City Council

New app was supposed to revolutionize school busing in Boston, but it made it worse and now councilors, parents want answers

By adamg - 9/11/24 - 2:39 pm

Ed Flynn being not happy about the first week of school busing.

Boston City Councilors ordered up a hearing today at which to press Boston school officials to explain how the new BPS Zum (pronounced "zoom," but for obvious reasons not spelled that way) app that was supposed to make BPS buses run as softly as a cloud instead led to some buses not showing up in the morning for an hour or more - and some kids riding buses home for up to three hours as their poor, befuddled drivers tried to navigate Boston's dropped-bowl-of-spaghetti roads. Read more.

City Council candidate hates bike lanes so much she parked in one, screw bicyclists, but it didn't end well for her

By adamg - 8/25/24 - 9:08 pm

Cathy Vitale, who hopes to improve next year on her dead-last finish in the 2023 at-large council race, decided to park in the Tremont Street bike lane along the Common Friday night, then refused to move when a cop asked her to - and when he went to write her a parking ticket he discovered she had a suspended license. Read more.

City councilor starts listing all the cool stuff to do downtown and on the Common

By adamg - 8/18/24 - 5:09 pm

For the past couple of days, at-large Councilor Henry Santana has been listing interesting and fun stuff to do in Downtown Crossing and across Tremont on Boston Common. Read more.

Downtown's city councilor calls for end of all events on the Common, says area no longer safe

By adamg - 8/15/24 - 1:20 pm

After a man was stabbed in Downtown Crossing yesterday, City Councilor Ed Flynn (South Boston, South End, Chinatown, Downtown) called on the city to end all organized events on the Common: Read more.

Councilor seeks exemption for law aimed at protecting the Emerald Necklace from tall nearby buildings for proposed Fenway apartment building

By adamg - 8/9/24 - 2:21 pm

The Boston City Council this week agreed to consider a proposal by Councilor Sharon Durkan (Fenway, Back Bay, Beacon Hill, Mission Hill) to amend an ordinance aimed at preventing some city parks and parkways from being overwhelmed by tall buildings next to them to allow a tall residential building next to the Charlesgate section of the Emerald Necklace. Read more.

Councilor would let Boston homeowners paint yellow no-parking zones around their driveways - and would fine people who park in them

By adamg - 8/8/24 - 2:07 pm

The Boston City Council will consider a proposal by Councilor Brian Worrell (Dorchester) to deal with the issue of big-ass SUVs making it harder for people with driveways to see oncoming traffic as they pull out by letting homeowners create yellow-paint no-parking areas 18 inches on either side of their driveways - and then calling for $25 fines for people who disregard those zones. Read more.

Boston City Council did not violate the First Amendment by not letting out-of-town Satanists give invocations at meetings, court rules

By adamg - 8/7/24 - 12:12 am

A federal appeals court has tossed a lawsuit by Salem-based Satanists over the way the Boston City Council has local clergy members start its weekly meetings with an invocation - and over the way the city fought the group's efforts to make then Councilor Michelle Wu show up for a deposition way up on the North Shore on the day of the election in which she was running for mayor. Read more.

No fast lane for congestion pricing for drivers heading into Boston

By adamg - 7/12/24 - 10:17 am

A proposal to begin charging drivers a fee to come into downtown Boston will remain in committee as its sponsors consider what are turning out to be some possibly complex issues. Read more.

Councilors propose using birth control to combat rats, rather than poison that can kill raptors, pets and even small children

By adamg - 7/10/24 - 4:39 pm

The Boston City Council today agreed to look at using rodent birth-control pellets to try to control the city's burgeoning supply of rats, by building on a pilot started in Jamaica Plain last year that one councilor said had meant an 80% reduction in the gnawing, long-tailed vermin. Read more.

