Bay State Banner 3/6/2014

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

Jason Moran offers a jazz homage to legend Fats Waller... pg. 14

Community finance group moving into clean energy.......pg. 8

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Immigration reform on GOP agenda for 2014 Martin Desmarais

Former U.S. Senator William “Mo” Cowan (2nd l) is presented with a portrait from photographer Don West (2nd r) as part of Cambridge College’s ongoing Leadership Speaker Series. The portrait is part of West’s Portraits of Purpose exhibit which pays tribute to individuals known and unknown for their significant contributions to the communities in which they live. Joining them are Stacy Cowan (l) and Cambridge College President Deborah C. Jackson. (Randy H. Goodman photo)

Roxbury neighbors spar over affordable housing Sandra Larson In many ways, the Bartlett Place development plans capture the many different aspirations of its Roxbury neighbors, with affordable and market-rate apartments and townhouses, retail shops and a public space for art and commerce.

In the architectural renderings, these elements are woven together in a cohesive community. But in the wider Roxbury community, a gulf divides proponents of low-income or market-rate housing, and rental or ownership opportunities, a rift becoming heated as more large real estate developments take shape in Roxbury. In public meetings, approval hearings, petitions and letters, questions of affordable hous-

ing, “gentrification” and economic opportunity spark impassioned debate among developers, city officials and community members hungry for economic prosperity.

“The mix of housing in Roxbury, present and future, is one of the most critical planning issues of our time,” City Councilor Tito Jackson said in a recent interview.

Plans for the massive Bartlett Place development approved last fall have angered some community members who say the project’s delay in home ownership opportunities and over-emphasis on affordable housing reflects a dim view of Roxbury’s potential. The project by Nuestra Comunidad Development Corporation and Windale Developers is slated to bring new residen-

tial, retail, office and public uses to the 8.6-acre former MBTA bus yard a few blocks outside Dudley Square in the Highland Park neighborhood.

The multi-phased construction is expected to start later this year and continue over five to 10 years.

Rodney Singleton, a Fort Hill homeowner and moderator of a Highland Park neighborhood online discussion group, has advocated for owner-occupied units to be built in the first phase of construction. He has argued passionately in meetings, online discussions and public letters that home ownership is what will build wealth in Roxbury and enable residents to withstand rising property values without being displaced.

Bartlett, continued to page 10

gration reform advocates even though the standards were speIt has been an up and down cifically created to gain support of start to the new year for immigra- the reform-skeptic GOP caucus. tion reform advocates. With ReThe Republicans made it clear publicans going public with party in their standards that a large, standards for immigration reform single piece of legislation — as in late January, there was hope pushed through the Senate — was that House GOP leaders might not their vision for immigration move on immigration reform, reform. The result, if any, would but immediate party backlash had be the House moving forward them backpedaling — though im- with a piecemeal approach that migration advocates still believe does not include a new path to the increased Republican debate citizenship for illegal immigrants on the issue is a good thing. currently in the country — the “The exciting news is that the issues that was so contentious in Republican Party came forward debate around the Senate immiwith GOP gration legisprinciples on lation — but i m m i g r a t i o n “The exciting focuses instead reform. It was news is that the on a new path a gr eat s t ep to legal status. g o i n g f o r - Republican Party GOP legward,” said Eva came forward with islators called Millona, execthe path to citiutive director GOP principles zenship “unfair of the Massa- on immigration to those immichusetts Immigrants who have grant and Ref- reform. It was a played by the ugee Advocacy great step going rules and harmCoalition. ful to promotforward.”

Last year, ing the rule of the Senate — Eva Millona law.” The Repassed immipublican suggration reform gestion is that legislation that, among other illegal immigrants “could live lethings, would grant the estimated gally and without fear in the U.S., 11 million undocumented immi- but only if they were willing to grants currently in the United admit their culpability, pass rigorStates temporary legal status and a ous background checks, pay signifpathway to citizenship. While im- icant fines and back taxes, develop migration reform advocates were proficiency in English and Ameriencouraged at the time, the leg- can civics, and be able to support islation has yet to pass the House themselves and their families (withand GOP leaders have said they out access to public benefits).” will not even allow a vote on the In comparison to the Senate Senate package. legislation, the Republican stanWith the staunch line, the an- dards require a major increase in nouncement of GOP immigra- border security and immigration tion reform principles by House enforcement within the United Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, States’ borders. The GOP tabbed immigration, continued to page 6 was highly anticipated by immi-

Jackson spearheads Hub commission on black boys and men Yawu Miller City Councilor Tito Jackson’s call for a special commission to study the issues confronting black boys and men dovetailed so well with President Obama’s announcement of his My Brother’s Keeper initiative aimed at black boys, it almost seemed planned.

But the impetus for Jackson’s commission, which the council approved 13-0, was local groups of black men concerned about the plight of black males in Boston.

“The commission is going to be

focused on improving the conditions affecting the cultural, social, economic, political, judicial and general health and wellbeing of black men and boys in the city of Boston,” Jackson said.

The commission will have 14 members and be charged with gathering statistics and information on black boys and men in Boston, making policy recommendations and measuring the outcomes, according to Jackson. Jackson’s proposal also calls for a new position in commission, continued to page 7

First Lady Michelle Obama greets students from Orchard Gardens in Roxbury after the students performed at a luncheon for National Governors Association spouses in the Map Room of the White House last week. (Official White House Photo by Amanda Lucidon)

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2 • Thursday, March 6, 2014 • BAY STATE BANNER

Local entrepreneurs see profits in ‘virgin hair’ Shanice Maxwell The statistics are overwhelming: startup businesses tend to fail in their first year. But Boston-based businesswomen Labelle Armstrong of Hyde Park and Rena Graham of Dorchester have withstood that initial test with luxury virgin hair extension company BESS Hair.

It’s been three years since its start in 2011, and founders Armstrong and Graham are finally growing accustomed to the positive reception and recognition in the community they’re receiving.

With a booming base of over 20,000 in their online network,

longevity is just one element of confirmation that they’ve made the right decision in the face of many challenges.

“Juggling our careers, families, school and personal lives with a business to run are difficult but not impossible,” Graham said. “Even with the pressures of customer demands and housekeeping, I love being a business owner. I wouldn’t change it.”

“At first, finding funding and networking were some of our biggest challenges because of our industry,” said Armstrong.

The perks of being a business owner are endless, and far outweigh the cons for BESS Hair, so it all bal-

BESS Hair founders (l-r) Rena Graham and Labelle Armstrong started the luxury virgin hair extension company in 2011. (Daniel Irvin photo)

ances out, she added.

“You’re able to control your own destiny, where you’re going and where your product is going,” she said. “You’re able to create opportunities to empower and teach others, like our plan to do Bess Hair University, and do it. Recognizing a need and having the capability to go in that direction to meet it is wonderful. Whereas, sometimes if you’re not a business owner you’re going off of the mission statement of someone else or another company but, no, now we create our own.”

By day Armstrong is a construction worker and Graham is a hair stylist. At first glimpse, the idea of joining the hair industry might have seemed far-fetched, but nothing seems unachievable for this driven, determined pair of longtime friends. In fact, the perceived difficulty in launching such a company, one that provides virgin hair products, hair care of all types and textures and versatility in styling, was all the more reason to embark upon this venture.

“Passions aren’t meant to be denied — simple,” Graham said.

It hasn’t exactly been a walk in the park for the business partners, but even with obstacles that come with creating a startup business in a competitive industry, BESS Hair continues to rise in popularity and respectability by those who know, love and value top-of-the line hair.

“Our product is 100 percent virgin hair meaning it has been

Tips for Aspiring Entrepreneurs from BESS Hair founders Labelle Armstrong and Rena Graham Follow your passion

There will come a time when you don’t make money building your business and/or business is slow. Then is when you may ask yourself what you got yourself into. That is OK and normal. Still, don’t give up — it is your passion that keeps you driven at all times. Money will come and go but you can’t buy passion.

Learn your market

Do your research and stay current in the happenings of your industry.

This will allow you to always give your consumers what they need and want.

Exceed their expectations and they’ll not only come back for more — they will bring others along to invest in your product. Also, don’t be afraid to diversify and expand your market and to go beyond your original target demographic and location.

Create a detailed plan

Write your ideas down in full detail. A business plan is a necessary tool that is essential to the organization and success of implementing your plan of action. Without this your business and your road to success will have a rocky start, if it has one at all.

Network to Success

Networking is not limited to your local market. Use the Internet, social media, events of all sorts and other opportunities that will allow you to connect with people both inside and outside of your industry. These will be people who may want to invest in your business as well as those that can potentially help you elevate your business to new levels.

Think positively

Simply put, always believe in yourself and your team. Sometimes you won’t have the support of others or the support you think you should have and/or deserve. Still, hold you and your team down no matter what. untouched and unprocessed,” said Armstrong. “We deliver a high-quality product with a price that is right in the middle of most of our competitors. All hair is not created equal and quality costs. Understanding this, BESS Hair provides a wide selection that can be worn by all ethnicities. We carry anything from very coarse to a silky soft texture and we make sure all of our customers hair care needs are met.”

In addition to the popular hair extension and cosmetic services offered

by BESS Hair, the company has been

scoring points for using women of color as models for its products.

With every consultation and installment of BESS Hair products, its founders said they make it a point to develop relationships with their clients so they can plant seeds that will help women actualize not only their ambitions, but their potential.

“It feels good to get the approval from the people we admire and others in the industry and see a change in women after they’ve worked with us.

This lets us know we’re on the right track,” said Graham.

Thursday, March 6, 2014 • BAY STATE BANNER • 3

Parking may be casualty of Dudley development

When the Ferdinand Building reopens as an office complex, the 500 new employees coming to the area are expected to strain Dudley Square’s already tight supply of parking spaces. (Banner photo) Yawu Miller The completion of the Ferdinand Building at the end of this year will be a major milestone in the rejuvenation of the Dudley Square area. The 532 employees the building is expected to bring to the business district will be an infusion of activity, lunch money and cars.

And the expected increase in

auto traffic has many in the area wondering just where all the cars will go. With public lots already stretched to capacity, the profusion of new workers has some in Dudley Square worried.

“It’s going to be a mess,” sums up Dudley Main Streets Executive Director Joyce Stanley.

Of the 532 employees Boston Public Schools plans to move into the Ferdinand Building,

only 79 will be required to bring their cars into Dudley Square.

Twelve will be accommodated in parking below the Ferdinand Building. The remaining 67 will be accommodated in a new addition to the existing Blair Lot on Washington Street.

That leaves 320 daily BPS employees, of which the agency estimates only 128 will commute by car.

The problem Stanley and

others have with the BPS projection is that the business area’s supply of unregulated spaces — those where commuters can park all day — does not currently accommodate the number of people working in Dudley Square.

“We don’t have enough spaces for the people who come and go in Dudley Square,” says A Nubian Notion co-owner Sharif Abdal-Khallaq. “This is going to affect us. It might be our death nail.”

Already the employees of the nonprofit agencies and businesses that make Dudley Square home park in the two-hour spaces in the public lots and on the streets, the spots that are reserved for customers of the businesses in the Dudley area. Nearly two-thirds of those parking in the four public lots in Dudley Square remained in their parking spaces for longer than the twohour limit, according to a recent study conducted by the Boston Redevelopment Authority.

While many current BPS employees take public transit to the department’s current Court Street address, which is located at the hub of the city’s train system, getting to Dudley Square from the city’s outer neighborhoods isn’t quite so easy by public transportation.

Commuters who don’t live near a bus line that feeds into Dudley Station would likely face a much longer commute than the train ride into the center of the city.

Boston Redevelopment Authority Director of Planning Kairos Shen says there are shortterm fixes to the dilemma presented by the influx of BPS staff.

“There needs to be better management of off-street parking lots and on-street spaces,” he says.

“A lot of the off-street parking

lots are unregulated.”

Shen also says employees at the Ferdinand Building and other businesses in the area can be encouraged to park in lots and unregulated on-street parking spaces farther away from Dudley Square.

“We want to make sure that if they drive, they are parking in lots that are farther out,” he said. “As you get farther away from the square, there’s an excess of parking.”

Shen said he thinks people working in Dudley could be persuaded to park as far away as the parking garage at Crosstown, at the corner of Melnea Cass Boulevard and Massachusetts Avenue.

Stanley agrees that the city should apply a number of strategies to the area’s parking woes.

“Meters, more enforcement and more employee parking,” Stanley says. “The city says they don’t have employee parking on public lots, but there are models for that.”

