The MBTA budget disaster has whacked JP. Low-income seniors, people with disabilities and new hotel guests are all feeling the impact. The less money you have, the more the fare hikes are biting you. And that’s just for this fiscal year. It all would have been worse if legislators hadn’t pulled off some budgetary...
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Letter: Teachers Union is working hard for a contract
I was pleased to see that our local state representatives are pushing to help get the contract between the Boston School Committee and the Boston Teachers Union resolved (“State reps. urge teacher contract resolution,” June 22). As a teacher, parent, Jamaica Plain resident and member of the BTU Negotiating Team, I share that goal....
Letter: Bicyclists missing this ‘connection’
MISSED CONNECTION You’re a white male, mid-20s. I saw you June 25 at 2:30. I was driving north on the Jamaicaway in a blue Toyota. You were driving north, too, zigging and zagging between cars, until you turned left at Longwood. You were riding a bike, wearing no helmet. I’m wondering if you have...
BPL surveys parents for kids’ program
Having surveyed city youths about what they would like to see in a new after-school program, the Boston Public Library (BPL) is moving on to collect their parents’ and caregivers’ input through an online survey. “This is our current phase,” said BPL spokesperson Gina Perille. “It covers a couple of key areas of input.”...
Asian wrap take-out restaurant opens
MONUMENT SQ.—A new Asian wrap restaurant opened in Monument Square last week. Wrapmi, a “healthy, organic, on-the-go” Asian wrap restaurant opened on June 28 at 779 Centre St., replacing the short-lived Super Fusion Sushi. The menu offers wraps inspired by Chinese cuisine, Manager Sam Ho said. “When you’re eating Chinese food with chopsticks, you...
Nonprofits pay ‘tax,’ show community benefits
The City and local nonprofits alike are praising a new system of tax-like payments that saw Faulkner Hospital make the first such payment ever and revealed a wealth of community benefits provided by Showa Boston Institute for Language and Culture. Those two nonprofits were the only ones in Jamaica Plain tapped to make the...
Hennigan faces ethics investigation
The State Ethics Commission (SEC) recently sent Maura Hennigan, clerk of the criminal division of the Suffolk County Superior Court, a letter stating it has opened a “preliminary inquiry” into an earlier campaign violation, according to Hennigan. The state Office of Campaign and Political Finance (OCPF) ruled in April that Hennigan had violated campaign...
Turner unfairly ousted from City Council, court says
Former City Councilor Chuck Turner was ousted from his position illegally in 2010, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) opined earlier this month. The June 15 opinion was requested by federal Judge Mark Wolf, chief judge of the U.S. District Court for Massachusetts, who will make the final ruling, Chester Darling, Turner’s civil attorney,...
Pet supply store coming to Hyde Square
HYDE SQ.—A new doggie daycare and pet supply store will open in Hyde Square by summer’s end. Tails, which will serve cats and dogs, is expected to open at Fat Ram’s Pumpkin Tattoo’s old location at 380 Centre St. by the end of July, owner Yesse Feliz told the Gazette. “We serve people and...
Food and art at Gail’s Café
JACKSON SQ.—A new eatery in Jackson Square is serving up comfort food for Jamaica Plain. Gail’s Café & Grille at 268 Centre St. just opened in April, and its menu includes such favorites as barbecue chicken and ribs, baked haddock, gyros, pulled pork sandwiches and cheeseburgers. Owner Lakis Vlahoulis told the Gazette that a...
JP remains beetle-free
Two years after Jamaica Plain first saw Asian longhorned beetles (ALB), the neighborhood remains free of any further sightings of the tree-killing beetle. JP can look forward to at least two more years of quarantine and possible pesticide treatments, despite the lack of new sightings since the Faulkner Hospital discovery two years ago this...
Cops: Man carried gun, drugs
JACKSON SQ.—A Dorchester man was arrested in the Bromley-Heath housing development on June 19 for allegedly carrying a gun with altered serial numbers and prescription drugs. Jiwan Battiste, 33, “violently struggled” with police during the 9 p.m. arrest outside 940 Parker St., according to a Boston Police Department (BPD) report. Police officers reportedly questioned...
Local official campaigns for Obama
Local state Rep. Jeffrey Sánchez has been traveling to battleground states in the presidential election. He has been campaigning for Democrat President Barack Obama, talking about Republican opponent Mitt Romney’s record as governor of Massachusetts. “It’s been real interesting,” said Sánchez. Sánchez, who has traveled so far to North Carolina, Iowa and Colorado, said...
JP counselor volunteers in Kenya slums
Mark Blogier is not spending his summer break from Boston Latin relaxing. The guidance counselor and social worker is spending six weeks in the slums around Nairobi, Kenya’s capital, working to improve the lives of African teenagers. “The reality is, I don’t know exactly what I’m doing until I get there,” he told the...
Tuesday Club seeks variance for market, food trucks
MONUMENT SQ.—The Jamaica Plain Tuesday Club, which owns and operates the Loring-Greenough House at 12 South S., is seeking a zoning variance from the City for food trucks and a farmer’s market at the historic property, according to Tuesday Club President Edward Stanley. The hearing is scheduled for July 10. The club needs the...
Dog loses toes in escalator
FOREST HILLS—The local Angell Animal Medical Center is warning pet owners about escalators after a dog lost two toes in a moving-stairs mishap at the Forest Hills T Station. A dog named Mace, owned by a Dorchester woman, ran up an escalator at the T station two weeks ago. At the top of the...
Chestnut Ave. condo review extended
GLENVALE PARK—The public comment period about the design of a proposed housing development at 207-209 Chestnut Ave. has been extended by the Boston Redevelopment Authority (BRA) through July 13. Developer Pat McKenna will host a community meeting about the project on July 10. McKenna plans to demolish an existing vacant...
Survey finds some JP residents struggling
The Jamaica Plain Neighborhood Development Corporation (JPNDC), a community development corporation based on Amory Street, recently conducted a survey that found some residents are still struggling despite the Great Recession officially ending in 2009. Richard Thal, executive director of JPNDC, said the organization surveyed about 250 residents in the Hyde and Jackson Squares areas...
Pond island eyed for erosion fix
PONDSIDE—The island in Jamaica Pond may be shrinking, and the Boston Parks and Recreation Department is evaluating it while working on a plan to fix other erosion elsewhere in the park. Park advocates, including members of the Jamaica Pond Association (JPA) and Friends of Jamaica Pond, met with a Parks Department official at the...
City, state to hold solar power workshop
A workshop on installing solar power systems on homes and business will be held July 11 at Curtis Hall by the City and state as part of the new “Solarize Mass-Boston” program. The program aims to double the amount of small-scale solar power installations in Boston as part of a larger state effort. The...