The supermarket war that's gone on this past half decade in Lower Mills seemingly has been resolved. The two giant market chains, Stop and Shop and Shaw's/Star Market have been jockeying to build new, larger stores along River Street, and between the two have acquired the majority of the parcels on the south side of River Street, from Washington to Central Ave. For awhile, it looked like a standoff, as neither firm would budge in its resolve. It was a classic, corporate cat and mouse game.

Last year, the Shaw's/Star company emerged victorious and proceeded to win all the permits necessary to build. A ground-breaking ceremony was held last month, and construction work is set to begin in a matter of weeks. Officials say they will deliver a new, finished supermarket to the neighborhood by this time next year.

The supermarket feud has left scars, not just between the two corporations but also among neighbors and political leaders. For the past five years, people were asked to take sides in the battle, and truth to tell, there remains some very hurt feelings among some who became engaged in the fray. Now, however, the neighborhood seems united in welcoming the new store, most believing the scaled-down plans will minimize the expected added traffic burden the facility will bring.

But issues remain along River Street, mostly centered around the properties now controlled by Stop and Shop. That company had acquired a collection of parcels in the hopes of building there, among them an historic former school building most recently owned by the Lower Mills K of C. It also controls a large vacant lot at the corner of Old Morton Street, largely abandoned and now used, neighbors say, for illegal dumping of abandoned cars and motor oil. Now that the company no longer plans to build along River Street, the big question remains: what's to become of that property?

It occurs to us that some answer to that question is urgently needed. It is not likely that Lower Mills neighbors will support more commercial or industrial development along River Street, adding more traffic to an overburdened, two-lane road. We hope that some constructive ideas will soon emerge.

-Ed Forry

Failure at the Top in Archdiocese

These are perilous times for the Boston Archdiocese. Every day seems to bring news of some new scandal within the church, and the faith of churchgoers continues to erode.

The erosion is not in their religious faith, but rather in the church's leadership. The structure of the Roman Catholic church has been compared to that of the military, where the soldiers fight the battles under the command of the generals. In this analogy, clearly parish priests are the foot soldiers, Cardinal Law and his men at the Chancery are the command staff. It is clear that the command staff has failed. The Cardinal has taken to referring to his mis-steps as "mistakes"; many lay people see them as criminal acts.

As the Archdiocese struggles with damage control, the real danger emerges that the good works of the foot soldiers will be sacrificed. If Catholics choose to divert their financial support from the Archdiocese to their local parish, there's a great danger that the important work done in the poorer Catholic parishes will be imperiled. Prosperous parishes may survive on increased giving from their parishioners, but at churches in Dorchester and elsewhere serving poor people, the financial support that has been diverted from the wealthier parishes will vanish. Parish schools could close and some churches certainly will shut down.

Cardinal Law has not only been mistaken in his policies regarding protecting his wayward foot soldiers, he has overseen a network of Catholic parishes that is now imperiled. Let us hope and pray that he listens to and hears the will of the people, and does the right thing.

Ed Forry