Climate Change Focus Group Forming in East Boston, for East Boston

...details developing...for more information call To participate call 617-447-6668.

Eastboston.com Eagle Hill Civic Association to Meet May 29 EBHS

Details at Eastboston.com

East Boston Greenway Meeting (May 23) and Future Events

This just in from Candace Cook:

Friends of East Boston Greenway Meeting
Thursday, May 23, 2013, 6:30 - 7:30 p.m.
East Boston YMCA, 215 Bremen Street
All are welcome. Agenda attached.
*Please plan to attend, your input is essential! The BRA will be presenting a project update and conceptual design of the new Greenway section that will serve as the final connection to Constitution Beach.

Programs & Volunteers
Greenway Gardeners - Volunteers Needed
Saturday June 1, 9am - 12pm
East Boston Greenway – Meet at caboose at Bremen & Marginal Streets. MAP
Help lend a hand to maintain perennial beds on the East Boston Greenway! Tasks include weeding, mulching, and planting of beds with daylilies and native shrubs. We'll provide gloves and tools. Families welcome. To volunteer, contact Candice Cook candice@bostonnatural.org or 617.542.7696 x16

New Balance Foundation Let's Get Movin' Walk/Run for Fitness - Free Family Event by EBNHC
Route includes the East Boston Greenway!
Saturday June 1, 10am
Memorial Stadium Park, Logan Airport Service Drive MAP
The East Boston Neighborhood Health Center is organizing an event to celebrate all the accomplishments of our young participants in the Let’s Get Movin’ program. The New Balance Foundation Let’s Get Movin’ Walk/Run for Fitness will take place on June 1, 2013 at 10:00 on East Boston Memorial (Airport) Park. Free registration is available to the whole community online at www.racemenu.com/letsgetmovin or in person between 10am and 4pm, at the Let’s Get Movin’ office at 120 Liverpool Street, East Boston. The first 100 people to register will also receive a free t-shirt. They are going fast!  Awards will be given to both male and female first-place finishers for the following age groups: 8-11, 11-14, 14-18, and 18 and over. The run will be electronically chip-timed. Come to the Let’s Get Movin’ office on Thursday May 30, from 10am-7pm to pick up your race bib. You can also register on the day of the race at Memorial Park starting at 9:00. For more information, please call or email Joshua Hardester, at (617) 568-4701 or Hardestj@ebnhc.org We hope to see you and your whole family there! Flyer attached.

East Boston Greenway Walking Tour - Part of the Common Boston Series
Sunday June 9, 10:30 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
Meet at Bremen Street Park gate at Brooks St, near Airport T station
Join BNAN and the Friends of East Boston Greenway on an excursion from Bremen Street Park to Maverick Square to discover the neighborhood’s historic railroad and maritime elements that are now transformed into treasured park spaces. Although the Greenway is the connecting thread of open space areas, it also provides a buffer between the Logan Airport edge and the city. This tour will highlight how this international transportation hub has significantly altered the face of the neighborhood and the greenway’s role in reclaiming East Boston’s splendor. Register online http://commonboston.org/2013/east-boston/east-boston-greenway-walking-tour/ or by phone 617.391.4017. This is part of a series of East Boston tours happening that day. Learn more on the Common Boston website.

2013 Metro Boston Race Amity Celebration - June 9

This just in: 
 
CALLING ALL COMMUNITIES!
Come join in the 2013 METRO BOSTON RACE AMITY CELEBRATION

on the ROSE KENNEDY GREENWAY

This is a free event!
Sunday, June 9th from 1-5 pm
(Parcel 17 between Aquarium and North Station)
Rain Date: Saturday, June 15

In 2012 Mayor Thomas M. Menino issued a proclamation that established the second Sunday in June annually as Race Amity Day in the City of Boston.  This year Governor Deval Patrick has issued a proclamation that this same day shall be Race Amity Day throughout the Commonwealth. This is a day for all people across racial and cultural communities to gather together to celebrate and show appreciation for our diverse racial and cultural backgrounds.

The Metro Boston Race Amity Celebration is
A Festival for the Human Family
For more information go to ncra@wheelock.edu

East Boston Main Streets to host networking breakfast on June 11

This just in from Main Streets:

(East Boston, MA) May 20, 2013....On Tuesday June 11, 2013, East Boston Main Streets will hold its Community Networking Breakfast at Spinelli’s from 7:30am – 9:00am.

Meet and mingle over breakfast with East Boston residents and business owners. Congressman Michael Capuano, Representative of the Eighth Congressional District will be delivering the keynote address and discussing important neighborhood issues.

Tickets are $25.00 each or a table of 10 for $250.00

For more information or to purchase tickets, visit: http://ebmsBreakfast.eventbrite.com or call the East Boston Main Streets office at 617-561-1044.

