Monthly Archives: November 2010

If You’re Seeking Justice, Don’t Look Online

Published November 15, 2010

…At least for another 48 hours two hours.

The Globe reports:

A key Supreme Judicial Court website is shut down this morning, apparently because someone forgot to renew the domain name.

The site is currently gone, replaced with ads for legal things and the following notice: “massreports.com expired on 11/08/2010 and is pending renewal or deletion.”

Remember this? The George W. Bush Presidential Library let its domain name expire — and then had to buy it back from squatters for $35,000.

Update: The SJC says the site should be back up within two hours. It’s back.

Monday Morning: Feds Shift Immigration Tactics, Cops Miss Body

Published November 15, 2010

Good morning! Hope you enjoyed the beautiful weather this weekend. Here’s what’s news on what looks to be another mild Monday morning in Boston:

Immigration enforcement is turning to New England companies. It’s a shift in strategy under the Obama administration to target companies that hire undocumented workers. (Globe)

Boston police missed a murder victim’s body for two days. Commissioner Ed Davis said the killing was likely related to another across the street in Dot. (Dorchester Reporter)

BU President Robert Brown made more than $1 million last year. He is the highest paid college leader in Massachusetts. (Chronicle of Higher Education)

Home sales fell a fourth straight month. Single-family home sales fell 29.5 percent while sales of condominiums plunged by a whopping 36.8 percent last month.” (Herald)

There was another armed robbery at Harvard — the second in three days. Police say the suspect tried to rob three freshmen and then fired a gun at a cop. (Globe)

Patriots won big, 39-26, over the Steelers. “We haven’t been this happy in a long time,” QB Tom Brady said. (NESN)

Lesson In Crowdsourcing: Angry Hingham Woman ID’d

Published November 12, 2010

Justice never rests on the Internet.

This woman calls a mail carrier the "N" word and other unpleasantries.

This woman calls a mail carrier the "N" word and other unpleasantries.

In this video making the worldwide rounds (Part 1 and Part 2), an exasperated woman goes postal on a mail carrier, calling him the “N” word and worse when he refuses to take back a letter she signed for. (The carrier says he was later fired, but it’s not clear why.)

It turns out this happened in our backyard — or so say a band of anonymous justice seekers on the Internet. Within hours of the video turning up on YouTube, websites claim to have unearthed nearly every detail of the woman’s identity, including her home address in Hingham.

I guess the Internet has moved on from the Cooks Source scandal, which is so last week. (In that case, hundreds of people compiled a Google spreadsheet that documents apparent widespread plagiarism at the western Mass. cooking magazine.)

Commenters have put the heat on the Hingham woman by publishing her home address and phone number. Gawker has a play-by-play of the concerted effort to track her down, which demonstrates the intensity and speed of a truth-seeking crowd.

But not all questions are answered. Who is the mail carrier who recorded the video? Why was he fired? What might have provoked this woman’s rage?

Update: The Globe identifies the woman as Erika Winchester and the mail carrier as Hugson Jean, 48, of Roslindale. Jean was fired but not as a result of this incident, according to his former employer, the U.S. Postal Service.

MFA Unveils Americas Expansion With Flair

Published November 12, 2010

Hello from inside the new glass-and-granite courtyard at the entrance to the MFA’s Art of the Americas wing — where a who’s who of the art world showed up for the unveiling.

Most memorable? “The Passage of the Delaware,” a positively massive oil painting of Gen. George Washington’s famous passage. John Singer Sargent’s priceless and iconic “Daughters of Edward Darley Boit.” The exquisite miniature ship models.

Boston Globe art critic Sebastian Smee shared his top 10 must-sees on Radio Boston today. (Full list of Smee’s must-sees at Boston.com.)

The expansion opens to museum members Nov. 12 and the general public Nov. 20.

Friday Morning: World-Class MFA Expansion Unveiled

Published November 12, 2010

Good morning! The Museum of Fine Arts unveils its massive, $504 million expansion to the press today. The Art of the Americas wing has been guarded with Apple-like secrecy. I’ll be covering the opening with WBUR’s Andrea Shea and Jesse Costa. (Catch up on all of our coverage in our special section: The ‘New’ MFA.)