In the long-term, the BRA is planning to issue a request for proposals for the development of the lot currently occupied by the old Area B police substation.

“Based on planning work that has already been done in the neighborhood with the Dudley Vision Task Force, we have a general vision for the site as a location for a mixed-use project, which would likely include a number of new uses including retail, parking and office space,” said BRA spokeswoman Melina Schuler in an email to the Banner.

If there’s a silver lining on the situation, the opening of the Ferdinand Building will pay at least one dividend to people attempting to park in Dudley Square.

“At least all the construction trucks will be gone,” Stanley says.

4 • Thursday, March 6, 2014 • BAY STATE BANNER

Established 1965

Continuing unresolved racial bias Conservatives have two basic reasons for their opposition to government programs that benefit lower-income citizens. The first is that financial support for the programs will come from taxing the affluent. The second is that the beneficiaries of entitlements will lose their motivation to become independent and self-reliant.

However, some African Americans believe that there is a third less-publicized objection. Prosperous Americans are usually not enthusiastic about their taxes being used to contribute to the financial welfare of blacks, who are disproportionately represented among the poor. Historical evidence suggests that this opinion of African Americans has considerable merit.

The first program to benefit the elderly was Social Security, passed in 1935 by President F. D. Roosevelt. As a result of the Great Depression, 50 percent of the elderly would be condemned to poverty. Social Security was supposed to resolve that problem. However, Social Security did not cover agricultural workers or domestics.

The NAACP objected to the act back then because it failed to cover two-thirds or more of blacks in the labor force. In 1940, 31.2 percent of blacks were agricultural workers and two-thirds of all employed black women were domestics.

There was also a problem with the abbreviated longevity of blacks. The qualifying age for benefits was 65. By 1950, the longevity for blacks had reached only 60.8 years. While that statistic is diminished by a high rate of infant mortality, still many blacks made social security payments all their working lives and were unable to survive to age 65 to collect benefits.

With the addition of Medicare in 1965, blacks who were 65 or older became eligible for health insurance. However, a 2002 study by the Institute of Medicine concluded that blacks received a lower quality of health care even when they had the same insurance and income as whites. Doctors failed to recommend heart surgery and sophisticated procedures to alleviate pain even when physical ex-

aminations indicated that they were appropriate.

Every state of the Old Confederacy, among others, refused to accept federally financed expanded Medicaid under Obamacare, undoubtedly because of the benefit to poor blacks.

Critics can assert that Social Security was not designed to be racially discriminatory or that the racial disparity in health care is unintentional, but there is no question that the treatment of black farmers by the U.S. Department of Agriculture was abject bigotry.

The case of Pigford v. Glickman (1999) found that 22,363 black farmers had been discriminated against by the USDA. Black farmers primarily in Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia and Mississippi had been denied the loans and emergency and disaster relief between 1981 and 1996 that were available to whites. The time period of the case was limited but discrimination occurred for a longer time. The government settled the case for more than $2 billion. Congress has also appropriated another $1.2 billion to settle cases of those who had not filed claims in the Pigford case.

Thousands of blacks lost their farms and their homes. Between 1950 and 1975, 500,000 black farms failed leaving only 45,000. At the time of the Pigford case the number had declined further to 18,000. If the loss of black farms had been at the same rate as whites there would have been 300,000 left in 1990.

Farming is not a zero sum game in which only the one with the most profitable year wins. Everyone who qualifies, regardless of race, is eligible for funds from USDA programs. Nonetheless, whites denied federal assistance to blacks even though it did not benefit white farmers to do so. The denial of deserved USDA funds to black farmers is clearly a hostile act.

America survived the Civil Rights Era without flagrant racial violence. National leaders should renounce any demonstration of racial disrespect or efforts to impede the success of blacks, Hispanics or others. It does not take much to trigger serious racial or ethnic conflict.

LETTERSto the Editor

Gives thanks for donations

Thank you, Boston residents, for your dedicated support of Morgan Memorial Goodwill Industries through your donation of clothing and household goods. You gave nearly 1.2 million pounds of goods to Goodwill in 2013!

As winter winds down and warmer weather approaches, we hope you will again donate to Goodwill as you do your spring cleaning. You can donate to Goodwill at our attended donation center at 1010 Harrison Avenue or at another donation center near you. For the locations and hours of Goodwill stores and donation centers, please visit www.goodwillmass.org.

You also may have seen a new public service campaign Goodwill and the Ad Council recently launched to raise awareness of Goodwill’s mission and the need for donations. This first-ofits-kind campaign lets people know that when you donate, you are supporting Goodwill’s mission of helping people with barriers to employment find work. When you donate, you are also helping individuals served by

WHAT’S INSIDE

Goodwill’s community partners such as Pine Street Inn. Your donation supports Goodwill and the people we serve in the community. Thank you for making a difference!

Joanne K. Hilferty President and CEO

Praise for Patrick’s prison reforms Kudos to Governor Patrick for his stated goal to cut the rate of recidivism for Massachusetts prisoners in half. His term will be up at the end of the year, but

the ideas he is generating and the policies he is implementing will have an impact for years to come. Under his leadership, and that of Sheriff Cabral, the state’s prison system has been slowly moving away from the hidebound practices of punishing prisoners and toward a vision of prison as a place where people can turn their lives around, reform themselves and re-integrate into society. Our state, and particularly the people who live in the communities where those who have been locked up will ultimately return, will be better off if these reforms come to fuition.

J. Thompson Dorchester

USPS 045-780

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Thursday, March 6, 2014 • BAY STATE BANNER • 5

ROVINGCamera

OPINION Why being ‘My Brother’s Keeper’ matters Governor Deval L. Patrick As a black man, my heart aches over the disproportionate numbers of men and boys of color left back by schools, left out of jobs and caught up in crime. As a black public official, I am struck by how little appetite there seems to be among law makers to deal with the root causes of this.

So, I am encouraged by President Obama’s leadership in his “My Brother’s Keeper” initiative.

We all know the statistics. Disproportionately more African- and Hispanic- American boys are in poverty, ill-nourished and without adequate health care; more stuck in achievement gaps or in underperforming schools; more subject to school discipline; more “disconnected,” as the social scientists say, from college education and jobs; more victims of violence or in jail. We also know how interconnected these calamities are, how poverty, for example, connects to school readiness, or how critical good fathers are to growing boys into responsible men. And yet we listen to the statistics and the news reports with a measure of resignation, as if these realities are beyond our capacity to care about and to solve.

The President has wisely engaged us all. His initiative brings business and philanthropic leaders together with policy makers, educators, faith leaders and law enforcement, to consider how to save boys and men of color. A comprehensive approach is inherently ambitious, but it is the right approach. The task force is charged to consider the whole picture, the combination of challenges and opportunities presented by personal behavior and related policy affecting an at-risk population, to stop doing what isn’t working and to scale what works.

Everyone is at the table because everyone has a stake in the outcome.

Our economy needs the creativity of young men of color. Our society needs the contributions of young men of color. Our communities need peace and a reason to hope.

America is in the midst of the most profound global competition in centuries, and we need everybody on the field ready to play.

In Massachusetts, we have taken a similar approach. We have taken a number of collaborative, “public-private” measures to close the achievement gap in our schools and to prevent crime among young . men who are known high risks.

We have better aligned our community colleges to provide the job training our businesses actually need their prospective employees to have. One high school in Boston has formed a partnership with the community college across the street to create a clear pathway for students to high demand careers, supported by mentoring and after school opportunities. We have even engaged new financing tools, such as social impact bonds through the private sector, where the state pays local community-based agencies for better outcomes through demonstrated savings in prison or remedial costs. And, like the President proposes to do, we pay attention to measurable results, adjusting as we go, with a commitment to ending programs that don’t work.

I am pleased to report that we are getting results. For the first time in decades, achievement gaps in our schools are shrinking. The dropout rate has been cut in half. In our targeted cities, overall crime victimization is down significantly, with a 25 percent drop in homicide and a 19 percent drop in aggravated assaults.

We need people caught up in their own cycles of self-destruction or even violence to break these cycles, and a combination of personal responsibility and targeted programming can help them do so. As we charge young men of color to break their destructive cycles, we as policymakers can help by breaking a few of our own. President Obama’s initiative will give young men who work hard and play by the rules a chance to succeed. That’s good for them and for America.

My father was old-school. He believed, like countless other black fathers, that being hard on his son was the only way to prepare him for the harsh realities of being a black man in America. He was a creature of his times and also of timeless truths. But he, again like countless other black fathers, was also transferring his pain to another generation. That is a destructive cycle and it must also be broken. It is brave, and inherently risky, for any president to undertake to do so. It might be that only this president could.

Our society needs the contributions of young men of color

The Banner welcomes your opinion.

Email Op-Ed submissions to:

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

What do you think black boys need to succeed?

A father figure so they can have an example of how to be a man.

A good education and guidance.

They need to be guided in the right director.

They should stay focused on their education and keep themselves positive.

Valencia St. Charles

Richard Roscoe

James Price

They need role models. Somebody they can look up to. Right now, a lot of them look up to street hoods.

They need education and to have somebody believe in them. It takes a village to raise a child.

To do well in school. Some kids would rather smoke weed than go to school.

Chris

Gloria Lattimore

Carlos Diaz

Social Worker Roxbury

Finance Brockton

Machinist Roxbury

Retired Roxbury

Retired Roxbury

Student East Boston

INthe news

Jamie Williamson Jamie R. Williamson has been appointed chairwoman of the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination. Williamson has served as a commissioner of MCAD since 2010.

“I am honored to appoint Jamie as chair of the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination,” said Gov. Deval Patrick. “Jamie brings a wealth of knowledge and experience that will help us bring an end to discrimination and promote equal justice.”

Williamson was previously in charge of MCAD’s Springfield office, where she oversaw the administration, adjudication and education of civil rights matters for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Williamson replaces the previous chairman, Julian Tynes, who is now serving as the director of labor relations for the Massachusetts Department of Transportation.

Prior to joining the MCAD, Williamson served as the executive director of the Massachusetts Fair Housing Center in Holyoke, a private nonprofit fair housing organization serving central and western

Massachusetts. In 2005, Williamson was appointed by the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts to serve on the Access to Justice Commission.

This commission was created by the Supreme Court to provide leadership, vision and coordination to the multitude of organizations and interests involved in assuring access to civil justice for families and individuals in the Commonwealth.

In 1995, Williamson became the

first African-American woman to serve on the Pittsfield City Council and the first African-American to serve atlarge. Over the years she has served on the boards of a number of community and charitable organizations including the Red Cross, Berkshire Medical Center, the Rotary and the Norman Rockwell Museum. She is a graduate of Smith College in Northampton and currently resides in Springfield with her husband William Marley Jr.

6 • Thursday, March 6, 2014 • BAY STATE BANNER

immigration continued from page 1

Eva Millona, executive director of the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition, says that the recent party debate by Republicans on immigration reform is a good sign that the GOP may produce an immigration bill in the House.

(Photo courtesy of MIRA Coalition)

this as the first step in any immigration reform. The standards state that it is “the fundamental duty of any government to secure its borders” and labeled the U.S. as “failing in this mission.” The principles called for insurance that when immigration reform is enacted there be a “zero tolerance policy for those who cross the border illegally or overstay their visas in the future.”

The GOP standards also called for fully functioning and up-todate visa tracking system, a realistic temporary worker visa program that addresses the economic needs of the country and the implementation of “a workable electronic employment verification system.”

Also, included in the standards was the call for the opportunity for legal residence and citizenship for children who were brought to the U.S. by illegal immigrants —

eligible for those who “meet certain eligibility standards,” including serving honorably in the military or attaining a college degree.

While there are some differences between the Senate bill and the GOP principles of immigration reform, MIRA’s Millona said that they are “not that far away” and it is very important to see the Republicans come out and establish concrete assertions about immigration reform.

Millona said she hopes to see a bill in the House this spring.

ican people and less on the view of the undocumented immigrants who are in this country already.

FAIR Spokesman Ira Mehlman said that his organization is concerned about any legislation passing that could allow the approximately 11 million undocumented immigrants in the United States to legally compete with American workers for jobs.

According to Mehlman, FAIR does not support the Senate legislation and is not satisfied that the GOP standards for immigration

“They need to come back next year and start again and start from the premise that the interest of the American people is what is going to be looked at.”

— Ira Mehlman MIRA has a calendar of immigration advocacy events coming up targeted at putting pressure on the House to come up with a bill.

This includes the New England efforts of the national “Keep Families Together” campaign.

