ICE says it issued 198 detainer requests with the Boston Police Department last year.
BPD Commissioner Michael Cox said there were only 15. The reason for the two vastly different figures is unclear.
“ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) issued each of the 198 detainers after the Boston Police Department arrested individuals on criminal charges who ICE had prob-
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Ever since the City of Boston made the decision to install speed bumps on an increasing number of residential streets, there has been a debate among locals about whether that decision was the right one. Some are in favor of the increase, some people don’t want any at all and there are those who say the city should install them on every street. And when you look at the reasoning behind these three most prevalent points of view we just mentioned, all sides seem to have arguments that make sense. So we gave it some thought and decided to present the opinions to our readers and see what you think. But first, a short history of the traffic problems that our neighborhood has going on in regard to safety concerns when it comes to making our streets safer.
Anyone who has lived in South Boston for even a fairly short amount of time is well aware that we have more than our share of motor vehicle accidents; some minor, some serious and tragically, some
even fatal. Over the years, this town has had pedestrians of all ages injured by speeding and or out of control vehicles. There are monuments and memorials dedicated to young children hit and killed by cars. Seniors have also been victims – pretty much neighbors of all ages. Most are well aware of the accident that took place just last Sunday at Andrew Square that took one life and hospitalized two others. We’re not saying this was a result of speeding or reckless driving. At this writing, all the facts aren’t yet in. The residents who are demanding that more speed bumps be added to virtually every street and road within this community’s borders have a clear point: Speed bumps slow vehicles down. Most drivers don’t want to cause damage to their cars, pickups or SUV’s and even to their motorized scooters, so the odds are pretty high that when there is a speed bump in the road, they WILL slow down. As we said –good point. And yet, those who say there are way too many speed bumps also have
a point when they remind us that consideration should be given regarding emergency vehicles like fire engines, ambulances and police vehicles could have their response times affected by too many bumps in the road and could cause someone who’s having a stroke or heart attack or life threatening injury or maybe even their home on fire to lose their lives; especially in cases when sometimes minutes or even seconds might matter. No matter what your view
on this issue, and we here at South Boston Today would like to hear your views, we think many would agree we have a traffic problem in Southie and it’s getting worse. We’ve all seen people speeding up and down Broadway; on the number and letter streets etc., sometimes even passing other moving cars. People texting while driving paying little to no attention to pedestrians and other cars. So what to do? Well it would be great if we had enough police to constantly
be out in force to concentrate on reckless drivers. They are doing their best, but as we all know, they are short staffed. We as residents can do our part. If you see speeding or out of control drivers blowing through red lights and stop signs, take their plate numbers and call them in. And other suggestions are most welcome and truly needed and all will be taken seriously. But the fact remains, something must be done before someone else gets hurt or killed.
n last week’s column, I mentioned that 159 Democrat congress members voted against the Laken Riley Bill. As most know now the Bill, if it is to become law and it now looks like it will, would require that illegal immigrants who commit crimes in the United States are immediately arrested, jailed and deported; especially those who commit crimes such as murder, rape, robbery etc. The bill was prompted by the violent murder of 21 year old Laken Riley who was killed by an illegal who not only entered the country illegally, but who had been arrested for prior crimes and released back out into the public do to lax liberal laws. Now who could be against that and why?
Among the 159 Democrat congress members who voted to oppose the bill were all but one member of congress from Massachusetts. The one member of the Massachusetts delegation who voted FOR the bill was, to his credit – Stephen Lynch of South Boston. But in addition to most of the Massachusetts members of the US House of Representatives, it seems that this state’s two United States Senators; Senators Elizabeth Warren and Edward Markey said they will also oppose the bill when it gets to the US Senate. Again, the question that needs to be addressed is what is wrong with these people?
These two politicians have been a consistent embarrassment to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts for their off the wall leftist ‘progressive’ views. But Markey took it a step further this week , when in one of his lunatic rants, has come out and blamed President elect Donald Trump and Climate Change for the raging all consuming fires wreaking havoc in California.
You see, Markey, and the liberal/ progressives like him never point the
finger at themselves and those lawmakers like them for the policies they promote. Oh no – never. Most every law and rule and regulation they promote is a disaster. They tend to ruin everything they get their hands on. And pretty much whenever the mess they create explodes in their faces, they try to lay the blame on Climate Change and Trump. But as crazy and as inept as Markey and Warren and their likeminded colleagues on the national level are, California Governor Gavin Newsome, liberal Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and the circus that is the Democrat run California State Legislature actually out do Markey et al as far as the level of lunacy.
Gavin Newsome, Markey and Warren and the rest can try to shift the blame to Climate and Trump all they want, but no one with an IQ above 20 is buying it this time. The truth has come out and it has nothing to with Trump, the Climate, FOX News or any other entity they claim is the cause of everything from Ostriches not being able to fly to the fall of the Roman Empire. It has everything to do with just plain stupid ideas, these politicians allowing themselves to be controlled by radical environmental groups pulling their strings and just plain incompetence and mismanagement.
