Bay State Baner 3-23-2017

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School budget heading for School Committee vote pg 2

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Arroyo alleges bias in review

St. Patrick’s Day Breakfast

Questions impartiality of investigation into administration of Probate Court

By YAWU MILLER

PHOTO: DON WEST

With typical satirical humor, mayoral candidate Tito Jackson (center) unveils a campaign t-shirt to the crowd at the annual St. Patrick’s Day Breakfast as Gov. Charlie Baker and State Sen. Linda Dorcena Forry look on. This year marks the fourth consecutive year that the senator has hosted the event.

D7 field takes shape, Henriquez joins race District 7 City Council campaigns start rollout

By JULE PATTISON-GORDON

Last week, former state Rep. Carlos Henriquez became the latest to join the crowded field of candidates vying for the District 7 City Council position currently held by mayoral contender Tito Jackson. He joins a field of about seven so far who seek to represent Roxbury along with parts of

Dorchester, Jamaica Plain, the Fenway and the South End. The primary election is on Sept. 26, and with the nomination filing deadline not until May, more candidates still may emerge.

“I have a very long history of civic engagement in my community,” Henriquez told the Banner.

“I have a good working knowledge of how I can work for the community.”

Newest candidate

Henriquez said that, should he be elected, one of his top priorities will be facilitating homeownership pathways for low-income residents — potentially by advancing co-op and land trust models as well as compelling nonprofits and community development corporations to go beyond rental unit creation.

See DISTRICT 7, page 6

The release of a scathing report on operations in the probate office has ratcheted up the tension in Suffolk County Register of Probate Félix Arroyo’s fight for reinstatement to the post from which Trial Court Supervisor Harry Spence removed him last month.

Arroyo, who repeatedly has called for an open investigation, published dozens of pages of material on his website in support of his claims that the suspension he was handed on Feb. 3 is unjust and unwarranted. These documents include the suspension letter from Spence and Arroyo’s response to it.

The Trial Court made public an assessment that alleges poor performance by the Registry on Arroyo’s watch. The assessment was written by Terri Klug Cafazzo, who received a promotion to Acting Register of Probate as a result of Arroyo’s suspension.

In the letter suspending Arroyo, Spence maintains that Cafazzo’s assessment was the basis of the suspension. In his March 13 response to Spence, Arroyo called the assessment “self-serving,” alleging that Cafazzo had an interest in making the situation seem worse than it was. According to salary figures made public by the Boston Herald, Cafazzo made $112,468 before being placed at the Suffolk Registry of Probate and is now making $134,692.

Arroyo hit back at Spence and Cafazzo with a fact sheet on his

Félix D. Arroyo website laying out a defense of his record since taking over the long-troubled office two years ago, noting that much of the dysfunction detailed in Cafazzo’s report happened under the watch of Spence himself, who ran the court the year prior to Arroyo’s term.

“From April of 2011 through January 2015, when Arroyo was sworn in, the Suffolk County Registry of Probate and Family Court was under the direct management of the Trial Court for 33 out of 44 months, most of that time under Harry Spence,” reads a fact sheet posted on Arroyo’s website.

Arroyo was elected register of probate in 2014 after Spence removed former Register Patricia Campatelli following allegations she struck an employee and engaged in other acts of misconduct. Employees in the probate court who spoke to the Banner

See ARROYO, page 20

In defense of Codman Sq. parking lot City’s car-free vision stumbles without fixes

By JULE PATTISON-GORDON

While city planners and a new crop of architects are pushing for car-free condos and public transit-oriented developments, not everyone is on board. Developer interest in replacing a Codman Square parking lot with housing or business space is meeting stiff resistance from a local pastor.

On his radio show, Pastor Bruce

Wall of Dorchester’s Global Christian Ministries gave an impassioned speech in defense of the parking lot across the street from the church, at the corner of Washington and Euclid Streets.

“It was frightening to learn that the parking lot that can hold close to 50 automobiles every day — parked there by people who work at the Codman Square Health Center, who go to local businesses, who attend churches, by people

who actually live in the neighborhood — were going to be taken away, just snatched away from us and given to developers for them to put apartments on or to put a business on across the street,” Wall said in a YouTube video that had garnered nearly 100 views

by Banner press time. “We were horrified.”

If the parking lot — which is managed by the church but owned by the city — becomes lost to private development and

See CODMAN SQ., page 8

BANNER PHOTO

Pastor Bruce Wall says Codman Square stands to lose businesses and churches should the city allow the Euclid and Washington Streets parking lot to be built over.

2 • Thursday, March 23, 2017 • BAY STATE BANNER

School budget heading for School Committee vote Students, parents, teachers voice opposition to cuts in proposed fiscal year 2018 budget

By YAWU MILLER

Cuts to schools dominated the debate during last week’s Boston School Committee meeting. Students, parents and teachers appealed for more funding in the final gathering before the Committee’s scheduled Wednesday evening vote on the proposed $1.061 billion budget.

“My school losing over half a million dollars scares me,” said Urban Science Academy senior Joe Okafor.

“Although I would not be directly affected, being a senior, students I know would have to lose teachers — great teachers that they’ve built strong connections with.”

Located in West Roxbury, Urban Science Academy is one of 49 schools that together would lose $13 million in funding. Although the fiscal year 2018 budget contains $29 million in added funding, according to BPS officials new programming will cost upwards of $20 million, leaving little new money to cover existing costs.

School Committee Chairman Michael O’Neil told meeting attendees that the total allocation for the schools is increasing by 3.9 percent, a figure that apparently includes the $20 million the city set aside for collective bargaining.

City Councilor Tito Jackson said BPS has made the budget more difficult to understand by including the collective bargaining

funds, which will not be part of next year’s operating budget if the city and school staff unions do not reach an agreement.

“Schools are on the receiving end of very deep cuts,” he said.

“There are dozens of schools being cut — the Dever, the Tynan, the Timilty, Urban Science Academy, Edison, Channing, Hennigan, West Roxbury Academy, Burke, Grew — and that’s just some of them. That is the sound of Boston’s opportunity gap widening.”

The majority of the schools in the BPS system will see modest increases under the student-weighted funding system, through which funds are allocated to schools according to the number of students they enroll.

Schools that have declining enrollments will see their funding drop.

But while the district’s Office of Opportunity and Achievement Gaps is slated for a modest increase in funding, members of the BPS-convened Opportunity and Achievement Gaps Task Force took a strong stand against the budget.

“The OAG Task Force is opposed to the 2017-2018 budget as it is currently written because it will have a negative impact on the district’s efforts to eliminate opportunity and achievement gaps, particularly for students attending low-performing schools,” said task force member Ayele Shakur, reading from a statement. “By using the current Weighted Student

BANNER PHOTO

City Councilor Tito Jackson speaks during a press conference held before a School Committee hearing on the fiscal year 2018 budget.

Funding Formula as its foundation, the FY18 budget systematically disinvests in the district’s lowest-performing schools that have the greatest needs.”

Shakur and others noted that many of the schools most adversely affected by budget cuts are in low-income neighborhoods and serve high populations of low-income, special needs and English language learners.

Among those schools receiving cuts are six designated Level 4 by the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and one Level 5 school. Shakur argued that lower-performing

schools and schools with higher-need students should receive more per-pupil funding than what the current student-weighted system allows.

“Under the current funding formula, BPS creates policies that lead to under-enrollment, and then penalizes schools for this under-enrollment,” she said. “What results is a vicious cycle where the district’s lowest performing schools are forced to make drastic cuts year after year as enrollments plummet, until they are ultimately starved out of existence.”

Million dollar cut

A contingent of parents and teachers from the John W. McCormack Middle School, due to receive a $935,000 cut, took turns testifying about their school’s plight.

While the McCormack is rated by DESE at Level 3, several of its teachers argued that when the city turned one of its main feeder schools into a K-8, enrollment began to drop, precipitating a $1.9 million decline in funding over four years.

Teacher Brett Gormley said the cuts would force the McCormack School to shed ten teachers, even as student performance at the school grows faster than at any other school in the city.

“I see a great building with great teachers,” he said. “We’re not utilizing the school as best we can as a district.”

Weighted student funding creates a zero-sum game where some schools grow at the expense of others. Students, parents and teachers at Boston Community Leadership Academy voiced fear that their next-door neighbor, New Mission High School, would grow at their expense.

BCLA students found out the high school, which shares a building with them, was expanding to include 7th and 8th grades through a post on New Mission’s Facebook page. While BPS Superintendent Tommy Chang said there is no plan to subtract space from BCLA,

teachers and students seemed convinced the New Mission would cut into their space. Last year the school, which has a high population of autistic students, saw its budget cut deeply as per-pupil allocations for students with autism were adjusted downward.

School Committee member Miren Uriarte compared BCLA’s plight to that of the Margarita Muñiz Academy, which lost space to the Mission Hill School.

“You’re pitting schools against one another when we may have other options,” she said.

Representatives of the Opportunity Gaps Task Force and Black Educators Alliance of Massachusetts (BEAM) called on the School Department to adopt reforms before cutting school budgets.

These include a requirement that principals provide “achievement gap impact statements” outlining the possible outcomes if their budgets are reduced; a requirement that BPS provide parents with “school impact statements” detailing how budget cuts will affect their schools; and a requirement that principals in Level IV school provide an assessment of how budget reductions will affect their turnaround plans.

BEAM President Johnny McInnis testified in a March 1 School Committee meeting that the budget violated the Committee’s Office of Opportunity Gap policy by “systematically disinvesting in low-performing schools that are attended disproportionately by students of color.”

Jackson said the cuts come on top of years of disinvestment that have led to schools closing their libraries — thereby risking loss of accreditation — as well as cutting arts and music.

“The Boston school budget before us is a failure,” he said. “It fails to pass the School Committee’s own achievement gap policy.

Instead it widens the gap. It fails the students who are in the dozens of schools who are seeing cuts.”

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UMass Boston profs say budget risks school mission and quality Class sizes grow, research access shrinks, more decisions guided by potential profit

By JULE PATTISON-GORDON

UMass Boston’s budget woes were thrown again into sharp focus last week as the campus reduced the powers of its chancellor in a declared attempt to infuse new expertise into the financial discussions. After letting Chancellor J. Keith Motley’s contract expire in an atypical move, university trustees curbed Motley’s control over daily operations, bringing in former Bowdoin College president Barry Mills to handle those duties.

Mills is widely credited with significantly increasing Bowdoin’s endowment, providing grants in place of loans to students on financial aid and growing minority enrollment.

The move is the latest sign of financial troubles at the campus, which faces a $30 million deficit and an enrollment that dropped by about 200 students over the past year. Fundraising also has declined by about $4.2 million over the past four years.

Professors say the budget cuts impede their ability to do their jobs — both as teachers and researchers — at the state’s only public research university. Class sizes are growing, departments are losing funding for photocopies and other basic supplies, researchers are denied cost-coverage to attend research conferences and more cuts are expected to be announced soon, according to Marlene Kim, professor of economics at UMass Boston.

With state dollars accounting for just 29 percent of UMass’s budget, pressure is on university leadership to chase funding, not mission, says Anthony Van Der Meer, senior lecturer of Africana Studies at the school. This places barriers to achieving UMass Boston’s mission of providing a degree pathway to a diverse enrollment of urban students, he said.

“When the state only financed less than 50 percent of the budget, then you’re forced into privatization,” Van Der Meer told the Banner, adding that urban communities of color especially are hit when the university is less able to aggressively seek to meet their needs. “The financial positioning

that the university is in marginalizes these particular communities because it is chasing dollars and seems to be making the production of education about dollars, not about real transformation in the ways that people will be able to contribute to the communities from which they came.”

One example of the pressure to court private money, Van Der Meer said, is reflected in the university’s talks with Robert Kraft, owner of the New England Revolution, over selling him land on which to site a soccer stadium. The university also increasingly has been courting wealthier students, including international students, who pay full price, and youth from the suburbs, with the result of leaving behind many students with fewer resources.

“We are concerned about the ability to teach and educate our students,” Marlene Kim told the Banner. “What people teach has been affected because the resources aren’t at the library.”

Van Der Meer also questioned the value of introducing Mills with a $250,000 annual salary at a time when the university’s wallet is emptying and said the move avoids examining root causes of the financial struggles.

“It’s not paying attention to what the problem is,” he said.

“What they’re doing is biding time, versus really trying to figure out how do we begin to address it.”

enroll. Given that many students work full-time and have families and other schedule commitments, this creates a real concern that some pupils may not be able to find classes required for graduation that fit into their schedule, she said.

Subscriptions to some online research databases have been discontinued, especially resources used by the humanities departments, and some departments have been disallowed from making photocopies. The tradition of replacing faculty computers every five years is being discontinued.

The institution’s operating budget was cut by about 17 to 20 percent in November, Kim said.

Researchers and educators hit

Kim said funding has been dropped for travel to research conferences, meaning that professors without the private means cannot attend what typically is a major arena for presenting and receiving feedback on research, participating in journal and professional organization board meetings, networking with others in the field, discovering potential journals in which they might seek to publish their work and hearing and providing feedback on peers’ work. All these activities are expected of professors, both by others in the research community and by the university itself, Kim said, noting that as part of their evaluation process, faculty are required to list the conferences they

BANNER PHOTO

UMass Boston faces a $30 million deficit, while enrollment and fundraising both are in decline. attended and details of their participation there.

“It’s a barrier to advancing in the field for anyone — adjunct or someone with tenure track position,” she said.

Van Der Meer, meanwhile, said the focus should be on teaching and preparing students to transform their communities — a piece of the university mission he regards as underfunded. As a fulltime but non-tenure-track professor, he teaches four classes but has no office, while tenured professors, with research focuses and just two classes, are given offices.

The two professors’ testimonies suggest that in both research and classroom teaching, the university is falling short of providing sufficient support.

Africana Studies at risk

Professor Robert Johnson, former chair of the Africana Studies department, previously suggested that his removal and replacement with an associate professor of English without a background in Africana Studies could be a move toward saving money by dismantling the program. (Meanwhile, the university said changes to the department were based solely on an attempt to improve academics). Van Der Meer said the university is too weak in its support for the Africana Studies department and diversity, noting that two black women were denied tenured professor positions.

“When you’re dismantling the Africana Department, what’s your commitment to diversity?” Van Der Meer said.

Students hit

Larger class sizes are a significant concern, with Van Der Meer saying that while first year introduction classes traditionally are capped at 25 students, he recently was saddled with an 80-student class, making it more challenging to provide individual attention.

“How’s that going to help a lot of kids who come from urban communities who you’re trying to get to relate their experience to what they’re learning, not have it be abstract and different?” he said. “It’s shameful. It’s almost a way of ghettoizing a public university.”

Kim said the school aims to increase class sizes to at least 18 students per professor as a cost-saving measure and will be cancelling classes in which fewer students

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4 • Thursday, March 23, 2017 • BAY STATE BANNER

EDITORIAL

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Established 1965

True patriotism is more than cheap platitudes During World War II, a profound spirit of patriotism was pervasive. The whole nation was involved in the progress of the war. Young men were drafted and left home for basic military training. Stay-at-home moms went to work in the munitions factories. School-age children saved tin cans, newspaper and other material for the war effort. The rationing of gas and tires was severe enough to recall the use of horsedrawn wagons.

