Author: Adam Sennott
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Seattle declares homelessness an emergency
Seattle became the latest city to declare homelessness an emergency this week. Mayor Ed Murray and King County Executive Dow Constantine announced they were declaring the emergencies Tuesday, November 2, Murry’s office said in a press release. Seattle City Council members Mike O’Brien, Sally Bagshaw and John Okamoto also helped outline new investments aimed at…
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DAN RATHER: On the decline of investigative journalism
After more than 60 years in journalism, former CBS News anchor Dan Rather still believes that a free and independent press is the “red beating heart of freedom and democracy.” But news organizations aren’t living up to that standard, he says. Nor are they working hard enough to “give voice to the voiceless.” Currently anchoring…
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C.O.P.E. HOPE: Group uses social media to mobilize acts of kindness
It was Easter Sunday, 2014, and Joan Bennett was driving through Rockland when she saw a young man holding a sign that read: “I just need enough money to buy a tent.” Bennett approached the man, who introduced himself as Joey. He told her that he suffers from mental illness, lives in the woods and…
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BLANKET STATEMENT: Cambridge's City Councilor Marc McGovern goes back to the basics
With below-freezing temperatures making life difficult for the area’s homeless population, Cambridge City Councilor Marc McGovern cut through the red tape by launching a crowdsourcing campaign to supply the city’s less fortunate with winter necessities like wool blankets and socks. McGovern raised nearly $7,400 for 750 wool blankets for the city’s homeless this winter through…
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Ten Questions with Boston's New Mayor
BOSTON, Mass.—On January 6, Martin J. “Marty” Walsh was sworn in as the 54th mayor of Boston after serving in the Massachusetts House of Representatives since 2007. SPARE CHANGE NEWS was able to catch up with Walsh before his inauguration for a quick phone conversation about homelessness, housing and gun violence in the city. …
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Mothers for Justice and Equality Takes on Gun Violence
ROXBURY, Mass.—On 2 September 2010, someone gunned down 18-year-old Eric Smith on Blue Hill Ave. in Roxbury. The very next day, Eric’s aunt, Monalisa Smith, vowed to the Boston Herald that “those who are out there committing these crimes will understand the devastation they’re causing.” While nearly four years have passed and police have yet…
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Getting Sober in Savin Hill
DORCHESTER, Mass.—At 26, Peter Barbuto found himself in a Cape Cod rehab facility bat-tling an addiction to opiates. He was despondent until the day he met Dan Ryan. “He was affirming, very much so,” Barbuto said of Ryan. “Which was great because when you’re down in the dumps and a guy like that comes around;…
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Son of Southie: John "Red" Shea
John “Red” Shea and world champion boxer Vinny Pazienza (courtesy photo) At 25 years old, John “Red” Shea was staring at a 12-year federal prison sentence for refusing to testify against his boss and mentor, James “Whitey” Bulger. It was during those years in prison that Shea, who got into many fights defending Bulger’s integrity…