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.

Wednesday Morning: Spader In A ‘Cage,’ Mass. Math Skills

Published November 10, 2010

What’s news on a cloudy, cold Wednesday morning in Boston:

Steven Spader, 19, begins the rest of his “pointless life” in prison. “A Superior Court judge sentenced the teenager yesterday to a mandatory term of life without parole after his conviction in the brutal slaying of a small-town nurse and the maiming of her 11-year-old daughter.” (Globe)

A study finds Mass. leads the nation in high-school math skills but trails many countries. The study was sponsored by the journal Education Next and Harvard University. (Globe)

The Needham girls soccer team ended their season yesterday. “The Needham Rockets were playing without their big guns — suspended from school amid accusations of hazing.” (WBZ)

The star witness in gang murder case pleaded guilty to perjury. For once, the prosecution has Latoya Thomas-Dickson just where they want her. (WBUR)

Mass. Republicans aren’t giving up hope. “Republicans failed to win any statewide office or congressional seat this election, but they did manage to double their numbers in the state’s House.” (WBUR)

Cape Cod Times Is Now Behind A Paywall

Published November 9, 2010

The Cape Cod Times is now behind an online paywall, as the newspaper promised in October.

After viewing three articles, you are prompted to sign up for a free account. After 10 articles, pay up. The text of the article goes whoosh, like a genie getting sucked into a bottle, and a registration screen pops up. It’s pretty amusing, if a little hokey.

A subscription costs $2.67 per week, but weekly billing isn’t an option. The cheapest option is a single payment of about $30 for 12 weeks of access, up to 50 articles. The print edition costs extra.

“Quality journalism can only occur if it has a revenue stream attached,” said Peter Meyer, president of the Cape Cod Media Group, last month.

Some content, such as public-safety information, will remain free.

In September, the Boston Globe announced it would split into two sites next year — one free, one paid. In August, the Worcester Telegram & Gazette (also owned by the New York Times Co.) erected its own paywall.

Cooks Source: ‘We Will Now List All Sources,’ Get Permission

Published November 9, 2010

Cooks Source, the tiny western Mass. magazine beleaguered by a plagiarism scandal, has made a radical policy shift: The publication will start crediting writers and will only print articles with their consent.

In other words, the magazine will start observing centuries-old best practices and intellectual property law.

You can buy a "But Honestly Monica" T-shirt. (Zazzle.com)

You can buy a "But Honestly Monica" T-shirt. (Zazzle.com)

The Cooks Source website has been deleted and replaced with a long, unsigned statement. The magazine also deleted its Facebook page — the focus of most of the Internet’s rage — after it was “hacked by unknown parties.” (Update: The FB page appears to still be there. Thanks, kejia.)

As I wrote here last week, a woman named Monica Gaudio discovered that the magazine had printed her 2005 essay on medieval apple-pie recipes — without her permission and without paying her.

Gaudio complained on her blog and published the now-infamous response from the magazine’s editor. (Just Google “but honestly monica.”) The post became an Internet meme overnight, and the magazine came under intense attack.

From the Cooks Source statement Tuesday (editing errors left intact):

We sincerely wish to apologize to her for this error, it was an oversight of a small, overworked staff. We have made a donation at her request, to her chosen institution, the Columbia School of Journalism. In addition, a donation to the Western New England Food Bank, is being made in her name.

The statement goes on to say the flap has hurt the magazine’s advertisers:

Small business owners are being bombarded with hate mail, and distasteful messages because someone downloaded their contact information on these bogus sites. These small business owners work very hard to keep their businesses going in a bad economy. We respectfully request this harassment be stopped immediately.

Starting this month, the statement says, “we will now list all sources. Also we now request that all the articles and informational pieces will have been made with written consent of the writers.”

At the end of the statement, an olive branch:

“Regardless of what has been said, we liked her article very much.”

2 Minutes Of Silence For Vets: What Do You Think?

Published November 9, 2010

Every year, on Yom Hazikaron, Israel comes to a standstill for two minutes to honor fallen soldiers and victims of the Holocaust. It’s a haunting sight.

The observance so moved a couple of brothers from Weston, writes Globe columnist Kevin Cullen, they’re waging a campaign to bring a similar event to the United States.

Danny and Michael Bendetson have gotten Rep. Barney Frank and Sen. Scott Brown to co-sponsor their cause. But as one commenter writes on one of the many YouTube videos of the observance:

thats really cool. nobody has enough respect in America to just stop what they are doing on memorial day

Would Americans have the respect, the patience, to stop what they’re doing for two minutes and honor service members? Would you?