Hyde Park

City Councilor Rob Consalvo (Hyde Park, Roslindale, Mattapan), today proposed slapping advertising on city Web sites, including library and school sites - and even the site run by the city's public-housing authority.

Consalvo says cityofboston.gov got 6.8 million visits last year, the BPS site some 4.7 million.

With this kind of traffic, the city and the BPS could potentially raise hundreds of thousands of dollars in recurring revenue from advertising on these Web sites as well as advertising on associated city Web sites such as the Boston Public Library, the Boston Public Health Commission, the Boston Water and Sewer Commission, the Boston Redevelopment Authority and the Boston Housing Authority.

Consalvo said he would want to see "strong content review" to ensure inappropriate ads are not run (Ed. note: Darn, there go the plans to capture some of the MBTA's liquor-ad sales by putting beer ads on school-lunch menus).

However, the city might have to leave its flagship site out of any ad solicitations. The US General Services Administration, which handles registration of .gov sites, such as cityofboston.gov, bars advertising:

A Gov Internet domain may not be used to advertise for private individuals, firms, or corporations, or imply in any manner that the government endorses or favors any specific commercial product, commodity, or service.

The prohibition does not apply to sites that are run with other domains, such as bpl.org, bostonpublicschools.org and fatsmack.org.

H/t Kate Hutchinson for digging up the ad ban.

Diana's Market, 1070 Hyde Park Ave., was held up around 9 p.m. by two men with a silver gun, who then ran down Arlington Street toward Central.

The suspects are described as Hispanic. One was about 6'1" and 200 lbs. and wearing a gray leather jacket. The other was about 5'6" and clad in dark clothes. They made off with cigarettes, lottery tickets and cash.

Mike Ball discovered this cache of signs for Will Dorcena's at-large council bid yesterday - on the porch of Dorcena's Hyde Park home. Destined for the recycling truck or re-use?

Posted under this Creative Commons license and tagged as universalhub on Flickr.

District E-18 reports that over the past couple of weeks, several homes owned by elderly people in Dedham and Readville along River Street have been broken in at night - while the residents were at home.

Boston Police say both they and Dedham Police have stepped up patrols on either side of the town line in the normally quiet area - where Mayor Menino lives.

If you see anybody suspicious there, contact E-18 detectives at 617-343-5607 or the anonymous tip line at 800-494-8477.