Bay State Banner 09/26/2013

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RCC receives $300K grant to help close achievement gap Martin Desmarais

coaches and advisors to support the academic progress of students Roxbury Community College at the community college who plan (RCC) has been given $294,859 by to transfer to UMass Boston. These the state to work with the University students will have access to services of Massachusetts Boston to improve such as tutoring and study groups. student performance, increase gradLastly, the grant money will be uation rates and continue its overall used to track and assess student work to close the achievement gap in performance and keep track of higher education. progress once the students enroll.

The money is part of $7.5 mil“What this grant does is it prolion in grants to be given out by vides a much-needed pathway the state to improve the success of for students coming from Madistudents in the public higher ed- son Park to Roxbury Community ucation system.

College, and The grant, then for those w h i c h w i l l “What this grant who want to fund the efforts move on … of RCC and does is it provides to UMass UMass Boston Boston,” said a much-needed for three years, Brenda Merwill allow the pathway for students comes, vice schools to president for coming from partner on a academic afn e w c o a c h - Madison Park to fairs at RCC. ing and advisMercomes ing program. Roxbury Community said there is a The program College.” well-established will have three bridge bemain focus — Brenda Mercomes tween RCC and areas, accordBoston.

RCC UMass ing to officials.

As community First, RCC college students, will create a team of coaches to RCC graduates in approved prowork with Madison Park High grams receive an associate degree School in Roxbury and students and then are automatically admitted in the Massachusetts Academic to UMass Boston to receive a bachPolyTech Pathway project. The elor’s degree. project allows students to take She estimated that as many as classes in Madison Park’s Nurs- 60-70 RCC graduates enroll in ing Assisting Program and also at UMass Boston a year. The goal RCC’s Nursing Health Science is to significantly increase that Preparatory Program. amount, though the school has not This fall, about 20 Madison set a specific number as a target.

Park juniors will begin taking “We really encourage students nursing classes at both schools and, to transfer to UMass Boston. We in doing so, earn college credits. are one of the largest feeders into Second, RCC and UMass UMass Boston. … We are looking Boston will establish additional RCC, continued to page 19

Former City Councillor John Connolly scored a major victory this week in his bid to gain the seat left vacant by the departure of Mayor Thomas M. Menino. He beat 10 other candidates during the preliminary election and squares off against State Rep. Marty Walsh in the final election. (Photo courtesy of the Connolly Campaign)

Connolly, Walsh to square off in final mayoral election Yawu Miller When the smoke cleared in the 12-way shootout for the top two slots in the 2013 campaign for the next mayor of Boston, two Irishmen were left standing -- state Rep. Martin J. Walsh with 20,838 votes and at-large City Councilor John Connolly with 19,420.

Former state Rep. and Department of Neighborhood Development Director Charlotte Golar Richie trailed with 15,536 votes, more than 4,000 votes behind Connolly.

As the results trickled in on large screen monitors, Walsh supporters filled a large function at Venezia Waterfront Restaurant in

the Neponset section of Dorchester crowded into a large function room chanting “Marty, Marty, Marty.”

In his victory remarks, Walsh displayed his tone for the final six weeks of the election, preaching inclusion and opportunity for Boston’s middle- and working-class residents.

“This is a race about who we are, about values,” Walsh said.

“About whether Boston will be a city for all its people in all its neighborhoods, not just some.”

Before entering the race for mayor, Walsh was business manager for the Boston Building Trades. He topped the mayoral ticket with what many observers

say was a fierce ground game that deployed scores of volunteer canvassers across the city.

A social justice theme ran throughout his remarks.

“Boston has a triple-A bond rating, yet one in three students doesn’t graduate high school,” he said. “We continue to lose young people to senseless violence. We have to do better than that.”

Connolly, a Harvard Law School graduate, repeated his campaign-trail pledge to be the city’s “education mayor.”

“I have never been so happy to be in second place in my life,” he said, speaking to supporters at his election day party at Hibernian Election, continued to page 18

Troubled HUB schools ‘turnaround’ in latest statewide test scores Martin Desmarais

Gov. Deval Patrick discusses the importance of investing in urban parks at the grand opening of Sylvester Baxter Park at Assembly Row in Somerville on Sept. 18. (Photo courtesty of the Governor’s Office)

Three years ago, the Trotter Elementary School in Dorchester was labeled one of the lowest-performing schools in Boston.

Today, after three years of work, Boston Public Schools officials are celebrating the school’s improvement, one of the highest academic gains in the state.

The Trotter School is one of five BPS schools that have shown great advanceement. The others are Orchard Gardens K-8 in Rox-

bury, Blackstone Elementary School in the South End, John F. Kennedy Elementary School in Jamaica Plain and Harbor Middle School in Dorchester. In 2009, BPS singled out 12 Boston schools as some of the worst in the state.

Through state funding and grants the schools were able to pay for new staff and extra teaching time, helping them improve.

At the Trotter School, this effort led to a 30 percent increase in the Turnaround, continued to page 10

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Police Commissioner Davis steps down after seven years Banner Staff In his retirement announcement on Monday, Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis said the city should change the way that officers are hired and promoted in order to increase the number of police of color in the upper ranks of the department.

The Civil Service Exam determines who will become a police officer and who within the ranks will be promoted to sergeant, lieutenant and captain. That’s the law. But at his press conference, Davis — who promoted officers of color but has also been criticized for not promoting enough — said the civil service law should be changed.

“We are swimming upstream against the law here in Massachusetts,” he said. “I would recommend that the media and that all of the people in this organization, especially whoever succeeds me in this position, keep diversity high on the list of priorities ... by changing the law and making sure this police department is reflective of the community it serves.”

Police Superintendent William Gross agreed. As the night commander of the Boston Police Department, Gross is one of the few African Americans in a leadership position with the BPD. Gross said the problem with the Civil Service Exam is that it does not measure street smarts.

“You read material, you remember it, and then you take a written exam,” he said. “There’s great lead-

ers, and you can pick that without an exam process.”

Gross credited Davis with promoting him and other officers of color but says the Civil Service Exam system is outmoded and has left the upper ranks of the BPD nearly empty of blacks, Latinos, Asians and women. Davis leaves a department with white males occupying all 21 district captain and temporary captain positions and 42 of the 48 lieutenant positions.

The greatest beneficiaries of affirmation action within the Boston police department at the moment are not officers of color, but military veterans. A military veteran with a passing test score of 70 is weighed over and above a nonveteran with a score of 100 — no matter the nonveteran’s color, ethnicity or gender.

Davis said that whoever succeeds him will need to work hard to make the character and color of the Boston Police Department reflect the changing demographics of the city.

He submitted his resignation to Mayor Thomas M. Menino Sunday, just two days before the preliminary election that will bring the city of Boston one step closer to having a new mayor.

Menino’s office released a statement Sunday, stating: “The Mayor will continue to work … to make sure there is a smooth transition as a new mayor comes into office to find their own permanent police commissioner.”

Davis served as commissioner for

the last seven years and was thrust into the national spotlight during the days that followed the Boston Marathon bombings in April.

Before serving as commissioner in Boston, Davis was the Lowell, Mass., police superintendent and served in that police force for the better part of

30 years. But where will he go next?

Through a spokesperson, he says his plans are unclear so far. People close to him say he may do some teaching at a local college. And then there’s the speculation he may serve the Obama administration as the next secretary of Homeland Security.

Davis was both defiant and emotional as he announced his resignation. “Those who know me know that I will never run away from a challenge or adversity,” he said.

“I leave on my own accord. … I’m very comfortable with my decision.

I want to clear the deck for the new administration that’s coming in.”

Davis became the subject of the mayoral debate as six of the 12 mayoral candidates said they would keep Davis in his job while the other remained undecided.

“I’ve been here seven years,” Davis said. “That’s about twice as long as an average urban police chief.

But I know … that it is time to go, to leave this department in better shape than I found it and to leave it in the hands of the very capable people who stand behind me.”

WGBH’s Phillip Martin and other published reports contributed to this story.

Mayor Thomas M. Menino and Police Commissioner Ed Davis presented Rev. Liz Walker with the Crimefighter of the Year Award on Sept. 15. (Photo courtesy of the Mayor’s Office)

4 • Thursday, September 26, 2013 • BAY STATE BANNER

Established 1965

Sophisticated voters more likely to vote on issues In the past, Boston voters have tended to support candidates of their own race or ethnic group for political office. In fact, this has been a general national tendency. It is why some pundits assert that Barack Obama got 93 percent of the black vote in the November election. However, they ignore the fact that Lyndon Baines Johnson won 94 percent of the black vote in 1964. That is the year he signed the Civil Rights Act. There is reason to believe that the importance of policy issues will trump race at the polls in Boston’s mayoral election.

Blacks have had so few opportunities to vote for blacks for high office that they have become issue oriented. In the recent primary election for mayor of New York City, Bill de Blasio and William C. Thompson Jr. each received 42 percent of the black vote, according to New York Times exit polls. De Blasio is white and Thompson is black. They differed substantially on their support of the police

“stop-and-frisk” policy, with de Blasio being more liberal in opposition to the present policy.

For the past 20 years, Mayor Thomas Menino set the course for the city of Boston. With his retirement the two candidates contending to replace him will be forced to establish their own unique vision for the city. Those head-to-head debates should be much more helpful in informing the public than were the confusing comments of 11 active participants in the preliminary election.

It is highly likely that black voters will find support for various public-policy issues to be more significant than voting as a racial bloc. Many mayoral candidates seemed to be able to assemble a multiracial group of supporters during the primary campaign.

Perhaps Boston is becoming more cosmopolitan, and the character and qualifications of political candidates are now more important than their religious or racial affiliations.

Toward improved police community relations There is an inherent conflict between the residents of a high-crime neighborhood and the municipal police. Boston has not been immune to this tension.

Some residents insist that police protection is inadequate while others complain that the police presence is oppressive. Both perspectives become grist for the political mill during a mayoral election campaign. In addition, the Massachusetts Association of Minority Law Enforcement Officers (MAMLEO) has been at odds with Police Commissioner Edward Davis.

In New York City, differing positions on the city’s “stop-and-frisk” policy became dispositive. In Boston, MAMLEO attempted to tarnish Davis’ reputation by asserting that he is a racist. Candidates for mayor were then asked whether or not they planned to retain Davis as commissioner. For some people this even became a campaign issue.

There is scant evidence to charge Davis with racial discrimination. During Davis’ service in Boston, as well as in Lowell, no court has issued a final determination that he is guilty of racial discrimination.

Such a serious accusation of racism brought against a

public official should be objectively established before fair-minded people will believe it.

In an earlier editorial the Banner suggested that the problem stemmed in part from the high failure rate of black police officers on the civil service exams.

MAMLEO should establish an effective prep program to train their members to perform well on the next sergeant exam. A MAMLEO supporter insists that the organization has a training program. That is indeed disturbing. Only 71 percent of the blacks who took the last test scored a passing grade compared with 93 percent of the whites, and no blacks scored in the top 10 percent. The unavoidable conclusion is that the MAMLEO training program is flawed, there was too much absenteeism or the candidates were unable to learn.

The primary election is over but the final election looms ahead. In this period of uncertainty, Davis has decided to pursue other professional opportunities. It is time for MAMLEO to use its resources to help establish better police-community relations and to prepare their members for advancement and promotion.

Lettersto the Editor

Stupid, heartless cuts in federal food stamps program

The House passage of a bill slashing food stamps when 46.5 million Americans struggle to survive below the poverty level of $23,550 for a family of four is unconscionable, heartless and just plain stupid.

Even at current levels, food insecurity plagues the children, working parents and seniors who rely on food stamps to put a meal on the table. And “a meal” is the operative term. Food stamps provide one meal a day, at best. Hungry children can’t learn.

Families plagued by poor nutrition and hunger will lose ground in the work world.

Seniors who deserve to live with dignity in their later years will go to bed hungry. All will be at risk for health setbacks.

The families ABCD serves continue to reel from cuts to education, housing, job training, unemployment insurance and more in the “Great Unshared Re-

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covery.” Last summer when threats to the food stamp program arose, I spoke with a young mother of a four-year-old child in our South Boston Head Start program. She workes full time as a service coordinator in a car dealership, but was on unpaid maternity leave. She held her three-week-old infant while her young son played nearby and told me. “Without food stamps, we would have no money for food right now. My husband lost his job and I have no paycheck coming in for three months.”

Is this America, where we kick people when they are down? Where income for the top 1 percent rose 31.4 percent over the past three years, but 16 million children are poor? And now we slash another lifeline to those childrens’ survival? We can do better than this.

John J. Drew President and CEO Action for Boston Community Development

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RovingCamera

Opinion Locked down for life for a nonviolent offense is beyond cruel and unusual Earl Ofari Hutchinson

In its latest report on sentencing, the Sentencing Project noted the glaring racial disparities in life sentences without possibility of parole.

Blacks are much more likely to receive this sentence than whites.

The Sentencing Project ticked off the usual checklist of reasons for the disparity: pitifully inadequate legal representation, prosecutorial and juror racial bias, the continuing public clamor for tough sentencing and the growing sense that it’s cheaper, easier and legally less messy to impose a life sentence without possibility of parole on the convicted than the death penalty.

But what happens when those receiving life without parole are not rapists and murderers, which is the assumption made by proponents of tough sentencing, but nonviolent offenders? There are thousands of them.