In highly publicized campaigns, citizens were asked to buy war bonds to finance the war. Even though the interest rate was only 2.9 percent, much less than the going rate for a 10-year bond, 85 million Americans, half the population, bought $185.7 billion dollars of

bonds. Also, during the war the income tax rate was set at the highest in history. Income over $200,000 in 1944 (equivalent to $2.5 million today) was taxed at 94 percent. And there were excess profits taxes on corporations to prevent businesses from profiteering from the war.

Americans had no doubt that President Roosevelt exclusively represented the interests of American citizens. There were no private financial deals with foreign countries that could become adversaries. Indeed, that high standard of patriotism no longer is required of the current president’s administration.

What they call patriotism now is a pale reflection of the love for America that abounded in the 1940s.

“It would be great if they knew what real patriotism is.”

Needed: a cultural commitment to academic success In mid-March, New York City eighth graders learned whether they have scored high enough on the standardized test to be admitted to one of the city’s eight specialized high schools.

Stuyvesant High School and the Bronx High School of Science, two of the eight, are nationally recognized as respected incubators of academic talent. Their status is equivalent to the Boston Latin School, and they have a similar problem in enrolling blacks and Latinos.

While blacks and Latinos account for 28 and 40 percent of the population group, respectively, they were only about 10 percent of those admitted to all eight special high schools. Even though Asians constitute only 17 percent of the eighth grade population, they were 64 percent of those admitted. Whites account for 13 percent of the relevant population but 22 percent of those who scored high enough on the exam to be admitted.

The racial disparity for admissions has generated a battle in New York among politicians, educators and policy planners. They have established programs to train students from an early age to perform well on the standardized test, but the admission numbers have not budged.

The proposal now among those who profoundly

object to the lack of disparity is to include some non-academic criteria for admission.

There are only two possible solutions to the problem of limited racial diversity. One is to simplify the exam so that more blacks and Latinos will pass, and reduce the academic standards of the schools. However, with greater demands for highly skilled Americans in the increasingly more sophisticated workforce, that solution is impractical.

The only other solution is to establish a tracking system to identify the academically talented early and provide special education from the sixth grade so they will be able to score well enough on the admission exam for the specialized high schools. Blacks have to modify their culture to accept this process as a normal aspect of education.

There has been an objection to such a strategy because liberals generally object to early education tracking. Educators ought to determine how well tracking systems operate in Germany and other European countries, which even finance the college education of those who qualify.

One thing is clear: The continued failure of blacks and Latinos to qualify is not acceptable.

USPS 045-780 Melvin B. Miller Sandra L. Casagrand John E. Miller Yawu Miller

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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Rest in peace Ken Guscott Ken Guscott [was] laid to rest after his homegoing service [last week] at Morning Star Baptist Church in Boston’s Mattapan district.

Among Ken’s many accomplishments during his 91 years, I want to spotlight his work in putting African American, Asian American and Hispanic investors and developers in

the forefront of building the 36-story one million square feet One Lincoln office tower in downtown Boston, which was linked to a 9-story office building in Roxbury. This project was an American first and yielded the most potent community benefits package in American development history. One Lincoln and its anchor tenant State Street Bank showed that

INDEX BUSINESS NEWS ………………………………...................... 10 BOSTON SCENES …………………..................................... 12 ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT …………………...................... 13 COMMUNITY CALENDAR …………………........................ 17 FOOD ……………………………………................................... 18 CLASSIFIEDS ……………………………………....................... 21

minority investors and developers could build a major downtown office tower while benefiting the community. At Ken’s untimely death he was working on a 25-story mixed-use tower in his beloved Dudley Square, in the heart of Roxbury. Rest In Peace Ken Guscott, Master Developer.

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OPINION

If Democrats cave on Gorsuch they’ll be sorry

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What do you think it would take to heal the deep divisions in the United States?

By EARL OFARI HUTCHINSON The day the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia died, Appeals Court Judge and Scalia’s nominated replacement, Neil Gorsuch, said he could barely get down a ski run in Colorado because he was so blinded by tears at his death. This was not a private utterance or personal feeling of deep emotion that he shared with friends and family. He told of his profound sorrow in a speech in April 2016 at Case Western University. Gorsuch wanted the world to know that Scalia was more than just a heartfelt friend. He was a man and a judge whose legal and judicial ideas Gorsuch was in total lockstep with.

Scalia represented judicially everything that liberal Democrats, civil rights, civil liberties, women rights and public interest groups regard as wrong with the Supreme Court. His opinions and votes on crucial cases read like a what’s-what of legal horror stories. Scalia tipped the White House to Bush in Bush v. Gore in 2000, voted to gut voting rights, oppose same sex marriage and gay rights protections, scrap the checks on corporate spending on elections, whittle away at abortion rights and give free rein to corporations to discriminate by narrowing down who could file class action lawsuits.

The only reason that Gorsuch hasn’t matched his mentor and idol Scalia’s 19th-century grounded voting record on key cases, is that he hasn’t been on the court for the decades Scalia was on the high court. But there’s enough in his thin resume on cases that pertain to abortion rights, Planned Parenthood funding, a powerhouse federal judiciary, and most menacingly the strictest of strict reading of the constitutionalism, branded “originalism,” to serve as fair warning of what’s to come if he gets on the SCOTUS. And, as with Scalia, it won’t be pretty.

This is one of the few times that Senate Democrats can do exactly what Senate Republicans did with Obama’s pick to replace Scalia, Merrick Garland, use the filibuster to say no. The GOP concocted a blatant lie to justify their obstructionism, that Obama was a lame duck president, and lame duck presidents don’t and shouldn’t have the right to put someone of the high court on their way out. They pooh-poohed the fact that the Senate has approved other lame duck presidents’ picks to the courts including Reagan’s pick of Anthony Kennedy in 1988, Reagan’s last year in office.

They blocked Garland not because of protocol, propriety or tradition, but raw, naked and brutal partisan politics. The GOP understands that the Supreme Court is not just a neutral arbiter to settle legal disputes. It is a lethal weapon to skirt congressional gridlock and serve a dual role as a judicial and legislative body. This meant scrapping the long-standing tradition on the court where justices based their legal decisions solely on the merit of the law, constitutional principles and the public good, and not on ideology. Trump and his hard-right conservative backers are fully aware that the court’s power to be de facto legislators could last for decades. After all, presidents and congresspersons come and go, but justices can sit there until death if they choose. Scalia was proof of that. He sat for 30-plus years on the bench.

Gorsuch is young and fit, and conceivably could duplicate Scalia’s tenure on the high court. He would sit there long after Trump is gone, and long after other future Democratic presidents that sit in the Oval Office depart. During those years, he would be a key vote, if not the key vote, on many cases involving labor protections, civil rights, civil liberties, gay and abortion rights, corporate power, environmental issues, education, the death penalty, criminal justice system reforms, voting rights and many other issues that will alter and shape law and public policy for years, perhaps decades, to come.

Gorsuch was carefully vetted by the Heritage Foundation when it submitted its list to Trump of reliable ultra-conservative judges who would rigidly toe the ultra-conservative line. They took no chance of recommending any judge who might in any way be a high court turncoat, and experience a judicial conversion in philosophy as a few judges thought to be reliably conservative have done in the past.

The stakes are simply too high to risk that in the relentless drive by ultra-conservatives to roll back the gains in civil, women’s and labor rights of the past half-century.

The pressure will be enormous on conservative Democratic senators in the Red states to cave quickly and support Gorsuch, by rejecting a filibuster. They’ll be hit with everything from the stock argument that presidents have the right to pick their SCOTUS justices to outright threats that they’ll be top targets when election time rolls around. It will take much for them to do what the GOP did with Garland, that’s to say no and back a filibuster. If they cave, they’ll be terribly sorry.

Earl Ofari Hutchinson is an author and political analyst.

Total transformation in society, especially in government.

Askia Toure

I think it would take open communication and everyone would have to be willing to accept their responsibility for the problems we’re facing.

What Malcolm X talked about. To save America, it’s going to take more than just us.

Poet Roxbury

Troy

Rodnell Collins

Engineer Dorchester

Project Manager Roxbury

People need to actually listen to one another. It would be easier if people listened more, talked less and agreed to disagree.

White people need to stop electing presidents like Trump. We need people who can work together.

We gotta be willing to get to know each other. We all have different cultures. We have to be open to other people’s cultures.

Sydney Janey

Mark Galloway

Elliott Hernandez

Disabled Veteran Somerville

Graphic Designer Roxbury

Cook Roxbury

IN THE NEWS

ROBERT E. JOHNSON Robert E. Johnson, president of Becker College since 2010, was named Chancellor of the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth by a unanimous vote of the UMass Board of Trustees.

Johnson was recommended for the UMass Dartmouth chancellorship by UMass President Marty Meehan.

“Robert Johnson is an accomplished, visionary leader with an entrepreneurial spirit and a proven commitment to student success,” said Meehan. “He has developed innovative strategies that have revitalized institutions and transformed lives, and I am confident he will help UMass Dartmouth reach new levels of excellence.”

Under Johnson’s leadership, Becker College was named one of the “best institutions for undergraduate education” by The Princeton Review for five consecutive years. He is credited with increasing enrollment to record

levels, improving student success and elevating the reputation of the college.

Johnson, who will be the first African American to lead UMass Dartmouth, is a member of the state Board of Higher Education, vice chairman of the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative Board and chair of the Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce.

“We were impressed by his obvious passion for higher education, his consistent record of achievement and his ability to accomplish key objectives — from growing revenues to increasing graduation rates — all while keeping his pulse on the day-today student experience,” said R. Norman Peters, trustee and chair of the UMass Dartmouth Chancellor Search Committee.

Johnson holds a doctorate in higher education administration from Touro University International, a master’s degree in education administration from

the University of Cincinnati and a bachelor’s degree in economics from Morehouse College. Prior to becoming Becker College’s president, he served as senior vice president of Sinclair Community College, vice president of enrollment management at the University of Dayton, vice provost at Oakland University and executive director of enrollment management at Central State University.

6 • Thursday, March 23, 2017 • BAY STATE BANNER

District 7 continued from page 1

He also said the city should provide more incentives for developers to create low-income housing on public land.

“If we’re not talking to developers about their interests and rewarding developers that are doing this, we’re just shaking our tail and will be gentrified,” he said.

Henriquez said his other primary focus areas would be targeting violence and improving employment prospects. The latter involves strengthening non-college career pathways, especially to place trainees in jobs with upward mobility opportunities, Henriquez said. He highlighted needs to improve Madison Park Technical Vocational High School and increase capacity at existing programs such as the city’s Operation Exit reentry program.

In many cases, Henriquez said, attaining his goals requires strong partnership between community and government, including securing a line of revenue so that organizations’ funding is not at risk should grant-writing foundations’ priorities shift.

In 2007 and 2009, Henriquez unsuccessfully sought to oust Chuck Turner from the District 7 city council seat, and before that, was an aide to Councilor Michael Flaherty. He served as a state representative from 2011 to 2014 before becoming the first person in nearly a century to be expelled from the House, following a conviction on two accounts of assault and battery. Henriquez has maintained he was innocent.

His experience in elected office

BANNER FILE PHOTO

Carlos Henriquez prepares him to advocate for the needs of his community, he said, adding that the larger staff of a city councilor compared to a state rep — five staffers instead of one — would enhance his capacity to make change and engage community members. Additionally, he said it would easier to find commonalities and build consensus among officials on a 13-member city council than a 160-member state legislature.

In his quest for the District 7 seat, Henriquez faces competition from several contenders who currently are in various early stages of financing, message push and campaign launch.

Kim Janey

Kim Janey, a senior project director at Massachusetts Advocates For Children, tops the candidate list in terms of funding. Kicking off her campaign committee with $1,000 of her own cash and $1,000 from a family member, Janey’s funds totaled approximately $15,925 as of March 15.

Since its establishment in Jan.

2017, her campaign has spent about $1,620. Janey’s backers include many from the education realm, ranging from a Boston Public School administrator to college professors and deans, to directors of education-focused foundations, as well as a $1,000 contribution from the director of the Roxbury Boys and Girls Club and donations from other individuals, according to the Office of Campaign and Political Finance.

Janey had yet to attract much dedicated media attention as of Banner press time. While she does not have a website for her campaign, she has a dedicated Facebook account. Her committee is chaired by Daniel E. Janey and its treasurer is John A. Murphy III, according to OCPF filings.

Deeqo Jibril

With an end balance of $4,301 as of March 15, Deeqo Jibril’s campaign currently is the nextmost financed. Jibril was a childhood Somali refugee and is the founder and executive director of the Somali Community and Cultural Association, as well as founder of African Mall, a center site for African-owned businesses. Since 2017, her campaign has spent only $157.

Jibril has received coverage in newspapers including The Boston Globe and Daily Free Press, with some noting that she is a Muslim, a woman and an immigrant in a political climate marked by Trump’s rhetoric against all three groups.

Jibril’s campaign has hit the ground running with a Facebook page and professional website and a launch party scheduled for this month. Her campaign manager is Eric Chast of Liberty Square

Group, according to her campaign press release. The firm’s new campaign arm, Blue Lab, is self-described as a “political incubator” that leverages campaign professionals and university students to provide campaign infrastructure, primarily to progressive first-time, minority and female candidates.

“From the start, an office-seeker walks into a fully functioning campaign,” and receives assistance in voter engagement, research, fundraising and advocacy, states Blue Lab’s website. Jibril’s campaign committee chair is Lul Isak and treasurer is Ayaan Jibril, according to her OCPF filings.

Joao DePina

Ward 12 Democratic Committee treasurer and owner of At Your Time of Need Floral Designs, Joao DePina listed $5,892 in campaign funds in his March 15 OCPF filing, the latest record. Many contributors identified themselves as managers, contractors and business owners. The campaign has spent about $408 since its Jan. 2017 filing. DePina appears to have received little dedicated media attention and not to have a campaign website. His committee chair is Linda Ceneteio and treasurer is Lateefah Vieira, according to the OCPF.

Hassan Williams

Attorney Hassan Williams first sought the District 7 council seat in 1999 and once ran for state senate against Sonia Chang-Diaz. Between establishing his campaign committee in January 2017 and entering a March 15 filing, Williams spent $1,703, leaving him with an ending balance of $2,097.

He is acting as his own campaign

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committee chair, with Yvonne Williams as treasurer. He does not appear to have a campaign Facebook presence or website.

Miguel Angel Chavez

Chavez, a small business owner and political consultant, previously told the Banner that he is mulling a run. He filed a campaign committee in September 2016 with the OCPF with the stated purpose of pursuing a city council position. By its March 15 filing date, the committee held $1,333, and had spent a total of $270 in 2017. However, on March 2, Chavez donated $100 to the Jibril campaign.

No website or Facebook page appears associated with Chavez’s campaign. His treasurer is listed as Doug Chavez.

Angelina Camacho

Angelina Camacho is a program manager at Action for Boston Community Development, Inc. (ABCD) and former Citywide Parents Council co-chair. She has raised $110 between campaign filing in Jan. 2017 and latest report on March. 15, and has made no expenses. She has a campaign Twitter account and a website that labels her a “prospective candidate.” Her committee chair is Carmina Taylor and treasurer is Sarah Camacho.

