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Police: Man tired of Greenwood School parents stopping in front of his driveway threatens one with a rifle
Drug raid on Sawyer Ave. leads to arrests, scrutiny for landlord
Reporter's Notebook: Your Excellency: What about the T’s woes, and the casinos?
Mattapan Square’s loss is Morton Street’s gain
State sees improvement in response to jury summons
Households urged to check on tax credits
Dot roommates share stage in Brown Box Theatre play
Hart moves up the ranks in State Senate leadership

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Watchdog New England

Another arrest tied to Georgia gun pipeline
City plans crackdown on ‘problem properties’; owners facing fines
Community center shake-up prompts longtime members to cry foul
It’s hit or miss at city-run centers; Despite calls for reform, some still get little use
One-third of Dorchester households now use food stamps

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Jesus statue vandalized on Columbia Rd.; police hope witness will come forward

Vandalized statue on Columbia Rd.Vandalized statue on Columbia Rd.A statue of Jesus outside of Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta parish on Columbia Road was destroyed by a vandal on Sunday morning. Rev. Jack Ahern, pastor of the church, said the vandal struck at 3 a.m. Sunday, leaving the statue without a head.

Boston Police are investigating the incident, but say they need help from a mystery witness, who called police to the scene on Sunday and then left before police could speak to them further. Police say they have a potential suspect in the crime, but without the witness' help, they may not be able to make an arrest.

Ahern said the statue had been toppled from its pedestal. The statue had once sat outside St. William Church on Dorchester Ave., but was re-located in 2009 after that church was closed.

Fields Corner will be the place for celebrators of Tet holiday on Saturday

Traditional dancers from local universities performed at last year’s Tet in Boston celebration at the Harbor School. Photo courtesy Trieu Vu NgoTraditional dancers from local universities performed at last year’s Tet in Boston celebration at the Harbor School. Photo courtesy Trieu Vu Ngo

Chúc Mung Nam Moi!

New Year’s greetings will be exchanged by thousands of Vietnamese this Saturday as they gather in Fields Corner to welcome in the Year of the Dragon during the annual Tet in Boston festivities.

Tet is the abbreviation of “Tet Nguyen Dan,” which means “the first morning of the first day of the new year.”  Technically the Lunar New Year arrived on January 23, but Asians mark the holiday over different days and in different ways.  Read more

Teachers pressing city to get to ‘yes’ on new contract; $28m shortfall seen

Dr. Carol Johnson and Rev. Gregory Groover listening to testimony during last week’s Boston School Committee meeting. Photo by Pat Tarantino

While teachers held a boisterous rally outside Boston Public School headquarters last week, school committee officials inside announced that the school system will likely face a $28 million shortfall in the coming fiscal year— adding a new layer of pressure on an already difficult financial outlook.  Read more

UMass Boston, city will swap historic building for scholarships

The Boston Water and Sewer Commission will transfer ownership of the Calf Pasture Pump Station on Columbia Point to UMass Boston in exchange for $2.1 million over 15 years in scholarships to Boston Public School students, under an agreement announced Tuesday.

The new program, dubbed “Boston City Scholarships,” will provide to Boston Public School graduates with a 3.0 grade point average (GPA) scholarship grants of $1,000, which can be used for tuition, fees, or other costs.  Read more

More change in offing for Dot Catholics: Parish clusters

Dorchester’s nine remaining Catholic parishes will be bundled into five different “pastoral collaboratives” in a proposal laid out last Friday during a meeting of clergy at St. Peter’s Church on Bowdoin Street. The reorganization – “part of a larger, Archdiocesan-wide effort” – will be reviewed over the next several months by parish advisory councils and would likely be phased into effect over the next three to five years once a final plan is approved by Cardinal Sean O’Malley.  Read more

First Parish silver sells for record $1.8m price in N.Y. auction

The First Parish silver. Image courtesy Sotheby’s

A pair of silver cups made 311 years ago for a former minister at Dorchester’s First Parish Church were sold at an auction in New York last Friday for $1.08 million. The Governor Stoughton Cups, created in 1701 by silversmith Jeremiah Dummer, have been part of a collection owned by First Parish and stored at Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts. The cups were sold, along with several other silver items owned by the church, during a special Americana auction held last week at Sotheby’s.  Read more

Featured Stories

Hayes impresses in first games for Blackhawks

Jimmy Hayes was called up to the big leagues last Friday – and notched his first career NHL goal on Monday. Photo courtesy blackhawks.com

If you’ve started to notice more and more neighbors walking around Adams Corner sporting the distinctive red jerseys of the Chicago Blackhawks this week, there’s a very good reason for the otherwise treasonous offense: Dot’s own Jimmy Hayes made his regular season NHL debut last Friday night for the Blackhawks during a home game against the Detroit Red Wings.  Read more

2011: Protests, elections led the news in Dorchester

Students protested the proposed re-location of Boston Latin Academy. Photo by

The Bruins won the Stanley Cup. US troops finally exited Iraq. And pent-up animosity over Wall Street greed and a still-sluggish economy played out in protests across the country. These stories were all big news in Dorchester, of course, but there were scores of other headlines over stories that hit closer to home, some of which will stay with us well into the new year. Following is a look back at some of the more remarkable stories that played out in our pages over the last 12 months:

Big Changes recorded at the Carney, Codman Square  Read more