Those who run California; in particular Gavin Newsome have for years have ignored and then blocked the real experts on forestry FROM clearing the millions of dead dry trees that cover the forest floors and go up like dry tinder at the strike of lightning or the strike of a match from an arsonist. The dry dead wood feeds the fires until it turns into an inferno and wind storms cause it to spread everywhere which is happening now. Newsome and the other California crazies also stopped the
flow of billions of gallons of rain water and mountain snow run off from flowing into areas where it is desperately needed because they say it might cause certain fish to drown – yes, they said this. They allowed the fire hydrants to go dry and cut fire fighting budgets to the bone and rerouted that tax money toward supporting and protecting the flow of illegal migrants that they encourage to break our country’s laws. What’s happening in California is tragic. People injured and killed, thousands of structures destroyed and families left homeless. It could have
been avoided if people did their jobs and dealt with data and facts and not the fantasies promoted and pushed by the radical advocates of the nonsense such as the ‘Green New Deal’. But the sad thing is, if the majority of voters in California continue to vote for reality challenged politicians who keep forcing crack pot ‘woke’ ideas and policies on them, raging fires will continue to plague that state well into the future. Remember, one definition of insanity is to continue doing the same things over again; no matter how destructive and expect a different outcome.
Gov. Healey’s State of the Commonwealth address is tonight, and along with it speculation about what she’ll cover — among other hot-topic themes that could take center stage are recently-unveiled transportation funding and shelter plans; health care stability; implementation plans for bills passed in 2024; economic competitiveness; and more about how she plans to lead the state under a Trump presidency. In an ever-continuing saga, the judge in the Karen Read murder trial now has off-therecord notes from a Boston Magazine interview with Read. And Massachusetts moved up in gun safety rankings according to Everytown for Gun Safety, a leading gun violence prevention advocacy group — the state now sits second in the group’s rankings, with stronger gun laws than every state aside from California.
Giant pink floating men invading downtown Boston Winteractive, the Boston program designed to spruce up downtown during the cold, dark time of year,
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.
has a new installation: giant pink floating men. The BBJ’s Isabel Hart reports that the six floating men aren’t alone, as the installation also includes “a car impaled by a satellite and some family-friendly light installations in City Hall plaza.” The Downtown Business Alliance, which is behind the art installations, said the goal was to show work that was provocative and also family friendly.
Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation predicts difficult decisions ahead in 2025-26 session preview
Pointing to the known and unknown costs outside the annual budget, in a 2025-2026 session preview published Wednesday, the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation suggested that maintaining modest rates of spending growth in fiscal year 2026 should be a priority for state policymakers. The preview goes over a number of aspects of state spending, including education (early education and care and K-12 education financing), health care policy (end of pandemic-era federal funding, implementation of legislation passed in 2024, and the state’s response to Steward), trans-
portation, workforce and economic development, and capital spending and infrastructure. The preview offers an overview of the state budget process and the factors that have had the largest impacts on state spending decisions in recent years. MTF — a public policy research and analysis organization that often helps Beacon Hill with fiscal and policy advice — also identified the key policy questions that policymakers will face in the upcoming legislative session related to the state’s short and longterm fiscal outlook.
Healey proposes significant changes to right-to-shelter system
In a move she deemed “appropriate and needed,” Gov. Healey proposed major changes to the state’s right-to-shelter law on Wednesday. The governor said her proposal is meant to keep the “original intent of the law” in place while changing basic requirements and screening processes in the admission process. Healey is asking House and Senate leadership to include this newest set of reforms into a supplemental budget. The pro -
posal follows a recent increase in concerns and scrutiny of the system’s long-term sustainability and safety. Among other changes, the new proposal requires all shelter applicants to disclose all criminal convictions while mandating a CORI check prior to placement. The proposal also requires anyone receiving emergency assistance to show an intent to remain in Massachusetts.
Under Healey’s proposal, shelter applicants would be required to verify their identity, residency, and status prior to placement, and all members of families would be required to prove their lawful status, with rare exceptions. The changes also would put a geographic limitation on families who are eligible for shelter based on no-fault eviction, meaning families evicted in other states would not be eligible to then come to Massachusetts for shelter. In response to Healey’s announcement, the MassGOP said her proposed reforms have been “long advocated [for] by Republicans” over the past two years. The party called the administration’s propos-
continued on page 6
This week, U.S. Representative Stephen F. Lynch (MA-08) announced the City of Quincy will receive over $10 million dollars in federal funding to complete roadway construction and make traffic and pedestrian/bicycle improvements at Southern Artery and Sea Street in Quincy. The funding is from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s RAISE Grants and is part of a recent state-wide announcement of over $102 million dollars in federal grants
awarded to cities and towns across the Commonwealth.
