News

Program on energy efficiency launched in Dorchester

By 
Mike Deehan, Special to the Reporter
Sep. 2, 2010

Bostonians will have more options this winter to make their homes as energy efficient as possible through to a new city program launched last week in Dorchester’s Meetinghouse Hill neighborhood.

Mayor Thomas Menino announced the Renew Boston Residential Program program on Thursday by showcasing the Potosi St. home of Saithlyn Jones, who cut her heating bill in half by taking advantage of the new program.  Read more

Trail site opinion? Patrick passes

By 
Gintautas Dumcius, News Editor
Sep. 2, 2010

Gov. Deval Patrick, who lives in Milton near the multi-use path along the Neponset River, has declined to weigh in on how the state should make the trail connect Pope John Paul II Park to the Hyde Park neighborhood and Mattapan Square to Milton’s Central Avenue.

The state’s Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) is considering several options on how much the trail should veer into Milton or Mattapan. “No, it’s probably best if I don’t express a preference, to you or anybody,” he told the Reporter with a chuckle.  Read more

Education focus at Sixth forum

By Gintautas Dumcius
Sep. 2, 2010

Four of the five candidates running to succeed retiring state Rep. Willie Mae Allen made their pitch to voters last week at a Grove Hall forum, discussing local jobs policies and education, and why Sixth Suffolk District residents should vote for them.

Russell Holmes, a community activist and certified financial planner with Ameriprise, touted his financial experience, saying his work with families on balancing their budget will help when he gets to the State House, which has faced making $8 billion in cuts to the state budget in the last several years.  Read more

UMass-Boston’s WUMB kicks off push to make its renewal a winner

By 
By Tara M. Merrigan, Special to the Reporter
Sep. 2, 2010

WUMB, the University of Massachusetts Boston’s official radio station ,known for its folk and singer-songwriter music, kicked off its “Preserving the Past, Building the Future” Capital Campaign earlier this month with a fundraising gala.

Since its inception in the late 1960s, WUMB  radio has evolved from a closed circuit on-campus collegiate radio station to a five station  radio network that reaches most of central and eastern Massachusetts as well as parts of Rhode Island. The station’s web broadcast boasts listeners in all 50 states, 103 countries, and seven continents.  Read more

Carpenters say their new center speaks to their community roles

By 
Matthew DeLuca, Special to the Reporter
Sep. 2, 2010

In the lobby on the third floor of the new Carpenters Center at 750 Dorchester Avenue are sleek black chairs and hardwood floors and the receptionist behind her desk hums along to the radio on this quiet August afternoon. Beside the long counter of the reception desk is a small metal sculpture of a carpenter wielding a hammer that make one think more of a dentist’s office or the Museum of Contemporary Art than Woody Guthrie and Eugene V. Debs.  Read more

Reporter’s Notebook: Lawton charges opponent with vandalizing his sign; I didn’t do it, says Henriquez

By Gintautas Dumcius
Sep. 2, 2010

Barry Lawton, one of the four candidates running to replace former state Rep. Marie St. Fleur, is accusing a fellow Democratic candidate of trashing one of his campaign signs. Lawton said that while driving with his children last Thursday he saw Carlos Henriquez putting one of his signs in a trash barrel outside of the Brown Food Market at the corner of West Cottage St. and Dudley St. Lawton’s sign had been up in the store since April, Lawton said.

“I’m disappointed, number one,” Lawton told the Reporter. “I’m just disappointed and I’m just surprised. He can’t deny it.”  Read more

Lynch looks back at Brown win vs. Coakley: I’d have run ‘a lot different’ campaign, he says

By 
By Jim O’Sullivan, State House News Service
Sep. 2, 2010

When organized labor left his side last summer – underscored by a notably cool reception from a usually friendly room at a Labor Day breakfast in Washington – U.S. Rep. Stephen Lynch knew his chances at the seat opened by Sen. Edward Kennedy’s death had slimmed, likely beyond repair.

