South Boston Today October 27 2022

The

Latino Vote Has Been Emerging As “The Sleeping Giant”

In the September general elec tion in Massachusetts, 13 Latino candidates won races statewide.

What does that history-making re sult mean for voters, Latino, Hispan ic and otherwise, and the policies that will affect them? That question was discussed recently among Ma rie-Frances Rivera, president of the Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center, and the WGBH’s Morning Edition co-hosts Paris Alston and Jeremy Siegel.

In reference to Latino or Latinx voters, especially at the national level, they are often referred to as a voting bloc in a monolithic way. But “Latinos are not a monolith”,

Help Find Young Colleen Weaver, Missing Since 10/18

The Posters and Social media alerts are ev erywhere. 16-year-old Colleen Weaver, whose family has long time Southie roots went miss ing from her home in Raynham, MA on Octo ber 18th and as of this writing, October 26th, hasn’t been seen or heard from since.

This is a story that has made major news outlets around the metropolitan area and beyond and is even pictured on bill boards as well. Colleen is considered ‘vulner able’ and it’s believed, according to news re ports and law enforce ment sources, that it just might be possible that she could have been exploited and lured away by someone on the internet. Though there is no proof that this is the case, in this day and age, that possibility shouldn’t be ruled out. Her fam ily is distraught. They love her and just want Colleen home safe. If anyone has any informa tion on her whereabouts, please call your local po lice with any information you might have. The phone # for the Raynham

Police is 508-824-2717.

can also contact the National Center for missing and Exploited

at www.miss ingkids.org. Our prayers are with Colleen and with her family.

in fact children are being influenced to leave home by unscru pulous characters who troll the internet look ing for vulnerable chil dren, and those cases do exist, this brings up a valid concern and highlights the grow ing danger children and even adults face on line every day. While the World Wide Web is a wonderful resource in the 21st Century to find just about anything you want, it also has drawbacks and can be dangerous, especially to children, most of whom are very skilled at surf ing the web.

There are currently, and have been for sev eral years now, social media sites that cater to the very young and unfortunately some of them may have bad and illegal intentions. Children and teens are often drawn to sites that are deliberately

designed to look attrac tive to them and appear completely innocent on the surface but may be anything but harmless.

We hear the term ‘groomers’ used a lot lately, where adults with bizarre obsessions are attracted to children and are up to no good. Some people, who are ‘offended’ by that term, insist that grooming of children doesn’t ex

ist and is all a bunch of fabrication made up by prudes and religious fanatics. Well, groom ing does exist and those who deny it either don’t know what they are talk ing about or are flat out lying and parents need to be on guard for it to protect their kids. It has even been exposed and documented that it is happening in some schools and has parents

all around the coun try up in arms as they should be. It is definite ly a serious and growing problem on the internet. Most people, of every age, love to surf the net and explore all the won derful things that the net has to offer. But parents would be wise to moni tor exactly where those online searches take their kids and just who they might be meeting.

Information Center

Never

The following quote was made word for word by candidate for Massachusetts Governor Maura Healy. Most, if not all of you have heard it: “Yes, America is burning, but that’s how forests grow”. She said this in 2020 when Black Lives Matter and ANTIFA thugs were rioting, looting and burning down American cit ies. They were setting fire to court houses, attacking police stations, assaulting and trying to kill cops, destroying small businesses and physically pulling people, including seniors and disabled people, out of cars and beating them. They burned and stomped on American flags and at least 25 people were killed. Many more were seriously injured. It went on for months. And Maura Healy’s statement which bears repeating in response to all of this violence was “Yes, America is burning but that’s how forests grow.”

Translation: She approved of what they were doing. She thought it was just fine and needed to be done. That someone who thinks and believes like this even got enough signatures to get her name on the ballot is mind boggling by itself. But the fact that polls say she is way ahead in the race to be this state’s next governor, and I’m going to be blunt here, shows just how dumb so many Massachusetts voters can be.

While it’s true, the only polls that count are the final tallies at the end on Election Day, if past elec tion outcomes in the Bay State are any indication, the odds are Healy will take it. Of course, that’s what the polls said about Martha Coak ley when she ran against Charlie Baker. So, there’s always hope for an upset. But the question remains: How could anyone, be they Demo crat, Republican or Independent

even consider voting for someone like Maura Healy? I showed a friend a draft of this week’s column and he said of my comments about Healy “Wow, if she wins, you will definitely NOT have a friend in the governor’s office.” My response was, I wouldn’t want it any other way”. His response to that was “It’s a shame, but in this current atmosphere, It’s now common for society to be uncomfortable when someone tells the truth”. He’s right, that’s exactly how politics in this state are. But the truth is a must. When statements like Healy’s are made, people need to be reminded of them. If they still choose to vote for someone who believes as she does and actually supported the looting and burning of American cities, well, they’ll have only them selves to blame when her policies as governor cause and even bigger exodus from Massachusetts than the one currently taking place.