“I am very pleased we were able to direct over $10 million dollars of federal funding to Mayor Koch’s team and the City of Quincy so we can continue the work to repair and redesign these local roadways and intersections to improve public safety,” said Rep. Lynch. “This federal grant will help Quincy complete their Southern Artery multimodal transportation project,
Bill would lower costs for patients with chronic illnesses
Recently, the Massachusetts Legislature passed comprehensive reforms to lower the cost of prescription drugs at the pharmacy counter and improve oversight of the state’s pharmaceutical industry. S.3012, An Act relative to pharmaceutical access, costs, and transparency, requires health insurers to cover life-saving medications for diabetes, asthma, and certain heart conditions with no or limited out-of-pocket costs for patients. The measure is particularly critical for residents of color, who disproportionately face chronic illnesses. The bill takes bold action to lower out-of-pocket costs and ensure
access to life saving medications by offering immediate price relief for prescription drugs used to treat diabetes, asthma, and certain heart conditions. For each condition, the bill requires insurers to eliminate cost-sharing requirements for one generic drug and to cap co-payments on one brand-name drug at $25 per 30-day supply.
It further brings down consumer costs by ensuring that consumers are not charged a cost-sharing amount, such as a co-pay, if it would be cheaper for them to purchase the drug without using their insurance.
“Reasonable caps on drug prices will lead to less anxiety, financial stress and better health outcomes.” said Senator Nick Collins.
“I am proud to have supported this law delivering important reforms to prescription drug pricing. For too long, people with chronic illnesses have paid too much for their daily medications. This bill will bring the relief they deserve.”
which includes updating sidewalks, intersections, and increase transportation safety in the surrounding area. That area of Quincy is very busy and I am grateful for the partnership and strong advocacy of Mayor Tom Koch and his planning and public works departments to help put this together. I am also grateful to Senators Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey for their support in moving this funding through the Senate.”
“This is a landmark investment in
Quincy’s transportation infrastructure, and an absolute game-changer that will make this corridor safer and more manageable for pedestrians and drivers for generations to come,” said Mayor Koch. “These improvements have been discussed for a long time, and it’s thanks to Congressman Lynch’s steadfast advocacy on our community’s behalf that this vision will now become a reality.”
Last year, the City of Quincy received over $15.7 million dollars in federal funding and Congressman Lynch remains committed to continuing his work with Mayor Koch to ensure the City of Quincy receives the necessary funding to complete critical local projects. The federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) signed into law by President Joe Biden, provided $1.2 trillion dollars for basic infrastructure and transportation needs across the country. As part of that total, Massachusetts is expected to receive up to $9 billion dollars.
able cause to believe were removable non-citizens,” ICE spokesperson Yolanda Choates said in a statement.
BPD and ICE Dispute cont. from front page meeting with ICE officials. Flynn’s letter is on the agenda for the City Council meeting on Wednesday, and could be the basis for further discussion then.
The news comes as Presidentelect Donald Trump prepares to move back into the White House and oversee what he promises will be the largest mass deportation effort in American history. Mass deportation plans will likely lean heavily on the cooperation of local law enforcement officials. But some cities, like Boston, have laws on the books that limit how much local police can help ICE agents.
What is the reason for this large discrepancy? The confusion stems from the methods by which ICE sends the detainer requests to the BPD, a spokesperson for the department said Monday. Specifically, the requests are sent entirely via fax machine, they said. This is despite the BPD asking for them to be sent via email as well two years ago.
Councilor Ed Flynn sent a letter to Commissioner Cox asking for clarification on the number of detainer requests and voicing his concern about the two widely differing numbers offered by Cox and ICE. He also urged Cox to seek a
Window continued from page 4
The BPD does not enforce civil immigration laws and does not ask about an individual’s immigration status. People are only taken into custody when there is probable cause that a crime has been committed or if they are the subject of a valid arrest warrant. The release or the continued detention of a person in custody can only be authorized by the bail commissioner or a court. Once a person posts bail or is transferred to a court, local departments do not have the authority to continue to detain them.
“A warrant is an order from a court that commands a law enforcement agency to take custody of an individual. Immigration Detainers do not constitute a warrant or contain information regarding criminal conduct. They are limited to information regarding a person’s status as what they refer to as a ‘removable alien,’” Burns said.
In 2017, a state Supreme Judicial Court decision prohibited law enforcement officials in Massachu-
als “half measures” that are being proposed “after the damage has been done.” MassGOP Chair Amy Carnevale called it “a shame” that the administration “took this long to come to terms with the gravity of the situation.” On Tuesday, a number of Republican lawmakers announced their own plan to address the state’s overwhelmed shelter system.House Speaker Ron Mariano responded to the governor’s proposals with a statement referring to the supplemental shelter budget Healey filed in early January, writing that the House “will remain focused on instituting further reforms centered around fiscal responsibility and safety, policies.”
