BRA Voids Permit For Filene’s Redevelopment

Published November 17, 2010

Three years ago, this was Filene's Basement. (Andrew Phelps/WBUR)

Three years ago, this was Filene's Basement. (Andrew Phelps/WBUR)

Consider it a final nail in the coffin for the long-stalled redevelopment of Filene’s Basement, which remains a gaping hole in Downtown Crossing.

The Boston Redevelopment Authority has formally revoked approval for Vornado Realty Trust, three years after the company won permission — and then failed — to redevelop the site.

The agency said the delay has cost the city of Boston $20 million in new tax revenue and more than 3,000 jobs.

Vornado has said the project was stalled because of the unforeseeable collapse of the economy.

Jessica Shumaker, a BRA spokeswoman, says the recession stalled a lot of construction projects — but this one was “special.”

“There are certainly other projects that have had their approval for longer, but they didn’t create a hole on the site,” Shumaker told me.

This is the first time in recent memory that the city has yanked permission for a construction project. Vornado’s construction permits are effectively worthless, since permits require BRA approval.

In September, the Globe reported Vornado had put up the site for sale after a two-year construction delay.

“Filene’s Basement was operating and employing people on this site, and that’s not the case anymore,” Shumaker said.

You can read the BRA’s letter to Vornado on Scribd.

If You’re Happy And You Know It, Track It

Published November 17, 2010

“What is it that makes people happy?”

A little girl eating a peach and smiling (Bruce Tuten/Flickr)

Just how happy are you? (Bruce Tuten/Flickr)

Harvard psychologist Matt Killingsworth and his colleagues are turning to the crowd for answers. An iPhone Web app, Track Your Happiness, asks people to stop what they’re doing and rate their current happiness on a scale of 1 to 100.

I have been participating for a few days now. Every day, at a random time (during waking hours), I get a text message with a link to answer a few questions about my current activity. I am encouraged to respond as quickly as possible, as long as it’s safe — i.e., not while driving. After filing enough reports, I can view my overall “happiness report.”

Taken in aggregate, some of the results are not surprising. People are happiest in the midst of sex — an activity that requires focus. The New York Times reports:

When asked to rate their feelings on a scale of 0 to 100, with 100 being “very good,” the people having sex gave an average rating of 90. That was a good 15 points higher than the next-best activity, exercising, which was followed closely by conversation, listening to music, taking a walk, eating, praying and meditating, cooking, shopping, taking care of one’s children and reading. Near the bottom of the list were personal grooming, commuting and working.

The hypothesis is that a focused mind is a happy mind. A mind that wanders is unhappy.

Of course, the researchers warn that correlation is not causation. “For instance, if you were often unhappy when you are at home, it might simply be because you don’t get home until late at night when you’re tired, and you could be less happy because you are tired, not because being at home is unpleasant in any way,” reads the disclaimer.

Are you using the app? Are the results surprising you?

Tuition Benefits For Immigrants: What Do You Think?

Published November 17, 2010

There is surprisingly little debate in the blogosphere about Gov. Deval Patrick’s bold approach to immigration policy, which he detailed before a receptive crowd Tuesday at the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition.

Gov. Deval Patrick (AP)

Gov. Deval Patrick (AP)

Patrick says he will seek in-state college tuition for undocumented immigrants who attended high school in Massachusetts. (Think of it as our version of the DREAM Act.) And Patrick favors drivers’ licenses for people who are here illegally.

“I know that embracing newcomers is out of fashion these days,” Patrick said at the coalition’s annual Thanksgiving luncheon in Boston. “The concern over illegal immigration has become so shrill that all immigrants get swept up in that emotion. I want you to know that you are welcome here in this commonwealth. This is your commonwealth. This is your home.”

The governor downplayed immigration during his re-election campaign, as some commenters have noted. His speech yesterday reignites a tense debate on Beacon Hill, as Kyle Cheney and Michael Norton report for the State House News Service. State Republicans oppose the plan.

Patrick said he supports all 131 recommendations from a year-old administration report. (Kudos to MassLive.com for finding the link. They also have video of the speech and a good write-up.)

What do you think?

  • Do you support reduced college tuition — subsidized by taxpayers — for people who came here illegally but graduated high school?
  • Do you think people who are here illegally, many of them behind the wheel already, should have drivers’ licenses?

Jump into the comments and respond (and please remain respectful).

