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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

Akiba 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