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Body camera advocate pushing for immediate implementation pg 11
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PBS’ ‘AMERICAN MASTERS’ BROADCASTS RETROSPECTIVE ABOUT MAYA ANGELOU pg 14
Berklee prof’s online courses provide access for all pg 12
plus Steve McQueen’s ‘Ashes’ exhibit at ICA pg 15 ‘Black Is’ booklist at BPL provides cultural, political history pg 17 Thursday, February 23, 2017 • FREE • GREATER BOSTON’S URBAN NEWS SOURCE SINCE 1965 • CELEBRATING 50 YEARS
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Arroyo fights removal from Probate Court
Court administrator gave no specific charges of wrongdoing By JULE PATTISON-GORDON and YAWU MILLER BANNER PHOTO
Senate President Stanley Rosenberg opens a discussion on criminal justice reform as senators Will Brownsberger, Cynthia Creem, Sonia Chang-Diaz and Jamie Eldridge look on.
Senators push for progress on criminal justice reforms Vow to work on mandatory minimums, bail reform By YAWU MILLER
With momentum building for criminal justice reform, state senators are preparing to push for a legislative package they say will reduce the number of people incarcerated in Massachusetts and save the state money. In a recent meeting in the State House office of Senate President Stanley Rosenberg, members of the Massachusetts Black and
Latino Legislative Caucus and the Massachusetts Harm Reduction and Drug Law Reform Caucus outlined their legislative priorities in a meeting with reporters. Sen. William Brownsberger said he and his colleagues intend to work on the full spectrum of criminal justice reform, including what he termed “front-end issues” — alternative sentencing, bail reform and ending mandatory minimum sentences for minor drug offenses, as well as
“back-end issues” affecting people exiting incarceration, such as good behavior and early release, and “collateral issues” — fees and fines that often keep low-income offenders caught in the criminal justice system. Brownsberger stressed that the Council of State Government report, which sparked controversy among reform activists with its narrow focus on probation
See REFORM, page 7
Questions swirled recently when Suffolk Conty Register of Probate Felix D. Arroyo was suspended from his position for reasons not released to the public, nor, it seems, to Arroyo himself. There have been no specific allegations of wrongdoing. Early this month, the Massachusetts Trial Court, which comprises seven departments including Arroyo’s, put Arroyo on paid administrative leave and ordered an independent investigation of the registry conducted by Anthony Nesi, a retired probate and family court judge. The department — which handles probate and family-related matters such as wills, adoptions, divorce, name changes and paternity cases — had a troubled history when Arroyo entered office in 2014. The previous registrar, Patricia Campatelli, was accused of shirking responsibilities and assaulting a subordinate. In an earlier investigation of Campatelli, employees said she worked only 15 hours a week. A r r o y o’s l aw y e r a n d a
spokesperson for his office said Arroyo inherited a troubled department and that court officials hamstrung his attempts to improve effectiveness and efficiency and diversify staffing. Arroyo’s lawyer, Walter B. Prince, of the law firm Prince Lobel, said court administrators blocked Arroyo from hiring his own management team — something he should have been able to do under state law — and from filling some vacancies, including in positions that would address the backlog of cases. “Felix inherited an office with a history of cronyism,” Prince said in a statement to the Banner. “He ended this practice by filling vacancies with a qualified, diverse staff that added second language capabilities. His efforts were met with resistance and intentional sabotage by those who benefited from the practices of the past. The fact that this information is coming to light further justifies Felix’s demand for a transparent investigation that is completely open to the public.” Prince told the Globe that he
See ARROYO, page 22
Rox rents beyond most locals’ means Extent, amount of affordability falls short By JULE PATTISON-GORDON
Demonstrations and contentious community meetings over development proposals and cityled neighborhood planning processes underscore the growing tensions fed by Boston-area rents that are increasingly beyond the reach of long-term city residents. Rents in Roxbury continue to rise past the level that local incomes can support and many say affordability provisions are not well paired to local need.
“I know people who aren’t able to afford rent in the neighborhood, and they’re working two jobs or 40-hours-plus at a $15 or more per hour job,” activist Armani White told the Banner.
Prices and pushout
Vernon Barsatee, short sale negotiator at Exit Bayside Realty, provided the Banner with information on six months of rental deals made in the 02119 zip code, as recorded by the MLS Property Information Network. The information reflects 58 unique properties and two units
that were rented twice during that time period. In ten transactions, one-bedroom units in the sample rented for a median price of $1,550, with the prices ranging from $1,150 to $1,925. The units provided a median living space of 800 square feet. Meanwhile, former City Councilor Chuck Turner estimates Roxbury residents earn on average monthly incomes of about $3,300. “[If ] the cheapest single bedroom you can find is $1,400, $1,500 a month, that’s essentially 50 percent of your income for housing,” Turner said in a Banner phone interview.
See ROXBURY, page 8
BANNER PHOTO
This four-unit, 5,200-square-foot apartment building on Centre Street in the Fort Hill section of Roxbury is currently listed for $2.6 million with the seller claiming a gross annual rent of $189,000.
2 • Thursday, February 23, 2017 • BAY STATE BANNER
Tipped workers seek to raise base wages to state minimum By JULE PATTISON-GORDON
A few dozen demonstrators gathered at the State House steps last Thursday to call for increasing the base amount tipped workers are paid. While the state’s general minimum wage is $11 per hour, tipped workers are only required to be paid $3.75 per hour in Massachusetts, with tips providing the rest. If tips fall short, the employer is supposed to supposed to make up the difference, but demonstrators assert that in effect this does not always happen. The result, they say: Tipped workers live in uncertainty about their financial state and are especially vulnerable to sexual harassment as their livelihood depends on pleasing customers. “I don’t know what my paycheck will look like at the end of every month – if I’ll be able to cover my expenses,” said Eduardo, who has spent five years as a tipped restaurant worker in Boston. On nights with few customers, he may make only $30 from a five-hour shift, he said, and he winters can be a struggle, as restaurant patronage often declines. Policies affecting tipped workers in the Greater Boston region particularly affect women and workers of color, due to their higher representation in the field, according to an October 2016 “Behind the Kitchen Door” report released by the Restaurant Opportunities Center Boston, ROC United and the Boston Area Restaurant Industry Coalition.
ON THE WEB Behind the Kitchen Door report: http://rocunited.org/wp-content/ uploads/2016/11/BKD_Boston_Report_W.pdf ROC describes itself as an organization of restaurant workers, owners and ethically-conscious eaters. Rally organizers ROC Boston and Raise Up Massachusetts’ proposal: to provide greater financial security, maintain the practice of tipping, but raise tipped workers’ minimum wages to be in line with the minimum for other workers. The groups advocate for bills that would gradually raise tipped workers’ minimum wage to the same level as that earned by other workers. The bills also would increase the state’s minimum wage to $15 per hour by 2021, after which it would be adjusted for inflation.
Women and people of color
The “Behind the Kitchen Door” report analyzed surveys of 500 workers, 21 interviews with restaurant workers and 20 interviews with employers, as well as industry and government data. Those impacted by tipped worker policies are more likely to be women and people of color, the report shows. While women comprise 49.1 percent of all Greater Boston area workers, they represent 63.7 percent of all tipped workers and 67.8 percent of all tipped restaurant workers, the report states. People of color comprise 25.4 percent of the area workforce, 31.7 percent
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Members of the Restaurant Opportunities Center Boston and Raise Up Massachusetts rallied on the State House steps. Tipped workers in Massachusetts earn a minimum of $3.75 per hour plus any tips, with employers expected ensure they take home at least the standard minimum wage (currently $11). Demonstrators call for creating one minimum wage for all workers and gradually raising that to $15 per hour. of all area tipped workers and 28 percent of all area tipped restaurant workers. Breaking out the people of color segment, black workers comprise 7.1 percent of workers in Greater Boston, 8.7 percent of tipped workers and 5.7 percent of tipped restaurant workers. Latinos make up 8.7 percent of the workforce, 11.8 percent of tipped workers and 13 percent of tipped restaurant workers.
Vulnerability
Three percent of Greater Boston area tipped workers indicated that they did not have their tips sufficiently supplemented to meet the standard minimum wage and 41 percent said they experienced working off the clock without pay, according to the “Behind the Kitchen Door” report. In the survey, twice as many tipped workers as nontipped workers reported sexual harassment from customers. Because tipped workers tend to have less control over their schedules — and thus over whether they are placed at busy times when they can reap more tips — they also may be less likely to report mistreatment to their employers for fear of repercussion from making a fuss, Marisol Santiago, executive director of ROC-Massachusetts told the Banner. Steve Clarke, director of government affairs for the Massachusetts Restaurant Association, says laws already are in place to require employers to guarantee that tipped workers take home at least the minimum wage and to have sexual harassment policies. Should these laws not be being enforced, the solution, he says, is not a bill to secure more stable wages, but for those harmed to report the problem. He advises employees to report the issue to mangers or bosses, and, if that is ineffective, call the attorney general’s office. “Tipped employees are already guaranteed to make the minimum wage. That’s in law,” Clarke said. “In instances where it’s not implemented, that’s why we have the attorney general’s office.”
Feasibility
While some workers say they struggle to make ends meet, Clarke argues that tipped employees
already often earn more than standard hourly workers in a restaurant do. He says owners cannot absorb the added costs of increasing tipped workers’ minimum wage in a way that would not dampen those earnings. To balance out such additional wage costs, a restaurant may reduce the number of hourly and tipped staff and put greater burden on those they retain, Clarke said. A server might go from managing four tables to six. Or the restaurant owner may decrease other employees’ wages to keep their costs the same. “Every dollar they give to a tipped employee is dollar less they can give to chef or dishwasher,” Clarke told the Banner. Another option, Clarke said: restaurants may hike menu prices and balance that by instituting a no-tipping policy. In his view, even a slight price increase still would drive away customers, and the most motivated servers would leave for the higher earning potential of jobs at venues with tipping. “Any time a restaurant brings up the menu price, that results in loss of guests [whether you] bring it up a nickel [or] bring it up a dollar,” Clarke said. Meanwhile, Raise Up and ROC spokespeople say eight other states have passed legislation requiring that tipped workers receive the same minimum wage as others, in addition to their tips, and that this has not harmed restaurants or reduced tipping. Bills currently in the Massachusetts House and Senate would enact such policy in this state. Locally, Bon Me is phasing in a $15 per hour or higher wage for all its workers by 2018 and other restaurants such as Dudley Dough, Juliet and Just Cause Pizza have committed to $15 as well.
Roxbury Community College Major Campus Renovation Attention: Minority and Women Business Enterprises and Local Workforce Event: OPEN HOUSE to Review the Construction Project Details Location: Roxbury Community College, 1234 Columbus Avenue, Roxbury, MA 02120 Date/Time: Feb 23, 6-8 pm, Reggie Lewis Center, Room 217, 2nd Floor
Thursday, February 23, 2017 • BAY STATE BANNER • 3
OPINION
How we’ll make Boston’s streets safer By MAYOR MARTIN J. WALSH
In January, the busy streets of Boston became safer. As we dig out from this month’s snowstorms and prepare for spring, I want to remind drivers, cyclists and pedestrians about our city’s newest initiative to make our streets safer: reducing the speed limit on streets in Boston from 30 miles per hour to 25 miles per hour. This reduction, part of Boston’s Vision Zero initiative, will make Boston a safer place for people of all ages and abilities to walk, bike and drive in our streets. With Vision Zero, we are dedicated to ending traffic deaths and serious injuries by the year 2030. Some may wonder what difference a five-mile reduction will make, but for those walking or biking on our streets, cars will be traveling at a significantly reduced speed. Data has shown that when a driver is going at or below 25 mph, drivers are less likely to be severely injured or killed in a traffic crash. This is the same for cyclists and pedestrians. When drivers and pedestrians have more time to see
each other and react, injuries and fatalities go down. When looking at fatalities or severe injuries, pedestrians have a 20 percent chance of being killed by a driver traveling at 30 mph. There’s a 12 percent chance of a pedestrian being killed by a driver traveling at 25 mph. With the research and common sense available, we know slower speeds will save lives. This speed reduction is on par with other U.S. cities such as New York City, Los Angeles and Washington D.C., as well as London, Paris, Berlin and Tokyo internationally. The significance of seemingly minor differences in speed is why it’s essential we change our default speed limit to 25 mph. For drivers worried that lower speeds will cause additional traffic, we know the speed limit reduction will not have a negative impact on your ability to get where you’re going. Traffic speed is determined more by congestion, double-parked cars, turning vehicles and traffic signals than the speed limit itself. This is especially true at congested times of the day when most drivers are already going
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slower than 25 mph. With Boston’s Public Works Department doing all they can to make sure our streets are plowed, salted and sanded in inclement weather, and law enforcement making every effort to stop those who drive dangerously, lowering the speed limit to 25 mph will help us protect residents from harm. As we install the new traffic signs across the city, it’s important to remember that if you don’t see a posted sign, the speed limit is 25 mph. Our new, lower speed limit is part of a broader vision to make Boston’s streets safe and accessible for all. In March, we will release our Go Boston 2030 report, which envisions the next decade of Boston’s streets. We’re revitalizing crosswalks and lane markings. We’re piloting self-driving cars. Our Public Works Department works constantly to create the best streets, whether it’s sanding before a storm, plowing during a blizzard or fixing potholes once the snow clears. In addition to what the city is doing, I encourage residents to get involved. I hope neighborhoods will take part on our
BANNER PHOTO
The speed limit in Boston changed to 25 miles per hour in January. Neighborhood Slow Streets program, a city initiative to slow traffic speeds and improve safety on residential streets within a specific area. When a neighborhood is part of this program, the speed limit on its residential streets will be 20 mph. Residents can work with their neighbors to submit an application, due by March 24. Visit https://www.boston. gov/transportation/neighbor hood-slow-streets to learn more, or submit an application. The new speed limit wouldn’t
be possible without the combined efforts of the Boston City Council, the Massachusetts Department of Transportation and the Massachusetts State legislature, and I thank them for their support. Making our streets the best they can be is a project that takes the cooperation of our residents, City Hall and our partners. Together, we can make Boston’s streets safer and reach our goal of having zero traffic fatalities and serious injuries by 2030.