“It is going to be difficult and it is going to take a lot of effort to move forward but we [will continue to work on it],” Millona said.

The Federation for American Immigration Reform is an organization that is pushing an entirely different view on the current debate over immigration reform.

The organization’s leaders say that the debate has to be more focused on the views of the Amer-

reform will lead to any legislation that improves on it.

Mehlman said FAIR leaders hope the current immigration reform debate leads to beginning anew on immigration legislation.

According to Mehlman, FAIR would rather the House not pass legislation and let Congress — and Republicans and Democrats — go back to the drawing board on immigration reform.

“We are more hopeful that they won’t follow suit,” Mehlman said. “They need to come back next year and start again and start from the premise that the interest of the American people is what is going to be looked at.”

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Governor Patrick visits the Essex County Sheriff’s Office’s Lawrence Correctional Alternative Center to discuss initiatives to help Massachusetts reduce recidivism by 50 percent over the next five years. With Patrick are Essex County Sheriff Frank Cousins (to his left), Public Safety Secretary Andrea Cabral and state Rep. Marcos Devers (to his right). (Photo: Eric Haynes/ Governor’s Office)

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Thursday, March 6, 2014 • BAY STATE BANNER • 7

commission continued from page 1

the mayor’s cabinet to coordinate city services that affect the lives of black men and boys.

Jackson said he had no foreknowledge of the president’s initiative when he began discussing his idea for the commission.

“I think it’s wonderful that multiple parts of government at the national and local level are looking at a group of people we need to focus on and who have some of the worst outcomes and the best potential,” Jackson said.

In their respective announcements both Jackson and Obama invoked the memory of Travon Martin, the Florida teenager whose death in 2012 at the hands of a neighborhood watchman went unpunished in the courts. Both cited statistics showing black males are more likely to be killed, less likely to graduate from high school and more likely to be unemployed.

“We just assume this is an inevitable part of American life, instead of the outrage that it is,” Obama said, speaking during a press conference with corporate leaders, foundation heads and luminaries including former Defense Secretary Colin Powell and NBA star Magic Johnson. “It’s like a cultural backdrop for us in movies, in television. We just assume, of course it’s going to be like that. These statistics should break our hearts. And

These statistics should break our hearts. And they should compel us to act.”

— Barack Obama they should compel us to act.”

There are key differences between Jackson’s approach and the president’s. While Jackson’s plan involves the coordination of city services, Obama’s initiative, My Brother’s Keeper, is a nonprofit funded by large national foundations.

With $200 million in funding, the organization will focus attention on issues including early childhood development, school readiness, parenting, the criminal justice system and other issues.

Obama said a White House task force will propose government solutions to the problems facing black males in conjunction with My Brother’s Keeper.

Also last week, 200 municipal officials and 17 mayors met in New Orleans to launch Cities United, an effort to stem the tide of violence affecting black males in the U.S. Jackson said his approach to the commission was inspired by the work of the Boston Women’s Commission, which has compiled statistics on the status of women in Boston and tracked their progress.

“I really looked at the data that the Women’s Commission had gathered and the progress they had made in the city of Boston,” he said. “I was able to see that focusing on issues and having goals for improvement are absolutely important.”

The luminaries who turned out to support Jackson during the council meeting last week were not as well-known as those who are backing Obama, but there appearance at City Hall demonstrated a level of cooperation between community groups.

Horace Small, executive director of the Union of Minority Neighbor-

hoods, said his organization worked with Jackson to create a network of civically-engaged men to work on black male issues, holding a series of focus groups and meetings during black history month and circulating a “black man’s pledge,” in which signers agree to take action to help black males.

“The network is the most important thing,” Small said. “Everybody has made a commitment to keep their egos at the door.”

Among those present were the reverends William Dickerson, Bruce Wall and Jeffrey Brown.

“We all have to work together and recognize that our destinies are intertwined,” Dickerson said. “We have to work with anyone who is working for positive change.”

City Councilor Tito Jackson (center) celebrates a council vote authorizing the creation of a special Commission on Black Boys and Men with supporters of the measure outside the Ianella Chamber in City Hall. (photo courtesy of the office of Tito Jackson)

8 • Thursday, March 6, 2014 • BAY STATE BANNER

Community finance group moving into clean energy Martin Desmarais After nearly 30 years supporting community development through innovative lending and financing schemes, Boston Community Capital is continuing to expand its role in helping nonprofits build and preserve secure housing, schools and community institutions in the Boston area.

“We have grown steadily now over the course of 30 years. We, at this stage, have close to $1 billion that we have invested out, so we are just a whole lot bigger,” said Elyse D. Cherry, chief executive officer of the Dudley Square-based agency. “And because we are bigger we can take a bigger role, we can play a bigger role in particular projects, we can think about things differently.

We have also expanded our own set of business lines.”

The company has been involved in a wide range of projects in Boston neighborhoods, including affordable housing, charter schools, community health centers, mixed-income development projects and mixed-use development projects.

Since Boston Community

Capital was started in 1985, it has invested approximately $920 million to build or preserve over 14,800 units of affordable housing, support child care facilities serving almost 10,000 children, finance schools and youth programs serving approximately 3,700 low-income students, support health care facilities provid-

sure to remain in their homes.

As an organization, Boston Community Capital has expanded its reach into different sectors by developing affiliates that provide different debt and equity services.

These include Boston Community Loan Fund, Boston Community Venture Fund, Boston Community Managed Assets, Aura Mort-

“If you are not thinking about energyefficient buildings or renewable energy or solar, because you think it doesn’t make sense or it is too expensive, the world is going to pass you by.”

— DeWitt Jones ing a comprehensive range of care to over 66,000 patients, renovate 1.5 million square feet of commercial real estate and community facilities in distressed communities, create more than 4,000 jobs in low-income communities, generate 9.6 million kilowatt hours of solar energy and provide fixed-rate mortgages that have allowed 425 families facing foreclo-

gage Advisors, NSP Residential and Solar Energy Advantage.

Through its lending services, Boston Community Capital typically gets involved at the beginning of projects to help get them off the ground with early financing and also helps develop a strategy to make them successful.

“We are making sure we are directing our resource into places

Boston Community Capital Executive Director DeWitt Jones says that the organization has expanded its efforts over the last 30 years and now offers more than just lending services. It is now involved in other activities such as solar energy development and mortgages. (Photo courtesy of Boston Community Capital) that have been identified as being really important and there is a concerted effort by layers of funding sources to direct investment there to make a big impact,” said Michelle Volpe, Boston Community Capital Loan Fund president.

“We are actively looking for projects in those places that fit that criteria, where they have been identified as high-impact projects and have the possibility — because they are projects of a sufficient scale — to have a significant impact.”

Boston Community Capital’s presence can be felt in the Boston community with its involvement in such projects as the currently ongoing development of the Bornstein & Pearl Food Production Center on Quincy Street in Dorchester, the redevelopment work in Jackson Square in Jamaica Plain, the Bartlett Yard Project in Roxbury and the Blessed Sacra-

ment Church project, also in Jamaica Plain.

The company’s work in solar energy is a good example of how it has evolved what it does to help the community.

As Boston Community Capital Executive Vice President DeWitt Jones points out, when the company first started lending money to community development projects three decades ago nobody was talking about the role solar energy could play in the affordable housing picture, but now it is very much part of a menu of options to improve low-income living.

“If you are not thinking about energy-efficient buildings or renewable energy or solar, because you think it doesn’t make sense or it is too expensive, the world is going to pass you by,” Jones said. “So we are really looking at finance, continued to page 9

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finance

continued from page 8

how we can help understand what was happening in those energy markets and how to we integrate what we are learning and what other people are doing in buildings to try to make them better so they are less expensive to operate, healthier to live in and that they are adopting technologies that are going to be ones of the future.”

Jones said that Boston Community Capital’s leaders believe that new technologies such as solar energy can have a real impact on the financial performance of projects and is therefore crucial to consider.

“We saw a lot of solar going out into communities where people could afford to subsidize it themselves or they really cared about environmental stuff, but leaving the communities here behind and we decided we needed to find out how do we understand the benefits and the costs and how do we deliver something that makes it affordable,” Jones said.

Boston Community Capital’s Solar Energy Advantage affiliate was created to do just that and it focuses on evaluating and financing energy conservation and renewable energy improvements to existing multifamily properties and other nonprofit buildings.

“The cheapest way to do solar these days is for someone like us to own the solar panels on your roof and sell you electricity at a fixed

price, below market, so that the affordable housing group or homeowner or nonprofit doesn’t have to become the expert in developing the solar energy,” Jones said.

In December, Boston Community Capital announced plans to finance eight solar power projects across Massachusetts in a $7.5 million deal. The new projects will provide enough electricity to power more than 300 homes.

According to numbers from Boston Community Capital, the projects will see electricity savings of 30 percent to 40 percent and will save an estimated $1.3 million over the 20-year lifetime of the solar panels that will be installed.

Part of this work is the second phase of solar development on the Greater Boston Food Bank in Roxbury. Boston Community Capital financed the first phase of energy development as well.

Other Boston properties that are part of the new financing are the development at 225 Centre St. that is part of the Jackson Square redevelopment and Cass House, a 41-unit low-income apartment building in Roxbury.

“The partnership between Boston Community Capital and The Greater Boston Food Bank is one we truly value,” said Catherine D’Amato, president and CEO of the organization. “The new panels and Boston Community Capital’s efforts make our 117,000-squarefoot distribution facility as energy efficient and environmentally friendly as possible.”

Boston Community Capital

Azzie Young, president and CEO of Mattapan Community Health Center, worked with Boston Community Capital on the project that led to a new health center building in Mattapan. (Photos courtesy of Boston Community Capital) also evolved in its work with the community to help combat the mortgage crisis that has seen many homeowners in Boston neighborhoods lose their homes due to the inability to pay mortgages.

Its Stabilizing Urban Neighborhoods Initiative has worked since 2009 to prevent the displacement of families in Boston neighborhoods, such as Roxbury and Dorchester, by acquiring foreclosed properties before evictions occur and reselling them to their existing occupants with

Workers install solar energy panels on the roof of the Greater Boston Food Bank in Roxbury. Boston Community Capital owns the panels and sells electricity to the nonprofit organization at a fixed price that is below market value.

mortgages they can afford.

According to Cherry, the initiative has prevented the eviction of about 400 Massachusetts residents and helped homeowners and tenants facing eviction reduce their monthly housing payments by as much as 40 percent.

“We have now done close to $70 million worth of lending and we are still, I think, the only initiative in the country that actually keeps people in default or foreclosure in their homes,” Cherry said.

“We have figured out some ways to assess their ability and willingness to repay that makes us quite comfortable and in fact they are paying regularly.

“I sometimes describe the foreclosure situation as a tale of

two communities. If you live in a middle-income or upper-income community your house values are probably fine and your levels of foreclosure are probably fine, but if you are in a lower-income urban community you are probably not fine,” she added. “We are still seeing lots of issues here in Massachusetts.”

Considering the evolution of the company since it was started, Boston Community Capital leaders have an eye toward the future to try and anticipate the next issues facing Boston’s underserved communities. Jones points to topics such as the changing ways to provide health care and food shortage problems and even climate change impact as issues to watch.

10 • Thursday, March 6, 2014 • BAY STATE BANNER

Bartlett

continued from page 1

“The [Request for Proposal] for Bartlett said first and foremost, ‘opportunities to build wealth,’” said Singleton, who served on the project review committee, “but right out of the gate, the first building at Bartlett Place gives no wealth-building. Just renting.”

While the project’s long-term master plan includes rental apartments and townhouses, documents for phase one filed in 2013 with the Boston Redevelopment Authority indicate 60 affordable rental apartments and 42 market-rate rental apartments, along with some retail, commercial and public plaza space.

This angers Singleton, who has argued not just for home-buying opportunities to come sooner, but for a higher proportion of market-priced housing. The RFP suggested either 85 percent market and 15 percent affordable or an equal three-way split of market-rate, middle-income affordable and low-income affordable.

Singleton’s view is that Roxbury is already “saturated” with affordable housing, and that continuing to prioritize it sends a fatalistic message that local residents will never move up the economic ladder.

“The idea that we should assume Roxbury will always be poor is a failed policy,” he said.

Nearly half of all existing housing units in Roxbury are designated affordable, according to the City of Boston’s Department of Neighborhood Development, meaning they are rented or sold at a below-market price only to people who meet income eligibility requirements, usually a certain percent below the area median income number.

