Published February 7, 2011

Good morning! Though he wasn’t on the field last night, Patriots quarterback Tom Brady is the NFL’s most valuable player again — the first time an MVP vote has been unanimous. As we mentioned here last month, the Patriots already won the Super Bowl.

The Herald compiled an index of 526 anti-bullying plans submitted by schools under the state’s new anti-bullying law. A Pittsfield private school is getting really tough, banning cell phones and installing video surveillance. Could charter schools be a solution? The Globe reports a dozen new Boston charter schools will open over the next few years.

More Bay Staters are getting waivers for mandatory health insurance, the Globe reports. Officials said they granted more exceptions this year because health care is too expensive for some people in this sour economy.

WBUR’s series on mental health care for children sparked a lot of conversation on the Web. It’s worth hearing the wrap-up and catching up on the other stories from “Are The Kids All Right?“

Published February 4, 2011

It’s the story that keeps on thanksgiving. The wild turkey that isn’t Ethel Kennedy’s remains at large on Cape Cod.

The Cape Cod Times reports:

Using a moving postal truck as bait, state wildlife officials unsuccessfully tried to net a tom turkey today that had attacked a mail truck last week in a Centerville neighborhood.

Three state wildlife officials arrived in the neighborhood this morning along with a large hand-held net.

The slow-moving mail truck, rolling down Waterside Drive late this morning, succeeded in flushing the turkey out into the open from the nearby woods. As the turkey approached and strutted around the outside of the truck, a wildlife official walked behind the rear of the truck and attempted to grab the bird with the net.

After several capture attempts failed, wildlife officials packed up their equipment and left the area late this morning.

And the video, also by the Cape Cod Times:
Continue reading →

Published February 4, 2011

Harvard undergrads, still hoping for a snow day in this extra-brutal winter: Don’t hold your breath.

The Crimson reports Harvard College has cancelled classes for snow only once, for three days, during the Blizzard of ’78.

Administrators decided to officially shut down Harvard on Feb. 7, only after then-Gov. Michael S. Dukakis declared a state of emergency, closed schools for two days and called in 8,500 members of the National Guard to help clear the roads.

[…]

By Wednesday, two days after the snow started, 29 inches had accumulated in Boston.

The snow was so deep that it buried any cars left abandoned on the road. Because Dukakis banned all means of transportation except for emergency vehicles, many students used skis to get around campus.

“We were cross-country skiing and literally going across the tops of cars,” said Patricia M. Nolan ’80.

Harvard’s graduate schools have closed for snow this winter, Harvard spokesman Kevin Galvin tells me. But it took the greatest snowstorm of all time to close Harvard College.

Published February 4, 2011

WBUR’s Curt Nickisch reports:

New figures show jobs added in Massachusetts last year went to men at a greater rate than women.

Men typically have a higher unemployment rate than women during recessions. That’s because women are more likely to leave the job market for family reasons. But this last recession was especially hard on males.

Men put the men in unemployment rate. When the job market is really hot, Curt tells me, the unemployment rate for men versus women is typically even. But when the job market slips, men get hit first.

At the end of 2010, the Mass. unemployment rate for men was 10 percent; for women, it was 8 percent.

But the last quarter of 2010 showed gains in construction, manufacturing and technology — sectors dominated by men.

Also, don’t call it that.

Related Stories:

• Report: Mass. Economy Slowed In 2010’s Final Quarter

Published February 4, 2011

Good morning! All this snow is getting pretty heavy — literally. State officials are urging people to clear off their roofs after more than 70 buckled this week. Amazingly, no injuries have been reported. A dozen schools are closed today over concerns about roofs.

Speaking of schools, some have had seven or eight snow days already this season. WBUR’s Monica Brady-Myerov reports on what districts are doing to make up for last time. State law requires 180 school days a year. (Sorry, kids: Saturday school.)

WBUR’s David Boeri reports on three guys who love the white stuff. Roofers in Acton are having a banner year doing treacherous work.

The U.S. unemployment rate fell to 9 percent last month, but the economy didn’t add many jobs. Alan Clayton-Matthews, a respected economist at Northeastern University, said the Massachusetts economy slowed down “significantly” in the last quarter of 2010 but is expected to continue growing.

In light of the news he’ll run again, Democratic Rep. Barney Frank talked with WBUR about his future plans.

Oh, and they (finally) found that snake. In other missing pet news, “experts” now say that loose turkey on the Cape probably doesn’t belong to Ethel Kennedy, after all. (How do they know? Because the bird has a beard.)

Published February 3, 2011

I just… I don’t even… Here, watch this first:

[youtube url=”QJSGIt-4MXE”]

The Cape Cod Times reports:

The turkey that attacked a mail truck in Centerville last week may have a Kennedy connection.

“It was my turkey,” Ethel Kennedy said in a phone conversation with the Times on Wednesday.

It gets better: Ethel Kennedy (RFK’s widow) said the turkey escaped ON THANKSGIVING.

