Just days after ejecting former state Rep. Carlos Henriquez, House lawmakers quickly set dates for the elections process to replace the Dorchester Democrat. The special election will take place on April 29, although the Democratic make-up of the district will put the spotlight on the determinative April 1 primary.  Read more

An attorney with roots in Cape Verde is jumping into the race to replace former state Rep. Carlos Henriquez. Evandro Carvalho, who lives in Fields Corner with his fiancé Ashley, emigrated from Cape Verde at age 15.  Read more

A kid forgets his lunch, and his mother runs out to give it to him as the school bus pulls away. Then John Connolly, mayoral candidate, appears. “I got this,” he says, and starts to chase the bus through the neighborhood as a narrator highlights his record on schools.

The ad, titled “I Got This,” never aired on television. But it received the “Best Ad that Never Saw the Light of Day” honor at the 2014 Reed Awards in Washington, DC, on Feb. 7.  Read more

The House took action Monday aimed at scheduled an April 29 special election, with an April 1 primary, to fill the seat vacated last week when members expelled former Rep. Carlos Henriquez in light of his conviction on assault and battery charges.

Nomination papers are now available. The deadline to turn in the required 150 valid signatures is Feb. 24.  Read more

Former mayoral candidate John Barros began his new job this week: chief of economic development under Mayor Marty Walsh. Standing with his wife Tchintcia, Barros was introduced at the South End headquarters of Future Chefs, a nonprofit focused on urban youth.

His name had been floated for jobs in the private sector, the office of lieutenant governor, and as a candidate for the Fifth Suffolk seat left vacant after the ouster of former state Rep. Carlos Henriquez. But, Barros said on Monday, “My true passion has been my work with the city.”  Read more

Park needs clean-up: Trash and debris piled up at Victory Road Park last weekend. Photo by Steve Bickerton, Jr.To The Editor:

This past weekend we were fortunate to have beautiful weather that allowed folks to get out and enjoy the Neponset River Greenway, one of the treasures of our community which connects Mattapan to Port Norfolk, and will have its missing links connected in the coming years to the tune of $14-plus million. I myself walked from Butler Street in Lower Mills to Port Norfolk. It was a great walk and I bumped into several Dorchester neighbors.

The overwhelming topic of conversation: The Greenway and the adjacent parks are a mess!  Read more

When school bus drivers, warring with the company that oversees the buses, went on strike in early October, in the midst of a mayoral election, they were largely on their own with little political support.

Marty Walsh and John Connolly, two candidates in the middle of a mayoral election, condemned their illegal action, widely described as a “wild cat” strike. A furious Mayor Thomas Menino demanded that they return to work as school officials scrambled to find other ways to get children to school that morning.  Read more

Signs of a competitive campaign

They’re standing outside MBTA stations, shaking hands in frigid temperatures. They’re hitting civic association meetings, coffee shops, and their neighbors’ doors. And they have another three and a half weeks to go until voters hit the polls, again, in another Dorchester-centered special election.

Marty Walsh’s ascension to the mayor’s office has set off a small stampede for his seat. Five Democrats are on the ballot, joined by a write-in candidate, and with no Republicans running, whoever wins the March 4 primary will almost certainly coast in the April 1 general election.  Read more

Update: The snow emergency and parking ban in the City of Boston will be lifted at 5 p.m.

Gov. Deval Patrick early Wednesday morning directed all non-essential executive branch employees not to report to work on Wednesday due to the arriving snowstorm and poor weather conditions.  Read more

The Massachusetts House on Monday set the ground rules for a potential vote to discipline incarcerated Rep. Carlos Henriquez, approving a procedural order that includes an allowance for Henriquez to address his colleagues before they pass judgement.

Henriquez has refused to resign as he appeals his Jan. 15 conviction on assault and battery charges.  Read more