Roxbury still struggles with low income and high unemployment, and thus a problematic issue is that the market price of Bartlett Place

townhouses will likely be at least $400,000, based on the simple costs of construction.

Singleton acknowledges this price is out of reach for the majority of local residents and the homes could end up going to buyers from outside the community. But some locals, he insists, can buy at market rate.

“Do I think there are people ready?

Absolutely. A lot? No,” he said. “But I put faith in the idea that people are living in Roxbury and waiting for an opportunity [to buy].”

Victoria Nadel, an attorney who lives in Mission Hill but is looking to buy a Highland Park home, concurs that Roxbury already holds its share of affordable housing.

“The scholarly research shows that having concentrations of affordable housing in certain areas has a negative effect,” she said. “What you really want is first rate, market rate housing, so people can invest in the neighborhood.”

Nadel argues that Roxbury residents shouldn’t be afraid of neighborhood improvements, which many fear will bring inevitable displacement of longtime residents.

“Why shouldn’t Roxbury be beautiful? Why shouldn’t we have cute storefronts supported by Main Streets?” she said. “We saw what happened in the South End, and I think what happened there is good. The neighborhood got safer and nicer, the shops provide jobs, and cafes provide foot traffic.”

But not everyone is ready to shun affordable housing — and not everyone sees the South End as a reassuring example.

“We need more affordable housing for people who live and work in Roxbury,” said Audrey Dickerson, a retired licensed independent clinical social worker and Roxbury native.

She serves as board president of St. Joseph’s Community — a stone’s throw from the Bartlett Place site — and ex-

pressed support for the Bartlett Place plans. She bristles at the idea Roxbury has “too much” affordable housing.

“I don’t want to see Roxbury gentrify like the South End and Jamaica Plain. People who look like me need to be able to live in the community,” said Dickerson, who is of Afro-Cuban descent.

Former city councilor and longtime Roxbury activist Chuck Turner puts the issue in the larger historical and racial context, and in forceful terms.

“For a people who have spent 400 years here and been systematically robbed of our labor and value, to have a debate over whether those who can’t afford it should be thrown out does a disservice,” Turner said.

Turner cited income figures from the Urban League of Eastern Massachusetts’s 2010 “State of Black Boston” report. The report paints a bleak picture, showing low home-ownership rates and a high foreclosure toll in Boston’s black community, higher unemployment among blacks, and a median black household income of $33,420, roughly half that of white households ($63,980).

“We have lower incomes as a people,” Turner said. “Half the families in our community don’t have enough money to afford a one-bedroom apartment. Does that mean the majority of us have to leave? If that’s the answer, then to hell with democracy — let’s admit that we as black people can spend 40 or 50 years building up a community and then get driven out because the people who own the houses we are renting decide they can sell them for more money.”

Councilor Jackson sees the appeal of having more market-rate housing, but also the unintended consequences.

“Market rate is what’s allowed Mission Hill to be dominated by students,” he noted. “We need to be careful what we’re asking for.”

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ical viewpoints, a general consensus seems to be forming that a mix of onethird market-rate, one-third middle-income affordable, and one-third lower-income affordable strikes a fair balance for new housing. Jackson has been a strong proponent of that equal mix.

But he also supports the Bartlett Place project, touting its short-term benefit of filling in a former pollution-generating eyesore and its long-term promise of mixed-income housing, new jobs and cultural programming.

The people interviewed for this story expressed a strong opinion that it is illogical to separate the housing topic from the bigger picture of economic conditions. They shared a sense of urgency and an outpouring of thoughts on possible paths toward

order to build at lower cost. And his organization promotes first-time homebuyer education to help people work out a long term strategy for buying and to avoid victimization by subprime mortgage lenders.

As for the Bartlett Place accusations, Price told the Banner that the project plan has always been to do rental apartments along Washington Street and for-purchase townhouses up the hill on the Guild Street side. City officials wanted the Washington Street side developed early to improve the streetscape, Price said.

But he also said that with an improving economy and more available financing for ownership units, it is conceivable that 20 to 25 for-purchase townhouses could be built at the same

“For a people who have spent 400 years here and been systematically robbed of our labor and value, to have a debate over whether those who can’t afford it should be thrown out does a disservice.”

— Chuck Turner lowering housing costs or raising income and wealth so community residents can afford to rent or buy where they wish.

Turner and Dickerson strongly believe in co-ops, where tenants have an ownership share and can accumulate some equity and benefit from low monthly payments and homeowner tax benefits. Turner is working on initiatives to require local corporations to hire city residents and offer summer jobs to every Boston teenager, and to promote a minimum “living wage” for the city.

Jackson cites Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative’s Community Land Trust as a successful model for permanent housing affordability. His policy focus is on “lifting through entrepreneurship” as well as pushing large Boston institutions to purchase and hire locally and working to shift the city’s linkage and inclusionary zoning programs to create more non-luxury housing, he said.

Singleton and Nadel suggested engaging philanthropists to fill in the gap between the cost of housing construction and the price middle-income buyers can pay, and Nadel proposed exploring high-quality modular housing to save costs. “We are so tied down to the boxes we’ve created,” said Nadel. “We have no way of saying ‘What if?’”

David Price, executive director of Nuestra Comunidad, expressed support for the City of Boston’s recently formed Middle Income Housing initiative, in which city-owned vacant land will be made available to small builders at below market prices in

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time as the first two rental buildings, starting construction in 2015.

“We’re not really talking about it as ‘phase numbers’ because that implies a linear order. I think that has contributed to some misunderstanding,” he said, pointing to a model of the project in the Nuestra Comunidad office. “For instance, this is ‘Building B’ and this is ‘E1,’ but they may be built at the same time.”

Until recently, Price said, it has been hard to secure financing for condos, as lenders expect a portion of the units to be pre-sold but the market wasn’t strong enough. Developers in other parts of the city have also been choosing rental over for-sale units, he pointed out. However, now there is a program through MassHousing that may enable them to build middle-income housing with a price tag of $300,000 or lower, he said. With this program, pre-sales would not be necessary.

“Our original proposal approved six years ago was 25 percent market, 15 moderate and 60 percent affordable — but we’re much more optimistic now,” he said. “With this middle-income program, we think we can get much closer to 1/3-1/3-1/3, so that’s really good, I think.”

Price listed other Bartlett Place features he feels will foster wealth-building: at least a dozen small retail spaces available for local businesses to relocate, start or expand; a public plaza with economic activity such as a public market, pushcarts, food trucks, art and performances; a new grocery store (which he declined to name) that has committed to hiring 50 local people in full-time and part-time jobs; and opportunities for youth in both grocery and construction jobs.

Housing and economic development are pressing issues, and far from easy. The Roxbury community has much to gain and much to lose in the rising wave of new developments.

With concerned residents galvanized and a new mayoral administration finding its footing, now may be the ideal time for a matching wave of brainstorming and action.

Jackson noted that while market-rate and middle-rate housing are key areas to pursue, Boston is still at an all-time high for homeless families, and in some affordable apartment buildings, expiring 40-year mortgages are leading to sudden leaps to market rent, displacing residents.

“We need a real, accurate and indepth conversation,” said Jackson.

“We need to look at the folks living in Roxbury today, and look at the market, and put together thoughtful policies to move forward.”

Thursday, March 6, 2014 • BAY STATE BANNER • 11

Solitary confinement blocks education, lawsuit claims Julianne Hing The Obama administration has a message for juvenile detention facilities: All kids — even youth with disabilities held in solitary confinement — are entitled to appropriate public education.

That was the assertion made in mid-February by the U.S. Department of Education and Department of Justice when the agencies filed what advocates are calling a rare joint statement in response to a federal lawsuit over how California’s Contra Costa County treats

arrived in Contra Costa County Juvenile Hall with a special order requiring accommodations for a processing disorder he has. But the county probation and education departments failed to provide him with adequate services and his mental health deteriorated quickly, says Mary-Lee Smith, managing attorney with Disability Rights Advocates. When W.B. started hearing voices and believed that people were trying to poison him, he was placed in solitary confinement and removed from Mt. McKinley, the school

In no way, shape or form could anyone say that placing someone in solitary confinement does not harm them and have lasting effects.”

— Amy Fettig its incarcerated youth.

Advocates allege that the county’s juvenile hall — which serves tony suburbs such as Danville and poorer, working class cities including Richmond — violate the rights of youth with disabilities by locking them up in isolation and denying them access to their education in the process. The lawsuit and the statements by the Obama administration come at a time when the country is grappling with the practice of solitary confinement and its widespread use throughout the criminal and juvenile justice systems.

Contra Costa County Juvenile Hall has held children with disabilities in isolation for up to 23 hours a day with zero contact with others, the lawsuit alleges. One plaintiff had been held in solitary confinement for an estimated 200 days even though the probation department failed to investigate whether the triggering incidents were disability-related. And while in solitary confinement, kids were denied access to the juvenile hall’s attached school, Mt. McKinley, and general and special education services. These practices are a violation of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act, according to the lawsuit filed in August by Disability Rights Advocates, Public Counsel and Paul Hastings LLP. The Obama administration affirmed the rights of kids with disabilities held in juvenile detention, and quoted a departmental task force that concluded, “Nowhere is the damaging impact of incarceration on vulnerable children more obvious than when it involves solitary confinement,” The lawsuit was filed on behalf of three plaintiffs, all youth of color. “W.B.,” a 17-year-old boy,

that operates on the juvenile hall premises. “In the first six months he missed 31 days of school for being in solitary confinement,” Smith says. Every day W.B. was in isolation counted as an unexcused absence, putting him further and further behind in his classes. It wasn’t until W.B.’s mother asked that her son be screened for special education eligibility that the county determined that he was qualified for extra services, but those were limited to 30 minutes of tutoring a week.

Ultimately, W.B.’s time in solitary confinement — totaling some 90 days — triggered a psychotic break that required three weeks of hospitalization. Along the way, the county never inquired whether W.B.’s behavior was disability-related, and yet kept sending him into isolation, the lawsuit alleges. He’s since been diagnosed with psychosis and possible schizophrenia.

Contra Costa County has three tiers of solitary confinement, mandating isolation from between 22.5 to 23 hours a day.

According to the county’s Department of Education an estimated 32.7 percent of students held in the juvenile hall have a disability that requires a specialized education plan and all are subject to the same kinds of policies that deny education to kids and fail to screen whether infractions are disability-related. Some 1,300 young people move through the juvenile hall every year, says Smith.

W.B.’s experience is in line with what psychiatrists and child development experts have warned about the impacts of solitary confinement, namely that it can exacerbate and even cause mental illness. “In no way, shape or form could anyone say that placing someone in solitary con-

finement does not harm them and have lasting effects,” says Amy Fettig, senior staff attorney for the ACLU’s National Prison Project. The American Psychiatric Association and the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry have warned that solitary confinement puts people at serious risk of psychological harm. Prison reform advocates have long argued that for people with mental illness, the practice amounts to torture.

The dangers are indeed stark.

More than half of the children who committed suicide while held in juvenile detention did so while isolated in their rooms. And more than 60 percent of youth who commit suicide in detention have a history of being held in solitary confinement. Still, on any given day, an estimated 70,000 youth are held in solitary confinement around the country.

Contra Costa County, for its part, has yet to own up to the lawsuit’s allegations. “The County Office of Education continues to place high importance on this case, and all matters related to students’ rightful access to public

education,” Contra Costa County Department of Education spokesperson Peggy Marshburn says in an email. “But … the lead agency responsible for the safety and security of the students in juvenile hall is the Department of Probation.”

In its motion to dismiss the lawsuit, the Department of Probation meanwhile says it has no control over the practices of the Department of Education. In its statement of interest, the Obama administration told the two to quit pointing fingers at each other because both agencies in fact are responsible.

Solitary confinement of youth with disabilities amounts to a particularly vicious school-to-prison pipeline operating within the juvenile justice system. When youth in Contra Costa County Juvenile Hall are “suspended” from the detention center’s attached school, they’re commonly held in solitary confinement, where they’re barred from school and rehabilitative programs like anger management classes and group counseling sessions. “Solitary confinement of youth with mental disabilities exacerbates their disability so when they get out of solitary confinement they have a much harder time reintegrating,” says Disability Rights Advocates’ Smith. “As a result, solitary confinement becomes almost a cycle. Youth come out of [isolation] not feeling like it was an effective deterrent, but sometimes even more agitated

than before they went in.”