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4 • Thursday, February 23, 2017 • BAY STATE BANNER
EDITORIAL
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Is excessive cop pay in the public interest? One of America’s leading bank robbers, Willie Sutton, was once asked why he robs banks. He is reported to have answered simply, “because that’s where the money is.” With today’s payroll possibilities, Sutton might have suggested that it’s more profitable to join the Boston police force. The highest paid city employee in 2016 was a Boston police detective who was paid $403,000. In fact, 98 of the top 100 highest earners were employees of the police department. The problem is that there are apparent opportunities for police officers to pad the amount of their pay. According to an analysis of the highest paid detective’s income, he received $58,600 for overtime and $121,900 for police detail. His base pay was $92,500. Overtime pay is not generally available in private industry for those at that salary level. In fact, President Obama lost the battle to require employers to pay time and a half for all employees earning less than $47,486 ($913/week). The present level is only $23,660 ($455/week). There is no statutory requirement in Massachusetts to require overtime pay for the police or for executives. Even though there is no legal requirement to do so, police contracts require that they be paid for no fewer than four hours if they have to work overtime. Assume for this analysis that the detective actually worked only half of the overtime hours
for which he was paid, then he accrued 439 hours. With a two-week vacation, he would have worked 2,000 hours in 2016, with another 439 hours of actual overtime work. Add to that the hours of special details work at the overtime rate of $66.70/hour and there are another 1,827 hours of work. It is clear that the numbers don’t add up. A normal work load of 40 hours per week for 50 weeks is 2,000 hours for the year. Add to that the 439 hours of overtime and 1,827 hours for special detail work, that comes to 4,266 hours per year or 85 hours per week. The normal work week is 40 hours long. The detective had to work more than twice the normal period for the whole year. Such a work load would impair the effectiveness of the average person. But it also creates another problem. In some similar situations there could be a suspicion that the record of the time and work performance was somehow inaccurate. There is also a policy issue to consider. The average salary for school teachers is substantially less than the average for police officers. On average, teachers earn $80,799 per year compared with $124,498 for police officers. One must wonder whether the expenditure of limited financial resources to provide generous police salaries produces the greatest social benefit.
An attack on consumers Despite Trump’s assertion that he is changing the rules in Washington, he had little success in the courts last week. His ban on visitors from seven Muslim countries was overturned by the 9th Federal Circuit Court of Appeals. Because of the massive disruption to travel, this case attracted considerable attention. Little noticed was another defeat in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas. An Obama-era Department of Labor rule requiring investment advisors to consider the best interests of
“We ought to join the police force and become one-percenters!” USPS 045-780 Melvin B. Miller Sandra L. Casagrand John E. Miller Yawu Miller
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their customers in making decisions in retirement accounts was upheld. The financial services industry has opposed the rule, which is to become effective on Apr. 10, because they assert it will trigger lawsuits by customers. However, now that Trump controls the Labor Department which oversees the rule, it is likely that his new secretary will side with the investment industry rather than with consumers. When will citizens discover that, as Sen. Bernie Sanders says, “Trump is a fraud.”
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Thursday, February 23, 2017 • BAY STATE BANNER • 5
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OPINION
Just what the Congressional Black Caucus should say to Trump
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Do you think police should be required to wear body cameras?
By EARL OFARI HUTCHINSON At his recent combative press conference, Trump raised eyebrows and hackles with his answer to a black reporter who demanded to know when he would meet with the Congressional Black Caucus. Trump abruptly tossed it back to her and cavalierly asked if she could arrange it. It was a galling presumption and a variation on the old racist crack, “Well they’re black so they must all know each other.” It was even more galling to presume that a Capitol Hill beat reporter could simply pick up the phone and arrange a meeting with a group of congressional leaders. But that was Trump. And notwithstanding him being who he is, almost certainly he will eventually meet with the Caucus. The question is what will he say to them and more importantly what will the Caucus say to him? A few days after the election, last November, Trump scribbled a few policy points on paper dealing with what purports to be a “black agenda.” It was mostly a warmed over, conservative mish mash of talk about combatting urban crime, boosting business, stopping illegal immigration, cutting taxes, and expanding charter schools and vouchers. Nearly every one of his policy points are anathema to most CBC members. Their opposition is based on much more than just the deep racial polarization Trump has done more than any presidential candidate in living memory to fan. It’s also about party loyalty and two wildly divergent political world views. The Congressional Black Caucus’s loyalty to the Democratic Party has been unshakeable for four decades. It has backed and often taken the lead in the fight for every piece of substantive legislation on education, health, employment, and even foreign policy that has had major impact on the nation’s well-being. The Caucus has refused to be bullied, badgered, and steam-rolled by the GOP. It has prodded, cajoled, exhorted, and rallied black voters to keep the faith with the Democratic Party, despite the monumental sense of apathy, alienation and even hostility from many black voters that the Democrats have been weak, tepid, and at times non-existent when it comes to fighting for Black interests. In the Trump era, the CBC will be more than just ornamental window dressing. Democrats will need the CBC to play a key role in holding the line in Congress against Trump and the GOP’s assault on Obamacare, voting rights protections, and job and education program funding. Democrats will also need the Caucus to play an even more aggressive role in revving up the party’s African-American base for the 2018 mid-term election and to gain or at least not lose any more Democratic congressional seats. This means next to nothing to Trump. But what does mean something is what, if any, political advantage he can get out of trying to neutralize the Caucus and making at least some of its members less pugnacious in hammering him. The two points that even remotely offer any semblance of a negotiating chip between him and the Caucus would be on jobs and how to create more of them in inner city neighborhoods and his bold declaration that he believes in and wants to promote equal justice under the law. The Caucus will have to revamp an argument that it repeatedly used with former President Obama and that that’s to do more, spend more, and create more job and skills training programs that target the one group that has chronically suffered more than any other group from poverty and unemployment, and that’s young African-American males. The Caucus can tie that directly into poverty and pariah status of young black males in America’s economy. This has fueled the very crime and violence that Trump rails against in Chicago and other inner city areas. They’ll have to tell him that his saber rattle threat to send the feds into Chicago to quash the murder violence there won’t do anything to solve the problem as long as young black males are jobless, rootless, alienated, and embittered, and see gangs, guns, drugs, and murder as the only outlet for that anger and frustration. The Caucus could also demand that Trump do something that he absolutely refused to do during the campaign. And that’s to go to an impoverished big city black neighborhood and listen to what the residents have to say about crime, police abuse, and joblessness. And do it in the company not of his handpicked blacks, but members of the Caucus. Sound farfetched, of course, but it really shouldn’t for a president who did publicly say that he wants to be president of all the people. The Caucus can remind him of this and demand that he act like the president he claims he wants to be. He can start by meeting with the Caucus and listening to what it has to say.
Earl Ofari Hutchinson is an author and political analyst.
Yes. So we know what’s going down.
Richard Jolley
Yes. Because we always have cameras on us. Why can’t the law be watched as well.
I think so. It would help solve discrepancies about who did what.
Retired Roxbury
Rosa Morales
Glenray Clark
Administrative Assistant Roxbury
Disabled Roxbury
It’s a good thing. It could shed light on a situation and make them think twice before they do anything illegal.
Yes, because of everything going on with the police. They’re committing crimes and brutality. All people are not who they say they are. Cops aren’t all law-abiding.
Yes, because of everything that’s happening all over the country — police shooting people in the back, in their cars — and they’re not being charged with a crime. There are no repercussions.
Keyette Jonson
Bruce
Clinton Peterson Jr. Disabled Boston
Nurse’s Aide Randolph
Painter Mattapan
aged audience-building activities and created access to the arts through public programs. Woo also is an adjunct educator at the Museum of Fine Arts, through which she was first introduced to BCNC by serving as the Community Arts Initiative Liaison. “I am excited to once again be working in the Chinatown community and to have the tremendous opportunity to establish One Chinatown as a vital resource for artists, residents and visitors to our city,” Woo said. “Arts and creativity are so important in building curious young minds, engaged families and healthy communities.” “Cynthia’s wealth of experience in the cultural sector makes her a key addition to the BCNC team,” said Giles Li, executive director. “Boston has an incredible cultural sector that Chinatown, unfortunately, is largely disconnected from. With
Cynthia at its helm, One Chinatown will support the master artists and aspiring artists in our community, and build a bridge to the world-class institutions Boston has to offer.”
IN THE NEWS
CYNTHIA WOO Boston Chinatown Neighborhood Center (BCNC) announced that Cynthia Woo has joined the agency as the new director of One Chinatown Arts Center. A Southern California native, Woo started her work in the arts and culture sector as part of the staff that opened the Chinese American Museum in Los Angeles in 2003. Fueled by a commitment to strengthen the connection of arts to the community, Woo relocated to Boston to obtain her Masters of Arts in Art History and Museum Studies certificate from Tufts University. Over the past ten years, Woo has worked in the Boston-area arts sector, first as the director of programs and special events at LynnArts, Inc., and most recently as the director of community relations at the Boston Center for the Arts. Over seven years at the BCA, she developed community partnerships, man-
6 • Thursday, February 23, 2017 • BAY STATE BANNER
Report out on MA criminal justice By JULE PATTISON-GORDON
The Council of State Governments released its criminal justice reform recommendations report on Tuesday. The group’s work in Massachusetts has been a source of controversy because although it targets recidivism issues, it does not address methods for reducing racial disparities in the criminal justice system or initial instances of criminal justice system involvement. State Rep. Russell Holmes told the Banner that these recommendations on recidivism will make an impact, but that more must be done to the need for reform. “This is a huge step on one side of the issue,” Holmes said. “But we also need to look at how to address people getting into the system.” The CSG’s proposals includes measures such as expanding access to pre- and post-release programming, along with enhancing incentives for participation, bolstering post-release supervision and streamlining the parole release process. During the report release announcement at the State House at Tuesday morning, House Speaker Robert DeLeo voiced a commitment to providing high quality post-release support such as job training and substance addiction programs and aid in securing housing. Chief Justice Ralph Gants commented on the importance of anti-recidivism programs to ensure that the incarceration process actually makes people less dangerous. “When you focus on recognition that everyone but those convicted
of first degree murder is going to get out of jail at a point in time, and when you focus on them doing things we want them to do, such as get substance abuse help, get job training, get jobs and housing — it focuses you on a whole set of things,” Gants said. The report recommendations are expected to be filed for implementation in one legislative package.
CSG study
Governor Charlie Baker’s administration invited the CSG to study the state’s criminal justice system and outlined what would be the group’s scope. Between 2016 and 2017, the group analyzed more than 13 million state records and conducted more than 300 in-person interviews. The Pew Charitable Trusts and the U.S. Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Assistance also provided support. Another source of contention: the makeup of the 25-member working group. The team included only two people of color. It also largely comprised law enforcement representatives, said Rahsaan Hall, director of the Racial Justice Program at the ACLU of Massachusetts. While they are an important voice in the issue, they are far from the only important voice, he said.
Report’s gaps
For years, activists and legislators have sought changes, such as discontinuation of mandatory minimum sentencing for nonviolent drug offenses, and were asked to wait on legislation until the CSG had time to prepare a report. Now they are calling for action on their
ON THE WEB View the final report of the CSG Justice Center: https://csgjusticecenter.org/jr/
massachusetts/publications/justice-reinvest ment-in-massachusetts-policy-framework/ proposals to be paired with legislation on the CSG proposals. Jobs Not Jails demonstrators turned out for the report release announcement. The protestors held mock-report cards assigning the report an “F” grade for neglecting to meet demands such as an end to mandatory minimum and youth criminalization. Speaking to reporters following the event, one protestor said the CSG failed to examine causes or present solutions to the criminal justice system’s disproportionate targeting of people of color and people with low incomes. Among the problems faced by those with limited finances: inability to retain expensive lawyers or to pay bail in order to be released pre-trial, causing missed days of work and lessened ability to prepare a strong court approach, she said. Days prior to the event, criminal justice reform activist Calvin Feliciano expressed concerns that the CSG may recommend more robust probation terms and increased post-release supervision, which he regards as ineffective. “They don’t just want you to do three years, they want you to do three years and mandatory supervision,” he said. “Probation is not helpful. Probation doesn’t help you get a job. It doesn’t help you change your attitude or get drug treatment.” Feliciano said ex-offenders on
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probation can be re-arrested and end up serving longer terms if they commit minor offenses including talking to or associating with people how are felons or also on probation or if they are arrested, even for a minor offense unrelated to the charges for which they served time. Many legislators have or intend to file bills this session that fill in gaps left out of the CSG report. “This is a key moment that may not come again for many years,” Sen. Sonia Chang-Diaz said in a statement. “We must be courageous and rise to meet this moment not with a half-measure, but a full one that will drastically improve the lives of people across the Commonwealth.” She called the criminal justice system deeply broken and said any solution must include sentencing reform. Holmes said he asked Baker to include in his criminal justice reform package every measure that the governor agrees with, not solely those derived from CSG recommendations. It will be more difficult to get the measures passed should legislators have to go back to the bargaining table and negotiate each separate point, Holmes said.
Recidivism focus
In defense of the near-exclusive focus on recidivism, Baker said that Massachusetts’s criminal justice system is operating well in many areas: The state has the 18th highest crime rate in the U.S., but the second-lowest per capita incarceration rate, he said. “This means, in many ways, our criminal justice system is working,” Baker argued. “By and large, people who are not supposed to be in the Massachusetts prison system are not. On the other hand, the problem we do have in Massachusetts is recidivism.” Recidivism is the major driver of incarceration in the state, Baker said. He identified increasing access and incentives to participate in programming during and post incarceration as the most efficient way to address that issue. Meanwhile, some say that given the fact that many people who enter the criminal justice system end up in a cycle of recidivism, focus also needs to be on how to prevent initial incarceration. This may include identifying where diversion can be an effective alternative, as well as eliminating some mandatory minimum sentences to provide judges with the freedom to use alternate methods when appropriate. The ACLU’s Hall also cautioned against taking the state’s low incarceration rates, relative to the rest of the nation, as too strong an indicator of success.
“We [the U.S.] are doing so much worse than any other industrialized country,” he said.
Mandatory minimums
Rep. Holmes said that Baker told him that few people are incarcerated under the state’s mandatory minimum sentencing. Even so, Holmes says, such sentences still have a strong impact, as often someone will be encouraged to plead guilty to a lower sentence in order to avoid facing a mandatory minimum charge. The CSG report did propose a policy revision to allow those held under mandatory minimums to immediately start earning time off their minimum sentence as a reward for enrollment in certain programs or activities. Support for mandatory minimum reform for nonviolent offenses came as well from Sen. President Stan Rosenberg, who also spoke on the need to increase diversion options and tackle both incarceration and re-incarceration rates. “Incarceration should be the last resort when there are other options available for people who have engaged in nonviolent activities that may come in conflict with the law, but are being driven either by their addiction or their mental illness,” Rosenberg said.
Visions of criminal justice system
Dialogue around the reforms also brings into focus varying philosophies on the purpose toward which the criminal justice system is designed. On Tuesday, Baker said that incarceration is designed as a punishment but must ensure that those exiting it are able to function productively in society. “Prison is and should be a punishment, but people in Massachusetts are better served when people exit the system as law abiding productive members of society,” Baker said. Hall cautioned against that view, stating that those who become involved with the criminal justice system often do so as a result of damaging situations, be that abuse, trauma, issues in their family situation or struggles they face in their community. “The people coming into the criminal justice system often times are people who are broken… and are coming into a system that is not there to restore them and make them whole,” Hall told the Banner. There is hope that the focus is shifting. “I think there is an acknowledgement that people come to the criminal justice system with a host of issues,” Hall said. “We’ll see what the actual legislation is.”
