The MBTA - not much to tweet home about
(Jeremy C. Fox for Boston.com)
Are all these people unhappy? Maybe.
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East Boston business incubator project to break ground Saturday
(Jeremy C. Fox for Boston.com)
The former Public Welfare building at 154 Maverick St., photographed in August 2011.
East Boston’s old Public Welfare building is undergoing a transformation, and local officials will gather Saturday to celebrate its new use as a center for local entrepreneurs.
John and Melissa Tyler are in the process of turning the familiar blocky brick building at 154 Maverick St. into a business incubator space to help small business owners get their start. Mayor Thomas M. Menino and other elected officials are scheduled to attend a groundbreaking ceremony at noon on Saturday, June 2, to be followed by a block party for the neighborhood.
In an announcement, the Tylers said the space will be the first business incubator in Boston to offer startup space for small retailers. They plan to have eight spaces set aside for that purpose on the first floor, about 10 additional spaces for offices on the second floor, and two apartments on the third floor.
“This business will be a benefit to the community by stimulating growth within a diverse economic populace,” they wrote.
The incubator will offer coaching, legal assistance, accounting, office equipment, and networking opportunities to help support building tenants. It will also provide assistance for applying for funding and support services from the federal Small Business Association.
According to the announcement, people from across the community have approached the Tylers to discuss many different business ideas, from a café to a graphic design company. They hope to find an anchor store, probably one serving food and beverages, to generate immediate foot traffic for the building and help support the other new businesses.
The Tylers encourage anyone interested in starting their own business to apply for a space at http://www.154maverick.com.
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East Boston Main Streets donates calendar proceeds to Umana Academy
(Courtesy East Boston Main Streets)
East Boston Main Streets Treasurer Grace Magoon presented the check to Jim Kearney, dean of students for the Mario Umana Academy.
Volunteers from East Boston Main Streets recently presented the Mario Umana Academy with a check for $2,500 raised through calendar sales.
Grace Magoon, the organization’s treasurer, and board member Marika McKnight recently visited the school to formally present the check to Jim Kearney, dean of students for the Umana Academy, and teacher Julia Brasser.
The East Boston Main Streets calendar for 2012 features historic photos of the neighborhood supplied by the Boston Public Library paired with contemporary images by local artist Leigh Hall. The calendar was designed by graphic designer Todd Antonellis.
For more information on the Mario Umana Academy visit http://www.umanamiddleschool.org.
Calendars are still available by calling 617-561-1044 or sending an email to ebmainstreets@verizon.net.
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(Courtesy East Boston Main Streets)
Magoon and Kearney posed with students under the Umana Academy sign.
Logan Airport contract workers return to Massport board meeting
(Courtesy Service Employees International Union Local 615)
Airport workers and their supporters spoke before the Massport board.
Employees of contractors at Logan Airport returned to air their grievances before the Massachusetts Port Authority at a recent meeting.
The employees and their supporters from a coalition of pro-labor and community groups appeared at the May 24 meeting of Massport’s board of directors. The workers, many of them immigrants who speak limited English, have appeared at a series of recent events, including a February meeting of the board where Secretary of Transportation Richard A. Davey, pledged to investigate their claims.
Some alleged that their demands for better pay, benefits, and working conditions have led to intimidation efforts from their managers, according to a spokeswoman for Service Employees International Union Local 615, a labor union that represents cleaning and security workers in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and New Hampshire but does not represent the contractor employees, who are not unionized.
“Sometimes we are photographed and intimidated because we come to these meetings,” said Zerihen Ayele, a non-union wheelchair operator, according to the union spokeswoman. “Some of us make less than $8 an hour. I make $7.50 and cannot make tips. When we say something, the supervisor just says that if we want a better job, why don’t we just quit?”
Union member Evelyn Colon described the benefits she and her co-workers have that non-union workers are denied, including the opportunity to take English classes.
“We have health insurance and benefits,” said Colon, according to the union spokeswoman. “I would like to see my friends who do not have these benefits get them, to make it easier on their families.”
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(Courtesy Service Employees International Union Local 615)
Members of the coalition posed for a photo outside Massport headquarters.
Boston City League baseball all-star game to return to Fenway Park
The Boston City League baseball all-star game will return to Fenway Park next month after a short hiatus at Harvard’s O’Donnell Field.
The annual City of Boston All-City Baseball Classic will be at 5:30 p.m. on June 10 at Fenway Park.
The game is organized by the Boston Center for Youth & Families and held in partnership with the Boston Scholar Athlete Program and sponsored by the Boston Red Sox.
The game was held at Harvard the last two years. Three years ago it was scheduled to be played at Fenway but had to be moved to Harvard due to inclement weather. It was last played at the iconic ballpark in 2008.