“The only opportunity would’ve been to have those people who worked with me for many years on my side,” said Lynch, who worked his way up in politics through the local ironworkers union before winning election to the state House and Senate and then, in 2001, to Congress.  Read more

It’s time to lay out baseball’s September possibilities

By Clark Booth
Sep. 2, 2010

Bearing down on the Labor Day marker signaling the turn into the stretch run of another baseball season, the urgency of the hour is overwhelming. It has been a wacky season. So, with a month to go in what passes for pennant races nowadays we have the following phenomena, ranging from the improbable to the downright silly.  Read more

It’s do as I say, not as I do at the polls for some in Fourth Suffolk race

By 
Gintautas Dumcius, News Editor and Pat Tarantino, Special to the Reporter
Sep. 2, 2010

They’ve been pressing voters in South Boston, Uphams Corner, the Polish Triangle, and Harbor Point to pull the lever for them in the September primary. But not all of the candidates to replace state Rep. Brian Wallace have beaten a path to the voting booth themselves, a review of voting records shows.  Read more

Man shot on Lyndhurst Street; arrest made

By Staff
Aug. 31, 2010

The Boston Police Department reports a man was shot around 9:30 p.m. on Monday at 22 Lyndhurst St., apparently in a personal dispute.  Read more

Voting records show spotty attendance at polls for some Fourth Suffolk candidates

By 
Gintautas Dumcius, News Editor and Pat Tarantino, Special to the Reporter
Aug. 30, 2010

They’ve been pressing voters in South Boston, Uphams Corner, the Polish Triangle and Harbor Point to pull the lever for them in the September primary. But not all of the candidates to replace state Rep. Brian Wallace have beaten a path to the voting booth themselves, a review of voting records shows.  Read more

Third man shot to death in bloody weekend

By Staff
Aug. 29, 2010

The Boston Police Department reports a 23-year-old man was found with a gunshot wound at 970 Blue Hill Ave. by Franklin Field around 9:45 p.m. on Saturday.  Read more

Man dies after being shot repeatedly

By Staff
Aug. 28, 2010

The Boston Police Department reports a man, 38, died at 61 Stratton St. after being shot repeatedly shortly before 6 a.m.

He is Dorchester's second murder victim Saturday (other victim was on Seaver Street) and the 22nd this year.

Murders over the past year.

Man murdered early this morning

By Staff
Aug. 28, 2010

The Boston Police Department reports a 45-year-old man was shot to death around 4 a.m. at 396 Seaver St. He is Dorchester's 21st murder victim this year.  Read more

Local condo developer faces federal fraud, money laundering charges

By Staff
Aug. 27, 2010

A federal grand jury has indicted Michael David Scott, who bought and sold condos in Dorchester and Roxbury, on charges he defrauded mortgage lenders by arranging the sale of condos to "straw buyers" who had no intentions of living in the units.  Read more

Second Suffolk race boils up

By 
Mike Deehan, Special to the Reporter and Gintautas Dumcius, News Editor
Aug. 26, 2010

State Sen. Sonia Chang-Diaz’s primary opponent this week ramped up criticism of the first-term incumbent, accusing her of not giving enough credit to her predecessor on legislation.
Chang-DiazChang-Diaz

Attorney Hassan Williams, a Roxbury Democrat running for the Second Suffolk Senate seat, said bills on funding for summer jobs, preventing foreclosure, and reforming the state’s criminal offender record information (CORI) system were filed by former state Sen. Dianne Wilkerson. “Give credit to the person who actually did it,” he said at a Tuesday night forum in Hibernian Hall, veering away from an answer on a separate topic.  Read more

Fed dollars will upgrade computers at city buildings

By 
Alex Owens, Special to the Reporter
Aug. 26, 2010

Boston’s community centers and libraries will get upgraded Internet service in the coming months thanks to an influx of federal dollars. The expansion of the Boston Broadband program was announced on Tuesday during a press event at the Mildred Avenue Community Center in Mattapan, one of the first city-owned facilities to see the enhanced technology. 

It is not yet clear whether four city libraries—including the branch in Lower Mills— that have been targeted for closure next year by the Menino administration will receive the upgrades, a city spokesman told the Reporter.  Read more

Harbor Islands beckon as affordable ‘staycation’ option

By Chris Harding
Aug. 26, 2010

Just across Dorchester Bay 34 islands beckon, promising the perfect inexpensive late summer getaway. Every season thousands from Boston and around the world take the ferry to parts of the Boston Harbor Islands National Park to explore historic sites, watch wildlife, hike, kayak, picnic, fish, swim, and even camp overnight.