More than 10,000 persons are now locked up in America’s jails for life with no chance of release. The majority of these nonviolent offenders are there for either drug offenses or property crimes. Though they did not rape, bomb or kill anyone in the commission of these crimes, the number of nonviolent offenders serving lifetime sentences has steadily increased during the past decade.

The number of life sentences without parole has soared for violent offenders to more than 100 times the number in 1980. The United States stands virtually alone among the major industrialized nations in imposing life without parole for a crime other than the most heinous.

In Britain, life without parole is imposed only for homicide and even then a murder generally must involve an aggravating factor such as child abduction, torture or terrorism to merit such punishment. At the time of a recent study by the University of San Francisco School of Law’s Center for Law and Global Justice, only 41 prisoners were serving life terms without parole in England while more than 40,000 persons are serving life without parole sentences in the U.S. Occasionally one of those sentenced to life without parole makes The United States brief news because their sentence stands virtually alone for stealing videotapes or a clothing item or being an accomplice — wit- among the major tingly or unwittingly — in a drug industrialized nations deal seems so beyond the pale that in imposing life it brings a momentary public gasp without parole for a and shouts about the injustice and crime other than the unfairness of such a sentence.

U.S. Attorney General Eric most heinous.

Holder drew attention to these kinds of cases when he called for a sharp reversal in harsh sentencing for many persons that are not violent offenders, and who are likely to be black or Latino. Holder cited not just the unfairness of this sentence but the staggering financial cost, not to mention the human cost of them.

Yet only one state out of 50 does not have some form of life-without-parole statute on its books. Life without parole means exactly that in six states and in the federal system, which eliminated the parole possibility for such a sentence in 1987. The states have taken their cue from the federal sentencing guidelines that proscribe 43 levels of punishment for crimes. Level 43 is the most severe, and it includes life without parole for certain types of non-violent offenses.

Though Holder has called for a new look at and approach to the types of sentences handed down and who gets the toughest sentences, life-without-parole sentences have become more the norm in sentencing today than in the past because they serve a handy purpose. They are a perfect foil to the death penalty. There are endless levels of state and federal reviews, appeals, and often unfavorable public attention drawn to a death sentence.

The cases are time consuming and costly and are paid for with the taxpayer’s dime. A life sentence without parole skirts the rigor and drawn-out legal requirements of death penalty appeals and review. At the same time, life-without-parole sentences still sate the public’s demand for a harsh punishment for crimes.

State courts have been willing and eager participants in handing out more and more life sentences without parole because these sentences are not held to the same scrupulous standards of review that a death penalty sentence might be.

There’s little doubt, as Holder and others have noted, that the U.S. is wildly out of step with all Western nations in how it sentences its offenders and more particularly who those offenders are likely to be — namely the poorest and minorities. Few have any reservation that those who wantonly kill, maim, torture and rape should be put away for the longest stretches and that to remove these violent criminals from society serves society’s interests and security.

But for someone whose crime is peddling marijuana or theft or identity fraud, 150 years hardly serves that interest. This is pure and simple punishment that’s far beyond cruel and unusual.

Earl Ofari Hutchinson is an author and political analyst.

The Banner welcomes your opinion. Email Op-Ed submissions to:

hmanly@bannerpub.com ­Letters must be signed. Names may be withheld upon request.

Why is voting important in this mayoral election campaign?

It is a gift and honor to vote. We are all part of this city.

Voting demonstrates that your community is active and involved and wants change.

In order to enable democracy to maintain a life, everyone must participate by voting

Diane Greenidge

Jolcesar Barros

Cesar De Silva

The most important thing about voting is that you can’t complain about your community if you haven’t voted.

Determining the next mayor is extremely important in the future of all of Boston’s neighborhoods.

Its important to vote to make a difference and educate your self on what’s going on in your community.

Cynthia Santos-Fletcher

CPA Dorchester

Educator Boston

Designer Dorchester

Teacher Dorchester

Samantha Rivers

Business Owner Grove hall

Christina Soto Student Dorchester

INthe news

Misael Martinez

Berklee College’s dean for City Music, Krystal Banfield, recently announced the appointment of Misael Martinez as the new director of Berklee City Music Boston.

In a career spanning almost two decades at public schools and youth and social-service agencies, Martinez has helped young people overcome environmental challenges in order to pursue secondary and higher education.

The Lawrence, Mass., native began his career in his hometown’s public schools, working for a literacy tutoring program. Eventually, he became his district’s parent education leader, fostering relationships between parents and teachers and encouraging their participation in the classroom and during homework.

Martinez was also the executive director and founder of Lawrence’s Hope Street Youth Center, a grassroots arts organization that brought the art to Lawrence teens. He presented dozens of public events with Hope Street talent on stage and on

community cable TV series. In 2004, Hope Street merged with Lawrence Community Works.

Martinez joins Berklee after his recent departure from the position of vice president of programs and services for Hope South Florida in Ft.

Lauderdale, Fla., where he provided social service programs for homeless families.

Martinez has a bachelor’s degree in human services management from Lesley University and a master’s degree in education from Cambridge College.

BlackHistory 6 • Thursday, September 26, 2013 • BAY STATE BANNER

BlackHistory

Legacy of the ‘dream’: Book studies King’s famous oration Caitlin Yoshiko Kandil Fifty years after the March on Washington, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I have a dream” speech stands out as the most memorable moment in the historic gathering — and perhaps in the entire Civil Rights Movement.

But the “dream” refrain that made it so famous almost never happened.

King had been using the “I have a dream” passage for more than a year before the march — including at a Detroit rally earlier that summer and in Chicago just a week before — but decided not to revisit it in Washington. Even one of his closest aides, Wyatt Tee Walker, warned him against invoking the dream that day, saying it was “trite” and “cliché.”

Instead, King based his speech on the “bad check” metaphor of the promissory note that has “come back marked ‘insufficient funds.’”

So when he approached the podium as the last speaker at the March on Washington, “I have a dream” was nowhere to be found in his prepared text. But as he closed in on the end of his speech, the famous gospel singer Mahalia Jackson, who was standing nearby, shouted out to him, “Tell them about the dream, Martin!”

It was then that King pushed aside the written text, changed his demeanor and extemporaneously went into “I have a dream.”

Clarence Jones, who wrote the draft text of the speech, leaned over to the person sitting next to him, saying, “Those people don’t know it, but they’re about to go to church.

mains unknown — but the result was one of the defining moments of the 20th century.

This is just one of the many behind the scenes stories in Gary Younge’s new book, The Speech: The Story Behind Dr. Martin Luther King’s Dream, which draws on extensive interviews with Civil Rights leaders

on Washington — which is where some of the most fascinating historical details come out.

For instance, on the day of the March, Washington, D.C., had nearly shut down — elective surgeries were canceled, local sports teams postponed their games and the sale of alcohol was banned.

Thousands of troops were deployed to the area, and the Justice Department had secretly installed a switch in the sound system that would enable them to cut off the microphone if anyone hijacked the podium.

And after his speech, only 44 percent of Americans had a favorable opinion of King, and the FBI’s assistant director for do-

“[Martin Luther King Jr. is] misunderstood as a guy who just wants people to be nice to each other, but when you look at his life trajectory, he’s clearly calling for an entire systemic shift.”

— Author Gary Younge

In The Speech, author Gary Younge explores the history of the “I have a dream” speech.

Whether King departed from his planned speech to include the “I have a dream” passage because of Jackson’s cry, or as a response to the mood of the crowd re-

and King confidantes, including Andrew Young, James Farmer, Fred Shuttlesworth and Clarence Jones, to explore the making of King’s most famous oration and the legacy it leaves behind 50 years later.

In addition to showing how the text of King’s speech came about, Younge, a columnist for The Guardian and The Nation, also details the broader context for “I have a dream” in the Civil Rights Movement and the March

mestic intelligence called him “the most dangerous Negro of the future of this nation.”

But Younge says that much of this historical backdrop has been lost in how most Americans think about King and his speech half a century later. So instead of the radical “indictment of American racism” that once had the federal government scared, the address is today seen as “patriotic,” Younge says, so much so that even “hard Republicans would never admit

to not liking it.”

The softening of King’s image — that is, the erasure of the radical aspects of his life and work — has meant that much of “I have a dream” has been “misused and misappropriated.”

One of the best examples is King’s line that people should not be judged “by the color of their skin but by the content of their character,” which is frequently employed by conservatives to oppose affirmative action and other policies designed to benefit people of color. But as he points out, King himself was a strong proponent of affirmative action — to suggest that his words meant otherwise is “ridiculous” and “unconscionable.”

“It’s a phrase used by people eager to portray racism as an egregious historical episode that’s happened and has now been solved,” says Younge, who notes that this is the same logic that was also used to undermine the Voting Rights Act in June.

“They use it to say, ‘We will not take race into account, and therefore we will never take racism into account.’”

For Younge, the legacy of King’s speech is a reminder of the forgetfulness of public memory.

“He said to us, ‘It’s not so useful that everybody has the right to eat at the same establishment if they can’t afford what’s on the menu,’” Younge says.

“He’s misunderstood as a guy who just wants people to be nice to each other, but when you look at his life trajectory, he’s clearly calling for an entire systemic shift.”

Thursday, September 26, 2013 • BAY STATE BANNER • 7

8 • Thursday, September 26, 2013 • BAY STATE BANNER

Hard retirement looms for ethnic workers, grandparents Paul Kleyman A disturbing new analysis from the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) pulls together “a picture of increasingly inadequate savings and retirement income for successive cohorts and growing disparities by income, race, ethnicity, education and marital status.” It’s one of several recent studies revealing a difficult financial future for tomorrow’s ethnic retirees and today’s grandparents.

EPI’s report, Retirement Inequality Chartbook: How the 401(k) Revolution Created a Few Big Winners and Many Losers, warns of growing ranks of elders having to struggle economically due to the shrinking number of pensions to supplement Social Security and the meager returns — for those who have pensions — from the newer pension funds.

The shift in recent years has been from long-standard employer-based

pensions that provide retirees with a well-defined benefit to 401(k)s, which require workers to pay into their own investment accounts and to do so with few clues regarding which stock-market funds to chose.

Although many are paid a matching contribution from their employer and 401(k)s offer workers the advantage of being able to take the pensions from job to job, these plans also let employers off the hook with smaller contributions and expose workers to the ups and downs of stock and bond markets.

According to the EPI’s study, the overall effect on racial and ethnic groups is that “white households have more than six times as much saved in retirement accounts as Hispanic and black households.”

The report points out that as many African American workers as whites used to have employer-based retirement plans, but blacks have

“lagged in recent years.” Latino workers “have fallen even further behind,” according the study.

In addition, writes the EPI, “Unmarried people, especially women, tend to be less prepared for retirement than their married counterparts.”

The study concludes, “The existence of a retirement system that does not work for most workers underscores the importance of preserving and strengthening Social Security, defending [traditional] defined-benefit pensions for workers who have them and seeking solutions for those who do not.”

Retirement Savings Erode at ‘Alarming Rate’

The EPI chartbook piggybacks on findings from the widely cited 2012 report, 401(k) Plans In Living Color II: A Study of 401(k) Savings Disparities Across Racial and Ethnic Groups.

This study, by the market research firms Ariel Investments and Aon Hewitt, determined that although the tough economy “led all workers to dip into their retirement savings … minorities have been the hardest hit.”

Examining 2010 data from 60 top corporation 401(k) plans, Ariel and Aon Hewitt showed that “compared to their Asian and white counterparts, African American and Hispanic employees are eroding their retirement

almost six-in-10 Hispanics who left their employer in 2010 cashed out their 401(k) balances, compared to four-in-10 white employees and just one-third of Asian workers.

Hard Times for Grandparents

This kind of pension insecurity will place an increasing financial burden on many groups of vulnerable seniors. For instance, according to a recent report, The High Cost of Caring: Grandparents Raising

“White households have more than six times as much saved in retirement accounts as Hispanic and black households.”

— Economic Policy Institute savings at an alarming rate.”

The study found, for instance, that in the wake of rising unemployment in 2010, “African American employees took hardship withdrawals more than any other ethnic group.”

The study found that the twothirds of African Americans and

Grandchildren, in California alone, 300,000 seniors are taking on primary parenting duties for their children’s children.

The study adds that in California, “more than 20,000 care for their grandkids without any extended family assistance at home.”

The California study stresses that older adults raising grandchildren alone “may be among the most vulnerable residents in California, due to the state’s high cost of living and low levels of public assistance.”

The report, from UCLA’s Center for Health Policy Research and the Insight Center for Community Economic Development, shows that “nearly half of custodial grandparents who are 65 and over in California do not have enough income to cover the most basic needs of the grandchildren placed in their care.”

The report goes on, “Yet public programs that might provide benefits that could help grandparents cope, such as the state foster-care program, are often difficult to access or off-limits altogether for family caregivers.”

In California, as in other states, many older adults are ineligible for public programs like Medicaid (called Medi-Cal in California), housing subsidies and food benefits because they have incomes that are — often just slightly — above the official federal poverty level.

The study recommends “raising the eligibility criteria for certain public programs to 200 percent of the federal poverty level, extending state foster-care benefits to kinship caregivers and limiting the frequency of cumbersome and bureaucratic benefit renewals (since most older adults live on fixed incomes and thus do not experience income fluctuations that require regular documenting).”

