Two of Mission Hill’s cold-case murders were solved last month. There is comfort in that closure, but lingering dismay at the similarities between the horrifying crimes. The prosecution stories strongly suggest that the murders of Rebecca Payne in 2008 and Demetrius Blocker in 2010 were cases of mistaken identity by drug dealers. Both victims...
Opinion
Editorial: On green development
The Art Park site is up for “green development,” as City and BRA planners call it. Of course, no development will be as green as the park and community gardens already there. The City needs to be more transparent and forthright in explaining its obvious intent to move, and probably shrink, the green space...
Hill Happenings
Happy birthday to Kay “Big Red” Ryan, who had 90 birthday candles at her celebration April 21 at her daughter Joannie’s home in Jamaica Plain. Kay, a beautiful woman who hails from Mission Hill, was joined by family members, including grandchildren and great-grandchildren. I have fond memories of Kay and her children, having lived...
What’s Happening on Main Streets
By Richard Rouse The Bruins may have faltered and the Sox are stumbling, but Mission Hill’s favorite athletes proudly marched through the neighborhood, garnering excitement at their annual Little League baseball parade on April 21. Employees at the newest local business beamed as they received a warm welcome from the children that Saturday morning,...
Editorial: Zoning Out in the LMA
The Boston Redevelopment Authority’s (BRA) extraordinary ability to essentially rezone entire sections of the city is drawing increasing scrutiny—including lawsuits—and creating bizarre situations in the LMA. Article 80, the bit of zoning code that empowers the BRA, says its own purpose is “to provide clear, predictable, and unified requirements for the review of development...
Hill Happenings
Congrats to Joannie Kern, a 1959 Mission High School graduate, who was a Gala Honoree at the Mission Possible banquet last month, which celebrates the legacy of the Xaverian Brothers High School in Westwood. Joannie, a lifelong Mission Hill resident, has helped raise thousands of dollars, enhancing the Xaverian High School scholarship fund. Xaverian...
What’s Happening on Main Streets
By Richard Rouse Nature celebrates its rebirth with the arrival of spring and the flora is dressing up the district with budding trees and blossoms all over. So it is with local acquaintances attending neighborhood celebrations, such as the Community Alliance of Mission Hill event at The Crossing on the Ides of March on...
Editorial: BPS success
Sky-high graduation rates at Mission Hill-area public high schools are great news. Congratulations to the schools, and most of all to the students who worked hard. Two of those schools, Boston Latin School and the Kennedy Academy for Health Careers, have selective admissions and graduation rates at or near 100 percent. New Mission High...
Editorial: A garbage rule
Mission Hill City Councilor Mike Ross is among several elected officials who are currently begging the State House for the right to stop trash trucks from emptying Dumpsters at midnight. State reps from the Berkshires will have a say in it. How can government possibly be this silly? Because of the state’s archaic “home...
Editorial: Booting Chick-fil-A
Northeastern University did the right thing in taking Chick-fil-A off its menu of fast-food chains that can open on campus. The only surprise is how long it took students and the university to realize how controversial the chicken chain has been for years. Chick-fil-A is run by a conservative Christian family that in many...