Rufus Faulk

Boston Ten Point Coalition’s director of the Gang Mediation Initiative, Rufus Faulk, has received media attention in both the Boston Herald and Boston Magazine for his candidacy. He twice sought to represent the Seventh Suffolk District at the State House, running against Gloria Fox. Between filing his campaign with the OCPF in Jan. 2017 and March 15, Faulk has spent about $2,342, leaving a balance of about $3,238. Faulk is serving as his own campaign chair. His campaign has a Facebook page.

Charles Clemons Muhammad

Charles Clemons Muhammad, who runs a low-power radio station, had about $31 in his campaign fund at the time of its March 15 report. The committee spent about $800 in 2017 and lists Jonathan Towslee as treasurer.

Clemons’ past bids include running for the same District 7 campaign seat, at-large city councilor, Eleventh Suffolk state representative, and mayor. He has a campaign Twitter account and website.

Marvin Venay

Marvin Venay, director of congregation and volunteer engagement for the United Unitarian Urban Ministries and former executive director of the Massachusetts Black and Latino Legislative Caucus, officially dropped out of the running in a statement posted on Monday.

Carlos Henriquez

In early March, Henriquez filed his campaign committee with the OCPF with himself as treasurer and chair. He told the Banner he has yet to hire specialized staff and is using an all-volunteer team of about 15 to 20 people to develop policy ideas and engagement strategies. Next month, he plans to collect signatures with door-knocking, texting, social media, phone banking and other efforts, and he is starting fundraising efforts. The campaign has made no expenditures and received no donations this year. It finished 2016 with an end balance of $2,157 in liabilities.

His candidacy announcements drew attention from several newspapers and media sites.

Thursday, March 23, 2017 • BAY STATE BANNER • 7

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8 • Thursday, March 23, 2017 • BAY STATE BANNER

PRESBYTERIAN WOMEN OF ROXBURY PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH

Present

A Vision of the Dream by Twilight Mist Enterprises With music by the

State Temple Choir

and the Gospel Recording Artist

“Under the Anointing”

“

On the one side, you hear the mayor saying that over the next 13 years we want to see people move out of cars and more onto public transportation. Next, the MBTA and MassDOT are saying they’re canceling all commuter rail service on the weekends for years starting on July 1. How do you get some people onto something that’s not running? It’s a paradox.”

— Mela Bush Miles, chair of the Fairmount Indigo Transit Coalition

Codman Sq. continued from page 1

non-resident visitors receive tickets for leaving their cars on the street, it will unravel the local economic and social fabric, Wall said.

“People will stop patronizing the businesses. They will stop going to the churches,” Wall said.

“What we’re trying to stop is the mass exodus of churches and businesses from the Codman Square area.”

Citing examples from the South End, Wall argues that churches losing visitors may find it hard to maintain their congregations and, with little land accessible for them to purchase within city confines, be forced to move outside of Boston.

Wall’s praise for the parking lot flies in the face of the personal vehicle-free, public transit-adherent vision woven through the city’s Go Boston 2030 report. According to several transit activists, if that vision is to truly be enacted in all of Boston, not just the inner core, the city needs to step up its efforts to make car-free options available and convenient in some outer neighborhoods.

Go Boston 2030

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Released in February, the Go Boston 2030 report outlines goals to decrease use of personal vehicles and, citywide, increase use of public transit for commuting to work by one-third and walking to work by almost one-half. The plan further aims to quadruple rates of biking to work, while halving use of driving alone.

Many in the city appear to share this goal. According to a Go Boston 2030 survey of about 2,670 Boston residents, when asked to select among four options for prioritizing road space, 58 percent of respondents said they would like to see exclusive T and bike lanes established via reclaiming street lanes currently used for driving and parking. Nearly one-fifth of responders recommended sacrificing either a driving or parking lane to repurpose the space for exclusive T lanes but not bike lanes, followed by 16 percent favoring replacing a current driving lane or parking lane with protected bike lanes. Only 8 percent of respondents favored maintaining current auto capacity on the roads.

However, the report also noted that geographic disparity is evident among who is able to rely on public transit to get to work.

“Residents farther from the core and from transit stops tend to use their cars more,” the report states. It continues, “The decision to drive is often a reflection of

transit service not being reliable enough to meet residents’ needs.”

To follow through on this acknowledgment, much remains to be done.

The outer neighborhoods

The state recently drew widespread outcry over a proposal to cut weekend commuter rail service in an effort to trim expenses.

“On the one side, you hear the mayor saying that over the next 13 years we want to see people move out of cars and more onto public transportation. Next, the MBTA and MassDOT are saying they’re canceling all commuter rail service on the weekends for years starting on July 1,” said Mela Bush Miles, chair of the Fairmount Indigo Transit Coalition. “How do you get some people onto something that’s not running? It’s a paradox.”

To reduce car use, the MBTA needs to make public transit cost effective, Bush Miles said. Slashing commuter rail service means that those who bought a monthly pass then also have to pay for ride-hailing or taxi services or string together what could be three or four bus rides, she said. Or, they could quit the T entirely and keep a car.

“If you cut off weekend service when someone bought a monthly pass, they’re not getting what they paid for,” Bush Miles told the Banner. “They might have no other choice but to get back into a car.

Transit costs become a factor when other costs are rising, like housing.”

In the face of public backlash, state officials this Monday rescinded the proposal to eliminate weekend rail service.

David Queeley, member of the Go Boston 2030 Mayor’s Mobility Plan Advisory Committee and the eco-innovation district director for the Codman Square Neighborhood Development Corporation, said providing uninterrupted, regular service and expansion of the Fairmount line would help reduce the need for cars. Another proposal: improving the design of transit stations to make them more attention-grabbing and attractive to potential riders.

Not all measures require much investment, either. Queeley noted that institution of a lower speed limit in Codman Square and the Talbot Norfolk Triangle has encouraged more people to walk and bike as it is now safer to do so.

Regardless, making car independence a reality for all of Boston will require initiatives tailored to the outer neighborhoods.

“Dorchester is Boston’s largest and most diverse neighborhood.

Without some sort of improved transit service, it’ll be status quo,” Queeley said.

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Thursday, March 23, 2017 • BAY STATE BANNER • 9

COMMENTARY

Brighton High School basketball team wins state title

Airports: The next racial profiling frontier

By IVAN ESPINOZA-MADRIGAL

Last Sunday, while returning home from a vacation in Portugal, I was detained at Logan Airport in Boston by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials.

They questioned my American citizenship and the authenticity of my U.S. passport. While white travelers were permitted to pass freely through passport control, I was escorted by security — along with other people of color — to a separate room for further vetting.

I lead a civil rights organization in Boston that is suing the president over his policies on sanctuary cities, to protect and empower immigrant families. Yet in that moment when I was being held at the airport, I felt powerless. I was treated like a suspect in the country that my family and I have called home for three decades. I was proud to become a citizen in 1996, and my first U.S passport was issued shortly thereafter. I have used my passport at the airport on many occasions, and have never been subjected to additional scrutiny — until now.

I do not believe it is a coincidence that this increased level of scrutiny has started since the inauguration of our new president.

Whether by explicit order or just by some CPB officials getting the not-so-subtle message from the top, it appears that it is now acceptable to engage in racial profiling. There was no cause to hold me for additional screening — other than the color of my skin.

In fact, just moments before my detention, an official ran my passport through the CBP system.

The information contained in the system should have been sufficient to confirm my identity and the validity of my passport; the interrogation should have ended there. But instead of being released, CBP subjected me to additional scrutiny.

It is disempowering and dehumanizing to have government officials question my citizenship and passport. My citizenship is not only a legal status; it is deeply rooted in my identity. Using an American passport as a person of color triggered security protocols

The Brighton High boys’ basketball team capped their remarkable season winning the Division 2 State title last Saturday, March 18 at the Mass Mutual Center in Springfield. The Bengals clashed with Nashoba and won the game 82-58. Previously, the team won the Division 2/North title and city league championship in mid-February. Led by coach Hugh Coleman, the team ends at 23-5.

PHOTO COURTESY LAWYERS COMMITTEE

Ivan Espinoza-Madrigal

“

[...] in that moment when I was being held at the airport, I felt powerless.

I was treated like a suspect in the country that my family and I have called home for three decades.”

at Logan Airport that most people would associate with public safety and national security risks. If my personal experience at Logan is any indication, airport inspections are now targeting not only Muslims, but other minorities — including U.S. citizens — for “extreme vetting.” This is irresponsible and dangerous. It is also unconstitutional and a waste of scarce taxpayer dollars.

Policymakers and others who support these recurring indignities at airports risk alienating people who look like me, and tearing apart the fabric of our diverse society. Plain and simple, it is un-American.

Ivan Espinoza-Madrigal is executive director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Economic Justice.

Stay connected!

Be sure to check out our website and mobile site www.baystatebanner.com

David W. Davis Memorial Internship College juniors and seniors who reside in the City of Boston and are interested in applying for the David W. Davis Memorial Internship must have community service experience and must submit a 1,000-word essay. To be considered, all academic and residency criteria must also be met.

The David W. Davis Memorial Internship is a 13-week paid public service opportunity at Massport and is awarded annually to an exceptional junior or senior in college. Internship applications must be received by Massport no later than 5:00 p.m. on Friday, April 28, 2017. For more information about the David W. Davis Memorial Internship including an application checklist please visit: www.massport.com/internship.

10 • Thursday, March 23, 2017 • BAY STATE BANNER

BUSINESSNEWS CHECK OUT MORE BUSINESS NEWS ONLINE: BAYSTATEBANNER.COM/NEWS/NEWS/BUSINESS

www.baystatebanner.com

BIZ BITS TIP OF THE WEEK tips to help protect your identity this tax season

4

Tax season is a busy time for everyone, from accountants and small business owners to families and individuals, especially as more people choose to file their taxes themselves. Unfortunately, it’s also a busy time of year for cybercriminals who use the flurry of activity to swindle sensitive personal information from unsuspecting victims.

In fact, the Norton Cyber Security Insights Reports revealed that online crime has become so prolific, 36 percent of U.S. consumers believe it’s only a matter of time before a criminal steals their identity.

Start by applying these four simple tips to keep your personal information away from cybercriminals this tax season:

1

File your taxes as early as possible. The sooner you file your taxes, the harder it will be for criminals to file taxes on your behalf for a refund, which a thief can do with only your date of birth and Social Security Number. (And don’t think this information is difficult to find; it could already be for sale on the Dark Web if you were impacted by a data breach.) If you want some extra protection this tax season, consider contacting the IRS to see if you’re eligible for an Identity Protection PIN. It’s a six-digit code that is assigned to you by the IRS to help prevent misuse of your SSN on fraudulent federal income tax returns.

2

If you’re filing your taxes online, use a secure Wi-Fi connection or a Virtual Private Network (VPN). One of the best ways you can help protect yourself when e-filing is to use a secure internet connection and not a public Wi-Fi network.

If you are not sure about the security of your internet connection, use a VPN — an easy-to-use technology that ensures a secure connection.

3

Remember the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) only communicates through the United States Postal Service. They will never request personal and/or financial information through email, text messages or social media sites. If you receive a letter in the mail and you’re not sure if it’s legitimate, use the IRS lookup tool to find your letter: www.irs.gov/individuals/irs-notice-or-letter-for-individual-filers.

4

If you receive a phone call from someone claiming to be from the IRS, ask for their name, badge number and call back number.

Report the call to the U.S. Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) at 1-800-366-4484 and provide this information to confirm the authenticity of the caller’s request. If the caller isn’t willing to provide this information, hang up and report the incident to the IRS. — Brandpoint

TECH TALK Nintendo’s new game device, Switch, doesn’t give users the ability to browse the internet, stream music, movies or anything that isn’t a video game, but eventually it will. Nintendo launched the device as a game-first console by design, but Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime confirmed on March 8 that the ability to stream and browse the internet is in the works. “We’re talking to a range of companies about other services, comSee BIZ BITS, page 11

BANNER PHOTO

Entrepreneur and musician Bobin Nicholson in Eye & Eye Optics, the Lower Mills eyewear boutique he has owned since 2010.

Finding the perfect fit

Lower Mills optical shop offers full service and a relaxed vibe

By SANDRA LARSON

At Eye & Eye Optics, owner Bobin Nicholson wants the experience of choosing the right eyeglass frames to be as enjoyable and relaxing as the reggae music he loves.

“I want it to be an easy fit. I want my audience to be comfortable,” says Nicholson, who is a working musician with his own band in addition to being a licensed optician.

In 2010, the Dorchester resident purchased the former Peters Optical business in the Lower Mills neighborhood and retrofitted the shop to create a full-service eye care facility with an ophthalmologist on staff.

Its location on a Dorchester Avenue stretch jammed with businesses new and old is fortunate.

“There are a lot of great businesses. That boosts foot traffic,” he says, noting also that it draws customers easily from Dorchester, Milton and Mattapan.

As a young man arriving from Jamaica 34 years ago to attend Berklee College of Music, Nicholson could not have predicted that he would craft dual careers in music and eyeglass entrepreneurship.

But in a way, one led to the other.

“I was 100 percent into music,

ON THE WEB Eye & Eye Optics is at 2271 Dorchester Ave. in the Lower Mills section of Dorchester. Visit them online at

http://eyeandeyeoptics.com music, music,” he says, “but when I graduated, my mother said, ‘Now you need to find a real job.’ Living in America, the whole music scene is different. In Jamaica, you can make a living on music. Here, it’s more challenging. It affects the quality of life you want to live.”

A serendipitous path

Around graduation time, the young musician’s glasses were accidentally knocked off and stepped on during a performance. When he went to replace them, the optician at the chain optical shop happened to be a bass player, and they got to talking. Nicholson asked him how he got his job. Before long, he had a job at the store selling eyeglass frames and was on a path toward optician school and an apprenticeship. Once licensed, he began working at Harvard Vanguard’s Kenmore optical office, putting in nine years as a staff optician and nine years as a supervisor for optical services.

The Harvard Vanguard experience steeped him in strict quality standards and gave him enough

“

The greatest thing being in my own business and playing music is, I don’t think of it as work. … Fitting glasses is art, that’s love — and playing music is the same. But maintaining a business with a high standard of care is work.”

— Bobin Nicholson

free rein as a supervisor to gain true experience in running an eyewear business, he says.

In 2010, the opportunity to buy Peters Optical popped up unexpectedly. He happened to step into the shop out of interest. When he identified himself as an optician, the owner, who had been looking to retire, asked Nicholson out of the blue if he’d be interested in buying the shop.

“It was a destiny thing. No one told me it was on the market,” Nicholson says.

Labor of love

At that point, his 18 years of work experience paid off in another way. With the economic recession putting a business loan out of reach, he was able to tap accumulated savings and 401(k) funds to help buy the business, invest in equipment for eye exams and

redecorate the shop.

Bobin estimates that between running the shop and playing musical gigs three to five times a week with his band, the Conscious Reggae Band, he puts in 70 or 80 hours — but much of it is a labor of love.