Thursday, February 23, 2017 • BAY STATE BANNER • 7
“
reform
continued from page 1 reforms, is a small portion of the overall push for change. “There is a much bigger picture of criminal justice reform that the Senate and the House and the governor all have an interest in,” he said. After an introduction from Rosenberg, the senators spoke about a wide range of legislative priorities. First Middlesex and Suffolk Sen. Cheryl Creem said she plans to file legislation allowing judges to consider diversion for offenders under 17, giving judges more discretion to apply alternatives for minor offenses that would allow them to avoid having a criminal record as well as eliminating minimum mandatories. “Judges ought to have the ability to look at all the facts when they do sentencing,” she said. “We’re spending $70 million keeping people behind bars in drug areas. Many people are doing longer sentences than people who are incarcerated for rape or burglary.”
Reform grows
— First Suffolk District Sen. Sonia Chang-Diaz “We know that all kids make mistakes,” she said. “We are imposing sentences on young adults instead of giving them rehabilitation.” Fourth Middlesex Sen. Kenneth Donnelly filed bail reform legislation aimed at reducing the number of low-income people held in jails without having been tried or convicted of a crime. “Right now we are putting people in prison who don’t have the money to pay bail,” he said. “People that have money, who are selling drugs, can pay bail. It sets up a system that is not good.” Donnelly, too, cited Republican-dominated states like Texas and Georgia that have reformed their bail system to keep nonviolent offenders out of jail. “It shouldn’t be about how much money you have,” he said. Third Middlesex District Sen. Michael Barrett said he plans to file legislation that would guarantee basic right to counsel for any facing incarceration, noting that many indigent defendants are sentenced to jail time due to their inability to pay fees and fines. “ The research on Senate Post-Audit indicates that there are people in Massachusetts who go to jail today without ever having been represented by a lawyer simply
because of their inability to pay,” he said. “This is more than a reform priority. This is a question of the basic right to counsel established in the U.S. Constitution.” Second Middlesex Sen. Pat Jehlen proposed legislation that would move geriatric prisoners who would otherwise be eligible into nursing homes or hospice care. “It costs over $100,000 a year to keep somebody in the [Mass. Correctional Institute] Shirley nursing home facility,” she noted. “If they were in a nursing home facility, Medicaid would pick up half the cost. We could get some federal financial assistance.” First Suffolk District Sen. Sonia Chang-Diaz spoke in support of the Justice Re-investment Act, which proposes a raft of sentencing reforms — including the elimination of mandatory minimums — that would reduce the state’s prison population and then require the state to put the savings into a trust fund dedicated to programs that serve people such as victims of violence, veterans, people who don’t have high school diplomas and are over 18, those living below the federal poverty line and others. She also is proposing that the threshold for felony larceny be raised from the current $250, which
was set in the 1980s, to $1,500. Under the current law, people who steal cell phones and commit other small property crimes face jail sentences of up to five years. “The criminal justice system from the front end to the back end is broken,” Chang-Diaz said. “It’s deeply broken at so many junctures in the system. It’s broken in cost, in terms of the big-picture numbers — in the fact that we’re locking up five times as many people as we did in Massachusetts in the 1970s.”
Unequal impact
Many of the reforms discussed in the meeting were priorities of the Harm Reduction Caucus and largely prompted by the large number of drug-addicted people committing crimes across the state. But, as Chang-Diaz noted, 75 percent of those convicted under the state’s mandatory minimum laws are black and Latino, despite the fact that those groups make up just 25 percent of the state’s population. “There’s a huge racial justice element here,” she said. Brownsberger said the Senate would also look at bills filed by members of the Black and Latino Caucus calling for mandatory public disclosure of data on the race of pedestrians and drivers
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The senators’ push to abolish mandatory minimums is in line with a growing movement in the United States — even among Republican-dominated states, Creem noted. “Red states have been way out ahead of changing mandatory minimums because of cost issues,” she said. Second Middlesex and Suffolk Sen. Karen Spilka said she would like to see the age for people in the juvenile justice system raised from 18 to 21, as well as an easier process to expunge juvenile records.
The criminal justice system from the front end to the back end is broken. It’s deeply broken at so many junctures in the system. It’s broken in cost, in terms of the big-picture numbers — in the fact that we’re locking up five times as many people as we did in Massachusetts in the 1970s.”
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stopped by police, and independent investigators in police-involved shootings. “Those are definitely two of the bills that are on the table and we need to look at them,” he said.
Probation problems
Criminal justice reform activist Calvin Feliciano said he is encouraged by the senators’ focus on broader criminal justice reforms, but expressed concern about the Council of State Government, which he said is expected to include recommendations for more robust probation terms and increased post-release supervision. “They don’t just want you to do three years, they want you to do three years and mandatory supervision,” he said. “Probation is not helpful. Probation doesn’t help you get a job. It doesn’t help you change your attitude or get drug treatment.” Feliciano said ex-offenders on probation can be re-arrested and end up serving longer terms if they commit minor offenses such as talking to or associating with people who are felons or also on probation, or if they are arrested, even for a minor offense unrelated to the charges for which they served time. The senators told reporters in Rosenberg’s office that they’re determined to pass meaningful reforms this year. “Too many people are going into the system,” said First Suffolk District Sen. Linda Dorcena Forry. “Too many people are falling down, and we’re losing them by the day. This is an opportunity for us to do something. And to do it right. And to save the commonwealth money.”
8 • Thursday, February 23, 2017 • BAY STATE BANNER
Roxbury
continued from page 1 The result is many are priced out of their neighborhood and seek affordability in towns further from Boston. Anecdotally, Turner heard of people turning to places such as Fall River and New Bedford for one-bedrooms renting in the range of $600-$800 a month. “A friend of mine who’s in her 60s and lived in Roxbury all her life just moved to Fall River,” Turner said. According to the information from Barsatee, of 25 two-bedroom units that rented in the past six months, rents ranged from $1,300 per month to $2,450 per month with a median of $1,800. The median living space size was 900 square feet. For 13 three-bedrooms, rents ranged from $2,000 for a 1-bath apartment to $3,100 for a 2-bath Fort Hill unit, with $2,500 as the median rent. Of nine four-bedroom units, the median rent was $2,750/month, according to the data. Two five-bedroom units in Fort Hill went for $3,800 and $3,200. It is not only renters moving out. With demand for city housing at a high, many real estate professionals and developers are reaching out to elderly homeowners and offering them high cash sums to sell, White said. Many of these homeowners are taking up the offers, contributing to a demographic shift, he said.
Moving in
Those moving into Roxbury largely are students and young professionals, White and Turner said in separate phone interviews.
While newcomers represent a mix of races, most are white, they said. Armani White also cited housing demand from affluent white suburbanites seeking to move into the city. Students are a lucrative prospect to landlords, given they often are willing to sleep more people per room. Thus a unit that formerly rented for $1,000 to $1,500 per month might earn $2,000 to $3,000 per month from students, Turner said. Northeastern University’s landuse choices also play a contributing role, White said. When students traditionally look to off-campus housing in their junior and senior years, they are likely to move into the area surrounding their former housing. Many students have been led to move into the neighborhood following NU’s purchase of and development of student housing on Roxbury-located land, White said. “In areas surrounding Northeastern in Lower Roxbury, the number of low-income African American people has significantly decreased,” White said.
Inserting affordability
The cost of land and construction makes it challenging for developers to turn a profit on housing if they do not offer it at market rate. Government subsidies allow private developers to balance the cost, with the level of subsidy determining the amount of units and extent of affordability. While community development corporations take on missions of providing for their communities, Turner said recently, they have not always been able to provide the depth of affordability most needed in Roxbury.
Congo conflict minerals resolution signed
PHOTO: COURTESY GOVERNOR’S OFFICE
Governor Charlie Baker ceremoniously signed a resolution examining procurement policies relative to Congo conflict minerals (S. 2463), requiring the Executive Office of Administration and Finance in consultation with the Office of the Inspector General to review state procurement policies and examine best practices ensuring that the commonwealth’s electronics and information technology suppliers provide products that do not directly or indirectly finance armed conflict or result in labor or human rights violations in the Democratic Republic of the Congo or an adjoining country, use minerals that the origin and exporter can be identified, and contain raw materials that appropriate tax payments have been made on. According to Massachusetts Association of Community Development Corporations information provided to Turner, between 2010 and 2015 CDCs created 125 rental units in mixed-use developments in Roxbury. Of these, 36 were affordable for those with incomes of up to 30 percent AMI ($23,600 for a family of two, according to Affordable Housing Online). Another 81 units were priced for those making 31 percent to 60
Honoring Dr. King’s Legacy Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center celebrates Black History Month by honoring its 2017 YMCA Achievers, Ruth Campbell, Senior Accounting Assistant, and Roger Lefevre, MD, Chief of Female Pelvic Medicine and Reconstructive Surgery.
percent AMI (up to $47,100 for a family of two). Three units were offered for those making 61 percent to 80 percent AMI and five units for those earning above or at 81 percent AMI. During that time period, MACDC members created 523 more units in housing-only developments in Roxbury, of which 26 were ownership units and 497 rental. Of the 523 units, 100 were designated for those making up to 30 percent AMI, 376 for those making 31 percent to 60 percent AMI, 32 for those making 61 to 80 percent AMI and 15 unit for those making up to 81 percent AMI. City-owned land represents another resource that can be tapped to address affordable housing needs. While Mayor Martin Walsh’s administration is working toward its goal of creating 53,000 new units to ease housing
pressures, White and Turner say there is need for greater action. Turner said the city should take a firmer stance in the face of powerful need. He recommended that anytime city-owned land is used for housing construction, the city require that one third of the units are provided for low incomes, one third for moderate incomes and one third at market rate. “We have a situation where the vast majority of the people in the community have incomes that don’t allow them to economically rent units based on the formula being used,” he said. “In any community in Boston where rents are moving up more quickly than income and displacement is happening because of that, you’d assume that the use of city land would act as a mitigating force trying to balance the negative economic pressures of the private market.”
Public Meeting
BACK BAY/SOUTH END GATEWAY PROJECT WEDNESDAY, MARCH 1
40 TRINITY PLACE
6:00 PM - 8:00 PM
Boston Common Hotel & Conference Center, Room 201 Boston, MA 02116
PROJECT PROPONENT: Boston Properties, LP
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PROJECT DESCRIPTION: The proposed project is conceived as a transformative, mixed-use, transit-oriented redevelopment, which will revitalize an underutilized urban site and transform the adjacent public realm, and integrate and connect the surrounding Back Bay, South End, and Bay Village historic neighborhoods. The proposed project is comprised of up to approximately 1.26 million square feet of mixed-use redevelopment, consisting of a new office building with ground floor retail, two new residential buildings, a one- to two-story vertical retail expansion of the existing Back Bay Station building, and the partial redevelopment of the existing 165 Dartmouth Street Garage.
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CLOSE OF COMMENT PERIOD: 4/17/2017
BostonPlans.org
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Teresa Polhemus, Executive Director/Secretary
Thursday, February 23, 2017 • BAY STATE BANNER • 9
10 • Thursday, February 23, 2017 • BAY STATE BANNER
Trump Plan: Deport to Mexico immigrants crossing border illegally, regardless of nationality Guatemalans, Brazilians, Haitians and others would lose right to request asylum By GINGER THOMPSON AND MARCELO ROCHABRUN PROPUBLICA
Buried deep in the Trump administration’s plans to round up undocumented immigrants is a provision certain to enrage Mexico — new authority for federal agents to deport anyone caught crossing the southern border to Mexico, regardless of where they are from. If present immigration trends continue, that could mean the United States would push hundreds of thousands of Guatemalans, Hondurans, Salvadorans, Brazilians, Ecuadorans, even Haitians into Mexico. Currently, such people are detained in the U.S. and allowed to request asylum. President Trump wants them to do so from Mexico, communicating via videoconference calls with U.S. immigration officials from facilities that Mexico would presumably be forced to build. “This would say if you want to make a claim for asylum or whatever we’ll hear your case but you are going to wait in Mexico,” a DHS official said. “Those are details that are being worked out both within the department and
between the US government and the government of Mexico … there are elements that still need to be worked out in detail.” Kelly and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson will travel to Mexico later this week to meet with representatives of the Mexican government. It remains unclear if they will discuss this issue. The new authority for immigration agents is among the dramatic, some would say untenable, tactics the Trump administration is preparing to deploy as it upends President Obama’s policies on illegal immigration. A pair of memos signed by John Kelly, the Homeland Security secretary, and publicly released on Tuesday outline the plans for what present and former government officials say will be a massive roundup of undocumented immigrants. Near final drafts of the memos had leaked over the weekend and had been first reported by McClatchy. Officials disclosed that two former Senate aides to Attorney General Jeff Sessions drafted the plan without input from career DHS policy staffers. The ideas aren’t new. Many of the
approaches described in the memos come from a 1996 law that policy makers and law enforcement agents had disregarded as either unenforceable or absurd. “Most of these provisions of law have been there for decades,” the DHS official said. “We are simply trying to execute what Congress has asked us to do.” Among them was the Mexico part of the plan, for example, which calls for returning undocumented immigrants “to the foreign contiguous territory from which they arrived.” The memo goes on to point out how foisting the immigrants onto Mexico would benefit DHS’s budget, saying that it would, “save the Department’s detention and adjudication resources for other priority aliens.” However, former senior Mexican and American immigration officials said it could very well create new security problems along the border, as authorities in each country push unwanted migrants back and forth. The American Immigration Lawyers Association said that the proposal would violate U.S. law and international treaty obligations. Mexico is as likely to embrace the plan as it did the notion of paying for a wall. “I would expect Mexico to respond with an emphatic ‘No,’” said Gustavo Mohar, a former senior Mexican
City’s Senior Black History Month Celebration
PHOTO: MAYOR’S OFFICE PHOTO BY ISABEL LEON
The City of Boston and Mayor Martin Walsh host a Senior Black History Month Celebration at Prince Hall in Dorchester.
immigration and national security policy official. Whether viable or not, the Trump administration’s deportation plans mark a dramatic departure from decades of policy and practice. Current and former immigration policy officials say that while the details of how the administration intends to carry out the plans remain unclear — if not insurmountable — the administration’s overall message to enforcement agents across the country is clear: the limits have been lifted. President Obama attempted to focus enforcement efforts on immigrants who had been convicted of serious crimes, and on those who were caught while or shortly after illegally entering the country.