According to a new report from Pew Research, “7.7 million children in the U.S. — one in 10 — were living with a grandparent, and approximately 3 million of these children were also being cared for primarily by that grandparent.”

The numbers spiked upward when the recession started and have leveled as the economy has recovered, but they continue to rise as the U.S. population ages.

Among ethnic groups, states the Pew analysis, “black children are the most likely to be cared for primarily by a grandparent.” That’s one-in-12 African American kids, double the number of children raised by grandparents in Latino families, almost triple the level in white families and quadruple the rate in Asian families.

Senior editor Paul Kleyman, who has covered issues in aging for four decades, directs New America Media’s Ethnic Elders Newsbeat.

Thursday, September 26, 2013 • BAY STATE BANNER • 9

TV star Courtney Vance raps sports and theater at Harvard

Actor Courtney Vance, a Harvard graduate, spoke about his journey at the university’s Winthrop House residence hall on Sept. 18. (Photo courtesy of ABC) Brian Wright O’Connor Courtney Bernard Vance, widely known as dapper District Attorney Ron Carver from television’s Law and Order returned to his alma mater on Sept. 18 to talk about his journey “From Harvard to Hollywood.”

But coming off an award-winning Broadway run, the 1982 Harvard University grad largely skipped over the small- and silver-screen phases of his career to focus on his greatest love — the roar of the lights and the smell of the crowd — and its lessons for us all.

In an introspective, 75-minute jazz-inflected riff on the wonders of the stage, Vance invoked basketball verities, celebrity encounters and thespian training to weave the message that the theater prepares one for the unexpected and plumbs depths of character rarely accessible to those who never dare.

Vance’s appearance kicked off the Perini-Woods Memorial Speaker Series at Winthrop House, an undergraduate residence hall. The dorm’s co-masters, Harvard Law professors Ron Sullivan and Stephanie Robinson, provided a wing-back chair for the injured thespian, clad in a dark blazer, open-collared shirt and black Nike warm-ups.

“The foundational training prepares you to do what jazz musicians do,” said Vance, who arrived limping after surgery for a torn meniscus, aggravated during the long run of Lucky Guy, in which he played “Hap” Hairston alongside Tom Hanks. “They use their training to speak the same language of rhythm and notes that’s obscure to the rest of us.”

To illustrate his point, the 2013 Tony Award winner sounded a basso-profundo note, followed by a tenor measure — a musical monologue that filled the wood-paneled Junior Common Room with the fading light of late summer coming in from the tall windows overlooking the Charles River.

“On the stage, just like a musician in a live performance, you have to be able to close your eyes and just go — trusting in the play, the actors and the audience. At times, you’ve got to make it up as you go. Just like life,” said the 53-year-old Detroit native.

Showing up at Harvard as a threesport all-star jock more interested in track than theater, Vance found

during his freshman year that he wasn’t expanding his mind or making new friends by running fast and turning left for hours every day. Meanwhile, his classmates seemed more sure-footed in what they wanted out of an education.

“I didn’t know what I wanted to do when I came here, but everyone else did. I remember going home and my mother and father said to me, ‘You don’t seem yourself. What’s wrong?’ I told them I was thinking of taking some time off. You can imagine how that went over.”

Vance’s mother, a librarian, and his father, a grocery store manager, hadn’t sacrificed to send him to the private Detroit Country Day School so he could become an Ivy League drop-out. He stuck it out.

“It was time to let competitive athletics go. The coach wasn’t happy.

I came back my sophomore year and I started doing plays. And every time I did a play I met new people.

My aunt, who lived in Boston, came to see me in a play and said, ‘You should be an actor.’”

By his junior year, Vance had gone beyond Harvard Yard in search of theatrical opportunity, riding his bike across the Charles River to join the Boston Shakespeare Company. His schedule had him rising at 5:30 a.m. to deliver newspapers, then moving on to classes, rehearsals and homework. “I was doing anything and ev-

erything on stage. It had nothing to do with color and everything to do with my interest and passion,” said Vance.

The routine proved just as grueling after he polished his craft at Yale Drama School — where he met his future wife, actress Angela Bassett — and started landing roles on the New York stage.

“We think of Broadway as glamorous, but think about doing eight shows a week. How am I to get myself up to what I have to do again and again and again? And what complicates it even more is that life happens on the way to theater. But you discover that your best performances may come when you’re tired, when you think you can least do it. The magic happens when you don’t think about it,” he said, looking to the ceiling and passing his hands in front of his face. “The music starts and whoosh! You’re in it.”

He compared “the zone” that live performers enter to the honed instincts of professional athletes like the Miami Heat’s Ray Allen, who took an inbound pass, turned and sank a three-pointer to tie game 6 in the NBA finals against the Spurs. “Why did he have the ball? Why did Larry Bird always have the ball at the end of the game? Because they’re in the gym taking shots two hours before practice begins.”

In his first Broadway performance out of New Haven, Conn., Vance played the role of Cory Maxon alongside James Earl Jones in Lloyd Richards’ Pulitzer Prize-winning drama Fences. Jones, an accomplished Shakespearean actor who made his mark in popular culture as Darth Vader in Star Wars, played Troy Maxon, the stifling father whose shadow the son longs to escape.

Though schooled in theater at Harvard, Yale and elite acting workshops in the Berkshires, Vance didn’t know enough to avoid stepping on theatrical toes. Richards, directing the play, gently pointed out that when addressing Jones, Vance should move downstage and turn his back so that the celebrity star faced the audience. “’You’re upstaging him,’ Lloyd told me. The lightbulb went on. So that’s what it means!”

Awards, recognition, and new opportunities poured in for Vance after Fences. He won a Tony nomination for his performance as Paul in Six Degrees of Separation in 1991 and wide acclaim for his role as Jim in the The Adventures of Huckleberry

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Finn. By then, he had begun moving from the stage to film roles, including in 1990 The Hunt for Red October and his first appearance in Law and Order.

He also played the Rev. Henry Biggs in the 1996 movie The Preacher’s Wife with Whitney Houston and Denzel Washington.

In 1997, he and Bassett married.

They are now the parents of 7-yearold twins.

His return to the stage this season for Lucky Guy after a 20-year absence from Broadway brought back the butterflies and fears but also the rewards of acting on the edge. The play marked a return for Hanks as well. ​“We had Oprah in the house, Denzel. They all came backstage and we took pictures. We are the most picture-ing-est-taking cast on Broadway. Then Meryl Streep came. Meryl Streep? There’s nobody like her. We stood back and

nobody dared asked for a picture. I saw Sophie’s Choice. I read the book.

She’s the reason I went to Yale. Up on stage, nobody goes that deep — except my wife,” said Vance.

Vance’s primer on theater as life concluded with two points. The first, that the stage teaches us “to live in the moment, to synthesize. You leave these hallowed halls and out there it gets ugly. You’ve got to innovate.”

Second, the stage teaches the responsibility, which extends to the stage of life, to show kindness. He recalled meeting a mother and her daughter backstage with Tom Hanks, who was left weeping by the teenager’s story of how his movies helped keep her alive during a serious illness.

“Afterwards, Tom said to me, ‘You think we just do what we do and we go home. But we never really know how we’re affecting people. That’s why we have to be kind.’

Courtney Vance with Winthrop House co-masters Stephanie Robinson and Ron Sullivan at Harvard University. (Erint Interests photo)

10 • Thursday, September 26, 2013 • BAY STATE BANNER

Turnaround continued from page 1

number of African American students who are proficient in mathematics according to the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) testing.

The school jumped from 10 per-

cent proficiency in this category in 2009 to 40 percent today. The school also tripled the proficiency level on the English MCAS from just 12 percent in 2009. Lastly, the proficiency rates for English Language Learners (ELL) — students who are learning English after growing up speaking another language — jumped from zero in 2009 to 56 percent.

Mairead Nolan, principal of the Trotter School since 2007, said the first step was staff changes. The Trotter School was singled out by BPS as a low-performing school in the spring of 2009. By the start of the next school year in September, the school had replaced 65 percent of its teaching staff.

“We were really looking for teachers, and we kept teachers who really believe that students can learn and are committed to working with each other,” Nolan said.

“The collaborative effort of the teachers is absolutely the key,” she added. “The teachers, when they work together — they plan lessons together, they look at individual students progress, they look at students and make plans to figure out how to make them better.”

The school also took steps to ensure that it not only had better teachers, but that the teachers continued to get better. “We also did a lot of professional development time together after school,” Nolan said. This professional development training included strategies to improve classroom management, student focus and lesson plans, as well as and methods for targeting students’ writing skills.

BPS officially designates low-performing schools with a ranking level from Level 1 to Level 5, with Level 5 being the worst — grounds for the school and district to be taken over by the state. Schools in “turnaround status,” meaning they are receiving help to improve, are put into Level 4. The Trotter School started out three years ago at Level 4 and has now been ranked Level 1.

Schools ranked Level 3 exit “turnaround status.”

Nolan says the entire staff is just thrilled with the results of the efforts to make the Trotter School better.

“We still have work to do,” Nolan said. “But we have definitely made huge gains.

The 12 low-performing Boston schools put into “turnaround status” were given state funding to make improvements. In the case of the Trotter School, this funding was a $519,000 grant each of the last three years.

According to Nolan, this money was mostly used to increase the school day by a half-hour.

Before, school was in session from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., but now the day ends at 3:30 p.m. This allows extra time to work with the students on academics. The money was also used to pay education consultants

also moved from Level 4 to Level 1.

At that school, proficiency rates on the English MCAS rose from 13 percent to 34 percent for all students, tripled for Latino students and doubled for African American students. In 2009, just 25 students were proficient in mathematics according to the MCAS test — now 200 students are.

“When we launched this effort three years ago many people told us these schools might never succeed,” said Mayor Thomas M. Menino. “Look at these classrooms today. We have great teachers pushing students to be their very best.

We have longer school days and stronger partnerships with families.

This type of transformation is what Boston is all about.”

Menino is credited for helping

“We kept teachers who really believe that students can learn and are committed to working with each other.”

— Mairead Nolan Trotter School Principal to work with teachers and pay retired teachers to work with smaller groups of students who needed extra support.

Like the Trotter School, Blackstone Elementary School in the South End, John F. Kennedy Elementary School in Jamaica Plain and Harbor Middle School in Dorchester all have moved from Level 4 to Level 1.

Orchard Gardens in Roxbury has

Confetti flies during the groundbreaking celebration for Millennium Tower on Sept. 17 at Downtown Crossing. (Photo courtesy of the Mayor’s Office)

push through legislation that allowed BPS to get state funding to improve its lowest-performing schools.

However, not all the news is good. Seven of the 12 Boston schools singled out for their poor performances did not show enough improvements to exit “turnaround status,” despite having received state funding to do so.

These schools are: Dever Elementary School in Dorchester; the E. Greenwood Leadership Academy in Hyde Park; Holland Elementary School in Dorchester; the Dearborn School in Roxbury; Burke High School in Dorchester; English High School in Jamaica Plain; and Mattahunt Elementary School in Mattapan.

In fact, Dever Elementary School and E. Greenwood Leadership Academy are in danger of moving to an even lower Level 5 rating.

“It is our responsibility and obligation to ensure success for all students in all schools,” said BPS Interim Superintendent John McDonough. “Even as we celebrate forward progress for many schools, we must not let this success overshadow the fact that there is more work to do. We will use every strategy available and even initiate some new ones to ensure every child can find success in every school.”

According to BPS, school officials will take a close look at the schools that have improved, such as the Trotter School, and share what has worked at those schools with schools that continue to struggle.

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Thursday, September 26, 2013 • BAY STATE BANNER • 11

Bottom Line extends reach to help 1,000 more students

(L-R) Ly Truong, Gladys Ngamo, Pat Tetteh and Jocelyn Santos help make up the 98 percent of Bottom Line students who were accepted into college.

By Kassmin Williams Bottom Line occupied one classroom at the New Mission High School and helped about 25 high school seniors apply to college when the program started in 1997.

In 1998, the organization’s founder, former guidance counselor Dave Borgal, supported those 25 students throughout their freshmen year in college and helped 50 more high school students apply.

Today, the privately funded nonprofit organization works with more than 3,000 high school juniors and seniors and college students in Boston, Worcester and New York City. Its mission is to help low-income and first-generation students get admitted to and graduate from college.

The Boston program has received a $2.5 million grant — to be given over the course of five years — from the Grand Circle

Foundation to double the number of students supported by Bottom Line in Dorchester, Roxbury and Mattapan.

The grant allows Bottom Line to work with more than 1,000 additional students in Dorchester, Roxbury and Mattapan, according to Bottom Line Executive Director Mike Wasserman.

Wasserman called the opportunity to work with more students “exciting” and recounted the organization’s growth from a small program to one with multiple locations assisting thousands of students.

The grant from Grand Circle is evidence that Bottom Line can have an even greater impact in the city, Wasserman said.

“I think it’s allowing us to do things at a scale that we wouldn’t be able to do before,” Wasserman said.

By the end of 2017, Bottom Line will be working with more than 3,200 students in Massachu-

(L-R) Student Shatwuan Lewis works with Mallory Bram, one of the Bottom Line mentors helping students with college applications.

Rockwood Early Ed. Academy has reopened at our former location, 995 Blue Hill Ave. Dorchester, and is

currently accepting voucher and contract enrollment for toddlers and preschoolers.