Feds withdraw proposed vessel speed reduction rule Federal regulators withdrew the vessel speed reduction rule proposed to protect North Atlantic right whales, per a notice posted on the Federal Register Wednesday by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and National Marine Fisheries Service. The Current’s Jason Graziadei reports that for more than two years, Nantucket fishermen, municipal officials and ferry operators have been flagging concerns about the proposed restriction, which would have effectively ended fast ferry travel to and from the island. The UMass Donahue Institute completed an economic impact analysis last month, finding that Nantucket’s economy would take an annual financial hit worth millions of dollars. Last month, Gov. Healey wrote a letter to NOAA opposed to the proposed regulation.
setts from making arrests based on federal civil immigration matters. There is no state law that authorizes officers to arrest or detain people based on civil immigration detainers.
The Boston Trust Act prohibits police from detaining an individual solely on a civil immigration detainer request after they are eligible for release from custody. The Trust Act was originally enacted in 2014 and amended in 2019. Last month, City Council unanimously reaffirmed its support for the ordinance in anticipation of Trump’s incoming administration.
Cox said that the 15 requests received by the BPD were not acted on, in accordance with the Trust Act.
ICE said that all 198 were not acted on. All the requests were issued for people who had been arrested for engaging in “egregious criminal activity,” ICE spokesperson Yolanda Choates said in a statement last week. She blasted laws like the Trust Act, saying they decrease public safety.
“The decision not to cooperate with ICE jeopardizes public safety and national security by thwarting ICE custody in a safe and secure environment,” Choates said. “Instead, noncooperation laws allow suspected and
convicted felons, with no legal basis to remain in the United States, to integrate into our communities where ERO officers must then track them and attempt a public apprehension.”
Mayor Michelle Wu and other defenders of the Trust Act say that it increases public safety by ensuring immigrants can engage with local law enforcement and report crimes without fear of deportation. Wu said after Trump’s victory in November that BPD will not be required or expected to participate in mass deportations of residents who have not been part of serious criminal activity. That led to a public back-andforth with Trump’s incoming “border czar,” Tom Homan.
The Trust Act also bars local police from using department money or personnel to interrogate, detain, or arrest people for immigration enforcement purposes.
“Given that the Boston Police Department does not have authority to continue to detain an individual eligible for release, does not have a role in enforcing immigration laws and cannot use Department resources for immigration enforcement purposes, the Boston Police Department does not enforce civil immigration laws,” Burns said.
At this week’s Boston City Council meeting, Councilor Ed Flynn will re-file a hearing order to discuss pedestrian safety, traffic-calming, and expanding the Safety Surge program in the city. He will also file a resolution in support of the replacement of concurrent pedestrian phasing traffic signals in Boston. This legislation follows a tragic and fatal car crash at Andrew Square in South Boston this week.
Pedestrian safety has long been a top priority for Councilor Flynn. In 2018, he recommended a 12-Point pedestrian safety plan to the city that called for the use of speed humps, raised crosswalks, pedestrian islands with rapid flash beacons, and curb extensions among other traffic-calming infrastructure. In 2019, after two pedestrians were
struck by a van at the intersection of Melcher and Summer Streets in Fort Point at the site of a concurrent phasing traffic signal, one of them passed away due to their injuries. At that time, Councilor Flynn called for and held a Council hearing on concurrent pedestrian phasing traffic signals. He has consistently voiced opposition to giving cars a green arrow at the same time as, and in conflict with, pedestrian crossing signals.
Pedestrian safety is a critical component of public safety and overall quality of life for residents. The City of Boston is committed to pedestrian safety as part of Vision Zero - the goal of having zero serious and fatal traffic crashes. With this, the city lowered its default speed limit on neighborhood streets from 30 mph to 25 mph in 2017, with calls from City Councilors to lower it further to 20 mph.
In 2023, the Safety Surge Program and installation of speed humps was welcomed by many residents as a way to slow down cars; however, speed humps are currently limited to being installed on neighborhood side streets. Councilor Flynn has
At this week’s City Council meeting, Boston City Councilor Ed Flynn will be filing a hearing order to discuss the discrepancies in the number of 2024 Detainer Requests in Boston. In a letter from the Boston Police Department to the City Clerk last week, it was reported that the City of Boston rejected 15 detainer requests from the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Media reports stated that these figures were contradicted by ICE, which indicated that there were 198 immigration detainer requests, far higher than the 15 requests communicated
advocated for years that raised infrastructure be placed where the majority of vehicular and pedestrian foot traffic actually come into conflict- on main streets, commercial roads, high traffic corridors, and bus routes. It is a natural fit to have traffic-calming infrastructure in these areas of high foot traffic, and force speeding cars to slow down to allow for pedestrians, our seniors, persons with disabilities, and young families to cross the street more safely.