Boston councilors seek shakeup in how city officials are elected, but no, not by moving the elections to even-numbered years

By adamg - 6/10/24 - 1:47 pm

Boston City Councilors Ruthzee Louijeune, Julia Mejia and Henry Santana (all at large) this week will formally propose changing the way Bostonians elect municipal officials to a more Cambridge-like system in which voters would rank candidates in order of preference. Read more.

Council to seek power to temporarily tweak commercial property tax collection higher

By adamg - 6/5/24 - 2:38 pm

The Boston City Council today approved a request to the state legislature for permission to temporarily increase commercial tax rates to try to shield homeowners from a potentially huge increase should downtown office-building assessments collapse as many workers continue to stay at home. Read more.

Federal appeals court wrestles with Boston City Council invocation issue

By adamg - 5/7/24 - 3:47 pm

The Courthouse News Service reports on a hearing today before the First Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston on the City Council's decades-long policy of having a local member of the clergy open its weekly meetings with an invocation.

The hearing came on the Satanic Temple's appeal of a district court judge's ruling allowing the council to continue not inviting the group to give an invocation.

One local Jewish leader condemns Boston City Council resolution on Gaza

By adamg - 5/1/24 - 10:46 pm

Rob Leikind, New England director of the American Jewish Committee, is not having the City Council's resolution on Gaza: Read more.

Boston councilors go public with the problems of private ways

By adamg - 5/1/24 - 9:10 pm

Some of the craters Councilor Pepén described on the privately owned Parrott Street in Hyde Park.

After dealing with the issue of Gaza today, Boston city councilors agreed to tackle a more traditional council issue: Potholes, more specifically, the rough shape of the surprising number of private ways the city still has. Read more.

Boston City Council approves resolution for Gaza ceasefire - and release of Hamas hostages

By adamg - 5/1/24 - 2:09 pm

The City Council voted 11-2 today for a resolution, sponsored by Councilor Tania Fernandes Anderson (Roxbury) calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, the release of humanitarian aid for the region, the release of Israelis held hostage by Hamas and the reconstruction of Gaza. Read more.

Allston/Brighton city councilor says neighborhood keeps getting screwed in city capital budget and she's getting tired of it

By adamg - 4/12/24 - 1:07 pm

The Harvard Crimson talks to City Councilor Liz Breadon (Allston/Brighton) about the city's proposed budget for capital projects, noting that supposed projects to build a new Jackson-Mann school and community center are still only marked as "to be scheduled" and that the neighborhood is dead last in proposed capital projects, behind even smaller neighborhoods.

City of champions

By adamg - 4/10/24 - 1:26 pm

Councilor Coletta presents proclamation to Charlestown Coach Hugh Colman

The Boston City Council today officially honored the city's four state-championship teams with proclamations - and pizza: Charlestown High School, whose boys basketball team won the Division 3 state championship, New Mission High School, whose boys basketball team won the Division 5 championship, the Josiah Quincy Upper School's girls wrestling team brought home medals in Division 2 and Boston Latin School, whose hockey team won the Division 2 championship. Read more.

Tensions rise over proposed new recovery campus and housing at Shattuck site

By adamg - 4/5/24 - 9:07 am

GBH reports on a City Council hearing on the state's and Boston Medical Center's proposal to rebuild the Shattuck Hospital site into the nation's largest substance-abuse-recovery campus.

Watch the hearing: Read more.

In contentious meeting, Boston City Council moves to bring citywide planning into city government

By adamg - 3/27/24 - 5:33 pm

The Boston City Council today approved a measure to set up a planning department as the first major step towards abolishing the BPDA and giving the mayor and the council - and residents more of a direct say in how Boston grows. Read more.

Boston City Council unanimously supports Trans Day of Visibility

By adamg - 3/27/24 - 1:08 pm

Giselle Byrd, executive director of Theater Offensive, addresses councilors.

City councilors voted unanimously today to support the trans community in Boston and across the country on Sunday's Transgender Day of Visibility. Read more.

City Council

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