Here’s what’s news on chilly Friday morning in Boston:

Stakes are four stories high for the MFA expansion. “Los Angeles and Chicago have not been as successful in raising money for their own museum campaigns. Or as strategic.” (WBUR)

Mass. could lose $200 million this year, “as the incoming Republican congressional leadership and President Obama take aim at earmarked spending projects.” (Globe)

Harmonix, the Cambridge company behind “Rock Band,” is for sale. Viacom acquired the company for $175 million four years ago, but sales are slipping. Harmonix won’t comment. (Globe)

A Somerville police detective is out of the hospital after his brush with death. Det. Mario Oliveira was shot in the chest and abdomen Nov. 2 while serving a warrant. The injuries were called life-threatening. Police shot dead the suspect. (Herald)

Happy Veterans Day

Published November 11, 2010

Christmas lights arranged as an American flag (Mubina H/Flickr)

(Mubina H/Flickr)

It’s Veterans Day, a national holiday to honor service members.

WBUR interviewed Derek Adameic, a 10-year veteran of the Marine Corps who served in Afghanistan. Adameic practices yoga to deal with the tell-tale symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder.

Adameic says it has changed his life. He often uses the breathing exercises he learned here to control his anger. It’s something he says could help the thousands of veterans coming home with problems similar to his.

WBUR also catches up with 92-year-old Alba Thompson, who has stories to tell about her longtime service as an aide to Gen. Douglas MacArthur in World War II and Korea.

And NPR reports on the growing crisis of female veterans becoming homeless. There are few places for them to go.

On Tuesday, I asked if Americans might observe two minutes of silence for service members the way Israelis do every year.

NPR Interviews Gay N.H. Bishop Set To Retire

Published November 10, 2010

New Hampshire Bishop V. Gene Robinson (Mary Schwalm/AP)

New Hampshire Bishop V. Gene Robinson (Mary Schwalm/AP)

V. Gene Robinson of New Hampshire, the first openly gay Episcopal bishop in the United States, says the constant death threats strengthened his faith in God.

Bishop, 65, announced he will retire in 2013.

“Death is not the worst thing — not living your life, that’s the worst thing,” Robinson told NPR’s Melissa Block in an interview Wednesday. The Two-Way has a write-up:

Back in 2003, Robinson told Melissa that he hoped he would some day be known as just a good bishop, not a gay bishop. Today, he said in the seven years since then, he came to “make my peace with being ‘the gay bishop’ ” and to look at the situation as “an astounding opportunity” if he could be “the best steward I possibly can.”

Audio of the full interview will be available this evening.

Alleged Limojacker Is Busted

Published November 10, 2010

Boston Police say they have caught a thief believed to have stolen a limousine filled that was waiting for a bride and groom in Dorchester over the weekend.

Joseph Ghella, 45, of South Boston, was arrested Tuesday night while allegedly robbing an apartment. He may also be responsible for giving one couple a great story for their children and grandchildren.

The Herald reported the extraordinary carjacking story on Saturday, and Universal Hub interviewed the man who says he was the victim of the home invasion that preceded the wild chase.

Bloomberg: BJ’s Wholesale May Be For Sale

Published November 10, 2010

Bloomberg reports, via the Worcester Telegram & Gazette:

BJ’s Wholesale Club Inc. plans to run an auction to sell itself after receiving an offer from private-equity firm Leonard Green & Partners LP in recent months, said three people with knowledge of the situation.

BJ’s is a Natick company with locations mostly in the Northeast. As of early afternoon, BJ’s stock is up almost 11 percent.

WBUR’s Curt Nickisch is following.

3:26 p.m. update: Another New England institution, the Necco candy company, may also be exploring a sale, the Globe reports.

Radio Boston Rundown: Mass. Students Best Of The Worst?

Published November 10, 2010

It’s a busy day here… made evident by the fact I posted a Friday roundup on a Wednesday morning… here’s the rundown for 3 p.m. on Radio Boston:

Mass. math students — best of the worst? High-schoolers here surpass their peers nationwide in mathematics, according to a new study by the Kennedy School at Harvard. But Massachusetts students fall way behind their peers in at least a dozen European and Asian countries. We talk to the study author, Prof. Paul Peterson, about why and what can be done to close the gap.

Gender equity in school athletics programs. A recent CommonWealth Magazine report finds Massachusetts schools are a ways off from Title IX compliance. We speak with reporter Jack Sullivan and a former Olympic rower and UMass coach, Dana Skinner.

Historic churches in Boston. Many historically significant churches in Boston have fallen into disrepair, and many of them are in communities that can’t afford to renovate them. WBUR’s Adam Ragusea explores the plight of these churches in advance of a weekend conference that will offer strategies to save them.