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City Weekly

Vanishing acts (Globe Staff / Mark Wilson)

Vanishing acts

The numbers of surviving rare species in and near Boston have dwindled in recent years. Although the state’s National Heritage & Endangered Species Program lists 43 rare species in Boston, only 10 have been documented in the past 20 years. (By Kathleen Burge, Boston Globe)

Davis Square minds its carbon footprints

In Davis Square, restaurants have started discarding waste in compost and recycling bins and screwing in compact fluorescent light bulbs. They tidy up with green cleaning products and recycle cooking grease. Customers at two cafes sip beverages from biodegradable cups, and one restaurant encourages customers to ride their bicycles to dinner by providing a bike valet service. (By Amy Farnsworth, Boston Globe)

Poster patrol clamps down on advertising blight

While walking in Dorchester on a recent Friday afternoon, Sergeant Steve Tankle of the city of Boston’s Code Enforcement Office spotted a poster attached to a black lamppost. Emblazoned with white and green letters, the placard, advertising a new rap album, screamed out: ‘‘PLIES ..... Definition of Real ..... June 10th ..... History Will Be Made!’’ (By Emily Sweeney, Boston Globe)
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Globe North

Questions raised after reappointments in Newbury

The recent reappointment of three town employees months before their terms were to expire has raised eyebrows in Newbury, where much of the town's business is controlled by a three-member Board of Selectmen, one of whom is up for reelection on Tuesday. (By Kay Lazar, Boston Globe)

Lynn arts program builds confidence in youths

After more than a decade of renting space in downtown Lynn, Raw Art Works - an arts therapy program for at-risk youth - now owns the building and is opening its first public gallery on the ground floor. (By Wendy Killeen, Boston Globe)

Tax hikes approved for Marblehead school projects

Proposed tax increases for two Marblehead school building projects received overwhelming support at the Annual Town Meeting last week even as the town received positive news about state funding. (By John Laidler, Boston Globe)

Peabody's flood-control project moving ahead with state, city money

Two years ago, a torrential Mother's Day rainstorm brought 4 feet of water to Peabody Square, forced hundreds to evacuate their homes, and cost the state and federal government $12 million to clean up. (By Steven Rosenberg, Boston Globe)
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Globe NorthWest

Lexington plans meeting with utilities to rid town of double utility poles

In hopes of ridding local roads of double utility poles, Lexington leaders plan to meet this month with executives from each of the utilities that serve the town. (By Brenda J. Buote, Boston Globe)

An English-reader overnight, Lawrence teen wins confidence, kudos

It wasn't too long ago that Burina Vann hated school. The Lawrence seventh-grader hated homework, hated sitting in the classroom, hated listening to teachers drone on and on. (By Russell Contreras, Boston Globe)

Paintings of USS Constitution, stored in Woburn, have new home

For decades, the four maritime paintings of Constitution battling Guerriere sat in storage at the Woburn Public Library, where officials didn't know how they got there or what to do with them. (By Eric Moskowitz, Boston Globe)

Chelmsford seeks property tax on mobile-home park

For years, mobile homes in Massachusetts have been exempt from property taxes - one reason they have functioned as low-cost housing. (By Connie Paige, Boston Globe)
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Globe West

It's time to get creative

Imagine, for a moment, a transformed downtown Framingham. One laced with art galleries, and with working artists' lofts, all within walking distance of one another. One with artworks regularly exhibited at local businesses, and with hotels filled with visitors eager to sample it all. (By Tanya Pérez-Brennan, Boston Globe)

A call to civic duty - with a side of fun

Norfolk's moderator, Daniel Winslow, has an unusual birthday request. When he turns 50 on Tuesday, he wants to see perhaps 600 residents, or 10 percent of the town's registered voters, show up for Town Meeting. (By Calvin Hennick, Boston Globe)

One-word tradition on overrides: No

No, no, no. Seriously. No. Shrewsbury is quickly earning a reputation as one of the more fiscally conservative towns in the state, now that voters have rejected the fourth request to raise property taxes since 2004. (By Lisa Kocian, Boston Globe)

Coolidge project foe plans next round

Boston real estate attorney Francis N. Mastroianni will continue his multifaceted legal fight over the renovation of the former Coolidge School in Watertown despite being rebuffed by the town's Zoning Board of Appeals, he said. (By Christina Pazzanese, Boston Globe)
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Globe South

38 local women honored for their community contributions

Naima Agalab of Quincy helps immigrants find their way in the United States, and fights against domestic violence along the way. (By Paul E. Kandarian, Boston Globe)

More school time? Just what to do?

With 300 additional hours of school time each year, students could fit more music, art, and physical education classes into their schedules. There could be more time for individual teacher instruction and maybe even less homework. (By John Laidler, Boston Globe)

Stalled bill has Weymouth film studio on ice

The Farrelly brothers, a pair of Rhode Island natives who traveled to the West Coast and made it big in the film industry, have shot a number of films in Massachusetts, including "Fever Pitch" and "Stuck on You." But they had to return to California to do the bulk of the post production work. (By Christine Legere, Boston Globe)

Through tears, a vision of healing

Helen Omeje has chosen her daughter's outfit for the day: black sweats and a black-and-white striped shirt. They're secondhand; donated, just like the rest of the clothes - indeed, everything - in their apartment. But Helen wants to make sure that Chi Chi looks like a teenager, not like some middle-aged lady. (By Bella English, Boston Globe)
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