Yes, I know, this column has been commenting on gas prices quite a bit. Last week’s prediction came true. Have you checked the prices at the pump this week? They are climbing again. The Biden Re gime’s timing was off by 3 weeks. They drained our nation’s Emer gency Strategic Oil Reserves so low that they are at the lowest level in more than 40 years. It’s critical. So now there’s no more to release to make it seem like the Democrats are trying to bring oil prices down. They had hoped they could keep the artificial and temporary drop in prices going until after the Novem ber 8th election to fool the voters. But they started a few weeks too soon and ran out of oil faster than expected. They tried begging the Saudis to pump more but were told ‘No Go’.

There is some good news com

Infamous Quote

out of New York City that will

spread to other places.

New York Supreme Court has ordered NYC to reinstate all the po lice officers, firefighters and other first responders that they had fired for refusing to get the Covid-19

Firing all those dedicate

going to tell you that there isn’t any danger now. And putting hun dreds of firefighters, police officers and other emergency workers out of work is not in the best interest of the city. It’s not safe.”

servants has helped turn that city into a crime infested war zone even worse than it has been in decades. The court, in its wisdom released the following statement: “Being vaccinated does not prevent an individual from contracting or transmitting Covid-19. If you’re going

science

It’s good to see that common sense and sanity is returning in places where it’s been lacking for so long in the interest of being ‘woke’. To quote Elon Musk’s definition of ‘Woke’ : “At its heart, wokeness is divisive, exclusionary and hateful. It basically gives mean people an excuse to be mean and cruel and armored in false virtue”. I could not agree more.

John Ciccone

BOSTON TODAY

John Ciccone

-- Endangered right whale popu lation dips again

The newest report on the health of the North Atlantic right whale popula tion shows that the number of these mammals swimming in the waters off New England has fallen from 348 in 2020 to 340, with fewer calves be ing born in 2022 than last year. While the prognosis sounds grim, WBUR’s Barbara Moran reports that research ers with New England Aquarium’s Anderson Cabot Center for Ocean Life see reason for hope in the fact that the decrease in numbers has been slowing.

-- Cooling urban heat islands one parking lot at a time

From speeding asphalt’s transi tion from black to gray to painting parking lots to reduce reflectivity, WBUR’s Martha Bebinger reports on how some communities in Massa chusetts are experimenting with how to cool urban heat islands. Of course, planting trees and grass in cities like Chelsea where pavement covers most of the community is one technique. But as pavement still absorbs heat and gives it back to the detriment of public health, some municipalities are experimenting with ways to cool the roads and parking lots themselves.

-- Brady on texting terms with Ron DeSantis

Tom Brady’s decision to leave New

Window Into The State House

Window Into The State House provides our readers a synopsis of important issues of interest, past and current, that are being proposed, debated or acted upon by the Massachusetts Legislature. Many issues that are not related to local city government services are acted upon and have a direct impact on daily life. They are tax policy, transportation infrastructure, judicial appointments, social services and health, as well as higher education. We will excerpt reports from the gavel-to-gavel coverage of House and Senate sessions by news sources focused on this important aspect of our lives. These sources include a look ahead at the coming week in state government and summaries and analyses of the past week, re-caps of a range of state government activity, as well as links to other news.

England for Tampa Bay left a sour taste in the mouths of some fans. But if those former cheerleaders were inclined to start feeling a little bad for Brady on account of his football and marital struggles of late, this story in the Times about being on texting terms with Florida Gov. Ron DeSan tis may have them reconsidering.

DeSantis isn’t exactly Mr. Popular in Massachusetts these days after flying a planeload of Venezuelan migrants to Martha’s Vineyard just to score some political points with the hard-right.

Many Patriot fans had a hard enough time with Brady keeping a MAGA hat in his locker. But I don’t remember hearing about Brady texting with ac tual Mr. Popular - Gov. Charlie Baker - when he was still playing at Gillette.

-- Swift rises from a local pine box I’m going to pretend I haven’t seen all the memes of politicians awkwardly trying to cash in on the cultural cache of Taylor Swift’s new album “Midnights,” and that includes some from Mas sachusetts. But for a truly local angle, Boston.com’s Clara McCourt reports that Swift was filmed climbing out of a casket made by Andover’s very own titan Casket in a new music video for her single “Anti-Hero.” “She’s one of the top ten famous people on the planet climbing out of our casket, so nothing comes close to this scale,” co-founder Josh Siegel said.

-- Step-therapy restrictions clear Legislature

It’s taken a long time, but the Legislature had a breakthrough yes terday as it finalized a compromise over so-called step therapy after years of wrestling with the topic. The bill sent to Gov. Charlie Bak er’s desk - the first substantial piece of legislation passed since lawmak ers recessed to informal sessions in August - would restrict the ability of insurance companies to require patients try cheaper and often older drugs before they will pay for newer and costlier therapies that have been recommended by doctors as a more effective course of treatments. State House News Service’s Sam Drys dale reports.

-- Challenger presses LeBoeuf on arrest in 17th Worcester debate

Worcester firefighter Paul Fullen, the Republican candidate for the 17th Worcester District House seat, called on incumbent David LeBoeuf to resign in the wake of his April arrest on drunk driving charges. LeBoeuf sought treatment after his arrest and says he has been sober since the incident. MassLive’s Kier nan Dunlop reports Fullen’s call for LeBoeuf to step away from the seat immediately set the tone in a testy back-and-forth.