“The greatest thing about being in my own business and playing music is, I don’t think of it as work,” he says.

It’s the necessary business tasks for both the shop and the band that occasionally temper the creative joy.

“Fitting glasses is art, that’s love — and playing music is the same. But maintaining a business with a high standard of care is work,” he says.

He was introduced to ophthalmologist Dr. Chester Zarnoch early on, and the two have worked together at Eye & Eye from the

See EYE & EYE, page 11

Thursday, March 23, 2017 • BAY STATE BANNER • 11

BUSINESSNEWS CHECK OUT MORE BUSINESS NEWS ONLINE: BAYSTATEBANNER.COM/NEWS/NEWS/BUSINESS

Eye & Eye continued from page 10

start. Nicholson savors his own role as the artist who helps identify each customer’s best style and the face and voice welcoming the shop’s visitors and callers.

Developing Eye & Eye’s look and feel was something of a family affair. Nicholson’s wife Ayesha designed the shop’s logo and interior, working to add musical touches to the decor. His 27-year-old son Tariq, who is also Conscious Reggae Band’s keyboardist and musical director, contributed an acoustic bass to the shop. And it was Ayesha’s suggestion to name the shop “Eye & Eye,” he says, a spin on the Rastafari expression “I and I” that implies “we are all one people.”

Success and reinvestment

Seven years in, the quality ethic and love seem to be paying off. Eye & Eye Optics has won accolades including Best Eyewear Boutique from Boston’s A-List and recognition by Facebook and Yelp as a toprated (five-star) business. Though Nicholson has tried various types of advertising, 70 percent of his new customers come via the best possible publicity: word-of-mouth referrals.

He continues to invest in the business, recently replacing his exam set-up and lens edger with new, up-to-date equipment.

“You feed the business the right things that you need to, to get better,” he says. “I put my all into this. Five-star [recognition] tells me I’m doing what I’m supposed to do, but I can’t rely on that. I have to figure out how to get better every single day.”

Biz Bits

continued from page 10 panies like Netflix, Hulu, Amazon — things that will come in time,” Fils-Aime said in an interview with The Washington Post.

THE LIST According to CNBC, the highest-paying tech jobs are: 1. Enterprise Architect: $112,560 2. A pplications Development Manager: $112,045 3. S oftware Engineering Manager: $109,350 4. IT Architect: $105,303 5. Software Architect: $104,754 6. Solutions Architect: $104,678 7. Data Architect: $102,091 8. IT Program Manager: $98,883 9. UX Manager: $98,535 10. Systems Architect: $97,873 *All salaries are median base salaries

NUMBER TO KNOW

$130

million: Apparel and home decor retailer, Gordmans Stores Inc., filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on March 13, claiming a debt of more than $130 million.

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Majority of businesses that chose Massachusetts would do so again Concerns about continued success: housing, transportation, future supply of quality workforce A large majority of companies that chose Massachusetts as a place to expand their business would do it again, primarily based on its innovative economy, industry clusters and skilled workforce, according to “Choosing Massachusetts for Business: Key Factors in Location Decision-Making,” an 18-month study commissioned

by MassEcon, the nonpartisan economic development organization, and conducted by the UMass Donahue Institute’s Economic and Public Policy Research group.

A statewide survey of businesses that had expanded within Massachusetts found that more than three out of four (77 percent) would choose to locate or expand here again, if faced with the same decision, and 64 percent rated the state as a “good” or “very good” place to do business. Nearly all of the surveyed companies (96 percent) cited the state’s high-quality workforce as a key factor in choosing Massachusetts. According to survey respondents, the top three strengths of doing business in Massachusetts were workforce, superior industry clusters and the community environment.

“This report is a valuable tool for us to use to measure our successes in creating a business environment that supports employer growth and uncover opportunities to strengthen collaboration across the state to help our cities and towns increase jobs and investment,” said Housing and Economic Development Secretary Jay Ash. “I look forward to the solutions that we can implement with our partners across business, nonprofit and government sectors to improve the business environment for the benefit of all Massachusetts residents.”

The comprehensive study was drawn from a multi-faceted survey and in-depth interviews of nearly 90 companies that had expanded or relocated within Massachusetts over the past 10 years.

“We are heartened by the validation of Massachusetts as an outstanding location for

business expansion,” said Susan Houston, Executive Director of MassEcon, “but equally important, this study tells us that we can’t be complacent. For Massachusetts to maintain — and grow — its leadership position, we must continue to nurture our key assets and address the challenges that could undermine our economic competitiveness.”

Challenges ahead

In a d d i t i o n t o n o t i n g strengths of doing business in Massachusetts, the study revealed challenges and concerns relating to the long-term health of the state’s economy. Survey respondents and individual interviews identified a number of areas that require attention if Massachusetts is to continue to enjoy its competitive edge. They include: n Transportation. Companies in Greater Boston are concerned about highway congestion and public transit capacity, while businesses outside the urban core worry about a shortage of public transportation.

MBTA reliability is vital to the ability to attract and retain workers, they said, expressing concerns that not enough is being done to accommodate a growing population. n Housing. The availability and affordability of housing was a significant concern statewide, a challenge to attracting and keeping employees, especially younger employees. Costs in Greater Boston in particular are inordinately high, limiting options for low and middle-income workers. n Business costs. In general, for companies locating in Greater Boston the advantage of skilled labor outweighed various higher business costs, but labor, health care and energy costs were identified as challenges to business in Massachusetts.

Taxes and fees were cited as well, but business costs seemed to be of less concern to those companies that considered and compared other states than to those already doing business in the Commonwealth. Companies engaged in manufacturing, which tend to be spread across

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the state, were more sensitive to cost challenges of health care and energy than companies in Greater Boston. n Quality of future labor supply. Although more than 90 percent of survey respondents said the availability and quality of the workforce were important to their decision to locate in Massachusetts, some companies are struggling to find enough technically trained workers and those with middle-level skills. Continuing to produce talented labor must be a priority for the state, respondents indicated. n Economic development assistance. While over half of the businesses surveyed were solidly favorable about the effectiveness of economic development officials in helping them become established in Massachusetts, others reported that the system is confusing. Some said they sought a “roadmap” with which to navigate the various economic development organizations.

The MassEcon-UMass team plans to hold briefing panels on the report later in the year. The report can be found at http://massecon.com.

About MassEcon

MassEcon, founded in 1993, is a nonprofit, nonpartisan entity that champions Massachusetts as

the best place to start, grow and locate a business. Its services include the state’s only Site Selection Service, which helps expanding and relocating companies find a home in the Commonwealth; the Research and Information Service, which provides companies with the information they need to evaluate the Commonwealth as a location to grow; and the Massachusetts Ambassadors, a network of civic and corporate leaders who help market Massachusetts as a place to do business. For more information, visit www.massecon.com

About the UMass Donahue Institute Economic and Public Policy Research group

The Economic and Public Policy Research (EPPR) group at University of Massachusetts Donahue Institute is a leading provider of applied research, helping clients make more informed decisions about strategic economic and public policy issues. The University of Massachusetts Donahue Institute is the public service, outreach and economic development group of the University of Massachusetts President’s Office. Established in 1971, the Institute strives to connect the Commonwealth with the resources of the University, bridging theory and innovation with real-world public and private sector applications. For more information, visit www.donahue.umassp.edu.

— MassEcon

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‘TOPDOG/ UNDERDOG’ SUZAN-LORI PARKS’ PLAY DELIVERS TOUGH TRUTHS

By SUSAN SACCOCCIA

I

n the opening scene of the searing Huntington Theatre Company production of the Suzan-Lori Parks play, “Topdog/Underdog,” Booth, a young black man, is practicing his skills at the street-hustling game of three-card Monte.

“Watch me close watch me close now,” Booth chants in the fast, singsong language of the game.

With mounting ecstasy, Booth imagines himself as a master player. He spreads his arms upward and, standing in pulsing light, resembles a high priest. His makeshift podium of milk crates becomes his altar and his singsong chant an incantation to summon power he cannot find within himself.

In her brilliant Pulitzer Prize-winning play, Parks creates two characters that have been dealt a poor hand. She turns three-card Monte into a metaphor for the struggle

of Booth and his older brother, Lincoln, for power and self-esteem. It is a win-or-lose game that the men wage against each other and themselves.

Rich with paradox

Her play is rich in metaphors, starting with the ironic names of the brothers, namesakes of John Wilkes Booth, actor and assassin, and his victim, President Abraham Lincoln, who led the country out of the Civil War and ended its era of slavery.

Their drunken father gave them the names as a joke. Their parents deserted them as youngsters, leaving each boy a wad of cash — $500. Lincoln has spent his money but Booth hoards his in his mother’s tightly-knotted stocking as a nest egg for his future.

On stage through April 9 at the Avenue of the Arts/BU Theatre, the riveting Huntington production capitalizes on the playwright’s own arsenal

ON THE WEB

The Huntington Theatre Company’s production of “Topdog/Underdog” is on stage

through April 9 at the Avenue of the Arts/BU Theatre. For more information and for tickets, visit: www.huntingtontheatre.org/sea-

son/2016-2017/topdog-underdog

of sleight-of-hand tricks. Rich in theatrical wiles, the production, like the play, delivers tough truths under the guise of terrific entertainment.

A MacArthur “Genius Grant” recipient, Parks is a dramatist whose plays explore the legacy of slavery as well as the fundamentals of human nature.

Her characters often are shackled to a painful past and they may or not rise above their worst impulses.

In “Topdog/Underdog,” Parks creates a set of paradoxes. The play is both street-smart comedy and taut drama. Drawing from medieval allegorical plays, its two characters bear symbolic names and roles, but they are also fully fleshed out characters.

Tony, Grammy, and Drama Desk Award winner Billy Porter directs the Huntington production, with sets and costumes by Clint Ramos and lighting

See ‘TOPDOG,’ page 16

www.baystatebanner.com

Tiptoeing around the subject Jose Mateo tackles taboo conversation of race in dance

By CELINA COLBY

On Sunday, March 19, the Jose Mateo Ballet Theatre hosted its third “Talk About Dance” panel discussion in a series that focuses on race and racism in the dance community. Moderated by Klare Shaw, national director of programs at Liberty Mutual Foundation, the discussion exposes an issue that has been omitted from the history of dance for centuries.

Bithiah Carter, president of New England Blacks in Philanthropy, says she loved ballet beginning at a young age, but noticed the lack of diversity. “Ballet is the ultimate white woman expression — slender, thin waist, elusive,” she says. “But every child, regardless of race, sexual orientation or income, deserves to have the experience of dance.”

Discussion panelists included Rev. Mariama White-Hammond, former executive director of Project HIP-HOP; Billy and Bobby McClain, the Wondertwins; and Tracy Heather Strain, a documentary filmmaker. Jose Mateo, founder of the ballet company, says he was looking for people of color who had a connection to the dance community either directly as dancers or as active viewers.

Much work to be done

Tyrone Mitchell Henderson and Matthew J. Harris in the Huntington Theatre Company’s production of “Topdog/Underdog.”

PHOTO: T. CHARLES ERICKSON

The “Talk About Dance” series is one of several components of Jose Mateo’s Dance for World Community project. Centered on the spring festival celebrating cultural dances from around the world, the project aims to build interest and opportunity in the dance community for people of all backgrounds. In addition to racial issues, the project targets a spectrum of environmental and social problems. Carter, who is on the board of Jose Mateo, says this inclusion of activism is why she was drawn to the organization.

“When you think of social change you think of moving a brick wall,” she says. “But when you think of the arts, you feel light.”

Boston lacks diversity in many arts organizations, but particularly in ballet. The issue begins

See DANCE, page 16

ON THE WEB Register for the next “Talk About Dance” on June 8 at www.ballettheatre.org/

dance-for-world-community

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Dystopia distilled

Rihanna honored at Harvard

Toshi Reagon’s operatic novel adaptation hits stage

By CELINA COLBY

PHOTOS: DON WEST

International pop star Rihanna (given name, Robyn Fenty) received the 2017 Harvard Humanitarian of the Year Award from Dr. S. Allen Counter, director of the Harvard Foudation, in a ceremony held at Sanders Theater in Cambridge. Rihanna received the award for her philanthropic work in the Caribbean and Africa. At age 18, she founded the Believe Foundation and has launched the Clara Lionel Foundation and formed a partnership with the Global Partnership for Education.

My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive; and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humor, and some style.

Maya Angelou

CVDBoston.com

DCBKBoston.com

www.becma.org

Through March 26, ArtsEmerson presents a powerful musical rendition of Octavia E. Butler’s science fiction novel, “Parable of the Sower.” Written by Toshi Reagon and her mother, singer, scholar and activist Bernice Johnson Reagon, the performance explores race, gender and humanity through 200 years of black music.

Butler’s novel, “Parable of the Sower,” tells the story of 15-yearold Lauren Olamina, who lives in a dystopian California where societal structure has collapsed in favor of money and xenophobia. Resources are scarce, poverty abounds and religious and ethnic minorities are attacked. In the current political climate, Olamina’s world doesn’t seem so far away.

In the production, Reagon articulates the Afrofuturist plot through centuries of black music, from the drumbeats and chants of slave songs to the bluesy riffs of Miles Davis. The Reagon family is exceptionally suited for this task. Toshi is the daughter of Bernice Johnson Reagon and Cordell Reagon, founders of the civil rights-era, fivepiece Freedom Singers. The group crafted campaign songs influenced by gospel music, traditional spirituals, rhythm and blues and soul.

Toshi fronted her own band, BIGLovely, and has worked with Lenny Kravitz, Ani DiFranco and Elvis Costello. “‘Parable of the Sower’ looks at a wide-ranging and diverse community, looks at the power of young thinkers, looks at the deconstruction of old models of society in order to create something else,” says Toshi Reagon in an interview with ArtsEmerson.

Similarly, the show deconstructs traditional performance arrangements to create a new, operatic telling of the material. The mother-daughter duo has been crafting the production for over ten years.

Some music was created based on the text, and some was brought in from the African American tradition to support the story.

It’s no coincidence that “Parable of the Sower” is on ArtsEmerson’s 2017 docket. “I can’t think of a better way to bring people together, to open up dialogue, to support activism, than a strong piece of theatre,” says Toshi Reagon. Forging community is the mantra of Boston arts organizations this year. This collaboration extended through the production and into the marketing of it. ArtsEmerson put out a call for artists to design posters

See ‘PARABLE,’ page 16

ON THE WEB

THRIVE

For more information and for tickets to “Parable of the Sower,” visit:

https://artsemerson.org or bit.ly/2eamWYy

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Vijay Iyer Sextet presents concert with feel of a reunion

By SUSAN SACCOCCIA

A cohesive mix

Over an unhurried two hours without intermission, Iyer, playing electric and grand pianos, led the sextet in performing seven of his compositions.

From the start, the musicians demonstrated both the individual character and cohesion of their voices. Iyer began on his electric piano, sending out a constellation of sweet chiming sounds and then hunkered into a chugging, percussive beat picked up by the three horn players, who injected an infectious note of R&B into the passage. Iyer then switched to the deeper tone of his acoustic piano and Lehman’s alto sax jabbed in hard-bop style above the textures of Crump’s bass and Gilmore’s drumming.

