Monthly Archives: June 2010

40 Years Of Pride In Boston

Published June 7, 2010

Forty years ago, no politician would be seen with this crowd.

Now they fall over themselves every year to participate in the Pride Week festivities, which celebrate 40 years next week in Boston. It’s Pride Week, and Hubbub intern Talia Ralph snapped a few photos at the flag-raising ceremony Friday in front of City Hall:

http://cdn.wbur.org/media/soundslides/2010/hubbub_0604_pride-flag

The Boston Phoenix has published some great coverage of the city’s changing gay culture scene: on the new gay bars (and where the girls are) and the week’s best parties.

Video: Man OK After Tree Crushes His Car

Published June 6, 2010

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v/Wd1XcC_4_w0

The skies were calm in Washington Square when David Hults left home in his Subaru hatchback and headed east on Beacon Street.

By the time he reached the edge of Coolidge Corner, about five blocks later, Hults hit a wall of rain and hail.

“Stopped at the light. Heard a crack. Boom! Straight through the car.”

A massive tree fell and totalled his car. Hults got out, uninjured but in shock.

“This is unreal,” he thought. “I can’t believe this is happening.”

I was sitting in my apartment, just across the street, when the power blipped off. Then I heard the sirens from all directions and ran outside, still in my flip flops.

I found Hults talking to a firefighter, telling her he was OK and that he had been wearing a seat belt. I recorded my interview with him on my iPhone.

The Subaru and a parked Toyota Camry were pulverized. No one was inside the Camry. Workers used chainsaws and heavy-duty machinery to free the cars. It took about four hours, but a tow truck has finally hauled the remains away.

This car was parked when the tree fell; no one was inside. (Andrew Phelps/WBUR)

This car was parked when the tree fell; no one was inside. (Andrew Phelps/WBUR)

(Andrew Phelps/WBUR)

(Andrew Phelps/WBUR)

Your Storm, Flooding Photos

Published June 6, 2010

WBUR journalists in Greater Boston are sending me storm photos; I’ll post them here. Do share yours. If you’re using Flickr or Twitter, use the tag Hubbub to get my attention.

Don’t miss my video interview with David Hults, who was sitting at a red light in Coolidge Corner when a tree fell and crushed his car.

Flooding at Route 38 (Washington Street) near Tufts Street in Somerville (Jack Lepiarz for WBUR)

Flooding at Route 38 (Washington Street) near Tufts Street in Somerville (Jack Lepiarz for WBUR)

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Dot Reporter Editorial: 'Gang' Flier Goes Too Far

Published June 4, 2010

In a Dorchester Reporter editorial this week, Bill Forry criticizes the Boston Police Department for distributing a flier that pictures suspected gang members in an effort to shame them.

The flyer — which includes mug shots of ten unnamed youths — has not been published by the Reporter, but is in wide circulation in the mass media. Commissioner Ed Davis told the Boston Globe that the purpose of the flyer is to make “the individuals who are responsible for the execution of a 14 year-old boy outcasts in their own neighborhood.” But the two teens who are now held without bail for Fomby-Davis’ murder are already in custody and the teens shown on the flyer are apparently not wanted by police. Sadly, if we want to shame someone, we have enough actual accused criminals in our mix whose faces and names can be published. Suggesting that these anonymous faces are also complicit in the killing runs the risk of further retaliatory violence and mistaken identity.

I have taken some criticism for raising the idea that BPD might be infringing on the civil liberties of suspected gang members.

“Let the police do their job,” writes Peter in the comments. “How about the ‘civil’ liberties of the many law abiding citizens of Dorchester, Roxbury and Mattapan — their right to ‘peace and tranquility’ or the right to their lives, their liberty and the pursuit of their happiness?”

And Dave Kay comments:

Are you claiming you are not defending these people?

These people destroy neighborhoods, schools, small businesses, families through their thugery and criminal activity.

Why is it, there are mug shots of these people?

Any written or spoken words should be used to eradicate them from society. They prevent impoverished inner city neighborhoods from moving ahead. They keep the black race in their cycle of poverty and crime. They take innocent youths, corrupt them, bring them into their gangs, and continue the endless cycle of inner city blight, poverty and failed education.

You should use your pen to help fix the problem.

Meghna posed this point of view to Peter Cannelos, the Boston Globe’s Washington bureau chief, on Friday’s Radio Boston. His response is illuminating:

I don’t have a lot of sympathy for those kinds of comments. This is what the police are trying to feed. It’s almost like a political issue, where they want to show the community that they’re out there. They want to show the community that they’re working hard.

Whenever you have somebody’s civil liberties who are infringed, other people say, What about the rights of the innocent people?

The bottom line is that we have legal processes for a reason, to determine who did what. And just because the police say that somebody is a gang member doesn’t mean that they are a gang member. And the community can then thump their chest over, What about all the innocent people? But look, the innocent may well be some of the people who police are passing around the pictures of.

Mr. Kay’s comments make my point for me. He is accusing me of sympathizing with gang members. I am not. The fact is, we don’t even know that these people are gang members — the police just say they are. And even Mr. Kay is falling for it. These young men are being shamed but are not even accused of a crime.

LA Mayor Offers Jack Nicholson If Celtics Win

Published June 4, 2010

The mayor of Los Angeles is challenging the mayor of Boston to a bet.

