Boston Bee

byline:

JOHN RUCH AND DAVID TABER

date:

Fri, 11/21/2008 - 5:00am

body:

Barrios joins Arroyo team

The 2008 election season is over. The 2009 election season has just begun.

byline:

JOHN RUCH

date:

Fri, 11/21/2008 - 2:00am

body:

Gazette File Photo by John Swan The voting line extended for a block outside the Nate Smith House Nov. 4.

Voter turnout high at 64%

Jamaica Plain was a small but enthusiastic part of Barack Obama’s historic win in the Nov. 4 presidential election. Obama, the Democratic nominee, earned 89 percent of the local vote—10 points higher than the Boston average.

About 64 percent of local voters—more than 20,000 of them—weighed in on an election that made Obama the nation’s first African-American president. The JP turnout was similar to the citywide rate in an election that excited voters across the country.

The local turnout was only slightly higher than in 2006, when Deval Patrick won the heated governor’s race. Most of the boost in turnout this year came in the Hyde, Jackson and Egleston squares areas, where the lowest turnout was 56 percent. Turnout in Moss Hill was 78 percent, one of the city’s highest figures.

byline:

JOHN RUCH

date:

Fri, 11/21/2008 - 10:00am

body:

Dianne Wilkerson resigned her state Senate seat on Nov. 19, a day after she was formally indicted by a federal grand jury on extortion charges. Her resignation and indictment came three weeks after the FBI arrested her for allegedly taking $23,500 in bribes.

byline:

DAVID TABER

date:

Fri, 11/21/2008 - 6:00am

body:

FOREST HILLS—The MBTA issued an Invitation to Bid (ITB) for the development of four parcels around Forest Hills Station late last month.

byline:

DAVID TABER

date:

Fri, 11/21/2008 - 10:00am

body:

Gazette Photo by David Taber

Mayor Thomas Menino greets members of the crowd at the unveiling of the new clock in front of Citizens Bank at 696 Centre St. on Nov. 6.

Mechanical clock unveiled

JP CENTER—Mayor Thomas Menino presided over three ribbon-cuttings along Centre Street Nov. 8: one to unveil a new clock in front of Citizens Bank at 696 Centre St. and two to celebrate the opening of new businesses—the Real Deal at 736 Centre St. and Salmagundi at 765 Centre St.

“During tough economic times, please shop locally,” the Mayor said at the clock unveiling. “Malls are all the same.”

byline:

DAVID TABER

date:

Fri, 11/21/2008 - 10:00am

body:

JP CENTER—Mayor Thomas Menino announced a new transportation and streetscape planning process for Center and South streets at a ribbon-cutting for the new street clock in front of Citizens Bank Nov. 8.

byline:

JOHN RUCH

date:

Fri, 11/21/2008 - 9:00am

body:

Will Mayor Thomas Menino run for re-election next year? The landscape of the entire 2009 city election hinges on the answer, which Menino has yet to give.

byline:

DAVID TABER

date:

Fri, 11/21/2008 - 9:00am

body:

A back-up tape containing over 20,000 clients’ and prospective clients’ personal data—including 8,000 Social Security numbers and some case information—was lost Sept. 23 en route between a Jamaica Plain-based nonprofit legal center and Harvard Law School in Cambridge.

byline:

John Ruch

date:

Fri, 11/21/2008 - 9:00am

body:

15 other police accidents this year

A local police officer was found at fault in the Aug. 7 accident where a police truck hit a 1-year-old baby in a stroller in the Centre Street/Seaverns Avenue crosswalk, according to Boston Police Department (BPD) spokesperson Elaine Driscoll.

byline:

John Ruch

date:

Fri, 11/21/2008 - 5:00am

body:

City Councilor Chuck Turner was arrested by the FBI today on charges of accepting a $1,000 bribe and lying to federal agents about it, according to the US Attorney’s Office. The charges are part of the FBI’s investigation of former state Sen. Dianne Wilkerson, who was arrested last month on bribe-taking charges.

byline:

DAVID TABER

date:

Fri, 11/21/2008 - 1:00am

body:

Courtesy Photo JP chef Didi Emmons (right) talks to youth from the Quincy-based Jack and Jilll Child Care Center about their favorite foods at a class at the Haley House Bakery Cafe Nov. 15. From left to right: Sydni Britton, Cassandra West, Austin Moore, Chelsey Herndon and Hyacinth Tauriac.

Acclaimed chef and Jamaica Plain resident Didi Emmons got her start at Centre Street Café here 20 years ago, and she has gone on to use her talents to share what she knows nationally and locally in books and through teaching.