Moreover, residents throughout the city continue to call attention to the potential for a dangerous situation when it comes to concurrent pedestrian phasing traffic signals- where pedestrians have a signal to cross the street at the very same time that vehicles have a signal to turn at an intersection, with the expectation that the motor vehicle will always yield to the pedestrian in the crosswalk.
In 2020, Councilor Flynn also called for declaring speeding cars as a Public Health Emergency. In 2021, he called for a portion of the Federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill funding for
by the Boston Police.
Media outlets reported that ICE requested the custody transfer of 198 individuals, citing that these individuals were involved in criminal activity. The report stated the criminal charges included violent and serious crimes such as armed robbery, assault with a dangerous weapon, assault and battery on a police officer, assault to murder, possession of a firearm, possession of a large capacity weapon, possession with intent to distribute fentanyl, trafficking of heroin, indecent assault and battery on a person 14 or older, possession with intent to dis -
the city to be dedicated to address long-standing pedestrian safety needs with improved traffic-calming infrastructure. This City Council Resolution will aim to replace concurrent phasing traffic signals.
“Pedestrian safety continues to be one of the top issues we face in the City of Boston- but it can no longer be a one-size fits all approach. I continue to advocate for traffic-calming infrastructure like raised crosswalks, speed humps, pedestrian islands with rapid flash beacons and curb extensions and that they be installed where the majority of vehicular traffic and pedestrians are- our main streets, commercial roads, high-traffic corridors, and bus routes,” said Councilor Flynn. “We also need to prioritize pedestrian safety crossing signals at our intersections. In my opinion, speeding cars and distracted driving are a public health emergency. Allowing pedestrians and cars to proceed at the same time is a recipe for disaster at many intersections across the city.”
For more information, please contact Councilor Flynn’s office at 617635-3203 or Ed.Flynn@Boston.gov.
tribute cocaine, and trafficking over 200 grams of cocaine. This hearing will seek to address what caused the stark discrepancies in figures.
“It is critical that the Boston Police Department maintains a positive and respectful working relationship with federal law enforcement partners,” said Councilor Flynn. “When someone commits a crime, regardless of immigration status, we can’t stand in the way of justice for a victim or respect for the rule of law and society.”
For more information, please contact Councilor Flynn’s office at 617635-3203 or Ed.Flynn@Boston.gov.
Since the weather continues to be nothing short of freezing, the best play is still hearty red wines. Try one or more of the following to warm up your January….
Catena Alta, Malbec, 2018, ($51.99). This big red wine makes a real statement about the varietal, with distinctive notes of raspberries and smokiness on the nose. On the palate, it’s deep and chewy, with a long, palpable finish. Great with any red meat or distinctive cheese. This one will definitely warm you up.
Double Diamondback Cabernet Sauvignon, 2020, Napa, California, ($95.99). This wine is all about what Napa does best- structure, high ABV, extremely long finish. Notes of blueberries, caramel and cherries, along with leather aromas on both the nose and finish. This is definitely a”sipper”, especially good with a Sunday roast.
Bedrock 2022 Old Vines Zinfan-
del, ($24.95). Elements of cherries, cinnamon and pepper on the nose and a long finish give way to a toasted, chocolate, raspberry profile. Try it with a meaty Bolognese or Filet puffs with a Bearnaise sauce.
Ruffino Riserva Ducale, Chianti Classico, 2014, ($29.99). As always, an outstanding presentation of 100% Italian Sangiovese. Beautiful notes tabac, chocolate and cherries on the nose. Long finish on the palate, this one is simply just big, but not to the point of being overwhelming. Very reminiscent of a high-end Barolo.
Hahn’s Founders Pinot Noir, California ($15.99)
Vibrant aromas of red and dark cherry, raspberry and plum with subtle touches of vanilla and toasted oak. On the palate, silky tannins and excellent acid balance are joined by delicate flavors of red cherry and raspberry, culminating with notes of earthiness on a long and lingering finish. These Pinot Noir grapes were primarily grown in the Arroyo Seco appellation of Monterey County, which sits on a gravelly alluvial plain beneath the Santa Lucia Mountains. Cool winds from Monterey Bay ensure gradual ripening and development of vibrant flavors. The rocky soils allow excellent drainage, enhancing intensity and promoting balanced ripeness and acidity.
Willamette Valley Vineyards Estate Pinot Noir, 2022, ($37.99).
On the Nose, this wine exemplifies the classic “Willamette Valley style” with aromas of red fruits including cherry, raspberry and cranberry accented by notes of florals and baking spice that create an elegant bouquet. On the palette, this wine is round and full-bodied with a silky mouthfeel and flavors of dark fruit, earth, game and minerality. Exceptionally balanced with seamlessly integrated tannins, balancing acidity and a lingering finish.
