The redevelopment of the former St. Kevin’s parish property, considered crucial to the Uphams Corner area, received a boost last week as state officials announced an influx of funds for the project. The firm developing the former school building, called the St. Kevin’s Limited Partnerships, will be receiving $2.7 million in state Department of Housing and Community Development subsidies on top of $768,950 in federal low income housing tax credits.

The group plans to use the money to build 33 units for families that are homeless or at risk of being homeless.  Read more

Four years ago, young Dan McDonald decided he wanted to start a new business in his old hometown of Dorchester.

Born on Pierce Avenue and baptized at St. Brendan church, the business school graduate of Boston College had spent four years after graduation working at restaurants on the South Shore and on Martha’s Vineyard. He was eager to open his own restaurant.

He found a storefront in a prime Adams Corner location and soon went about opening his very first restaurant, a neighborhood place he called The Currach Bistro and Pizza.  Read more

Shown above (left to right): Maya (Student), Simran (Teacher), and Jonathan (Student) in a chemistry class. Photo by Spector Photography

Breakthrough Greater Boston (BTGB), a Cambridge-based educational support program that helps students get track towards college and a career, will open its first expansion site at TechBoston Academy in Dorchester this fall. The program, which will double its number of students, has served Cambridge Public Schools for 20 years.

In the past five years, the non-profit has sent 97 percent of their students to 4-year colleges. The inaugural summer program, BTGB’s trademark, will kick off with a July 8 ribbon-cutting ceremony. Site director Anita Roberson is already in the process of recruiting students at TechBoston Academy.  Read more

Rep. Keenan: A poll card from 1958. Courtesy Keenan familyWilliam F. (“Bill”) Keenan, Sr., a longtime teacher and political activist in Dorchester who served six terms representing Ward 17 in Dorchester in the state House of Representatives in the 1950s and early 1960s, died in Needham on Monday at age 92 and three days.

Mr. Keenan was a Dorchester native whose long career in public life included stints as Adjutant of the Chelsea Soldier’s Home, with the Massachusetts Consumers Council, and the city of Boston’s Veterans Affairs department.

Raised in Saint Gregory’s Parish in the Lower Mills section, and educated at his parish’s grammar school, Mr. Keenan and his family shared their home with a stream of relatives arriving from Ireland and a number of foster children. He attended Boston English High School where he ran track and played on the football and ice hockey teams.  Read more

Maureen Dahill: Runs website "Caught in Southie"South Boston may have two candidates in the race to replace former state Sen. Jack Hart if Maureen Dahill, a South Boston native who works for an online retailer and has co-founded an online magazine, makes it onto the ballot. She said this week that she is a candidate for the First Suffolk District seat.

She joins two other Democrats, state Reps. Linda Dorcena Forry of Dorchester and Nick Collins of South Boston, in pulling nomination papers and beginning to gather signatures as the Bay State recovers from a historic snow storm that has temporarily slowed down life in the city.

Republican Joseph Ureneck, a frequent candidate for office, has also pulled nomination papers, according to Secretary of State William Galvin’s office.  Read more

The Boston Fire Department reports a fire at 49 Mather St. late last night quickly went to three alarms and sent two residents and two firefighters to the hospital. One resident was rescued from a top floor of the multi-family building via a department aerial ladder.  Read more

Updated on Feb. 12, 12 noon— Boston Public Schools will re-open tomorrow, Wednesday, February 13. The Parking Ban and Snow Emergency will be lifted today at 6 p.m.

“Our snow removal teams did great work throughout the night last night,” Mayor Menino said in a statement. “Our crews will be out there all day and again tonight as we continue to widen roads, make our schools safe for students, and respond to residents’ concerns about residential areas.”  Read more

Rep. Linda Dorcena ForryRep. Nick CollinsThe field of candidates aiming to replace former state Sen. Jack Hart solidified this week as Democratic state representatives from Dorchester and South Boston announced they were in the running. Linda Dorcena Forry and Nick Collins will be scrambling over the next several weeks to gather supporters and nomination signatures.

Unless a Republican or an Independent candidate joins them, the April 30 primary, which will be held the same day as the Democratic primary for the US Senate special election, will likely determine the next occupant of the First Suffolk District Senate seat. The general election is set for May 28.  Read more

Mary Mdden: Math “is divinely created”Veteran Boston College High School Principal Stephen Hughes doesn’t play favorites at the prestigious all-boys Jesuit prep on Morrissey Boulevard in Dorchester, an institution rooted in the 16th century teachings of the Spaniard St. Ignatius Loyola. Unless, of course, Hughes is talking about the best teacher he has encountered in his 30 years at the school.

Hands down, that would be Mary Madden. One of BC High’s first female teachers, Madden, a Dorchester native, taught math at all levels for three decades in a character-building environment that, by her own admission, put a far greater focus on getting students into Heaven than into Harvard. So what does math have to do with God? “Math is a divinely created language that unlocks the mysteries of the universe,” she says.  Read more

St. Mark’s Area Main Street (SMAMS) presents Oscars on the Avenue, a community celebration of the Academy Awards, on Sun., Feb. 24, 8 – 12 p.m., at Tavolo Ristorante, 1918 Dorchester Ave. in the Carruth Building at Ashmont Station. The evening will feature Tavolo’s hors d’oeuvres, the Academy Awards on the TV screens, an auction, a local awards ceremony, and more.   Read more

The Irish Social Club of Boston is back and offering a thousand welcomes to members, guests, and inquisitive minds alike at its West Roxbury home. The club acquired a permanent liquor license early last month and so the 119 Park St. fixture, which earlier had obtained an entertainment license, is once again open for business.  Read more