The Boston Police Department reports arresting a man they say got away mainly with bruises and cuts from a beating supplied by workers at the Welles Liquor Mart after they changed their minds about just handing him the money he demanded Thursday night.  Read more

Codman Academy students create dragons for First Night: Image courtesy Codman AcademyThis New Year’s Eve, indoors or out, everywhere you turn, you’ll find Dorchester residents sharing their creative talents to offer a wild welcome to 2013, from the flying dragons created at Codman Academy to a time-travelers’ ball orchestrated by an Ashmont Hill SteamCRUNK band.

This Monday, Dec. 31, First Night, Boston, America’s oldest, largest and most-often-copied New Year’s Eve cultural celebration, jam-packs the hours between noon and midnight with art, music, dance, fireworks and ice sculptures (including “Unity 2013” and “Jack and the Beanstalk”). Over 1000 artists will be featured in 200 exhibitions and performances in 40 Hub locations, entertaining hundreds of thousands.

One of the best-attended free public events will be the Panorama Magazine Grand Procession, which leaves from the Hynes Convention Center (HCC) at 5:30p.m. for the Common. Organizers describe this year’s theme, “From the Harbor to the Common, the subway to the street, our city is a study in contrasts, with elements from nature meeting the built environment at every intersection of our daily lives.”

The teens at Codman Academy interpreted this theme with “Flying Fire Dragons,” that possibly lurk underground, “made from large piles of total random materials,” according Sara Peattie of the Puppeteers Collaborative. Franklin Field/ Franklin Hill Dorchester “Healthy Boston” built “glowing house” lanterns for the parade.  Read more

As New England ushers in winter, the Dorchester Community Food Co-op is gearing up for its second annual Winter Farmers’ Market starting January 6. Running every Sunday through March 24 from noon until 4p.m. in the Codman Square Great Hall, the Farmers’ Market will offer fresh, locally grown vegetables, fruits, meats, breads, cheeses and specialty foods.  Read more

On May 31, 1902, 22-year-old Arthur Francis Duffey, a Bostonian with ties to the city’s Roxbury and Dorchester neighborhoods who was at the time a student at Georgetown University, burst from the starting line of the 100-yard sprint in the national intercollegiate track and field championships at the Berkley Oval in New York City and hit the tape 9.6 seconds later, in the process lowering the world’s record from 9.8 seconds. Duffey’s time earned him the designation of “world’s fastest human”; it was a number that would not be bested for another 28 years.  Read more

Could the wave of development hitting Columbia Point spark a renewed look at a development on top of the JFK/UMass MBTA station? Some local officials think it’s a possibility.  Read more

Neighbors will splash in the new year on Tues., Jan. 1 with the second annual Brian Leahy Memorial Polar Bear Plunge at Tenean Beach. The event is a fundraiser for the Leahy-Holloran Community Center in Neponset.

Registration starts at 12:30 p.m. at the beach. A $15 fee is required. The plunge will be followed by a pizza party at Boston Bowl, donated by Joe Sammartino and Phillips Family of Restaurants.

U.S. Sen. John Kerry will go before his colleagues in the United State Senate for confirmation as the country’s next secretary of state after President Barack Obama made his nomination official on Friday at a press conference in the White House.  Read more

Wheelock College's Mattahunt work recognized

The American Association of University Administrators (AAUA) presented Wheelock College with the 2012 John Blackburn Award for its work in revitalizing the Mattahunt Community Center in Mattapan.

The center was closed in 2010, but the city of Boston and Wheelock worked in close partnership with the Mattapan community to set a collaborative vision for the center.  Read more

Fields Corner organizations should focus on improving the area’s existing housing stock, create up to 300 units of new affordable housing, and upgrade vacant business spaces, according to a report from a Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor and his graduate students.

The 90-page report, completed earlier this year, was commissioned by VietAID, a local community development organization. It was the focus of a recent meeting of community members, who weighed the next steps they should take in revitalizing a diverse neighborhood where rising rents are a top concern.  Read more

Sheriff Andrea CabralSuffolk County Sheriff Andrea Cabral will join Gov. Deval Patrick’s administration in mid-January, opening up a seat frequently coveted over the years by Boston politicians. Patrick last week introduced the new members of his cabinet, including Cabral as his public safety and homeland security secretary.

“I think this is an unbelievable opportunity to really move public safety forward in the next two years,” Cabral told reporters after a press conference at the State House. “I think there are going to be very solid, very bold initiatives by the governor and things that I personally support.”

Cabral, who has served as sheriff since 2002, said she believes she can do “bigger and bolder things” on a statewide level.  Read more

On her first day on the job, ahead of the crush of rush hour, MBTA General Manager Beverly Scott held court on a subway platform Monday, heralding the arrival of new countdown clocks, and forecasting the transportation financing debate set to begin in January.  Read more