They can participate in an oyster-shucking contest or in Outward Bound’s 10th Annual 4k Trail Run over the 204 acres of rolling hills, forests, meadows, salt marshes and beaches on Thompson’s Island.  Read more

Uphams Corner building named in honor of slain store clerk

By 
Mike Deehan, Special to the Reporter
Aug. 25, 2010

Serrano ceremony: Family of Geraldo Serrano gather around a plaque in his honor last Saturday.Serrano ceremony: Family of Geraldo Serrano gather around a plaque in his honor last Saturday.The area outside of an Upham’s Corner bodega became a place of remembrance Saturday as neighbors and friends of the late Geraldo Serrano gathered for the unveiling of a memorial to the store clerk and neighborhood fixture. A bronze plaque now adorns the southern wall of the building at the corner of Dudley Street and Dudley Terrance, the location of Hermanos Unidos, the store the 71-year old Serrano worked in when he was gunned down during a robbery in February. The building is now named in Seranno’s honor as a memorial to his contributions to the community.  Read more

Reporter’s Notebook: Fifth District contenders make their cases at forum

By Gintautas Dumcius
Aug. 25, 2010

Two of the four Democrats vying to replace former state Rep. Marie St. Fleur tackled a slew of issues at a Tuesday night forum, including illegal immigration, casino gambling, and federal stimulus funds. Few differences emerged between high school teacher Barry Lawton and former City Hall aide Carlos Henriquez at a forum sponsored by nonpartisan voting rights group MassVOTE and held at Hibernian Hall. The Dorchester Reporter was a co-sponsor.

The two other Democrats in the Fifth Suffolk District race, former state Rep. Althea Garrison and perennial candidate Roy Owens, were no-shows.  Read more

Despite millions in funding by city, little is happening at Strand Theatre

By 
Stephen Kurkjian and Pat Tarantino, Special To The Reporter
Aug. 25, 2010

Strand Theatre: Columbia Rd. landmark goes unused most days.Strand Theatre: Columbia Rd. landmark goes unused most days.After $8 million in renovations, Strand site unused 10 months a year; bustling '90s now a memory

Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino says the proudest moment of his political career took place last year at the Strand Theatre in Dorchester when more than a thousand people, of all races, faiths and ages, locals as well as out-of-towners, turned out over two nights to attend the play “Ain’t Misbehavin’.”

The mayor has given two of his State of the City addresses at the Strand and his commitment to the theatre goes beyond the rhetorical. He has channeled $10 million in city funds in an effort to return the Strand, the last neighborhood theatre in the city, to its early 20th-century glory.

But Menino’s enthusiasm for the Strand has not extended to his administration’s stewardship of the Uphams Corner fixture – even though it has become one of the city’s costliest neighborhood initiatives.

Despite the extensive renovations, usage of the theatre has fallen dramatically in recent years.  Read more

Greenway trail will avoid Milton section, reports Sen. Joyce

By Gintautas Dumcius
Aug. 25, 2010

Greenway Council proposal: A proposal by the Neponset Greenway Council would include trail extensions on both sides on the river.Greenway Council proposal: A proposal by the Neponset Greenway Council would include trail extensions on both sides on the river.

A multi-use path along the Neponset River will not go through Milton’s Capen Street neighborhood under an agreement a state senator says he has reached with the state’s Department of Conservation and Recreation. The agency is weighing several ways to connect Pope John Paul II Park to the Hyde Park neighborhood, and Milton’s Central Ave. to Mattapan Square, since the trail currently runs 2.5 miles from Pope John Paul II Park to Central Ave.  Read more

Once a haven for youth, Strand Theatre now seen more as history

By 
Pat Tarantino, Special to the Reporter
Aug. 25, 2010

Akiba AbakaAkiba AbakaAt 14 years old, Vanessa Lindo took the stage for the first time in her life at the Strand Theatre. As the newest member of the Strand Teen Players, Lindo, a Jamaican immigrant living in Dorchester, saw a new world open before her eyes.

“We got on stage and started singing, me and 30 other kids,” she recalls. “I was so nervous, I stood in the back like a statue.”

Since her first stage performance, a lot has changed for Lindo, now 30 and known in Boston art circles as Akiba Abaka. She has found her voice and works as producing artistic director of Up You Mighty Race, an award-winning African theater ensemble and youth mentoring group.

“The seeds were planted right there at the Strand at 14,” Abaka said. “Everything I know about theater, the foundation of theater, the need for theater, without the Strand we would not be talking right now.”  Read more

B-3 Police Issue Burglary Alert

By 
Alex Owens, Special to the Reporter
Aug. 25, 2010

The police department has issued a Burglary Awareness Community Alert in area District 3, due to an increase in breaking and entering. Please follow the tips below, and contact the Community Service Office at (617)-343-4717 to contact an officer for a thorough security survey of your residence.  Read more

Two charged with shooting; police had to search for victim

By Staff
Aug. 24, 2010

The Boston Police Department reports the arrest of a pair of men for an afternoon shooting on West Cottage Street that sent one man to the hospital - after police found the victim, who had walked away from the scene.  Read more