River Road Chardonnay Russian River Valley Reserve, 2022, ($21.99). James Suckling says, “This is fruity and fresh, with white peaches, pears and hints of spicy herbs and zesty, savory nuances. Medium- to full-bodied, creamy and
a little waxy on the palate, with a flavorful finish.”
Trimbach Riesling 2020, Riesling from Alsace, France, ($25.99). Its delicate bouquet, beautiful balance, dry character, distinguished fruitiness and natural liveliness contribute to its exceptional richness. As required by the house style, it is vinified dry, straight, and precise, every year.
Graham Beck Brut, NV, South Africa, ($22.95). Graham Beck Brut is a South African sparkling wine known for its elegance and fine bubbles. It offers crisp apple and citrus notes and is perfect for celebrations or as an aperitif. This is one you can have at the beginning, the end or both!
Tuesday, January 13, 2025 - The following statement is attributable to a City spokesperson: “Yesterday at 2pm, Mayor Wu and her husband Conor welcomed Baby Mira Wu Pewarski—arriving at 8lbs, 4oz and 20 inches—to their family and to Boston. Mom and baby are in good health, and the Mayor is in touch with her senior staff.
“Mayor Wu wishes to express her deepest gratitude to the nurses, doctors, and healthcare staff who made this possible for her family and who work everyday to support so many families across the city.”
As we begin this new year, St. Peter Academy has jumped right back into learning!
The students are refreshed and ready to review lessons and restart our learning schedules. Our youngest scholars have started their wind and water units. The students are having a blast exploring with sensory play. K1 is pictured working with our Cristo Rey intern student Ellie, on fine motor, color recognition, early vocabulary, vision development, let-
ter recognition and letter sounds by completing alphabet puzzles. Grade 2 showing off their math skills using fractions to create snow globes. Grade ¾ sustaining their reading with both silent and out loud using classic and technology methods. Books are chosen for interest and appropriate skill levels to enhance learning and enjoyment. When the school day ends, activities continue in the extended day program, the students made their own snow globes using
mason jars. They used glitter, fake snow, and mini figurines to create their own winter wonderland!
St. Peter Academy is accepting applications for the 2025-2026 school year. St. Peter 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@stpeteracademy.com). Appointments for private tours can be made by contacting Maria Blasi, at 617-268-0750 or by emailing spa@StPeterAcademy.com.
The Massachusetts Port Authority (Massport) is hiring! The Authority is actively searching for a Chief Climate & Resilience Officer, a senior level position focused on achieving our aggressive goal of Net Zero by 2031 and preparing for and successfully managing the impacts of climate change. “The addition of the Chief Climate and Resilience Officer underscores our dedication to moving the needle on climate change as we strive to achieve Net Zero by 2031, as well as strategically advancing our climate, environment and resilience policies as an organization,” said Massport CEO Rich Davey. “The role will not only strengthen our ability to mitigate climate risks but also foster a culture of excellence and prioritize sustainability and measurable outcomes. We look forward to finding a leader who will deliver on our commitment to building a resilient and sustainable future.”
This person will not be starting from scratch but will instead expand on the strong groundwork we have already laid. Massport has had a climate resiliency program for over a decade, and Logan was one of the earliest airports to adopt a resiliency plan complete with operational guides and Floodproofing Design Guideline. In 2022, Massport announced an ambitious goal of Net Zero by 2031, the Authority’s
75th anniversary.
“Massport is putting climate front and center with the announcement of this new Climate and Resilience Officer role,” said state Climate Chief Melissa Hoffer. “The Massport team, under Rich Davey’s leadership, is taking a giant step toward unlocking new climatetech economic development opportunities with fully decarbonized aviation and transportation options that both protect our communities and boost economic vitality. Massport is on the cutting edge of some of our toughest climate challenges like sustainable aviation fuel and port electrification. I look forward to working with the Climate and Resilience Officer and the Massport team to advance bold climate action across our transportation sector.”
Climate change is causing significant impacts in New England, such as rising sea levels, extreme storm events, heavy precipitation, coastal flooding, and extreme heat. As a result, Massport protects critical infrastructure and surrounding communities to ensure it can maintain its role as an essential economic engine for the region and protect the quality of life of our neighboring communities. Massport has continually sought new avenues to be a better neighbor to surrounding communities—reducing noise and air pollution, improving ground access to Logan, and extending Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DE&I) initiatives beyond its operational borders.
“By acknowledging and addressing the climate vulnerability of its facilities, Massport can protect not merely its own operations and infrastructure but also the health and safety
of surrounding environmental justice communities that are hit first and worse by extreme weather,” said Brad Campbell, President and CEO, Conservation Law Foundation.
Since announcing our goal to achieve Net Zero, Massport has made significant progress, paving the way for continued advancements in sustainability.
