Blogs

The Ward 19 Democratic Committee is hosting a forum for the two Democratic mayoral candidates advancing to the general election. The forum will be Tuesday, October 8 at 7:00 PM at the First Baptist Church, 633 Centre Street, Jamaica Plain. Ward constituents are welcome. Time will be provided for the candidates to take questions from the attendees.

The Ward 19 Democratic Committee will meet Monday, September 9, at 7:00 PM at the Farnsworth House in JP. The Committee welcomes any voters registered as Democrats in Ward 19 who are interested in participating in Committee events, and contributing to our mission, to attend our meetings. Check here to see if you live in Ward 19.

The Farnsworth House is located at 90 South Street in Jamaica Plain, and is accessible by the #39 bus. On-street parking is available.

So it's about 5 this evening and I'm waiting to cross from the Commonwealth Avenue Mall into the Public Garden. A white stretch limo pulls up & disgorges a wedding party-- bride, groom, bridesmaids, groomsmen, and photographers. The light changes, I cross & I enter the Public Garden behind the wedding party, which heads for the Washington statue with its encircling plantings to take a photo. Unfortunately, there are already two other wedding parties there jockeying for position. So this gang heads toward the bridge.

Click on this link to watch: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZszLm-CCmio&feature=player_detailpage

BOSTON- Steven Tompkins will face a BMC Roxbury District Court Criminal Magistrate over Theft and Property Destruction on September 10, 2013.

Suffolk County Interim Sheriff Steven Tompkins of 106 Williams Street in Hyde Park will face a Criminal Magistrate over the theft and property destruction of rival Sheriff Candidate Douglas Bennett’s campaign signs in Egleston Square in Roxbury last Wednesday August 14, 2013 between 2-3PM.

In many of these thefts and destructions of personal property, Mr. Tompkins, along with another Commonwealth of Massachusetts employee from the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Department, proceeded in entering these store fronts and identifying himself as the Sheriff of Suffolk County, pulling out his “sheriff’s badge” and demanding that the store owner remove the sign or they would get “on his (Tompkins') bad side.”

Attached with this press release is:

1. The Notice of the Magistrate Hearing pertaining to BMC Roxbury District Court Criminal Complaint Docket #1302AC001538,

2. Boston Police Department Incident Report #130522530, and

3. A complaint from Bennett to the Massachusetts State Ethics Commission Enforcement Division asking to investigate Tompkins’ actions from August 14, 2013.

http://www.livescience.com/38956-most-vulnerable-c...

West Roxbury Patch Editor David Ertischek does a great job summing up the Candidates Night for Boston Mayor and City Council which took place this past Monday evening at St. George's Church hall which was packed with residents and co-hosted by the Bellevue Hill Improvement Association and West Roxbury Civic & Improvement Association.

To read, click here.

SoJust is 7! That's right, it's been SEVEN years since our first event! Join us to celebrate 2300 members, 160+ events and countless connections made since 2006! Our birthday parties are always our biggest events. Haven't been to a Socializing for Justice event? It’s time to meet 120+ friendly SoJusters!

Meet like-minded progressives at Connecting for Justice on September 12th from 6-8:30PM at Lir Irish Pub and get connected to great social justice organizations in Boston. SoJust is all about building a cross-issue progressive community and network in Boston. We're doing it by putting the SOCIAL back in SOCIAL JUSTICE. We focus on creating welcoming spaces that foster relationship-building across issue silos. Join us if you are ready to go BEYOND ALLIES and build a CROSS-ISSUE PROGRESSIVE MOVEMENT.

RSVP at www.sojust.org (our main website) and view Member Profiles, Message Board and Calendar of Progressive Events.

Cost: $5-$20 collected at the door. Newcomers always welcomed!
(One raffle ticket per $10 to win a $25 Trader Joe's gift card.)
Complimentary appetizers will be provided and yummy cupcakes thanks to our STARZ!

This is not a meeting - it's a fun networking social!
No Program. No Speaker. Just Us. For Justice.

According to Political Analyst Maryann Marsh, Cape and Islands state Senator Dan Wolf is going to quit the 2014 Governor’s race.

Click here to read more: http://www.capecodtoday.com/article/2013/08/07/21071-wolf-reported-have-dropped-out-guvs-race

John Kerry just joined President Obama's administration. Now will Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis? The Boston Globe reports wild speculation that Davis may be appointed the next Secretary of Homeland Security.

To read click here.

According to an interview with the Boston Herald's Matt Stout, Senate President Therese Murray could be running for Governor. According to Stout:

Murray — facing a March 2015 term limit as president — said she won’t decide until February or March whether she’ll seek re-election. But while she was quick to say she will finish her two-year term, she played coy when asked if she’d run for governor, giving­ a “no comment.”

Galen Moore of the Boston Business Journal uses state data and Google Fusion Tables to create a map of "every outdoor patio bar in the state of Massachusetts."

Caveat imbibor.

It's 3:03 a.m. and Boston's Finest(Estb. 1854) has just finished doing reconnaissance and dusting my place for finger prints.

After a late night B & E, I placed a call to my local 911. Before long, and after establishing that my event is a non-critical emergency, the 911 operator dispatches Boston's Blue to my address. Within 30 minutes, I receive a call that they are down stairs waiting. An officer responds, followed by a sergeant and a detective.

Every day officers from the Boston Police Department (BPD) make their way to residents and citizens in need of their assistance. And though it is not my wish to ever have to call them for any type of emergency, it is nice to know that they are there and on call 24 hours a day 7 days a week and 365 days out of the year. Wait... lets make that 425 days of the year, if you calculate officers over time, take away from family time and just plain time to contribute to making our lives a little more comfortable.

Have you ever stopped to think what The City would be like without them. How much more insecure would you feel? Think about it. No one to call during the Marathon emergency, no direction during special events, no response to emergencies such as a violent crime, and no one to respond to the smaller emergencies. No one to intervene in domestic violence, in general no one to offer a safer more secure City.

It appears a certainty according to sources close to the mayor and Suffolk Downs officials that the long awaited Host Agreement between them will be signed and made public.
This announcement will be followed by the public release of Revere’s Host Agreement with Suffolk Downs which was signed last month.
The Host Agreements finished and agreed to will allow for the state mandated referendums to be set in both East Boston and Revere.
These referendums are looming for East Boston and Revere, and more so for Suffolk Downs, as the single most important part of the casino puzzle.
The referendums must pass by wide margins that come close to Everett’s recent successful referendum which passed by an astounding 86-14 margin with 5500 voters coming out to cast a ballot.
Without strong showings in East Boston and Revere, the Gaming Commission will be forced to take a much closer look at the socio-political realities in both those places and to begin making determinations about which cities and town really want a casino and which don’t.
Recent Boston mayoral candidate polling conducted by Suffolk University has revealed a much closer margin for those for and against in East Boston than had been imagined.
This sent shock waves throughout the Suffolk Downs planning and strategy division led by Chip Tuttle.

Now that there has been a green issues forum that most of the candidates for Mayor attended, I have to feel some vindication about my idea to press for these things several years ago. A prophet is not appreciated in his hometown. The placement of solar and/or wind power generators on the roofs of City of Boston owned buildings was suggested, and I brought that issue up on Twitter several months ago.

Now that there has been a green issues forum that most of the candidates for Mayor attended, I have to feel some vindication about my idea to press for these things several years ago. A prophet is not appreciated in his hometown. The placement of solar and/or wind power generators on the roofs of City of Boston owned buildings was suggested, and I brought that issue up on Twitter several months ago.