A team of current and former Boston parents is wading through possible ways to overhaul the city’s student assignment overhaul, including a proposal from a doctoral student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

The group, which also includes education entrepreneurs and officials from non-profits, will meet next Tuesday at 6 p.m. to continue deliberations and receive input and analysis from the school department. The meeting’s location remains unavailable at press time, though members have been meeting regularly at Suffolk University.  Read more

Lawrence O'Donnell, OFD: His nightly program "The Last Word" has become must-watch television for progressives hungry for a left-wing voice of reason. Photo courtesy MSNBC

When the hour came to name Barack Obama as the winner of Tuesday’s presidential election, Rachel Maddow had the honor of making the announcement for the cable network MSNBC. But it was Lawrence O’Donnell— the accidental news anchor and pundit sitting two chairs away— who was called on to put the finest flourish of a writer’s touch on the moment.

Instead, as cameras panned the crowd of jubilant Obama supporters in Chicago, O’Donnell had a suggestion: Let’s watch this crowd enjoy the moment of victory.  Read more

Elizabeth Warren has won the US Senate seat, defeating incumbent Sen. Scott Brown in a victory fueled by lopsided vote totals in the neighborhoods of Boston. Brown one a handful of precincts— including the right-leaning Kenny School (16-9)— but was swamped by a high-energy Warren machine that was hitting on all cylinders on election day dominated by the presidential race.

Warren grabs Senate seat from Brown

By Matt Murphy
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE

BOSTON, NOV. 6, 2012….Democrat Elizabeth Warren became the first woman from Massachusetts to be elected to the U.S. Senate on Tuesday, unseating U.S. Sen. Scott Brown and reclaiming a seat that Democrats lost unexpectedly after the death of Edward Kennedy.

Warren was buoyed by strong turnout across the state with many voters in cities like Boston, Lynn and Lawrence still waiting in line to vote well after the polls closed. Her win held implications for national politics as well since Republicans were intent on holding the seat.  Read more

Massachusetts voters will have a chance in Question 2 on Tuesday’s ballot to allow a procedure where terminally ill patients can end their lives if they meet several qualifications, an option that has been decried by the disability community among others.

According to Second Thoughts: People with Disabilities Opposing the Legalization of Assisted Suicide, the only way to make a proposal like Question 2 acceptable would be to make the safeguards “so onerous, so strict” that it would be unfeasible, according to John Kelly, the group’s director.

Susan Orozco, of Dignity 2012, supports the question as it will appear on the Nov. 6 ballot, and the control that it gives to terminally ill patients to “end their lives on their own terms.”  Read more

Lt. Gov. Timothy Murray joined the list of opponents of a ballot question that would legalize medical marijuana in Massachusetts, calling the proposal “dangerously overbroad” and fraught with potential for abuse.

If dispensaries open around the state to distribute marijuana to patients who qualify to receive it, it will have devastating financial and public safety impacts on local communities that will be left to guard against abuses, Murray said in an interview with the News Service on Thursday.  Read more

The most famous and most valuable painting ever to visit Dorchester is currently on display at the JFK Library and Museum. The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, has loaned the larger-than-life-size Pablo Picasso canvas “Rape of the Sabine Women” (1963) to the Columbia Point landmark through Jan. 6, 2013.

This multimillion dollar masterwork, created shortly after the 13-day Cuban missile crisis of 1962, is on display to commemorate the 50th anniversary of President Kennedy’s announcement of a blockade of Soviet vessels upon the discovery of Russian missiles with nuclear warheads in Cuba.  Read more

The Apple Grove Neighborhood Association met at Harbor Health Services building on Morton Street last Wednesday. Officers of the B-3 police district joined residents as they discussed safety concerns and the best ways to report suspicious activity in the community.  Read more

A week before her retirement, the outgoing principal at the Marshall Elementary School lit into Mayor Thomas Menino and Superintendent Carol Johnson, accusing them of neglecting the Dorchester school she has led for nearly two decades.

Teresa Harvey-Jackson made her views known at the Oct. 24 meeting of the Boston School Committee where the panel heard a proposal to transition the elementary school, which opened in 1971, to an in-district charter school.  Read more

City Council Passes New Redistricting Plan from Chris Lovett on Vimeo.

After 18 months marred by frequent infighting, city councillors today passed a compromise map that re-carves the political boundaries of council districts in the city. The vote to approve a map with amendments offered by City Councillor Tito Jackson was passed by a veto-proof majority, 11-2. Councillors Charles Yancey of Dorchester and Bill Linehan of South Boston opposed the measure.

This now marks the third time the council has sent a map to Mayor Thomas Menino, who vetoed two previous attempts due to the high concentration of people of color in District 4, which includes parts of Dorchester and Mattapan.

The mayor is expected to sign off on the map, his spokeswoman said shortly after the vote.  Read more

City officials have assembled a team to work closely with home and business owners affected by Hurricane Sandy. Boston Home Center staff will be working with homeowners and senior homeowners to help facilitate any necessary renovations due to the storm. Also, a team of City Hall staff will "work closely with business owners in the coming days to offer guidance and assess the exact needs of each business affected in an effort to expedite the process of reopening."

DND’s Office of Business Development is standing by to provide technical and permitting assistance. Businesses affected by the hurricane can reach the Office of Business Development at 617-635-0355.  Read more

The city’s elections chief is warning voters to read up on today's ballot, saying its length could lead to longer wait times at the polls. The ballot spans two pages and is 18 inches long due to several complex ballot questions dealing with auto repair, assisted suicide and medical marijuana. Some ballots will have a fourth question, a non-binding resolution on federal budget cuts.

“You need to do your homework before,” said Election Commissioner Geraldine Cuddyer.  Read more

A three-alarm fire in a six-family three decker at 4 Theodore St. Saturday night sent two residents and two firefighters to the hospital.  Read more