Emmons is the co-founder of the popular Veggie Planet restaurant in Harvard Square, which is connected to Club Passim and famous for its vegetarian pizzas. The restaurant is named for Emmon’s two best-selling cookbooks, “Vegetarian Planet” and the award-winning “Entertaining for a Veggie Planet.” She has a degree in food service management from New York University and a Grand Diplome from La Varenne Ecole de Cuisine in Paris.

byline:

JOHN RUCH

date:

Fri, 11/21/2008 - 8:00pm

body:

A new pizza restaurant is looking to occupy the former Clayroom of Jamaica Plain pottery shop storefront at 172 South St.

byline:

JOHN RUCH

date:

Fri, 11/21/2008 - 8:00pm

body:

EGLESTON SQ.—An 18-year-old resident of the Academy Homes housing development has been charged with attempted murder after allegedly shooting a boy about five times in the back.

byline:

John Ruch

date:

Mon, 11/10/2008 - 5:00am

body:

An undercover FBI agent last year visited City Councilor Chuck Turner’s office in Boston City Hall wearing a hidden video camera in an apparent “sting operation,” Turner recently told the Gazette.

byline:

DAVID TABER

date:

Fri, 11/21/2008 - 7:00am

body:

Swimming not among them

byline:

DAVID TABER

date:

Fri, 11/07/2008 - 5:00am

body:

MBTA senior transportation planner Greg Strangeways suggested at a Nov. 3 meeting that Jamaica Plain residents concerned about plans to axe the MBTA’s 48 JP Loop bus should set up their own bus route.

Boston College students might have to find a different bar to drink at this weekend, because the Boston Globe reports that Mary Ann's is under threat of closure at midnight tonight due to its failure to install a sprinkler system.



Sprinkler systems are required to be installed in all bars as a result of legislation enacted following the fire at The Station club in Rhode Island that resulted in 100 deaths. The state legislation required installation by November 15, 2007, but local fire officials were allowed to extend that deadline by one year. Eight bars or clubs in Boston have reportedly not yet met the deadline.



Mary Ann's is often-cited as one of the top dive bars in Boston, to wit: "...The official BC let's-get-drunk-and-throw-rocks-at-cops dive bar."



I think I know the real reason that the owners of Mary Ann's are dragging their feet on installing a sprinkler system: if the sprinklers ever were to go off, then the place might no longer have sticky floors or that gentle fragrance wafting out the door.



Update: The Allston-Brighton TAB reports that a manager at Mary Ann's says that they have now completed installation of the new sprinkler system and it has been inspected, clearing the way for the bar to remain open.





Image of a sticky bar floor in Brighton (UK) from Phillie Casablanca provided through a Creative Commons license.

Living in a dense, urban environment results in substantial airglow that inhibits seeing all but the few, brightest stars in the night sky.



Those who think the night sky particularly bright in Allston-Brighton might have a new explanation: glowing, radioactive beer kegs.



Bloomberg News reports that scrap metal sometimes contains trace (but significant) quantities of radioactive elements, which then get processed -- often in factories in the developing world -- into consumer products like beer kegs:

Abandoned medical scanners, food processing devices and mining equipment containing radioactive metals such as cesium-137 and cobalt-60 are often picked up by scrap collectors and sold to recyclers, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency, the UN's nuclear arm. De Bruin said he sometimes finds such items hidden inside beer kegs and lead pipes to prevent detection.

Given all the college students in Allston-Brighton, those kegs start to add up. Airglow? Maybe...





Image of beer kegs by marinegirl provided through a Creative Commons license.

byline:

JOHN RUCH AND DAVID TABER

date:

Thu, 11/06/2008 - 1:00pm

body:

Gazette Photo by John Swan Ralph Loring fills out an exit poll by area college students outside Curtis Hall Nov. 4. The polls were moved from the usual place on the first floor to a larger room on the second floor due to increased number of voters this year.

Barack Obama excited Jamaica Plain voters, who turned out in what may be record numbers—over 60 percent at some polls—Tuesday as part of his historic presidential election victory.

The landslide win puts the Democrats firmly in control of the United States and puts the first African-American president in the White House. It had many JP residents both cheering and reflecting.

“I think it’s going to be sort of a shock for people all across the spectrum,” David Worrell of Jackson Square’s Bromley-Heath Tenant Management Corporation (TMC) said in a Gazette interview at the TMC offices a few hours before Obama’s win. Bromley-Heath is a public housing development with a large population of people of color, uniquely run by the tenants themselves.

byline:

JOHN RUCH

date:

Fri, 11/07/2008 - 6:00am

body:

Photo Courtesy of US Attorney's Office This widely broadcast FBI surveillance photo allegedly show Dianne Wilkerson stuffing a $1000 bribe under her blouse and into her bra on June 18, 2007 at the No. 9 park restaurant on Beacon Hill, according to the FBI.

Local pols feel ‘somber anger’

Dianne Wilkerson’s 15-year career as the local state senator went into a meltdown of historic proportions on Oct. 28, when the FBI arrested her on charges of accepting $23,500 in bribes in an undercover sting operation.

byline:

JOHN RUCH

date:

Fri, 11/07/2008 - 5:00am

body:

‘Final’ vote stalled by debate

FOREST HILLS—The decade-long saga of the MBTA’s Arborway Yard bus facility planning process has run into yet another last-minute surprise.

byline:

JOHN RUCH

date:

Fri, 11/07/2008 - 9:00am

body:

The state has resumed meetings about improving Route 39 bus service—but as an unadvertised “working session” unknown to the public.

byline:

JOHN RUCH

date:

Fri, 11/07/2008 - 9:00am

body:

JACKSON SQ.—A second suspect was charged with murder last month in the Sept. 15 shooting death of 17-year-old Thomas Webb in the Bromley-Heath housing development.

byline:

BY E-13 COMMUNITY SERVICE OFFICERS AND BPD MEDIA RELATIONS

date:

