Tuesday, June 18, 2013
State Police say the Tuesday afternoon closure was due to a power outage.
UPDATE, 5:40 p.m.: MSP reported on Twitter in the last few minutes they have re-opened the bridge after the outage, however traffic remains heavy. ---- Original Story: Massachusetts State Police reported that the inbound Massachusetts Avenue Bridge has been closed Tuesday afternoon for traffic traveling from Cambridge to Boston. The state police made the announcement over Twitter. According to the tweet, the closure is due to a power outage. The outbound travel lane is open for those traveling from Boston to Cambridge, according to MSP. The bridge carries Massachusetts Avenue from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University area of Cambridge to Back Bay in Boston. FENWAY-KENMORE PATCH: Facebook | Twitter | E-mail …
Monday, June 17, 2013
Candidates for Boston mayor, City Council and U.S. Senate were among those participating in the 2013 Bunker Hill Day Parade on Sunday.
With Boston's mayoral and City Council races heating up, many of the candidates turned out Sunday for Charlestown's Bunker Hill Day Parade, taking advantage of an opportunity to get their faces and names out in the community. FENWAY-KENMORE PATCH: Facebook | Twitter | E-mail Updates
Debate to air on WCVB Tuesday at 7 p.m.
Another U.S. Senate election for Massachusetts is drawing to a close, with the two combatants set to square off one final time before voters head to the polls June 25. Democratic Congressman Edward Markey of Malden and Republican businessman and former U.S. Navy SEAL Gabriel Gomez will hold the last of three debates Tuesday evening in the race to fill the seat formerly held by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry. The debate will air live from 7 to 8 p.m. on WCVB (Channel 5). The debate will be moderated by R.D. Sahl of Boston University. The two previous debates for the candidates were held in Boston and Springfield. Recent polling has suggested an edge for Markey in the race. Both candidates have received visits from high-profile …
Deputy Commissioner Jack Murray will become the department's new commissioner June 22 when its current commissioner steps down.
The Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation will have a new commissioner June 22 when its current commissioner, Ed Lambert, steps down. This week Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs Rick Sullivan announced Deputy Commissioner Jack Murray will take over as commissioner once Lambert leaves to become the new vice chancellor for Government Relations and Public Affairs at the University of Massachusetts Boston. “Jack has proven himself a strong leader and tireless advocate for the people who use our parks and other public facilities, and I am thrilled to have him lead this important department,” said Governor Deval Patrick in a statement. “Commissioner Lambert did a tremendous job over the past two years working to …
Sunday, June 16, 2013
The city councilor made his official announcement in the South End on Saturday.
City Councilor Felix G. Arroyo officially kicked off his mayoral campaign on Saturday in the South End. Arroyo outlined a series of goals that included improving Boston's public schools, and having safe and affordable neighborhoods. "My family, like many families, needed a leg up and needed affordable housing and that was provided for them right here in Villa Victoria," he said. "Everyone deserves to have a place to live, and that doesn’t happen by accident, and that doesn’t happen because you wish it so. That happens by intention." Arroyo also noted he plans to support small businesses in the city. "Boston has over a billion dollars in deposits in various banks, yet we don’t know that these banks invest at all in any of our neighborhoods…
Saturday, June 15, 2013
If the special election was today, who would you choose as our new U.S. senator?
A week from Tuesday, Massachusetts voters will decide who to elect in the special election to fill the seat vacated by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry. What we at Patch want to know is - if the election was today - who would you vote for? Candidates Democrat Ed Markey and Republican Gabriel Gomez have been pullling out all the stops in the last two weeks as the latest polls show the gap is narrowing between the two. After weeks of relative quiet, the negative ads have started to clog the airways and both candidates have had high-profile folks stumping for them. Rudy Guiliani was in town last week putting his support behind Gomez and President Obama came to Boston this week showing his support for Markey. So tell us, if you had to vote…
Recap and analysis of the week in state government.
His was not the story of Deval Patrick, or Mitt Romney or Bill Weld. Argeo Paul Cellucci started local on the Board of Selectmen in his beloved town of Hudson and worked his way up: state representative, state senator, lieutenant governor, governor, ambassador. He was the Calvin Coolidge of his time, according to former Minority Leader Richard Tisei, and Democrats, Republicans and Canadians, alike, loved and respected him for it. Cellucci passed away last weekend after a battle with Lou Gehrig's disease at the age of 65, and on Thursday he became the 13th public figure to lie in state under the State House rotunda. The memorial service and public viewing for the former governor drew a who's-who to Beacon Hill, including Romney, Michael …
Friday, June 14, 2013
Patch offers mosquito prevention tips, and the map below shows the number of West Nile cases last summer.
After a particularly tough year for the West Nile virus in 2012, Massachusetts health officials are bracing for what could be another busy summer for the mosquito-borne illness. Although, with so many factors playing into the problem, the track of West Nile is not an easy one to predict, said Kevin Cranston, director of the Bureau of Infectious Disease for the Massachusetts Department of Public Health. “We can’t pin down all of the elements that go into why one season is bad and another season is not,” Cranston said. But if this summer is similar to last summer—marked by extended periods of very hot weather—some parts of the state could see a high number of cases as occurred in 2012. To give residents a sense of West Nile’s prevalence in …
Wednesday, June 12, 2013
The debate raged on Beacon Hill Tuesday.
A packed hearing on Beacon Hill Tuesday dealt with the issue of possibly raising the mimimum wage for commonwealth workers, according to an Associated Press report posted on WBUR.com. While those in favor of the wage increase believe it to be about fairness and economic justice, the AP reported business groups said raising the minimum wage would make the state less competitive. Prior to Tuesday, SEIU Local 509 Director of Communications Jason Stephany said in a statement the minimum wage in the state has been at $8 an hour since January 2008. "Many jobs at large retail and restaurant chains pay so little that even full-time workers must rely on public assistance for the most basic necessities," according to the statement. The Senate …
District Attorney Dan Conley is the only Boston mayoral candidate with more than $1 million in cash for his campaign. Find out what everyone else has so far.
There will be at least 12 candidates on the Sept. 24 ballot for mayor, as Boston's Elections Department continues to certify signatures. One candidate not yet to be certified is barstoolsports.com owner David Portnoy. While Portnoy may be more entertainment than a serious candidate to run City Hall, many of the candidates who are expected to garner the most votes have been certified well ahead of the June 25 deadline. Follow the Money District Attorney Dan Conley has the most money in his campaign with more than $1.1 million, according to the Office of Campaign and Political Finance's website. At-Large City Councilor John Connolly has $564,000 for his campaign, followed by fellow city councilor District 8's Mike Ross with $453,000. State…
Gus
6:22 pm on Monday, June 17, 2013
@Southender I guess you don't get around much. Felix attends a ton of events in the South End and he's a above-average height guy. Secondly, even in your shut-in condition, I guess you didn't see WGBH-TV's interviews with the candidates. He wasn't even in my original consideration set, but he had the quickest mind and best responses in the series. That said I've got four-five candidates I like … more ›