-- Cambridge finalizes plans to wipe away parking minimums

The Cambridge City Council has given its final blessing to a plan to make the city the first in the state to completely eliminate minimum park ing requirements for new develop ment. Cambridge Day’s Marc Levy reports that details of the new rule still need to be worked out, but advocates are hopeful the move will create more opportunities to build affordable hous ing and preserve open space.

-- Absentee rate eyed as New Bedford digests abysmal MCAS scores

As communities dig deeper into the alarming drop in MCAS test scores, attention in New Bedford is turning to the high rates of chronic absenteeism in the city’s high schools where nearly 70 percent of students missed at least 10 percent of all school days. Colin Hogan of New Bedford Light has all the details.

-- Weymouth group pushes to stop new development for 18 months

A group of Weymouth residents wants the community to halt major new development for 18 months to buy time for the community to find a long-term solution to its drinking water needs. Mayor Robert Hedlund says such a move would be a financial disaster. The Patriot Ledger’s Jessica Trufant reports the citizen’s petition for a new ordinance is now under study.

Letter To The Editor Few bright spots for state GOP this year

Duringmy time as a Republican activist in Boston, I have only experienced division and discord be tween state GOP chair Jim Lyons and the more moderate faction of the party. Because I chose to speak out against Mr. Lyons, I was denied an opportunity to join the Republican State Committee and the chance to attend the party’s convention in May. As a young conservative and recent college graduate, I know what it’s like to have not only my values, but also my morality, questioned by those

around me. The party needs new voices more than ever, unfor tunately I do not see many openings for our opinions this year.

The one bright spot for our ticket this year is Anthony Amore, the Republican candidate for State Auditor. He has welcomed young conservatives in through his voters’ coalition groups and has fiscally conservative plans for state government that we should all be getting behind. While the state party is mired in mo rass this year, I’ll be busy telling my friends to support Anthony.

Timothy Smyth, Jr. - South Boston

Three staff members of the Tier ney Learning Center, Sandra Gomez, Milagros Pena, and Jose Sotz were recently recognized with this year’s Latino Excellence Award. Nominated by State Repre sentative David Biele, the staff of the Tierney Center received the award from the Massachusetts Black and Latino Legislative Caucus as part of Hispanic Heritage Month to recognize and commemorate the outstanding contributions of Latino individuals in their communities.

Located in the Anne M. Lynch Homes at Old Colony, the Tierney Learning Center opened its doors in 2012 to serve

the surrounding residents and communi ty. In staffing the Tierney Learning Cen ter, Sandra, Milagros, and Jose provide a wide range of services, including but not limited to: after-school programming for youth (ages 6-12), teen program ming, information and referral services, technology/training assistance, trauma informed youth therapy, art services, and food distribution.

During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Sandra, Milagros, and Jose pivoted and provided virtual program ming, delivered personal protection equipment, facilitated food distribution, coordinated vaccination clinics, and provided onsite support to residents

SENATE

and families in

“Sandra Gomez, Milagros Pena, and Jose Sotz are the backbone of the Tier ney Learning Center,” said Rep. Biele. “Their unwavering dedication and commitment to the residents and fami lies throughout the Anne Lynch Homes at Old Colony have made a tremendous difference in our community and I’m grateful for everything they do.”

Earlier this month, Sandra, Mila gros, and Jose were honored with the Latino Excellence Award at a ceremo ny with Speaker of the House Ronald Mariano, alongside forty other Latino Excellence Award recipients from across the Commonwealth.

Senator Nick Collins and his colleagues in the Mas sachusetts State Senate enacted H. 4929, An Act Rela tive to Step Therapy and Patient Safety unanimously.

The goal of the bill is to limit the practice of “step therapy” within the Commonwealth, which has been criticized for steering patients towards cheaper medication options, as opposed to the ones they re quire. This legislation seeks to

ensure that health care provid ers have the power to deter mine the most effective treat ment plan for their patients without interference from the patient’s medical insurance provider. As a result, patients can start rounds of necessary medication without having to undergo multiple “steps” on cheaper prescriptions.

“This marks an important step today in guaranteeing those seeking medical treat

ment throughout the Common wealth will have fewer barriers to accessing the best treatment available to them.” Said Senator Collins. “I am sure the positive effects of this legislation will be felt throughout the state, and the First Suffolk District particular ly so. I represent a diverse dis trict with a wide range of needs, and we will continue working to ensure that the health and well being of our constituents contin ues to improve.”

I Was Just Thinking…

to us but now it’s a national crisis.

And how is this deadly drug get ting into America?

Through the Dark Web but mostly via our southern border, courtesy of the Chinese Communist Party, the Mexican Drug Cartels, and of course the unofficial open border policies of the current Biden Administration.

shoveling drugs across the border.

That is not conjecture because every day, hundreds of Americans are overdosing from fentanyl, and thou sands of family members and friends are left to mourn the deaths of loved ones who died before their time.

have possibly been averted because we wouldn’t be suffering them daily due to the laissez-faire poli cies on our southern border by the present administration

by Kevin Devlin

Over 150 people die every day from overdoses related to synthetic opioids such as fentanyl. Fentanyl, which you are unable to see, taste or smell under ordinary circumstances, is 100 times more toxic than morphine. Two mil ligrams of pure fentanyl, which is about the size of about four grains of salt, is enough to kill an aver age adult. According to U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency estimates, one kilogram of fentanyl has the poten tial to kill 500,000 people.

