Every musical tradition has its sad songs. One of the saddest from my own Irish tradition, The Fields of Athenry, can bring tears to your eyes - whether it is sung softly in the original folk version or shouted in the punk rock remake by Boston's Dropkick Murphys. The song begins:

By a lonely prison wall, I heard a young girl calling:'Michael, they have taken you away. For you stole Trevelyn's corn.So the young might see the morn.'Now a prison ship lies waiting in the bay.  Read more

Jesuina da Veiga, 43, is a mother of two and taught elementary school in Cape Verde for 19 years. But as a fresh immigrant in the United States she became a student again.

When she settled in Dorchester two years ago she couldn't speak a word in English. She used a translator whenever she visited the health center, and she couldn't help her children with their homework.

"Sometimes I felt sad. Sometimes I cried," she said.  Read more

With the game too close for comfort, the Lawrence Academy Spartans needed a calming influence. They hadn't been making shots all game. They were fouling like crazy, giving free points to Nobles Academy.

At least four trips in a row they put the Bulldogs on the charity line. It was the playoffs, and they were blowing it. They needed that leader to set them right. It wasn't their coach. It was a junior.

"Yo blue," yelled Darryl Cato-Bishop from his spot on the blocks, awaiting yet another Nobles free throw. "Where our heads at?"  Read more

Amid an ongoing special grand jury investigation, four Dorchester men and a Brockton resident were arraigned this week on murder charges stemming from the brutal stabbing of a 16-year-old last year. Police are still searching for a sixth suspect.

Those charged with murder included Markeese Mitchell, 16, of Brockton, with the rest from Dorchester: Admilson Vizcaino, 16; Terrance Pabon, 18; and Paul Goode, 25. Richard Allen, 20, is charged as an accessory.  Read more

A bid to make discrimination against transgender people a crime in the state got a boost this week, as City Council President Maureen Feeney, Suffolk County's top cop and an aide to Mayor Thomas Menino voiced support for the measure.

The bill (H 1722) adds gender identity and gender expression to current non-discrimination laws affecting housing, public education, employment and hate crimes.

"The language in this bill is absolutely necessary," said Suffolk County Sheriff Andrea Cabral.

Feeney said transgender people "need our protection, our voice."  Read more

The City of Boston's bike coordinator Nicole Freedman has been keeping busy during the winter months with a number of projects aimed at making the city a better place for bicycling. One project though, gathering input for a bicycle route map for the city, has reached one of many draft stages but still lacks essential Dorchester details.  Read more

A group of nurses made the case for the Caritas Carney Hospital at the Lower Mills Civic Association last Tuesday night (Feb. 19), part of an ongoing effort by the Massachusetts Nurses Association to rally support for the hospital. Currently under review by consultants hired by parent Caritas Christi Healthcare and the Attorney General's Office, the nurses were concerned about the possibility Carney would close.  Read more

Whether it's a New Year's resolution to get fit in 2008, or the thought of donning a bathing suit in the next few months, fitness club owners in Dorchester say 'tis the season to start working out and getting healthy. Gym membership peaks in January, February and March, said Mark Jarvis, owner of Planet Fitness on Neponset Avenue and though she doesn't encourage "seasonal fitness," Christine Holmes, owner of Fitness Vibe on Blue Hill Ave., said if that's what brings people into her gym she will help them make a long-term lifestyle change.  Read more

The main players in the wildest election of 2006, both running sticker campaigns and coming within 692 votes of each other, are back. Sonia Chang-Diaz announced last week she would again take on incumbent Senator Dianne Wilkerson for the second Suffolk seat. Local filmmaker Robert Patton-Spruill, who directed "Squeeze," a 1997 movie about youth gangs in Fields Corner, may also be in the mix.  Read more

Enrollment for the first-year of Pope John Paul II Academy is going well, according to the Archdiocese of Boston. The Catholic school, which will open in September with five campuses across Dorchester, will replace the current eight-school, parish-based system.

Enrollment has climbed to over 70 percent, said Archdiocese spokesperson Terrence Donilon on Tuesday.

"Which is phenomenal when you think most Catholic schools wouldn't even be approaching that number until the spring," he said. "We saw this in Brockton, but somehow I have a feeling it's happening a bit more here."  Read more

A Boston Police initiative aimed at conducting consensual home inspections in search for illegal firearms got a decidedly negative reception at a packed community meeting near Franklin Park last Thursday evening. The Safe Home program, which police officials introduced in concept last fall, has not yet been launched. Police have planned to pilot the initiative in high-risk neighborhoods such as Geneva Bowdoin, Grove Hall, Egleston Square and parts of Mattapan in the coming weeks.  Read more

During the week, Diane Staib can be found at Upham's Elder Service Plan in Dorchester, where she works as a geriatric social worker. On the weekends, she is usually roaming around the neighborhood, camera in hand, looking for the perfect shot that will become the latest addition to Under Dog Cards, a collection of greeting cards featuring local photography.

Diane donates about 10 percent of the proceeds from Under Dog Cards to the Boston Animal Rescue League, which she says is integral in creating responsible pet owners and preventing animal cruelty.  Read more