If the Celtics beat the Lakers in the Finals, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa will offer up Hollywood’s own Jack Nicholson to put on some green and shoot a tourism commercial for the city of Boston.

But if the Lakers win, he would like Matt Damon and Ben Affleck to record a public service announcement for LA, “where the climate, the beaches, and the food are far superior.”

Mayor Menino, will you respond? (I might be more inclined to accept that wager if it weren’t Jack Nicholson. No offense, Jack.)

Here is Villaraigosa’s offer to Menino, via The Los Angeles Times:

Mayor Menino:

As the brilliant essayist and cultural observer Chuck Klosterman wrote:

“There is no relationship that isn’t a Lakers-Celtics relationship.

It emerges from nothingness to design nature, just as Gerald Henderson emerged from nothingness to steal James Worthy’s errant inbound pass in game two of the 1983 finals.” Although Klosterman clearly has questionable allegiances, I think Celtics and Lakers fans alike can agree that he makes a very valid point.

Once again, we find ourselves replaying the rivalry that defined a decade. The Lakers, having triumphed over the Phoenix Suns, and the Celtics, having defeated the Orlando Magic, will face off for the NBA Championship for the twelfth time in history. Only this time — unlike two years ago — it’s our turn to win and finally tie the Celtics for the most championships of any NBA franchise.

The wager:

Should the Celtics prove victorious, we will generously permit Hollywood legend and Lakers fan extraordinaire, Jack Nicholson, to don green and film a commercial touting Old North Church, the Common, and all there is to see in Boston. Should the Lakers prevail, we will gladly accept your hometown boys, Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, as spokespersons for a public service announcement extolling the virtues of the City of Los Angeles, where the climate, the beaches, and the food are far superior.

How’d you like them apples?

Additionally, should the Lakers fall short in their quest, we will humbly set aside a few minutes in the middle of every fourth quarter for “Gino Time.” Conversely, should the Celtics finally let the Lakers tie their record, we full expect the TD Garden to air the footage of Magic Johnson’s game winning “baby hook” from Game Four of the 1987 Finals.

In all seriousness, win or lose, the NBA Finals will bring an estimated $34 million to the City of Los Angeles and have a comparable economic impact on the City of Boston, but the positive yields do not end there.
As a former member, I was thrilled to see that the Boys & Girls Clubs of Los Angeles and Boston are leveraging the media attention on our two cities by engaging in a friendly fundraising challenge. I fully support this effort as I am sure you do as well.

I leave you with the words of two basketball greats, Magic Johnson and Larry Bird: “Rivalries are born, but they never die.” May the best team win!

Who would you want for a Boston tourism ad?

Another way to beat LA: Text BeGreatBos to 20222. A $5 donation goes to the Boys & Girls Club. The Boston chapter is trying to raise more than its LA counterpart. Read more here.

Hubbub Explainer: 'Gangsters' Have Rights, Too

Published June 3, 2010

It looks like a wanted poster. Mug shots of young, black men with “Boston Police Department” printed on top. Underneath, in red text: “Anyone with information on these individuals is asked to call Boston Police Crime Stoppers.”

But none of the 10 men photographed is actually wanted for a crime. The intent of the flier is confusing.

I called Boston Police Department spokeswoman Elaine Driscoll today to explain.

“The Boston Police Department is hoping that if community members who are familiar with these individuals, that we know to be involved in violent activity — they are self-identified members of a violent street gang — we hope that the community will come forward, even in an anonymous way, with activity that they are involved in, because even an anonymous tip can lead to a successful investigation.”

The BPD has never done this before, and neither Driscoll nor anyone else I spoke with knows of it happening elsewhere.

On Wednesday, I raised the concern that the flier might infringe upon the alleged gang members’ constitutional rights.

I called Harvey Silverglate, a well-known First Amendment lawyer in Boston. He gasped when he saw the flier in the Globe yesterday. He’s outraged that more people aren’t, well, outraged about it.

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That's About 500,000 Dime Bags

Published June 3, 2010

After the bust, there’s always the photo.

That's about 2,000 pounds of pot. (Boston Police Department)

About 2,000 pounds of pot in Mattapan (Boston Police Department)

Boston police officers were at an apartment building yesterday in Mattapan, executing an unrelated search warrant, when they saw someone flee. The man told them he mistakenly thought the cops were looking for him.

The cops smelled pot, so they entered his apartment. And found 40 bales of marijuana wrapped in black plastic. About 2,000 pounds, valued at about $5 million. That’s 32,000 times the limit of non-criminal possession in Massachusetts.

The suspect, Edgar Gonzales, 40, of Boston, said he knew nothing about the leafy greens.

Here’s my next question: What do they do with all that stuff? Do they, um, burn it?

Your Boston Weekend: June 4–6

Published June 3, 2010

Was your prom this awesome? Either way, you can do it all over again this Sunday at ArtProm in Somerville. (Joe Shabotnick/Flickr)

Was your prom this awesome? Either way, you can do it all over again this Sunday at ArtProm in Somerville. (Joe Shabotnick/Flickr)

With so much going on in Boston every weekend, how does the culture lover choose, or even find, the best of what Beantown has to offer? Let Hubbub do some of the sleuthing for you.

June is here, and Boston’s arts scene in Boston is heating up. From mysterious dinner theater to an appearance by everyone’s favorite redheaded comedian, to proms, walks and clothing swaps supporting worthy causes, this is the weekend for mixing good deeds with good times.

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