• Logan Airport has the highest percentage of passengers taking HOV/ transit modes of any major airport in the U.S.;
• The Logan Express (LEX) served a record number of passengers in 2024, with over 2.5 million passengers utilizing the five services;
• The airport has the most airside EV chargers of any major airport in the U.S. with 372, and our airline partners are responding by transitioning more of their airside equipment to electric;
• Massport has purchased battery electric vehicles, as well as more hybrid vehicles;
• At Worcester Regional Airport, Massport installed EV charging stations;
• At Hanscom, we are installing more solar;
• Massport joined the MITled Zero Impact Aviation Alliance to establish an SAF (sustainable aviation fuel) hub in the Northeast;
• Massport has worked with rental car companies at Logan to increase EVs onsite;
• Replacing lights to LEDs across all properties.
Massport has committed over $500M in investments to Net Zero projects over the next five years, which will set the groundwork for future reductions. These investments allow the Authority to lay the groundwork for the “big ticket” items coming in the years
ahead – by working to secure renewable energy sources, expand its capacity to support electric vehicle charging, and bring large scale infrastructure – like its Central Heating Plant – from plan to building. In November, the Authority announced an additional $60 million project in South Boston to bring shore power to two berths at Flynn Cruiseport Boston, which will make Boston the first port in New England to have it.
Massport’s Net Zero initiatives build upon a solid legacy of environmental leadership, supported by a robust history of success green initiatives, some highlights include:
• On-airport clean-fuel buses since the mid-1990s;
• Logan’s Terminal A redevelopment was the first LEED® Certified airport terminal in the world (2005);
• On-site renewable energy sources throughout Massport facilities include solar and wind;
• Developed more than 40+ acres of greenspace within our surrounding communities;
• Since 1990, Massport has invested more than $100 million in High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) transportation to and from Logan Airport, including the Logan Express system and free MBTA Silver Line service to South Station;
• Massport completed the Rental Car Center at Logan - a LEED Gold certified building that consolidated nine rental car agencies into one center; reduced 100 diesel buses trips to 28 hybrid buses per hour (2014); and
o Decreased shuttle bus vehicle miles by 70%, with an accompanying 35% decrease in airport-related emissions. The facility also has rooftop solar panels that account for 5% of the building’s energy usage.
Is there anyone out there who’s complaining about the Vrabel hire? I would hope not.
Then again, I stopped listening to sports radio, so perhaps somebody out there on the airwaves is unhappy with this hire.
But it’s the obvious move that I think most of us saw coming. That said, here’s the transcript of his introductory press conference. And full disclosure, the Patriots’ website is giving a disclaimer that this transcript of the Vrabel press conference — they release the transcript of every press conference — was translated by FastScripts. So, I apologize if some of this is a little off. Blame it on the FastScripts:
Q: You lived through the collaborative process, especially at the end in Tennessee. I’m curious how you view that, and do you have roster control, control over the draft here with the Patriots?
MIKE VRABEL: I think the most important thing is there’s a shared organizational vision for what we want to do and how we want to work and how we want to acquire players. There’s numerous ways to acquire players through free agency, trade, draft, post-draft process, post after training camp. Again, I’m just ex-
cited to sit down with Eliot and his staff. I’ve met more with Eliot over the weekend than I have -- I’ve had conversations with him, but I need to sit down with his staff and figure out where we’re at, what we need to do. I’m confident that those types of decisions are all going to sort themselves out. We don’t always want to be on the same page. That’s not the environment we want to create. But we want to have a shared vision, and there’s also different ways to get there. I’m embracing that everyone’s going to have a different personality. I don’t want my staff to be like me. I don’t want all our players to be similar. We’re going to have diverse ideas, and that’s critical, and to be able to have those types of conversations is something I’m looking forward to.
Q: What’s your philosophy when it comes to developing a young quarterback? How do you plan on helping Drake Maye reach his potential?
MV: Put great people around him. We have to -- I would say that my involvement will be as it relates to game management and situational awareness and where we are on the football field and trying to develop him as a leader of the offense. When a quarterback, when they call
This week,
Danny shared his thoughts on the New England Patriots hiring Mike Vrabel has head coach:
the play, like you want to say like everybody’s going to believe that it’s going to score a touchdown, like with that type of emphasis on how everything is going to operate. Drake is going to be his own person, but I’m going to give him some things that I feel like are necessary to help us win football games. We have to be a very efficient passing football team. When you look at statistically what wins in the National Football League, our ability to affect the other team’s quarterback and our ability to provide for an efficient quarterback and passing game is a high contributor to success. There’s a lot of ways to do that -- by protecting the middle of the pocket and all those things that we’re going to talk about as we move forward. But how we protect the football, how we’re aggressive but not reckless, understanding where we are in the game and the situational awareness that I feel like I’ve developed over six years and then my past year in Cleveland. I’d be remiss if I didn’t thank the Cleveland Browns organization for the opportunity they provided me last year with Jimmy and Dee Haslam and then Andrew Berry and Kevin Stefanski and all those coaches and players that al-
lowed me to spend some time with them last year.
