The torrential downpour on June 10 did nothing to dampen the enthusiasm or attendance at the Mission Hill Main Streets Awards Night at the Parkman House. The Beacon Hill mansion’s lavish setting was a perfect backdrop to venerate some of the wonderful people and institutions responsible for such a nifty neighborhood. I think Senate...
Police spies tracked NU’s Occupy events
A controversial Boston Police spy agency tracked Northeastern University students’ involvement in the Occupy Boston movement, as well as academic events the spies admitted were not related to Occupy at all, recently released secret documents reveal. The Boston Regional Intelligence Center (BRIC) documents, dating to 2011, show a spy agency obsessed with anything it...
Audit: Local VA hospital wait times within range
In the wake of a national Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) wait list scandal that led to patient deaths, a federal audit shows the local VA hospital at 150 S. Huntington Ave. manages to schedule appointments for local veterans within 30 days 99 percent of the time. But first-time patients have a significantly longer...
City wants church developer to act quickly
The City and the Boston Redevelopment Authority (BRA) want the developer of the long-stalled redevelopment of the Mission Church property along Smith Street to “act responsibly and expeditiously to fulfill their obligation to the neighborhood,” according to BRA spokesperson Nick Martin. The developer, Weston Associates, did not respond to Gazette requests for comment. Meanwhile,...
Liga menor recibe nuevo equipo deportivo
Los jugadores de la liga menor de Mission Hill (MHLL) están jugando esta temporada con estilo, gracias a una donación de pelotas, bates, cascos y guantes de béisbol procedente de Kids Gear for Baseball, una organización sin fin de lucro mantenida por dos jóvenes. “Les interesa a estos jóvenes ayudar a las comunidades en...
Three designs presented for park renovation
The Boston Parks and Recreation Department (BPRD) presented three different designs for the renovation of McLaughlin Park during a May 27 community meeting, according to BPRD project manager Allison Perlman. Attendees favored a design that would place a new walking path along the eastern and southern portion of the upper terrace. McLaughlin Park, which...
MFA creates ‘cabinet of curiosities’
The new Kunstkammer Gallery at the Museum of Fine Arts (MFA), created to display small “curios,” was created from part of a coat room. A Kunstkammer, or “cabinet of curiosities,” is a small room containing unusual natural items or art objects that came into fashion with nobility across Europe in the 17th century, according...
Tremont St. project approved by BRA
The mixed-use project at 1467 Tremont St. was approved by the Boston Redevelopment Authority (BRA) last month. The new mixed-use, 4-story building will have 18 units of housing and approximately 1,800 square feet of ground-floor retail space for a total of 16,500 square feet. It also would have 12 motor vehicle parking spaces and...
Developer of Art Park site collects more input
Sebastian Mariscal Studio, Inc. (SMS), the developer of the Art Park site, held a community meeting last month at the Roxbury Community College to collect more input from the public about art and green space at the proposed redevelopment. Views expressed by attendees ranged from the general to the specific, including a request to...
Renovation of school building delayed
The completion of the renovated 67 Alleghany St. school building has been delayed until fall 2015, when Fenway High School will move into it. Boston Public Schools (BPS) had previously told the Gazette it would be ready for fall 2014. BPS did not respond to a request for comment. The Gazette first learned of...
Hill’s parklet installed in Roslindale
Following controversy between its partner businesses, the parklet created by the City for Mission Hill, and with the Hill’s design input, was installed in Roslindale Village last week instead of returning to the Tremont Street spot it had last year. A parklet is a small, semi-permanent public space that resembles a deck, created from...
YMCA reopens facilities
The Huntington YMCA has reopened its fitness center, locker rooms, gymnasium, handball/racketball courts and pool following over a year of construction work for Northeastern University’s (NU) controversial GrandMarc dorm, according to a YMCA email newsletter. The facilities reopened between May 30 and June 9. When completed, the GrandMarc at Northeastern project, behind the YMCA...
Use a concern for DND Heath St. parcels
BACK OF THE HILL—The size and shape of any new development on 10 City-owned parcels along Heath Street need careful consideration, community members told the Department of Neighborhood Development (DND) planners at a June 5 meeting. The City plans to sell for redevelopment the contiguous parcels at 9-21 Bromley St., 894-908 Parker St., 58-62...
Memory fragment leads to adoption revelation
Just a fragment of memory was all that decided whether Barbara Ohrstrom, a project manager at a Northeastern University writing center, would find out who her birth parents were. Ohrstrom, who was adopted as a child, has detailed that quest in her book “Searching for the Castle.” “I thought about my birth parents: Who...
Hill Agenda, June 13-July 10, 2014
The deadline for Hill Agenda listings is noon, July 8 for the July 11 issue. Email listings to reporter@jamaicaplaingazette.com. Note: 617 should be dialed before numbers below, unless another area code is given. Meetings Mission Hill Neighborhood Housing Services board of directors, first Monday of every month, 6-7:30pm, Mission Church Parish Center, 1545 Tremont...
Participación, June 13-July 10, 2014
La entrega para la sección de Participación es mediodía el 8 de julio para la edición 11 de julio. Escribir news@missionhillgazette.com. Note: Todos los números tiene 617, a menos que dice otro número. Reuniones Community Alliance of Mission Hill, agenda se anunciará, tercer miércoles del mes, 7-8:30pm, Harvard School of Public Health, 677...
First Responders: EMTs: Every day is an adventure
Emergency Medical Technicians (EMT) Andrea Amuzzini and Chanel Belim have to be ready for anything every day, they told the Gazette during a visit and ride-along in their ambulance on June 6. Ambulance 13 usually covers Mission Hill, Jamaica Plain (their base is E-13 police station there), West Roxbury and Dorchester, but they will...
First Responders: LMA hospitals ready for mass casualty events
When mass casualties occur, society turns to hospitals to treat the victims. Two local Longwood Medical Area hospitals—Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) and Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH)—said they’re ready for those events and have their training to thank. “We run exercises and train. We learn things. It is an ever evolution,” said...
First Responders: Editorial: Thank you, first responders
In late 2012, the Gazette staff decided to create this annual special section of stories about local first responders—the police officers, firefighters and EMTs who keep us safe, yet often work unnoticed and un-thanked. Since then, the months just before the special section’s annual publication have been marked by tragic disasters that put gratitude...
Little League receives new kit
Mission Hill Little League (MHLL) players are playing their season in fully-equipped style, thanks to a donation of baseballs, catchers’ equipment, bats, baseball gloves and batting helmets from Kids Gear for Baseball, a nonprofit run by teenagers. “These teenagers are interested in helping communities in the inner city and underprivileged youth play baseball safely...