And without access to resources to keep up with their schoolwork, their chances of graduating from high school on time or at all dwindle. What advocates fear is that the juvenile justice system begins to operate as a feeder of young people, denied access to appropriate mental health care and education, from the juvenile to the adult correctional system.

Others are picking up on the message. The Senate recently convened its second-ever hearing on the practice. And New York state has announced sweeping reforms that will scale back the use of solitary confinement for youth, pregnant inmates and those with disabilities. After years of advocacy, state corrections departments and legislatures, including those in Texas, California and Colorado are reconsidering the utility of solitary confinement, all of which makes the Obama administration’s actions more timely, say advocates.

“For the first time in decades the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice has become quite active under the Obama administration especially regarding issues of solitary confinement with people with disabilities,” says the ACLU’s Fettig. “It’s a national reckoning. The country is now reflecting on what exactly happens behind prison walls.”

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Jason Moran offers a jazz homage to legend

Fats Waller

Kevin C. Peterson Fats Waller, the legendary jazz performer, lyricist and composer, was always a larger-than-life, zestful, over-sized ambassador of the stride piano style. Gregarious, rotund and oftentimes possessing a buffoon’s air, Waller was one of his generation’s great musicians.

Ever energetic in the 1930s and ‘40s, he was a persistent jokecracker, but always a consummate creative genius.

He was “spectacular” said

Jason Moran, the internationally known jazz pianist who will be paying homage to the often-forgotten musical genius in “Fats Waller Dance Party: Smalls Paradise” at the Berklee College of Music Center on April 4 at 8 p.m.

“He was an amazing character. He had an extremely brilliant and bright technique at the piano.

And also there was there this extreme silliness about him at the same time. He was like a conundrum as a performer. Like all pop performers today, none of them

were as an insanely amazing pianist as Waller. None of them,” said Moran, who is the artistic director for jazz at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in New York City.

Moran spoke to the Banner in an interview from Washington, D.C., where he was teaching a master jazz session to younger musicians participating in Betty Carter’s “Jazz Ahead” program.

Moran’s tribute to Waller represents one generation recognizing the extraordinary accomplishment of the other.

“There was just nobody else like him. For me and my generation Waller ... represents this incredible thing ... this amazing innovator,” said Moran.

“Ain’t Misbehavin’,” “Honeysuckle Rose” and “Your Feet’s Too Big,” comprise Waller’s vast number of musical works, successfully engaging the genres of Dixieland, swing, stride and ragtime.

From his beginnings, playing the piano at the age of 6 and the Hammond organ at his father’s church in Harlem, black music was central to Waller’s development.

By 12 he was the featured organist at Harlem’s Lincoln Theater.

Born Thomas Wright Waller, the composer earned the sobriquet “fats” because of his legendary weight. By 39, when he died, Waller had reached 285.

Waller was so popular and in-demand at the height of his career it is rumored that he was once kidnapped by Al Capone to play at the gangster’s birthday party and he earned $1,000 in tips there from prostitutes and Chicagoland riffraff.

“He was the most popular performer of his day ... when people actually danced to jazz music ... they don’t anymore,” said Moran, who laments the lack of audience spontaneity as jazz music is now performed.

Gone are the days when jazz inspired dance styles like the “Charleston” and the “Lindyhop.” The art form is now formatted for easy listening in concert halls and comforting contemporary dinner clubs.

Moran originally performed the Waller-themed show last year in New York at the Harlem Stage Guardhouse as a part of the Harlem Jazz Shrines Festival that

featured bass guitarist Meshell Ndegeocello.

Combined with a full band, he breaths contemporary sway into Waller’s melodies and gifts of lyrical story-telling about loves lost, and trials and tribulations that run down all humanity.

Not far from Moran’s affection for Waller is Thelonius Monk who, a generation after Waller’s death, paved new pathways towards expressing jazz on piano.

“Monk just changed my whole perception of reality,” said Moran.

He recalls first hearing Monk at age 15 and, as a result, having his aesthetic universe convulsively shift.

“There is nobody like Monk who can make the mood in room dramatically different,” he said.

One of the youngest musicians awarded the MacArthur Genius Award, Moran represents a new generation of jazz artists who are looking to the past for inspiration in order to paint new jazz vistas.

Next month Moran will bring his freshness and exquisite sensibilities to the jazz listeners craving the robust curvatures of his demanding sound.

Thursday, March 6, 2014 • BAY STATE BANNER • 15

Historic night at Oscars with trio of big victories

Steve McQueen’s “12 Years a Slave,” starring Chiwetel Ejiofor (r) and Michael Fassbender (l), became the first film directed by a black man to win the Best Picture Oscar.

Lupita Nyong’o (center) flanked by Chiwetel Ejiofor (l) and Steve McQueen (r) at the 86th annual Academy Awards. Nyong’o won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress and McQueen’s “12 Years a Slave” won the Oscar for Best Picture.

Banner staff The film “12 Years a Slave,” director Steve McQueen’s riveting re-telling of the 19th century abduction and liberation of a free black man, has made Hollywood history as the first film directed by a black man to win an Academy Award.

The awards ceremony marked a few rare wins for blacks in the white-dominated world of the Academy Awards: Best Picture for the film, Best Supporting Actress for Lupita Nyong’o, and Best Adapted Screenplay for writer John Ridley.

Nyong’o is the sixth black actress in the 86 years of the awards to win an award and Ridley is the second-ever African American to

win best screenwriter.

While a number of blacks have been nominated for Best Actor in a leading role only four have won; Sidney Poitier in “Lillies of the Field” (1963), Denzell Washington in “Training Day” (2001), Jamie Foxx in “Ray” (2004) and Forest Whitaker in “The Last King of Scotland” (2006). Halle Berry is the sole black woman to win Best Actress for her performance in “Monster’s Ball” (2001).

McQueen dedicated his award to the victims of modern-day slavery. “Everyone deserves not just to survive, but to live,” he said in his acceptance speech.

“This is the most important legacy of Solomon Northup. I dedicate this award to all the

people who have endured slavery, and the 21 million people who still suffer slavery today.”

Nyong’o’s speech was perhaps the most moving of the night: “Thank you to the Academy for this incredible recognition.

It doesn’t escape me for one moment that so much joy in my life is thanks to so much pain in someone else’s. And so I want to salute the spirit of Patsey for her guidance. And for Solomon, thank you for telling her story and your own.

“Steve McQueen, you charge everything you fashion with a breath of your own spirit. Thank you so much for putting me in this position. It’s been the joy of my life. I’m certain that the dead are standing about you and

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watching and they are grateful and so am I. “Chiwetel, thank you for your fearlessness and how deeply you went into Solomon, telling Solomon’s story. Michael Fassbender, thank you so much. You were my rock. Alfre and Sarah, it was a thrill to work with you. Joe Walker, the invisible performer in the editing room — thank you. Sean Bobbitt, Kalaadevi, Adruitha, Patty Norris, thank you, thank you, thank you — I could not be here without your work.

“I want to thank my family, for your training and the Yale School

of Drama as well, for your training. My friends the Wilsons, this one’s for you. My brother Junior sitting by my side, thank you so much, you’re my best friend and then my other best friend, my chosen family.

“When I look down at this golden statue, may it remind me and every little child that no matter where you’re from, your dreams are valid. Thank you.”

While “12 Years a Slave” won the night’s biggest award, “Gravity,” a sci-fi film, won big with seven awards, including Alfonso Cuaron’s for Best Director.

16 • Thursday, March 6, 2014 • BAY STATE BANNER

COMING TO

“Art Is Life Itself!”

The Performance Series That Embraces Art, Culture & Spirituality

Sweet Honey in the Rock celebrate decades of song

MAR 6 Fulani Haynes Jazz Collaborative Open Mic

MAR 13 Poet Neiel Israel and Film Screening, “Fundi” Ella Baker Open Mic

MAR 20 Film Screening, “The Culture” a film on Guns in America by Noube Rateu and Deconstructing the Prison Industrial Complex with C.F.R.O.P. The Committee of Friends and Relatives Of Prisoners Open Mic Program begins at 7PM - Dinner from 5PM! 12 Dade Street, Roxbury, MA 02119 617-445-0900 www.haleyhouse.org/cafe 18 • Thursday, February 27, 2014 • BAY STATE BANNER

Kevin C. Peterson The concert on Sunday night at Boston Symphony Hall began with the mellifluous signing of “I’m Going to Stand,” which is a fitting statement for the a cappella ensemble Sweet Honey in the Rock. The powerfully performing feminist group is celebrating its 40th anniversary in concerts across the U.S. Sweet Honey has become a national institution not only because of its longevity, but because it has for decades put to soothing tune the importance of black femininity and human rights with precision.

An all-female black group, Sweet Honey is a masterpiece performing ensemble, a vehicle that chronicles the life of the nation from a black women’s perspective. In song, they talk about

problems of childhood neglect and spousal abuse. But they also speaks to the high notes of American democracy — the Civil Rights Movement and the 1970s women’s liberation campaigns.

Sweet Honey is a group that is at once cheerful, inspiring and awfully serious — dispatching social wisdom with direct calmness and a caring interest in politics and change.

The group embraces the Civil Rights Movement with a tenacity that is touching and reveals how Sweet Honey is anchored in social protest in the way the Peter Seeger or Joan Baez were — true believers that song could be a prayer and a call to a certain kind of revolution.

Singing to the packed house at the recent Boston Symphony Hall concert were original member Carole Mallaird and Nitanju Bolade Casal, both of whom gave histories of when and how the ensemble was formed in Washington D.C. in 1974.

“Hey Boston — how you doing?

We are so happy! It’s been 40 years and we are still here. Thanks to you and your children and your grandchildren,” said Mallaird.

They also reminisced about the many group members over

the years — 23 to be exact — and how each was dedicated to commenting on and combating social injustice through music.

Also part of the outstanding performance was Aisha Kahlil, whose singing especially had listeners rollicking, and long-time member, Shirley Childress.

Sweet Honey has remained relevant because they highlight the importance of quality vocal entertainment that avoids so many of themes of current black pop music such as sex, violence and drugs. The group has been focused on expressing that art can touch the soul and teach personal lessons about appropriate moral comportment.

Sweet Honey takes its named from the bible, a passage in Psalms, Chapter 81 that is ultimately triumphalist.

Appropriately, the group has remained enthusiastic about the religious roots of its moniker and its song titles often serve as the testament to this. In Boston, the women belted out one such song, “Jesus is the Answer,” and the response was so much appreciation that the audience demanded an encore.

Backing the magnificent performance was Louise Robinson on bass.

Community Calendar Thursday

ing experience! Children are welcome. You can sit or stand. There are no fancy poses.

Take Control of Your Health Dana-Farber Cancer Institute is partnering with Whittier Street Health Center to provide community residents with clear information about cancer prevention and to help them learn and adopt healthy living practices, specifically as these topics relate to colon cancer.

Oscar Sanchez, Colorectal Cancer Patient Navigator at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, will facilitate the discussion on “What You Need to Know About Colon Cancer.”

DFCI Community Resource Room, Whittier Street Health Center, 1290 Tremont St., 5th Floor. 12-1pm.

Light refreshments will be served.

For more information and to register, please contact Athene Wilson-Glover at 617-632-4860.

Friday Revolution Books Presents: Stokely: A Life Author talk by Prof. Peniel Joseph, Tufts University. From an acclaimed civil rights historian, a definitive biography of Stokely Carmichael, the nonviolent activist turned black nationalist who spearheaded the Black Power movement in America. 7pm, First Parish Church, 3 Church St., Harvard Square. $5 donation requested. Contact: Revolution Books, 1158 Mass Ave, Cambridge, 617-492-5443, info@ revolutionbookscamb.org, http:// revolutionbookscamb.org.

Laughter Yoga Club March 6, April 10, May 8 — 6:30-7:30pm at the Dudley Library.

It is a free club for the whole family.

Community members will experience all the health benefits of a good belly laugh! No comedy or jokes involved! Enjoy this unique exercise of laughter and clapping combined with gentle breathing.

Any age and any level of physical ability can participate in this uplift-

All Stirred Up! Elementary school students from Neighborhood School in Jamaica Plain have concocted an original play, “All Stirred Up!” Synopsis: Incubating local food businesses can get a bit sticky when a shared commercial kitchen is the meeting ground. Will competitiveness or cooperation rule?

Will a hoped-for Farmers Market be ready to launch? Students will

March 6

March 7

share this recipe for community-building with story-telling and musical flair. Mainstage Theatre, Roxbury Community College, 1234 Columbus Ave., Roxbury.

Friday, March 7 at 7pm and Saturday, March 8 at 3pm. Admission by donation.