Fri, 11/07/2008 - 9:00am

body:

Homicide

10/23, 7:10pm, Walnut Ave. Roxbury resident arrested and charged with murder and unlawful gun possession in connection with 9/15 homicide of Thomas Webb on Parker St.

byline:

JOHN RUCH

date:

Fri, 11/07/2008 - 1:00am

body:

PARKSIDE—A man was gunned down in front of his house at 101 Rossmore Road on Oct. 25, dying as a large group of family and neighbors looked on helplessly. His suspected killer, his face hidden under his jacket hood, walked away past several residents and escaped in a waiting car.

byline:

DAVID TABER

date:

Fri, 11/07/2008 - 8:00pm

body:

Jamaica Plain resident Felix G. Arroyo, son of former Boston City Councilor at-large Felix D. Arroyo, and current vice-chair of the Jamaica Plain Neighborhood Council, officially began his bid for a citywide City Council seat on Election Night.

byline:

DAVID TABER

date:

Fri, 11/07/2008 - 8:00pm

body:

Youth organizers from the Hyde Square Task Force were out in force at local polling places Tuesday finishing up their “Vote for Me” voter registration and education campaign.

byline:

DAVID TABER

date:

Fri, 11/07/2008 - 8:00pm

body:

MOSS/JAMAICA HILLS—In what some residents say they think is a sign of the economic times, burglars have been targeting the neighborhood in recent months.

byline:

DAVID TABER

date:

Fri, 11/07/2008 - 8:00pm

body:

FOREST HILLS—Since a plan to include all of the area around Forest Hills T Station in one Boston Police Department (BPD) district was first announced in August, the plan does not appear to have moved forward.

byline:

JOHN RUCH

date:

Fri, 11/07/2008 - 8:00pm

body:

A 20-year-old Jamaica Plain man died from a gunshot wound after being found in a car in Roxbury on Nov. 2, according to the Boston Police Department (BPD). The victim, Keldrin Peña, was a resident of the South Street housing development at 125 South St., according to state Rep. Liz Malia.

byline:

JOHN RUCH

date:

Fri, 11/07/2008 - 8:00pm

body:

STONYBROOK—A century-old former horse stable at 14 Meehan St., the subject of controversy in a recent condo development plan, will be preserved by relocating on it on the same parcel of land, developer Peter Bourassa told the Gazette.

date:

Fri, 11/07/2008 - 8:00pm

body:

With a precisely aimed leap into a booby trap of its own creation, the leadership of CPCAY (Community Planning Committee for the Arborway Yard, but could also be the Committee for the Propagation of Committees about the Arborway Yard) again demonstrates that it is the Wile E. Coyote of community process. Who could have imagined, 10 (!) years ago, that the T would portray the Road Runner—innocent and fleet of foot in comparison?

In a sign of the direction that the youth vote took Tuesday in the presidential election, the pre-kindergarten through first-graders of Brighton's Baldwin Early Learning Center voted more than three-and-a-half-to-one for Senator Barack Obama over Senator John McCain.



Senator Obama's victory margin at the Baldwin ELC was very similar to his margin among adults city-wide, which he won 78.9% to 19.4%. The kids voted at around an 80% rate, better than the adults city-wide who had a 61.6% turnout of registered voters. A bigger landslide was registered at Hamilton Elementary School.



There were no lines of voters snaking out the door at the school. The secrecy of the ballot was maintained -- i.e., nobody wrote their names on the top of their ballots. No provisional ballots were cast, nor did election officials request IDs from any of the student voters. Only around 10% of the kids' ballots were declared invalid (by the first-graders acting as the election workers) as overvotes -- a remarkably low number since more than half the voters were pre-kindergarten students.



The students clearly learned a lot about the basics of voting and elections. Next they plan to vote on a referendum dictating the flavor of milk to be served in the cafeteria.





Image of ballot cast for Obama cribbed from http://modadimagno.blogspot.com/.

Polling places this morning at various precincts in Allston-Brighton all had long lines of voters snaking out the door.



Lines of around 30-50 people were observed at all precincts visited, which include Ward 22/Precinct 8, 22/9 [both top at right], 21/12, 21/10, and 21/11 [bottom at left]. The wait at 22/9 was around 15 minutes at 7:15 am.



I've never seen lines such as these in Allston-Brighton (certainly not at 7 am), where turnout is typically quite low -- 11% in the November 2007 municipal election, around 5% in the September 2008 state primary, and 32.2% in the February 5, 2008 presidential primary.



By 7:30 am, the voting machine at 22/9 had recorded 64 votes cast, far more than the 47 votes cast as of 5:00 pm on the day of the September 2008 state primary, which I estimated to have only a 5% turnout in A-B. (Boston Election Department never posted results electronically, at least that I could locate.)



Students from local colleges and universities were seen at 22/8-9 conducting an exit poll about people's election experiences -- such as, were you asked to show an ID, were you on the registered voter list, etc. Note that these exit polls are a student project, not the official media pool exit polls which also ask for whom you voted.



I spoke with, or overheard, a significant number of people who identified themselves as first-time voters at 22/8-9.



Long lines also reported over at the Jackson-Mann Community Center, which is the polling place for five precincts (Ward 21/3-7).





