“Hey, baby!” Linda Burston, with an illuminating smile and wide eyes, greets every woman who comes through the doors of Women’s Lunch Place. They always know when Linda is in the room; even among the clink clank of dishes being piled high, the scraping of metal fork against ceramic plate, the hum of conversation among dozens of…
Hundreds take to Boston’s street for annual Homeless Census
“Most people walk by them, most people walk over them, and if they could, they’d walk through them,” said Mayor Martin Walsh as he stood in front of over 300 volunteers crammed into City Hall. On the night of January 30, the temperatures dropped into the single digits as volunteers from all over Boston banned…
Local groups call to end Southeast Asian Deportation
Photo by author. About 50 protestors gathered outside the Bristol County Jail and House of Corrections in North Dartmouth, Mass. on the evening of January 23, to raise awareness on the deportation of Southeast Asians and to demand that the Sheriff’s office end its partnership with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). “It’s important for us…
Activists lobby state house for sexual health issues, education
On January 17, at 10 a.m., people of all ages and gender, donned in formal attire, gathered at the Great Hall of Massachusetts State House to lobby their district representatives for greater access to reproductive rights and sexual education for youth. Calling January 17 ‘Sexual Health Lobby Day,’ 70 organizations – including NARAL Pro-Choice Massachusetts,…
Mass. Gov’s Proposed Education Budget Draws Mixed Reactions
Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker on Wednesday unveiled his proposed budget with a focus on education spending along with a companion bill. But school activists are pushing for significantly more funding. The 2020 fiscal budget includes more than $200 million in new state aid to education, with more than $1 billion over seven years going toward…
Boston Immigrant Community Speaks Out On Government Shutdown, Trump’s Border Wall Proposal
On January 25, the United States federal government reopened after a 35-day-long shutdown without any concrete deal regarding a budget for the fiscal year of 2019. The reopening is temporary, however; if Congress does not reach a deal by February 15 — presumably, one that includes $5.7 billion in allocated funds for a new border…
Boston receives millions to support chronically homeless in the city
Boston has been selected as one of the communities to receive federal funding from HUD for the creation of housing and to support homeless assistance programs. Mayor Martin Walsh announced the funding in a press release on Wednesday which states that nearly $26.3 million will be used to benefit Boston’s Way Home, a program dedicated…
Cambridge votes to add gender neutral option to birth certificates
The Cambridge City Council voted unanimously last Monday to draft a home-rule petition allowing residents to amend birth certificates to a third gender category, “X,” rather than male or female, as well as streamlining the change process. The proposed bill is intended to accommodate residents who identify as neither exclusively male nor female and to…
Canada’s supervised injection sites impress Mass. mayors during weekend visit
Visiting safe injection facilities (SIF), where people inject drugs openly under the supervision of nurses, counselors and trained staff, has strengthened one mayor’s opinion and completely changed another’s within the course of one weekend. Boston Mayor Martin Walsh admits he was a strong opponent of the harm reduction strategy, but was impressed by what he…
Concord Houses Deal Preserves 171 Affordable Units in Boston’s South End
A deal struck with low-income tenants of the Concord Houses and the department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) will allow 171 units to remain affordable for the next 40 years in the South End. Boston Mayor Martin Walsh’s office announced the agreement which allows tenants earning no more than 80 percent of annual median…