A young musician with the sound of an old soul, Shim joined in on tenor saxophone, trading muscular phrases with Lehman to Iyer’s increasingly fast and intricate piano work. Then the ensemble downshifted to a slow drum solo by Gilmore, followed by an exhilarating joy ride combining Lehman’s furious vibrato, at times sounding like the piping of a non-Western wind instrument, with a mellow cornet passage by Haynes. Shim joined in, adding a beautiful deep tone with his tenor sax. Haynes responded with

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Vijay Iyer a spare solo that concluded with plaintive phrases evoking the cries of a psalm.

As a pianist, Iyer sets the pace, often with incantatory repetitions that hover between hard bop and raga, evoking his South Indian heritage. Born and raised in upstate New York, he is the son of Indian Tamil immigrants. He brings the world into his music with a free-ranging appetite for inventive collaborations rivaled only by his friend and fellow MacArthur “Genius Grant” recipient Jason Moran, also a pianist, composer and teacher.

Open-ended expression

As Iyer strides, strolls, sashays and saunters through a song, he injects pauses that call to mind Thelonious Monk, a pianist he cites as an inspiration. Now and then he delivers a serene melodic passage that summons pianist Bill Evans.

He performs with musicians of like mind, constantly trading lead roles in open-ended conversation among players for whom virtuosity is just the start. With empathy with each other and audience, they explore and improvise and often leave behind any trace of melody. But even at their most abstract, their flights reach the listener in a visceral way, and often

ascend to transporting beauty.

Iyer prefers the term “creative music” to jazz, but he is rooted in its fundamentals, including its consolation and uplift, improvisational give-and-take and syncopated rhythms. An open-ended language that reflects a society with mingled cultural and racial roots, jazz is the language of a democracy — a vehicle of free expression among equals who interact with mutual respect.

Closing magic

All these values were in play throughout the concert, down to its long closing piece, “Threnody.”

Iyer began with an impressionistic piano solo. Lehman joined in on his alto sax, and he and Shim, on tenor sax, fell into a magical duo, trading solos and then meeting as one in a chorus. Haynes stepped in with a long and eloquent passage on his flugelhorn, and, sustaining his spare serenity, bassist Crump and Iyer on piano shared an intimate interval of chamber jazz, backed by the subtle textures of Gilmore on drums. Shim returned with his tenor as the ensemble reached a soaring crescendo and then followed this ascent with a long, slow release. Their concluding coda was a gentle farewell that sent the audience off with a benediction.

MUSIC

Composer-pianist Vijay Iyer, DownBeat Magazine’s 2015 Artist of the Year, also is a scholar. He holds a Ph.D. in the cognitive science of music, and, while carrying on an omnivorous schedule of collaborations with dancers, poets and visual artists, is a professor of music at Harvard University.

On leave during this academic year, Iyer, 45, returned earlier this month with his latest ensemble, the Vijay Iyer Sextet, to perform a concert at Harvard’s Sanders Theatre.

Presented by the Celebrity Series of Boston, the concert had the feeling of a reunion. A suave, personable host, Iyer began by asking the audience that filled the 1,000-seat theater, “How are you holding up in this peculiar time in our history?”

“Find ways to resist,” he said to a round of applause, and promised, in the music, “something you can take with you.”

Iyer then introduced his fellow musicians: Graham Haynes on trumpet, flugelhorn and cornet; Mark Shim on tenor saxophone; Steve Lehman on alto saxophone; and the members of his 15-yearold trio, bassist Stephan Crump and drummer Marcus Gilmore.

Iyer pointed out that two of the musicians are relatives of iconic drummer Roy Haynes. Graham Haynes is a son of Roxbury-born Haynes, who turned 92 on March 13; and Gilmore is his grandson.

Iyer greeted Haynes family members in the audience, who waved back from their seats.

A poignant story of class, race and learning to dream again.

THEATRE

CONCERT REVIEW

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continued from page 13

by Driscoll Otto, the same team he worked with when directing the Huntington’s 2015 delirious and scathing production of George C. Wolfe’s play, “The Colored Museum.”

Wolfe directed the 2001 Off-Broadway premier of “Topdog/Underdog” at the Public Theater as well as its Broadway debut the following year, which won the 2002 Pulitzer Prize for Drama.

Ominous and edgy

Lucky break

Lincoln is the “topdog” brother although his wife has kicked him out and, with no place to go, he stays with Booth and sleeps on the recliner. A master of three-card Monte, Lincoln quit the business after his friend and fellow con artist Lonny was shot on the job. Now he works as an impersonator of Abraham Lincoln. Wearing white face and period attire, he sits in a shooting gallery and as customers re-enact Booth’s assassination by shooting at him with a fake pistol, he drops dead.

In his fake beard, black top hat and frock coat, Lincoln looks like a gloomy clown. But he considers the job his first lucky break in a long time.

Returning to the apartment in his costume after a day at the arcade, Lincoln startles Booth, who pulls out his gun, a real one.

After they settle down, Lincoln tells Booth of another lucky break. While he was on the bus, a child who believed he was seeing Lincoln asked for his autograph.

TOP

EXP

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LOS

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PU

NO G /U W

LIT

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PR

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WIN

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N TH DE RU RD A O

The Huntington staging of “Topdog/Underdog” is first-rate, rising to the challenges of a play that combines harrowing bleakness with gut-level humor, demanding intense vocal, physical and emotional gymnastics from its two-member cast. Matthew J. Harris (Booth) and Tyrone Mitchell Henderson (Lincoln) turn in heroic performances as two very different siblings who share a painful past.

The production runs over a fast-moving two hours and 20 minutes, with intermission.

Unfolding over a series of evenings in Booth’s apartment, the play begins as comedy despite ominous undercurrents. But as the hopes of Booth and Lincoln are thwarted, events take a darker turn.

Mounted on a large cube jutting out from the stage, the

apartment is surrounded by jagged, metallic-looking spikes that suggest the flames of hell.

This edgy geometric structure frames a vintage apartment with an ornate embossed ceiling and peeling, water-stained wallpaper.

Furnishings consist of a bed and a recliner along with two milk cartons and a sheet of cardboard — tools of the card shark’s trade, here repurposed as a dining table.

PR G .9

‘Topdog’

— WGBH

One of the most compelling performances of the young year.”

— THE BOSTON GLOBE

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Unforgettable theatre at its best!”

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Harris has an athletic build and he endows Booth with seething physicality and emotional energy. He summons Lincoln for their weekly budget session and conducts it with the rhythm of a card game, snapping dollar bills down in separate piles for rent, electricity and a phone. When Lincoln says “We ain’t got no phone,” Booth replies, “We pay our bill — they’ll turn it back on.”

Booth is a manager. A homemaker. He is also a nimble shoplifter. He could be a provider.

But he has trouble holding a job.

Booth wants his brother to quit the arcade and return to the big money of the card game, with him taking the place of Lincoln’s dead friend.

Lincoln is exhausted by life and likes his sit-down job. Booth is a go-getter, determined to win back his former girlfriend, Grace.

Henderson and Harris convey the tough and tender rapport between the brothers, whose banter includes recollections of their parents. Sharing a take-out Chinese meal over the milk crates, they recall “gathering around the table” as a family. With bitter humor, they soon puncture these daydreams with tales of their raunchy father.

Complemented by artful staging, including deft lighting and costumes, the actors create arresting stage pictures. A shadow of Lincoln in top hat conjures a period silhouette of the president. Freeze-frame scenes show their characters’ inner worlds.

Attired in tasteful suits shoplifted

by Booth, the men pose in an image of aspiration that eludes them in real life. As Booth says, “Clothes make the man.”

Later, nattily suited and awaiting his girlfriend, Booth stands motionless before his transformed apartment, its crates covered by fine linens and silverware. His hardened face lets on that he is waiting in vain for Grace.

Superbly directed!

Very poignant!

Firecracker energy!”

Tyrone Mitchell Henderson & Matthew J. Harris

Brotherly rapport

Waiting in vain

“A MUST-SEE!

“SEARING! RIVETING!

Sizing the boy up as a rich white kid, he agreed to sign his book for $10. The boy only had a $20, and, as “Honest Abe,” he promised to give him the change the next day. The brothers laugh at that. Lincoln spent his windfall at Lucky’s, a local bar.

Like the president he impersonates, Henderson has a tall and thin physique. His Lincoln is soft-spoken, even while trading taunts with Booth. But when he wakes up from a nightmare, reliving his addiction to the game and its violence, Henderson shows his character’s anguish and fear. Later, with equal dexterity, Henderson renders Lincoln’s chameleon-like change into a slick, fast-talking hustler who wears his stylish fedora at a jaunty angle.

FILM REVIEW

‘Life’ an outer space screamfest

By KAM WILLIAMS

In recent years, Hollywood has started serving up some outer space adventures, a la “The Martian” (2015) and “The Space between Us” (2017), that suggest the Red Planet is basically a benign environment free of any hostile creatures. But just when we thought it was safe to visit Mars again, along comes Life, a cautionary horror flick unleashing a terrifying alien force aboard an international space station.

Directed by Daniel Espinosa (“Safe House”), the claustrophobic thriller co-stars Jake Gyllenhaal and Ryan Reynolds as Dr. David Jordan and Roy Adams, respectively, the Pilgrim 7’s flight engineer and chief medical officer. The balance of the six-person crew is composed of Center for Disease Control quarantine specialist Dr. Miranda North (Rebecca Ferguson), systems engineer Sho Kendo (Hiroyuki Sanada), eco-biologist Dr. Hugh Derry (Ariyon Bakare) and the spaceship’s captain, Katerina Golovkin (Olga Dihovichnaya).

Screamfest

As the film unfolds, we learn that their appointed mission is merely to deliver a single-cell organism arriving via space probe from the surface of Mars. It all sounds easy enough as the disarming plotline initially devotes itself to developing the characters’ back stories, like how David is a disenchanted Iraq War vet.

Upon retrieving the capsule, they celebrate the discovery of the first incontrovertible proof of life beyond Earth. They even allow Sho’s daughter to give the ostensibly-innocuous substance a cute, cuddly name, oblivious of the danger lurking just over

dance

continued from page 13 in ballet classes for students as young as 3 or 4. Those with a particular body type or perceived skill set are encouraged to see dance as a career path, while others are relegated to the “hobby” group. Mateo says, “I think there’s so much work that needs to be done in the industry to engage young people in dance and to allow them to pursue dance professionally.”

Misty Copeland became the

AT A GLANCE ‘Life’ The verdict: Excellent (4 stars) Rated: R for violence, terror and pervasive

profanity Language: English, Japanese and Chinese

with subtitles Running time: 103 minutes Distributor: Columbia Pictures

ON THE WEB To see a trailer for Life, visit:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=LeLsJfGmY_Y the horizon.

The plot thickens when “Calvin” begins reproducing via mitosis, and every cell of its luminescent ectoplasmic mass proves to be an irrepressible mix of brains and muscles. By day 25, the sentient creature develops proto-appendages and becomes strong enough to breach containment.

Initially, it nibbles on a finger of Hugh’s, who somehow discerns that “Calvin doesn’t hate us, but he’s got to kill us to survive.” Great. What ensues is a desperate race against time to return to Earth before the mushrooming monster devours them all, one by one.

Though reminiscent of such sci-fi classics as “Alien” (1979) and “Species” (1995), “Life” is a worthwhile addition to the extraterrestrial-on-the-loose genre. Substantial credit in this regard goes to the ever-underappreciated Jake Gyllenhaal who turns in the latest in a long line of impressive performances which includes outings in “Nocturnal Animals” (2016), “Southpaw” (2015), “Nightcrawler” (2014) and “Prisoners” (2013), to name a few.

Strap yourself in for a cardiovascular screamfest that’ll keep you squirming in your seat. A riveting reminder that it still ain’t smart to mess with Mother Nature! first African American female principal dancer at the American Ballet Theatre in 2015, nearly five centuries after the first formal court ballet performance in Italy in 1573. Though this is a great accomplishment, it’s a small condolence after five hundred years of discrimination. “Misty can’t be everything,” says Carter. “Misty’s in New York. What happens to my people here?”

‘Parable’

continued from page 14 for the production that would be displayed in the marquee and lobby of the theatre. This feature localized the production and highlighted the work of Boston-based artists.

Director Eric Ting says, “Toshi’s music is a profound act of forging community. I can’t think of a better artist to tell this story in this moment.”

Thursday, March 23, 2017 • BAY STATE BANNER • 17

COMMUNITY CALENDAR CHECK OUT MORE EVENTS AND SUBMIT TO OUR ONLINE CALENDAR: BAYSTATEBANNER.COM/EVENTS

FRIDAY ABAKUÁ, AÑÁ, IFÁ: THREE FUNDAMENTS OF CUBA Cuba Studies Program: Ivor Miller , Researcher, Bassey Andah Institute of African and Asian Studies, University of Calabar — Abakuá, Añá, Ifá: Three Fundaments of Cuba. Moderators: Alejandro de la Fuente, Robert Woods Bliss Professor of Latin American History and Economics, Professor of African and African American Studies and of History, and Director, Afro-Latin American Research Institute, Hutchins Center for African & African American Research, Harvard University.

Jorge I. Domínguez, Antonio Madero Professor for the Study of Mexico, Department of Government; Chair, Harvard Academy for International and Area Studies, Harvard University. Co-sponsored with the David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies, Harvard University. Friday, March 24, 12pm, CGIS South, S-216 (Resource Room), 1730 Cambridge St., Cambridge. Free and open to the public.

THROUGH BARBED WIRE PRESENTS 4TH FRIDAY SERIES Friday March 24, 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 Letters and Excerpts from Survival in Solitary Confinement. Families, friends, former prisoners, public are welcome; bring names/addresses of loved ones. Pot Luck.

Created/directed by Arnie King. Location: First Parish Dorchester, 10 Parish St., Dorchester. For more info: throughbarbed wire@yahoo.com or visit www.arnoldking. org; tel. 857-492-4858. Cost: Donation.

SATURDAY PONKAPOAG MUD STOMP Saturday, March 25, 1-3pm, meet at the Ponkapoag Golf Course at 2167 Washington Street in Canton. Celebrate mud season with a 4 mile mud stomp around Ponkapoag Pond. Waterproof boots recommended! It’s springtime in New England! 2 hours. Things to know before you go: Wear sturdy footgear; Carry drinking water on all hikes; Dress in layers for maximum comfort; We will hike unless the weather is severe; If weather conditions are questionable, please call reservation headquarters at 617-698-1802, ext 3; Children must be accompanied by an adult. Reasonable accommodations available. For accessibility questions, please email Maggi.Brown@state.ma.us. All programs are free!

SUNDAY EASY AS LYING: THE MUSIC OF SHAKESPEARE’S GLOBE Seven Times Salts marks Shakespeare’s 400th anniversary year with this spirited musical celebration presented as part of the Boston Public Library’s exhibit “All the City’s a Stage.” You’ll hear songs the Bard mentions by name, works by his talented musical contemporaries including Morley, Dowland, and Robert Johnson,

interspersed with short readings from the plays. Karen Burciaga, renaissance violin; Daniel Meyers, recorders, flute, percussion; Josh Schreiber Shalem, bass viol; Matthew Wright, lute; with Julia Cavallaro, mezzo-soprano, and Matthew Leese, baritone. Sunday, March 26 at 2:30pm.