Free Coffee. Don't forget to stop at any Starbuck's today to pick up your free tall coffee. Just tell them that you voted today.





Image of Starbuck's logo by miskan provided through a Creative Commons license.

Tuesday, November 4th is a general election in Boston, which includes the offices of President of the United States, U. S. Senator and Representatives, the state legislature representatives and senators, three state ballot questions... and always a few other positions that nobody seems to have heard of.





Voter Information Guide. A good guide can be found over at the BostonZest website.



League of Women Voters (Vote411) has a thorough guide detailing everything you need to know about voting.









Where to vote? Just go to "Where Do I Vote (MA)?"



Note that a few A-B precincts changed their poll locations last year -- and I haven't heard that any more have changed this year; here's the list from last year.





Not On the List of Registered Voters? If you go to a polling place and your name is not on the list of registered voters -- but you believe that your registration may still be current -- then request a provisional ballot. You vote now, and then the elections officials will sort it all out later. First-time voters should be prepared to bring an ID with your current address on it; otherwise, bring some mailed bill (gas, electric, cable TV) with your name and address on it.



If they won't give you a provisional ballot, then call the City of Boston Elections Department at 617-635-3767 and they will "gladly assist you."





When to vote? Polls open 7:00 am -- 8:00 pm. Voters who are in line by 8:00 pm are allowed to vote, no matter how long it takes to process through the queue.





Local Election Results? At the City of Boston's Current Elections website.





Want to Blog on Your Voting Experience? Universal Hub has a website for you to enter the address where you voted and your experience with it.





How often to vote? Once per registered voter, please.





Image of optical scanner machine by .michael.newman provided through a Creative Commons license.

City to sell air rights over proposed maintenance facility

By George P. Hassett

City officials would rather not have a Green Line maintenance facility in Somerville but if they must, they are prepared. Monica Lamboy, the city's director of development, last week presented the Board of Aldermen with scenarios of how to develop the Inner Belt area if it is forced to host a 12-acre maintenance facility for Green Line trains.

The only interest in Inner Belt development to be made public thus far has been from the Kraft Group, which is partially funding a $200,000 study of economic opportunities in the long-underutilized business district.

City officials and Kraft representatives last year held preliminary discussions about building a Major League Soccer stadium in the Inner Belt and that possibility is again being examined in the new study.

Alderman-at-Large William A. White said the Kraft Group's financing of the study concerns him. “We have a study funded by someone who has a direct interest in locating a soccer stadium in Somerville. My concern is will the city rely on that study? It may be biased,” he said.

White said he is wondering how much of the city's presentation and plans are driven by work the Kraft Group has done.

Chamber of Commerce President Stephen Mackey said an economic development plan for Inner Belt should come from the community, not a private group. He said the Kraft Group and the city are “piggybacking private interests onto the public interest” and by planning Inner Belt development “outside the public domain” could delay the Green Line's arrival in Somerville. The state is obligated to extend the Green Line through the city by 2014.

“The Inner Belt-Brickbottom area has the most potential to establish a stronger commercial tax base for the city to pay for public works, public safety and public education,” he said. “If the planning process proceeds outside the public domain it risks Somerville taking a maintenance facility and having it for 200 years.”

By Tom Nash

Somerville skateboarders spent last Saturday scouting Boston for design ideas for their long-awaited skate park-- a project that a recent appearance before the Board of Aldermen may have finally put in motion.

A mostly teen-aged group showed up to the Sept. 9 Aldermen meeting with a petition containing 450 signatures asking for a skate park in Somerville, capping an awareness campaign conducted by skateboarders and the community organization Save Our Somerville.

“We started (the petition) so that skaters can have a safe place to go -- just a place to be,” Somerville High School freshman Cameron Kostopoulos said.

Kostopoulos started skateboarding a few months ago, joining the skate park movement so he could have a place to practice. Both he and organizer Michael Sampson, a junior at Somerville High, lamented the difficulty of skating in Somerville.

The skateboarders have been eyeing Albion Park as their preferred location, and have had ongoing discussions with city representatives about the possibility. As Sampson told the aldermen, however, what they really want is a place that emulates favorite street spots such as Somerville High.

“(A skate-park) doesn't have to have crazy ramps and stuff, just some nice ledges,” Sampson said. “Somerville High was a big spot ... There's a lot of pro videos filmed there. I would like it if that were recreated.”

In conjunction with the petition, Ward 3 Alderman Thomas F. Taylor put forward an order to reopen the search for a skate park in the city.

The order met a chorus of approval from other aldermen, who also praised the skateboarders for their efforts.

“It's about time this Board of Aldermen come through and show our support for them,” Ward 1 Alderman William Roche said.

Roche noted, however, that the skateboarders may face opposition from residents fearful of having a park in their neighborhood. “We can use the dog parks as an example,” he said. “Nobody wanted a dog park in their neighborhood, but everything worked out fine.”

Save Our Somerville organizer Adam Rich said the petition has convinced several aldermen to work on their behalf. Ward 5 Alderman Sean T. O'Donovan has offered to help win over Albion Park area residents.

“(The petition) obviously carries a lot of weight with the board,” Rich said. "I think the situation is very hopeful.”