Saturday March 8

Maple Sugar Festival It’s sugarin’ time in the Blue Hills!

Join us as we make maple syrup in the traditional way at beautiful Brookwood farm in Canton. Smell the wood smoke as you watch clouds of steam rise from the bubbling sap. Savor the taste of real maple sugar and enjoy a journey through time as you learn about the history of maple sugar in Massachusetts. Activities for all ages. March 8 & 9, 10am - 4pm. Program Admission: $6 per person, Ages 2 and under Free. Maple Sugar Festival is a joint program of the DCR and Mass Audubon’s Trailside Museum.

Brookwood farm is located in the DCR Blue Hills Reservation in Canton. Take exit 3 (Houghton’s pond) off Route 93 and follow signs to Maple Sugar festival parking. This program is wheelchair accessible.

For more information, please call 617-333-0690.

Tuesday March 11

“Tuesday Nights” concert series Starting at 7pm, at St. Peter’s Episcopal Church, 838 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, the weekly “Tuesday Nights” concert series presents Open Mic Opera.

Local opera singers, younger and older, amateur and professional, are invited to sing their hearts out.

Suggested donation of $10 at the door. For more information about the weekly “Tuesday Nights” concert series please visit www. saintpeterscambridge.org/newsevents/announcements/tuesday nightconcertseries.

Upcoming Charles Trenet, le fou chantant Saturday, March 15, starting at 12pm, at Isaac Cary Memorial Building, 1605 Massachusetts Ave., Lexington, Voyages en Francophonie presents a free concert “CHARLES TRENET, le fou chantant” featuring beloved songs composed by France’s most popular singer of the 20th century. Voyages en Francophonie features a variety of cultural activities associated with

French-speaking peoples the world over, including those from Algeria, Belgium, France, Haiti, Madagascar, Monaco, Morocco, and many more.

Arts Marathon Somerville-based OnStage Dance Company will present an Arts Marathon from 6:30 11:30pm Saturday, March 15, at its Somerville studio at 276 Broadway. For one night, the studio will be transformed into a theater, comedy club and music hall as we celebrate the arts, featuring more than two dozen acts in Dance, Music, Improv, Comedy and Visual Art. Guests must be 18 years of age to enter. A cover of $10 will go towards OnStage Dance Company, a 501(c)4 nonprofit organization. For more information, visit www.onstage danceco.com/arts-marathon.html.

Common Scams & Identity Theft Wednesday, March 19, at 3:30pm. Amy Schram of the Better Business Bureau will discuss common scams and identity theft.

She will show us the major red flags to watch out for and offer tactics that we can use to protect ourselves and our identities. www.bpl.org. Uphams Corner Branch of the Boston Public Library, 500 Columbia Road, Dorchester, 617-265-0139.

The Community Calendar has been established to list community events at no cost. The admission cost of events must not exceed $10. Church services and recruitment requests will not be published. THERE IS NO GUARANTEE OF PUBLICATION. To guarantee publication with a paid advertisement please call advertising at (617) 261-4600 ext. 7797 or email sandra@bannerpub.com. NO LISTINGS ARE ACCEPTED BY TELEPHONE, FAX OR MAIL. NO PHONE CALLS PLEASE. Deadline for all listings is Friday at noon for publication the following week. E-MAIL your information to: calendar@bannerpub.com. To list your event online please go to www.baystatebanner.com/events and list your event directly. Events listed in print are not added to the online events page by Banner staff members. There are no ticket cost restrictions for the online postings.

B

Thursday, March 6, 2014 • BAY STATE BANNER • 17

Voting rights advocates push for federal oversight Kara Brandeisky When the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a key part of the Voting Rights Act last June, justices left it to Congress to decide how to fix the law. But while Congress deliberates, activists are turning again to the courts: At least 10 lawsuits have the potential to bring states and some local jurisdictions back under federal oversight — essentially doing an end-run around the Supreme Court’s ruling.

A quick refresher: The Voting Rights Act outlaws racial discrimination against voters. But the law’s real strength comes from its “preclearance” provision, which forces jurisdictions with a history of racial discrimination to submit new voting measures to the federal government for approval.

In last summer’s “Shelby County v. Holder” ruling, the Supreme Court threw out the part of the law that spelled out when states were automatically subject to federal oversight. States that

easy standard to meet, it’s been done before: In the nearly 50 years before “Shelby County v.

Holder,” courts imposed federal oversight requirements at least 18 times after finding that minority rights had been violated.

So far, the Justice Department has joined two lawsuits against Texas and has launched its own case against North Carolina. Following is a rundown on all the lawsuits, and an update on the effort in Congress to amend the Voting Rights Act after last year’s court ruling.

Almost two months after the “Shelby County v. Holder” ruling,

voting, continued to page 18

Michael Li, a Dallas election law lawyer who runs a blog that exhaustively tracks Texas election news, thinks “there’s a decent chance” Texas will be put under federal supervision — since a federal court already ruled that the state’s Congressional and state Senate redistricting maps were intentionally discriminatory. But ultimately, he expects the question will be kicked up to the U.S. Su-

preme Court.

Perez et al. v. Perry et al.: Hispanics accounted for 65 percent of population growth between 2000 and 2010 in Texas. But when the Republican-led legislature drew congressional boundaries after the 2010 census, a federal court found that the maps favored white Republican incumbents and had a “discriminatory intent.” After “Shelby County v. Holder,” Texas said it would use the contested maps anyway. A coalition of voting rights advocates has asked the court to put Texas back under supervision, and the Justice Department joined in.

Veasey et al. v. Perry et al.: The day the Supreme Court freed Texas from federal oversight, Gov. Rick Perry announced his intent to enact a photo ID law that the Justice Department and a federal court had refused to approve.

Rep. Marc Veasey, D-Texas, sued the next day. Veasey and supporters — including the League of United Latin American Citizens and Dallas County – say the law discriminates against minority voters, who, by the state’s own admission, are less likely to possess an eligible ID. The plaintiffs want to put the entire state back under preclearance, and the Justice Department’s photo ID lawsuit was

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North Carolina passed a bill that requires voters to show photo ID, shortens the early voting period, eliminates same-day registration and instructs election officials to throw out any ballots cast in the wrong precinct, among other restrictions. Now three different lawsuits ask to put North Carolina back under preclearance.

North Carolina State Conference of the NAACP et al. v. McCrory et al.: The plaintiffs say the law discriminates against African-American voters, who are less likely to have a

Texas

In the nearly 50 years before “Shelby County v. Holder,” courts imposed federal oversight requirements at least 18 times after finding that minority rights had been violated. have been released from preclearance have already passed a rash of new restrictive voting measures.

Enter the lawsuits, which hinge on a different part of the Voting Rights Act, the so-called “bail-in” provision. It lets federal courts impose preclearance if a state or local jurisdiction violates the Constitution’s 14th or 15th amendments, which guarantee equal protection and the right to vote.

While the “bail-in” provision has emerged as the new tool of choice for voting rights activists, it is not as sweeping a remedy as the oversight authority the Supreme Court dismantled.

Before the ruling, states, counties and other jurisdictions that were subject to preclearance had to get every single voting change approved — whether they wanted to require a photo ID to vote, change voting hours on Election Day or move even a single polling place.

Under “bail-in,” the court can tailor oversight to the situation. A state that enacts an unfair redistricting map, for example, may only need to submit its next map for federal approval.

To prevail in court, plaintiffs must prove a jurisdiction intentionally crafted laws or rules to discriminate against minorities. Although that’s not an

merged with this case.

Petteway et al. v. Galveston County: Five local elected officials, led by Constable Terry Petteway, sued Galveston County, arguing that the county gerrymandered their districts to discriminate against Latino and Af-

rican-American candidates. The officials have asked a federal court to throw out the map and put Galveston County back under federal oversight.

Cantue et al. v. Beaumont Independent School District: This case targets a school district. After years of legal battles over voting maps, a group of Beaumont citizens who believe the district has discriminated against black voters want preclearance of all election changes.

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Boston Mayor Martin Walsh visits the Codman Square Farmers Market. Now in its seventh year, the farmers market was organized by the Codman Square Health Council to promote healthy food options in the community. (Mayor’s Office photo by Jeremiah Robinson)

18 • Thursday, March 6, 2014 • BAY STATE BANNER

voting

continued from page 17

photo ID, more likely to vote early and who historically have cast more out-of-precinct ballots.

League of Women Voters et al. v. North Carolina et al.: The League of Women Voters is particularly concerned about the law’s early voting restrictions.

The complaint says that in 2012, almost 20 percent of the electorate cast ballots during the early voting days that the legislature eliminated in 2013. The League contends that shortening the early voting period unfairly burdens

poor and minority voters and will increase waiting times for all.

U.S. v. North Carolina et al.: In September, the Justice Department filed its own lawsuit. The complaint notes that from 1980 to 2013, the Justice Department objected to 60 of the 155 voting changes that North Carolina submitted for preclearance.

Louisiana Terrebonne Parish Branch NAACP et al. v. Jindal et al.: Five judges on the 32nd Judicial District Court are elected at-large by majority vote. A black candidate has never won. Now, the Terrebonne Parish Branch NAACP

argues that the at-large scheme dilutes the black vote and that racial discrimination continues to the current day. As an example, the plaintiffs assert that in 2004, a sitting judge was suspended for attending a Halloween party dressed in blackface and an orange prison jumpsuit — only to be reelected in 2008. The plaintiffs ask the court to require preclearance for the 32nd Judicial District.

terials when at least 5 percent of voting-age citizens spoke a different language. Now, a group of Native Americans says Alaska failed to provide voting materials and voting assistance in their native language Yup’ik and its dialect Cup’ik. The group wants the Justice Department to oversee language assistance procedures in the Dillingham and Wade Hampton census areas.

Alaska

Montana

Toyukuk et al. v. Treadwell et al.: In 1975, Congress expanded the Voting Rights Act’s coverage formula to include places that offered English-only election ma-

Jackson et al. v. Wolf Point et al.: Since “Shelby County v.

Holder,” voting rights advocates have tried to sanction one jurisdiction that has never been under federal oversight — a school district in Montana. Voters in Wolf Point School District 45A say that the county superintendent’s office packed Native Americans into one malapportioned district to dilute their vote. They ask a federal judge to force the school district to create a new redistricting plan and require that the school district submit its 2020 redistricting plan to the Justice Department for approval.

Congress and Voting Rights Act

President Obama meets with the Dalai Lama in the Map Room of the White House. In the meeting, Obama reiterated his strong support for the preservation of Tibet’s unique religious, cultural, and linguistic traditions and the protection of human rights for Tibetans in China. (White House photo)

While the lawsuits play out in the states, Congress is considering a new proposal to rewrite the Voting Rights Act provisions that trigger federal oversight.

Legislation in both the House and Senate would make it easier to “bail-in” new states: Courts could institute preclearance if a jurisdiction violated any federal prohibition on voting discrimi-

nation, not just the Constitution.

That way, plaintiffs would not have to prove the discrimination was intentional.

In addition, the bills would change which states are automatically subject to federal oversight.

States that are sanctioned for five “voting rights violations” in 15 years would need to submit new voting measures for federal approval. “Voting rights violations” would include any time a voting measure violates the 14th or 15th amendments or Voting Rights Act, and any time the Justice Department or a federal court rejects a voting measure that had been submitted for preclearance.

The new formula would also cover counties, townships and other political subdivisions that have three violations over the 15 years, or just one violation combined with consistently low minority turnout.

Under those criteria, four states and two counties would be subject to preclearance today: Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Georgia, Charleston County, S.C., and Northampton County, Va. The bill’s prospects are uncertain. The House version, introduced by Rep. James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., has support from seven Republicans and 13 Democrats. But so far, the identical Senate version, introduced by Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., has no Republican co-sponsors. A Leahy aide said the senator “continues reaching out to Senate Republicans to join these important efforts.”

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Thursday, March 6, 2014 • BAY STATE BANNER • 19

20 • Thursday, March 6, 2014 • BAY STATE BANNER

Minority groups key factor in Comcast-Time Warner merger Jason McLure As Comcast Corp. and Time Warner Cable Inc. roll out a massive lobbying effort to win regulatory approval for the merger of the nation’s two largest cable companies, one key step for the companies will be garnering the support of prominent civil rights and minority groups.

Comcast has already shown it can pull support from key minority groups — dozens sent letters of support to the Federal Communications Commission, which must approve the buyout,

while it was considering Comcast’s last mega-deal — its 2011 purchase of NBC/Universal.

