O’Malley, according to the press...
City: Stores raided for gambling, illegal items
EGLESTON SQ.—Three businesses in two Washington Street storefronts were shut down by police and City inspectors on Oct. 3 in raids that the local police commander says will help “clean up that area.” But the board of Egleston Square Main Streets (ESMS) blasted the City for seeking media coverage of the raids, saying the...
Faulkner Hospital changes name
JAMAICA HILLS—Faulkner Hospital has lengthened its name to Brigham and Women’s Faulkner Hospital, reflecting its affiliation with the famous teaching hospital. The name change for the 112-year-old hospital at 1153 Centre St. went into effect Oct. 1. “In the last few years, many of the same physicians that you can see at [Brigham and...
Hiring practices at 225 Centre St. discussed
JACKSON SQ.—The developer of the 225 Centre St. project has released strong local and minority construction hiring numbers, but a local community activist is questioning them as they differ from the City’s. The numbers in September for construction hours were 42 percent for city residents, 36 percent for minorities and 7 percent for women,...
JP resident teaches, learns in China
Sometimes being far, far away from home is a positive. Sue Shenkman, a Jamaica Plain resident, recently found that out, spending five weeks over the summer teaching and traveling in China. “I think I grew so much as a teacher and person being out of my comfort zone,” said Shenkman in a Gazette interview....
UMass: No investigation into former chemist
Several media outlets have reported that Annie Dookhan, the chemist at the heart of the state drug lab scandal, previously worked under another name at a University of Massachusetts (UMass) Medical School lab. But UMass Medical said it will not investigate. Dookhan mishandled thousands of drug samples at the state drug lab, potentially tainting...
Former lab chief had fake degree
Annie Dookhan, the former drug lab chemist at the heart of an evidence-tampering scandal at Jamaica Plain’s State Laboratory Institute, is facing charges that include lying about holding a master’s degree. While state officials are portraying the scandal as an isolated incident, a former State Lab chief got in trouble in 2003 for claiming...
Drug lab had chemist scandal in 1985
The tainted-evidence scandal that recently shuttered the Jamaica Plain-based state drug lab is not the first time that a chemist there has been accused of wrongdoing. In 1985, a similar scandal erupted when a chemist was charged with stealing cocaine in 11 criminal cases after testing it at the State Laboratory Institute at 305...
Testing backlog may have set up scandal
Scores of convicts may go free due to former drug-testing chemist Annie Dookhan’s alleged evidence-tampering at the State Laboratory Institute in Jamaica Plain. But a decade ago, there was controversy over many criminal defendants going free because of an opposite problem at the State Lab: drug evidence not being processed at all due to...
Court clerk: Drug cases will strain system
Special courts announced Oct. 2 to review cases affected by the State Laboratory Institute drug lab scandal will strain a court system that is already understaffed and underfunded, according to Maura Hennigan, the clerk of Suffolk County’s criminal courts. “Even before this occurred, we have struggled every day to cover our sessions, manage our...
Senior health center coming to Amory St.
A new nonprofit center, called the Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE), is scheduled to open in November at 125A Amory St. A PACE center is “a one-stop shop for all medical care and treatment” for seniors, Upham’s Elder Service Plan Director of Operations Jay Trivedi told the Gazette. Seniors “receive any...
Warren talks religion, violence at forum
Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren spoke on many common campaign themes during a recent forum at Roxbury Community College (RCC), such as the mortgage crisis, a prominent issue in Jamaica plain. But Warren also ventured into less talked about issues, such as freedom of religion and violence in the city. The forum, sponsored...
JP Kids: Mission Hill K-8 students share their lessons
JP SOUTH—Every Friday morning, Jamaica Plain’s new school, the Mission Hill K-8, invites parents and community members in to see what the kids are learning in “Friday Share.” The whole school turns out to sing, watch and listen, along with teachers and about two dozen parents, usually, Principal Ayla Gavins said. “Coming together each...