Still, his administration deported record numbers of immigrants, most of whom had only been accused of minor crimes and immigration violations. The Trump administration says it, too, is focused on deporting criminals, but it has redefined crimes to include any activity that might bring a conviction, including entering the U.S. without permission. Effectively, that makes virtually everyone in the U.S. without a proper visa subject to roundup at their workplace or home. “If you are present in the U.S. without being admitted or paroled or having overstayed your visa, the immigration laws of the U.S.
See DEPORTATION, page 19
Thursday, February 23, 2017 • BAY STATE BANNER • 11
Body camera advocate pushing for immediate implementation By YAWU MILLER
With the city’s six-month pilot project with body-worn police cameras just weeks away from completion, there are differing opinions on whether the Boston Police Department should move forward with full implementation or, as Police Commissioner Bill Evans suggests, extend the pilot project for another six months. During a hearing at the Mattapan Library in January, Evans outlined a case for collecting more data on the cameras before they’re fully implemented. The researchers hired to analyze the data, Jack McDevitt and Anthony Braga of Northeastern University, told reporters there’s not yet enough data on use of force. Evans also cited the $200,000 price tag for the researchers’ study of the pilot project as a major hurdle, but activists pushing for body camera implementation say the city should not delay full implementation. “Every other major city in the country is moving forward with implementing body cameras,” said Segun Idowu, co-founder of the Boston Police Camera Action Team. “Body cameras are inevitable. I don’t know what other bits of information we’re going to need to improve a program that has been implemented in other cities.”
Differing views
Idowu notes that the Boston Police Department didn’t hesitate to apply for federal grants to implement a social media monitoring program, but have not applied for a share of the $20 million the federal government has made
available for body cameras annually for the last few years. Idowu’s concerns were echoed by other supporters of full implementation. “The City of Boston should adopt full implementation of body cameras for all police officers,” said District 7 City Councilor Tito Jackson. “The city has paid more than $38 million over the past seven years for police incidents. Body cameras are not a punishment. They provide accountability and transparency on both sides.” City Councilor Andrea Campbell, who chaired the Mattapan meeting last month and heads the council’s Committee on Public Safety and Criminal Justice, did not speak to the Banner for this story. Her aide emailed a press statement voicing support for extending the pilot program. “I support extending the pilot and look forward to getting a more detailed cost analysis of full implementation, and continuing conversations with residents, including in communities of color, who still have concerns when it comes to issues of surveillance,” her statement read. Jackson, however, said extending the pilot would lead to “paralysis by analysis.” “Boston is a world-class city,” he said. “It should be a leader, not a follower in 21st century technology.” Idowu held a meeting last week at the Grove Hall Community Center to gauge community support for implementation of body cameras. He has meetings planned for March 1 at the Hyde Park Community Center, March 15 at Temple Israel in Brighton and March 20 at the main branch of the Boston Public Library in Copley Square.
Public Meeting
BANNER PHOTO
Boston Police Camera Action Team co-founder Segun Idowu speaks during a meeting at the Grove Hall Community Center.
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12 • Thursday, February 23, 2017 • BAY STATE BANNER
BUSINESSNEWS
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Mastering the music biz Berklee professor’s online courses provide access for all By SANDRA LARSON
“Every time music gets played, someone gets paid,” John Kellogg is fond of saying. The musician, lawyer, book author and Berklee College of Music professor follows the statement with his signature advice for anyone involved in music performance and production: “You should get paid, not played.” Kellogg’s music business wisdom has accrued over a multi-faceted working life that spans songwriting and singing with the band Cameo in the 1970s, decades as an entertainment lawyer representing star R & B and rap acts, and educating students at University of Colorado and now at Berklee, where he also is assistant chair of the music business/management department. Berklee students learn music business basics from Kellogg in forcredit classroom and online courses. But in 2014 Kellogg opened the door for people anywhere to be schooled in basic legal and business aspects of the music industry at no charge, by developing the first Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) on music business. In his Berklee office, where the walls are lined with posters, photos of musician friends and clients and plaques from major stars whose songwriters or producers he represented, including Barry White, Patti LaBelle and Anita Baker, Kellogg spoke with the Banner recently about his career path and his open courses “Having been a recording artist myself, and being so fortunate to have had experiences that I’ve had, I felt an obligation to try to give young people coming up a better understanding of the industry,” he explained. He built the courses, and they came. So far, nearly 70,000 people from around the world have accessed “Introduction to the Music Business,” a six-week course offered four times per year on the EdX platform, or the shorter “Music Business Foundations” offered every few weeks on Coursera.
Educating from experience
Access to the MOOC video lectures and other course materials is open and free. For an optional fee (currently $49) students may have access to quizzes, assignments or discussions and can receive an official certificate of completion. The video lectures cover such topics as the history and future of the music industry, copyright basics, working with managers and agents and understanding recording agreements. “The course opens their eyes to a lot of things they didn’t know about,” Kellogg said. As an example, many people are unaware of the importance of performance rights organizations, which help
PHOTO: SANDRA LARSON
John P. Kellogg, entertainment lawyer and assistant chair of music business/management at Berklee College of Music.
“
Having been a recording artist myself, and being so fortunate to have had experiences that I’ve had, I felt an obligation to try to give young people coming up a better understanding of the industry.” — John Kellogg
songwriters and publishers collect royalties for the use of their music. Being savvy about such elements is only becoming more important in the 21st century as artists are recording music on their own, he said. “They are in essence acting as their own record companies, so they need to understand the rights and obligations they might have.” Long before becoming a lawyer and a professor, Kellogg sang with The New Decade, a band he formed while in college at Syracuse University, and then with New York City-based Cameo, in that band’s early days when they were becoming known with singles like “Rigor Mortis” and “Funk Funk.” In the late 70s, he gave up the singing and touring life for law school, returning to his home town of Cleveland and Case Western Reserve University School of Law. Kellogg elaborated on this decision point in an interview last
year with Syracuse University Magazine: “At that time, many artists, especially black artists, were not getting the kinds of contracts they deserved. I believed that if I had a law degree, I could serve musicians and artists well by representing them.” As a newly-minted entertainment lawyer, his first client was The O’Jays. This was a dream come true, as he had idolized the Cleveland-based soul quartet while growing up, he said, and had even set a goal while in law school of someday working with them. He went on to represent The O’Jays for the next 25 years, as well as other acts including rapper G. Dep and R & B artist Gerald Levert.
An evolving industry
In recent years, the music industry has undergone dramatic change, especially with shifts from record company domination to musicians self-publishing on the
ON THE WEB Free open online courses:
n Introduction to the Music Business: http://bit.ly/2kHNfgP n Music Business Foundations: http://bit.ly/2l3RNtQ Full Berklee courses/programs online:
https://online.berklee.edu/courses Book: “Take Care of Your Music Business” 2nd ed. by John P. Kellogg: http://amzn.to/2lCnvSd Internet and from traditional sales to Internet streaming and subscription models. The good news is that musicians have far greater access to the market now, Kellogg says, though on the other hand, “Everyone has access, so it’s tough for your music to break through the clutter.” When his first open course launched in 2014, Kellogg also released a second edition of his 2001 book, “Take Care of Your Music Business,” updated to cover evolving 21st-century technology and business models and related legal concepts. He predicts it will be time for a third edition soon, given the rapid pace of change. “It’s a very exciting time,” he said. The next “Introduction to the Music Business” session on EdX starts April 17, with course registration open in early March. Selfpaced “Music Business Foundations” sessions on Coursera begin every few weeks.
BIZ BITS TIP OF THE WEEK Learn the basics to avoid cellphone surprises It’s easy to be overwhelmed when it comes to choosing a cellphone provider. Everyone claims to offer the best, cheapest and most comprehensive service. It can be especially baffling for seniors who, despite boundless wisdom elsewhere, may be newcomers to this technology. When you boil it down, it’s actually fairly simple. You need two things: a device that does what you need it to do, and a way to connect that device to a reliable wireless network. And there’s no reason you shouldn’t get it all at a price you can afford. n It’s all about the phone. The type of phone you choose will determine everything else you need. Will you use it primarily to make and receive calls? Do you want to send and receive text messages? Will you be searching the internet or using social media? Familiarize yourself with the types of phones on the market, and decide which is the best fit. Cellphones range from simple models offering basic call-and-text functions to sophisticated smartphones, capable of performing a mind-boggling array of tasks. Make sure you’re getting what you really need, and don’t tie yourself to something you’ll quickly outgrow. n Coverage is key. Your cellphone is only as good as the network it connects to. Before you sign up for service, you’ll want to be sure a provider can deliver coverage to the places you’ll be using your phone the most. While most providers display general coverage maps in their retail stores or on their website, distinctively local things can impact cellphone reception. Your home’s building materials may create interference, or tall buildings standing between your neighborhood and the nearest cellphone tower could disrupt the signal. Rather than relying solely on a map, ask around. Check if your neighbors are happy with the quality of their cellular service. Or have friends make calls from your house to hear what the reception and sound quality are like. This could go a long way toward narrowing your choices. n Minutes, texts and data: Solving the plan puzzle. The last piece of the puzzle will be deciding what type of monthly service to sign up for. Cellphone plans are packaged in a dizzying array of formats, but there are three basic types. Contract plans bind you to a carrier for a fixed term, usually two years. This means if you’re dissatisfied, there’s no opportunity to change until the contract expires without paying a significant penalty. Prepaid plans allow you to buy a fixed amount of minutes, texts and data, and use them until they run out. At that point you’ll have no service until you purchase more. No-contract, post-paid plans offer a nice mix of both. There’s no long-term agreement, so you can make changes without penalties. Unless you cancel, your plan renews month-to-month, so there’s no worry about running out of minutes and losing your service. n Avoid surprises on your bill. Before you sign up, ask about See BIZ BITS, page 13
Thursday,February February23, 9, 2017 Thursday, 2017 •• BAY BAY STATE STATE BANNER BANNER •• 19 13
BUSINESSNEWS CHECK OUT MORE BUSINESS NEWS ONLINE: BAYSTATEBANNER.COM/NEWS/NEWS/BUSINESS
Biz Bits
Carney expansion
continued from page 12 any penalties or hidden fees that may apply. Some carriers charge a fee just to activate your service. On contract plans, you’re required to pay a hefty “early termination fee” if you cancel your service early. Find out up front to avoid being ambushed later on. Whatever you choose, your monthly bill should be straightforward and understandable. You should be able to tell at a glance what period of time the bill covers, what your monthly charge is for accessing the carrier’s network, the cost of your monthly plan (and what it includes), plus any applicable taxes or fees. n Put yourself in charge. Shopping for the best deal on your cellphone service is no different than shopping for a dishwasher or an automobile. No one knows better than you do what your needs are. Just remember: There’s no shortage of wireless carriers in the market, and they’re all vying for your business. Use this advantage wisely — do your homework, ask questions and don’t be afraid to walk away if you don’t get the answers you want. — Brandpoint/Consumer Cellular
TECH TALK PHOTO: COURTESY CARNEY HOSPITAL
Carney Hospital President Walter Ramos cuts the ribbon on the newly renovated and expanded Emergency Department with local elected officials and community leaders.
Google Maps users can now build and share curated lists of recommended places within the app. Users will also be able to follow their friends’ lists, as well as view and edit lists on the desktop
version of Maps as well as offline. For the past month, the feature was only available to people, named Local Guides, who help Google discover new local places in exchange for benefits like invites to special events, but now is available to everyone.
THE LIST According to Forbes, the fastestgrowing U.S. cities/metropolitan areas in 2017 are: 1. Cape Coral-Fort Myers, FL 2. Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL 3. Provo-Orem, UT 4. Deltona-Daytona Beach-Ormond Beach, FL 5. Jacksonville, FL 6. North Port-Sarasota-Bradenton, FL 7. Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA 8. Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL 9. Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA 10. Salt Lake City, UT
NUMBER TO KNOW
$4,500
The price for a pack of two Auvi-Q epinephrine injectors that is returning to the market. The list price for the innovative injector, which uses audio instructions to walk caregivers through administering the injection, is more than seven times the cost of competitor EpiPen. Kaleo, the company behind the device, says the high price allows it to give greater discounts to patients, lowering the outof-pocket cost while making insurance companies cover the bill. — More Content Now
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CATERING DARRYL’S CORNER BAR & KITCHEN Let us “Serve You Right” for your next celebration or event! We offer pick-up & drop off, or full service catering with great Southern and American cuisines that will satisfy all your guests. To discuss and place your catering order call (617) 536-1100. www.darrylscornerbarboston.com
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LAWYERS LAW OFFICE OF VESPER GIBBS BARNES & ASSOCIATES 10 Malcolm X Blvd, Boston, MA 02119; (617) 989-8800; Fax: (617) 989-8846. Attorneys Vesper Gibbs Barnes and Felicia E. Higginbottom, practicing in the areas of Real Estate (Buyer/Seller), Landlord/Tenant, Probate, Family Law (Divorce/Child Custody and Support), and Personal Injury. Open M-F, 9 am-5 pm.
