Belated condolences to the family of lifelong Mission Hill resident Winifred Dunn, who passed away in November at 94. Winifred was a beautiful woman who leaves four children, including Boston Police Officer Richie Caulfield. Winifred was married to George “Sonny” Dunn, a Mission Hill oil delivery man in the ’50s and ’60s. Sonny was...
Opinion
What’s Happening on Main Streets
By Richard Rouse The New Year is proceeding in Mission Hill and a special note of thanks goes to all the businesses owners who ramped up the holiday decorating on their storefronts. The neighborhood looked great. Well done to Flann O’Brien’s, Mission Café, Squealing Pig, Penguin Pizza, Tremont House of Pizza, Brigham Circle Diner,...
Editorial: The ways of winter
As of this writing, we have dodged any snowfall this season. (Well, not counting that ridiculous outburst back in October.) But we can’t fool ourselves. Winter is on the way. It comes on Dec. 22, the longest night of the year. Cold and ice are practically guaranteed in these parts. Such things are certainties...
Op-Ed: The Christmas Light
By Rev. Raymond Collins Special to the Gazette Our celebration of Christmas each year abounds in symbols: angels, Christmas trees, bells, shepherds, lights and many more that vie for our attention. I would like to focus on “light” as a symbol for this reflection, as many preachers will be proclaiming during Christmas and through...
Letter: School move leaves kids behind
The Boston Public Schools facilities plan proposed by Superintendent Carol Johnson on Oct. 24 and approved on Nov. 15 by the Boston School Committee moves the Mission Hill elementary school to Jamaica Plain, taking a high-quality, highly-selected K-8 to another assignment zone. It’s like musical chairs for the six pilot schools involved in the...
Hill Happenings
I’m proud of my Mission Hill neighbor, Patrick Loughran, a cardiac intensive care nurse at Children’s Hospital. Patrick spent the first two weeks of November in Ghana, Africa providing medical care and tutoring to the world’s poorest. A team of 20 doctors and nurses from Children’s and Mass. General Hospital provided care for children...
Editorial: Schools moving too fast
If only Boston Public Schools buses moved as quickly as BPS’s school-swapping plan. In a typical City of Boston process, Mission Hill is poised to lose two namesake schools in a surprise move with a rushed deadline that just happens to coincide with potentially skeptical city councilors distracted by Election Day. It is unacceptable...
Editorial: City Council, heal thyself
A great way to get more public input is for the freshly elected Boston City Council to give itself some power. During the last City Council election two years ago, empowerment was all the rage. There was talk of a charter commission to review the current few-checks-and-no-balances form of city government. Virtually every candidate...
Editorial: Giving thanks
Thanks will be in the air this month, as today is Veterans Day, and Thanksgiving less than two weeks away. It is a good time to pause and reflect at the veterans memorials in Brigham Circle and on Northeastern University’s campus rather than just walking by. As veterans come home from Iraq, Afghanistan and...
Hill Happenings
More than 200 folks welcomed home local solider Lt. Col. George Rollins last month at the McKeon Post in Dorchester, commemorating his return from a 10-month tour in Afghanistan. George, a Mission High man and a West Point graduate, spoke passionately about being thrilled to be home and about the death of his comrades...