Tuesday, December 4, 2012
Boston Mayor Thomas Menino writes to President Obama, "Show us opportunity. Sell us on progress. Tell us the truth, especially on taxes."
- GOVERNMENT
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Tuesday, December 4, 2012
The following is a letter written by Boston Mayor Thomas Menino to President Barack Obama and Speaker of the House John Boehner from the City of Boston's website. December 1, 2012 Dear President Obama and Speaker Boehner, I know a little bit about the importance of funding for health research, training, and care. Boston is home to the #1 medical school in the country and the #1 hospital in the country. Researchers in Boston earn more NIH support than in any other city. Health care companies and institutions employ more people than any other sector. Oh, and there’s this: I just spent a month in one of our world-class health care institutions and am writing you from another. So, yes, my perspective on the big budget debate happening in …
Wednesday, November 28, 2012
South End resident William Toll writes about the ongoing construction at the intersection of Harrison and Berkeley in the South End.
Dear editor, The intersection at Harrison and Berkeley has been dug up at least 6 times per year since I moved to Boston in 2009. There was even an explosion and a flood at this location in recent years. The latest big dig started Sunday Nov 25th in the evening at 8pm. (See photo from tonight, Wed 11/28) The big dig before that was in July- lasting more than 10 days...and..they left a vent pipe in the middle of the road ever since. Yes, that's right a vent pipe with almost no protection in the middle of the road. (See photo) Why? ...Wait... Think about it rationally,.... there is no reason for this other than incompetence by the utilities and city employees. I can't think of an excuse. Can you? The utility should pay local residents $…
Friday, May 4, 2012
If you're used to walking home with the groceries, there's novelty to visiting New England's largest supermarket.
When it’s just a carton of milk you need, a 35-mile drive is definitely out of the way. But if you’re up for a pilgrimage, the new Wegmans in Northborough is New England’s largest supermarket and the chain’s first store in Massachusetts. There is some psychology behind wanting to see 138,000 square feet of produce and everything else the modern American grocery sells, in a box so big that there are 30 check-out lines and a red phone right by the yogurt case, connecting you to customer service – just in case you get lost, or have a question. But it’s not just me: Wegmans’ reputation for superior customer service, as well as their competitive price-quality-choice mix, drew 25,000 visitors to Northborough last October 16, breaking opening …
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino says the drug problem in Boston isn't at a crisis level. But, it is.
Two weeks ago, South Boston resident Barbara Coyne was killed in her own home. Last fall, Barbara Tagen, also from Southie and also in her 60’s, was killed. Police believe both attacks were drug-related. The response to these tragic events has been an outpouring of expression from residents telling tales of a neighborhood reeling from drug addiction and violent crimes committed as a result. Not everyone seems to be taking the problem as seriously, unfortunately. Boston Herald reporter Ted Fitzgerald asked Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino last week if the situation was “worse than usual”. The Mayor responded that he couldn’t speak to “hearsay” and that he hadn’t seen any “actual numbers”. Is it at a crisis level? “No, it’s not at a crisis …
Thursday, April 19, 2012
New children's stores in the mall draw parents with kids to the Shops at Prudential Center, a place that relieves the dearth of community spaces in the Back Bay.
Stay in your lane, pass on the left, and neither exceed nor fall under the speed limit: These are the unspoken traffic rules at Boston’s Prudential Center mall. Crowded with office workers, tourists, and locals, the busy hall off Boylston Street reminds you that you are still in the city. But pass the north-side main drag, and the aisles widen while the lovely skylight ceilings persist. Ahhh, space. It’s here that young families are making the mall their own. A landscaped garden, places indoors to linger, and now a family-oriented trio of businesses are all holding down the age of the average Pru visitor. With most residents in our urban neighborhoods tucked into condos without yards, we covet any living space beyond our own homes. The …
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
Who doesn't love having dogs running unleashed in our public parks? Only one person, I guess.
I hate it when people act arrogantly. Drivers cutting off other drivers in traffic, guys throwing frisbees that end up banging parents in the head while sitting having picnics - you get the idea. I encountered my worst pet peeve last week while sitting in Blackstone Square, on Washington Street in the South End. The square is busy most days. Men with bottles hang out there, talking and arguing with one another (and themselves). Mothers with babies mingle about, sunning themselves. And, pet owners bring their dogs there to poop on the lawn and run up on unsuspecting people’s laps. Previous comments to the contrary notwithstanding, I do like dogs. I love them. But, the scene here was overwhelming. I mean, like 12-15 dogs off leashes. Swear …
Tuesday, April 17, 2012
Challenges come in all shapes and sizes and aren't just for marathon runners.
Yesterday was the Boston Marathon and, although I’m a yoga teacher, I love running as well and have finished the BayState Marathon twice, the last time being in October of 2012. Running a marathon is hard work and the training is brutal. But there are different ways you can challenge yourself and some have nothing to do with physical exercise but can have a positive impact on your health. Here are some ideas: More is more: Once you decide on your exercise plan, pick a time frame and do it every day. If it’s yoga, try practicing every day for a week (pick one rest day). If it’s running or gym, do the same thing (avoid increasing your mileage too much too soon). If you’ve been doing the same thing for a while, increasing the frequency can …
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
Take this short quiz to find out if you're headed for a wellness breakdown.
As a yoga teacher, I lead adults and children through many different ways to move their bodies. Each pose emphasizes something different. When people try balancing postures, they often crack a smile, surprised at how challenging it can be. Sometimes, students get frustrated; you can see it in their faces and watch how it shows up in their bodies. It’s hard to back off and try a little less, especially when you have expectations to do more. Try Tree Pose, for instance. Stand on one leg and bring the other foot to your inner thigh, shin or ankle. Bring your hands together in the middle of your chest and take a few breaths. Switch to the other side and see if you notice any differences. Sometimes, it’s humbling to realize we’ve lost our …
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
It's time to give the man his due: Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino has worn out his opposition. It's no longer worth fighting against him. Just give up.
Dear Mayor Menino: You win! On behalf of all city residents who have been holding out for a better Boston than you’ve provided for us, I concede. A few of us (a dwindling few) have always thought Boston could be better - that you could do better. We’ve seen the city grow and prosper during the past twenty years, but felt it was being held back from being a truly great American city. Not that we aren’t happy to live here, just that you could help us make Boston a better place to live by building badly-needed schools in our neighborhoods, by recognizing, respecting, and responding to residents’ complaints about over-zealous developers and under-utilized zoning, by using the city's ever-increasing property tax revenue to give us safer, …
Monday, April 2, 2012
A letter to the editor from Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley
- GOVERNMENT
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Monday, April 2, 2012
[Editor's Note: The following was submitted by the office of Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley] More than 125 years ago, the great American author Mark Twain wrote of a killer identified by his own thumbprint. “There was one thing about a person which never changed, from the cradle to the grave,” Twain wrote of the loops and whorls unique to every individual fingerprint. Here as in so other ways, Twain was a man ahead of his time. When he published Life on the Mississippi, criminalists were still using photographs and body measurements as a means of singularly identifying individuals. It would be almost a decade before fingerprinting was successfully used in a criminal investigation and eventually surpassed every other …
William
9:36 pm on Thursday, December 6, 2012
Here we are 12 days since the latest big dig started here at Berkeley and Harrison. They are still digging and the Mayor, Veolia Energy and the Supervisor of Utility Coordination and Compliance at the Boston Public Works Department still have not replied. more ›