Category: Local
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Immigration Court Ordered to Review Denied Asylum Petition
A federal appeals court in Boston has ordered a review of a Bureau of Immigration Appeals ruling that denied a rehearing to a man seeking asylum. Indra Sihotang is one of hundreds who have fled anti-Christian oppression in Indonesia. He has been allowed to stay in the U.S. for well over a decade, but last…
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Not Buying It: Boston Claims Chronic Homelessness is Down 20 Percent
A couple of weeks ago the City of Boston had a round table conversation with the press to let us all know that due to their efforts chronic homelessness in the city has been reduced by 20 percent since 2016. If yours truly had been present at this conversation, those government employees would have gotten…
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Boston Activists Rally to Show Solidarity With Nationwide Prison Strike
About 150 people rallied outside of Suffolk County Jail Thursday, Aug. 23 to stand in solidarity with a nationwide prison strike which kicked off earlier in the week. As police stood on the jailhouse steps, batons at the ready, protesters chanted, sang, and donned signs. The prison reformists and abolitionists called for the Massachusetts Department…
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Boston Women’s Shelter finishes renovations
Alisha Bernard began singing when she was very young, found success performing throughout New England and had an opportunity to sign a record deal. But even as her voice soared, she struggled with personal challenges; depression and drug use. Ultimately, that professional opportunity was lost. She found herself as a guest at Woods-Mullen, an emergency…
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Tenants facing eviction get the runaround from Marc Roos Realty during demonstration
Demonstrators rallied around the older tenants of Our Lady’s Guild House, many of whom are facing eviction. Photo: Marilyn Humphries. Our Lady’s Guild House (OLGH) tenants, looking to schedule a meeting with property manager Marc Roos, were ignored during a demonstration held on Saturday, August 25 with City Life/Vida Urbana. More than 50 people demonstrated…
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Harvard Square Cafe Will Provide Jobs, Training to Homeless Youth in Cambridge
Two Harvard students have signed the lease for a cafe that would employ homeless youth in Cambridge. Breaktime is a cafe that has a mission beyond serving coffee and scones; the plan is to provide job training and stable employment for Cambridge’s economically insecure youth. Harvard undergraduates Tony Shu and Connor Schoen teamed up to…
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Once again, counter-protesters outnumber alt-right rally in Boston
Counter-protesters outnumbered the alt-right on Saturday. All photos by author. Repeating the scene from last summer, over 300 counter-protesters showed up to outnumber members of the so-called “alt-right” — the umbrella term for a collection of white nationalists, neo-Nazis, and internet-immersed right-wingers — at a rally held in Boston’s City Hall Plaza on Saturday. The counter-protesters…
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Boston progresses in goal to end chronic homelessness, despite large inflow over last two years
In a roundtable with the press on August 16, the City of Boston announced that their effort to house the chronically homeless population is seeing results, reducing the population by 20 percent since 2016. Since 2016, the city of Boston has housed 580 chronically homeless individuals — the start of Mayor Martin J. Walsh’s “Boston’s…
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Health Care Advocates Call New Insurance Rule Bad for Consumers, Providers
Photo Courtesy of Franchise Opportunities A new health insurance rule is being called another blow to people with pre-existing conditions. On Wednesday, the Trump administration released a new rule that allows insurance companies to expand the sale of short-term insurance plans that don’t cover the health benefits deemed “essential” by the Affordable Care Act. Cheryl…
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Boston City Council Opens Discussion On PILOT Payments From Tax-Exempt Institutions
Boston City Council led a packed hearing on Thursday, August 3, discussing the successes and shortcomings of the city’s Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILOT) program. The program — in which Boston asks nonprofits with tax-exempt property to make voluntary contributions equal to about 25 percent of their property values — has been criticized by…