(Patrick D. Rosso/Boston.com/2013)

Julia Kenyon of Roslindale picked up a few veggies from Mike Smith, owner of Oakdale Farms.

By Patrick D. Rosso, Town Correspondent

Shoppers packed the Great Hall in Dorchester’s Codman Square Sunday afternoon for the opening day of the Dorchester Winter Farmers’ Market.

Now in its second year, the market offers up much of the usual fare seen at summer farmers’ markets plus fresh eggs, meats, and bake goods.

In addition to the nutritious offerings the market also works to make its selection affordable, giving some shoppers the option of paying for groceries using EBT/SNAP benefits.

To read more about the market, click here.

(Patrick D. Rosso/Boston.com/2013)

Julie Scalli of Charlestown eyed Engelnook Farm's offerings.

(Patrick D. Rosso/Boston.com/2013)

Nicola Williams, a Cambridge resident, discussed the finer points of pepper jelly with Patricia Kiernan, owner of Stir It Up Cuisine.

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Email Patrick D. Rosso, patrick.d.rosso@gmail.com. Follow him @PDRosso, or friend him on Facebook.

By Johanna Kaiser, Town Correspondent

A local dry cleaning business hopes to make the cold winter months a little more bearable for the Boston area’s homeless by collecting winter accessories for men, women, and children.

Quincy-based Dependable Cleaners has begun taking donations for the Friends of Boston’s Homeless’s annual Warm Hands, Warm Hearts Campaign, a drive to collect new or gently used winter hats, scarfs, pair of gloves or mittens, or new pairs of warm socks.

Friends of Boston’s Homeless is a non-profit that supports homeless services in partnership with the Boston Public Health Commission, and supports new and ongoing transitional programs.

The drive hosted by Dependable Cleaners runs through the month of January. Donations can be dropped off at any of the business’s 16 locations or can be given to drivers of the pickup and delivery service.

“Boston winters can be unbearably cold and the winter months are the hardest for individuals who don’t have a place to live,” Christa Hagearty, president and CEO of Dependable Cleaners, said in a statement. “Our customers are very generous and we are proud to work with them to help Friends of Boston’s Homeless and their Warm Hands, Warm Hearts campaign. We hope to make this winter just a little bit easier for people in need.”

Dependable Cleaners has locations throughout Greater Boston along with two locations on Newbury Street and one in Dorchester.

E-mail Kaiser at Johanna.yourtown@gmail.com. For more news about your city, town, neighborhood, or campus, visit boston.com’s Your Town homepage.

(Jeremy C. Fox for Boston.com)

On New Year’s Eve, these revelers did a little socializing on the Green Line.

By Jeremy C. Fox, Town Correspondent

New year, old problems on the MBTA

Storified by Jeremy C. Fox· Fri, Jan 04 2013 14:57:19

Email Jeremy C. Fox at jeremy.fox@globe.com.
Follow Jeremy C. Fox on Twitter: @jeremycfox.
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(Photo by Terri Ogan)

For more than 40 years, the Dorchester Boys and Girls Club has been a peaceful place in Savin Hill neighborhood.

By Terri Ogan, Globe Correspondent

This fall, 12-year-old Dashawn Borden was at a friend’s birthday party near Ronan Park in Dorchester when a fight broke out between two people. It spread fast as other people began throwing punches.

“I just got to get out of here before I get caught in the middle,” Dashawn thought. And he did. He retreated to the Boys & Girls Club a few blocks away as he usually does when trouble comes his way.

When he got there he put on headphones, listened to hip-hop and jammed on his drums.

“I got it off my chest," Dashawn said. "I started playing my drums and just chilling and having a good time ...Coming to the Music Clubhouse keeps me off the streets.”

Dashawn isn't alone in seeking refuge at the Dorchester Boys & Girls Club. For more than 40 years, the club, as it’s called by the kids and the staff, has been a peaceful place in the Dorchester neighborhood of Savin Hill, one where children can be productive and pursue their dreams. With an annual membership fee of $5, the club services about 4,000 children each year.

A branch of the music program created four years ago, the Music Clubhouse draws kids from all over Dorchester and also from communities as far flung as North Reading and Walpole. It’s a place where kids can come after school and play the drums or piano, surf the web for the latest YouTube sensation, join an ensemble, or perform at the monthly open mic night.

(Jeremy C. Fox for Boston.com)

Paula M. Carey, chief justice of the Suffolk Probate and Family Court, swore in new Register of Probate Patricia Campatelli on Jan. 2.

By Jeremy C. Fox, Town Correspondent

Patricia “Patty” Campatelli, the new Suffolk County register of probate, was sworn in at a packed ceremony at the Edward W. Brooke Courthouse on Wednesday.

About 100 supporters joined with judges and staff of the Suffolk Probate and Family Court to fill a third-floor courtroom in the downtown courthouse for a short, informal ceremony to welcome Campatelli to her new office.

Paula M. Carey, chief justice of the court, swore Campatelli in after brief remarks in which she discussed the new register’s successful grassroots campaign and the responsibilities of the court.

“We say in the Probate and Family Court we generally deal with good people at their worst,” Carey said. “So people that just are having trouble emotionally, financially, and in every other way that you can possibly imagine.”

Campatelli, a Democrat from East Boston who had never before run for public office, sailed to victory in November’s general election with no Republican opposition. But first she had to pull out a surprise victory over Boston City Councilor Salvatore LaMattina in the September primary, besting the higher-profile candidate by just 633 votes in the final tally.

Campatelli, 48, worked as a substitute teacher and then as a youth worker with at-risk teens before moving on to several positions in the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Department and the state Office of Community Corrections, earning a master’s degree in crime and justice at Suffolk University.