The Allston-Brighton TAB describes an alleged methadone drug transaction busted by the cops last Sunday evening:

Methadone exchange ends in arrest



Christopher Connolly, 42, of 28 Harbor View St., Dorchester, and Scott Simonelli, 37, of 7 Pleasant St., Dorchester, were arrested Oct. 26 around 6:30 p.m. after officers saw what they believed to be a drug exchange near the intersection of Washington and Cambridge streets... Officers stopped the Nissan and arrested both suspects, charging them with distribution of a class B substance.

A couple of guys from Dorchester caught selling drugs in Brighton. What's so weird about that?



The Boston Police D-14 station is located at the intersection of Cambridge and Washington Streets in Brighton. You would think that all of the police vehicles parked on the street and in the adjacent lot would have tipped the guys off.



Maybe those Dorchester pushers ought to go back to their part of town where they know the lay of the land better.





Image of Boston Police motorcycles by GregMacKay, provided through a Creative Commons license.

byline:

John Ruch

date:

Fri, 10/31/2008 - 10:00am

body:

Dianne Wilkerson announced Oct. 31 that she is quitting her campaign to retain the local 2nd Suffolk District state Senate seat, following her arrest by the FBI on federal corruption charges.

byline:

John Ruch

date:

Fri, 10/31/2008 - 12:00pm

body:

The state Senate unanimously called on local Sen. Dianne Wilkerson to resign on Oct. 30 following her arrest by the FBI on federal bribe-taking charges.

The 13th annual Brighton Business Trick-Or-Treat will take place Friday afternoon, between the Allston-Brighton D-14 Police Station and the YMCA in Oak Square.



Participating businesses display a sign in their doorway/windows, "Welcome Trick or Treaters!"



Be warned: if you visit all the businesses, your children will get so much candy that you'll spend your next three paychecks on dentistry work.



Johnny D's, a produce seller at 381 Washington Street [right], is the perennial, odds-on favorite for best treat.



Brighton Business Trick-Or-Treat

Friday, October 31st

3:00 - 5:00 pm

Start: Boston Police D-14 Station, 301 Washington Street

End: Oak Square YMCA, 615 Washington Street

Businesses all along Washington Street participate

Sponsored by: Brighton Main Streets (617-779-9200) and Brighton Board of Trade

byline:

John Ruch

date:

Thu, 10/30/2008 - 2:00am

body:

State Sen. Dianne Wilkerson was arrested by the FBI on Oct. 28 on federal corruption charges.

The Boston Police Department caught a few guys on Summit Avenue in Brighton trying to steal a fire hydrant:

When officers arrived, officers observed the hydrant, as well as, three males who matched the description of the suspects. When officers questioned the suspects, the suspects admitted to taking the hydrant. According to the suspects, they found the hydrant lying in the middle of the sidewalk and they were simply moving it.

Yes, those guys were hosed.



Aside from the obvious difficulty of carrying something that heavy, the would-be thieves might try next time to follow the lead of some MIT students in Cambridge a couple of decades ago in an oft-repeated (and somewhat urban-legend-ish) story about their hack.



Those MIT students bought a barber shop pole (or, in some stories, paid a barber to borrow one for a day) and carried it all over town -- arising suspicion all day from the police. The cops chased them down again and again, but then the students would produce the receipt and the cops would let them go. When the cops got tired of these games, an APB on police radio was issued to ignore any kids carrying a barber shop pole around town. The students then proceeded to steal all the barber shop poles in town and dump them on the police chief's front lawn.



Lesson: buy one fire hydrant and carry it all over town first. Once the police tire from questioning you repeatedly, then you can steal all the hydrants you want. That is, if you're arms haven't fallen off first.





Image of red fire hydrant by quite peculiar provided through a Creative Commons license.

byline:

John Ruch

date:

Mon, 10/27/2008 - 1:00pm

body:

State Sen. Dianne Wilkerson is continuing her write-in election campaign despite facing federal corruption charges for alleged bribe-taking. She announced the continuation of her campaign in an Oct. 29 written statement that promised there is “more to the story,” but did not explicitly claim that she is innocent.

Democratic State Senator Dianne Wilkerson of Roxbury was arrested Tuesday on corruption charges after an extensive sting operation run by agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.



The big question to ask is: If the facts alleged in the FBI complaint are proven true, then why did the FBI wait for a year to charge Senator Wilkerson with bribery and corruption? The complaint describes a series of payments made to her, and official actions taken by her in response, back in 2007, yet the FBI continued the investigation -- and upped the ante by assigning additional undercover agents.



My prediction: there has been a much larger investigation already underway for more than a year, and more heads may soon roll. Subpoenas are already flying, but I bet the FBI knows more already than they have admitted.



A second big question is: who else might this investigation and subsequent court proceedings take down in addition to Senator Wilkerson?





The Two-Sided Sting Operation: Why Did the FBI Wait To Press Charges?



The complaint against her first makes a series of allegations of how she repeatedly accepted cash payments between June 2007 and March 2008 totalling $8,500 from a representative of the club Dejavu. The payments were for her work in twisting the arms of city and state officials in order to obtain a liquor license for the new establishment. Dejavu had originally been denied a license in early 2007, but Wilkerson initiated a campaign starting in mid-2007 -- after the alleged cash bribes -- to push for reconsideration of the license.