Tax data, analyzed as part of a collaboration between the Center for Public Integrity and The New York Times, shows 55 such groups both accepted funds from Comcast’s corporate foundation between 2004 and 2012 and sent letters to the FCC supporting the Comcast-NBC universal deal.

Supporters include large and well-established organizations such as the National Urban League, which received $835,000 from Comcast’s foundation

Former state Rep. Mel King speaks during a Black History Month celebration at Roxbury Community College. (Governor’s office photo)

during the period, as well as local groups such as the Boston Chinatown Neighborhood Center, which received $42,300 in grants from Comcast since 2009.

The data also show an emphasis by Comcast in building links to the Hispanic community. Of the $8.6 million given to groups that offered support in the NBC deal, nearly 60 percent went to Hispanic groups. The recipients included the National Council of La Raza ($2.2 million), the Hispanic Federation ($345,000) and the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce ($320,000).

Indeed, the USHCC hailed the Comcast-Time Warner Cable announcement on the same day the deal was announced for “forging an innovative world-class technology company, with increased capacity to deliver ground-breaking products.”

Support for the Time Warner Cable deal from the National Council of La Raza, the nation’s largest Hispanic civil rights group, would likely be even more helpful to Comcast.

In 2010, while the FCC was scrutinizing Comcast’s NBC purchase, La Raza was one of six Hispanic groups to send a letter to the FCC’s chairman highlighting an agreement they had struck with Comcast and NBC in advance of the merger.

As part of that deal, Comcast and NBC made a number of concessions, including the creation of new Spanish programming, increased funding for Hispanic scholarships, greater minority hiring and the addition of a Hispanic to Comcast’s board of directors.

The agreement with the merging companies would “promote the goals of expanding economic opportunity for Hispanic families and preserving and enhancing programming for Hispanic audiences,” Janet Marguia, La Raza’s president, and five other Hispanic

leaders wrote to the FCC. That agreement, and similar deals with other minority groups that have received Comcast funds, has drawn criticism from those who say the civil rights groups are selling short the interests of their constituents.

“Comcast has very big relationships with a lot of Hispanic politicians and nonprofit groups and I hope they are more challenging of this deal,” says Joe Torres, a spokesman for Free Press, a group that often opposes Comcast. “This is a massive merger and I’m hoping there will be a lot more skepticism.”

Others are less forgiving.

“They got nothing, all they

with Comcast and NBC didn’t constitute a formal endorsement of the merger. More than three years after the agreement, she says the group is generally satisfied with Comcast’s outreach to Hispanics, though she says the group is concerned about the near-absence of Hispanic anchors on MSNBC or Hispanic actors on NBC staples such as “Saturday Night Live.”

Still, she praises Comcast’s moves to add a Hispanic to its board, establish a minority advisory council and launch El Rey, an English-language channel targeting Hispanics.

The $2.2 million La Raza has received from Comcast will not affect the group’s planned negoti-

“Comcast has very big relationships with a lot of Hispanic politicians and nonprofit groups and I hope they are more challenging of this deal.”

— Joe Torres did was make sure the Hispanic audience would be targeted more effectively through the Comcast-NBC machine,” says Jeffrey Chester, the executive director of the Center for Digital Democracy, a group that opposes media consolidation. “You have an overall problem of civil rights groups and others being on bended knee in front of corporations for their donations.”

David Cohen, Comcast’s government affairs chief, rejects any such criticism.

“People would like to take this 20-plus-year-old incredible commitment to communities and these organizations and would like to make it a bad thing — that we are buying off support for the transaction,” Cohen said in an interview with the Times, referring to the Comcast Foundation’s $140 million in grants since its inception and more than $3.2 billion since 2001 when all kinds of corporate support (cash and in-kind support like free public service announcements) are included.

Lisa Navarete, a spokeswoman for La Raza, says the 2010 deal

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ations with the company about the proposed Time Warner merger, nor did Comcast donations influence the group’s stance toward the NBC deal, Navarete says.

“The implication of those types of thoughts is minority organizations aren’t smart or sophisticated enough to be able to take money and still make a decision based on the merits,” she says. “I think it’s offensive to say we take positions based on who we get money from.”

To be sure, not all Hispanic groups have supported Comcast’s acquisitions. In 2010, the Latino Business Chamber of Los Angeles wrote to the FCC to oppose Comcast’s acquisition of NBC/ Universal, citing negative stereotyping of Latinos in the companies’ programming and a dearth of Hispanic executives.

The Latino Chamber’s chief executive, Theresa Martinez, says the group will likely oppose the Time Warner deal as well, citing the effect of higher cable and Internet prices on the poor — particularly in light of the creation of a new Time Warner cable channel for the Los Angeles Dodgers that could increase cable rates $5 per month. As for Hispanic groups that have lined up with Comcast in the past, she terms their motives “political.”

“I say it’s political because sometimes money talks,” she says.

“You can be bought out for things like that and you don’t look at the big picture.”

New American Media

Thursday, March 6, 2014 • BAY STATE BANNER • 21

Legal Notice – Request for Proposals for MBTA Public Awareness Consulting Services – Fairmount Line, Boston Contract Term:

Approx. 6 months

Proposal Due Date:

April 18, 2014 at 1:00 p.m.

At the TRA offices

Written questions or comments are due:

March 21, 2014 by 5:00 p.m.

Evaluation and selection are based on best value (per criteria set forth in the Request for Proposals) and not necessarily on the lowest financial offer. The MBTA may, in its’ sole discretion, request best and final offers.

To obtain a copy of the Request for Proposals and become a registered proposer go to www.transitrealty.com.or contact Transit Realty Associates, LLC 77 Franklin St. 9th Floor Boston, MA 02110 Attn: Rayna Rubin Telephone 617-502-1409, Fax 617-482-0210 Email: rzrubin@transitrealty.com For information on this and other MBTA opportunities visit www.transitrealty.com.

PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENT MASSACHUSETTS BAY TRANSPORTATION AUTHORITY SOLICITATION FOR CONSULTANT SERVICES MBTA CONTRACT NO. R32PS01 The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority is soliciting Engineering Design Services related to the design of an expansion of, and improvements to, the Orange Line Wellington Maintenance Facility in Medford, MA. The improvements are related to a planned replacement of the current fleet of 120 Orange Line cars with 152 new cars. This solicitation will be for the 30% - 100% designs, bid phase services plus construction phase services and contract closeout. The design has been developed to 30%. The carhouse is to be expanded by adding one additional track inspection pit by building an addition onto the existing maintenance facility building. Internal improvements will include new cranes, a new wheel truing machine, new mechanical car lifts, a new roof, a clean room for maintaining digital electrical signal and control equipment, and other improvements.

Design services will also include scheduling, administrative support, financial management; review of contractor procurement procedures in terms of following requirements, cost control, specification reviews, design and construction management; daily staffing verifications, field engineering and inspection, performance management and related services and pedestrian traffic modeling; quality assurance assistance, developing document control systems and program procedure preparation; environmental assistance; participation in stakeholder meetings; records management; and project closeout services.

This contract will be state funded. While there is no DBE goal associated with this contract, the Authority strongly encourages the use of Minority, Women and Disadvantaged Business Enterprises as prime consultants, subconsultants, and suppliers in all of its contracting opportunities.

The complete request for qualifications can be found on the MBTA website.

Please use the following link: http://www.mbta.com/business_center/bidding_solicitations/current_solicitations/

Beverly A. Scott, Ph.D. General Manager and Rail & Transit Administrator PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENT

MASSACHUSETTS BAY TRANSPORTATION AUTHORITY SOLICITATION FOR CONSULTANT SERVICES FEDERALLY-FUNDED PROJECTS The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority is soliciting up to two (2) teams of consultants to provide ad-hoc professional engineering services on a task order basis to advise and consult, on a minimum notice, for a variety of short term and safety sensitive situations related to the Bus Operations revenue fleet and Quality Assurance.

Services will include, but not be limited to, general vehicle design, vehicle component and construction, manufacture and maintenance, quality assurance and quality surveillance, as well as engineering services for various disciplines, including but not limited to: structural, electrical and mechanical analysis of vehicles, systems maintenance personnel and engineering staff, will be included.

This contract will be Federally Funded. The DBE Participation Goal for this contract will be 15%.

The complete request for qualifications can be found on the MBTA website.

Please use the following link: http://www.mbta.com/business_center/bidding_solicitations/current_solicitations/ This is not a request for proposal.

Richard A. Davey Mass DOT Secretary & CEO

The Authority expects to select two consultants. However, the Authority reserves the right to select a different number if it is deemed in its best interest to do so. Each consultant shall be issued a contract in an amount not to exceed ONE MILLION DOLLARS ($1,000,000.00). The services shall be authorized on a work order basis.

Each submission shall include a Statement of Qualifications that provides detailed information in response to the evaluation criteria set forth below and include Architect/Engineer & Related Services questionnaires SF 330 (www.gsa.gov/portal/forms/download/116486) with the appropriate number of Part IIs. M/WBE Certification of the prime and subconsultants shall be current at the time of submittal and the Consultant shall provide a copy of the M/WBE certification letter from the Supplier Diversity Office, formerly known as State Office of Minority and Women Business Assistance (SOMWBA) within its submittal. The Consultant shall also provide an original and fourteen copies of litigation and legal proceedings information, signed under the pains and penalties of perjury, in a separate sealed envelope entitled “Litigation and Legal Proceedings.” Please follow this link to the Massport Website at: http://www.massport.com/business-with-massport/capital-improvements/ resource-center/ for more detail on litigation and legal proceedings history submittal requirements.

In order to be eligible for selection, all aspects of Chapter 7C, Section 44 of the General Laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts shall be satisfied including the majority of the firm’s Board of Directors or ownership shall be registered in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in accordance with the applicable provisions of the statute. Consultants shall furnish professional registration status of the firm’s board of directors or ownership. All individuals responsible for technical disciplines shall, upon commencement of the project, be registered Architects or Engineers, in that discipline, in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

Beverly A. Scott, Ph.D. General Manager and Rail & Transit Administrator LEGAL NOTICE REQUEST FOR QUALIFICATIONS

The MASSACHUSETTS PORT AUTHORITY (Authority) is soliciting consulting services for MPA CONTRACT NO. MPA CONTRACT NO. A300-D4 & D5, MEP ENGINEERING SERVICES. The Authority is seeking qualified multidiscipline consulting firm or team, with proven experience to provide professional services including planning, design, and construction related services on an on-call, as needed basis. These services are expected to be provided at all Massport Facilities. The Consultant must be able to work closely with the Authority and other interested parties in order to provide such services in a timely and effective manner.

The consultant shall demonstrate experience in several disciplines including but not limited to Mechanical, Electrical, Plumbing, Fire Protection, Energy Engineering, Energy Modeling, Code Compliance, Cost Estimating, Construction Phasing, and Sustainable Design The scope of work shall include, but not be limited to the following: The scope of work may include new construction, alterations or addi-

Deadline for submission of written questions

March 20, 2014

Official answers published (Estimated)

March 27, 2014

Solicitation: Close Date / Submission Deadline

April 3, 2014, 11AM

Times are Eastern Standard Time (US).

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

Questions and their responses will be posted on Capital Bid Opportunities webpage of the Authority http://www.massport.com/business-with-massport/opportunities-at-massport/capital-programs/ as an attachment to the original Legal Notice and on Comm-PASS (www.comm-pass.com) in the listings for this project.

MASSACHUSETTS PORT AUTHORITY THOMAS P. GLYNN CEO AND EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR WANTED TO LEASE OFFICE SPACE IN BOSTON, AS FURTHER DEFINED ON MAP ATTACHMENT C-5 IN THE RFP On behalf of the Parole Board, the Massachusetts Division of Capital Asset Management and Maintenance is requesting proposals to lease approximately 6,700 usable square feet of office space in Boston, as further defined on Map Attachment C-5 in the RFP for a term of seven years.

Proposals must be submitted to: Division of Capital Asset Management and Maintenance Office of Leasing and State Office Planning One Ashburton Place 14th Floor – Room 1411 Boston, Massachusetts 02108 Proposals must be submitted by the deadline of March 19, 2014 at 2:00 p.m.

Proposals will be opened at that time.

To obtain a Request for Proposals (RFP), please call 617-727-8000, extension 355, at any time or send a request to the Office of Leasing and State Office Planning at the above address. Please include your name, address, telephone and fax number or a business card, and cite the name of the agency seeking space and the RFP Project Number 201351000.3. This RFP can also be obtained through the Internet at http://www.comm-pass.com.