Finally, small businesses can get help from a smart and experienced business lawyer at an affordable price, on a One Day and Done™ basis. n Business Formations n Contracts n Customer/Vendor Disputes n Employee Issues n Employment Manuals www.DailyGeneralCounsel.com; Email: info@dailygc.com; Phone & Fax (800) 296-7681
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14 • Thursday, February 23, 2017 • BAY STATE BANNER
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‘And Still I Rise’
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PBS’ ‘American Masters’ series broadcasts revealing retrospective about Maya Angelou By KAM WILLIAMS
Maya Angelou (1928-2014) was born Marguerite Annie Johnson, in St. Louis, Missouri on April 4, 1928 to parents for whom she and her big brother Bailey soon became a burden. When Angelou was just 3, the siblings were sent alone by train to live with their paternal grandmother in Arkansas where they would be terrorized by the Ku Klux Klan. At 7, Angelou moved back to St. Louis, only to be molested by her now-single mother’s boyfriend. When she reported the rape, the perpetrator was soon murdered under mysterious circumstances. Angelou subsequently fell mute and was shipped back to her grandma’s house. Although she couldn’t talk, she did take to reading like a fish to water. And by the time she spoke again at the age of 12, she’d become very acquainted with the classics ranging from Shakespeare to Langston Hughes to Edgar Allan Poe. Unfortunately, exposure to great literature didn’t save Angelou from further trauma, as she would become a single mom at 17 after being pressured into a sexual encounter with a boy who wanted nothing more to do with her. She
See ANGELOU, page 17
AT A GLANCE The verdict: Excellent (4 stars) Rated: Unrated Running time: 114 minutes Distributor: PBS
ON THE WEB For a behind-the-scenes peek at Common on the set with Maya Angelou, visit:
https://youtu.be/O8pLATICKq8
Maya Angelou BANNER FILE PHOTO
Thursday, February 23, 2017 • BAY STATE BANNER • 15
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Ashes to ashes, dust to dust
Valentine’s Day Serenade
Steve McQueen’s ‘Ashes’ haunts ICA By CELINA COLBY
ON THE WEB For more information about the “Ashes” exhibit at the ICA, visit: www.icaboston.org/
The ICA Boston presents the exhibitions/steve-mcqueen-ashes U.S. debut of video artist Steve McQueen’s piece “Ashes” through Feb. 25, 2018. This stunning visual the vibrant colors and rich natural landscape depicted. exploration follows the life of a The other side of the screen carefree young fisherman named has a much more somber attiAshes, and the unexpected and tude. Shot eight years after Ashes’ jarring fate that awaits him. Mcdeath, in sharp, 16 mm film, the Queen layers the film with comscenes show the meticulous crementary on globalism, the econation of his gravestone and digomy and the way bodies can be ging of his grave. Both screens are defined and confined by history. projected with one audio track, McQueen is known for his feahis friend narrating his life, his viture films “Twelve Years a Slave” tality and how he came to this last and “Hunger.” But his personal resting place. In a press statement artistic endeavors are equally, if McQueen said, “Life and death not more, influential. The artist have always lived side by side, in met the fisherman Ashes in 2002 every aspect of life. We live with in Grenada while filming another ghosts in our everyday.” In this work and then, for many years, installation there is no way to see forgot about the brief footage he Ashes’ life without also experienctook of him. ing his death. “Ashes” projects onto two backMcQueen in one way is analyzto-back screens in the dark, narrow installation room. One side features ing in excruciating detail the work footage of Ashes on the water, in his that goes into making a gravesite. element. Shot in grainy, lush 8 mm He shoots the painstaking painting, digging and structuring the film, these projections are visual grave for the coffin to be lowered feasts. We see Ashes sitting on in. This documentarian approach the prow of his boat, his lean back raises more commentary on the to us, his hair wild in the wind. circle of life. Creating Ashes’ grave His dark body bursts with vitality is how these laborers make their against the background of the rich bread and butter. His death is blue sky and water. their life. In many ways, the film The shots are simple in naris not about his death, which rative content: he stands on the isn’t even depicted. It’s a hauntboat, he laughs and poses, he ing recap of his life, played on perpetuates his cycle of life in the loop. And the constant, reverse small town where he lives. But reminder that there’s only one every still bursts with life and way out, even from a life as vivaenergy, not only because of Ashes’ cious his.1 natural charisma, but because of 4:38 Mary Wilson BSB_Layout 1 2/14/17 PM as Page
MARY WILSON OF THE SUPREMES
Friday & Saturday, March 3 &4
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Call for Tickets & Info at: 617-562-4111 • Order on-line at www.scullersjazz.com Dinner/Show Packages available. Also In-Club menu.
PHOTO: MAYOR’S OFFICE PHOTO BY ISABEL LEON
Mayor Martin Walsh joins Veronica Robles at the Veronica Robles Cultural Center for the 3rd Annual Valentine’s Day Serenade in East Boston.
16 • Thursday, February 23, 2017 • BAY STATE BANNER
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FILM REVIEW
Temperamental teacher challenges nerdy colleague to duel in ‘Fist Fight’ By KAM WILLIAMS
Do you remember how, when you were growing up, if a couple of classmates came to blows on the schoolyard, they would be quickly separated with the suggestion that they settle their differences off campus at the end of the day? That was the point of departure of “Three O’Clock High,” a 1987 comedy about a bully with a short fuse who challenges a mild-mannered milquetoast to a duel after school. Ostensibly inspired by that teensploitation classic, “Fist Fight” is a slight variation on the theme, flipping the script by having a couple of teachers squaring off instead of students. Otherwise, the basic idea remains intact. The movie co-stars Ice Cube and Charlie Day as Ron Strickland and Andy Campbell, respectively, colleagues at Roosevelt High. Intimidating history teacher Ron cuts a sharp contrast to nerdy English teacher Andy, and much of the humor revolves around their difference
PHOTOS: WARNER BROTHERS PICTURES
Ice Cube (left) and Charlie Day star in the Warner Brothers Pictures film “Fist Fight.” Below, Ice Cube in a scene from “Fist Fight.”
in temperament. The action unfolds on the last day of school, which is when we find seniors running amok and pulling a variety of outrageous pranks like kicking the spout off a water cooler and rocking the ineffective security guard’s (Kumail Nanjiani) golf cart while he’s still sitting in it. Despite the insanity, the faculty is doing its best to maintain decorum. Nevertheless, Andy’s lesson on why words matter is interrupted by the antics of class clowns. He’s able to handle the disruption far better than Ron, who proceeds to blow his cork.
Fight buildup
The plot thickens when both teachers are summoned to Principal Tyler’s (Dean Norris) office to explain why Ron chopped a disrespectful pupil’s desk in half with an ax. The upshot of the meeting is that Ron loses his job because of Andy, so he challenges him to a fight after school. Consequently, fraidy-cat Andy spends the rest of the afternoon trying to find a way to avoid the confrontation.
AT A GLANCE The verdict: Good (2 stars) Rated: R for sexuality, nudity, drug use and
pervasive profanity Running time: 91 minutes Distributor: Warner Brothers Pictures
ON THE WEB To see a trailer for “Fist Fight,” visit:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=9aIzXYo6VCE Too bad the ensuing buildup to the big showdown between the adversaries proves to be less entertaining than the promising premise. The two share few funny moments following the setup. Luckily, this kitchen sink comedy continues to deliver, courtesy of such student stunts as hiring a mariachi band to follow the principal around the halls. The movie marks the feature film debut of actor-turned-director Richie Keen, who also makes a cameo appearance as a computer store employee. And the supporting cast includes the scene-stealing Tracy Morgan whose quirky trademark mannerisms are put on full display. Note that “Fist Fight” is a relentlessly-profane romp that may have set a record for the use of the F-word. Since the closing tableau sets up the sequel, might I suggest that the next installment cut down on the curses in favor of more jokes.
Thursday, February 23, 2017 • BAY STATE BANNER • 17
ARTS&ENTERTAINMENT CHECK OUT MORE ENTERTAINMENT NEWS ONLINE: BAYSTATEBANNER.COM/NEWS/ENTERTAINMENT
THEATRE
‘Black Is’ booklist provides cultural, political history
YOUR WORLD ON STAGE AY! D N U SE S O L TC MUS
By CELINA COLBY
continued from page 14 subsequently supported herself and her son, Guy, by holding an array of odd jobs, including work in the sex trade industry as a stripper, prostitute and even a madam. Yet somehow, Angelou would overcome her humble roots and checkered early career to become an African American icon and a very respected writer in her own right. That miraculous recovery is the subject of “Maya Angelou: And Still I Rise,” a reverential retrospective offering an intimate look at the life of the late poet, author, actress, director and civil rights activist. Co-directed by Bob Hercules and Rita Coburn Whack, the film features heartfelt reflections by an array of luminaries, including Bill and Hillary Clinton, Oprah Winfrey, John Singleton, Cicely Tyson, Dave Chappelle and Valerie Simpson, to name a few. For example, we hear Secretary Clinton refer to her as “a phenomenal woman” while Lou Gossett Jr. credits her with raising his political consciousness. “And Still I Rise” is a poignant portrait of a sex abuse survivor’s unlikely path from abandoned street urchin to consummate poet laureate!
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NOW - FEB 26
PHOTO: CITY OF BOSTON
The Boston Public Library is highlighting black authors with its “Black Is” booklist this month.
ON THE WEB For more on the “Black Is” booklist compiled by the BPL over the years, visit:
www.bpl.org/research/adultbooklists/blackis.htm two Ku Klux Klan members who murdered a young black boy. “The Black Presidency” by Michael Eric Dyson explores how President Obama’s race impacted his time in office and the nation’s identity.
Local flavor
Local authors play a front and center role in the “Black Is” list, including Onaje X.O. Woodbine, author of “Black Gods of the Asphalt.” Now a resident of Andover, Massachusetts and a teacher at Phillips Academy, the book explores Woodbine’s experience on the ferocious basketball courts of Boston Public Schools. Where athletic scholarships could mean a ticket out of a difficult life, competition was fierce. Poet Kevin Young, author of “Blue Laws” on the “Black Is” list, graduated
from Harvard College, and Shaka Senghor, author of “Writing My Wrongs,” is an MIT Media Lab Fellow alumnus. The “Black Is” list isn’t just a gesture of goodwill on behalf of the Boston Public Library system. It’s mandatory reading for anyone looking to understand or participate in today’s cultural and political world. Leonard says, “The BPL has always had a mission of being free to all. Particularly in a time when some of our communities may be feeling threatened, we want to underscore that all are welcome.”
FROM IRELAND
A poignant story of class, race and learning to dream again.
MR. JOY
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COMING TO HALEY HOUSE BAKERY CAFÉ: Thu Feb 23 - Peace: A Community Visioning, 7pm. Join us for a discussion to include a community visioning and collaborative discussion around a Roxbury Wellness Wednesday series: identification of space, wellness practitioners & entrepreneurs, & students. Fri Feb 24 - The House Slam featuring special guest Hieu Minh Nguyen, 6:30pm.
FRI, MAR 3 @ 7PM
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FILM
Angelou
THE BEAUTY QUEEN OF LEENANE
COMMUNITY CURATORS
In celebration of Black History Month, the Boston Public Library is hosting an inspired array programming that includes film screenings, panel discussions and photo exhibits. But the most longstanding February tradition is the “Black Is” booklist, a collection of influential works by black authors that represent black history and experience of the past year. BPL director David Leonard says, “This has been a feature of our programming since 1993 and all the books in this year’s list were published in 2016.” A committee selects the books based on their content, looking to create a contemporary picture of the African American experience. All the books are drawn from the existing collection and are available to the public year round. This year’s list is a blend of pop culture and politics, two genres that have been especially intertwined since the 2016 election. Books like “Hidden Figures” by Margot Lee Shatterly, which inspired the Oscar nominated movie, and “Walking With the Muses” by Pat Cleveland, provide a perspective on the black role in art and culture in the modern sphere. A new biography of Michael Jackson and a memoir written by ESPN reporter Lisa Fenn about two African American high school wrestlers also fill out the pop culture section. Weightier is the political faction of books, many of which comment directly on social forces affecting the Trump presidency. “The Lynching” by Laurence Leamer tells the story of the trial and ultimate 1981 conviction of
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FRIDAY THROUGH BARBED WIRE PRESENTS 4TH FRIDAY SERIES 7-8:30pm: Monthly participatory event focused on the voices of prisoners, through their writings to family, friends, youth, community allies about prison reality and their lives in it. Reading of Letters Responding to Our Holiday Cards. Families, friends, former prisoners, public are welcome; bring names/addresses of loved ones. Pot Luck. Created/directed by Arnie King. Friday February 24, The City School, 614 Columbia Rd. near Uphams Corner, Dorchester. Free Parking. For more info: throughbarbedwire@yahoo.com or visit www.arnoldking.org; tel. 857-492-4858. Cost: Donation.
SATURDAY BLUE HILLS RESERVATION Moderate walk, with some hills, 2.5 miles. Walk around Tucker Hill on the green dot trail. Meet Saturday, February 25 at 1pm at the Houghton’s Pond main parking lot at 840 Hillside St. in Milton. The Southeastern Massachusetts Adult Walking Club meets each weekend on either a Saturday or Sunday at 1:00 for recreational walks. This club is open to people of 16 years of age and older, and there is no fee to join. Walks average 2 to 5 miles. New walkers are encouraged to participate. The terrain can vary: EASY (mostly level terrain), MODERATE (hilly terrain), DIFFICULT (strenuous & steep). Walks will be led by a park ranger or a Walking Club volunteer leader. Occasionally, the Walking Club meets at other DCR sites. Some DCR sites charge a parking fee. The rangers recommend wearing hiking boots and bringing drinking water on all hikes.
WEDNESDAY FALLS PREVENTION CLASSES FOR SENIORS Many older adults experience a fear of falling. People who develop this fear often limit their activities, which can result in physical weakness, making the risk of falling even greater. A Matter of Balance: Managing Concerns About Falls is a FREE 8-week program designed to reduce the fear of falling and increase activity levels among older adults. Classes include fun videos, group discussion, a safe surroundings survey, and mild exercise to increase strength and flexibility. BCYF Grove Hall Community Center, 51 Geneva Ave. in Dorchester. Wednesday from 10am - 12pm, March 1. For more information or to register for this workshop contact Ann Glora at 617-477-6616 or aglora@ethocare.org.
THURSDAY MATERIAL MATTERS Simmons College presents Material Matters, an exhibition of collage and paintings by Gerri Rachins and encaustic reliefs by Stephanie Roberts-Camello, through March 2 at the Trustman Art Gallery, located on the fourth floor, Main College Building, 300 The Fenway in Boston. The exhibit and reception are free and open to the public. This exhibition brings together
two artists who are engaged in divergent approaches to the usual, two-dimensional form of painting. Rachins and Roberts-Camello both access their personal history using drawings and family letters, respectively, to create something new as well as a pentimento of the past. The artists break the frame, play with shape and form inconsistent with their source material, and utilize eye-popping color. Trustman Gallery hours are 10am - 4:30pm, Monday through Friday. The gallery is free, open to the public and wheelchair accessible. For more information, contact Marcia Lomedico at 617-521-2268, or visit the Trustman Art Gallery website at www.simmons.edu/ trustman and visit us on Facebook.
UPCOMING BLUE HILLS RESERVATION Moderate walk, some hilly terrain, 3+ miles. Walk from St. Moritz Pond to Sawcut Notch, return on Crags Foot Path. Meet Sunday, March 5 at 1pm at the Shea Rink parking lot at 651 Willard St. in Quincy. The Southeastern Massachusetts Adult Walking Club meets each weekend on either a Saturday or Sunday at 1:00 for recreational walks. This club is open to people of 16 years of age and older, and there is no fee to join. Walks average 2 to 5 miles. New walkers are encouraged to participate. The terrain can vary: EASY (mostly level terrain), MODERATE (hilly terrain), DIFFICULT (strenuous & steep). Walks will be led by a park ranger or a Walking Club volunteer leader. Occasionally, the Walking Club meets at other DCR sites. Some DCR sites charge a parking fee. The rangers recommend wearing hiking boots and bringing drinking water on all hikes.
PLAY READING BOOK CLUB READS OCTAVIA BUTLER’S PARABLE OF THE SOWER (Developed and sponsored by ArtsEmerson with funding by the Fellowes Athenaeum Trust Fund of the Boston Public library.) Gain unique and radical access to plays, artists, and conversations at ArtsEmerson with the Play Reading Book Club at the Dudley Branch of the BPL. In free* weekly sessions at the library participants will read script, discuss artistic and production values, attend a performance, and put on a showcase for family and friends. No prior knowledge or reading of the plays is necessary. *Pre-registration is required. March 11-April 1. Go to: http://bit. ly/DUDLEYPRBC1617. For more info, contact Akiba Abaka at Akiba_abaka@ emerson.edu or 617-824-3071. To learn more about the play, visit our website at www.artsemerson.org. Dudley Branch Library, 65 Warren Street, Roxbury.