Wednesday Morning: O’Malley Wins, Four Loko Cuts Caffeine

Published November 17, 2010

What’s news on a rainy and windy Wednesday morning in Boston:

Gov. Patrick will seek in-state tuition for illegal immigrants. The idea has many critics. (AP)

Matt O’Malley is Boston’s newest city councilor. He is the 31-year-old hand-picked successor to John Tobin in the Sixth District. (Globe)

The maker of Four Loko will drop caffeine from the drinks. “We are taking this step after trying — unsuccessfully — to navigate a difficult and politically-charged regulatory environment at both the state and federal levels,” the company said in a statement. Massachusetts is moving to restrict caffeinated alcoholic drinks. (The New York Times)

The head of the Boston Federal Reserve is defending the Fed’s latest stimulus move. Quantitative easing is an exceptionally boring way of saying the central bank will print new money to stimulate the economy. (WBUR)

A Watertown man arrested in the failed Times Square bombing is charged with immigration fraud. Aftab Ali Khan allegedly gave $4,900 to Faisal Shahzad, of Connecticut, who was later convicted in the bombing attempt. (WBUR)

Cops want the public’s helping ID’ing a body in Milton. A mutilated young man was found on an affluent street on Monday. (Herald)

Radio Boston Rundown: Web Justice, Hepatitis B

Published November 16, 2010

I’ll be on Radio Boston to take your calls and discuss recent examples of crowdsourcing leading to “justice” on the Internet.

Here’s what’s on the docket for Tuesday at 3:

Minorities and Hepatitis B. Asian-Americans account for more than half the city’s cases of Hepatitis B but less than 10 percent of Boston’s population. WBUR’s Adam Ragusea meets a Harvard student group trying to change that.

Speed vigilantism in the Internet age. The Internet reacted swiftly to three recent stories with outrage and condemnation — the arrest of a 16-year-old at Roxbury Community College, the accusations of plagiarism at Cooks Source magazine, and the racially charged tirade of a woman in Hingham. Also joining us is Michael Fitzgerald, a freelance writer and current fellow at Harvard’s Nieman Foundation for Journalism.

Brookline author Douglas Star. The Boston University professor discusses his new book, “The Killer of Little Shepherds,” which chronicles the birth of modern forensics from the end of the 19th century. Starr shares some remarkable stories about early masters who solved notorious crimes without the aid of modern “CSI”-type technology.

CommonHealth: 10 Facts About Mass. That May Surprise You

Published November 16, 2010

WBUR’s Deborah Becker and Lisa Tobin round up the highlights of a biannual report, publicized today, that show health care access remains tight in Massachusetts, with hospital emergency rooms increasingly picking up slack — even as the number of insured residents gets closer to the 100-percent mark.

CommonHealth blogger Rachel Zimmerman has a good summary:

A snapshot of the current health status of Massachusetts shows a more violent, fatter state, but also one filled with more insured residents and fewer adult smokers than in years past. The data, gathered by the Massachusetts Health Council, as part of its 2010 health indicator report, also unearthed some health statistics you probably don’t know.

Rachel highlighted 10 of the most surprising facts from the report, including: Binge drinking is up among higher-income groups; more than a quarter of adults with asthma have depression; and 17 percent of Mass. middle schoolers are overweight.

Stick with CommonHealth for razor-sharp health care coverage.

Update: The full report is up on Scribd.

Tuesday Morning: Mass. Violent And Fat, Polls Open In 6th

Published November 16, 2010

Good morning! A mild Tuesday with rain in the forecast this afternoon. Here’s what’s news:

Is Massachusetts healthy? Depends what you mean. A lot of kids are obese, and Mass. is the most violent state in the Northeast, according to a biannual checkup on health in the state. (WBUR)

Polls are open in the special election for Boston’s 6th council district. Matt O’Malley, Jim Hennigan compete to fill the seat left vacant by John Tobin. (West Roxbury Patch)

A New York company will pay $6 million in the 2003 Buzzards Bay oil spill. At the time, it was the Bay State’s BP. (Globe)

Four Loko sales may be restricted in Mass. But not banned outright. (Globe)

Boston Medical Center designated grieving space for families of murder victims. That hospital has seen a lot of murders this year. (Globe)

Megabus plans to offer 9-hour rides from Boston to D.C. “The four-year-old company will add service from Boston to Baltimore and Washington on Dec. 15 — the only bus line to offer direct trips.” (Globe)

A woman says she begged her Boston cabbie to stop as cops chased him. Osei Kwame, 51, pleaded not guilty to kidnapping charges and had his hackney license suspended indefinitely. (Herald)

Mass. Regulators Plan To Restrict Four Loko Drinks

Published November 15, 2010

This post has been updated from an earlier version with new reporting.

WBZ’s Joe Shirtsleeve first reported Monday that state regulators will move to ban Four Loko energy drinks. In fact, regulators will move to restrict sales of the super-caffeinated alcoholic drinks by reclassifying them.

The Globe explains:

Beverages are expected to be repackaged and sold in resealable containers, placing it in the same category as vodka, rum, and other hard liquors, which are subject to higher taxes.

Vendors licensed to sell only wine and beer or malt beverages would no longer be able to sell Four Loko.

Chicago-based Phusion Projects, which makes Four Loko, says the decision is a buzz kill. Four states have already banned the drink, according to the Globe. The company says singling out a single beverage category will not curb alcohol abuse — and wonders why Irish coffee and rum-and-Cokes don’t get the same scrutiny.

There’s always New Hampshire.