In the last three years the all-star game has struggled to garner full participation due to a lack of interest, lack of transportation to Harvard or conflicts with graduations and proms.
Boston schools Athletic Director Ken Still said Fenway Park should help remedy participation issues.
“Fenway Park is a lure because it’s Fenway park, you have people coming from all over the world to sit in Fenway Park,” Still said during a telephone interview on Tuesday morning. “To have a chance to play there as a youngster and baseball person, that’s overwhelming.”
Still announced that the game will be back at Fenway during the Boston City League championship baseball game on Monday morning at Boston English High.
On Tuesday morning, he said he hopes the weather cooperates this year.
“[Fenway is] very tough to get but when we’re able to I say take advantage and let’s do it,” he said. “I hope they are able to get on the field and represent."
The BSA’s new Athletic Director, Chris Rooks, said “It’s an amazing opportunity for the kids.”
Justin A. Rice covers Boston Public school athletics. He can be reached at jrice.globe@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter @GlobeJustinRice or @BPSspts.
Latin Academy ace mows down East Boston, unavailable for championship
Latin Academy’s ace pitcher Sam Steeves pitched in the Boston City League semifinal victory on Saturday afternoon against East Boston and won’t be available for Monday’s championship against North conference rival Boston English. (Billy Owens / For the Boston Globe)
Latin Academy’s ace pitcher Sam Steeves pitched in the Dragon’s city championship semifinal victory on Saturday afternoon against East Boston and won’t be available for Monday’s championship against North conference rival Boston English.
The Dragons (11-8) defeated the Central conference champion Jets 12-3 as Steeves (4-2) got the win by striking out 10 batters and allowing five hits in six innings.
But Steeves, who pitched twice against North conference champions Boston English during the regular season, will not get the ball in the title game at 10 a.m. Monday at English High.
“At this point in the season we’re down to a three-man rotation, it was his turn to come up,” Latin Academy coach Anthony Bernazzani said of Steeves after Saturday’s game. “You gotta win today to get to Monday. It was his turn in the rotation. He’s been our best pitcher and you gotta go with your No. 1 to get to Monday.”
Junior Vincent Lopriore will pitch Monday while Steeves plays shortstop.
Bernazzani said Steeves won’t be available to pitch in relief either.
“It’s not the smart thing to do, you’re setting him up for injury,” he said of Steeves. “Although he would [pitch] in a second. But I would never do that to him.”
English and Latin Academy split their season series. English won the first meeting, 5-4, on Jessey Valdez’s walk-off double in the bottom of the seventh inning on April 25. Steeves struck out Valdez, his friend and American Legion teammate, in the last at-bat to clinch a 6-3 victory in Latin’s May 16 meeting with English.
“Vince is also a very good pitcher so we’re excited,” Steeves said when asked if he was disappointed about not pitching on Monday. ‘We’re really comparable on the mound anyway and it’s a different look. As long as we get our bats going early like we did today, we’ll be fine.”
Latin Academy scored six runs in the opening inning against Eastie on Saturday.
“That’s what we talked about, coming out early and scoring a bunch of runs and playing tight the rest of the way,” Bernazzani said.“We played a lot of close games [this season] so hopefully we know what to do in a close game. We preached, focus on every single pitch.”
Bernazzani and Steeves said they fully expect Monday’s game against English to be close.
“We’re not done, we gotta get the big one on Monday,” Steeves said. “We’re trying not to get too excited about this one because English is much better than East Boston. The game is going to be tough. English is a good team.”
East Boston finally got on the board on Saturday in the fifth inning when senior infielder Kevin Lara hit a base hit but advanced the third when the throw to first was overthrown. He scored after a wild pitch hit the backstop.
The Jets (7-11) added another two runs in the sixth inning when sophomore Michael
Theriault hit a 2 RBI double that brought home junior Manuel Martinez and freshman John Cinelli.
“I was glad that we didn’t quit,” East Boston coach Phil Brangiforte said. “Latin Academy is a good team. They hit the ball well. We struggled to hit the ball but we turned it on at the end there. We hung tough. We’re a young team and we’re looking for good things.”
Offensively, Latin Academy was led on Saturday by infielder Brendan Woods who was 3 for 4 with an RBI. Sophomore outfielder Edward Funes was 2 for 3 with two RBIs.
Lopriore, who will pitch Monday’s championship game, was 2 for 4 with a double and two RBIs.
“Two good teams are going at it for the city title,” Bernazzani said. “That’s how it should be.”
Justin A. Rice covers Boston Public school athletics. He can be reached at jrice.globe@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter @GlobeJustinRice or @BPSspts.