For information, you may contact Sylvia Moses at 617-825-4649, Mon. — Fri.

Our grand reopening event will be held

October 4, 2013 from 6 to 8 pm.

setts alone, Wasserman said.

In the midst of receiving the grant and gearing up to take on more students, Bottom Line has also opened an additional Boston location in the Carruth Building on Dorchester Ave., next to the Ashmont MBTA Station.

The new location on the red line creates more accessibility to Bottom Line for students who may have trouble accessing the original Jamaica Plain location, Wasserman said.

“If someone is looking for extra support with the college-application process or with college we want to make sure that our location isn’t a barrier,” Wasserman said, explaining that being accessible via

two separate subway lines eliminates a roadblock for students looking to receive support.

The Jamaica Plain location was a barrier for Gabriela Caruffo, 18, of South Boston, who joined Bottom Line in 2012.

Caruffo, who is due to graduate from Community Academy of Science and Health in Dorchester in June, played volleyball, which forced her to schedule meetings with her Bottom Line mentor after 6 p.m., less than an hour before Bottom Line closes.

“I came with everything on and we just sat down with my knees scraped,” Caruffo said. “Sometimes I got home at 9 p.m. and sometimes [my mentor] stayed with me until 8:30 p.m. so we could finish things.”

Caruffo admitted that the new location would have been some help to her because of the close distance to her school, but she still appreciated the guidance she received in applying to and preparing for college.

When Caruffo started at Bottom Line in Feb. 2012, she had a list of 20 colleges and a 2,000-word college essay — the limit requested by the college was 500 words — that had no focus.

Caruffo’s counselor helped cut her list of schools in half and narrow her essay to one topic, helping her get below the 500-word limit.

He also helped Caruffo decide on Clark University. Financial aid was a major factor in the decision for Carrufo, who is paying her tuition alone.

Caruffo’s counselor helped relieve financial worry for her by finding the Phillips Scholarship, which Caruffo applied for and received.

The idea for Bottom Line came out of Borgal’s experience as a guidance counselor for hundreds of stu-

dents. Borgal wasn’t able to help students with college applications as much as he wished because of time constraints.

“He’d call students a year and two years later, and for a lot of reasons they left school,” Wasserman said. “So the idea when he founded the program in 1997 was, we should be available as a resource for the application process [and] also, once colleges start because things come up.

There are academic challenges.

There’s finding a way to connect with professors.”

The program for high school seniors and juniors became known as the Access Program and the program for college freshmen the Success Program.

Caruffo attended a small school with one guidance counselor.

Tatyana Almeita, 18, of Chelsea, attended Chelsea High School, a bigger school with multiple guidance counselors. But both students had the same problem when it came to seeking help with college applications.

Both experienced what Borgal observed as a guidance counselor, that the counselors’ availability to help with college applications was limited.

Almeita said when she asked her guidance counselors to look at her college essays, they’d read them briefly, but she needed the “constant attention” she received from her mentor at Bottom Line.

“I’m so grateful because I was so indecisive. I kept switching my major and switching my college, but [my mentor] kept helping me,” Almeita said.

High school juniors and seniors and college freshmen that are interested in Bottom Line can apply for the program at www.bottomline.org.

12 • Thursday, September 26, 2013 • BAY STATE BANNER

Going All the Way: Cast immerses completely in LBJ’s world

Susan Saccoccia In the stirring first minutes of All the Way, at the American Repertory Theater’s Loeb Drama Center in a sold-out run through Oct. 12, actor Bryan Cranston stands in a pool of light and becomes President Lyndon Baines Johnson. ​M ultiple Emmy award-winning actor Cranston — a family man turned meth mogul in the cable drama Breaking Bad and the daft but loving dad in the sitcom Malcolm in the Middle — here channels Johnson in one of his finest public moments.

Cranston delivers Johnson’s first speech to Congress as president on Nov. 27, 1963, five days after the assassination of President John Fitzgerald Kennedy. In a few words he reassures a shocked and grieving nation and vows to press forward with Kennedy’s drive to enact pivotal Civil Rights legislation.

Throughout the play, Cranston projects the fierce resolve of Johnson, whose story, as told by playwright Robert Schenkkan, begins with a tale of childhood fright.

In the play’s opening scene, Johnson wakes from a nightmare in which he is a boy hiding in the cellar of his house in Texas hill country during a Comanche raid.

“Their knives gleam,” he says.

Gleaming knives of a political kind await Johnson during his first year as an “accidental president” determined to become the president of choice in Nov. 1964.

Schenkkan’s play follows Johnson through these turbulent 12 months, as he steers his Democratic Party toward a progressive Civil Rights agenda, losing his party’s long hold on the South but winning re-election by a wide margin.

The production is directed

by Bill Rauch, artistic director of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, which commissioned the play as part of its American Revolutions:

The United States History Cycle and staged its July 2012 premiere.

Rauch also directed the Oregon production of the play, which received the first Edward M. Kennedy Prize for Drama Inspired by American History.

All the Way unfolds like a well choreographed ballet, its solos, duets and ensemble numbers all moving to the music of power.

Cranston embodies Johnson’s relentless energy and wiles as he woos two opposing camps: conservatives and liberals.

Arm-twisting doesn’t begin to describe his tactics. Cranston wields a phone as a weapon, and also goes head to head and eyeball to eyeball with his opponents — threatening the loss of farm subsidies to one; promising a rural irrigation project to another.

As Cranston’s Johnson coaxes, cajoles and goads his targets, a pattern emerges: his opponent first gloats over his hold on a precious vote, only to go limp as he hears about the cost of saying no. At first entertaining, the recurring facial tics and body language of these duets become repetitive after a while.

The most enjoyable showdowns are between Johnson and Dan Butler’s smirking Governor George Wallace of Alabama. The two use the same folksy language as they taunt each other. Johnson tells Wallace, winner of his state’s bantamweight title, “You musta got knocked around in the ring too much … when you was a chickenweight.”

The staging draws parallels between the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the president, two seminal figures who are wary of one another. Johnson wants King to help him get re-elected; but King suspects Johnson of courting black votes with empty promises.

The roles of King and Johnson are the play’s only solo parts. Each leader has an iconic wife and a frac-

tious band of supporters. But Brandon J. Dirden’s dignified but muted portrayal of King shows more of his frustration than his dynamism.

Johnson’s only equal in power within the play’s galaxy of characters is his friend, former mentor and legislative adversary Sen. Richard Russell (D-Ga.). Dakin Matthews is a natural as Russell, the dean of Senate conservatives, who spearheads their 75-day filibuster of Johnson’s Civil Rights bill.

Only the long-suffering members of Johnson’s inner circle readily do his bidding. His top aide, Walter Jenkins, sensitively performed by Christopher Liam Moore, seldom does more than take orders. Johnson rides hard on his prospective vice-presidential running mate, Sen. Hubert Humphrey (DMinn.), a convincing Reed Birney.

Also in Johnson’s sphere is a darker ally, FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover, shown conducting his infamous smear campaign against King.

Designed for fast-changing scenes, Christopher Acebo’s set employs mahogany benches that stand in for Senate chambers. In the background, video projections

by Shawn Sagady switch from a White House view of cherry trees to a hotel bedroom or, like flashbacks on a tragic decade, display archival photos and footage, including the faces of slain Civil Rights workers.

An ensemble cast of 15 actors performs 43 roles, parts that switch between power haves and havenots. J. Bernard Calloway plays both Rev. Ralph Abernathy and a butler. In one scene, Peter Jay Fernandez is Civil Rights leader Roy Wilkins. In another scene, he is shining white politicians’ shoes.

Crystal A. Dickinson’s Coretta Scott King and Betsy Aidem’s Lady Bird Johnson are ladylike but passive figures.

But Dickinson projects fierce dignity as Civil Rights activist

Fannie Lou Hamer. Watching her speak on TV of the brutal beatings she endured in a Mississippi jail, Johnson calls a content-free press conference in the Rose Garden to turn the cameras on him. A video projection shows Hamer’s photo in multiples, suggesting that she speaks for countless people. Then the screen goes blank, as Johnson’s press event silences her.

Aidem also brings spark to her potent roles, a glamorous Katharine Graham, publisher of The Washington Post, and the forceful Rep. Katharine St. George (R-N.Y.).

Deborah M. Dryden’s hardworking costumes aid these quicksilver transitions, recreating ‘60s styles and coiffed hairdos. ​Deft lighting by Jane Cos captures a politician’s fading grin and the taut concentration of Cranston as he trounces a foe or speaks to the audience.

The production compresses Johnson’s strenuous campaign with lively expressive shorthand.

But the sheer volume of all these fast shifting roles and scenes adds length to the play — three hours with a 15-minute intermission — without always adding depth.

This encyclopedic chronicle of the many battles Johnson had to fight has its cost: the volume and speed of activity keeps the audience at a distance, watching rather than being drawn into characters. But when Cranston’s Johnson steps into the light and directly addresses the audience, the intensity of the early scenes returns in full force.

The play concludes as Johnson completes his first year with two victories. On July 2, 1964, he signs the Civil Rights Act, which outlaws racial discrimination but lacks a voting rights provision. On Nov. 3, Johnson defeats Republican candidate Barry Goldwater and wins the presidency with a large popular vote.

Yet to come, and the subject of a sequel by Schenkkan, are his Great Society triumphs, including the Voting Rights Act of 1965, Head Start, Medicare, and expansion of Social Security. Also looming is the Vietnam War, which would obscure his legacy of social justice.

Cranston’s electrifying performance shows Johnson as he seized his chance to move the nation forward. Dodging those gleaming knives, he kept his eye on the prize.

Bryan Cranston as President Lyndon Baines Johnson, surrounded by his staff. (Photos courtesy of A.R.T.)

Thursday, September 26, 2013 • BAY STATE BANNER • 13

14 • Thursday, September 26, 2013 • BAY STATE BANNER

Love takes flight in David E. Talbert’s ‘Baggage Claim’ It’s all about love – searching for love, finding love and being in love in David E. Talbert’s Fox Searchlight romantic comedy Baggage Claim, based on his 2003 book of the same name. The lighthearted romantic comedy stars Paula Patton (2 Guns, Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol and Jumping the Broom) as flight attendant Montana Moore, determined to find Mr. Right and get engaged before her younger sister Sheree (Lauren London) walks down the aisle in 30 days. Moore uses her airline connections to “accidentally” meet up with eligible ex-boyfriends and potential suitors.

Montana racks up more than 30,000 miles flying all around the country searching for the perfect guy.

Aiding Montana in her search (and providing comic relief) are fellow flight attendants Sam, played

by Adam Brody (Lovelace and Mr. & Mrs. Smith), and Gail, played by three-time Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter, Jill Scott.

Talbert met Patton in 2008, after shooting his first feature film First Sunday (which starred Ice Cube, Tracy Morgan and Katt Williams).

Talbert says, “She was so bubbly and light.” He knew she was Montana Moore even back then. Talbert also says that Montana Moore is his favorite character he’s ever created and that “Paula is a mix of Reese Witherspoon, Jennifer Aniston and Julia Roberts all mixed up into one.”

Talbert says “I’m in love with a

beautiful woman for 15 years. I don’t write from it being a fantasy. Fortunately, I write from it being a reality.”

His wife Lyn Sison-Talbert is also an executive producer on the film and has a small role opposite Boris Kodjoe.

The writer, producer and director began his career in the world of theater. In fact, the Los Angeles Times has labeled Talbert “one of the most prolific theatre makers in America.”

Talbert has written and directed 14 nationally acclaimed touring productions that have garnered 24 NAACP Image Award nominations, winning Best Playwright of the Year for The Fabric of a Man. In 2007, Talbert received the New York Lit-

Djimon Hounsou (L) and Paula Patton (R) in Baggage Claim. (Photo courtesy of Fox Searchlight) erary Award for Best Playwright of the Year for Love in the Nick of Tyme.

Most recently, he received the prestigious NAACP Trailblazer Award for his groundbreaking accomplishments in theater.

Over the years, Patton, who “loves, loves romantic comedies,” kept checking in with Talbert to see if there was any progress in getting the film made. She says, “I read the screenplay when I was making the film Just Wright with Queen Latifah.

I laughed out loud and I hadn’t read the book yet.” Finally, they received word in 2010 that the screenplay was coming to the big screen. Patton says, “This has been a dream come true, a labor of love and a complete passion project for both of us.”

Baggage Claim boasts a talented ensemble cast, including: Derek Luke, Taye Diggs, Boris Kodjoe, Trey Songz, Jenifer Lewis, Affion Crockett, Christina Milian and Djimon Honsou. Of the cast, Talbert says, “Every beautiful person in Hollywood is in this movie.”

Derek Luke, who stars as William Wright, Montana’s best friend, neighbor and confidant, says when he read the role of William, he “just kind of connected.” He adds, “I related to William because every day as an actor you get to meet people.

You get to meet men. Men have become my platform and I get to talk to men on every level, from every hood from every suburb. …

With just men of color I always want to sow a good seed on film.

It has nothing to do with being typecast. It’s just the image of black men. So many people have given me a chance to roll and I feel like in that chance I want to aspire. My mom groomed me as William so I

had to play him.”

Patton (who signed off on every casting choice for the movie), says, “Derek is an amazing actor. He really loves his wife and you have such respect for her. It just emanates from him and there’s this warmth.