Q: I know when you were inducted into the Patriots Hall of Fame, you said that this place is special. You’ve been to a lot of places, but you said that this one is special. What is it that makes it so special for you?
MV: The history of winning and the championships. I would like to thank the teammates that I had here, in the eight years that I was here, the teammates that I had in Pittsburgh, and the younger players in Kansas City that I learned stuff from. But that’s what I mean, the people, the history. The banners that hang in our stadium, they’re not going to help us win, but I think it’s a great reminder of what it takes to win and the type of people that you have to have in the organization, the selflessness, the work and the sacrifice that you have to make. So to me, those are great reminders of what it takes. Just because those banners hang, that’s not going to give us an advantage on the field, but it’s going to give us a blueprint on how hard we need to work and the things that we need to do to be successful.
Follow Danny on instagram @ DannyPicard.
Robert Kraft didn’t waste much time. Just days after firing Jerod Mayo, the Patriots owner made Mike Vrabel’s return to New England official, hiring him as the team’s new head coach. Vrabel was rumored to be at the top of the Patriots’ wish list, and he was introduced this week at Gillette Stadium.
“Excited to get to work, excited to meet the people in this building that have made this place special, find out what they need, find out how I can help them, how I can help them do their job better, how we can enhance the stuff that we do well and then find out what the areas of focus are and get to work,” said Vrabel at his press conference. “I want to galvanize our football team. I want to galvanize this building. I want to galvanize our fans. The most important thing are the players. There’s some of them right here. I want to provide a pro -
gram that provides their ownership but also their accountability of each other and one that they’ll be proud to be a part of and that they’re going to fight for.”
Vrabel has some work to do, as the Patriots finished the season 4-13 and will have the No. 4 pick in this year’s NFL Draft.
Here’s the press release from the team’s website:
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – The New England Patriots introduced Mike Vrabel as their new head coach at a press conference at Gillette Stadium today. The 2021 NFL Coach of the Year becomes the 16th head coach in franchise history.
Vrabel is a three-time Super Bowl champion with New England and was voted into the Patriots Hall of Fame in 2023. He is recognized as one of the most versatile linebackers and best free agent signings in team history.
He has 14 years of coaching experience, including 11 years in the NFL and three seasons at Ohio State. The Tennessee Titans hired him as their head coach in 2018, and he led the Titans to two division titles and three playoff appearances during his six seasons at the helm. In 2019, the Titans upset the Patriots in Foxborough in the wild card round, then defeated the No. 1 seed Ravens in Baltimore the following
week to advance to the AFC Championship Game, where they lost to the eventual Super Bowl Champion Kansas City Chiefs. In 2021, the Titans claimed the top seed in the AFC with a 12-5 record, earning Vrabel NFL Coach of the Year honors.
Vrabel retired from the NFL in July of 2011 after a 14-year playing career with Pittsburgh (19972000), New England (2001-08) and Kansas City (2009-10). He became the linebackers coach at Ohio State in 2011 and then served as the defensive line coach for the Buckeyes for two seasons (2012-13).
In 2014, Vrabel was hired by the Houston Texans as the linebackers coach (2014-16) and was promoted to defensive coordinator for the Texans in 2017. After six seasons as the head coach of the Titans (201823), he spent last season with the Cleveland Browns as a coaching and personnel consultant.
Vrabel joined the Patriots before the 2001 season, following a four-year career with the Pittsburgh Steelers, where he was used primarily on special teams and as a reserve linebacker after being drafted in the third round of the 1997 NFL Draft (91st overall) out of Ohio State. During his eightyear tenure in New England, Vrabel played a major role in the Patriots dynastic run that included three
Super Bowl championships in four years (2001, 2003 and 2004). He exemplified positional versatility during his Patriots career by starting at both inside and outside linebacker, regularly lining up on offense in short-yardage and goal-line situations and continually making valuable contributions on various special teams units.
As a Patriot, he caught eight regular season passes and two more in the playoffs. All 10 of his receptions were for touchdowns, including receptions in back-toback Super Bowl wins over the Carolina Panthers in Super Bowl XXXVIII and Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl XXXIX. He earned Pro Bowl and First-Team Associated Press All-Pro honors following the 2007 season, the year the Patriots became the first team in NFL history to win 18 consecutive games in one season. During his Patriots career, Vrabel helped propel the Patriots to multiple NFL and franchise-record win streaks, including 21 consecutive wins (2003-04), 21 consecutive regular season wins (2006-08), 21 consecutive wins at home (2002-05) and 10 straight playoff victories (2001-05). During the 2006 season, he played a major role when the defense set a then-franchise record by allowing just 14.8 points per game.