“I wanted the grandchildren to know what a live turkey looked like,” said Kennedy, who was calling from Florida. “I asked Bobby (son Robert F. Kennedy Jr.) to go to a turkey farm and get one black one and one white one.”

But trouble began to gobble shortly after the birds arrived in Hyannisport. Kennedy said her son opened the car door and the black turkey immediately escaped.

No word on whether the bird might be related to the roaming turkeys of Brookline.

Update, 2/4: The bird probably does not belong to Ethel Kennedy.

2nd update: A capture attempt was unsuccessful.

Published February 3, 2011

Good morning! Another snowstorm is coming Saturday. You’re welcome.

Here’s what’s news on a slow-ish Thursday:

Yet another roof has collapsed, this time a house in JP, under the weight of snow. (No one was hurt.) The Globe reports on “an unprecedented wave of structural failures across the state linked to the season’s seemingly endless supply of snow, rain, ice, and sleet.” (Get a look at the photo.)

Not that I needed to tell you, but all this snow is starting to raise tempers. Two men where shoveling in the Back Bay and got into an altercation over throwing snow. Police said one man threatened the other with knives and was arrested.

As I wrote earlier, Rep. Barney Frank will seek re-election in 2012. (My colleague is digging up the audio of Frank telling WBUR he’s tired of getting the question.)

The city has a new head of human services. Daphne Griffin will oversee services for homeless people, veterans, women and young people in Boston.

Universal Hub tracks down and interviews Dan Sternof Beyer, the artist behind those mysterious and beautiful snowdecahedrons around Boston.

Published February 3, 2011

Democratic Rep. Barney Frank says he will run for a 17th term in 2012.

There had been speculation Frank might retire, since Massachusetts is set to lose a House seat in redistricting.

Frank, 70, said he knows it’s early to announce his plans, but he keeps getting asked:

While I would have preferred to put off a discussion about the next election until a later date, I have been asked on a number of occasions about my plans. In addition, I have become convinced that making my decision to run for re-election known is important for maximizing the impact I can have on the range of issues to which I am committed. These issues require a time commitment longer than the next two years.

Frank said his top two priorities are:

1. “to defend the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act”
2. “to reduce significantly America’s swollen, unnecessary, worldwide military footprint”

In a statement, Frank also laid out other priorities:

While these two issues are central to our ability to return to a full-employment economy while protecting our quality of life, there are other national and regional issues on which I will be working as well — protecting the fishing industry in Massachusetts from arbitrary, unjust and unfair actions; fighting for full legal equality for all citizens; providing for the housing needs of low-income people, not by pushing them unwisely and unsustainably into homeownership, but rather by building affordable rental housing; and helping local communities provide a level of service adequate to the needs of their residents.

Frank faced a strong 2010 challenger in Republican Sean Bielat, but he easily won re-election. Frank has represented the 4th Congressional District since 1980.

Time to create the Election 2012 tag…

Update: Bielat has responded in a statement of his own:

In his statement, Congressman Frank states that his goals require “a time commitment longer than two years.” It is unclear why the previous 32 years haven’t been sufficient to achieve his goals, but nonetheless, Congressman Frank’s justifications for remaining in office show why he shouldn’t.

Bielat, an ex-Marine, focuses his rather academic critique on Frank’s call for reducing wasteful military spending: “With unrest rampant around the globe, it is dangerous to entrust our national security to those with superficial knowledge of security issues and strong, parochial ideologies.”

If Frank just announced he is running for re-election, did Bielat just announce he is re-running for election?

Update, 2/4: For the record, Bielat’s spokeswoman said he has not determined whether to run again. “Let’s see what redistricting holds,” she said.

Published February 2, 2011

Chiseled above the entrance to the giant Post Office on 8th Avenue in New York City, the Postal Service’s unofficial motto reminds us that mail carriers are always there.

Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of
their appointed rounds.

Come snow, come sleet, come rain, WBUR and wbur.org are too.

As the second storm in two days continues to hammer Boston, snarl the morning commute, and generally make things unpleasant, children around the state are celebrating yet another snow day. As WBUR’s Steve Brown reports, with all of the snow days, many superintendents are thinking it’s Groundhog Day. Wait, it is Groundhog Day.

It isn’t just schoolchildren who are smiling today. With all of the snow and ice, cities and towns needs tons of road salt to keep their roads safe. It’s a good winter to be in the road salt business.

Continuing WBUR’s week-long series on the challenges of treating child mental heath patients, WBUR’s Monica Brady-Myerov took a look at how doctors screen for mental health problems.

It’s cold outside, but a new agreement ensures that a Cambridge power plant will send steam into Boston to help heat buildings. It will also cut the amount of harmful discharge of hot water into the Charles River.

If you aren’t reading Peter Gelzinis’ Boston Herald series on love in war zones, please do.

For the record, libraries in Boston are open today, trash pickup will still occur (somehow), and UniversalHub says ten community centers are open.

Stay safe.