We immediately clicked. There’s sweetness, innocence, a kindness in his heart.”

Both Patton and Talbert have nothing but high praise for Luke.

Jokingly, Talbert says “Derek has never smiled in a movie before.

This is the first movie that Derek has smiled in his career. When he smiles, he lights up the world.”

The playwright describes Luke as having that “everyman quality … this grounding quality that he has.” Jenifer Lewis, who plays Catherine, Patton’s five-timesmarried mother in the film, has nothing but high praise for her co-stars and for Talbert. “I’ve never seen men who love their wives so. I admire that.”

Ultimately, Baggage Claim is about love and the search for that someone right, but the movie makes it clear that finding that someone right in oneself is important too.

Patton says, “There are two happy endings…. It’s about a woman who stands up to her family, who says I don’t care what you think anymore and from this journey comes to love herself.”

The second happy ending happens when she’s stopped looking for a man and “he comes along.” Patton also appreciates the fact that “the man she meets knows all her baggage and loves her in spite of that.”

Baggage Claim opens in theaters nation-wide on Sept. 27.

The wait is OVER!

Eula Lawrence with The John Pierce Trio

CD Release Show - 7:30 pm Wednesday, Oct 2nd, 2013 Regattabar, Cambridge MA

Tix: 617-395-7757

See you there!

Thursday, September 26, 2013 • BAY STATE BANNER • 15

16 • Thursday, September 26, 2013 • BAY STATE BANNER

Thursday, September 26, 2013 • BAY STATE BANNER • 17

intheMix with Colette Greenstein

with Colette

Up close with ‘Baggage Claim’ star Boris Kodjoe Mention the name Boris Frederic Cecil Tay-Natey Ofuatey-Kodjoe and most people say, “Huh?” If you mention the name to African American women of a certain age, their hearts skip a beat and their eyes glaze over. But there’s more to the 6-foot-3 Kodjoe than meets the eye .

Kodjoe is one of four children born in Vienna, Austria, to Ursula, a German psychologist, and Eric Kodjoe, a physician from Ghana, West Africa. When Kodjoe was six, his parents divorced. He grew up with his brother Patrick and his two sisters Naja and Lara in the city of Freiburg, located in southwestern Germany. At the age of three, Boris was exposed to the world of tennis.

He subsequently became one of the best players in the country and headed to the United States to attend the Virginia Commonwealth University on a tennis scholarship in the fall of 1992. Kodjoe earned a bachelor’s degree in marketing in 1996.

The Ford Modeling Agency discovered him while he was still in college and he joined post-graduation. It was only a matter of time before the fashion model burst onto the acting scene.

He is best known for his four years playing the character Damon Carter on the hit Showtime television series Soul Food, for which he earned three NAACP Image Award nominations for Outstanding Supporting Actor. Soul Food was where he also met and married his co-star Nicole Ari Parker. In 2004, they co-starred in the television comedy Second Time Around, which he produced, and in 2009, he made his Broadway debut in the Tennessee Williams classic Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, which also starred James Earl Jones, Phylicia Rashad, Anika Noni Rose and Giancarlo Esposito.

Appearing in a variety of supporting roles in film and in television, Kodjoe was hand-picked by J.J. Abrams to star in the drama series Undercovers in 2010. In the fall of 2012, he reprised his role as Luther West in the action/sci-fi film Resident Evil: Retribution and also appeared in the Kevin Hart BET series Real Husbands of Hollywood.

In addition to his upcoming role in Baggage Claim, as Graham opposite Paula Patton’s character Montana, he is currently filming the second season of Real Husbands of Hollywood, due to premiere this October. According to Kodjoe, we can expect appearances by Katie Couric, Selita Ebanks, Shaq, Wayne Brady and Bobby Brown on BET’s top-rated series.

On a recent press junket to Los Angeles for the film Baggage Claim, The Banner spoke with Boris Kodjoe about acting and his upcoming projects.

You’ve gone from theater to film to TV. Which medium do you like best?

I like them all. The blessing of being able to do all of them is great.

They’re all different muscles. It’s

all different kinds of acting. On the stage you have such an immediate response from the audience and its energy, which is like adrenaline — pure. TV is a long journey with the extended family if you will. Movies are short and few between. They’re nomadic sort of experiences in some remote place in the world. You’re with a couple of people for a couple of months and then you move on.

Each has its perks and each has it challenges. But I embrace them all.

Is there any competition between you and your wife?

We help each other out. Competition, I don’t think so. She’ll kick my ass. She’s so good. I love working with her because she makes me better. I’m in awe of her.

How did it feel to be handpicked by J.J. Abrams for Undercovers?

It was great. J.J. is an amazing person first and foremost. He’s a visionary, a genius. I adore him and to be able to work with him was an amazing experience. All around it was a great time for me. It was some groundbreaking work that we did. I loved the show. The lesson I learned was that you have to enjoy the moment because you never know how long it’s going to last and I certainly did.

What drew you to Baggage Claim?

It was a combination. The script was well written and I was a fan of [the playright] David [E. Talbert]. He paints nonstereotypical characters. I wanted to work with Paula and I never worked with her before. And just to reunite with my boys. Djimon is my older brother and so is Taye. And I love Jill. It was a great sort of family environment to shoot the movie in.

What’s next with Real Husbands of Hollywood?

Just more elaborate craziness.

And more and more people are joining the show and wanting to be on the show. It’s always interesting to have guest stars. It’s another really blessed experience that I’ve had. It’s playing with my friends. We all are very close and there are no egos. It’s always a great atmosphere on the set.

I could be digging ditches. It’s been quite a ride and it’s been a great.

Are there any upcoming projects that you can talk about?

Addicted is coming out soon. It’s a movie I shot with Sharon Leal, William Levy and Tasha Smith, based on a novel by Zane. It tackles sexual addiction in a very serious way, which is great for me. It opens up dialogue about a subject that is pretty taboo for us. It’s a real thing. It’s a real disease. It’s a beautiful movie. Very beautifully shot by Billie Woodruff.

What did you learn from working with Billie Woodruff and David E. Talbert?

I learn from everybody. There are different things I learned from Billie. David is very different in his approach. I learned a lot from J.J. Abrams about pacing and transitions and tonal approach. I’m the kind of guy who — I don’t miss the opportunity to learn. When you’re open and curious and interested, I think you can make the best out of recognizing learning experiences.

You have a clothing line with your brother. Is that something you always wanted to do?

We’ve always had issues fitting stuff off the rack and everybody does. I don’t care what size you are or how tall, or how long your arms are. You always have to compromise style and fit off the rack. Custom clothing has been unaffordable for the longest time for everybody including myself.

We’ve figured out a way to offer the luxury of custom clothing — jeans, suits, shirts — for affordable prices. Everything is on line at www.worldofalfa.com. You pick from over 300 fabrics and design,

Paula Patton (L) and co-star Boris Kodjoe Fox Searchlight) structure, build your own suit, shirt or jeans, whatever it is. And then there’s a measuring video to teach you how to measure yourself and input your measurements. And 25 days later you get your stuff.

What is it that attracts you to a role?

The script is number one. If I don’t fall in love with the script, I’m not going to fall in love with the characters. I want to trust the person that’s at the helm and I want to be inspired by the people I’m working with.

If you could do something other than acting, what would it be?

I’m really doing everything I want to do. I’m a business owner. I’m

(R) in Baggage Claim. (Photo courtesy of a philanthropist. We have a foundation that we’re very active in. [Boris and Nicole started Sophie’s Voice Foundation in honor of their daughter, Sophie, who was diagnosed with spina bifida in 2005.]

What do you hope that people take away from this film?

Just a good time. Keep hope alive. Love is out there for everyone.

You just have to find it.

Baggage Claim, from Fox Searchlight Pictures, opens in theaters nationwide on Sept. 27.

If you would like Colette Greenstein to cover or write about your event, email inthemixwithcolette@gmail.com.

18 • Thursday, September 26, 2013 • BAY STATE BANNER

The race to replace Thomas M. Menino included 12 candidates: (L-R) Bill Walczak, Mike Ross, Marty Walsh, John Barros, Charles Clemons, Dan Conley, Charles Yancey, Felix Arroyo, Rob Consalvo and Charlotte Golar Richie. (Banner Archives)

Election

continued from page 1

Former State Rep. Charlotte Golar Richie came in third place after a disappointing campaign. According to unofficial election results Richie was able to earn 15,536 votes but those numbers were far short of the two leaders — Former City Councilor John Connolly and State Rep. Marty Walsh. (Photo courtesy of the Richie Campaign)

State Rep. Marty Walsh celebrates his victory in the mayoral preliminary campaign with supporters at the Venezia Waterfront restaurant in Dorchester. (Yawu Miller photo)

Hall in Dudley Sq. “I would be incredibly proud to be your education mayor. But our campaign is defined by an even bigger issue -- an idea that says this city never stands as tall as when we stand together.”

Connolly touted the diversity of his campaign staff, as did Walsh. But black, Latino and Asian votes in the preliminary were split mainly between the campaigns of Golar Richie, who garnered 15,536 votes, at-large City Councilor Felix G. Arroyo who garnered 9,888 and former Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative executive director John Barros who garnered 9,138.

Together, the votes won by candidates of color dwarfed those of any single white candidate, but like all communities in this 12-way mayoral race, communities of color were divided.

The relatively strong turnout in black, Latino and Asian neighborhoods will give those communities a central role in the campaigns of Walsh and Connolly, says political commentator Kelly Bates.

“The black community is going to be pivotal,” she said. “To win, the candidates need to be speaking to our issues.

Bates said Walsh and Connolly should waste no time in seeking support from Golar Richie, Arroyo and Barros.

“Immediately, they need to reach out to all the candidates of color and their staff, get key endorsements and reach out to anyone in the community who can turn people out. You have only six weeks to win this.”

Election Results Marty Walsh................................... 20,838 18% John Connolly................................ 19,420 17% Charlotte Golar Richie................... 15,536 14% Dan Conley..................................... 12,764 11% Felix Arroyo.................................... 9,888 9% John Barros................................... 9,138 8% Rob Consalvo................................. 8,592 8% Michael Ross................................. 8,155 7% Bill Walczak................................... 3,822 3% Charles Yancey.............................. 2,388 2% Charles Clemons........................... 1,799 2% David Wyatt................................... 334 0% Standing in the crowd at Venezia restaurant, Roxbury resident Stephanie Soriano Mills said she’s already made up her mind who she’s supporting.

“I’ve known Marty for a long

time,” she said. “Marty is a people’s candidate. He’s the same person whether he’s talking to the person cleaning a building or the building’s owner. He’s the people’s candidate.”

Thursday, September 26, 2013 • BAY STATE BANNER • 19

RCC

continued from page 1

to build that pathway,” Mercomes said. “We hope we will get more and more students that realize that is just a perfect trajectory for them to keep going.”

In Mercomes view, the part of the grant money that will be used to work with Madison Park students to earn credits at RCC will be a big boost to get these students to move on to community

ment and student affairs at RCC, said the fact that her school and UMass Boston are coaching students using the model that has already proven successful through Success Boston is critical.

“I think that is what students need. They need to have that support. They need to have that person that is working there with them to help them through process,” Janney said. “The fact that we are expanding on a model that has been successful … that really strengthens what we will be able to do.”

“The fact that we are expanding on a model that has been successful … that really strengthens what we will be able to do.”

— Stephanie Janney Roxbury Community College

college and then on to four-year colleges like UMass Boston.

“So many of these students are first generation students — their parents did not go to college. For them to get three college credits at the end of this year — that is going to be huge,” Mercomes said.

“The idea is, in five years we want those students to have a credential — an associate degree or working toward a bachelor’s degree.”

The efforts of RCC and UMass Boston will follow the model established by the Success Boston program. Started by Mayor Thomas M. Menino in 2008, Success Boston aims to double the college completion rate for Boston Public Schools graduates.

Stephanie Janney, vice president for enrollment manage-

Mercomes believes the grant money recognizes the efforts RCC has made to help Boston Public Schools students to achieve higher education success. “It means a great deal. It is sort of an affirmation of the fact that we are ready to do this really good work for the community. It affirms that we are a college … that is serious and dedicated college and we want to do the very best we can for the community. It is hard to do that without the resources and we have the resources to do that now,” she said.

RCC also plans to partner with Massasoit Community College to co-host a statewide conference focused on strategies for closing achievement gaps among students of color at the state’s 15 commu-

President of Roxbury Community College Valerie Roberson announces a new grant awarded to her school and the University of Massachusetts Boston to improve student performance, increase graduation rates and close the achievement gap in higher education. The grant is part of $7.5 million to be given out by the state. (Photo by Glenn Kulbako and courtesy of the Massachusetts Department of Education) nity colleges.

The grant given to RCC and UMass Boston is part of Vision Project Performance Incentive Fund established by Massachusetts three years ago to improve the state higher education system in the areas of college participation, college completion, student learning, workforce alignment, preparing citizens and closing achievement gaps.

The $7.5 million awarded to state colleges and universities this year will fund almost 50 new and ongoing projects.

