The Boston Fire Department reports a two-alarm fire that broke out around 5 p.m. on Sunday at 271 Hancock St. did an estimated $350,000 in damage.

The cause of the fire, which broke through the roof, is under investigation.

Linda Dorcena ForryAt times pausing, as her voice quavered, Senator-elect Linda Dorcena Forry gave her farewell speech in the House Wednesday with a caveat.

“Today is not a farewell because I’m just moving down the hall, on the fifth floor. So I expect to see all of you there, and we’ll continue to work together,” the Dorchester Democrat said. “It is a great day, but it is also a sad day.”  Read more

Several of the candidates hoping to succeed state Rep. Linda Dorcena Forry in the State House hit the campaign trail this week, wasting little time in their bids for public office. That’s probably because the primary, which will likely be determinative in the heavily Democratic district, is looming: Massachusetts Secretary of State Bill Galvin, the state’s elections chief, announced last week that the primary will be on Aug. 13, with the general election on Sept. 10, two weeks before the Sept. 24 election that will winnow down the candidates for mayor and City Council.  Read more

Next Monday at 6:30 p.m. at the Strand, Dorchester theatre artists and their greater Boston colleagues will present a free staged reading of “A Soldier’s Play,” Charles Fuller’s 1982 Pulitzer Prize-winning drama about the murder of a black sergeant in segregated WWII barracks.  Read more

Senator Elizabeth WarrenSome struggling homeowners in Massachusetts are being forced out of their homes due to a federal agency’s obstinate policy on so-called “short sales,” activists and housing experts say. The agency in question, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), oversees Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, two government-supported organizations that handle mortgages.

Elizabeth Warren, a consumer advocate before she was elected to the US Senate in 2012, last week wrote an opinion piece for the Reporter, laying out the problem: “In some of those short sales, friends, families, or nonprofit organizations are willing to buy the home at fair market value, then work out a rental or re-sale to the family living in it,” she wrote. “The mortgage company gets the same amount as in a sale to strangers, but the homeowner has a last-chance to save the family home… But the FHFA flatly refuses these deals. The agency’s so-called ‘arm’s-length’ policy means that it will instead demand that the family be moved out and the home be sold at a lower-priced foreclosure sale.”  Read more

Gov. Deval Patrick said on Tuesday that his administration will provide $1.9 million in capital funds for designing the completion of the Neponset River Greenway Trail. Administration officials added that the state Department of Transportation is committed to funding the completion of the project, which is expected to cost between $11 million and $15 million and will take place over several phases before wrapping up in three years.

The project has been delayed in recent years by a lack of funding. The state agency responsible for planning the greenway’s missing links has sought federal grant money, but was turned down twice by the federal transportation department.  Read more

The Boston Police Department reports a 16-year-old was shot around 1:40 a.m. on Sunday at Ashmont and Ocean streets.  Read more

President Obama will be in Roxbury on Wednesday to drum up support for Congressman Ed Markey, a Malden Democrat running in the U.S. Senate special election. Markey is facing off against Gabriel Gomez, a Cohasset Republican, on June 25.

The Markey camp on Sunday announced locations for supporters to pick up tickets for the Wednesday event, which will be held at the Reggie Lewis Track Center. Doors are scheduled to open at 11 a.m. Boston locations are located below.  Read more

Three Dorchester residents are mounting campaigns to fill the House seat vacated by Senator-elect Linda Dorcena Forry’s elevation to the Senate. Dan Cullinane, Marydith Tuitt and Stephanie Everett, who have all worked as aides to local elected officials, have announced their campaigns for the 12th Suffolk House district.  Read more

Mayoral Candidates Address Education from Chris Lovett on Vimeo.

The candidates sat almost shoulder-to-shoulder on the stage inside Edward Brooke Charter School’s auditorium, five on either side of the moderator.

Even with no opening or closing statements allowed, candidates looked down at the table, out into the large crowd, or quietly joked with one another as they waited for their turn. One question took fifteen minutes to get through, as each candidate weighed in with their response to the various questions.

Welcome to the life of a mayoral contender for the foreseeable future.  Read more

Rep. Marty Walsh: Walked/ran parade route with large contingent. Photo by Bill ForryThe parade of candidates for City Hall offices marched down sun-lit Dorchester Avenue on Sunday, with contenders and their supporters crisscrossing the neighborhood’s main thoroughfare in their bids for visibility and votes.

State Rep. Marty Walsh, who has represented Savin Hill for 16 years, boasted the largest contingent, with a few dozen supporters clad in deep blue shirts marching with him along the 3.2-mile route.

The annual parade celebration of the settlement of Dorchester 383 years ago featured the candidates mixed in with clowns, dancers, and drummers.  Read more