FREE and open to the public. Boston Public Library, McKim Building (Rabb Lecture Hall), 700 Boylston St., Boston. http:// www.bpl.org/shakespeare/.

PICS IN THE PARKS Mayor Martin J. Walsh and the Boston Parks and Recreation Department invite Boston residents to participate in the free Pics in the Parks photography workshops taking place on select Sundays in March and April from 3-4pm. Individuals of all ages and skill levels are welcome to bring their cameras and participate in these informal sessions led by a photography instructor. Participants will learn techniques for taking impressive photographs of Boston’s scenic parks as well as be given a theme to focus on each Sunday. Select photos may be chosen for an exhibit at Boston City Hall. Dates and locations are as follows: March 26 — LoPresti Playground (main entrance), 33 Summer St., East Boston; April 2 — Millennium Park (main entrance), 300 Gardner St., West Roxbury; April 9 — Jamaica Pond Bandstand, 507 Jamaicaway, Jamaica Plain. For more information please visit the Boston Parks and Recreation Department at www. facebook.com/bostonparksdepartment or www.boston.gov/parks. Participants must bring their own equipment and can register via email by contacting mavrick.afonso@ boston.gov.

UPCOMING COYOTE ON A FENCE Can you be innocent though proven guilty?

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. All tickets to all performances are Pay-What-You-Can, and at each show donations of new and gently loved children’s books will be collected for local charities. The show runs March 31 through April 15 (Thursdays at 7:30pm, Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm, and Sundays at 5pm) at First Church Boston, 66 Marlborough St., Back Bay, Boston. Hub Theatre Company of Boston, Inc., www.hubtheatreboston.org.

FREE FAMILY COOKING CLASSES There are free cooking demos for adults accompanied by one or two children at the Dudley Branch of the Boston Public Library (65 Warren Street in Roxbury). The classes will be taught by a Haley House Chef of the Take Back the Kitchen Program on Mondays: April 3, 10, and 24, 5:30-7pm. Families can sign up for one,

THURSDAY, MARCH 23

CURLEY K-8 PRESENTS DISNEY’S THE LION KING KIDS

Curley K-8 students will present Disney’s The Lion King KIDS on Thursday, March 23 at 6:30pm and Friday, March 24 at 6:30pm at Curley K-8 auditorium (Curley K-8 auditorium, 40 Pershing Rd., Jamaica Plain). Set on the African savannah, Disney’s The Lion King JR. is an inspiring comingof-age tale about a lion cub and future king named Simba and his search for his identity. Tickets are $5-10, and are available by calling 617-869-9614.

two, or all three. Please register before April 8. By contacting Linda at 617-448-5512 or TakeBackTheKitchen@HaleyHouse.org.

The classes are funded by the Fellowes Athenaeum Trust Fund of the Boston Public Library (fellowestrust@yahoo.com).

SPRING RENEWAL CLAY WORKSHOP April 5, 12, 19, 26, at 5:307:30pm with light supper at 5:30pm provided FREE OF CHARGE by Families Creating Together at Unitarian Universalist Urban Ministry, 10 Putnam St., Roxbury.

For directions go to www.uuum.org or call 617-318-6010. With celebrated teaching artist Wendy Ellertson, you will work with clay to make coil, pinch pot, or slab containers to plant seeds and bulbs and hold spring flowers! A few clay creatures may appear…After firing, paint with colorful glazes to welcome spring. Children (ages 5 – 13 with and without disabilities), parents, grandparents and friends welcome.

Presented in English, Spanish and American Sign Language upon request. Wheelchair accessible. FCT is a program of Community Service Care/Tree of Life Coalition. To register and for more information call 617-522-4832 or email familiescreat ing@gmail.com. Additional information at www.familiescreatingtogether.org.

FREE COOKING DEMOS FOR SENIOR CITIZENS The Dudley Branch of the Boston Public Library (65 Warren Street in Roxbury) is offering free cooking demos for seniors, taught by Chef Fulani of the Take Back the Kitchen Program at Haley House.

Each class has a focus: April 6: COOKING ON A BUDGET, April 13 & 20: SWAP THE SALT – SPICE IT UP, April 27: SMART SHOPPING. All classes run from 1-2:30pm. Sign up for one, two, or all three. Please register before April 8 because space is limited. To register, call 617-448-5512 or email TakeBackThe Kitchen@HaleyHouse.org. The classes are funded by the Fellowes Athenaeum Trust Fund of the Boston Public Library (fellowestrust@yahoo.com).

morning throughout the season. For more information and 2017 dates, visit www.

FriendsoftheBlueHills.org/peekablue.

ONGOING SCARLET THREAD Simmons College presents a solo exhibition: Scarlet Thread, a feminist alphabet in mixed media by Lauren Gillette from through April 13 at the Trustman Art Gallery, located on the fourth floor, Main College Building, 300 The Fenway in Boston. A reception will be held on Thursday, March 16 from 5-7pm, with a snow date of March 23. Lauren Gillette has fashioned an alphabet with multi-media narrative quilted panels of an alternate “herstory”. Women of doubtful reputation, such as Eva Peron’s or Helen of Troy’s biographies are upended from their traditional telling. The irreverence and seriousness of Gillette’s recasting of our collective mythological, fictional and lived history is her way of bearing witness to “the Hester Prynne drumbeat going on around me.” As a conceptual artist, Gillette chooses fabric for her support of the text and drawings to solicit our desire to touch, while her notorious subjects and with their non-normative sexual antics and correspondent public shaming are anything but cozy quilts. The Scarlet Thread project was supported by the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation Artist Advancement Grant. 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.

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/upcomingexhibition 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 617353-2630, or check our Twitter feed (twitter.com/buobservatory).

SUDOKU ANSWERS FROM PG 20

PEEK-A-BLUE HIKES FOR PARENTS AND TOTS Tuesday, April 11, 11am - 12pm, meet at Houghton’s Pond main parking lot at 840 Hillside Street in Milton. Calling all parents and tots! Join the Friends of the Blue Hills for a new season of Peeka-Blue Hikes for parents and tots. Enjoy a kids and parents scavenger hunt, complete with prizes for all! Complimentary water, juice and snacks too. Hikes will then be offered every other Tuesday

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.

18 • Thursday, March 23, 2017 • BAY STATE BANNER

FOOD

www.baystatebanner.com

CHECK OUT NUTRITION AND HEALTH NEWS ONLINE: BAYSTATEBANNER.COM/NEWS/HEALTH

FLASH IN THE PAN

TIP OF THE WEEK Snacks that will fill you up, not out

Living

According to the Dairy Council of California, snacks should have a mix of protein, fat and carbs and come from at least two of the five food groups. Here are some snacks with 250 calories or less to boost your energy and keep hunger pangs at bay until your next meal. n Spread a tablespoon of almond butter on a banana or sliced apple. n Top plain Greek yogurt with a handful of berries. n Mash half an avocado with one hard-boiled egg and use as a topper for five whole-grain crackers.

off the

land LENTILS A HEARTY CONDUIT FOR CARIBBEAN FLAVOR

COFFEE TIPS Keeping your coffee fresh When it comes to your morning cup of coffee, it’s best to start with fresh beans. Here are three tips from the National Coffee Association on how to properly store your coffee to maximize freshness and flavor. n Keep your coffee beans in an airtight container and store in a cool place. n Since coffee begins to lose freshness almost immediately after roasting, try to buy smaller batches of freshly roasted coffee more frequently. n When freezing, quickly remove as much as you need for no more than a week at a time, and return the rest to the freezer before any condensation forms.

TAPA’S LENTILS

By ARI LEVAUX, MORE CONTENT NOW

T

he tiny island nation of Dominica, population 70,000, isn’t blessed with the blinding white sand beaches of many of its Caribbean neighbors. This has spared it from the tourist hordes, and deprived it of the income they would have brought in.

With its stunted tourist economy and few exports, Dominica is a living laboratory for how a Caribbean culture might evolve with minimal outside influence.

Subsistence farms dot the steep volcanic hillsides. While the supermarket shelves of neighboring islands are stocked with imports, Dominica is a place where “local food” isn’t a buzzword. By and large, it’s the only option, which makes it something of a locavore’s paradise.

Meals like “goat water,” a thick goat stew, or chicken kweme, made of lemongrass-smoked chicken in coconut sauce, are served alongside a revolving cast of “provisions,” a broad category of wild or cultivated roots, tubers and starchy above-ground plant parts like breadfruit. The clean rivers are flush with crayfish the size of lobsters.

One noteworthy exception to the local foods rule-of-thumb is the widespread use, and love, of lentils. It’s a Caribbean-wide phenomenon, especially in the English-speaking countries like Jamaica, Trinidad, Barbados and Dominica. A legacy of the British and African involvement in the Caribbean, lentils have hung on, in part, because they are one of the cheapest forms of protein on Earth.

Being dried and shelf-stable, they can be shipped with minimum expense, as there is no rush and no refrigeration required. They could be imported by sailboat, as they once were, for a virtually carbon-free import, making them about as environmentally friendly as as they would be

if grown on-site. And being legumes, they require no fertilization. If farmed properly, they can leave the soil better than it was before they were planted.

In those northern lands of snow and ice — and thaw, and flood — that I left behind, winter is traditionally a time where lentil soup is a comfort food. And as I’m learning in Dominica, it’s a good warmweather food, too.

Here is a lentil recipe given to me by Tapa, who runs an Airbnb in the tiny village of Castle Bruce. He learned it from a Jamaican woman who once rented him a room in London. “When she cook,” he reminisced, “you lick ya fingas.”

The recipe calls for two specialty ingredients which can be purchased online or easily substituted for: Jamaican jerk paste and Adobo seasoning powder. The jerk paste is made from thyme, ginger, green onions, garlic and Scotch bonnet (aka habanero) peppers.

But all of these ingredients except the ginger and pepper are already in Tapa’s recipe, so if you don’t have jerk paste, simply add crushed ginger and as much minced hot pepper as you wish. Note: the Scotch Bonnet, in addition to having legendary heat (it was once widely considered the world’s hottest), also has exceptional and unique flavor. So it can’t properly be replaced by any other type of chile.

A homemade Adobo seasoning can be fabricated from: 1/4 cup sweet paprika, 3 tablespoons ground black pepper, 2 tablespoons onion powder, 2 tablespoons dried oregano (preferably Mexican), 2 tablespoons ground cumin, 1 tablespoon chile powder and 2 tablespoon garlic powder.

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.

COFFEE TIPS Wine pairing rules for a party

PHOTO: ARI LEVAUX

Winter is traditionally a time where lentil soup is a comfort food. But it’s also a good warm-weather food.

n 2 pounds lentils n ¼ cup olive oil n 1 t Adobo seasoning n 10 whole cloves n 5 garlic cloves, crushed n 2 t jerk sauce n 1 t black pepper n 1 t curry n ½ t paprika n 4 turns ground allspice n 3 drops Angustura bitters n 3 sprigs fresh thyme n 1 stalk celery, minced n 3 green onions, chopped n 5 sprigs parsley, chopped Cover the lentils with water.

Add all of the ingredients except

the green onion, celery and parsley. Bring to a simmer and keep it there for about 45 minutes with the lid on, adding water as necessary to keep the lentils covered, until they are cooked but not mushy.

“You don’t really want your lentil falling apart. You want a little body in it. As it’s cooking you can take your spoon and turn it over and see what it’s like. When it’s cook, you take all your final seasoning.”

Which is to say, add the green onion, celery and parsley, cook for another 15 minutes. Season with salt and serve.

Whether it’s a dinner party or just an impromptu barbecue, here are tips from the Wine Institute for the perfect pairing. n Serve a dry rose with appetizers. Roses combine fresh acidity and the light body of whites with the fruitiness of reds. n Serving filet mignon or braised lamb? Rich reds, such as a Cabernet or Syrah, are an ideal complement. n For desserts, choose a lighter wine, such as Moscato with roasted pears, or Madeira with a caramel torte.

HEALTH EATING Turn veggies into noodles easily You can turn virtually any spring and summer vegetable into a noodle shape using a knife, box grater or a vegetable peeler, says Prevention.

A box grater is fast and easy; apply firm pressure to produce long strands. A vegetable peeler creates wider ribbons. Be sure to make each shaving as thin as possible. For a texture close to real pasta, use a very sharp knife to cut long, thin strips of about ¹⁄8-inch wide.

With some practice, you’ll be able to turn favorite veggies into “noodles.”

Thursday, March 23, 2017 • BAY STATE BANNER • 19

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20 • Thursday, March 23, 2017 • BAY STATE BANNER

Arroyo

Bring your friends and family!

continued from page 1 on the condition of anonymity said Arroyo has faced resistance from long-term employees in the office since he began his six-year term in 2015.

Mismanagement or sabotage?

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Cafazzo’s report claims that files go missing on a daily basis, checks are unprocessed and attorneys and those representing themselves face long wait times.

Arroyo maintains that he has been stymied in his attempts to reform the court, inheriting a workforce resistant to changes, including his hiring of people of color who spoke the same languages as many of the petitioners who appear at the office to file for divorce, custody, name changes and other matters handled by the probate court.

In removing Arroyo, Spence alleged mismanagement based on the findings of Cafazzo’s assessment.

“It was a place for employees to make work disappear,” the report reads. “There were thousands of pleadings dating as far back [as] 2015 not docketed or scanned.

This procedural meltdown created chaos for not only litigants but the judicial staff as well.”

Arroyo maintains that some longtime staff members were resentful of changes he was making, including nearly doubling the percentage of people of color working in the registry from 26 percent when he started to 45 percent today. Two trial court employees, who spoke to the Banner on condition of anonymity, corroborated allegations that long-term staff routinely stalled cases coming

through the probate court by hiding or failing to file paperwork and checks.

“As self-serving as Cafazzo’s assessment is, it only affirms our claim that there was intentional sabotage on the part of some of the staff that Félix inherited or were placed in his office by Trial Court administrators,” said Arroyo spokesman Patrick Keaney.

On his website, Arroyo says that budget constraints led to the Probate Court workforce shrinking to two-thirds its size relative to ten years ago. Although Arroyo requested funds to hire new employees, those requests were denied, according to Keaney.

Investigation ordered

Cafazzo’s report alleges the lack of training took its toll on the operations of the court.

“Due to the employees not having proper training, they were misinforming litigants, handing out incorrect paperwork, which ultimately translated into double the work load and an unhappy customer,” reads an excerpt of the report.

While the register of probate’s office by statute is entitled to four senior staff, Arroyo says he was denied his request to fill all four positions. In October of last year, Spence placed Cafazzo in Arroyo’s office as an operations manager. In February Spence removed Arroyo and appointed Cafazzo acting register.

Spence has ordered an investigation of Arroyo’s tenure at the registry, appointing former Probate Court Justice Anthony Nesi to conduct the investigation using questions drafted by Spence. A spokeswoman for the court said Spence did not specify whom Nesi was interviewing for this investigation.