Other notable grants include $508,667 to Bridgewater State

University, Bristol Community College, Cape Cod Community College and Massasoit Community College to design a “seamless pathway” for students transferring from the local community colleges to Bridgewater. $375,000 has gone to Framingham State University and MassBay Community College to establish a MetroWest College Planning Center offering pre-college counseling services to at-risk students and $239,334 has gone to the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, Greenfield Community College, Holyoke Community College and Berkshire Community College to work with regional

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20 • Thursday, September 26, 2013 • BAY STATE BANNER

LEGAL NOTICE NOTICE TO LEAN CONSULTANT SERVICE FIRMS COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS DIVISION OF CAPITAL ASSET MANAGEMENT AND MAINTENANCE (DCAMM) Sealed proposals for a Request for Response for Consultant Services For Lean Six Sigma and Lean Construction Process Improvements will be received at the Division of Capital Asset Management and Maintenance (DCAMM), 15th floor, One Ashburton Place, Boston MA 02108, attention: Cindy Renzi, Strategic Project Manager, until October 24, 2013 at 2:00 p.m. EDT. Description of services is as follows: DCAMM is seeking Lean Six Sigma consulting services and/or Lean Construction consulting services (up to six vendors) to assist DCAMM in its ongoing business transformation. The consultant will assist DCAMM in developing and maintaining a culture of continuous improvement by applying Lean principles and Lean tools and methodologies to increase efficiencies within DCAMM’s operations. Using these services, DCAMM intends to eliminate unnecessary actions, increase service quality, reduce complexity and time required to complete tasks, all while ensuring that the agency meets its critical statutory and fiduciary obligations The Request for Response and required forms are available as of September 23, 2013 via the state procurement website Comm-PASS or at www.mass. gov/dcam/procurement. In order to access the RFR at the state procurement site, go to www.Comm-Pass.com, click on “Search for a Solicitation.”

In the “Document Number” field, type in “DCP1202 AD4”, then click on the search result for the document information. If you require assistance in downloading the document, please call the Comm-Pass Help Desk at 1-888627-8283.

If a Respondent’s proposal does not meet the scope of services specified in the RFR, DCAMM reserves the right to reject any or all of the proposals.

MASSACHUSETTS PORT AUTHORITY NOTICE TO CONTRACTORS Sealed General Bids for MPA Contract No. AP1222-C1, MISCELLANEOUS BRIDGE AND TUNNEL REPAIRS, 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, OCTOBER 16, 2013 immediately after which, in a designated room, the bids will be opened and read publicly.

NOTE: PRE-BID CONFERENCE WILL BE HELD AT THE CAPITAL PROGRAMS DEPARTMENT (ABOVE ADDRESS) AT 10:00 AM LOCAL TIME ON FRIDAY, OCTOBER 4, 2013.

THE WORK PROVIDES FOR VARIOUS BRIDGE REPAIRS AT LOGAN INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT IN EAST BOSTON, AND AT LOCATIONS IN SOUTH BOSTON WHICH INCLUDES: REPAIRS TO ROADWAY GRATES, UTILITY COVERS AND EXPANSION JOINT PLATES, REPLACEMENT OF JOINT STRIP SEALS, REPAIR BITUMINOUS PAVEMENT, REPAIRS TO CRACKS IN BITUMINOUS PAVEMENT, REPLACEMENT OF ASPHALTIC PLUG JOINTS, CLEANING AREAS ON OR AROUND THE BRIDGES, CLEANING AND PAINTING MISCELLANEOUS STEEL, REPAIRS TO CONCRETE AND MISCELLANEOUS REPAIRS AS DIRECTED BY THE ENGINEER. Bid documents will be made available beginning THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2013 The estimated contract cost is Six Hundred Thousand Dollars ($600,000).

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.

A proposal guaranty shall be submitted with each General Bid consisting of a bid deposit for five (5) percent of the value of the bid; when sub-bids are required, each must be accompanied by a deposit equal to five (5) percent of the sub-bid amount, in the form of a bid bond, or cash, or a certified check, or a treasurer’s or a cashier’s check issued by a responsible bank or trust company, payable to the Massachusetts Port Authority in the name of which the Contract for the work is to be executed. The bid deposit shall be (a) in a form satisfactory to the Authority, (b) with a surety company qualified to do business in the Commonwealth and satisfactory to the Authority, and (c) conditioned upon the faithful performance by the principal of the agreements contained in the bid.

The successful Bidder will be required to furnish a performance bond and a labor and materials payment bond, each in an amount equal to 100% of the Contract price. The surety shall be a surety company or securities satisfactory to the Authority. Attention is called to the minimum rate of wages to be paid on the work as determined under the provisions of Chapter 149, Massachusetts General Laws, Section 26 to 27G, inclusive, as amended. The Contractor will be required to pay minimum wages in accordance with the schedules listed in Division II, Special Provisions of the Specifications, which wage rates have been predetermined by the U. S. Secretary of Labor and / or the Commissioner of Labor and Industries of Massachusetts, whichever is greater.

The successful Bidder will be required to purchase and maintain Bodily Injury Liability Insurance and Property Damage Liability Insurance for a combined single limit of $1,000,000. Said policy shall be on an occurrence basis and the Authority shall be included as an Additional Insured. See the insurance sections of Division I, General Requirements and Division II, Special Provisions for complete details.

This contract is subject to a Minority/Women Owned Business Enterprise participation provision requiring that not less than FIVE PERCENT (5%) 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 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 NonSegregated 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 AND EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

NOTICE TO CONTRACTORS CLASSIFIED LEGAL ADVERTISEMENT COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS EXECUTIVE OFFICE FOR ADMINISTRATION AND FINANCE DIVISION OF CAPITAL ASSET MANAGEMENT & MAINTENANCE (DCAMM) Sealed proposals submitted on a form furnished by the Division of Capital Asset Management & Maintenance (DCAMM) and clearly identified as a bid, endorsed with the name and address of the bidder, the project and contract number, will be received at the Division of Capital Asset Management & Maintenance, One Ashburton Place, 1st Floor, Room 107, Boston, MA 02108, no later than the date and time specified and will forthwith be publicly opened and read aloud.

Sub-Bids before 12:00 Noon: OCTOBER 21, 2013 *Every Filed Sub-Bidder must submit a valid Sub-Bidder Certificate of Eligibility with its bid and must be certified by the Division of Capital Asset Management & Maintenance in the category of sub-bid work for which they bid.

General Bids before 2:00 PM: NOVEMBER 5, 2013 Every General Bidder must be certified by the Division of Capital Asset Management & Maintenance for the category of work and for no less than the bid price plus all add alternates of this project.

The Category of Work is: MECHANICAL CONSTRUCTION Mass. State Project No. DPH0702 Contract No. HC1 DPH-UMW Jamaica Plain, Hinton Tower Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts And the following Sub-Bids: Electrical.

E.C.C: $1,755,443 This project is scheduled for 180 calendar days to substantial completion and in general includes: Renovations & upgrades to existing hot water heating system infrastructure at MA Hinton State Laboratory Building: replacement of heat exchangers, steam & hot water piping, hot water systems pumps, expansion tanks, air separators, and make-up water feeds.

Minimum rates of wages to be paid on the project have been determined by the Director of the Department of Labor Standards under the provisions of the Massachusetts General Laws, Chapter 149, Sections 26 to 27H. Wage rates are listed in the contract form portion of specification book.

Each general bid and sub-bid proposal must be secured by an accompanying deposit of 5% of the total bid amount, including all alternates, in the form of a bid bond, in cash, a certified, treasurer’s, or cashier’s check issued by a responsible bank or trust company made payable to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

The bidding documents may be examined at the Division of Capital Asset Management & Maintenance Bid Room, One Ashburton Place, 1st Floor, Room 107, Boston, MA 02108 Tel (617) 727-4003. Copies may be obtained by depositing a company check, treasurer’s check, cashier’s check, bank check or money order in the sum of $100.00 payable to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. No personal checks or cash will be accepted as deposits. Refunds will be made to those returning the documents in satisfactory condition on or before NOVEMBER 20, 2013 (ten business days after the opening of General Bids) otherwise the deposit shall be the property of the Commonwealth.

WE DO NOT MAIL PLANS AND SPECIFICATIONS. Messenger and other type of pick-up and delivery services are the agents of the bidder and the Division of Capital Asset Management & Maintenance assumes no responsibility for delivery or receipt of the documents. Bidders are encouraged to take advantage of a rotating credit plans and specifications deposit program initiated by the Division of Capital Asset Management & Maintenance to encourage the easy accessibility of documents to contractors.

Designer: Richard D. Kimball Company, Inc.

200 Brickstone Square

Andover, MA 01810 Carole Cornelison COMMISSIONER LEGAL NOTICE REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL Artwork Commission for Terminal B Renovations and Improvements Project The MASSACHUSETTS PORT AUTHORITY (Authority) is seeking an artist for acquisition and installation of artwork for MPA CONTRACT NO. L1129-D1, Renovations and Improvements at Terminal B, Logan International Airport, East Boston, MA. The Authority is seeking artists with successful installations in public spaces. The Artist must be able to work closely with the Authority and other interested parties in order to provide artwork in a timely and effective manner.

Logan International Airport, one of the nation’s busiest air terminals, is in the midst of constructing a connection between Pier A and Pier B in Terminal B to facilitate passenger flow post-security. The Connector will be an active space highlighted by a ticketing hall, baggage claim, security checkpoint, eight (8) boarding gates, and concessions. The Authority is committed to the incorporation of works of public art within its facilities, and seeks to incorporate up to two (2) new works within the Terminal B space.

The Authority expects to select one (1) artist. However, the Authority reserves the right to select a different number if it is deemed in its best interest to do so.

Goals and Objectives for the Public Art Piece (s):

• To bring aesthetic interest and life to a heavily trafficked airport facility.

• To integrate with the current designs of Pier A and Pier B established by the architect and other design professionals at the Authority.

• To enhance the passenger experience in Terminal B.

• Economic support of the New England artistic community.

The submissions shall be evaluated on basis of: (1) geographic location of the artist, (2) proposed schedule, (3) estimated budget for the artwork (4) established track record of successful public art installations, (5) proposed artistic concept and ability to enhance the new Terminal B design, (6) past performance for the Authority, if any.

Supplemental information, including the submission requirements, will be available to interested parties beginning Tuesday, October 1, 2013, by contacting Cindy Monahan at cmonahan@massport.com A Pre-proposal Briefing will be held Tuesday, October 1, 2013 at 9:00 AM

at Authority’s Capital Programs Department, Logan Office Center, One Harborside Drive, Suite 209S, East Boston, MA. Attendance at the briefing is not mandatory, however, it is strongly encouraged in order to best familiarize yourself with the project details and the selection process.

The procurement process for these services will proceed according to the following anticipated schedule: EVENT DATE/TIME September 25, 2013 Solicitation Release Date Briefing Session

October 1, 2013– 9:00 am

Deadline for Submission of Written Questions

October 8, 2013

Official Answers Published (Estimated)

October 15, 2013

Solicitation Close Date/ Submission Deadline

October 22, 2013 – 12:00 Noon

Questions may be sent via email to CPBidQuestions@massport.com subject to the deadline for receipt stated in the timetable above. In the subject lines of your email, please reference the MPA Project Name and Number.

Questions and their responses will be posted on Capital Bid Opportunities webpage of Massport http://www.massport.com/doing-business/_layouts/ CapitalPrograms/default.aspx as an attachment to the original Legal Notice and on Comm-PASS (www.comm-pass.com) in the listings for this project.

Complete Proposals must be received no later than 12:00 Noon local time on October 22, 2013. This submission shall be addressed to Houssam H. Sleiman, PE, CCM, Director of Capital Programs and Environmental at the Massachusetts Port Authority, Logan Office Center, One Harborside Drive, Suite 209S, Logan International Airport, East Boston, MA 02128-2909. Any submission which is not received in a timely manner shall be rejected by the Authority as non-responsive. Any information provided to the Authority in any Proposal or other written or oral communication between the Proposer and the Authority will not be, or deemed to have been, proprietary or confidential, although the Authority will use reasonable efforts not to disclose such information to persons who are not employees or consultants retained by the Authority except as may be required by M.G.L. c.66.

OWNERSHIP OF RFP PROPOSAL The Artist assigns to the Authority all rights of the media on which her/his Proposal is submitted, but shall retain all rights, title, and interest in to any intellectual property in the ideas expressed in the Proposal.

MASSACHUSETTS PORT AUTHORITY THOMAS P. GLYNN CEO AND EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR ​ZONING HEARING The Zoning Commission of the City of Boston hereby gives notice, in accordance with Chapter 665 of the Acts of 1956, as amended, that a public hearing will be held on October 9, 2013, at 9:30 AM, in Room 900, Ninth Floor, Boston City Hall, in connection with Map Amendment Application No. 638 and a petition for approval of the Master Plan for Planned Development Area No. 94, Bartlett Place, Roxbury, (“Master Plan”) and the Phase I Development Plan within Planned Development Area No. 94, Bartlett Place (“Development Plan”) filed by the Boston Redevelopment Authority.