A decade ago, fentanyl was unknown

From October 2020 to September 2021, Customs and Border Protec tion officials seized 11,201 pounds of fentanyl, an increase of 134%; enough to kill every American nearly seven times over. Since Oc tober 2021, authorities have seized more than 12,300 pounds of fentanyl at the southern border.

That is a staggering amount of fentanyl being taken off the streets, and although these officials are doing a great job, you can bet the house that an even more staggering amount is not being discovered at the border and ends up in the hands of Americans every day.

That is not conjecture but real ity based on the simple fact that the Mexican cartels are still smuggling fentanyl across our border because the border is open for business. The cartels are playing a game. They suffer losses, sustainable ones, and continue

“Tragically, these gut-wrenching occurrences blend into one solitary story about too many people dying before they should. But these aren’t ordinary circumstances because under ordinary conditions these untimely deaths could have possi bly been averted. Some will declare these heart-wrenching deaths are dictated by outside forces beyond one’s control, blindsiding in chang ing the course of lives. Others will opine that human failings are the true culprits resulting in individual disasters. And that these strategies can’t be averted. In either case it’s what I’d call the inevitability equa tion which won’t be denied as prey.”

The above is a quote from my book “Hope and Despair” -the second book of my trilogy “The Southie Pact”.

I’ve included this quote because I feel these are far from ordinary times. If we had ordinary condi tions, these deaths indeed could

If we stymied the misdeeds of outside forces, those of the Mexi can cartels and sanctioned elements within China (because we know Chinese totalitarian control wouldn’t allow this if it didn’t want it to continue) it would not be beyond one’s control, blinding and changing the course of their lives. Yes, these conditions would not exist under ordinary circumstances. But sadly, they do. You can safely bet on that.

Some will say it’s Americans themselves who are to blame, that their own inability to refrain from such destructive behavior is their own fault. Which it is to a fair degree, yet it’s still the responsibil ity of our democratic government to shield its citizens from such external dangers which shouldn’t be allowed to flourish in such a destructive, internal manner across this great nation.

Our government should indeed be protecting all citizens instead of put ting them in harm’s way as easy prey.

It’s as simple as that.

VOTE continued from front page says Rivera, indicating that there are Domini cans, Puerto Ricans, Guatemalans, people who have been here for generations and then there are the newcomers in just the Latinx commu nity. Rivera points out that “there is also the Black community which have lots of differ ent populations and pockets of folks that are experiencing things differently. Then, there are people who don’t have access to vote, that live in our communities every day”

Her organization, Mass Budget, focuses on the policy side, but there are organizations that particularly focus on increasing voter engage ment and meeting people in communities where they are. There are local organizations like La Colaborativa in Chelsea. And then there are statewide organizations like Mass Vote and the Voter Table who work directly with voters to engage in the process and to understand specifically what the challenges are in each of their communities.

While these efforts are making progress in Massachusetts, at the national level the choices made by Latino voters on Nov. 8 will be crucial to the outcome in a dispropor

tionate share of Senate battleground states, like Arizona (31.5 percent of the population), Nevada (28.9), Florida (25.8), Colorado (21.7), Georgia (9.6) and North Carolina (9.5). According to most analysts, a majority of Hispanic voters will continue to support Democratic candidates. But, the question going into the coming elections is how large that margin will be.

Recently, news website Axios reported that in the 15th Congressional District, which is 81.9 per cent Hispanic, national Democratic groups had be gun to abandon its nominee as a lost cause. Texas Democrat Michelle Vallejo, a progressive running in a majority-Hispanic Rio Grande Valley district against Republican Monica De La Cruz, isn’t getting any Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee support in her district. House Majority PAC is planning to cancel the scheduled ad reser vations for her at the end of the month, according to a source familiar with the group’s plans.

In their July 2022 paper “Reversion to the Mean, or Their Version of the Dream? An Analysis of Latino Voting in 2020,” Bernard L. Fraga, Yamil R. Velez and Emily A. West, political scientists at Emory, Columbia and the University of Pitts burgh, write that there is an increasing alignment

between issue positions and vote choice among Latinos. The results point to a more durable Republican shift than currently assumed. That is, the more Hispanic voters subordinate traditional party and ethnic solidarity in favor of voting based on conservative or moderate policy preferences, the more likely they are to defect to the Republican Party.

In an email responding to an inquiry about future trends, Fraga wrote that his sense is that most of the Latinos who shifted to the Republican Party in 2020 have not returned to the Democrat Party. Many of these new Republican converts were ideologically conservative pre-2020, so Republicans didn’t have to shift their policy message very much to win them over.

A 2021 Pew Research report found that Latinos view anti-Hispanic discrimination differently from anti-Black discrimination. Hispanic vot ers were asked whether “there was ‘too much,’ ‘about the right amount’ or ‘too little’ attention paid to race and racial issues” when it comes to Hispanics and then asked the same question about Black Americans. Just over half, 51 per continued on page 8

Halloween On Becky (Beckler Ave.) Is A Tradition

Halloween has always been a big event in South Bos ton. The parties, the Trick or Treating, the great events that community minded groups orga nize for the kids have always been something truly special and very festive. The consumption of mass quantities of Halloween candy might be a dentist’s dream, but its all part of the fun and not an every day happening.