East Boston Main Streets is a public/private partnership initiative of Boston Main Streets, which was established by Mayor Thomas M. Menino. The program has been operating in East Boston since 1995 to create a vibrant business district by initiating private and public improvements, promoting commerce, and supporting efforts to improve the quality of life for all who live, work and do business in East Boston.  East Boston Gateway, Inc. is a Non-Profit Organization Recognized under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.


Source: Max Gruner 5/20/2013

April 27: Friends of Belle Isle Marsh Earth Day Clean-up

Saturday, April 27, 9am - 12pm
Help clean the Bayou Street marsh area behind the Gorman-Ft. Banks School near the new pedestrian bridge in Winthrop. Volunteers needed! Refreshments will be served. Contact friendsofbelleislemarsh@comcast.net for more info.

Neptune Road Edge Buffer Community Meeting, hosted by Massport

Tuesday, April 30, 2013, 6:30 pm; Spinelli's, 282 Bennington Street, East Boston
Massport is hosting a Community Meeting to discuss the design progress for the Neptune Road Arport Edge Buffer. Halvorson Design Partnership, Massport's landscape architecture consultant, will present the latest plan based upon community input received at the last meeting. The Neptune Road Buffer parcel is bounded by Vienna Street and Neptune Road. For additional information or questions about the meeting please contact Anthony Guerriero, Assistant Director, Community Relations. 617-568-3739 aguerriero@massport.com

East Boston Ward 1 Republican Committee to meet May 5

The East Boston Ward 1 Republican Committee will meet Sunday, May 5, 2013 at 10:00 a. m. at the East Boston YMCA.   

East Boston voters who are registered as undeclared or un-enrolled or as Republicans are invited to attend.  Please call Chris Morton at (617) 569-4075 for more information about this meeting. 

The East Boston YMCA is at 215 Bremen Street (near the corner of Porter Street) in East Boston.  The MBTA station closest to the YMCA is the Blue Line’s Airport station.

Rep. Basile extends support to remake transportation finance

From the office of State Representative Carlo Basile.

(BOSTON) – State Representative Carlo P. Basile joined his colleagues in the Massachusetts House of Representatives yesterday in passing a plan to fix long-standing financial problems within the state’s transportation system.

The bill was part of a joint legislative package announced by House Speaker Robert A. DeLeo (D-Winthrop) and Senate President Therese Murray (D-Plymouth) earlier this month. It sets in motion significant changes to make the transportation system more efficient and accountable, and, recognizing the need for adequate funding, relies upon a carefully-targeted $500 million financing plan. By realigning transportation revenue to support the Transportation Fund, the plan closely ties transportation funding to needs.
 
“A healthy transportation system allows us to keep and grow jobs in Massachusetts,” Speaker DeLeo said. “Yesterday’s House vote for a carefully calibrated revenue package enables us to fund our transportation system without placing excessive burden on taxpayers. With this vote, we address the needs of businesses and commuters who rely upon our transportation system in a way that encourages economic growth while minimizing the pain on families and employers. It also helps maintain our strong financial standing, which lowers our borrowing costs when they arise.”
 
“Our joint transportation package addresses the issue thoughtfully and efficiently,” said Representative Brian S. Dempsey, House Chair of the Joint Committee on Ways & Means (D-Haverhill.). “We recognize the integral role that the Commonwealth’s transportation system plays in the expansion or our economy and in our residents’ quality of life.  As a result, our bill makes targeted, statewide investments while addressing the inefficiencies of our current system.”
 
 “This bill presents a balanced and realistic approach for sustaining our state’s transportation system while also providing the resources for expanded future capital improvements,” said Representative William Straus (D-Mattapoisett), House Chair of the Joint Committee on Transportation.  “This joint legislative proposal provides added reforms and revenues to help meet our need for a modern and safe transportation network in Massachusetts.”

“Thanks to the efforts of Speaker DeLeo and my House Collegues, we now have a means of preserving and improving our transportation system that is critical to the lives of so many people in the Commonwealth,” Carlo P. Basile (D - East Boston) House Chairman of the Committee on Veterans and Federal Affairs said. “Now, with a $500 million dollar financing plan, we can reform our transportation system making it safer and more efficient with little burden on taxpayers.”
 
The plan includes the following reforms to our transportation system:

* Moves Employees off of the Capital Budget over 3 years; 

* Provides forward funding for Regional Transit Authorities;

* Generates Revenue to Cover a Capital Plan;

* Gives MassDOT and the RTAs a long term plan to rely on;

The plan relies upon the following revenue items to finance the funding gap:
 
* A 3 cent increase to the gas tax (indexed with delay ) to help pay for road and bridges ($110 million);
                                    
* $1-per-pack increase on the tobacco excise tax  ($165 million);

* Modernizes the tax code on canned software to include modifications to software and computer system planning and design   ($161 million);

* Changes to the tax status of utility companies ($83 million).

