On Thursday, April 19, 2018, the Essex County Community Organization (ECCO) lead the Children’s March at the Massachusetts State House in Boston. The march was organized to protest federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) policies that target immigrant families. Marchers gathered at the Robert Gould Shaw Memorial in the Boston Common, with children directly affected…
Mass. Bill Pushes Back Against Implementation of Video Only Prison Visits
Maintaining contact with family is important to the wellbeing of people who are incarcerated, and a bill in Massachusetts’ state legislature would ensure that in-person visits are protected. The visitation provision is part of a much larger criminal justice reform bill. According to Lucius Couloute, policy analyst with the Prison Policy Initiative, some sheriffs’ departments…
Domonique Williams Appointed Boston’s Deputy Director of the Office of Housing Stability’s
On Wednesday, April 4, Domonique Williams became Boston’s Office of Housing Stability’s new deputy director. Williams is a Roxbury resident and former housing attorney, and Mayor Marty Walsh — who announced Williams’ appointment through a press release — hopes that under her leadership, the city can expand its efforts to tackle a burgeoning housing crisis.…
Stuck in Section 8 Purgatory: Waitlist For Subsidized Housing Leaves Families In The Cold
When your application for state housing assistance is accepted, the wait list can stretch to up to seven years long. If you need Section 8 assistance for your young family, I hope you’re ready for a decade-plus wait. Hundreds of individual applications for housing can be filled out with nary a positive response. That is…
New $600 Million Development Breaks Ground in Fenway, Raises Gentrification Concerns
On Jan. 30, Fenway Center hosted a groundbreaking for a $600 million development project, which will include five new buildings, 550 residential units, and office and retail space, has been long-anticipated. The event was attended by Governor Charlie Baker, Transportation Secretary Stephanie Pollack, Boston Planning and Development Agency Director Brian Golden, and developer John Rosenthal.…
Badly Needed T Renovations Bogged Down by Backlog
If the MBTA, Greater Boston’s public transit system, shut down for a year, the state would lose $11.4 billion. That amount would come from residents’ time lost travelling, their effort spent maintaining a car, and a rise in the number of injuries and fatalities. Yet the Massachusetts state budget only devoted $2.4 billion to transportation…
Walsh Explores Mass Litigation Against Pharmaceutical Companies for Role in Opioid Crisis
Boston Mayor Marty Walsh announced Monday, Jan. 22 that his office is considering mass tort litigation against several pharmaceutical companies for their role in the ongoing opioid crisis affecting the city and the United States as a whole. The potential move follows the lead of other Massachusetts municipalities — such as Quincy and Greenfield —…
Cold Weather, Colder Reality
Quincy COPE has been serving food and love at South Station for years with little or no complaints, that is until now. Apparently one of the Station’s security guards probably with nothing better to do approached Suzanne Featherstone (who is seen by many as the leader of the Quincy contingent) and the other volunteers and…
Memories of Thanksgiving on the Street
I enjoyed this past Thanksgiving, probably more than I’ve enjoyed Thanksgiving in quite some time. I got to spend a nice, quiet holiday in my adopted hometown with friends. It was quiet, and I caught up on a lot of sleep and watched movies. I wish I could say that nothing bothered me at all,…
Activists to Dorchester Planners: We’re Not For Sale
A City-led community meeting in Dorchester on the ongoing plan to redevelop Glover’s Corner took an unexpected turn on Wednesday night when local anti-gentrification activists interrupted the proceedings. But responses from a key city official and City Councilor Frank Baker following the protest provided some mixed signals in terms of how the group’s demands are…