For many years, the good peo ple who live on Beckler Ave., that small close-knit street filled with

kind people who are proud of this neighborhood and often look for ways to give back, put together, at their own expense, an extravagant Halloween display that would, for its size, rival anything Disney World could come up with. In fact, we wouldn’t be surprised if the folks from Disney borrowed some of the ideas their scouts learned from ‘Halloween on Becky’.

For years, Halloween on Beckler Ave. is the place to be if you want ed to give the kids a real treat (and maybe a scare or two). People come from miles around to hear the re corded shrieking, scary music and sounds, see the fog machines and the costumes – creative costumes to be sure.

The word is spreading around the neighborhood and the families will come to see. Beckler Ave will be alive with Halloween sounds and props and sweet treats for all. It is a beautiful display and night of fun. To those Beckler Ave. resi dents who step up and make it all happen again – Thank you and Happy spooky Halloween.

Trick-or-Treat on Broadway

The South Boston Chamber of Commerce businesses, and the South Boston Neighborhood Development Corporation invite the neighborhood children in costumes to “Trick or Treat along East and West Broadway” on Monday, October 31, 2021, from 4:00 p.m. until 6:00 p.m. Participating establishments will be clearly marked with an orange and black poster inviting the children to stop in for a treat.

Due to the narrow sidewalks along East Broadway between I Street and L Street, and for the safety and en joyment of all participants, we are asking that all Trick-or-Treaters walk in the same direction in or der to avoid congestion that would cause anyone to step into the street to pass. If you are starting in the area at I Street, please walk along the southern side of the street (odd numbered stores) and continue to L Street, using the cross walk, cross over to the northern side of the street (even numbered stores) and contin

ue back toward I Street.

If you are starting in the area at L Street, please walk along the north ern side of the street (even numbered stores) and continue toward I Street, using the cross walk, cross over to the southern side of the street (odd numbered stores) and continue back toward L Street.

Broadway businesses wishing to participate – that have not already re ceived a poster, should contact Karen at 617-990-7062 or email Karen@ vibrant-events.comv

The Wine

Guy

Second Labels

Part One

When we hear the word, “second ‘’, various things run through our minds; most of them fall along the line of, “maybe good, but not first” and most of the time, it’s true. In one case, however, while second labels of “Premier Cru” wines must be called that by law, the quality and taste of these wines is anything but, “maybe good”. Over the last 20 years, as the market for all wine has become “locally global”, like so many other goods and services, the number of second labels has increased substan tially; hence, the reason for a twopart article. While the prices aren’t cheap by themselves, they are still a bargain, in that they offer the buyer an opportunity to taste the next best thing to some of the best wines on the planet or hold them and let them age further. It is a rare, sumptuous treat to have any of the following...

2010 Chateau Leoville-Las Cases ‘Le Petit Lion du Marquis de Las Cases’ Saint Julien, France, ($92.99). Relatively new, ‘Le Petit Lion du Marquis de Las Cases’ is

the true ‘second wine’ of Chateau Leoville-Las Cases. ‘Clos du Mar quis’ is technically a second vine yard rather than a ‘second wine’. Attractively ripe, this second wine from Château Léoville las Cases is initially fruity. The structure comes through only slowly to reveal itself. This wine is ripe, yet shot through with acidity; it easily has another 10-12 years to develop, yet is really enjoyable today. Any higher-end beef dish, from N.Y. strip to Filet to Chateaubriand will bring out this wine’s plush structure, as well as flavors that you’ll rarely find in other wines.

2009 Echo de Lynch Bages Chateau Haut-Bages Averous, Pauil lac, France, ($73.99), is the second label of Ch. Lynch-Bages, whose first growth label from the same year retails for between $575-$600.00 per bottle. It has a deep, inky color with a cavalcade of red fruit and bak ing spice notes, as well as a smoky, earthy body that will be optimized if you have the patience to let it decant for about two hours. Again, for the money, this is a super rich, heady taste experience, with a nose, palate and finish that you’ll remember for a long, long time. Like the others men tioned here, it’s a rare combination of smoothness and powerful structure.

Château Montrose, La Dame de Montrose, St.-Estephe, Bordeaux, ($52.99) is the second wine from Chateau Montrose. It presents as a very deep, dark ruby-red;the wine is practically opaque, with a purple rim. The nose is composed of very strong and brooding dark fruit, plum & damson fruit notes that combine harmoniously with fresh acidity on dark cherry, tabac and caramel notes around town that are offering these wines.

cent, of Latino respondents said, “too little” at tention is paid to discrimination against Hispan ics, 28 percent said, “about the right amount” and 19 percent said, “too much.” Conversely, 30 per cent of Latino respondents said that in the case of Black Americans, “too little” attention is paid to discrimination, 23 percent said, “about the right amount” and 45 percent said, “too much.”

UC-Berkeley Professor Haney López sug gested that the greatest failure of the Demo cratic Party with respect to Latinos, and indeed the polity generally, is its failure to pursue policies and to stress stories that build social solidarity, especially across lines of race, class,

and other wedge identities, including gender and sexual identity.