DCR BLUE HILLS RESERVATION MAPLE SUGAR DAYS March 18-19 from 12-4pm. It’s sugarin’ time in the Blue Hills! Join us as we make maple syrup in the traditional way at beautiful DCR Brookwood Farm in Milton. Put on your boots and flannel shirt and join the fun! Ride the free shuttle ride aboard the Maple Express Trolley. Smell
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 23
CHILDREN’S WINTER FESTIVAL
Mayor Martin J. Walsh announced that the Boston Parks and Recreation Department will be bringing the annual Children’s Winter Festival to Boston Common in partnership with the Highland Street Foundation during school vacation week on Thursday, February 23, from 10am -3pm. Among the attractions will be Snowzilla, a three-story-high inflatable snow tube slide, the 15-foot-tall and 45-foot-long Toboggan Tunnel mountainous adventure with twin roller lanes, and the Snow Mazing maze. In addition, the Highland Street Foundation is sponsoring a week-long Winter Camp at the Boston Common Frog Pond with free skating and rentals for all ages from through February 24. For more information on the Winter Camp skating, please visit www.highlandstreet.org. The festival will also feature a DJ from Magic 106.7, the Museum of Science Chocolate Truck with facts about chocolate and free hot chocolate samples, an appearance by the L.L.Bean Bootmobile with their popular Boot Toss game, giveaways from Summit Premiere’s “Rock Dog” and Columbia Picture’s “Smurfs: The Lost Village,” and refreshments from DAVIDsTEA and KIND Snacks. In addition, the Appalachian Mountain Club’s Outdoors Rx program will present activities including a snowshoe obstacle course, scavenger hunts, and a winter play party. Additional support is being provided by the Floating Hospital for Children at Tufts Medical Center and Fisher College. For more information, please call the Boston Parks and Recreation Department at 617-635-4505, visit www.cityofboston.gov/parks or go to www.facebook.com/bostonparksdepartment.
the wood smoke as you watch clouds of steam rise from the bubbling sap. Savor the taste of real maple syrup. Discover maple sugaring through time. Activities for all ages. Program admission: Adults $10, Children (ages 3-12) $5, Ages 2 and under free. Maple Sugar Days is a joint program of the DCR and Mass. Audubon Trailside Museum. Proceeds benefit the Trailside Museum. For more info, please call 617-333-0690.
COYOTE ON A FENCE Hub Theatre Company of Boston will kick off its highly anticipated fifth season with the riveting drama Coyote on a Fence by Bruce Graham March 31-April 15 at First Church Boston, 66 Marlborough Street in Boston’s Back Bay. Does a horrible childhood excuse a heinous deed? Inspired by actual events, Coyote on a Fence tells the story of two men living on death row under vastly different circumstances. Young Bobby Reyburn is a likable, illiterate member of the Aryan Brotherhood who committed a horrific crime. John Brennan is an educated, arrogant writer whose crime may actually be deemed a favor to society. Who deserves to die? With language both powerful and precise this timely and provocative play raises the question whether one can be sentenced to death but worthy of life. Performances are Thursdays at 7:30pm, Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm, and Sundays at 5pm. All performances are Pay-What-You-Can. For tickets and information visit www. hubtheatreboston.org.
ONGOING
from 1-2pm, through May 3. For more information or to register for this workshop contact Ann Glora at 617-4776616 or aglora@ethocare.org.
THE COOPER GALLERY 2017 SPRING EXHIBITION Diago: The Pasts of This Afro-Cuban Present on view: Through May 5. Opening Reception: February 1, 6pm. Visit coopergalleryhc.org/upcoming-exhibition for more information. Ethelbert Cooper Gallery of African & African American Art, Hutchins Center, 102 Mount Auburn St., Cambridge. Open Hours: Tuesday-Saturday, 10am - 5pm. Closed: Sunday, Monday, and on official Harvard University holidays.
PUBLIC OPEN NIGHT AT THE OBSERVATORY The Public Open Night at the Observatory is a chance for people to come observe the night sky through telescopes and binoculars and see things they otherwise might not get to see, and learn some astronomy as well. The Open Nights are held most Wednesday evenings throughout the year, weather permitting. The program starts promptly at 7:30pm during the fall and winter months, and 8:30pm during the spring and summer months. Please arrive early as there is no admittance once the program begins. We start admitting ticketed guests 10
minutes before the program begins. Right before the program starts and after all the ticketed guests that are present are admitted, we will admit any non-ticketed guests until we reach capacity. Public Open Nights are open to everyone, however space is limited. To reserve a free ticket for admission visit: http://bit.ly/28QbEHr. The Public Open Night is held at the Coit Observatory at Boston University. We are located at 725 Commonwealth Ave., Boston, above the Astronomy Department. The stairwell up to the Observatory is on the fifth floor just to the left of room 520. Unfortunately, there is no disabled access to the Observatory. For information about Open Night, please call 617-353-2630, or check our Twitter feed (twitter.com/ buobservatory).
MAKE 2017 YOUR BEST YEAR EVER! Free. Take the important steps towards your high school diploma at Dimock Adult Education. Classes meet 3 days a week, 9:30-1:30. At Dimock, students go beyond preparing for their HiSet exam. Dimock students are learning soft skills for a career in hospitality or culinary arts, developing cover letters and resumes and using social media to connect to workforce training opportunities. All this is happening in a welcoming, supportive learning environment. Interested? Call 617-442-8800 ext. 1219 to learn more!
SUDOKU ANSWERS FROM PG 19
TAI CHI CLASSES FOR SENIORS This FREE evidence-based workshop focuses on preventing falls and improving balance through the regular practice of Tai Chi. Participants will learn 8 single forms, derived from the traditional, well known, 24-form Yang Style Tai Chi. The forms are tailored to older adults who wish to improve balance and mobility, and consequently, reduce the risk of falling. Class meets twice a week for 12 weeks and is designed for beginners. Twelfth Baptist Church, 160 Warren Ave. in Roxbury. Mondays and Wednesdays
The Community Calendar has been established to list community events at no cost. The admission cost of events must not exceed $10. Church services and recruitment requests will not be published. THERE IS NO GUARANTEE OF PUBLICATION. To guarantee publication with a paid advertisement please call advertising at (617) 261-4600 ext. 7799 or email ads@bannerpub.com. NO LISTINGS ARE ACCEPTED BY TELEPHONE, FAX OR MAIL. NO PHONE CALLS PLEASE. Deadline for all listings is Friday at noon for publication the following week. E-MAIL your information to: calendar@bannerpub.com. To list your event online please go to www.baystatebanner.com/events and list your event directly. Events listed in print are not added to the online events page by Banner staff members. There are no ticket cost restrictions for the online postings.
Thursday, February 23, 2017 • BAY STATE BANNER • 19
deportation continued from page 10
subject you to removal,” the DHS official said. “Everyone who is in violation of the laws is theoretically subject to enforcement. The Department has limited resources and we will, to the extent that we can, focus on folks who have committed serious crimes.” The only clear exception, according to the enforcement plan and the DHS briefing, is for immigrants who were illegally brought to the U.S. as children, known as Dreamers. “Anyone who complained about Obama as the deporter-in-chief,” said David Martin, formerly DHS’s principal deputy general counsel, “is unfortunately going to get a taste of what it’s like when someone is really gung-ho.” Greg Chen, the policy director at AILA, said the Trump plan would “effectively unleash a massive deportation force with extremely broad authority to use detention as the default mechanism for anyone suspected of violating immigration law.” The question looming over the proposals is how many of them, with all their legal and logistical obstacles, will the president actually be able to carry out. The memos, for example, authorize the Border Patrol to hire 5,000 new agents, even though the force has never been able to fill the slots it has already been allotted. Some 60 percent of applicants to the Border Patrol fail the required polygraph, and those who pass take 18 months to get sent out into the field. The Trump plan calls for the expansion of a George W. Bush-era program, known as 287g, which
allows DHS to deputize state and local police as immigration agents. It was touted after 9/11 as a critical “force-multiplier.” But by 2010, some of the country’s largest police departments were refusing to participate because they believed it would shatter the trust between their officers and the communities they were sworn to protect. Meanwhile, participating agencies, which foot the bill for the program, were suddenly saddled with new debts and hounded by accusations of racial profiling and other abuse, forcing the Obama administration to suspend expansion of the program. Until now, the enforcement of summary deportation laws, known as “expedited removal,” have been limited to those apprehended within 14 days of illegally entering the country and within 100 miles of Canada or Mexico. The memos signed by Kelly would allow use of those laws anywhere in the country against anyone who entered illegally within the past two years. Lucas Guttentag, a former DHS adviser and Stanford law professor, said this would “unleash chaos,” violate due process, and meet challenges in court, similar to those that scuttled the administration’s travel ban. There would also be aggressive challenges, lawyers said, to plans that would allow immigration agents to deport unaccompanied minor children who crossed the border illegally, rather than uniting them with parents or other relatives in the U.S. The reason for discussing unaccompanied minors is “ that they have been abandoned by their parents or legal guardians,” the DHS official said. If it is “determined that there is a parent or guardian in the U.S. that they can be handed over to, then DHS needs to take
FUN&GAMES SUDOKU: SEE ANSWERS ON PAGE 18
a hard look over whether that person is actually’’ an unaccompanied minor. “There will be a renewed focus on ensuring that folks don’t abuse the system,” the DHS official added. They also expect legal opposition to a proposal that would strip undocumented immigrants of existing privacy protections, allowing personal information such as asylum cases or immigration violations to be publicly disclosed. “We want to ensure that our privacy policies are consistent with the law,” the DHS official said. “The Privacy Act applies by statute to citizens’’ and green card holders. “The President has asked us to align our laws with
what congress has directed.” “The Trump people have clearly bought into the model of harsh enforcement. They apparently think, ‘we’ll be tough, and a lot of people will leave on their own,’” said Martin, an immigration law professor at the University of Virginia. “They believe they’ll win in the court of public opinion. I’m not sure about that. A lot of Americans know hard-working undocumented immigrants. The kind of enforcement Trump’s people are talking about will visibly create many more sympathetic cases than unsympathetic ones.” Some of the provisions explicitly acknowledge that it could take years before DHS has the manpower and money to pull off what the president
has ordered. Immigration enforcement agents, however, have already begun filling the policy void by launching raids and deportations, including some that advocates worry are meant to test the limits. Meanwhile panic has taken hold in many immigrant communities. “The level of fear is more than anything we’ve ever seen,” said Marielena Hincapie, executive director of the National Immigration Law Center. She said the plan’s sweep, “sent a chill to my bones,” because it threatens to do irreparable harm to millions of families. She added, “This all seems aimed at changing who we are as a nation.”
This article was co-published with Univision.
Walsh offers remarks at Boston Public School Diversity Fair
PHOTO: MAYOR’S OFFICE PHOTO BY JEREMIAH ROBINSON
Mayor Martin Walsh offers remarks during the Boston Public School Diversity Fair at the Bolling Building in Roxbury.
20 • Thursday, February 23, 2017 • BAY STATE BANNER
FOOD
www.baystatebanner.com
CHECK OUT NUTRITION AND HEALTH NEWS ONLINE: BAYSTATEBANNER.COM/NEWS/HEALTH
TIP OF THE WEEK Reinvent snacking with new combos An easy place to start exploring new snack combinations is with flavors you already know and love. Think about your favorite foods and consider new ways to enjoy them together. For example, fruit pairs well with many different foods, such as peanut butter or cheese. Experiment with snacks that blend two or more of the primary tastes: sweet, sour, salty, bitter and savory. Remember that supporting ingredients can play a big role. A little spice or seasoning can go a long way to transforming a snack. A dash of hot sauce, a squeeze of citrus or a pinch of freshly chopped herbs are all easy ways to bring big flavor changes. — Family Features/The Laughing Cow
EASY RECIPE
New England Maple Apple Dip Servings: 6 n 1 cup cream cheese n ½ cup maple syrup n ½ teaspoon cinnamon n Pinch of salt n ¼ cup Greek yogurt n 2 apples, peeled and chopped into ¼-inch cubes n Cinnamon sugar pita chips or plain pita chips Using food processor, blend cream cheese with maple syrup, cinnamon and salt until smooth. Fold Greek yogurt into cream cheese mixture; mix in apples. Serve with pita chips. — Family Features/Stacy’s
NUMBER TO KNOW
40
gallons: It takes roughly 40 gallons of sap to make 1 gallon of maple syrup.
THE DISH ON ... “Eat Wheat: A Scientific and Clinically-Proven Approach to Safely Bringing Wheat and Dairy Back Into Your Diet,” by John Douillard — Dr. John Douillard, a former NBA nutrition expert and creator of LifeSpa.com, addresses the underlying cause of the gluten-free epidemic. Although eliminating wheat and dairy from your diet may help, it is a BandAid solution. “Eat Wheat” addresses the root cause: weak digestion and the inability to efficiently break down harmful pollutants and toxins that can lead to chronic degenerative diseases and autoimmune disorders. — Morgan James Publishing
Opa! TASTE OF TRAVEL
Exploring the Greek islands through cuisine By CHARLENE PETERS, MORE CONTENT NOW
A typical Greek market in downtown Euboea. CHARLENE PETERS PHOTO
E
arly morning on a secluded beach, a nap under a straw umbrella seemed justifiable. After all, it was a late arrival from Italy to Athens, with a two-and-ahalf-hour chauffeured drive up and over the mountainside to Thalatta Seaside Hotel. It was my second week of travel with my son, Jake, a millennial who voiced his desire for an authentic vacation experience. Upon our entrance, we were handed what looked like a white lump submerged in a glass of water. In fact, this was a shot of mastika, the island’s traditional welcome. The licoricey flavor of this delicious liqueur is made from the resin of the mastic tree. Locals say it’s the “teardrop” of the native Mediterranean evergreen. Famished, we found our way to the late-night Greekstyle buffet, and after doing it as much justice as we could at that hour, we climbed the outdoor steps to the hotel’s fire pit for a post-prandial cocktail and a symphony of the Aegean Sea. This upstairs area was also where a slowfood, wine-tasting dinner is served on the Baxe Restaurant terrace. Though not as well-known as some of the other Greek islands, Skiathos and Skopelos are where Meryl Streep performed high jumps on a mattress during the filming of “Mamma Mia.” Skopelos is where Jake and I enjoyed a plate of octopus at a wharfside restaurant as an army of sea urchins saluted us with their spines in the shallow water below. On Santorini or Mykonos, there would be scads of tourists at every turn, especially in June. Thalatta and its nearby islands, however, offer quiet seclusion. Mid-week, a guided excursion brought us past a herd of goats in the roadway and through the thick of a forest to hike down a small hillside. We perched on a rock in front of a waterfall where I later meditated while Jake explored the area. From there, we drove a short distance to visit a monastery with an interior of magnificent Byzantine-influenced art. As we exited, the monk offered us a parting gift – a selection of ginger candy
View of Thalatta Seaside Hotel while sailing the Aegean Sea. CHARLENE PETERS PHOTO we respectfully accepted. Just steps outside, we were greeted by a woman who offered us a small cup of Greek coffee (boiled Turkish coffee). And then we were on our way to Limni, northwest of the island of Euboea, where we walked the coastline past shops and cafes. In Greece, practically all of the food available for sale in groceries or cafes is homemade and fresh-baked, but you can’t beat the freshness of stuffed grape leaves made from scratch in the kitchen of a real Greek cook. On our final day in Greece we signed up for an excursion to the home of Gogo, a local culinary legend whose warmth and apple-cheeked smile greet you when you arrive for a cooking lesson. Over more of that high-octane coffee and mastika, we spent hours learning from Gogo how to make tziki; stuffed peppers, tomatoes and grape leaves; and the signature dish of Greece: spanakopita. With both his appetite and his quest for knowledge fulfilled, Jake left Gogo’s raving that Thalatta was clearly a millennial-approved travel destination. Mom agrees.
