HomeStart: Board Chair Ed Frechette, Janet Wu of WHDH Ch. 7, and HomeStart’s President/CEO Linda Wood-Boyle at the recent ICycle fundraiser.
Two of Dorchester’s own head up HomeStart, a local nonprofit that serves the Greater Boston area. Ed Frechette, Chairman of the Board of Trustees, and CEO & President Linda Wood-Boyle guide the organization in its mission to help homeless individuals, families and veterans.

Founded in 1994, HomeStart prevented 500 people from becoming homeless and moved another 400 from shelters to housing last year. It also provides housing search services to 50 shelters in the Greater Boston area including Rosie’s Place and the Pine Street Inn.  Read more

In a 6 to 1 vote last Wednesday night, the Boston School Committee signed off on a sweeping overhaul of the school system’s assignment process. The 57,000 students now attending the city’s schools, along with their siblings, are grandfathered under the existing three-zone plan, which has been in place for 24 years.  Read more

Mayor Thomas Menino was on hand for this morning's official dedication of the William J. Walczak Health and Education Center—which houses elements of the health center and the Codman Academy Charter Public School—. A large crowd assembled in the building’s black-box theatre as Mayor Thomas M. Menino cut the ribbon and lavished much-deserved praise on Walczak, the center and the school.

The 34,000 square brick-and-stone building has transformed the corner of Norfolk and Epping Street. The $18 million project— boosted by nearly $8 million in federal stimulus dollars— gives Codman the capacity it needs to serve up to 30,000 patients per year. It also will allow Codman Academy— acclaimed for its academics and theatre/arts training— to grow and thrive.  Read more

In roughly 90 minutes Saturday night, four men were stabbed in incidents in Ashmont and on Columbia Road.

The homicide unit was summoned to Columbia Road shortly before 11 p.m., after two men were stabbed in a fight in the middle of the street outside 180 Columbia Rd., near Geneva Avenue. One of the victims had potentially life threatening injuries.

Around 9:30 p.m. a man was stabbed several times in the stomach on Dorchester Avenue at Dracut Street near the Ashmont MBTA station. He was rushed to Boston Medical Center. The suspects were described as two or three Asian males.  Read more

MBTA Police say the woman pictured above is wanted after she spat on a bus driver who asked her to pay her fare on Saturday afternoon. The incident happened at Ashmont Station where the driver "ejected" the passenger for not paying.

The suspect is described as a black female in her 20’s approximately 5’04"-5’06" in height and wearing a double-breasted, brown jacket with large black buttons on the front.

If you can identify the suspect, contact Transit Police at 617-222-1050 or text to 873873.

Local lawmakers and members of Mayor Thomas Menino’s cabinet flocked to the Cedars of Lebanon’s hall in Jamaica Plain for a fundraiser last Sunday morning. More than 400 people attended the small-dollar event, one of several neighborhood fundraisers held every year by Menino’s campaign committee.  Read more

City Councillor Charles Yancey could face a challenger from Roslindale this year if he runs for reelection in District 4. Steven Godfrey, the 43-year-old executive director of the Community Minority Cultural Center in Lynn, opened a campaign fundraising account on Monday.  Read more

Here’s an opportunity you definitely don’t want to let slip through your fingers.

Free artsy manicures! The Howard Art Project on the top floor of 1486 Dot Ave. in the middle of Fields Corner is currently offering fashion-forward folks of whatever gender the chance to have a once-in-a-lifetime digital makeover.

What’s the catch? There’s no catch.  Read more

Three traditional Easter Egg Hunts will be staged in Dorchester on consecutive weekends this month.

On Sat., March 23 the 21st annual Spring Egg Hunt will be held at Pope John Paul II Park on Gallivan Boulevard in Dorchester. Children of all ages can join in the hunt for toy filled plastic eggs scattered across the fields at DCR Pope John Paul II Park. This hunt is sponsored by DCR and Phillips Candy House. Please arrive early to allow plenty of time for parking. The Spring Egg Hunt starts at 11 a.m. sharp and it doesn’t take long for the children to find all those eggs.  Read more

Senate Pres. Therese Murray: St. Mark’s “girl”State Senate President Therese Murray, who grew up in St. Mark’s Parish, will be inducted into the Dorchester Hall of Fame this Saturday as part of the annual fundraising brunch for the Mary Ann Brett Food Pantry of Blessed Mother Teresa Parish.

Murray, a Democrat who moved to Plymouth over 30 years ago, became Senate president in 2007, the first woman to hold the post.  Read more

Swamped on the regular: Morrissey Boulevard, frequently closed, like last Friday, to traffic during high tides and storms could be modernized with new revenues from a proposed tax hike now being pushed by Governor Patrick. Above, the roadway during last fall’s hurricane. Photo by Devin M.

Morrissey Boulevard, a major south-north artery running along Dorchester’s coast that is frequently forced to close due to storm surges accompanying high tides could be in line for a $25 million overhaul under Gov. Deval Patrick’s tax hike proposal, a top official with the state’s Department of Conservation and Recreation said on Wednesday.  Read more

Superintendent Carol Johnson is taking a leave of absence after the death of her husband Matthew late Monday. The chief financial officer of the school system, John McDonough, will take over as acting superintendent.  Read more