Marcelo Suárez-Orozco, the chancellor of the University of Massachusetts, Boston, and a former dean of the U.C.L.A. Graduate School of Education & Information Studies, had a somewhat different take. Suárez-Orozco wrote in an email: “I am unpersuaded by the claim that Hispanics are becoming more conserva tive. To be more precise, over time, they are becoming more American. The holy trinity of integration: language, marriage patterns and connectivity to the labor market tell a power ful story. Over time, Hispanics mimic main stream norms. They are learning English much

faster than Italians did a century and a half ago, they are marrying outside their ethnicity at very significant rates, and their connectiv ity to the labor market is very muscular”. To Suárez-Orozco, Latinos in the United States are primed to play an ever more significant role — in politics and everywhere else: “The dominant metaphor on Hispanics qua elections over the last half-century has been ‘the sleep ing giant.’ When the sleeping giant wakes up: Alas, s/he is us.”

The question is whether this “sleeping gi ant” will move to the right or to the left. The evidence points both ways — but this is not a contest the Democrats can afford to lose.

On Friday, November 11, 2022, the Fitzgerald VFW Post #561 will hold its 71st annual Veterans’ Day Memorial Service. The or der of events will be as follows:

• 9:00 AM: Assembly at Post Quarters for refreshments

• 9:40 AM: March to St. Brigid Church

• 10:00 AM: Memorial Mass –Upstairs

Beginning Veterans’ Day, the Post will be accepting Christmas donations for the Chelsea Sol diers’ Home – gift cards, hats, socks, scarves, toiletries, etc…

The residents will be forever grateful.

Thank you, Thomas J. McCarthy Commander

Better Bus Project: MBTA Releases Revised Bus Network Map

MBTA’s efforts to invest in better, more equitable transit.”

Today the MBTA released a revised Bus Network Map<https://www.mbta. com/projects/bus-network-redesign/ update/revised-bus-network-map>, which is also available at mbta.com/ BNRD<https://www.mbta.com/ BNRD>. The Revised Network Map was developed based on feedback received on the Draft Bus Network Map released in May 2022.

“We are pleased with the progress made by the MBTA to improve bus service for riders after launching Bus Network Redesign, and reach ing out to customers and community leaders for feedback through public meetings, in-person contact, and on line engagement,” said Transporta tion Secretary and CEO Jamey Tes ler. “These transformative changes for bus riders included within the Revised Map reflect where people want to travel in today’s world to critical destinations like schools, retail areas, hospitals, and senior centers. The Bus Network Redesign Project continues to build upon the

“We listened to our riders during the public feedback process, and we’re excited to today share the re vised and redesigned bus network map that incorporates and reflects the many thousands of comments we received,” said MBTA General Manager Steve Poftak. “This new and revised bus network continues to represent bold improvements to the MBTA bus system, and provides more equitable service to our cur rent and future riders. With the goal of modernizing the bus network through this redesign, this revised map also preserves direct rides to many locations throughout the ser vice area, improves access to critical services like hospitals, and provides 25% more service than the existing network. We thank our community of riders for sharing their comments with us and helping us to shape the future of MBTA bus service.”

The Revised Bus Network con tinues to increase service by 25% across the system and doubles the number of high frequency corridors, which are defined as corridors in

which buses arrive every 15 minutes or better throughout the entirety of the service day, seven days a week.

Information about the updated bus network is available at mbta.com/ BNRD<https://www.mbta.com/ BNRD>, which includes:

• A static Regional Map that shows the proposed redesigned bus network at a regional level.

• An interactive Remix map, which allows users to zoom in and out, pan around, and click on specif ic routes to get detailed information about schedules and runtime.

• A table of changes by route number from the proposed map that was released in May 2022 and the updated map.

Updates from the May 2022 Pro posed Bus Network:

Changes were made to 85 of the 133 proposed bus routes that were part of the May 2022 Draft Bus Network. These changes include new routing, restoration of existing routes, addition or subtraction of proposed routes, extensions of routes, and modifi cations to route schedules.

Changes were made for five pri

mary reasons:

1. To respond to public feedback received on the draft bus network proposal.

2. To improve access to hospitals, senior centers, and other destina tions.

3. To reduce walking distances for seniors and other riders, and to re duce walking in locations with chal lenging topography.

4. To preserve existing one-seat rides to many destinations.

5. To balance resources, stay within the limit of buses avail able during peak times, and to stay within the overall service limit of 25% more service above the existing network.

Next steps for the Project in clude the virtual public meeting on November 2 at 6 PM<https:// www.mbta.com/events/2022-11-02/ public-meeting-bus-network-rede sign-virtual>, the completion of the Equity Analysis of the Revised Bus Network currently underway by De cember 2022, and a public meeting to discuss the Revised Bus Network Equity Analysis to be held this win ter 2022/2023.

