Mayor Wu is asking the City Council to begin deliberating the end of an independent BPDA - which she wants to subsume into a new Boston Planning Department completely under the control of the mayor and the city council - and with a new emphasis on urban planning and affordable housing. Read more.
CommonWealth Beacon reports on yet another effort by Boston lawmakers to convince the T to change the Hyde Park, Readville and West Roxbury commuter-rail stations to the same zone as the Fairmount one - which could save riders hundreds of dollars a year. But T officials say they're more interested in an overall reduced-fare system it's looking to set-up for low-income riders across the entire commuter-rail network.
WBUR recaps Mayor Wu's annual state of the city address, notes that unlike last time, she made no mention of rent stabilization, which would require approval from a state government that isn't feeling it.
The owners of 21 North End restaurants and the North End Chamber of Commerce yesterday sued the city over its 2022 fees for restaurants in the neighborhood that wanted to use public sidewalks and streets for patio seating - and its ban on such patios last year - alleging the Wu administration and a local residents' groups hate Italians for some reason. Read more.
Somebody called 311 around 5:30 p.m. on Monday to report he shot his wife at a Roslindale address and that he then tied up both her and the man he found with her and was standing over them. Read more.
Wu and Bennett's nephew, Joey, hug as other Bennett familiy members and Alan Swanson look on.
Mayor Wu and Police Commissioner Michael Cox today apologized to Willie Bennett and Alan Swanson, who were investigated and even arrested for supposedly killing Carol Stuart when, in fact, it was her husband Charles who shot her after they left a childbirth class at Brigham and Women's Hospital on Oct. 23, 1989. Read more.
No doubt you've heard about all the racists jumping on Michelle Wu because somebody in her office goofed and sent out an invitation to an Electeds of Color Christmas party to white councilors, instead of just the Black and Latino ones. It's been in all the papers. Read more.
Mayor Wu said today the number of people in tents or tarps at Mass and Cass has dropped from 50 to 14, the State House News Service reports. Wu last week announced another attempt to move people out of the area and into temporary housing or treatment.
ISD inspectors will fan out across Mass and Cass today posting notices that the city will start removing all "tents, tarps and other temporary structures" in the area on Nov. 1, Mayor Wu announced today - adding the state has approved Boston's plans to rebuild the Long Island bridge and that the city is now looking for a project-management company to oversee the work, for which the city has already set aside $81 million. Read more.
Mayor Wu is endorsing Enrique Pepén, her former constiuent-services director, over incumbent Ricardo Arroyo in the District 5 (Hyde Park, Roslindale, Mattapan) City Council race in the Sept. 12 preliminary election. Wu had backed Arroyo in previous campaigns - including his run for DA, at least until those allegations surfaced. Read more.
Mayor Wu signed an executive order that will ban the use of natural gas and heating oil for any new city buildings or existing facilities that undergo extensive repairs. Read more.
Update: Case sent back to state court, where Baldursdottir voluntarily dismissed it on Sept. 25, 2023.
A woman who faces a misdemeanor larceny charge over the body-worn camera she says an officer managed to drop while pushing her out of the way of Mayor Wu's car outside the mayor's Roslindale home during an early morning Covid-19 screaming protest has sued the city, the mayor, all the judges who sit at West Roxbury municipal court and a clerk magistrate there for violating her civil rights. Read more.
WFXT reports on a crash involving Mayor Wu's city Mustang EV and another car on Hyde Park Avenue at Blakemore Street in Roslindale this afternoon. WCVB reports no major injuries.
Mayor Wu and School Superintendent today announced a series of high-school moves they say will dramatically increase educational and career opportunities for students at the O'Bryant and Madison Park school and other high schools. Read more.
Boston Streets Chief Jascha Franklin-Hodge discusses safety issues on Centre Street.
Mayor Wu and City Streets Chief Jascha Franklin-Hodge told a packed auditorium at the Ohrenberger School tonight they are committed to making Centre Street safer through a reconfiguration that will include reducing the number of travel lanes on each side from two to one, with a new third lane in the center for left-turn lanes at intersections and for various "flex" uses, such as letting first responders speed to emergencies. Read more.
The Dorchester Reporter posts a copy of the proposal by Mayor Wu for new City Council district lines - it would move Cedar Grove and Adams Village back into what is now Frank Baker's district, keep the South Boston housing projects in what is now Ed Flynn's district, but move South Boston from Flynn's district into the district that had been represented by the now departed Kenzie Bok. Line changes involving Roslindale and Mattapan are also included.
Yeah, fun times.
About that. Mayor Wu said the problems can be buffed right out and the school re-opened as a new high school. Read more.
WBUR reports on the reaction on Beacon Hill to Boston's request to let it set a cap on how much rents in larger, older buildings can go up each year:
[T]o say the bill lacks momentum is an understatement. It’s been given a number and assigned to the Joint Committee on Housing. But so far, no other lawmakers have signed on as co-sponsors. Many are reluctant to even talk about it.
The owners of several North End restaurants have amended their lawsuit over the fees Boston charged North End restaurants to set up tables on sidewalks and in parking spaces last year to add a new charge: That Mayor Wu imposed the fees only in the North End because of her hatred of white, Italian men. Read more.
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