Charlene Peters is a passionate explorer of indigenous dishes throughout the world. She can be reached at siptripper@gmail.com.
Stuffed Vegetables
Stuffed Vegetables after a cooking lesson at Gogo’s home.
n 1 cup parsley n 1 tablespoon dried peppermint n 1 cup fresh mint n 1 teaspoon black pepper n 2 tablespoons sugar n 1 tablespoon sea salt n 2 spoons of rice per each vegetable n ½ cup olive oil n F eta cheese (as much as you desire) n Scooped inside of vegetables used (zucchini, red and green peppers, eggplant, tomatoes)
CHARLENE PETERS PHOTO
n Fresh grape leaves n 2 potatoes Mix everything but the potatoes and grape leaves. Stuff the mix in the scooped-out vegetable shells and add a dollop of mix on each grape leaf before folding. Using a large oven-safe pot, add the vegetables to fill the entire space. Fill in gaps with slices of potato. Add a half glass of water and a half glass of olive oil and cook at 500 degrees for one hour, more or less.
Thursday, February 23, 2017 • BAY STATE BANNER • 21
FOOD CHECK OUT NUTRITION AND HEALTH NEWS ONLINE: BAYSTATEBANNER.COM/NEWS/HEALTH
TIP OF THE WEEK Benefits of farmraised seafood U.S. farm-raised fish and shellfish are a nutrient dense food and are excellent sources of high quality, easily digestible protein. What’s more, they are packed with important vitamins and minerals including essential B-complex, A and D vitamins as well as selenium, iron and zinc. An average serving has less than 200 calories. Some of the leaner varieties like tilapia, clams, oysters, mussels and shrimp have less than 100 calories. If you want to help ensure that the seafood you consume is safe to eat, opt for products that have been farm-raised in the United States. Look for country of origin and method of production labels in your supermarket. — Brandpoint/National Aquaculture Association
FLASH IN THE PAN
KNOW YOUR ONION IT’S ONION SEASON – HOW TO MAKE USE OF THE BOUNTY
T
Prep time: 5 minutes Servings: 4 n 1 cup low-fat vanilla yogurt n 1 cup unsweetened frozen raspberries n 1 cup unsweetened frozen strawberries n ¾ cup low-fat milk n 1 cup ice (about 12 cubes) Blend all ingredients in blender until smooth. Serve immediately. — Family Features/ Midwest Dairy Association
NUMBER TO KNOW
17
billion: Americans eat close to 17 billion quarts of popcorn every year.
PHOTO: ARI LEVAUX
Sliced Onion Salad Dressing n One large yellow onion, preferably sweet n ¼ cup fresh lime juice n Teaspoon salt n ¼ cup White Balsamic Vinegar or Condiment* Peel the onion. Slice in half from tip to tip, and lay the cut halves flat on the cutting board. Cut the onions as thinly as possible from tip to tip, into thin sheets. Combine onions with lime, vinegar and salt, stirring around until all of the sheets have broken apart into their concentric layers. The lime adds sharpness, the vinegar sweetness and depth. Then, start adding things. Put it in the fridge for an hour or two, and enjoy.
By ARI LEVAUX, MORE CONTENT NOW
EASY RECIPE
Raspberry-Strawberry Yogurt Smoothie
Onion salad with grated carrot, cabbage, ginger and celeriac, and shrimp, salmon, crushed chili flakes and fresh cilantro.
he expression “to know one’s onions” means to have knowledge about something. Kind of like knowing your “stuff.” Knowing one’s literal onions is central to surviving the winter. Or at least it was, back in the day, before supermarkets, when there really wasn’t much else to eat. King Louis XV supposedly solved this winter riddle when he invented French onion soup. His Highness and his crew had arrived at some sort of hunting cabin or castle, only to find nothing in the pantry but onions, wine, butter and salt. Luckily, His Royal Culinary Genius was able to devise a meal out of just those ingredients, a meal that was destined to become a national treasure. But as stupendous as French onion soup is, it’s still possible to get sick of it if one eats it every day. Onion season is long, and the list of possible ways to make onion salad is even longer, long enough to help you outlast winter with all of your marbles on board. My wife calls her onion salad recipe “salad dressing.”
It’s basically marinated onions, sliced thinly, that she adds to other vegetables, like romaine or kale, along with oil. I’ve been messing around with her procedure for a while now, and its versatility is impressive. Onions not only stay edible throughout the winter, they stay fully alive. Eating a living food, made of living things, is a special thing in winter. Of course, a dish that includes copious amounts of raw-ish onions is not necessarily for the gastronomically — or gastro-intestinally — timid. But the longer that the onions marinate, the mellower they become. They are, essentially, refrigerator-pickled onions that lose the spicy pungency of their freshly sliced selves, and transfer some of their pizzazz to the other ingredients you might mix in. Most any vegetable you could pick up at the local winter market would be a good candidate for mixing with sliced onion salad dressing. One of my favorites is to grate in garlic, carrots and celeriac. It turns into a colorful, complex and potent little salad, especially when drizzled with a velvety olive oil or nutty
French Onion Soup Bake onions, sliced in half tip to tip, in butter and white wine, at 250 F, until they are as sweet as candy. Transfer the onions, and all pan juices, to a pot of simmering stock. Add salt, a bay leaf and a pinch of herbs de Provence, and simmer until the onion sheets melt away. Serve topped with broiled gruyere or with baked brie crostini. pumpkin seed oil. Beyond that, it’s all systems go to add pretty much anything, plant- or animal-based. Spoon the onions upon chopped cabbage with crumbled feta. Toss them with parsley or kale. Add a little chopped cilantro, and maybe some grated ginger, and you’ve got a poor man’s ceviche. I recently added some frozen shrimp to my poor man’s ceviche, and after a few hours it wasn’t so poor. The next day I tossed my onion salad dressing with flaky chunks of leftover salmon, and let the marinade infiltrate and permeate its way in, and
THE DISH ON ... “Eat Beautiful: Food and Recipes to Nourish Your Skin from the Inside Out” by Wendy Rowe: In “Eat Beautiful”, makeup artist and beauty consultant Wendy Rowe details how specific ingredients feed your skin, offering breakdowns of the vitamins and nutrients they provide. Rowe’s recipes showcase these essential foods to help target specific skin problems and alleviate common complaints. She even provides specific advice for what to incorporate or avoid depending on skin type. — Clarkson Potter
Look online for
NUTRITION & HEALTH NEWS at www.baystatebanner.com/news/health — and look in the pages of the Bay State Banner for Be Healthy, our quarterly health magazine. Be Healthy offers easy-to-understand analysis of common health issues as well as first-hand patient stories, exercise tips, nutrition news and healthy recipes. A publication of The Bay State Banner
was all the richer. These winter salads can also approximate a species of Southeast Asian-style vegetable and seafood salad that’s often made with papaya. Some extra lime juice, grated cabbage and ginger, and maybe some peanuts in the mix, and you’re just a squirt of fish sauce and some crushed chili away from shrimp som tum. Crispy salmon skins are a decadent contrast to the sharply piercing onion salad. Ari LeVaux writes Flash in the Pan, a syndicated weekly food column that’s appeared in more than 50 newspapers in 25 states. Ari lives can be reached at flash@flashinthepan.net.
22 • Thursday, February 23, 2017 • BAY BAY STATE STATE BANNER BANNER
BANNER CLASSIFIEDS Arroyo continued from page 1LEGAL
does not believe there are substantive charges against his client and that those who benefitted from the status quo opposed Arroyo’s efforts to hire people with language skills beyond English and to hire diverse candidates. Arroyo, who served as the city’s director of Personnel under the administration of Mayor Ray Flynn and was the first Latino elected to the Boston City Council, has demanded that the Trial Court make public any allegations of wrongdoing. Two employees in the Probate Court, speaking to the Banner on the condition of anonymity, backed up Prince’s claim of sabotage. While the proportion of people of color on the Probate Court’s 33person staff doubled from 22 percent to 44 percent during Arroyo’s three years in office, the long-term white staff members engaged in behavior the sources said undermined the efficacy of the office, including hiding or disposing of checks and paperwork. “People in the office aren’t doing their jobs,” one employee said. “It’s a very hostile environment among long-term employees with 15 to 20 years in the office,” the other employee said. In addition to his request for specific allegations against Arroyo,
PHOTO: COURTESY OF FELIX D. ARROYO
Felix D. Arroyo Prince also requested office audits and information on the office’s workforce, including the demographics, job titles and salaries for staff over the last 20 years. Prince’s request is not the first call for an open investigation into hiring practices in the state’s troubled court system. In December, Oren Sellstrom, an attorney for the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Equal Justice, filed a complaint against state Trial Court administrator Harry Spence to order the release of information on the race and gender of individuals hired and promoted as court security officers as well as information on hiring and promotion practices. The Trial Court includes the Probate, Family, Superior and Boston Municipal courts and employs more
“
Felix inherited LEGALan office with a history of cronyism. He ended this practice by filling vacancies with a qualified, diverse staff that added second language capabilities. ”
Youth push for recreation facility LEGAL
— Walter B. Prince, of the law firm Prince Lobel than 6,000 individuals. The Lawyers’ Committee filed the lawsuit after the court refused to release the information the Lawyers’ Committee requested under the Freedom of Information Act. After the lawsuit was filed, the court released some, but not all, of the information requested. “The Lawyers’ Committee is highly concerned that the Trial Court refuses to be transparent about its practices,” said Executive Director Ivan Espinoza-Madrigal. “We had to sue the Trial Court to obtain basic demographic information that is rightfully in the public domain. And now the Trial Court is not being transparent about the scope of its investigation into matters related to a Latino elected official. This pattern of
PHOTO: MARK SAPERSTEIN
Youth from the Hyde Square Task Force held a rally and press conference last week in Jamaica Plain calling for funding for the Jackson Square Recreational Facility, a planned skating rink and indoor sports field. The Urban Edge CDC has raised $13 million for the facility, but would need another $8 million to complete the project. avoiding transparency and disclosure at a public institution is highly concerning.” In 2010, a series of media reports about allegations of patronage hiring in the Trial Court and Probation Department led to a criminal investigation and the indictment of several individuals for mail fraud, racketeering and conspiracy. An independent counsel appointed by the Supreme Judicial Court found “systemic abuse
and corruption in the hiring and promotion of the Probation Department.” Spence’s position was created in 2012, largely in response to the scandal in the Probation Department. Arroyo spokesperson Patrick Keaney issued a fundraising email last week calling for donations to help Arroyo’s team “mount a vigorous legal and community campaign” against what he said was an unjust decision made by Spence.