A hot week on the MBTA
(Jeremy C. Fox for Boston.com)
Will these unsuspecting passengers be greeted by waves of heat once they board their bus? Many commuters were this week.
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Mass. Convention Center Authority provides financial boost to local nonprofits
(Photo courtesy MCAA)
Community Partnership Grant and Hospitality Scholarship award winners with state Senator Jack Hart, City Councilor Frank Baker, and the MCCA’s James E. Rooney.
Twenty-one Boston nonprofits received a financial boost Tuesday after the Massachusetts Convention Center Authority awarded community grants at the MCCA’s annual awards luncheon.
Themoney, from the authority's community Partnership and Hospitality Scholarship Fund, will be used to benefit East Boston, Dorchester, Roxbury, Jamaica Plain, Roslindale, and Brighton.
“We understand the importance of the extensive number of non-profits who work tirelessly to serve all of Boston’s diverse neighborhoods,” said James Rooney, executive director of the authority in a statement. “Our Community Partnership Grants program is a way for the MCCA to reward these non-profits for the positive contributions they are making to Boston and its collection of neighborhoods. The grants are also a way to ensure that the organizations receive the funding that allows them to continue to make our city’s communities better places to live, work and enjoy.”
FULL ENTRYBerklee College of Music honors Zumix co-founder Madeleine Steczynski
(Phil Farnsworth/Courtesy Berklee College of Music)
Madeleine Steczynski, center, accepts her award from Lynette Gittens, Berklee City Music director of operations and enrollment, and Hebert Labbate, Berklee City Music business operations manager.
Berklee College of Music recently presented the leader of an East Boston arts organization with an award for her leadership and empowerment of youth through music.
Madeleine Steczynski, co-founder and executive director of Zumix, was honored by the music college’s office of community affairs and campus engagement at a recent ceremony for the third annual Berklee Urban Service Awards. The awards “are based on the principle that institutions of higher education realize their greatest potential when they serve as fully committed members of the community,” according to press release from Berklee.
The awards ceremony included performances by Beyond Borders, a Berklee student group that uses music to raise awareness; the international ensemble Women of the World, winners of Performance of the Year for their 2011 performance at Swingin’ in Mothers Rest; and Studio Heat with the Berklee Hip-Hop Ensemble, a collaboration between Berklee students and young people from Blue Hill Boys and Girls Club Music Clubhouse
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Boston City Championship contenders up in the air after baseball and softball is rained out
Tuesday's full slate of Boston schools' baseball and softball games has been canceled due to inclement weather, wreaking havoc on the race for the city championships. The softball and baseball city championships are slated for this weekend but mother nature is making it difficult to determine who will be playing.
In softball, East Boston (9-6, 8-0) and O’Bryant (7-5, 7-3) are poised to represent the North conference in the city championships while Latin Academy (9-10, 7-0) and South Boston (9-3, 9-3) and Dorchester (8-3, 8-3) are fighting for the South conference slot.
The forecast isn’t much better for Wednesday, when Brighton and Latin Academy are slated to square off in a baseball battle that could be the key to determining who represents the North conference in the baseball city championships.
In baseball, the top two teams from the North conference qualify for the tournament so
English High is also in the running to make cities.
The top team from the Central and South also qualify for cities. East Boston is looking like the runaway leader in the Central conference while Boston International and Fenway are battling to represent the South conference.
International (8-3, 5-1), which has already had eight or nine rain outs this year, has several conference games to make up this week. They are slated to play a double header against Charlestown on Thursday and back-to-back games against Snowden and Burke on Friday.
Boston International coach Christian Irizarry said he has plenty of pitching to get his team through the nonstop schedule of games.
“I have five arms besides my regular pitcher,” he said. “So for our league we are pretty good in terms of pitching.”
Fenway (9-7, 7-3), which clinched the state tournament for the first time in eight years on Monday, feels like they deserve to be the South representatives in the city tournament, especially because they defeated Boston International, 8-4, on Saturday. International beat Fenway 6-5 earlier in the season.
First-year Fenway coach David Walsh said his team would go to cities if the tiebreak came down to runs scored.
“We would definitely do damage in the cities,” he said. “If we don’t get in at least I know we’re in states.”
If the remainder of Boston International’s league games are rained out, it’s unclear how they will be counted in the standings.
“If I don’t play anyone because of the weather why should [Fenway] be on top?” Irizarry said.
The baseball city championship semifinals will be at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. on Saturday at English High. The title bout will be on Monday at 10 a.m.
The softball semifinals will be at 11 a.m. at Clemente and Cobe Fields in the Fens. The championship game will be at 10 a.m. on Monday at Cobe Field.
Justin A. Rice covers Boston Public school athletics. He can be reached at jrice.globe@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter @GlobeJustinRice or @BPSspts.
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