The FBI agent's affidavit also alleges a second set of $15,000 in cash bribes starting in January 2008 paid as part of several undercover FBI agents' make-believe attempts to obtain development rights for a parcel of land in Roxbury at the intersection of Harrison Avenue and Melnea Cass Boulevard.



In the first set of cash payments, there appeared to be ample evidence by fall 2007 that the FBI could have charged Senator Wilkerson. Why did the FBI wait to make more payments on the ongoing liquor license issue -- as well as start up a new undercover operation about the Roxbury property?



My inkling is that the agents are sitting on quite a bit more information that what is contained in this one affidavit. The net may have been cast substantially more broadly, but they are only coming out with these charges against Senator Wilkerson for now. Given their ample evidence assembled by fall 2007, the FBI probably could have gotten wiretaps on her phones -- and hence snagged anyone else who might have been trying to buy political favors in the year since then.



Senator Wilkerson, Senate President Therese Murray, Council President Maureen Feeney, and BLB Chairman Daniel Pokaski met in mid-August 2007. The affidavit says that the outcome of the meeting was for Boston to submit a home rule petition to the legislature for 40 new liquor licenses and 30 new beer and wine licenses, that Dejavu would receive one of the liquor licenses, and that Senator Wilkerson would have control in allocating several of the licenses. The FBI agent's complaint reads:

25. Boston licensing Board Awards Dejavu a Beer and Wine License. On August 16, 2007, the BLB issued a letter notifying Dejavu that its petition for a malt and wine license had been granted. On the same day, WILKERSON met with the BLB Chairman, the Senate President, the Boston City Council President, and Senator [Michael Morrissey] to discuss the status of the Dejavu license and related issues. The outcome of the meeting was an agreement that the City of Boston would submit, and WILKERSON would sponsor, legislation which would authorize 40 new nontransferable liquor licenses and 30 new nontransferable beer and wine licenses for the City of Boston. (This type of legislation is also known as a "home rule petition.") It was understood the Dejavu would receive one of these new special liquor licenses, if another one did not become available first, and that WILKERSON would be able to control several other licenses.

While the FBI complaint does not allege that any of these other individuals -- Feeney, Morrissey, Pokaski, or Murray -- violated the law, this one meeting may be a major focus of the investigation as it goes forward. Assembled in one room, making an apparent back room deal, are major players of both city and state government. The meeting happened on the same day as a letter from the BLB awarding a temporary license -- probably at minimum a violation of the state's Open Meeting Law, since it followed no public hearing or public vote of the board -- and two weeks after Senator Wilkerson had put a hold on the state legislation for a pay increase for the members of the BLB. Council President Feeney has already confirmed that she was questioned Tuesday by the FBI.



While the affidavit alleged no quid pro quo among the attendees of that meeting -- to approve the liquor license for Dejavu, pass the BLB pay increase legislation, introduce and pass a home rule petition for more liquor licenses, and give control of some of those licenses not to the BLB but to Senator Wilkerson -- any casual reader easily comes to that conclusion. Whether any of that violates the law is a lingering question. What exactly was said at that meeting could cause embarrassment... or more.



Mayor Thomas Menino may have dodged a bullet here: while he was mentioned elsewhere as meeting with Senator Wilkerson and apparently promising to help, neither he nor his assistant working on the license issue were listed in the affidavit as being in attendance at that August 2007 meeting.





Boston Globe Omits Mention of Boston Globe Columnist Walker



The Boston Globe published a series of articles, an editorial, an Op-Ed, and a metro column in Wednesday's edition that covered the Wilkerson story from many angles.



Missing from all of them: the role that their own columnist Adrian Walker may have played in the unfolding drama.



We know a bit of his role from the FBI agent's affidavit:

"WILKERSON told the CW [Cooperating Witness] in a recorded conversation on or about July 11, 2007, that she sent a package of material to a Boston Globe columnist about the lack of liquor licenses available to minorities in the City of Boston."

He subsequently wrote a column about it in July 2007.



As I wrote over at UniversalHub:

As a blogger myself, I've received my own fair share of (anonymous) envelope drops trying to get me to write a political hit piece. They've all ended up in the circular file.

Maybe we could all chip in to buy a wastebasket for Walker?...

[W]hen somebody sends you a "packet", if you want to use it you ought to be prepared to do some substantial investigation to figure out the agenda of the person who sent it to you. (The affidavit left unclear if Wilkerson's envelope was anonymous or signed.)

If the Boston Globe had filled the still-vacant position of Ombudsman, I would expect a column about Walker's role and whether or not Walker had fallen for Wilkerson's political campaign. Given that the Globe is avoiding mentioning his role in all these stories, I assume they are giving Walker first crack at defending his role; his next column appears Friday.





Bets On a Wider Scandal



My prediction of what will happen:



Senator Wilkerson will lose re-election for her seat in her write-in campaign; she will fight the case to trial, with lots of embarrassing depositions along the way.



BLB Chairman Pokaski will probably resign within weeks -- if not days -- because he stood to gain financially from the August 2007 meeting that allegedly resulted in him approving a temporary license for Dejavu while the state legislature approved a pay raise for him.