The Bus Network Redesign’s proposal for bus service will create a more equitable network with more frequent service, better connections, and more all-day service every day. New revised Bus Network Map is available at mbta.com/BNRD<https://www.mbta.com/BNRD>

South Boston Catholic Academy News

Mr. Evan Bourque is a new and excited mem ber of the South Bos ton Catholic Academy family. He

received his BA in Early Educa tion and Care In Inclusive set tings from the University of Mas sachusetts Boston. Mr. Bourque is a welcoming and accepting teacher who will provide a safe and fun environment. He along with his Assistant, Mrs. Lois

Picard, are a wonderful team! In his free time, you can find Mr. Bourque hanging out with fam ily and friends and working at Fenway Park for the Kids crew. From Mr. Bourque…“My experi ence in K2C has been wonderful. Every day the students make me more and more happy with being a part of this wonderful school

and community. The students in K2C are so creative, positive, and special! “I look forward to the rest of this year to learn and grow with the students in K2C.” New families are welcome to email our admissions team at: admissions@sbcatholicacademy.org for more info. about South Boston Catholic Academy.

A BIG Welcome to our new K2C Teacher!

St. Peter Academy

Halloween Spooktacular

An awesome time was had by all at the St. Peter Acad emy Halloween Spook tacular! It was a full house at the beautiful newly renovated Lithu anian Club. Everyone joined in the fun with fantastic costumes and dancing. Such a great school com munity event. We are so happy to be able to hold these events again!

We have a list of shout outs and thank yous!

-Thank you to entire St. Peter Academy Community for show

ing up, donating raffle baskets, buying raffle tickets, bringing friends/family to the event. We are so proud to have the best families/staff in our community.

-Thank you to Kick Off for Kids for donating the funds for DJ Rob ert Vincent. He kept us dancing and partying all night!

-A shout out to Miss Jackie and Miss Brittney for organiz ing and setting up the raffle baskets. They were all beauti fully done and presented. Su

per impressive.

-Shout out to Mr. Andy Dilba and the Lithuanian Club! The club was donated for our event and Mr. Dilba did a great job bartending. It was beautiful venue! We truly value our relationship. If you are looking for a location to host an event, we highly recommend the Lithuanian Club.

-Shout outs for donations and volunteers: Healey Family, Pi nette Family, Kennedy Family, Beebe Family, Jacqueline Beg gan, Brittney Gates, Olga’s Kafe, Kaileigh Beggan, Gail Coakley, Francine Walsh, Jeanmarie Stewart, Gina Henson and Maria Blasi. St. Peter Academy is continuing to accept applications for the 2022-2023 school year. St. Pe ter Academy is an independent,

community-based private school and serves students from ages 15 months through grade 6. SPA is currently accepting applications for the limited spaces available in the year-round toddler program (beginning at age 15 months) and for students in Pre-K (School Year and Full Year Programs), Kindergarten and grades 1-6. Financial Aid Available. Two Scholarships will be offered this year for applicants for Grades 1 through 6. You may request scholarship information from the Front Office (spa@stpetera cademy.com). Appointments for individual virtual tours can be made by contacting Maria Blasi, at 617-268-0750 or by emailing spa@StPeterAcademy.com.

It pains me to say this. But it’s over. Tom Brady is done with football.

He’ll never tell you that, of course. And perhaps he’s brain washed himself into believing he’s still 100 percent committed to the game and his current team, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

But if you’re paying attention — and I am — then it’s obvious: this is a different Tom Brady we’re talking about here.

The latest example? How about missing a team walk-through be fore a regular season game? That’s right, Brady missed a Buccaneers Saturday walk-through, the day before his team’s Week 6 game in Pittsburgh. Why, you ask? Was it an emergency situation? Was it a serious matter that Brady just had to take care of, something way more important than football? No, and no.

Brady attended Robert Kraft’s wedding on Friday night in New York City, the night before the Buccaneers’ Saturday morning walk-through. Tampa’s quarter back met the team in Pittsburgh later on Saturday. The Buccaneers lost to the Steelers, 20-18. Brady finished the game 25-of-40 for 243

This past Sunday, in Week 7, the Buccaneers lost again, this time to the Panthers in Carolina, 21-3. Brady finished that game 32-of-49 for 290 passing yards. The Bucs have now lost four of their last five games and are 3-4 on the season. Some way, some how, they’re still in first place in the NFC South.

In a press conference this week, Brady smiled to the media and said, “No retirement in my future.” That’s not really a surprise. I’m not expecting Brady to call it quits in the middle of a season, espe cially since they’re still technically a first-place team in their brutal division. But let’s also remind our selves that Brady retired for a full month this past offseason, only to un-retire in a bizarre fashion.

So, even if you don’t want to get involved in the tabloid gossip-game, you have to at least acknowledge that something was going on behind the scenes that initially forced him to make a 10-slide retirement post on instagram in the offseason. Ru mors continue to swirl about a po tential divorce with Gisele. Whether that’s true or not, there’s no deny

ing that something is taking over Brady’s brain and heart that’s taking away from his 100-percent commit ment to the game of football.

I mean, think about it. The Brady we all know and love wouldn’t be skipping a team walk-through in order to go to his previous owner’s second wedding the night before that walk-through. Knowing Brady the way we do, it’s actually absurd to think about. It’s so crazy, that my brain can’t even process it. Imagine being one of his Buccaneers teammates? Bet ter yet, imagine being one of his Buccaneers offensive linemen who Brady was screaming at on the sidelines during the game against the Steelers, the game in which he skipped the walk-through for?