Thursday, March 23, 2017 • BAY STATE BANNER • 21 Thursday, March 23, 2017 • BAY STATE BANNER • 21

State’s LEGAL 2040 transit ideas unveiled LEGAL

By JULE PATTISON-GORDON

The state’s Focus40 planning group offered a presentation at MIT’s Media Lab last week with panels and a short overview of proposals to guide Massachusetts’ transportation investments and initiatives over the next 23 years.

“Anyone who thinks all the challenges we have in the system today are going to be solved in a five-year [capital planning] cycle is deluding themselves. We need to set a longer-term road map,” said Scott Hamway, manager of long range planning at the Massachusetts Department of Transportation.

Hamway said the Focus40 team’s goals include reducing private vehicular use, improving passenger experience, reducing climate impact and closing access and opportunity gaps. Melissa Kim of the Focus40 project team presented a map that identified where there was a scarcity of jobs available within 45 minutes of travel — either due to lack of local jobs or lack of quick transportation to job centers — to identify transit link needs.

Leading up to the “Ideas of March” open house event, the Focus40 team gathered approximately 3,000 responses from a an online survey and held conversations with MBTA staff and meetings with organizations that included transit activists, community groups and education leaders.

Focus40 also spoke with riders at rapid transit, bus and commuter rail stations. The street team’s

surveying time at each type of transit stations was allocated based on current use levels, with more time spent at the most-trafficked systems. A consequence of this approach may be that riders on lines that go less-used due to slow, infrequent or ill-timed service also had less of a voice represented in the street team’s surveying.

Respondents told Focus40 that their top concerns as commuters were reliability; frequency of trains, buses and subways; amenities; and service speed.

Focus40’s proposals are being put forth for public feedback, with finalization planned for a later stage. Identifying or estimating financing is not part of plans at this stage.

Low-hanging fruit

With the next 20-plus years of financing largely unpredictable and improvements needed as soon as possible, Hamway said, Focus40’s proposals emphasize cheap and quick-to-implement solutions, with later, costlier steps as options should these not work.

For instance, while the city put forth the idea of extending the Orange Line into Roslindale in its recently-released Go Boston 2030 report, Hamway advises piloting a designated bus lane between Roslindale Village and Forest Hills instead.

“If there are thing we can do tomorrow, why wait for a far bigger project that’ll be harder to implement?” he said.

Hamway told the Banner that an attempt to make the 28X run in a designated bus lane on Blue

BANNER CLASSIFIEDS LEGAL

ON THE WEB

Visit the Focus40 website:

https://www.mbtafocus40.com/ Hill Ave several years ago was too big a change at once for the community to accept. The approach he now recommends is to identify key congested street sections where implementing short stretches of designated bus lanes can impact a high number of riders, instead of introducing a full, multi-mile bus rapid transit line.

Mela Bush Miles, chair of the Fairmount Indigo Transit Coalition and lead community organizer for the Greater Four Corners Action Coalition, praised the idea of a pop-up bus lane, though also said Focus40 needs to do more to capture the voices of those who rely most on public transit. Some steps, she said: improving efforts to publicize meetings like this one as well as holding some meetings at places like Prince Hall Masonic Lodge that would turn out a different audience. At the MIT event there were “not a lot of the folks who utilize public transit more than others because they have no other options,” she told the Banner.

Fairmount line

Hamway said it is challenging to bring faster cars to the Fairmount line because doing so requires a new fleet of vehicles as well as new places to store them.

Instead ideas for improving service on the line include providing more mid-day trips. Currently its schedule focuses on weekday

BANNER PHOTO

The state’s Focus40 team presented findings and ideas at the MIT Media Lab last week. morning and evening services to target commutes to and from work.

Bush Miles said that research conducted by Nelson/Nygaard Consulting Associates found that many people use the Fairmount for far more than getting to work downtown, including for social, commercial and medical purposes throughout the day.

“On this line, people are doing reverse commutes, traveling around the community, not just going to work but going to church or the doctor, visiting grandkids or going shopping,” Bush-Miles said. “Focus40 needs to really look at public transit as a lifeline for moving around and not just getting to work.”

Meanwhile, disconnect

Even as the state looked to fill in equity gaps and improve service long-term, it veered on the edge of

slashing access short-term. Last week, the MBTA announced it would seek to save $10 million per year by terminating weekend commuter-rail service, before public backlash spurred the state to disavow the idea on Monday.

Officials who had suggested cutting rail service presumed that the impact will be lessened because of lighter use on the rail than other lines. However, many transit activists have said that low ridership may reflect lack of sufficient service to make riding convenient and criticized the MBTA for proposing a service reduction before attaining clear ridership numbers.

Those protesting the cuts said suspending weekend service could strand those who work Saturdays and Sundays, depress patronage to business, reduce other visitors to the city and remove what is many people’s primary public transportation option.

BANNER CLASSIFIEDS LEGAL

LEGAL

Commonwealth of Massachusetts The Trial Court Probate and Family Court Department SUFFOLK Division

Docket No. SU17C0065CA

In the matter of Seyedabdolkhalegh Mozaffari Niapour of Boston, MA NOTICE OF PETITION FOR CHANGE OF NAME

Court. Persons interested in the estate are entitled to notice regarding the administration directly from the Personal Representative and may petition the Court in any matter relating to the estate, including distribution of assets and expenses of administration.

WITNESS, HON. Joan P. Armstrong, First Justice of this Court.

Date: March 10, 2017 Terri Klug Cafazzo Register of Probate MASSACHUSETTS PORT AUTHORITY

To all persons interested in a petition described: A petition has been presented by Seyedabdolkhalegh Mozaffari Niapour requesting that Seyedabdolkhalegh Mozaffari Niapour be allowed to change his/her/their name as follows: Khalegh Mozaffari IF YOU DESIRE TO OBJECT THERETO, YOU OR YOUR ATTORNEY MUST FILE A WRITTEN APPEARANCE IN SAID COURT AT BOSTON ON OR BEFORE TEN O’CLOCK IN THE MORNING (10:00 AM) ON 04/13/2017.

WITNESS, HON. Joan P. Armstrong, First Justice of this Court.

Date: March 13, 2017 Terri Klug Cafazzo Register of Probate Commonwealth of Massachusetts The Trial Court Probate and Family Court Department SUFFOLK Division

Docket No. SU17P0134EA

Citation on Petition for Formal Adjudication Estate of Naudess Augustus Allison Date of Death: 03/15/2016 To all interested persons: A Petition for Formal Appointment of Personal Representative has been filed

by Naumy Allison of Springfield Garden, NY requesting that the Court enter a formal Decree and Order and for such other relief as requested in the Petition. The Petitioner requests that Naumy Allison of Springfield Garden, NY be appointed as Personal Representative(s) of said estate to serve on the bond in an unsupervised administration.

IMPORTANT NOTICE You have the right to obtain a copy of the Petition from the Petitioner or at the Court. You have a right to object to this proceeding. To do so, you or your attorney must file a written appearance and objection at this Court before 10:00 a.m. on the return day of 04/21/2017. This is NOT a hearing date, but a deadline by which you must file a written appearance and objection if you object to this proceeding. If you fail to file a timely written appearance and objection followed by an Affidavit of Objections within thirty (30) days of the return day, action may be taken without further notice to you.

UNSUPERVISED ADMINISTRATION UNDER THE MASSACHUSETTS UNIFORM PROBATE CODE (MUPC) A Personal Representative appointed under the MUPC in an unsupervised administration is not required to file an inventory or annual accounts with the

NOTICE TO CONTRACTORS Sealed General Bids for MPA Contract No. L1504-C3 CARGO BUILDING NO. 56 DRY SPRINKLER SYSTEM REPLACEMENT, 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 02128-2909, until 11:00 A.M. local time on WEDNESDAY, APRIL 26, 2017, immediately after which, in a designated room, the bids will be opened and read publicly.

Sealed filed sub bids for the same contract will be received at the same office until 11:00 A.M. local time on WEDNESDAY, APRIL 12, 2017, immediately after which, in a designated room, the filed sub bids will be opened and read publicly.

NOTE:

PRE BID CONFERENCE WILL BE HELD AT THE CAPITAL PROGRAMS DEPARTMENT (ABOVE ADDRESS) AT 9:00 AM LOCAL TIME ON TUESDAY, MARCH 28, 2017.

The work includes INSTALLATION OF NEW HYDRAULICALLY CALCULATED AUTOMATIC FIRE PROTECTION SPRINKLER SYSTEM WITH NITROGEN AND LIMITED FIRE ALARM AND ELECTRICAL WORK AND REMOVAL OF EXISTING DRY SPRINKLER SYSTEM. Bid documents will be made available beginning THURSDAY, MARCH 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.

In order to be eligible and responsible to bid on this contract General Bidders must submit with their bid a current Certificate of Eligibility issued by the Division of Capital Assessment Management and an Update Statement.

The General Bidder must be certified in the category of FIRE PROTECTION SPRINKLER SYSTEMS. The estimated contract cost is ONE MILLION TWO HUNDRED SEVEN THOUSAND DOLLARS ($1,207,000).

In order to be eligible and responsible to bid on this contract, filed Sub-bidders must submit with their bid a current Sub-bidder Certificate of Eligibility issued by the Division of Capital Asset Management and Maintenance and a Sub-bidder Update Statement. The filed Sub-bidder must be certified in the sub-bid category of work for which the Sub-bidder is submitting a bid proposal.

Bidding procedures and award of the contract and sub contracts shall be

LEGAL in accordance with the provisions of Sections 44A through 44H inclusive, Chapter 149 of the General Laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

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 TEN MILLION DOLLARS ($10,000,000). 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.

Filed sub bids will be required and taken on the following classes of work: ELECTRICAL

$45,000.00

The Authority reserves the right to reject any sub bid of any sub trade where permitted by Section 44E of the above referenced General Laws. The right is also reserved to waive any informality in or to reject any or all proposals and General Bids.

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 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

22 • Thursday, March 23, 2017 • BAY STATE BANNER

BANNER CLASSIFIEDS

LEGAL

LEGAL

INVITATION TO BID The Massachusetts Water Resources Authority is seeking bids for the following: BID NO.

DESCRIPTION

DATE

TIME

WRA-4360

Purchase of UPS Batteries

04/03/17

11:00 a.m.

To access and bid on Event(s) please go to the MWRA Supplier Portal at www.mwra.com.

CONCRETE RUBBLIZATION; P-401 ASPHALT OVERLAY: LIGHT ADJUSTMENTS, DUCT BANK INSTALLATION; PAVEMENT MARKINGS; RUNWAY GROOVING; LOAMING AND SEEDING AND OTHER INCIDENTAL ITEMS OF WORK. ADDITIVE ALTERNATE work includes: ASPHALT RUNWAY SHOULDER PAVEMENT REMOVAL; RECLAMATION OF ASPHALT SAFETY AREA PAVEMENT AT BOTH ENDS OF RUNWAY 11/29; CONSTRUCTION OF RECLAIMED BASE COURSE; P-401 ASPHALT OVERLAY; LIGHT ADJUSTMENTS; PAVEMENT MARKINGS; LOAMING AND SEEDING; AND OTHER INCIDENTAL ITEMS OF WORK.

NOTICE TO TRADE CONTRACTORS REQUEST FOR TRADE CONTRACTOR QUALIFICATIONS

Bid documents will be made available beginning WEDNESDAY, MARCH 22, 2017.

The MASSACHUSETTS PORT AUTHORITY is soliciting Statements of Qualifications from TRADE CONTRACTORS interested in performing work for MPA CONTRACT #L1375-C2, TERMINAL B OPTIMIZATION. The Authority is seeking Qualification Statements from Trade Contractors who have a demonstrated experience in the construction and implementation of similar work in terms of scale and complexity as required for the TERMINAL B OPTIMIZATION PROJECT, LOGAN INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, TERMINAL B, PIER B, EAST BOSTON, MA In accordance with Massachusetts construction manager at-risk requirements, MGL Chapter 149A Section 8, Qualification Statements are being requested from trade contractors capable of performing the following classes of work: masonry; miscellaneous metals and ornamental iron; waterproofing, damp-proofing and caulking; roofing; glass and glazing; tile; terrazzo; acoustical tile; resilient floors; painting; elevators/ escalators; plumbing; HVAC; fire protection; and electrical.

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 contract includes the following scope of work, to be carried out as phased construction: Two new building additions totaling approximately 83,800 square feet of new construction and 81,000 square feet of renovated space; a new 9 lane security checkpoint; renovation of holdrooms; two new exterior stairs; inspection and improvements to four existing elevators and two existing escalators; new baggage handling equipment and modification of existing baggage handling equipment; new concession shell space and infrastructure; and airside site improvements.

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 estimated cost of the trade contractors’ portion of this phase of the Project is approximately $50,695,000 and the construction duration for this phase is approximately eighteen (18) months. The estimated value of work to be performed by trade contractors is as follows: Masonry: ..………………………………………………......

Miscellaneous and Ornamental Iron: …………………...

Waterproofing, Damp-proofing and Caulking: …….....

Roofing: ..……………………………………………….......

Glass and Glazing (storefront): ..………………………..

Tile: ..…………………………………………………….......

Terrazzo: ..……………………………………………….....

Acoustical Tile: ..…………………………………….........

Resilient Floors: ..……………………………………….....

Painting: ..………………………………………………......

Elevators/Escalators: ..…………………………………...

Plumbing: ..…………………………………………….......

HVAC: ..……………………………………………….........

Fire Protection: ..……………………………………….....

Electrical: ..…………………………………………….......

$ 415,000 $ 730,000 $ 300,000 $ 3,800,000 $ 500,000 $ 700,000 $ 2,250,000 $ 2,300,000 $ 1,000,000 $ 2,000,000 $ 1,000,000 $ 2,200,000 $ 14,000,000 $ 1,500,000 $ 9,000,000

The Authority is implementing this project in accordance with MGL Chapter 149A, Sections 1 thru 13. This selection of trade contractors conforms to MGL Chapter 149A, Section 8, subsections (b) to (k) inclusive. This Request for Qualifications (RFQ) will be utilized to prequalify trade contractors capable and experienced in the construction of parking garages and terminal buildings. The Authority shall utilize a two-step process including the prequalification of trade contractors based on an evaluation of the Statement of Qualifications received in response to this solicitation, followed by an Invitation to Bidders that will only be issued to the prequalified trade contractors. A Prequalification Committee consisting of four representatives, one each from the Designer and the CM at Risk and two Massport staff.

This Prequalification Committee will be conducting a qualifications-based evaluation of submittals received from interested trade contractors in order to identify prequalified trade contractors who will be invited to respond to a written Invitation to Bidders. Please note that the Authority is not utilizing this process to prequalify subcontractors who are not trade contractors which shall be done separately in accordance with MGL C149A, Section 8, subsection (j).

Qualification Statements shall be evaluated in accordance with the following criteria; (1) Management Experience; (2) Project References including a Public Project Record and (3) Capacity to Complete including a demonstration that the contractor has the financial stability and long-term viability to successfully implement the Project. A Supplemental Information Package that discusses these Evaluation Criteria and the Prequalification Process in more detail as well as any other requirements for the Qualification Statements will be available to interested parties beginning March 22, 2017, by contacting Susan Brace at 617-568-5961 or via email at sbrace@ massport.com A Project Briefing will be held on March 28, 2017, at 11:00am in the Capital Programs Department, Logan Office Center, 2nd floor, 1 Harborside Drive, East Boston, MA. Attendance at the briefing is not mandatory, however, it is strongly encouraged in order to best familiarize your firm with the project details and the prequalification process.