BANNER CLASSIFIEDS LEGAL MASSACHUSETTS PORT AUTHORITY NOTICE TO CONTRACTORS Sealed General Bids for MPA Contract No. L1221-C1, TUNNEL LIGHT REPLACEMENT – RAMP T-A/D & T-S, LOGAN INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, EAST BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, will be received by the Massachusetts Port Authority at the Capital Programs Department Office, Suite 209S, Logan Office Center, One Harborside Drive, East Boston, Massachusetts 021282909, until 11:00 A.M. local time on WEDNESDAY, MARCH 22, 2017, immediately after which, in a designated room, the bids will be opened and read publicly. NOTE: PRE BID CONFERENCE WILL BE HELD AT THE CAPITAL PROGRAMS DEPARTMENT (ABOVE ADDRESS) AT 11:00 am LOCAL TIME ON THURSDAY, MARCH 2, 2017. A SITE VISIT TO FOLLOW IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE PRE-BID CONFERENCE. THIS WILL BE THE ONLY OPPORTUNITY FOR CONTRACTORS TO VISIT THE SITE. THIS PROJECT INCLUDES THE REMOVAL AND REPLACEMENT OF EXISTING TUNNEL LUMINAIRES WITH NEW LED LUMINAIRES FOR INTERSTATE 90 RAMP T-A/D AND RAMP T-S. WORK INCLUDES PROVIDING NEW ELECTRICAL SERVICE CONNECTIONS, ELECTRICAL CONDUIT AND WIRING, NEW LUMINAIRES AND LUMINAIRE SUPPORTS AS WELL AS OTHER ITEMS REQUIRED TO COMPLETE THE WORK AS DIRECTED BY THE ENGINEER. TO COMPLETE THIS WORK, MAINTENANCE OF TRAFFIC PROCEDURES SHALL BE EXECUTED PER MASSDOT STANDARDS AND THE CONTRACT DOCUMENTS. Bid documents will be made available beginning THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 2017. Bid Documents in electronic format may be obtained free of charge at the Authority’s Capital Programs Department Office, together with any addenda or amendments, which the Authority may issue and a printed copy of the Proposal form. The estimated contract cost is ONE MILLON, THREE HUNDRED FIFTY THOUSAND DOLLARS ($1,350,000). A proposal guaranty shall be submitted with each General Bid consisting of a bid deposit for five (5) percent of the value of the bid; when sub bids are required, each must be accompanied by a deposit equal to five (5) percent of the sub bid amount, in the form of a bid bond, or cash, or a certified check, or a treasurer’s or a cashier’s check issued by a responsible bank or trust company, payable to the Massachusetts Port Authority in the name of which the Contract for the work is to be executed. The bid deposit shall be (a) in a form satisfactory to the Authority, (b) with a surety company qualified to do business in the Commonwealth and satisfactory to the Authority, and (c) conditioned upon the faithful performance by the principal of the agreements contained in the bid. The successful Bidder will be required to furnish a performance bond and a labor and materials payment bond, each in an amount equal to 100% of the Contract price. The surety shall be a surety company or securities satisfactory to the Authority. Attention is called to the minimum rate of wages to be paid on the work as determined under the provisions of Chapter 149, Massachusetts General Laws, Section 26 to 27G, inclusive, as amended. The Contractor will be required to pay minimum wages in accordance with the schedules listed in Division II, Special Provisions of the Specifications, which wage rates have been predetermined by the U. S. Secretary of Labor and / or the Commissioner of Labor and Industries of Massachusetts, whichever is greater. The successful Bidder will be required to purchase and maintain Bodily Injury Liability Insurance and Property Damage Liability Insurance for a combined single limit of $1,000,000. Said policy shall be on an occurrence basis and the Authority shall be included as an Additional Insured. See the insurance sections of Division I, General Requirements and Division II, Special Provisions for complete details. This Contract is also subject to Affirmative Action requirements of the Massachusetts Port Authority contained in the Non Discrimination and Affirmative Action article of Division I, General Requirements and Covenants, and to the Secretary of Labor’s Requirement for Affirmative Action to Ensure
LEGAL Equal Opportunity and the Standard Federal Equal Opportunity Construction Contract Specifications (Executive Order 11246). The General Contractor is required to submit a Certification of Non Segregated Facilities prior to award of the Contract, and to notify prospective subcontractors of the requirement for such certification where the subcontract exceeds $10,000. Complete information and authorization to view the site may be obtained from the Capital Programs Department Office at the Massachusetts Port Authority. The right is reserved to waive any informality in or reject any or all proposals. MASSACHUSETTS PORT AUTHORITY THOMAS P. GLYNN CEO & EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR LEGAL NOTICE REQUEST FOR INFORMATION The MASSACHUSETTS PORT AUTHORITY (Authority) is soliciting a Request for Information for MPA CONTRACT NO. M569-S1, RTG ENGINE, DRIVE AND GENERATOR RETROFIT, CONLEY CONTAINER TERMINAL, SOUTH BOSTON, MA, from vendors that provide systems with proven technology designed to retrofit five (5) existing Rubber Tire Gangway (RTG) Cranes with new EPA Tier 4 certified engines, new drive and control system and new electrical rooms at the Conley Container Terminal in South Boston, MA. The Authority has prepared a Request for Information (RFI) that describes the Authority’s intention to retrofit five (5) existing RTG cranes (originally manufactured by Konecranes); and discusses Evaluation Criteria and other requirements for the RFI. The full RFI will be available to interested parties beginning Wednesday, February 22, 2017 via email by contacting Susan Brace at sbrace@massport.com. Submissions in response to the RFI will be evaluated on the basis of (1) the extent to which the points of information and questions presented in the Authority’s RFI are thoroughly and clearly answered, and (2) the extent to which the vendor’s products have been service proven and been successfully used in similar projects. The selection shall involve the short-listing of one or more vendors based on an evaluation of the information received in response to this solicitation. The Authority reserves its right to conduct interviews, issue a Request for Proposal or seek product demonstrations if it is deemed necessary or, based on the quality and responsiveness of the submittals, select a vendor or vendors for the retrofit of five existing RTG cranes. By responding to this solicitation, vendors agree to accept the terms and conditions of the Authority’s standard work order agreement, a copy of the Authority’s standard agreement can be found on the Authority’s web page at www.massport.com. The vendor shall specify in its cover letter that it has the ability to obtain requisite insurance coverage. standard insurance requirements which can be found on the Authority’s web page at www. massport.com. The vendor shall also provide an original and nine copies of litigation and legal proceedings information, signed under the pains and penalties of perjury, in a separate sealed envelope entitled “Litigation and Legal Proceedings”. See www.massport.com/doing-usiness/Pages/CapitalProgramsResourceCenter. aspx for more details on litigation and legal proceedings history submittal requirements. The Authority may reject any application if any of the required information is not provided: Cover Letter, Insurance Requirements, Litigation and Legal proceeding. Submissions shall be printed on both sides of the sheet (8 1/2” x 11”). Ten (10) copies of a bound document each limited to no more than 20 sheets (40 pages) of relevant material including a cover letter but not including covers and dividers shall be addressed to Houssam H. Sleiman, P.E., CCM, Director of Capital Programs and Environmental Affairs and received no
LEGAL later than 12:00 Noon on Thursday, March 9, 2017 at the Massachusetts Port Authority, Logan Office Center, Capital Programs Department, One Harborside Drive, Suite 209S, East Boston, MA 02128. Any submission which is not received by the Capital Programs Department in a timely manner shall be rejected by the Authority as non-responsive. The litigation and legal proceedings history shall be submitted in a separate sealed envelope, as required. Any information provided to the Authority in any Proposal or other written or oral communication between the Proposer and the Authority will not be, or deemed to have been, proprietary or confidential, although the Authority will use reasonable efforts not to disclose such information to persons who are not employees or consultants retained by the Authority except as may be required by M.G.L. c.66. The procurement process for these services will proceed according to the following anticipated schedule: EVENT
DATE/TIME
Solicitation: Release Date
February 16, 2017 (Thursday)
Deadline for submission of written questions
February 22, 2017 (Wednesday)
Official answers published (Estimated)
March 1, 2017 (Wednesday)
Solicitation: Close Date / Submission Deadline
March 9, 2017 (Thursday)
Times are Eastern Standard Time (US). Questions may be sent via email to CPBidQuestions@massport.com subject to the deadline for receipt stated in the timetable above. In the subject lines of your email, please reference the MPA Project Name and Number. Questions and their responses will be posted on Capital Bid Opportunities webpage of Massport http://www.massport.com/doing-business/_layouts/ CapitalPrograms/default.aspx as an attachment to the original Legal Notice and on COMMBUYS (www.commbuys.com) in the listings for this project. MASSACHUSETTS PORT AUTHORITY THOMAS P. GLYNN CEO & EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENT MASSACHUSETTS BAY TRANSPORTATION AUTHORITY SOLICITATION FOR CONSULTANT SERVICES FEDERALLY-FUNDED PROJECTS The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority is soliciting general engineering consulting for supplemental staff for project development and review services, including design phase review services, general project development and scoping, construction phase review services, schedule review services, estimating services, emergency services, and other assignments as deemed necessary. The amount of $7,500,000, with $2,500,000 available for each of the three consultants selected, has been budgeted for this project. This contract will utilize Federal and State Funds. The DBE Participation Goal is four-percent (4.0%). The complete request for qualifications can be found on the MBTA website. Please use the following link: http://www.mbta.com/business_center/bidding_solicitations/current_solicitations/ This is not a request for proposal. The MBTA reserves the right to cancel this procurement or to reject any or all Statements of Qualifications. Stephanie Pollack Mass DOT Secretary & CEO
Brian Shortsleeve Acting General Manager and Chief Administrator
Thursday, February 23, 2017 • BAY STATE BANNER • 23
BANNER CLASSIFIEDS
LEGAL
MASSACHUSETTS BAY TRANSPORTATION AUTHORITY 100 SUMMER ST., SUITE 1200 BOSTON, MA 02110 NOTICE TO BIDDERS Electronic proposals for the following project will be received through the internet using Bid Express until the date and time stated below, and will be posted on www.bidx.com forthwith after the bid submission deadline. No paper copies of bids will be accepted. Bidders must have a valid digital ID issued by the Authority in order to bid on projects. Bidders need to apply for a digital ID with Bid Express at least 14 days prior to a scheduled bid opening date. Electronic bids for MBTA Contract No. B91CN13, BRIDGE REPAIR SYSTEM WIDE (CLASS 1 - GENERAL TRANSIT CONSTRUCTION and CLASS 4A – BRIDGES/STEEL STRUCTURE; CLASS 4B – BRIDGES/CONCRETE STRUCTURE, PROJECT VALUE - $10,000,000.00 ±), can be submitted at www.bidx.com until two o’clock (2:00 p.m.) on March 16, 2017. Immediately thereafter, in a designated room, the Bids will be opened and read publicly. The work to be done under this contract consists of providing professionals, labor, materials, and equipment to perform condition assessment, construct, and complete emergency bridge repair work within a specified construction schedule. Emergency bridge repair work is defined as work that is of an emergency nature and requires immediate attention and corrective action, as determined by the MBTA. Emergency repair work will be classified as ‘Type A’ or ‘Type B’. Type A emergency repairs are defined as conditions pose imminent safety concerns, and/or immediately impact the operation of railroad, transit, MBTA busing, or vehicular or pedestrian traffic over or under MBTA property as determined by the MBTA. Type B emergency repairs are defined as conditions, that if not addressed within a specific period of time, defined by the MBTA, pose a safety concern or impact the above referenced MBTA operation. This Contract is subject to a financial assistance Contract between the MBTA and the Federal Transit Administration of U.S. Department of Transportation. FTA Participation 80 percent. Bidders’ attention is directed to Appendix 1, Notice of Requirement for Affirmative Action to Insure Equal Employment Opportunity; and to Appendix 2, Supplemental Equal Employment Opportunity, Anti-Discrimination, and Affirmative Action Program in the specifications. In addition, pursuant to the requirements of Appendix 3, Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) Participation Provision, Bidders must submit an assurance with their Bids that they will make sufficient and reasonable efforts to meet the stated DBE goal of eight percent (8%). Bidders will affirmatively ensure that in regard to any contract entered into pursuant to this solicitation, minority and female construction contractors will be afforded full opportunity to submit Bids and will not be discriminated against on the grounds of race, color, religion, sex, age, or national origin in consideration for an award.
LEGAL
Public Notice is hereby given that the Boston Redevelopment Authority d/b/a the Boston Planning & Development Agency (“BRA”) will consider at its scheduled meeting on Thursday, March 2, 2017, starting at 5:40 P.M. in the Board Room – Room 900, 9th Floor, Boston City Hall, One City Hall Square a proposed modification to the South End Urban Renewal Plan regarding Parcels 47, 54G, 54H, 56, and 56A. Said modifications will change the Permitted Land Uses of Parcels 47, 54G, 54H, 56, and 56A to include a combination of residential, commercial, office and parking. Parcels 47, 54G, 54H, 56, and 56A are located on portions of land that are currently occupied by the Gambro Building (660 Harrison Avenue), 100 East Canton Street, and an open-air parking lot in the South End and commonly known as “Harrison Albany Block.” This Public Notice is being provided in accordance with a certain “Conciliation Agreement” by and among the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the BRA and others, dated as of January 16, 2001.
REAL ESTATE
ng pti ns* e LIVE IN HISTORIC cc tio A NEW BEDFORD, MASSACHUSETTS w ca No ppli An Award Winning Community of Quality! A ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙
Teresa Polhemus, Secretary, Boston Redevelopment Authority INVITATION TO BID The Massachusetts Water Resources Authority is seeking bids for the following: BID NO.
DESCRIPTION
DATE
TIME
WRA-4348
Purchase of Variable Frequency Drives
03/07/17
11:00 a.m.
Fuel Storage Tank Maintenance Service
03/23/17
OP-335
2:00 p.m.
To access and bid on Event(s) please go to the MWRA Supplier Portal at www.mwra.com.
All utilities included Cable ready Vibrant community gathering space w/billiards table Laundry care suite Cozy library Resident service programs and activities 24-hour emergency maintenance Shopping, public transportation, major highways, dining, medical facilities, parks, beaches and recreational opportunities all nearby
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508.993.3077 | PeabodyProperties.com Melville Towers is designed for seniors 62+ as well as persons with disabilities who are under age 62
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HELP WANTED
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Additional information and instructions on how to submit a bid are available at http://www.mbta.com/business_center/bidding_solicitations/current_solicitations/
Roxbury office
On behalf of the MBTA, thank you for your time and interest in responding to this Notice to Bidders Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority Brian Shortsleeve Chief Administrator and Acting General Manager of the MBTA February 16, 2017 Notice of Community Meetings and Request for Public Comment The City of Peabody and the City of Haverhill, in cooperation with the North Shore HOME Consortium, an organization comprised of thirty cities and towns in the Merrimack Valley and the North Shore, will convene two Community Meetings in preparation for the creation of its One-Year Annual Action Plan for the Program Year 2017, beginning on July 1st 2017. The City of Peabody, the City of Haverhill, and the Consortium are hoping to receive comments from interested parties concerning 1.) The use of HOME funds for the development of affordable housing in the North Shore HOME Consortium region in the coming year; and 2.) The use of CDBG funds in the City of Peabody and the City of Haverhill in the coming year. The Consortium’s member communities include: Amesbury, Andover, Beverly, Boxford, Danvers, Essex, Gloucester, Georgetown, Hamilton, Haverhill, Ipswich, Lynnfield, Manchester-by-the-Sea, Marblehead, Merrimac, Methuen, Middleton, Newburyport, North Andover, North Reading, Peabody, Rockport, Rowley, Salem, Salisbury, Swampscott, Topsfield, Wenham, West Newbury and Wilmington. These meetings are being held to obtain information from the public on how needs have changed in the region from the prior years and to evaluate how well the City and the Consortium are carrying out the goals set out in last year’s action plan. After the conclusion of the community meetings, a draft of the Annual Action Plan will be created and made available for public comment. At that time two public hearings will be held to obtain feedback on the document. The public comments received will then be incorporated into the final draft of the Annual Action Plan, which will then be submitted to the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The two Community Meetings will be conducted for the purpose of receiving comments on local housing needs and community development needs at the following dates and locations: (Both of these locations are accessible.) Thursday, March 9th, 2016 at 10:00 A.M. At the Haverhill Public Library, 99 Main Street, Haverhill, MA Thursday, March 9th, 2016 at 6:00 P.M. At Peabody City Hall, Lower Level Conference Room, 24 Lowell Street, Peabody Citizens, all interested parties, representatives from the City of Peabody and from the Consortium’s member communities, and nonprofit providers are urged to participate in these hearings. Written comments are also encouraged, and may be addressed, on or before April 20th, 2017, to: For Peabody and the NSHC: The Department of Community e-mail addresses: Development and Planning lisa.greene@peabody-ma.gov or City Hall, 24 Lowell Street stacey.bernson@peabody-ma.gov Peabody, Massachusetts 01960 FAX (978) 538-5987 For the City of Haverhill: Haverhill Department of Community Development 4 Summer Street, Room 309 Haverhill, MA 01830 e-mail: aherlihy@cityofhaverhill.com Fax: (978) 374-2332 PUBLIC NOTICE BOSTON REDEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY D/B/A BOSTON PLANNING & DEVELOPMENT AGENCY PROPOSED MODIFICATION TO SOUTH END URBAN RENEWAL PLAN, PROJECT NO. MASS. R-56 FOR PARCELS 47, 54G, 54H, 56, AND 56A
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