Mount Saint Joseph Academy will merge with Trinity Academy of Newton, with the first classes of the combined high schools beginning in the fall of 2012. While Trinity is co-ed, the Mount has been girls-only since it was founded in 1885. There will be approximately 400 students enrolled in the new institution, which will be called St. Joseph Preparatory School. It will operate on the current Mount Saint Joseph Academy campus on Cambridge Street, Brighton. (photo via Wikimedia Commons)
January 31, 2012
Not just for girls anymore: Mount St. Joseph’s to merge, go co-ed
January 30, 2012
For Love or Money?
There are two motivations in sports. Which is yours? For Love or Money?
– New Balance slogan
The Advisory Group for the Brighton / Guest Street Area Planning Study is having a meeting about, well, the study. Tuesday, January 31, 2012 from 6:30 to 8:30 PM at the Brighton Marine Health Center on Warren Street.
The title is a snoozer, but this is a major project. The site is a big hunk of property around the New Balance property bordering the Mass. Turnpike. Think of it as the area behind the the WGBH/Channel 2 videotron, between North Beacon Street and the Pike.
It includes two major public transportation suggestions. Short term, improving bus service. Long term, restoring rail service. Given the MBTA cutbacks we are facing, is either realistic? The meeting announcement behooves us to pay attention to the text rather than the graphics. Good advice, given that the pictures envision Arthur and Guest Streets transforming into Parisian boulevards.
The critical questions are who builds, and what do they build. Will it be something we love, or will it be all about the money?
January 30, 2012
After the show
The show ended a long time ago. Development for the site that used to be home to the Circle Cinema in Cleveland Circle will be the topic of a Wednesday, February 8 meeting at 8 PM. It will be held at the Waterworks Museum, 2450 Beacon Street, Brighton. The meeting is sponsored by the Aberdeen-Brighton Residents Association.
January 30, 2012
Good psychics don’t get caught
There was real psychic drama last Tuesday, January 24 at the Boston Licensing Board. Several fortune tellers were asked to explain why they were operating without a license, including Brighton Psychic at 270 Parsons Street. If they were good at foretelling the future, shouldn’t they have known they were going to be busted?
Shouldn’t there be some kind of test? Make some predictions, read a few palms, show you know you way around a deck of Tarot cards? If you want to make money off of your talent for foreseeing the future, the application is here.
Turns out they did have a license in the past, didn’t renew it, and the Board has now voted to cancel it. (Photo via Flikr Commons).
January 28, 2012
KHW, RIP
You knew when Kevin White was in the room.
Compelling, contentious, embattled, engaging, the man always had your attention.
Local attention. National attention.
The first time I saw him was in 1978 at the Jackson-Mann School in Allston. It was a meeting to drum up support for the Question 1 Classification campaign, a now-forgotten ballot referendum. The room was packed, the local machine had done a good job of getting out the troops but had also stirred up a lot of very concerned homeowners. If this initiative failed, residential property taxes would go through the roof.
The room went dark, a voice came over the sound system, and a screen began to show images of Boston. All pre- 1967, the year Kevin Hagan White was elected mayor. The images were all black and white, nothing but empty lots, gutted buildings, despairing faces, post-war Berlin couldn’t have looked worse. Then, suddenly, color arrives, parks boom with flowers, children and old people are smiling. But this will all end, back to the poor house for the kids and the elderly, if you don’t vote yes.
The screen went dark, a spotlight hit the stage, and on strides Kevin White. WOW. Lots of applause. I do not remember what he said exactly, except that he made his case, answered a couple of questions, and left.
When I walked out of the school, Union Square was full of reporters, tv trucks and more men on horses in one place since the end of the Civil War. WOW.
Mother of Gawd! Kevin, I never voted for you, but you left the city a better place.
Adam at Universal Hub has a collection of great links about the mayor, including this one of BPL pics.
January 27, 2012
Naked Pizza Leaving
Naked Pizza, a Brighton Center landmark for all of twelve months, will be closing next week. What will this guy do?
January 26, 2012
Penniman for your thoughts
The Penniman on the Park proposal won approval from the Boston Redevelopment Authority back in December 2011. The next step, a hearing for a number of zoning variances, will be held on Tuesday, February 14. Penniman Road runs off Hano Street, behind the Walgreen’s in Union Square, Allston. If approved, which looks all but certain, the building will be five stories high with 36 condos and 17 parking spaces. (Image courtesy of the BRA website.)
January 25, 2012
Putting this out could be your next job
Sunday morning, January 22, eight BU students fled a fire at 84 Linden Street in Allston. Two leaped from windows, according to the Boston Globe. One student was critically injured.
if you are interested in making a career of dealing with this, the Boston Fire Department is hiring. Apply here.
Photo courtesy of BFD website.
January 18, 2012
Money doesn’t grow on trees, but parks need both
Joyce Playground, located at the corner of Union Street and Lyne Road in Brighton, will get a major makeover thanks to a half-million dollar state grant.
January 18, 2012
Did they deliver?
Brad Searles caught this squirrel enjoying a slice. (h/t Adam @ Universal Hub)
Posted under this Creative Commons license
January 16, 2012
Bus to Nowhere
The MBTA has announced two options to deal with its $161 million dollar shortfall. Option One will deplete your Charlie Card much faster while getting you to your destination more slowly than now, but better than Option Two. Option Two hurts your wallet less but your commute more, with smaller fare increases but massive reductions in service. If the more severe service cuts are implemented, Allston Brighton will lose the 64, 501 and the 503 bus lines. If that happens, good luck getting on the 57, never mind getting a seat. Imagine everyone who needs to get downtown having to rely on it.
Option One: Bigger fare hike, maybe you can fight your way onto the bus.
Option Two: Smaller fare increase, huge service cuts? Might as well walk
Maybe all those new bike lanes were part of the plan.
Contact your state legislators and let them know you don’t want to have to endure hell on wheels.
State Senator Will Brownsberger
State Representative Kevin Honan
State Representative Michael Moran
Don’t forget Governor Deval Patrick appoints the MBTA board and general manager.
http://www.mass.gov/governor/utility/contact-us.html
The T is also soliciting opinions.
January 11, 2012
Newsflash!
Allston Brighton Newsflash is a website devoted to the issues, arguments, ups, downs, fights and fracases affecting the Allston Brighton community.
This site won’t be doing original reporting, but it will direct you to sites that do, as well as links to information that might be helpful. It is meant to be a resource for anyone interested in the neighborhood. Many of us rely on emails from different people and organizations, fliers at bus stops, word of mouth and what we stumble upon while we are out and about. Putting it all in one place will make it easier.
About me: My name is Tom Crowley, and I live near Oak Square.
You can reach me at tc (at) abnewsflash (dot) com.