The bill now moves to the Senate.

Cty budget unveiled at $2.6 billion

From the mayor's press office:
 

Mayor Menino Submits FY 2014 Budget to City Council

Focuses on delivery of quality services that lift up all neighborhoods

“This is the twentieth Proposed Budget of my Administration and it shares a most important trait with the prior nineteen: it pushes us to try new things.”

– Mayor Thomas M. Menino

Mayor Thomas M. Menino today presented his $2.6 billion Operating Budget for Fiscal Year 2014 and five year $1.8 billion Capital Plan, including $196 million in new FY 2014 project authorizations. The FY 2014 budget includes initiatives that keep Boston at the forefront of reinvention: changes at Boston Public Schools to increase access to quality, new housing to meet the needs of young professionals and middle-class families, and online learning for Boston’s neighborhoods. At the core of the budget is a desire to continue to build neighborhoods, provide residents an unparalleled quality of life, and support neighbors as they help one another.

“This year’s budget invests in our most valuable assets: our people and our neighborhoods,” Mayor Menino said. “Today we are proposing a sound financial plan. It builds on our long history of achieving balanced budgets and at the same time improves delivery of high-quality services that Boston residents expect and deserve. The city’s resources are for all people, not just some, and so in this budget as in the nineteen before it, we invest to raise up every neighborhood.”

The $2.6 billion recommended FY 2014 Operating Budget features a 5.6-percent growth over last year’s budget, an increase of $138.7 million. Property taxes continue to be the City’s largest source of revenue, along with hotel, meals and other excise tax revenue.  The City’s second largest source of revenue, net state aid from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is expected to decline by approximately $16 million from FY 2013 budgeted levels.  This perpetuates the loss of state aid incurred over the last seven years, now estimated to be about $152 million lower than FY 2008.

The $934.6 million budget for Boston Public Schools for FY 2014 represents a $60.8 million increase over the current year’s budget and builds on the Mayor’s continued efforts to provide high quality schools, close to home, for all of Boston’s families. A new $30 million Quality Improvement Fund will help the Boston Public Schools invest in upgraded school facilities, technology, and teacher quality as the district puts its new home-based school choice plan into place.

The FY 2014 budget focuses on lifting up all of Boston’s neighborhoods through: 

• Meeting the housing needs of residents : Mayor Menino’s Housing Boston 2020 initiative will launch, creating 20,000-30,000 units of housing by the year 2020 to accommodate the city’s growing population and its changing needs. Additionally, one million square feet of City-owned real estate will be made available to small builders at below-market prices in 2013 and 2014 to increase homeownership among middle class families.
• Supporting young women: Boston Centers for Youth & Families will designate “Girls Only” time at sites citywide and engage teenage girls in programming that promotes leadership, civic engagement and skill building. Through a partnership with the WAGE project, the City will host negotiation workshops to teach young women the skills required to negotiate for fair pay.  

• Engaging youth: For the first time, the City will set aside $1 million for youth to participate in a year-long budgeting process. Through participatory budgeting, young Bostonians will identify projects in their communities, vet those projects and consider trade-offs in making funding decisions.

• Sustaining progress and healthy growth: As the City continues to prepare for impacts of climate change, the Environment Department will update its Climate Action Plan. Boston Public Schools will triple their recycling rate to 20% by June 2014, and 170 new BigBelly trash and recycling receptacles will be added throughout the City and its parks.

The City’s $1.8 billion five-year capital plan features $196 million worth of new project authorizations in 2014. The capital plan’s theme, Cities are Neighborhoods, recognizes that the City draws its core strength from its neighborhoods. Significant capital projects slated for funding in FY 2014 include:

• Mayor Menino will continue his investment in the revitalization of Dudley Square, a $115 million development project that will revitalize the historic Ferdinand building and bring new people, businesses, and economic opportunity to Dudley Square.  The project broke ground in Spring 2012 and is expected to be completed in Fall 2014.

• The Boston Public Library will begin construction this year on the transformation of the Johnson Building at the Central branch. This project will open the main floor to Boylston Street, improve and expand the Children’s room, and upgrade the Rabb lecture hall. Construction will continue at a stunning new library in East Boston, set to open its doors this fall.

In January 2014, Mayor Menino’s administration will transition to the next one. The FY 2014 budget provides funds for a smooth and stable transition. Resources are provided to be used in the time period before the November election to lay the groundwork for a transition and, after the election, for the Mayor-elect to begin to assemble an administration.