For further information, please call 617-727-8000, extension 800, during business hours.

The Authority may reject any application if any of the required information is not provided: Cover Letter, Insurance Requirements, Litigation and Legal proceedings, Registration of the Board of Director as defined in MGL Chapter 7C Section 44, SF330 Part IIs for the Prime and every sub-consultant.

The submission shall be evaluated on basis of:

Commonwealth of Massachusetts The Trial Court Probate and Family Court Department Docket No. SU14P0362EA

SUFFOLK Division

1) current level of experience and knowledge of the team for similar projects, particularly the Project Manager,

Citation on Petition for Formal Adjudication

2) geographic location and availability of the Project Manager, resident inspectors and other key personnel to be assigned to the project,

Estate of Daniel Jorge DeAbreu Also known as Daniel Abreu Date of Death: 07/16/2012

3) experience and expertise of subconsultants,

To all interested persons:

4) ability in using BIM Model for building design components in MEP Engineering, 5) demonstrated ability to perform work with minimal disruption to facility operations, 6) familiarity with MGL, including filed sub-bid experience, 7) cost management and scheduling capabilities,

This is not a request for proposal.

Richard A. Davey Mass DOT Secretary & CEO

tions to various systems in facilities such as airline terminals, maintenance facilities, garages, sheds, warehouses, electrical substations, pump houses, elevators, escalators, and security systems. Systems will include heating, chilled water and high temperature hot water and steam supply, air conditioning and ventilation, automatic temperature controls, fire protection and fire alarm systems, plumbing systems, high and low voltage electrical systems. The consultant may also provide assistance with the Authority’s implementation of Energy Efficiency Initiatives including LED lighting retrofits, demand control ventilation, HVAC retro-commissioning, high voltage transmission and distribution infrastructure system design and configuration and cogeneration.

Services may include but shall not be limited to conceptual or schematic drawings and outline specifications, preparation of a BIM model, design development or construction drawings and specifications, construction services, resident inspection services, cost estimates and analyses, investigations, reports, value engineering, energy modeling, energy audits and assistance in asset management database development.

Consultant may also be required to manage commissioning of systems and closeout of the construction contract.

8) M/WBE” and affirmative action efforts, please indicate the proposed % of M/WBE participation 9) current level of work with the Authority, 10) past performance for the Authority, if any, and 11) experience with sustainable design concepts and resiliency.

The selection shall involve a two-step process including the shortlisting of a minimum of three firms based on an evaluation of the Statements of Qualifications received in response to this solicitation, followed immediately by a final selection of the consultant(s) by the Authority.

By responding to this solicitation, consultants agree to accept the terms and conditions of The Authority’s standard work order agreement, a copy of the Authority’s standard agreement can be found on the Authority’s web page at www.massport.com. The exception to this standard agreement is the insurance requirement of $1,000,000.00 of commercial general liability.

The Consultant shall specify in its cover letter that it has the ability to obtain requisite insurance coverage.

Submissions shall be printed on both sides of the sheet (8 1/2” x 11”), no acetate covers. Fifteen (15) copies of a bound document and one PDF version on a disc each limited to: 1) an SF 330 including the appropriate number of Part IIs, 2) resumes of key individuals only each limited to one (1) page under SF 330, Section E, 3) no more than ten (10) projects each limited to one (1) page under SF 330, Section F, 4) no more than 3 sheets (6 pages) of information contained under SF 330 Section H addressing the evaluation items (except for the litigation and legal proceedings history), and 5) no more than 2 sheets (4 pages) of other relevant material not including a 2 page (max.) cover letter, SDO certification letters, covers, dividers, and other required information.

This submission, including the litigation and legal proceedings history in a separate sealed envelope as required shall be addressed to Houssam H. Sleiman, PE, CCM, Director of Capital Programs and Environmental Affairs and received no later than 12:00 Noon on Thursday, April 3, 2014 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.

The procurement process for these services will proceed according to the following anticipated schedule: EVENT DATE/TIME Solicitation: Release Date

February 27, 2014

A petition has been filed by Admilson Abreu of Brockton, MA 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 Admilson Abreu of Brockton, MA be appointed as Personal Representative(s) of said estate to serve With Personal 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 04/24/2014. 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: February 18, 2014 Patricia M. Campatelli Register of Probate Commonwealth of Massachusetts The Trial Court Probate and Family Court Department Docket No. SU14P0408EA

SUFFOLK Division

Citation on Petition for Formal Adjudication Estate of Herbert David Lindsey Date of Death: 09/03/2013 To all interested persons: A petition has been filed by James F Lindsey of Randolph, MA 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 James F Lindsey of Randolph, 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 03/27/2014. 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: February 21, 2014 Patricia M. Campatelli Register of Probate

22 • Thursday, March 6, 2014 • BAY STATE BANNER

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

Docket No. SU12D0377DR

Divorce Summons by Publication and Mailing Kareem A Hokett

vs.

Lenita R Richardson

03/27/2014. 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.

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

Date: January 9, 2014 Patricia M. Campatelli Register of Probate

To the Defendant: The Plaintiff has filed a Complaint for Divorce requesting that the Court grant a divorce for irretrievable breakdown of the marriage pursuant to 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.

You are hereby summoned and required to serve upon: Kareem A Hokett, 518 Park St., Dorchester, MA 02124 your answer, if any, on or before

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.

You are hereby summoned and required to serve upon: Katherine Heyward, 4 Woodruff Way, Mattapan, MA 02126 your answer, if any, on or before 04/10/2014. 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.

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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.

You are hereby summoned and required to serve upon: Mary Alana Gleason, Esq., P.O. Box 1154, Jamaica Plain, MA 02130, your answer, if any, on or before 03/27/2014. 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.

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

Date: January 14, 2014 Patricia M. Campatelli Register of Probate

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FIND RATE INFORMATION AT

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The Complaint is on file at the Court.

The Plaintiff has filed a Complaint for Divorce requesting that the Court grant a divorce for irretrievable breakdown of the marriage pursuant to G.L. c. 208, Section 1 B.

(617) 261-4600 x 7799

vs.

The Plaintiff has filed a Complaint for Divorce requesting that the Court grant a divorce for irretrievable breakdown of the marriage.

Lamont Heyward

To the Defendant:

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Nathalie Tout-Puissant To the Defendant:

Divorce Summons by Publication and Mailing vs.

Docket No. SU13D2269DR

Divorce Summons by Publication and Mailing

Docket No. SU14D0121DR

SUFFOLK Division

ADVERTISE

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

Commonwealth of Massachusetts The Trial Court Probate and Family Court Department

Katherine Heyward

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

Date: January 28, 2014 Patricia M. Campatelli Register of Probate

AFFORDABLE HOUSING OPPORTUNITY

For Elders 62 & Older

Rent

% of Income

23

1 BR

Contract Rent

30%

4

0 BR

Contract Rent

30%

Maximum Income Limits per Household Size Household Size

30 %

50%

1

$19,800

$32,950

2

$22,600

$37,650

Applications may be picked up in person at: Winthrop Senior Center 35 Harvard Street Winthrop MA, 02152 Wednesday March 5th to Friday March 7th 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Or picked up in person or by telephone at: Metro Management Company 201 Sumner Street, East Boston, MA 02128 (617) 567-7755 Located just across from the Maverick T stop on the Blue Line.

Weekdays, March 3rd to March 7th, 9:00 am to 4:30 pm.

Evening hours, Thursday March 6th 6pm-8pm Saturday, March 8th, 9:00 am-12:00 pm Deadline for completed applications at the Metro Management address above: In person by 4 pm Friday March 28, 2014 or mailed and postmarked by that date SELECTION BY LOTTERY Use and Occupancy Restrictions apply. 5 units have a preference for households needing wheelchair accessible units. 3 units have a preference for households whose income meets 30% Income limits or less Projected Occupancy Summer 2014 For more information or reasonable accommodations call Jeff Buono, Metro Management 617-567-7755 Equal Housing Opportunity

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 ...

Available 1 bedroom $1600

888-842-7945

*conversion of historical elementary school into 27 units of affordable housing for elderly residents* Developer: EBCDC, Inc. d/b/a Metro Management Type

The Style, Comfort and Convenience you Deserve!

Call Today for more details and to schedule a visit...

Dalrymple School 46 Grovers Ave Winthrop, MA 02152

# of Units

Parker Hill Apartments

OFFICE SPACE DORCHESTER/ MILTON 1st Class Office Space Corner of Gallivan Blvd and Washington St ample parking.

$375/mo. $695/mo. $1000/mo. $1395/mo. heated

OWNER

617-835-6373 Brokers Welcome

Wollaston Manor 91 Clay Street Quincy, MA 02170

Senior Living At It’s Best

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

Call Sandy Miller, Property Manager

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Program Restrictions Apply.

Thursday, March 6, 2014 • BAY STATE BANNER • 23

CHELSEA APARTMENT

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.

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617-283-2081 SENIORS LIVE ROYALLY AT CASTLE COVE

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Princeton Westford Apartment Homes

16 Littleton Road, Westford, MA Ten 1BRs @ $726, Thirty 2BRs @ $851 No Utilities included except sewer Princeton Westford Apartment Homes is a 200-unit community nestled into a forested preserve off of Littleton Road in Westford, MA. The community will include five four-story garden-style apartment buildings. A state of the art clubhouse outfitted with a fitness center, meeting space, swimming pool and Wi-Fi Café will also be part of the apartment community. 40 of the units will be rented to households with annual incomes not exceeding 50% of Area Median Income (AMI) adjusted for family size as determined by HUD. The first units will be ready in Spring/Summer 2014.

Household Size

Allowable Income Limit 50% AMI

1

$31,750

2

$36,300

3

$40,850

4

$45,350

A Public Information Session will be held at 6 pm on March 18th, 2014 in the 2nd floor meeting room of Westford Town Hall (55 Main Street)

A unique community of seniors managed by CSI Support & Development Services of Malden.

A cooperative apartment is a building controlled by the members. All major operating decisions are voted on by the members. Coop apartments help to keep quality housing affordable.

We Have: • Our own separate apartment • A non-profit organization; any profits are put back into coop services to benefit its members • Open voluntary membership without social, political, racial or religious discrimination • A building democratically controlled by the residents.

Each building has their own activities run by a committee of residents such as entertainment, bingo, gift case We have: A library, game room, community room, lounges on each floor, our own laundry room The success of a Cooperative depends on the active participation of its members

If you would like more information or to apply please call

1-800-225-3151

Completed Applications may be mailed, faxed, emailed, or delivered in person. Completed Applications and Required Income Documentation must be received by 2:00 PM on April 17th, 2014.

The Lottery will be held on April 30th at 6 PM in same location as the info session above.

For Applications and Details on the Lottery or for reasonable accommodations for persons with disabilities, call 617.782.6900x3 or go to www.s-e-b.com/lottery.

For TTY Services dial 711. Free translation available.

Applications and Info also available at the JV Fletcher Library on 50 Main Street, Westford, MA (Hours: M-Th 10-9, F 1-5, Sa 10-5, Su 2-5).

Disability Law Center Seeks

Two Staff Attorneys The Disability Law Center, a public interest law center representing individuals with disabilities, is seeking two experienced staff attorneys. For a detailed description of the positions, the application process and our generous benefits package, please go to DLC’s website: www.dlc-ma.org/careers. DLC strongly encourages applications from individuals from diverse ethnic and cultural backgrounds, and individuals with disabilities are strongly encouraged to apply.

PITTSFIELD PUBLIC SCHOOLS Pittsfield, Massachusetts

The Pittsfield Public Schools is a small-urban district located in the beautiful Berkshires of Western Massachussetts. The district is dedicated to reaching and teaching every single child, every single day. The PPS is seeking highly skilled and culturally competent principal leaders for Conte Community School (k-5), Allendale Elementary School (k-5) and Herberg Middle School (6-8).

Professionals with the following are preferred: • A Master’s degree and Massachusetts Principal Certification • Demonstrated leadership in creating and sustaining an optimistic and disciplined academic culture • A minimum of 5 years of teaching and 3 years of administrative experience (preferably in an urban setting) Application review will be ongoing until the positions are filled.

Salaries are regionally competitive.

Apply online at www.pittsfield.net The Pittsfield Public Schools is an Equal Opportunity Employer

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

Program eligibility includes: • • • • •

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

For more information and to register for the next Open House please visit our website at www.prohope.org/openhouse.htm or call 617-442-1800 ext. 218.