Surrounded by friends and family, Campatelli thanked her supporters on Wednesday for helping her to get through a difficult year in 2012. Campatelli lost her mother, to whom she was devoted, during her campaign and was accused at one point of making offensive postings on social media, which she denied.

“I’m just happy to be amongst friends,” she said. “I’m really looking forward to a new year and really working with everyone. Everyone I’ve met so far has just been incredible, and I can’t thank you enough.”

Theresa Cansler, Campatelli’s sister, had flown in from her home in Valencia, Calif., for the ceremony. Fighting back tears, Cansler said she was proud of her sister but saddened that their mother couldn’t be there to celebrate.

“She’s always worked with the community, even when she was a kid,” Cansler said of Campatelli. “She worked really hard to get here, and I think the people of Suffolk County are lucky to have her.”

Anne Manning-Martin, a Peabody city councilor who has known Campatelli since they worked together at the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Department in the mid-1990s, said she was happy Campatelli would have a fresh start in 2013.

“We’re looking forward to her doing a stand-up job as the new register,” Manning-Martin said.

Email Jeremy C. Fox at jeremy.fox@globe.com.
Follow Jeremy C. Fox on Twitter: @jeremycfox.
Follow Downtown on Twitter: @YTDowntown.

(Jeremy C. Fox for Boston.com)

About 100 supporters turned out for the swearing-in ceremony at the Edward W. Brooke Courthouse on Wednesday.

By Matt Rocheleau, Town Correspondent

Twenty-two developments worth a combined $1.6 billion broke ground in Boston during 2012, according to city officials.

The Boston Redevelopment Authority said in a statement that those projects will build 4.6 million square feet of new development, creating 2,450 construction jobs and 2,010 housing units in the process. The projects also involve building space for hotel, athletic, municipal, office and retail uses.

In 2011, 26 projects broke ground building a combined 4.9 million square feet of new development worth an estimated $2.4 billion, according to the authority. More than 6,000 jobs were created.

The authority’s board during 2012 approved a total of 37 projects that will build 7.5 million square feet of new development, officials said. Those planned developments are worth a combined $3.4 billion and will create 3,898 housing units, space for an array of other uses and 5,217 construction jobs.

In 2011, the authority's board approved 46 projects. The value, size and job creation estimates for those projects was not immediately available.

“Cranes crowd the city skyline because investors are bullish on Boston,” said a statement from Mayor Thomas M. Menino. “Thanks to a growing innovation economy, a young and energized population, and an educated workforce – Boston is booming.”

E-mail Matt Rocheleau at mjrochele@gmail.com.
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(Photo courtesy BMC)

Members of the University of Massachusetts Boston basketball team pose with Boston Medical Center's pediatric staff in their new UMass Beacon shirts. The team visited the hospital with presents for its patients.

By Johanna Kaiser, Town Correspondent

The University of Massachusetts Boston basketball team delivered presents and cheer to Boston Medical Center and some of its youngest patients over the holiday season.

The team’s players visited the hospital’s pediatric department a few days before Christmas with athletic bags filled with presents to meet, take photographs with patients, and lift spirits.

UMass Boston coach Charlie Titus has been bringing his team to the hospital to spread holiday cheer for the past 23 years.

(Photo courtesy BMC)

Members of the University of Massachusetts Boston basketball team meet and give a gift to a patient in the hospital's pediatric emergency department<./p>

(Patrick D. Rosso/Boston.com/2012)

Customers at last year's market.

By Patrick D. Rosso, Town Correspondent

The Dorchester Winter Farmers’ Market, Boston’s first winter market and a hit in the community, will be returning for a second year and swinging open its doors Sunday, Jan. 6 in Codman Square.

Organized by the Dorchester Community Co-op, the market works to provide area residents with access to healthy food in the winter after the neighborhood's summer farmers' market closes up shop.

“This market is symbolic of what we are trying to do across Boston – encourage healthier communities by expanding access to fresh, affordable foods for all families,” Mayor Thomas M. Menino, said in a statement. “I’m thrilled to help welcome this market back to Dorchester so it can continue to provide that service here and help inspire similar efforts in neighborhoods throughout our city.”

(Patrick D. Rosso/Boston.com/2012)

Shirley Montanez enjoyed some of the offerings Friday night at the Four Street Neighborhood Watch's holiday party.

By Patrick D. Rosso, Town Correspondent

A group of Dorchester residents came together Friday night for a holiday party. While such gatherings may seem like a common event for the season, residents said their event was a sign of the work they have been putting into their community.

The neighbors call themselves the Four Street Neighborhood Watch and hail from Bowdoin-Geneva’s Hendry Street, Clarkson Street, Trent Street, and Coleman Street. Gathering at Bowdoin Street’s Pasciucco Development on Friday, residents chatted about neighborhood happenings over Spanish rice and BBQ chicken, celebrating the calm that has returned to the neighborhood that has a violent past and experienced another violent summer.

“When we first moved here [2010] it was a troubled neighborhood,” said Henrique Fernandes, a 43-year-old waiter and Hendry Street resident. “Some told us, ‘Welcome, but keep your mouth shut and don’t say anything’."

(Jeremy C. Fox for Boston.com)

Commuters may have pondered what 2013 will bring on the MBTA as a Braintree-bound Red Line train zoomed into Downtown Crossing Station.

By Jeremy C. Fox, Town Correspondent

2012, the year of #MBTAannoy

Storified by Jeremy C. Fox· Fri, Dec 28 2012 18:59:36

Email Jeremy C. Fox at jeremy.fox@globe.com.
Follow Jeremy C. Fox on Twitter: @jeremycfox.
Follow Downtown on Twitter: @YTDowntown.