Said map amendment would amend Map 6A/6B/6C, Roxbury Neighborhood District, by adding the designation “D”, indicating a Planned Development Area overlay district to approximately 8.59 acres located at 2565 Washington Street in Roxbury. The Master Plan for Bartlett Place envisions a phased development with four Proposed Projects taking place over a period commencing in 2014 and continuing through 2018 and comprising up to 323 residential units, and approximately 54,000 square feet of commercial and retail space in the First Phase Project. The Development Plan proposes two phases to the Phase 1 Project. Phase 1A of the First Phase Project will reach a maximum building height of 55 feet and will include up to 125,000 square feet of Gross Floor Area, consisting of approximately 39,000 square feet of commercial and retail space and between 39 and 45 apartment units. Phase 1B of the First Phase Project will have a maximum building height of 65 feet and up to 110,000 square feet of Gross Floor Area, including approximately 15,000 square feet of commercial and retail space and between 57 and 63 apartment units, as well as a new public plaza.

A copy of the petition, map of the area involved, the Master Plan, and the Development Plan may be viewed at the office of the Zoning Commission, Room 953C, Boston City Hall, between 9 AM and 5 PM any day except Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays.

For the Commission, Jeffrey M. Hampton Executive Secretary Commonwealth of Massachusetts The Trial Court Probate and Family Court Department Docket No. SU13P2144EA

SUFFOLK Division

Citation on Petition for Formal Adjudication Estate of Maria Teixeira DaSilveira Date of Death: 12/20/2008 To all interested persons: A petition has been filed by Maria Teixeira of Campana Baixo, CV requesting that the Court enter a formal Decree and Order of testacy and for such other relief as requested in the Petition. And also requesting that Joaquin Silveira of Roxbury, MA be appointed as Personal Representative(s) of said estate to serve Without Surety on the bond.

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 10/10/2013. 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 date, action may be taken without further notice to you.

The estate is being administered under formal procedure by the Personal Representative under the Massachusetts Uniform Probate Code without supervision by the Court. Inventory and accounts are not required to be filed with the Court, but recipients are entitled to notice regarding the administration from the Personal Representative and can 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: September 06, 2013 Patricia M. Campatelli Register of Probate

Thursday, September 26, 2013 • BAY STATE BANNER • 21

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

Docket No. SU13P2138PM

In the matter of: Valeria C. Williams Respondent (Person to be Protected/Minor) Of: Mattapan, MA

you from taking any action which would negatively impact the current financial status of either party. SEE Supplemental Probate Court Rule 411.

You are hereby summoned and required to serve upon: Nnena E.J. Odim, Esq., WilmerHale Legal Services Center, 122 Boylston Street, Jamaica Plain, MA 02130 your answer, if any, on or before 11/21/2013. If you fail to do so, the court will proceed to the hearing and adjudication of this action. You are also required to file a copy of your answer, if any, in the office of the Register of this Court.

CITATION GIVING NOTICE OF PETITION FOR APPOINTMENT OF CONSERVATOR OR OTHER PROTECTIVE ORDER PURSUANT TO G.L c. 190B, §5-304 & §5-405

Witness, Hon. Joan P. Armstrong, First Justice of this Court.

Date: September 4, 2013 Patricia M. Campatelli Register of Probate

To the named Respondent and all other interested persons, a petition has been filed by Marc Schultz of Jamaica Plain, MA in the above captioned matter alleging that Valeria C. Williams is in need of a Conservator or other protective order and requesting that Albertina Cerveira-Hajjar, Esq. of Brookline, MA (or some other suitable person) be appointed as Conservator to serve With Personal Surety on the bond.

Commonwealth of Massachusetts The Trial Court Probate and Family Court Department

The petition asks the court to determine that the Respondent is disabled, that a protective order or appointment of a Conservator is necessary, and that the proposed conservator is appropriate. The petition is on file with this court.

You have the right to object to this proceeding. If you wish to do so, you or your attorney must file a written appearance at this court on or before 10:00 A.M. on the return date of 10/10/2013. This day is not a hearing date, but a deadline date by which you have to file the written appearance if you object to the petition. If you fail to file the written appearance by the return date, action may be taken in this matter without further notice to you. In addition to filing the written appearance, you or your attorney must file a written affidavit stating the specific facts and grounds of your objection within 30 days after the return date.

SUFFOLK Division

Lynn M. Foy-Brown

vs.

Charles E. Brown, III

To the Defendant: The Plaintiff has filed a Complaint for Divorce requesting that the Court grant a divorce for irretrievable breakdown of the marriage under G.L. c.

208, Section 1 B. The Complaint is on file at the Court.

An Automatic Restraining Order has been entered in this matter preventing you from taking any action which would negatively impact the current financial status of either party. SEE Supplemental Probate Court Rule 411.

Witness, Hon. Joan P. Armstrong, First Justice of this Court.

Date: September 06, 2013 Patricia M. Campatelli Register of Probate

Witness, Hon. Joan P. Armstrong, First Justice of this Court.

Date: September 4, 2013 Patricia M. Campatelli Register of Probate

Commonwealth of Massachusetts The Trial Court Probate and Family Court Department

Commonwealth of Massachusetts The Trial Court Probate and Family Court Department 24 New Chardon Street Boston, MA 02114 (617) 788-8300

Docket No. SU13D0834DR

Divorce Summons by Publication and Mailing vs.

Edgar Gomez

To the Defendant: The Plaintiff has filed a Complaint for Divorce requesting that the Court grant a divorce for Cruel and abusive treatment, pursuant to M.G.L. c. 208, Section 1.

The Complaint is on file at the Court.

An Automatic Restraining Order has been entered in this matter preventing

LOT TERY Simpkins School Residences at Yarmouth Town Hall 1146 Route 28 South Yarmouth, MA 02664 Thursday October 3, 2013 at 12:30PM Though all are welcome, applicants are not required to attend.

Unfurnished Rooms for Rent • 14 Ferndale St, Dorchester

• All utilities included • Share kitchen & living rm

• 5 min from commuter rail and red line • Private bath

• Off-street parking • $850-1000/month

Call D. Ramsey 617-903-2000

Enjoy Country Living in Our Quiet Community Setting

PLANTATION APARTMENTS

SUFFOLK Division

Docket No. SU13P2112PO Citation on General Probate Petition Estate of: Doris Howell-Samuel

To all interested persons: A petition has been filed by Massachusetts General Hospital of Boston, MA requesting 1. Determine that the attached health care proxy is valid. 2.

Determine that Respondent presently lacks capacity to make heath care

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN THAT AS OF OCTOBER 2, 2013 BEDFORD HOUSING AUTHORITY 1 Ashby Place, Bedford, MA 01730 Telephone (781) 275-2428 Office Hours 10:00a.m. – 1:00p.m. www.bedfordhousing.org Will Accept Applications For Its Project-Based Waiting List For The Massachusetts Rental Voucher Program And The Chapter 200 (Family Public Housing) At This Time, The Bha Will Accept Applications For Its Two (2) And Three (3) Bedroom Waiting List For The Mrvp Program, And The Two (2) And Three (3) Bedroom Waiting List For The Chapter 200 Program *** ALL HOUSING UNITS AND VOUCHERS ARE LOCATED IN BEDFORD, MA *** Number Of Household Members / Eligibility Income Limit For Mrvp Two (2) / $37,800

Five (5) / $51,000

Three (3) / $42,500

Six (6)/$54,800

Four (4) / $47,200

Accepting Applications for waitlist Subsidized Elderly/Disabled Housing in Stow, MA

Two (2) / $52,000

Five (5) / $70,200

MAXIMUM INCOME LIMITS 1 Person $33,050 2 People $37,800

Three (3) / $58,500

Six (6) / $75,400

SUFFOLK Division

Docket No. SU13P1156GD

Citation Giving Notice of Petition for Appointment of Guardian for Incapacitated Person Pursuant to G.L. c. 190B, §5-304 In the matter of Geraidine Rivera Of Boston, MA RESPONDENT Alleged Incapacitated Person To the named Respondent and all other interested persons, a petition has been filed by Matilde Questell of Boston, MA in the above captioned matter alleging that Geraidine Rivera is in need of a Guardian and requesting that Matilde Questell of Boston, MA (or some other suitable person) be appointed as Guardian to serve on the bond.

The petition asks the court to determine that the Respondant is incapacitated, that the appointment of a Guardian is necessary, that the proposed Guardian is appropriate. The petition is on file with this court and may contain a request for certain specific authority.

You have the right to object to this proceeding. If you wish to do so, you or your attorney must file a written appearance at this court on or before 10:00 A.M. on the return date of 10/17/2013. This day is NOT a hearing date, but a deadline date by which you have to file the written appearance if you object to the petition. If you fail to file the written appearance by the return date, action may be taken in this matter without further notice to you. In addition to filing the written appearance, you or your attorney must file a written affidavit stating the specific facts and grounds of your objection within 30 days after the return date.

IMPORTANT NOTICE The outcome of this proceeding may limit or completely take away the above-named person’s right to make decisions about personal affairs or financial affairs or both. The above-named person has the right to ask for a lawyer. Anyone may make this request on behalf of the above-named person.

If the above-named person cannot afford a lawyer, one may be appointed at State expense.

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

Date: September 11, 2013 Patricia M. Campatelli Register of Probate

OFFICE SPACE FOR LEASE RIVERWAY PLAZA

90 RIVER ST, MATTAPAN, MA 02126 1,672 Sqft

GREAT SPACE 2nd FLOOR with Elevator Access/Stairs • 1,672 sqft open floor plan • Great office space/showroom • Monthly rent includes all CAM fees • 1 –month security deposit preferred • Property is surrounded by many restaurants/retailers and local business • Ample parking Trinity Management has a great space for lease at 90 River St. The Space is located on the 2nd floor with elevator access/ stairs. Open floor plan with two private offices.

Women and Men’s bathroom. Easily accessible to public transportation with Central Ave trolley stop next door and major highways mins away.

Four (4) / $65,000 APPLICATIONS WILL BE AVAILABLE FROM 10:00am – 1:00pm, October 2, 2013 To October 18, 2013 At Bedford Housing Authority Or

Rent is equal to 30% of income.

APPLICATIONS MAY BE DOWNLOADED FROM www.bedfordhousing.org

For more information call 978-897-4404 TDD: 1-800-545-1833, ext. 179

OR BY MAIL BY CALLING (781) 275-2428

Advertise Your Classifieds

PLEASE NOTE: APPLICATIONS WILL NOT BE SENT OR ACCEPTED BY FAX OR E-MAIL THE BHA WILL NOT ACCEPT APPLICATIONS THAT ARE POSTMARKED AFTER OCTOBER 18, 2013.

THE BHA DOES NOT ADMINISTER ANY SECTION 8 PROGRAMS

(617) 261-4600 x 7799

Commonwealth of Massachusetts The Trial Court Probate and Family Court Department

Number Of Household Members / Eligibility Income Limit For Chapter 200

ONE AND TWO BEDROOM APARTMENTS

On-site management, wall-to-wall carpeting, heat and hot water included, laundry facility, generous closet space, Community room with Cable TV, 24-hr. maintenance, Security entrance with intercom system, nature trail.

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

Date: September 04, 2013 Patricia M. Campatelli

Register of Probate

Divorce Summons by Publication and Mailing

You are hereby summoned and required to serve upon: Lynn M. Foy-Brown, 971 Bluehill Ave, #3, Dorchester, MA 02124 your answer, if any, on or before 11/21/2013. If you fail to do so, the court will proceed to the hearing and adjudication of this action. You are also required to file a copy of your answer, if any, in the office of the Register of this Court.

Margarita Gomez

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 10/10/2013. 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 date, action may be taken without further notice to you.

Docket No. SU13D1882DR

IMPORTANT NOTICE The outcome of this proceeding may limit or completely take away the above-named person’s right to make decisions about personal affairs or financial affairs or both. The above-named person has the right to ask for a lawyer. Anyone may make this request on behalf of the above-named person.

If the above-named person cannot afford a lawyer, one may be appointed at State expense.

SUFFOLK Division

decisions and that the Respondent’s decisions shall no longer prevail over the health care agent’s decisions due to the Respondent’s lack of capacity.

3. Confirm that the health care agents authority to make health care decisions on behalf of the ward has begun. 4. Enter a decree ordering that the Respondent may not amend, alter, or revoke the attached health care proxy nor execute a new heath care proxy without further order of the court.

Phone: 617-265-5800 Fax: 617-265-5888 dgoldwait@trinitymanagementcompany.com Doug Goldwait, Property Manager 1916 Dorchester Ave. Dorchester, MA 02124

22 • Thursday, September 26, 2013 • BAY STATE BANNER

Parker Hill Apartments The Style, Comfort and Convenience you Deserve!

Heat and Hot Water Always Included Modern Laundry Facilities Private Balconies / Some with City Views Plush wall to wall carpet Adjacent to New England Baptist Hospital Secured Entry, Elevator Convenience Private Parking Near Public Transportation and much more ...

2 bed - $1264-$1900; 1 bed $1058-$1500 Call Today for more details and to schedule a visit...

888-842-7945

Wollaston Manor 91 Clay Street Quincy, MA 02170

ADVERTISE

Senior Living At It’s Best

your classifieds with the Bay State Banner

A senior/disabled/ handicapped community 0 BR units = $1,027/mo 1 BR units = $1,101/mo All utilities included.

(617) 261-4600 x 7799 • ads@bannerpub.com Rate information at www.baystatebanner.com/advertise

Call Sandy Miller, Property Manager

#888-691-4301

Program Restrictions Apply.