Six (6) copies of a bound document each limited to 20 sheets (40 pages), exclusive of covers and dividers and resumes which shall be limited to one page, shall be printed on both sides of the sheet (8 ½” x 11”) and shall be addressed to Mr. Houssam H. Sleiman, P.E., CCM, Director of Capital Programs and Environmental Affairs, and received no later than 12:00 Noon on Thursday, April 13, 2017, at the Massachusetts Port Authority, Logan Office Center, One Harborside Drive, Suite 209S, Logan International Airport, East Boston, MA 02128-2909. Any submittal that exceeds the page limit set here or that is not received in the Capital Programs Department by the above deadline shall be rejected as non-responsive.

Questions regarding this RFQ shall be submitted in writing and directed to cpbidquestions@massport.com with the Project name and number included in the subject line of the email.

MASSACHUSETTS PORT AUTHORITY THOMAS P. GLYNN CEO & EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR MASSACHUSETTS PORT AUTHORITY NOTICE TO CONTRACTORS Sealed General Bids for MPA CONTRACT NO. H262-C1 REHABILITATION OF RUNWAY 11-29, L. G. HANSCOM FIELD, BEDFORD, 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 02128-2909, until 11:00 A.M. local time on WEDNESDAY, APRIL 12, 2017, immediately after which, in a designated room, the proposal will be opened and read publicly.

NOTE: PRE BID CONFERENCE WILL BE HELD AT THE 2ND FLOOR CONFERENCE ROOM, CIVIL AIR TERMINAL, L. G. HANSCOM FIELD, BEDFORD, MASSACHUSETTS AT 1:00 PM (LOCAL TIME) ON THURSDAY, MARCH 30, 2017.

The BASE BID work includes: ASPHALT MILLING; PORTLAND CEMENT

The estimated BASE BID contract cost is NINE MILLION, ONE HUNDREDFIFTY THOUSAND DOLLARS ($9,150,000.00). The estimated ADDITIVE ALTERNATE NO. 1 – RW 11-29 EXTENDED SHOULDER WORK contract cost is SIX HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS ($600,000.00). The estimated ADDITIVE ALTERNATE NO. 2 – RW 11 END SAFETY AREA PAVEMENT WORK contract cost is ONE MILLION TWO HUNDRED-SIXTY THOUSAND DOLLARS ($1,260,000.00). The estimated ADDITIVE ALTERNATE NO. 3 – RW 29 END SAFETY AREA PAVEMENT WORK contract cost is ONE MILLION, ONE HUNDRED-SEVENTY THOUSAND DOLLARS ($1,170,000.00).

Bidders must submit a Buy American Certificate with all bids or offers on AIP funded projects. Bids that are not accompanied by a completed Buy American Certificate must be rejected as nonresponsive.

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 $5,000,000. 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 subject to a Disadvantaged Business Enterprise participation provision requiring that not less than EIGHT AND EIGHT TENTHS PERCENT (8.8%) of the Contract be performed by disadvantaged business enterprise contractors. With respect to this provision, bidders are urged to familiarize themselves thoroughly with the Bidding Documents. Strict compliance with

REAL ESTATE

LEGAL the pertinent procedures will be required for a bidder to be deemed responsive and eligible.

This Contract is also subject to Affirmative Action requirements of the Massachusetts Port Authority contained in Article 84 of the General Requirements and Covenants, and to the Secretary of Labor’s Requirement for Affirmative Action to Ensure 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.

A Contractor having fifty (50) or more employees and his subcontractors having fifty (50) or more employees who may be awarded a subcontract of $50,000 or more will, within one hundred twenty (120) days from the contract commencement, be required to develop a written affirmative action compliance program for each of its establishments.

Compliance Reports - Within thirty (30) days of the award of this Contract the Contractor shall file a compliance report (Standard Form [SF 100]) if: (a) The Contractor has not submitted a complete compliance report within twelve (12) months preceding the date of award, and (b) The Contractor is within the definition of “employer” in Paragraph 2c(3) of the instructions included in SF100.

The contractor shall require the subcontractor on any first tier subcontracts, irrespective of the dollar amount, to file SF 100 within thirty (30) days after the award of the subcontracts, if the above two conditions apply. SF 100 will be furnished upon request. SF 100 is normally furnished Contractors annuy, based on a mailing list currently maintained by the Joint Reporting Committee. In the event a contractor has not received the form, he may obtain it by writing to the following address: Joint Reporting Committee 1800 G Street Washington, DC 20506 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

SMALL ADS BRING

BIG RESULTS! Call 617-261-4600 x 7799 or visit www.baystatebanner.com now to place your ad.

REAL ESTATE

Thursday, March 23, 2017 • BAY STATE BANNER • 23

BANNER CLASSIFIEDS

REAL ESTATE

REAL ESTATE

77 Court Street Newton Affordable Housing www.s-e-b.com

Income Restricted Homeownership Opportunity 88 Hudson Street Boston, MA 02111 www.88Hudson.com 51 Affordable Units

One 3BR Condo $223,900 Six 2BR Condos $201,300 Two 1BR Condos $178,600 First units will be ready in late Fall of 2017.

This is a lottery for the 9 affordable Condominiums which will be sold at affordable prices to households with incomes at or below 80% of the area median income. Affordable units will have GE stainless steel kitchen appliances, ceasarstone countertops, tiled bath floors, oak floors in living/dining & kitchen, carpet in bedrooms, recessed lighting in kitchen/dining/bathrooms. Bike storage, one parking spot, elevator building. 77 Court Street is 0.2 miles from the Newtonville MBTA Commuter rail stop and 0.3 miles from Newtonville Center.

Households cannot have more than $75,000 in assets.

For more information on the Development, the Units or the Lottery and Application Process, or for reasonable accommodations for persons with disabilities, please visit: www.s-e-b.com/lottery or call 617.782.6900 (x2 and then x1) Applications and Required Income Documentation must be delivered, not postmarked, by 2 pm on May 2nd, 2017.

A Public Info Session will be on March 28th, 2017 at 6 pm in the Newton Free Library (330 Homer Street).

The lottery will be on May 23rd, 2017 at the same location.

Baldwin Woods Woburn Affordable Housing Lottery 100 Baldwin Ave, Woburn MA www.s-e-b.com

Type

Price

% Income

3

1 BR

$113,500

60%

1

2 BR

$135,000

60%

16

1 BR

$174,900

80%

19

2 BR

$204,600

80%

7

3 BR

$234,000

80%

2

1 BR

$226,700

100%

2

2 BR

$263,700

100%

1

3 BR

$300,700

100%

Household size

60% AMI

80% AMI

100% AMI

1 person

$41,250

$54,950

$68,700

2 persons

$47,100

$62,800

$78,500

3 persons

$53,000

$70,650

$88,300

4 persons

$58,900

$78,500

$98,100

5 persons

$63,600

$84,800

$105,950

6 persons

$68,300

$91,050

$113,800

Banner Connect with the

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BAY STATE BANNER

www.baystatebanner.com

For interview call Debbie at 867-990-3305 or email resume to dgove@midtownhomehealth.com EOE/AA

HIRING NOTICE: This is a “Boston Residents Jobs Policy” Project. All residents are encouraged to apply-must be able to provide acceptable verification of Boston Residency. Applicants must bring a copy of one of the following items as proof of Boston Residency: A current driver’s license OR Massachusetts Identification Card OR Utility Bill less than 6 months old. Keith Construction’s subcontractors are seeking tradesmen for QUINCY TOWER, 5 Oak Street West, in Boston, MA. Must be dependable. Seeking all trades. Local area and low income applicants are encouraged to apply.

KEITH CONSTRUCTION IS AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER.

Applications will be available in person on the following dates and times:

Healthcare CAREER?

Time

Monday, March 20, 2017

10:00AM - 2:00PM

Project Hope, in partnership with Partners HealthCare and Boston Medical Center, is currently accepting applications for a FREE entry level healthcare employment training program.

Tuesday, March 21, 2017

10:00AM – 2:00PM

Program eligibility includes:

Wednesday, March 22, 2017

10:00AM – 2:00PM

Thursday, March 23, 2017

3:00PM – 7:00PM

Saturday, March 25, 2017

10:00AM – 2:00PM

Location: Management Office – 66 Hudson Street, Boston, MA 02111 Informational Meetings will be held on the following dates/times: Thursday, March 16, 2017 at 6:00pm at 66 Hudson St., Boston, MA 02111 Tuesday, March 21, 2017 at 6:30pm at Boston Public Library, Fields Corner Branch, 1520 Dorchester Ave., Boston, MA 02122 Deadline for submission of completed applications by mail only: Postmarked no later than April 10, 2017 Maloney Properties, Inc. Attention: 88 Hudson Lottery | 27 Mica Lane, Wellesley MA 02481 Must be a 1st Time Homebuyer. Preferences Apply.

For more information, for reasonable accommodations for persons with disabilities or for free language assistance for those whose primary language is not English and have limited English proficiency, please contact Maloney Properties, Inc.: 781-943-0200 | U.S. Relay: 711 88Hudson@maloneyproperties.com | www.MaloneyRealEstate.com

Equal Housing Opportunity

Are you interested in a

Date

HELP WANTED Institute for Policy Studies:

Inequality Media Specialist n Build and maintain inequality program media lists and press kits n Expand our print and broadcast presence n Engineer rapid responses to news events, pitch and coordinate interviews n Monitor media coverage and prepare timely press clip compilations n Other duties as assigned (see full position posting at www.ips-dc.org) Apply: Send a cover letter, resume, three refs, and relevant writing sample in one PDF File to “Search Coordinator” at bostonjobs@ips-dc.org by 3/30

Administrative Assistant/Events Coordinator

Like us on

Part-time to start/flexible schedule Week days/Evenings/Weekends Cori check will be done Must be able to work in the USA Must be certified as HHA/CAN to do personal care A second language a plus- Spanish or Chinese

$75,000

Institute for Policy Studies

Follow us on

• • • • • •

Does not include retirement accounts.

For more information on the Development, the Units or the Lottery and Application Process or for reasonable accommodations for persons with disabilities, please visit: www.s-e-b.com/lottery or call 617.782.6900 x2.

An Info Session will be held on April 6th 2017 at 5 pm at Woburn City Hall (Council Chamber: 10 Common Street). The Lottery for eligible households will be held on June 8th 2017 at 5 pm in the same location.

Experienced individuals needed for in-home elder care for light housekeeping and/or personal care. Candidates must be caring, dependable, have a helpful attitude and be willing to work early morning cases and travel between clients. Cases available in Boston on public transportation.

Please call Bill Plante at 781-630-3803 or email: bplante@keithconstruction.net to set up a time to fill out an application.

Households cannot have more than $75,000 in assets.

Applications and Info Packets also available in the Woburn City Hall (Clerks Office: 10 Common Street). Hours: M-Th 9-4:30, F 9-1 Sa-Su Closed.

Midtown Home Health Services

Households may request an application be sent by email or mail from March 20, 2017 – April 3, 2017 through the following methods: Download: www.88Hudson.com Call: 617-209-5405 / U.S. Relay: 711

The Maximum Income Limits for Households are as follows: $51,150 (1 person), $58,450 (2 people), $65,750 (3 people), $73,050 (4 people), $78,900 (5 people), $84,750 (6 people)

Applications and Required Income Documentation must be received, not postmarked, by 2 pm on May 17th 2017.

HELP WANTED

Asset Limit

Four 3BR Townhomes for $226,200 ($105/mo condo fees) This is a lottery for the 4 affordable homes available at Baldwin Woods.

These 4 townhomes will be sold at affordable prices to households with incomes at or below 80% of the area median income. It is anticipated that the first affordable home will be ready by Spring/Summer 2017 with the other three homes being built over the next 12 months. These 1,800 sqft luxury town homes feature gourmet kitchens with solid wood cabinets, granite countertops, and stainless steel appliances. Open floor plan living room and dining room with French doors that lead to private deck. Second floor has laundry room and three spacious bedrooms including a master bedroom suite with walk in closet and tiled bathroom with double vanity. Red oak flooring on the first floor, tile in the baths, foyer and laundry, and plush carpet in all other areas. These units feature Harvey Energy Star double hung windows, central air conditioning, front porch, unfinished basement, and a one car garage.

# of Units

Maximum Income Limit

The Maximum Income Limits for Households are: $51,150 (1 person), $58,450 (2 people), $65,750 (3 people), $73,050 (4 people), $78,900 (5 people), $84,750 (6 people)

Applications and Information available at the Newton Free Library (open M-Th 9am-9pm, F 9-6, Sat 9-5, Sun 1-5)

n Coordinate program events for donors and public n Track/report donation data and manage database (Salesforce Luminate) n Administrative management for 4 person office, coordinating regularly with DC office n Represent the program with strong written and verbal communication n Other duties as assigned (see full job post at www.ips-dc.org) Apply: Send cover letter, resume, and three references in a single PDF File to “Search Coordinator” to bostonjobs@ips-dc.org by 3/30

• • • • •

Have a high school diploma or equivalent Have a verifiable reference of 1 year from a former employer Pass assessments in reading, language, and computer skills Have CORI clearance Be legally authorized to work in the United States

For more information and to register for the next Open House please visit our website at www.prohope.org/openhouse.htm or call 617-442-1880 ext. 234.

Free training

for those that qualify!

Train for Administrative, Financial

Services, Health Insurance Customer Service & Medical Office jobs.

Work in hospitals, colleges, insurance agencies, banks, businesses, government offices, health insurance call centers, and more!

GET READY FOR A GREAT OFFICE JOB! We will help you apply for free training. Job placement assistance provided.

No prior experience necessary, but must have HS diploma or GED. Free YMCA membership for you and your family while enrolled in YMCA Training, Inc.

Call today to schedule an Information Session: 617-542-1800 Hoyle, Tanner & Associates, Inc. is a growing, mid-size national consulting engineering firm with offices in the Northeast and Florida. We are seeking exceptional candidates to fill the following positions in New England: SENIOR BRIDGE ENGINEER: Project Manager with 15+ years of experience to join our growing Bridge and Structures Group in our newly opened office in North Andover, MA. Responsibilities include design and inspection of New England transportation agency and municipal bridge projects as well as client interaction and business development. Successful candidates will possess a BSCE degree (Masters preferred) and MA PE registration, NBIS certification or an MBA are a plus. (Career Code STJ10317) BRIDGE ENGINEERING INTERN: Motivated intern to join our Bridge and Structures Group in Manchester, NH. The preferred candidate will be entering their final year of their BSCE coursework with an anticipated graduation date of May 2018 or earlier.

EIT and coursework in structural engineering, such as concrete, steel, timber and foundations is preferred. Start date is anticipated to be May of 2017. (Career Code STJ20317) Please send resume citing career code to jhann@hoyletanner.com or visit www.hoyletanner.com to learn more.

AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER

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