J.L. Bell, who studies and writes about pre-Revolutionary New England, discusses a Louisiana law (currently stayed during a lawsuit) that requires public schools to display a copy of the Ten Commandments - and a "context statement" that refers to the 17th-century New England Primer, a reader for young students, as proof Christianity has always been a part of American public education. Read more.
Brian C. captured a stuck 18-wheeler on May 10.
The bridges and overpasses of the river roads continued their winning streak in 2024, once again teaching lessons to truck drivers from near and far what "CARS ONLY" means. The year also brought an unusual, underwater twist as construction work in the Sumner Tunnel meant we got to see some below-ground storrowing. Read more.
Across Boston, disgusted residents are filing 311 complaints about sidewalks that are still unwalkable nearly a week after the snowstorm, such as this one about the conditions on Neptune Road in East Boston.
The state Civil Service Commission last week overturned Boston Police's firing of Ofr. Joseph Abasciano, who traveled to Washington to watch Jan. 6 unfold - although he never entered the Capitol - and who, under a pseudonym, posted a series of tweets calling officials who opposed the loser of the 2020 elections a bunch of traitors and urging "a civil war or a violent revolution." Read more.
Gallivan Boulevard is under there, right?
Bostonians filled the 311 lines with plenty of road snow complaints today, such as this complaint at 7:16 p.m. about Gallivan Boulevard (which, granted, is a state road, not a city responsibility): Read more.
The Dorchester Reporter sums up the latest news on the plans to rebuild White Stadium as a professional soccer arena with modern BPS facilities, which includes rising cost estimates, possible court delays and now the opposition of City Councilor and possible Wu opponent Ed Flynn.
Last night, Wu took to Bluesky to explain her support for the plans and answer questions.
We already knew that Said Ahmed is planning to run for the District 7 seat now held by Tania Fernandes Anderson.
Politico reports that Said Abdikarim, who ran for an at-large seat last time (you may remember him from the orange shirt he always wears), is running in District 7 this time. Read more.
A federal judge today sentenced a surgeon who specializes in kidney transplants at Wuhan General Hospital in China to 20 months - and ordered him to give up some $1.6 million in seized funds from American banks - for his role in funneling money from illegal steroid sales in Massachusetts and elsewhere back to China. Read more.
WBUR self reports on the end of Radio Boston after 17 years on the air.
The move comes just months after its host, Tiziana Dearing, was named anchor of WBUR’s Morning Edition show, where she continues to interview major newsmakers on a regular basis, including Gov. Maura Healey and Mayor Michelle Wu.
Two corrections officers at the Suffolk County Sheriff's Department were arrested today on charges they defrauded the state unemployment system and a federal fund aimed at helping small businesses at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic while they worked in the private sector and were not running their own small businesses. Read more.
In what has become an annual December rite, Boston city councilors yesterday approved a federal homeland-security grant only after a sometimes pitched battle over the roll of Boston Police in collecting information on Boston residents - and the way the council schedules votes on things. Read more.
Jeremy Reiner reports it's been 1,019 days since the last time Boston has seen six or more inches of snow in a single day, the fifth longest such streak since 1891.
The Dorchester Reporter reports longtime election official Sabino Piemonte took the blame for the way precincts across the city ran out of ballots on Election Day: In figuring out how many ballots each precinct should get, he mistakenly subtracted the number of early-voting ballots from precincts' anticipated numbers twice. Still unanswered: What to do about City Hall not answering calls from ballot-short precincts.
The US Supreme Court today formally declined to consider a lawsuit by White and Asian-American parents against the way BPS now uses Zip codes as part of its algorithm for determining who gets offered admission to Boston's three exam schools. Read more.
The South Boston state senator once again used a parliamentary procedure to keep the state Senate from voting on a measure that would let Boston temporarily increase the property-tax rate on commercial property higher than otherwise allowed, which, if he doesn't change his minds, means the City Council will have to set tax rates on Wednesday that will mean tax hikes of between 10% and 14% for residential property owners, the State House News Service reports.
Said Ahmed filed paperwork with the state in October to run for the District 7 city council seat now held by Tania Fernandes Anderson, but only sent out a press release about it yesterday. Read more.
The City Council today voted unanimously to keep Boston's sanctuary-city status and remind city departments not to help any federal "civil immigration enforcement" efforts, including the incoming federal administration's announced plans to set up concentration camps for immigrants before they are booted out of the country. Read more.
Mayor Wu today announced the city's program for letting BPS students and their family members into local museums for free next month will be expanded to include all private, parochial and Metco students - and that additional museums have signed up. Read more.
Boston was hoping to send out property-tax bills this month with a bit of a break for homeowners. Only problem: state Sen. Nick Collins, who represents South Boston and Dorchester, managed to get any discussion of a bill to let the city temporarily set a higher rate on commercial property until at least Thursday. Read more.
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