Mayor Menino, Senate President Murray, and City Council President Feeney will be red-faced about how they got snookered into helping out Senator Wilkerson's campaign for the liquor licenses -- particularly Murray, Feeney, and Morrissey in how they appear to have agreed during the mid-August 2007 meeting to cede control of some liquor licenses to Senator Wilkerson.



Globe columnist Walker will defend his reporting while admitting that he feels betrayed by Senator Wilkerson. The Globe will otherwise avoid mentioning his name, but the Boston Herald will do so. Often.



And that there will be more names forthcoming in the wider FBI investigation.





Update: David Bernstein of the Boston Phoenix has his own ideas about who's next.

A couple of pictures of fall foliage at the Arnold Arboretum last weekend:

A recently-formed organization of Brighton residents called Brighton Neighbors United has taken their unhappiness with development projects in their neighborhood to the next level.



Yellow lawn signs with the words "PRESERVE OUR NEIGHBORHOOD", and the URL of the group's new website http://www.SaveBrighton.org, have been appearing around southwestern Brighton in the past week-and-a-half.



The group's website notes that it delivered 500 signatures to the Boston Redevelopment Authority in opposition to several development proposals of Boston College, particularly to construct dormitories on the former St. John's Seminary Land bought by BC in 2004-7.



One member of the group, Maria Guadalupe Rodrigues, had a letter published in the Allston-Brighton TAB this week.



At this time of year, such lawn signs are usually in indication of support for a candidate for public office, but since the local representatives and senator are not facing opposition -- and the presidential race is not expected to be competitive in Massachusetts -- these yellow signs are pretty much the only thing on people's lawns. These kinds of issues-related signs makes you think you're in Newton...

Boston College's demolition of three houses on Foster Street was completed this past week.



The image at right show the third house at 188 undergoing demolition; the ruins of 192 can be seen over the fence at right.



The three houses were demolished to make way for construction of Jesuit seminarian and theological graduate student housing for BC's School of Theology and Ministry -- a school which recently absorbed the Weston Jesuit School of Theology. The national Jesuit organization has obtained a lease for the site from BC and is the proponent for the new housing project.



BC ignored calls from the community to find a way to preserve the three houses, which sat on one corner of the five-acre lot, as part of the new development. The Massachusetts Historical Commission noted historic and architecturally significant features of the houses, although the Boston Landmarks Commission, in a July 2008 hearing, found those features insufficient to warrant issuing a demolition delay on the houses.



BC insisted on applying for the demolition permit, proceeding with the demolition, and initiating the Article 80 review process for the housing development in advance of approval by the BRA of the Institutional Master Plan itself.

Pentecostal Church will replace notorious gang’s headquarters

By George P. Hassett

It was once the home of a brutal band of gangsters and thugs. But within months, if one preacher has his way, the building on Marshall Street will be filled with believers praising God.

The building at 12-14 Marshall Street, a landmark in the history of 20th Century organized crime as the headquarters for the Winter Hill Gang, will be reborn in January as a Pentecostal Church devoted to “uplifting and winning the lost at any cost,” said new owner Collin Greene.

Former Winter Hill Gang leader Howard T. Winter sold the building to Greene in January for $330,000, according to city records. The sale, and the building’s shift from an auto body shop that specialized in gangsterism to a place of worship, is just one more sign that the days of organized Irish and Italian gangsters on the streets of Winter Hill are long gone.

With 12-14 Marshal St. as its headquarters, Winter and James “Whitey” Bulger directed a criminal organization that fixed horse races along the east coast, corrupted the Boston office of the FBI and provided the basis for an academy-award winning film (“The Departed” was loosely based on Bulger’s role as an FBI informant). From the 1970s until 1994 when Bulger fled Boston to avoid law enforcement, the gang rivaled the local Mafia in brutality and profits. And until 1980, when Winter went to jail and the gang moved to Boston, Marshall Street was the crew’s command center.

Taking their place now is Green – a well-dressed 51-year-old Jamaican man with a wide, gold-toothed smile who said he “wants to uplift the depressed and sad people in the world” when he preaches. His church is the Somerville Church of God and its 50-person congregation is ready to grow with a new location, he said.

The property’s dark past, even the infamous trapdoor that leads to the tiny basement where the gang disposed of rivals, can’t scare Green away. “I don’t believe any place is cursed,” he said during a tour of the building this week. “I don’t believe human spirits linger in buildings. I believe they go to God or the Devil.”

(As for the trap door and the basement it leads to, Green said with a laugh, “I have already rebuked anything in there in the name of Jesus.” The church probably won’t have a use for it though, he said. It will be “dead space.”)

Before they bought the Marshall Street property, Green said his congregation had searched for a permanent home for 15 years. They first started meeting at a home on Trull Street and wanted to remain in Somerville. An opportunity to buy a Davis Square building was lost when it was converted to condos.

After he bought 12-14 Marshall St., Green said his son did some quick research on the Internet and they began to learn why neighbors of the property told them they might find dead bodies when digging up the floor.

They watched the interview “60 Minutes” did with the gang’s hit man, John Martorano, who admits to killing 20 people to further the gang’s business. And still, Green thought the location was perfect for a church. And if the old tenants want to stop by, that’s fine too.