I don’t care what those line men say publicly, but to a man, at least one of them was thinking to themselves, “This dude’s got some nerve to scream in my face right now, when he was out party ing while I was preparing for the game.” And ok, “partying” might be strong. But you get the point. Brady also missed a preseason game with an 11-day absence from training camp before the regular season began. To which,

when he returned, Brady had a quote that you can bet pissed off some Buccaneers players, coach es, and personnel.

“It’s all personal,” said Brady in a press conference upon return ing to training camp. “You know, everyone’s got different situations they’re dealing with, so we all have very unique challenges to our life. “I’m 45 years old, man, there’s a lot of [expletive] going on. Just got to figure out life the best you can. It’s a continuous process.”

I’m not happy that Brady has a lot of [expletive] going on, but you mean to tell me that he’s the only member of the Buccaneers that has [expletive] going on during training camp? You think it’s all sunshine and rainbows for every one on his team that’s still show ing up because, after all, it’s their job? That’s the quote that I’m sure people in the Tampa Bay organiza tion won’t forget if things continue to go downhill for the Bucs this season.

Imagine tuning out the greatest of all time? Better yet, imagine Brady giving up on football?

It sure feels like he has.

Follow Danny on instagram @ DannyPicard.

This week, Danny shared his thoughts on Tom Brady’s future in the NFL:

passing yards, with one touchdown and zero interceptions, while being sacked twice.

WHAT TO WATCH

SPORTS TODAY

PATRIOTS BENCH JONES, LOSE TO BEARS

The entire football world got to witness how Bill Belich ick handled his quarterback situation on Monday night at Gil lette Stadium. Everyone who saw it is still looking for answers.

New England lost to the Chicago Bears, 33-14, while using two dif ferent quarterbacks in prime time on Monday Night Football. Mac Jones made his first start since suf fering a high-ankle sprain in Week 3, but was pulled from the game in favor of Bailey Zappe after just three possessions.

The Patriots are now 3-4 on the sea son, and in last place in the AFC East.

With the national spotlight shin ing down on the Pats in Foxboro, Jones threw an interception in the final seconds of the first quarter, ending his night while the Bears led 10-0. Zappe entered the game under center for the next possession, and ended a four-play drive with a 30-yard touchdown pass to Jakobi Meyers, cutting Chicago’s lead to 10-7 in the opening minutes of the second quarter.

Four plays later, Bears quarter back Justin Fields threw an intercep tion, which led to another Patriots touchdown drive, as Rhamondre

Tweet of the Week

Stevenson ran one into the end zone to give the Patriots a 14-10 lead.

Chicago responded in a big way, scoring a touchdown with just under two minutes to play in the second quarter, on a 25-yard touchdown pass from Fields to Khalil Herbert, putting the Bears up 17-14. It would end up being the first of five straight possessions in which Chicago would score points.

Zappe’s night was all downhill from there, as he and Meyers fum bled a hand-off which led to a Bears field goal to end the second quarter and send the two teams into the half with Chicago leading 20-14.

In the second half, the Patriots were shut out by the Bears defense, as Zappe threw two interceptions.

Chicago scored 13 more points and sealed the deal on an upset win in a game that they entered as an eightpoint underdog.

Zappe finished the game 14-of22 for 185 pass yards, with one touchdown and two interceptions.

Jones finished 3-of-6 for 13 pass yards and 24 rush yards. Stevenson led the Patriots in rushing with 11 carries for 39 yards. Stevenson also led the team in receptions, with a game-high eight catches, totaling 59 receiving yards.

After the game, Belichick was asked about replacing Jones with

Zappe in the first half, and said that using both quarterbacks in the game was part of the plan. Jones seemed to agree.

“I think, like I said earlier, just part of the plan,” said Jones, when asked what he was told by the coaching staff when he was pulled from the game after his first-quarter interception. “I think Coach Belichick obviously did a really, really good job explain ing it to me. I knew what the plan was, and the timing is the timing, but we were on the same page, and there’s no hard feel ings or anything. I wish I played better while I was in there, but hopefully I’ll have a chance to do that in practice and kind of earn that back and then apply it in the game. We definitely want to play better as a team, and we’re going to do that and work together and put our best foot forward.”

Zappe was a little less descriptive with his answer to the same question.

“I prepared this week like I have every other week,” said Zappe after the game. “I prepared as if I was going to play or not. This game didn’t go our way, so get back to work this week, and get ready for the Jets.

“I prepare like I have every other week,” added Zappe after being

asked again about the plan to use two quarterbacks. “And if that deci sion was made for me to go in, then I was going to go out there and do the best for my team.”

A day after the loss to the Bears, on Tuesday, Belichick was asked if Jones would be the starter moving forward, if healthy. And Belichick refused to commit.

“Again, that’s a hypothetical ques tion,” said Belichick. “So let’s see where that is and what that is.”

The Patriots now get set for a Week 8 matchup against the New York Jets at MetLife Stadium this Sunday at 1 p.m. The Jets are 5-2 and have won four straight, beating the Steelers, Dolphins, Packers, and Broncos in that stretch.

New England opened as a 1.5-point favorite in the game.