###

Mayor's Coffee Hour in Eastie set for May 16.

Mayor Menino’s Neighborhood Coffee Hour will take place on  Thursday, May 16th 9:15 a.m. at the Sumner and Lamson Street Park Opening. Join Mayor Thomas M. Menino for great conversation, delicious coffee with treats, and a chance to meet your neighbors. Take home a plant grown in the City’s greenhouses.

Metropolitan Beaches Commission Reconvenes To Examine Area Beaches From Nahant To Nantasket

BOSTON, April 11, 2013 -- /PRNewswire/ -- The Metropolitan Beaches Commission (MBC) has reconvened to assess the state of the Boston Harbor region's public beaches and held its first public hearing, Monday, April 8, 2013. The Commission, originally established in 2006 by the Massachusetts Legislature, will examine the impacts of the reforms and recommendations made in its first report and make recommendations for further improvement under the leadership of co-chairs State Senator Tom McGee and State Representative Kathi-Anne Reinstein. There will be a second public hearing in May 2013, followed by a hearing in each of the nine communities from Nahant to Nantasket beginning in June 2013.

BOSTON, April 11, 2013 -- /PRNewswire/ -- The Metropolitan Beaches Commission (MBC) has reconvened to assess the state of the Boston Harbor region's public beaches and held its first public hearing, Monday, April 8, 2013. The Commission, originally established in 2006 by the Massachusetts Legislature, will examine the impacts of the reforms and recommendations made in its first report and make recommendations for further improvement under the leadership of co-chairs State Senator Tom McGee and State Representative Kathi-Anne Reinstein. There will be a second public hearing in May 2013, followed by a hearing in each of the nine communities from Nahant to Nantasket beginning in June 2013.

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2013/04/11/5333674/metropolitan-beaches-commission.html#storylink=cpy

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2013/04/11/5333674/metropolitan-beaches-commission.html#storylink=cpyBOSTON, April 11, 2013 -- /PRNewswire/ -- The Metropolitan Beaches Commission (MBC) has reconvened to assess the state of the Boston Harbor region's public beaches and held its first public hearing, Monday, April 8, 2013. The Commission, originally established in 2006 by the Massachusetts Legislature, will examine the impacts of the reforms and recommendations made in its first report and make recommendations for further improvement under the leadership of co-chairs State Senator Tom McGee and State Representative Kathi-Anne Reinstein. There will be a second public hearing in May 2013, followed by a hearing in each of the nine communities from Nahant to Nantasket beginning in June 2013.

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2013/04/11/5333674/metropolitan-beaches-commission.html#storylink=cpy

Competition fierce for casino license; Wynn a major factor

Frank Quaratiello of the Boston Herald

While Wynn and Suffolk both seem to have strong backing, their battle royale could come down to community support in the end, too.

Wynn’s $1.3 billion proposal has won over the hearts and minds of Everett residents, but Suffolk Downs must still contend with a small but vocal group of casino opponents. To make matters even more challenging, Suffolk Downs and its partner Caesars Entertainment must win votes in both Revere and East Boston.

That puts the Wynn Everett casino plan in the driver’s seat.

For Boston residents, only a Suffolk Downs win would give the Hub a piece of the tax-revenue action. A Wynn victory means a huge boost for Everett.

With Mayor Thomas M. Menino retiring, it will be interesting to see whether the casinos become an issue in the campaign to succeed him.

City Council race draws candidates: North End’s Philip Frattaroli Considering Run for Boston City Councilor At-Large

NorthEndWaterfront.com is reporting that the North End’s Philip Frattaroli Considering Run for Boston City Councilor At-Large 

Eastboston.com News: 3/26/2013- Mayor Menino issues street cleaning advisory for April 1, 2013

Be advised. Move that car for street cleaning. Season ramps up next week.

Eastboston.com News: Call to Action: March 23, 2013 Stand Up For East Boston Say No Casino

Protest the proposed casino at Suffolk Downs. Keep East Boston family-friendly!
 
Where: Maverick Square,

When: Saturday, March 23 from 10 AM - 12 PM
 
What: All are welcome for baked goods and seed-planting for the youngsters at 10, followed by a short press conference and "Speaker's Corner" at 11:30. 

Read more at eastboston.com.

Eastboston.com News: Guest Editorial: Ernani Jose DeAraujo, Esq., "A Campaign Finance Proposal for Suffolk Downs Caesars"

"A Campaign Finance Proposal for Suffolk Downs Caesars"

Eastboston.com: Jeffries Point Neighborhood Association to meet March 11, 2013

Eastboston.com: Jeffries Point Neighborhood Association to meet March 11, 2013