West Square Apartments 320 D Street, South Boston, MA Affordable Housing Lottery www.s-e-b.com/lottery

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33 New Affordable Apartments For Rent

# of Units

Type

Rent*

5

Studio

18

1BR 2BR

10

Approx Sqft

Income Limit

$1,024

586 sqft

Up to 70%

$1,194

687 to 720 sqft

Up to 70%

$1,365

1,023 to 1,152 sqft

Up to 70%

*Rent is subject to change when the BRA publishes the annual rents.

The Maximum Income Limits for Households is 70% AMI which is as follows:

@BayStateBanner

AFFORDABLE RENTAL OPPORTUNITY

Two newly renovated apartments 61 Boston Avenue in West Medford Eat in kitchen, refrigerator, stove, dishwasher, garbage disposal, bamboo floors, water and sewer, cable ready, storage unit, yard, coin operated laundry on premises.

Two bedroom, first floor, 1 bathroom, 1 off street parking space, $1,261per month.

1 Person - $46,250*

Public Transportation • Bus Line-Line 95-West Medford-Sullivan Square Station via Mystic Ave. • Commuter Rail-481 High Street Income limits: Two person household

$43,360

Three person household

$51,000

Four person household

$56,640

Five person household

$61,200

Six person household

$65,760

Voucher holders are welcome.

To request an application please visit the Medford Public Library, 111 High Street or Medford Community Development, 85 George P. Hassett Drive or contact Housing Resource Group, LLC at 781.820.8797 or hrgllc.alwan@yahoo.com Tenants will be selected by lottery at 7:00 p.m. on Monday, November 18th, 2013 at the Medford Public Library.

To be entered in the lottery completed applications must be postmarked by November 11th, 2013.

An information meeting will be held Monday, September 30th, 2013, 7:00 p.m. at the Medford Public Library.

3 Person - $59,450*

4 Person - $66,100*

From Oct 7th to Oct 16th applications can be requested by phone (617.782.6900) or email (seb.housing@gmail.com). Applications may also be picked up at the South Boston Branch of the Boston Public Library (646 East Broadway, South Boston) on Tuesday Oct 8th (8 AM to 1 PM) and Wednesday Oct 9th (3 pm to 8 pm) and Saturday Oct 12th (9 AM to 2 PM).

Applications can be dropped off to the SEB Office between 10 AM and 4 PM on Oct 23rd and Oct 24th.

The deadline for application drop off at the SEB Office is 4 pm on October 24th, 2013.

Applications can also be mailed to the SEB Office but must be postmarked by October 24th, 2013.

The SEB Office is on 165 Chestnut Hill Ave #2, Brighton, MA 02135.

Selection by lottery.

Asset, Use & Occupancy Restrictions apply.

Handicap households have preference for 8 accessible units.

Preference for Boston Residents.

Preference for Households with at least one person per bedroom.

For more information or reasonable accommodations for persons with disabilities, call 617.782.6900

Four bedroom, second & third floor, 2 bathrooms, 2 off street parking spaces, $1,574 per month.

Area Schools • Brooks Elementary School, 388 High Street • Andrews Middle school, 3000 Mystic Valley Pkwy.

• Medford High School, 489 Winthrop Street • St. Clement Parish Schools, Private PK-12 579 Boston Ave.

2 Person - $52,850*

*Income Limits subject to change when the BRA publishes the annual Income Limits

Arlington 360

Affordable and Middle-Income Housing Lottery Arlington, MA www.s-e-b.com/lottery = www.LiveArlington360.com Arlington 360 is a 164 unit rental apartment community located in Arlington at 4105 Symmes Circle. There are Twenty Six (26) Affordable apartments available to households with incomes at or below 80% of Area Median Income (AMI). Nine (9) Middle-Income apartments are available to households with incomes below 120% of Area Median Income (AMI). Apartments include designer finishes such as plank flooring, stainless steel appliances and designer cabinetry in the kitchens, tile floors in the baths, and in-unit washers and dryers. Community amenities include a pool, fitness center, clubhouse, two business centers, tot lot, sport court, community garden and easy access to two public parks. Please note that apartments may be converted to condominiums. The date of conversion is unknown but eligible tenants in the units will be given the first opportunity to purchase their unit at affordable or middle-income prices. Please see the Information Packet for more details.

Affordable Apartments for Households Under 80% AMI

Studios @ $1,093, 1BRs @ $1,243, 2BRs @ $1,364-$1,381, 3BRs @ $1,496-$1,518

Middle Income Apartments for Households Under 120% AMI Studios @ $1,867, 1BRs @ $2,127, 2BRs @ $2,359-$2,376, 3BRs @ $2,602

All tenants will pay their own gas heat, gas hot water, gas cooking, and electricity.

Household Size

Affordable Units (80%) Maximum Income Limit

Middle-Income Units (120%) Maximum Income Limit

1

$47,150

$79,296

2

$53,900

$90,624

3

$60,650

$101,952

4

$67,350

$113,280

5

$72,750

$122,342

6

$78,150

$131,405

Completed Applications and Required Income Documentation must be received, not postmarked, by 2 pm on Nov 5th 2013. A Public Info Session will be held on Oct 8th, 2013 at 6:00 pm in the Arlington Senior Center Main Room (27 Maple Street, next to Town Hall). The Lottery will be held on Nov 18th 6 pm in the Arlington Senior Center Mural Room.

For Lottery Information and Application, or for reasonable accommodations for persons with disabilities, go to www.s-e-b.com/lottery or call (617) 782-6900x3 and leave a message.

Subscribe to the Banner call: 617-261-4600

Applications and Information also available at the Robbins Library on 700 Mass Ave in Arlington (M-W 9-9, Thurs 1-9, Fri+Sat 9-5, Sun 2-5) and Arlington Town Hall Planning Department, 730 Mass. Ave. (M-W 8-4, Thurs 8-7, Fri 8-noon)

Thursday, September 26, 2013 • BAY STATE BANNER • 23

CHELSEA APARTMENT

advertise your classifieds

4+ bdrms Newly renovated, 2000+ sq ft apt in 3 fam, no smkng/pets, hrdwd flrs, eat-in kit, pantry, lg master bedroom, din and lv rm, laundry rm, enclosed frnt/bck prchs, off street prkng, T access, min to Bost.

(617) 261-4600 x 7799 • ads@bannerpub.com Find rate information at www.baystatebanner.com/advertise

Sec 8 OK

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

617-283-2081 ADMIRAL’S TOWER CO-OP

SENIOR LIVING AT ITS BEST! Affordable senior apartments located on the beautiful grounds of Admiral’s Hill in Chelsea, this active senior housing co-op is within walking distance to shopping, banks, churches, and is on the MBTA bus line.

Features such as: • Scenic view of the Boston skyline • Plenty of space for outdoor relaxation • Transportation to Stop & Shop • New beauty parlor, shops & a flea market close-by • Well-maintained library • Emergency response person always available Social activities include: Bingo, Luncheons, Holiday Parties & More!!

Rent is based on 30% of income (income limits apply to qualified seniors 62 and older.

PROVIDING HIGH QUALITY AFFORDABLE HOUSING FOR SENIORS.

North Shore Community Development Coalition (NSCDC) is seeking a Director of Housing Development and a Project Manager to initiate and manage multiple real estate development projects.

Based in Salem, MA, NSCDC is a regional community development organization with an active pipeline of housing and mixed use projects. The Director of Housing Development should bring at least five years of affordable housing project management and two years of supervisory experience. The Project Manager should have at least two years of project management experience.

Interested candidates should submit a cover letter and a resume, specifying which position they are interested in, to: jobs@northshorecdc.org.

See www.northshorecdc.org for more information.

NSCDC is an Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action Employer.

Call 1-800-225-3151 • www.csi.coop As of September 13, 2013 the accessible apartment waitlist will open for seniors who are 62 and older and for persons 18 and over who are mobility impaired requiring the special design features of accessible units.

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ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT II FOR CLUB SPORTS, INTRAMURALS, AND SPORTS CAMPS, Athletics, Physical Education, and Recreation (DAPER), to provide administrative support while ensuring a high level of customer service is maintained through consistent execution of DAPER and Institute policies and procedures. Will assist the manager of club sports and intramurals in managing the functions assigned, including hire paperwork, payroll, deposits, refunds, and scheduling club sport and intramural activities; and provide administrative organization and facilitate registration for day camp and other sport camps. Will also directly contribute to the over-all effectiveness, friendliness, and efficiency of department operations by providing a consistent presence at the reception desk in receiving visitors, answering the telephone, and contacting staff to confirm appointments.

BAY STATE BANNER

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Massachusetts Institute of Technology

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MIT is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer

Maintenance Technician (Boston) Maintenance Technician needed for busy Boston area apartment complex. Candidate must be experienced in all aspects of building maintenance, including HVAC, plumbing, electrical, and minor carpentry work. Duties include repairs to occupied apartments and common areas, apartment turnovers, light janitorial and snow removal as required. Shared emergency on-call duties with other maintenance staff.

Send resume with salary requirements to: clopez@cornerstonecorporation.net Equal Opportunity Employer.

RESPONSIBILITIES

• Provide GGHMS’s core portfolio of services to current district businesses • Develop and maintain relationships and partnerships with businesses and neighborhood organizations and with municipal agencies and other key stakeholders related to the commercial and residential neighborhoods along Blue Hill Avenue and the Greater Grove Hall community.

• Develop and execute organizational fundraising efforts and business networking opportunities • Manage the GGHMS office including, data systems, purchasing, record keeping, budgeting, volunteers and vendors and coordinate and provide administrative support to volunteer Board and Committees.

• Develop and distribute organizational and district promotional materials • Serve as the organization’s point of contact to the media • Manage the organization’s website and social media channels

QUALIFICATIONS

• Bachelor’s degree or 10 years in program development and fundraising required • Experience in one or more of the following areas required: The Main Street Four-Point Approach®, business/economic development, city/urban planning, marketing, historic preservation, community organizing, fundraising and/or volunteer management • Strong competency in use of Microsoft Office and/or Google Apps related tools to aide in data and account management, communication and marketing • Ability to work independently and successfully with a volunteer Board of Directors and to accommodate a demanding yet flexible schedule including some evenings and weekends • Demonstrated experience in event planning, grant writing and/or resource development for small non-profits is a plus as is familiarity with the Roxbury and Dorchester community and businesses.

REQURED: at least two years of administrative, office, or related experience; wide ranging knowledge of office procedures; exceptional computer skills; and ability to independently organize, prioritize, and carry out detailed procedures with minimal supervision. Experience in general office management is highly desirable, as is an interest in working in collegiate recreation.

An associate’s or bachelor’s degree is preferred. Job #10493-5 Apply online at: http://jobs.mit.edu/

Greater Grove Hall Main Streets, Inc. (GGHMS) seeks a dynamic and creative leader to provide strategic leadership and day-to-day management for a neighborhood based economic development nonprofit organization. The Executive Director will provide development support, resources and information to businesses, residents, and neighborhood groups and associations and to work with key stakeholders and municipal agencies to help grow and maintain the economic vitality of the commercial and residential neighborhoods along Blue Hill Avenue and the Greater Grove Hall community – Roxbury and North Dorchester.

SALARY

$42,000-$45,000, depending on experience

HOW TO APPLY

E-mail resume and cover letter to: ED Search Committee greatergrovehallmainstreets@gmail.com Application deadline is 5pm on Friday, October 4, 2013 GGHMS is an equal opportunity employer For more information, visit www.greatergrovehall.org

Reward...

We Help People Get and Succeed at Good Jobs Free job-search and career development help: • Most people who complete our 60hour job-search workshop qualify for free, individual job-search help.

• We refer people to jobs that pay $20,000 — $30,000 and offer benefits.

• We mentor people who accept jobs through our referrals for two years.

If you are a low-income adult who is: • Looking for a full-time permanent job; • Willing to participate in our two-year mentoring program; • Age 22 to 55; • Legal to work in the U.S.; • Able to succeed in an English-speaking workplace, then…

Orientation Every Thursday, 1:00 PM. Call us to see if you qualify at (617) 424-6616.

• You will need to bring your résumé • If you do not have a résumé, bring a list of: 4 Jobs and military service since high school; 4 Education and training.

4 Be sure to include month and year; be sure that all dates are correct.

We look forward to working with you!

YOURSELF WITH TWO CAREER OPPORTUNITIES AS AN ADMINISTRATIVE AND BOOKKEEPING PROFESSIONAL

Do you need to upgrade your skills? Ready for a new career?

ADMINSTRATIVE AND BOOKKEEPING PROFESSIONALS PROGRAM ONE PROGRAM…TWO CAREER CHOICES… MORE EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES The Administrative and Bookkeeping Professionals Program uses a combination of hands on classroom instruction and online learning experiences designed to give you employer ready skills, and the self confidence from achieving new, professional level skills for today’s economy.

The Administrative and Bookkeeping Professionals Program offers: • Introductory and advance levels of computer skills training using Microsoft Office 2010 (MS Word, Excel, Outlook) • Bookkeeping essentials and procedures for office professionals • Opportunities to create professional business documents using digital, social media and internet technologies • Computerized bookkeeping using QuickBooks • Procedures for recording, managing and securing client/ customer financial and non-financial data

Training Grants available to qualifying applicants.

Contact: Mr. Royal Bolling, Computer Learning Resources Phone: 617-506-1505 Email: clr2paths@gmail.com

Licensed by the Massachusetts Division Professional Licensure Office of Private Occupational School Education