“I think it would be great for any of them to show up,” he said enthusiastically. “They could tell us about their experiences and their regrets. I believe any sin can be forgiven and anyone can be saved. Watching this guy [Martorano] on TV, I thought to myself that he was sorry for the things he had done. I don’t know if he has repented, but I believe he is sorry.”

At a community meeting on Monday, Green met with neighbors who shared concerns about the traffic congestion and noise a church may bring. At one point, Donald Norton, who lives near the property, told Green he could remember the building in its earlier incarnation.

“And what do you think of it now becoming a church?” Green asked.

“I think it’s poetic justice,” Norton said.

[Full disclosure: Donald Norton is the publisher of this newspaper.]

byline:

JOHN RUCH

date:

Fri, 10/24/2008 - 12:00pm

body:

Gazette Photo by John Swan

Little Debate-Over 100 patrons watch the third presidential debate Oct. 15 at the Milky Way Lounge in Hyde Square. The Ward 19 Democratic Committee organized the event. Passions ran hot as most in the crowd cheered Barack Obama (left) and booed John McCain.

On Nov. 4, local voters will help choose the next president of the United States, settle a hard-fought state Senate battle and weigh in on three hot-button ballot questions.

Most Americans are now familiar with the major-party presidential/vice-presidential candidates: Barack Obama and Joe Biden for the Democrats, and John McCain and Sarah Palin for the Republicans.

But several other choices will appear on local ballots: Chuck Baldwin/Darrell Castle, Constitution Party (ultraconservative); Cynthia McKinney/Rosa Clemente, Green-Rainbow Party (ultraliberal); Ralph Nader/Matt Gonzalez, independent; and Bob Barr/Wayne Allyn Root, Libertarian Party.

date:

Fri, 10/24/2008 - 1:00pm

body:

If you want to vote for someone whose name is not on the ballot, you can write the name on the ballot yourself. You can also use a sticker with the candidate’s name on it.

byline:

DAVID TABER

date:

Fri, 10/24/2008 - 12:00pm

body:

Still unclear how public services, works will be affected

A “bloodbath” was how Jamaica Plain state Rep. Jeffrey Sánchez described an estimated $1 billion in budget cuts announced by Gov. Deval Patrick last week.

byline:

DAVID TABER

date:

Fri, 10/24/2008 - 12:00pm

body:

Solidarity was on the minds of local business owners and leaders—mostly from the Centre/South street, Hyde/Jackson Square and Egleston Square business districts—at an Oct.

byline:

DAVID TABER

date:

Fri, 10/24/2008 - 12:00pm

body:

JP CENTER—Two large retail storefronts just down the block from each other are now available for lease.

byline:

JOHN RUCH

date:

Fri, 10/24/2008 - 7:00am

body:

Photo courtesy Scott Fayette Architects

The Roslindale substation as it exists today. The photo is from WaterMark Development & Construction, which proposes turning it into a restaurant and lounge.

ROSLINDALE VILLAGE—The century-old MBTA substation at Washington Street and Cummins Highway, a lifeless spot in Roslindale Village for 40 years, will likely be reborn as a high-profile restaurant.

A city-led redevelopment effort this month attracted three star-studded development teams. Two of the teams include top Boston restaurateurs.

The redevelopment is shaping up as much more than just filling a gap in the business district. There is talk of a South End or Jamaica Plain style of nightlife coming to the Village. The popular local Delfino Restaurant is considering an offer to join one team as well.

byline:

JANICE WILLIAMS

date:

Thu, 10/23/2008 - 10:00pm

body:

Courtesy Photo Giraffe sculptures by Jack Lawrence

Everyone who visits Roslindale Open Studios on Nov. 8 and 9 will be able to take in a wide display of creativity and entertainment. From 4-foot-tall giraffes to a musical instrument petting zoo, this year’s event is an art-lover’s paradise and a smorgasbord of paintings, photography, glass art, ceramics, sculpture, textiles, jewelry, mixed media, printmaking, illustration and musical appreciation.

The postcards and the brochure for the event tell it all: “Roslindale has Art.” Roslindale Village has blossomed in the past few years with a host of new and popular restaurants, and now people can add art to the menu. The event comes just in time for people to find unique, locally made gifts priced right for holiday shopping.

Four years ago when organizers put out a “call to artists,” they were pleasantly surprised that 35 artists raised their hands and said they would sign up for Roslindale Open Studios. More importantly, local residents Carolyn Thall, Bob Ward and Lisa Monaci Englert offered to help organize the event.

byline:

David Taber

date:

Fri, 10/24/2008 - 2:00am

body:

Courtesy Photo Carriage Road shows the beauty of Allandale Woods.

MOSS HILL—Behind the Arnold Arboretum, on the Jamaica Plain Roslindale and West Roxbury meet, is one of the wildest places in Boston.

Often overlooked amidst the plethora of parks and woodlands in the area, the 90-acre Allandale Woods is the largest of the city’s “urban wilds”—parcels of land that are left relatively untouched by human hands, where plants and animals can pretty much do their own thing.

Some of the city’s 40 wilds are as small as one acre, said Paul Sutton, director of the City of Boston’s Urban Wilds Initiative, so it would be a stretch to describe them as an ecosystem, but Allandale is another story.