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Yoon wants term limit for office of the mayorby Brandon SimesManaging EditorMonday Jul 13, 2009 At-Large City Councilor and mayoral challenger Sam Yoon says he’ll serve no more than two terms if elected mayor and supports implementing term limits for the office of the mayor. Mayor Thomas Menino, one of Yoon’s three mayoral rivals-the others are South Ender Kevin McCrea and fellow At-Large Councilor Michael Flaherty, will end his current term as the longest-running mayor the city has ever seen, regardless of the outcome of this fall’s election. "If eight years is long enough for the President of the United States,...

The Franklin Park Zoo, a Boston landmark for nearly a century, may be forced to close and euthanize up to a fifth of the animals in its care due to devastating budget cuts. New England's largest zoo and its counterpart, the Stoneham Zoo, saw their state funding cut from $6.5 million to $2.5 million by Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, the Boston Globe reported, and expects to run out of money by October. Zoo officials said they would have to lay off most of their 165 employees and find new homes for the more than 1,000 animals they currently house, the...

BOSTON, July 8 /Christian Newswire/ -- More than a thousand gathered in downtown Boston this last week to honor the 500th birthday of John Calvin (July 10, 1509) as part of the Reformation 500 Celebration hosted by Vision Forum Ministries. The event, held July 1-4 at the Park Plaza Hotel, featured more than 40 live reenactors, 30 formal history lectures, and 20 walking tour of historic landmarks in Boston, a Children's Parade in Boston's Public Gardens, and more. The conference emphasized both the theological an practical implications of the Reformation and John Calvin's influence on the institutions of family, church,...

BOSTON -- The Franklin Park Zoo, the only Boston institution of its kind, may be forced to close and euthanize some of its animals, zoo officials said Friday. Without more state funding, zoo officials said that they will run out of money within months and have to close both Franklin Park and the Stone Zoo in Stoneham. The zoos would be forced to lay off most of their 165 employees and attempt to find new homes for more than 1,000 animals. Zoo officials estimated 20 percent of the animals would not find homes and could be euthanized. “Not all the...

Last weekend marked a milestone in the history of interfaith relations in Boston (as noted in Michael Felsen's 'Walls and Bridges' - in Monday's Jerusalem Post). On Friday, local Muslims, public officials, and interfaith leaders celebrated the opening of the Islamic Society of Boston Cultural Center in Roxbury - a religious complex paid for largely by the Saudis and run by what federal authorities describe as the overt arm of the Muslim Brotherhood. Some milestone! The city has helped the Wahhabi clerical establishment - purveyors of the most intolerant religious teachings on the planet - and the Muslim Brotherhood -...

BOSTON (AP) — A Boston city councilor charged with extortion alleges the state's former U.S. attorney targeted him at the behest of former Attorney General John Ashcroft. City Councilor Chuck Turner sent an e-mail to supporters before a court hearing Thursday suggesting Michael Sullivan sought indictments against him and former Sen. Dianne Wilkerson, another prominent black politician, because he was trying to ingratiate himself with Ashcroft — for whom he now works. "I personally believe that former Attorney General Ashcroft said to Sullivan that if he could take down Senator Wilkerson and myself, he would put up the money to...

SNIPPET: "A federal grand jury has indicted a group of Somali-Americans on terror-related charges after more than 20 young men from the Minneapolis area were recruited to join an Al Qaeda-linked group in Somalia, according to two law enforcement sources. The indictments have yet to be unsealed, but an announcement is expected in the next few weeks. One law enforcement source told FOX News the grand jury already has handed up indictments against at least three people. Among those charged is a man from Minneapolis who went to war-torn Somalia and then, about four months ago, relocated to Seattle, according...

There will be a tea party on the Common in Boston starting at noon. There will be speakers. Many of us will be staying for the fireworks afterward.http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2283755/posts

The western mass 912 group will be attending the Boston tea party on July 4. We will be meeting in Palmer at the intersection of 181 and 20 (Flamingo motorcycle) at 9:00 AM and carpooling caravaning down to the Riverside "T" station in Newton around 10:30 or 11:00. We are making a day of it, we will be attending the fireworks afterward. All are welcome. Contact me for any more information and suggestions.Noon to 2:00PM at Boston Common for the tea party3:00PM - 6:00PM at speakers at the wharf north of the aquariumfireworks and pre ceremony at 8:30, we will...

WASHINGTON, June 26 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The following is a statement from American Life League president Judie Brown regarding Boston Cardinal Sean O'Malley's announcement that archdiocese-affiliated Caritas Christi Healthcare has withdrawn ownership of CeltiCare Health Plan. The announcement comes only two days after A.L.L. announced it would launch an investigation into the scandal.(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20081105/DC44231LOGO ) "Praise God! After months of tireless effort from American Life League and pro-life heroes in Boston and around the country to expose a potential scandal only days away from becoming a tragic betrayal of Catholicism's unwavering commitment to the dignity of the human person, Cardinal Sean...

WASHINGTON, June 26 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The following is a statement from American Life League president Judie Brown regarding Boston Cardinal Sean O'Malley's announcement that archdiocese-affiliated Caritas Christi Healthcare has withdrawn ownership of CeltiCare Health Plan. The announcement comes only two days after A.L.L. announced it would launch an investigation into the scandal. (Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20081105/DC44231LOGO ) "Praise God! After months of tireless effort from American Life League and pro-life heroes in Boston and around the country to expose a potential scandal only days away from becoming a tragic betrayal of Catholicism's unwavering commitment to the dignity of the human person, Cardinal...

With Iranians demonstrating daily to protest their disputed presidential election, the Iranian-American community has also taken to the streets in major U.S. cities, including New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, Boston and Washington. Sheida Jafari was among several hundred Iranian-Americans who gathered last week in front of a Washington office that houses the Iranian Interests Section to protest what they viewed as rigged election results that gave a landslide victory to incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad over challenger Mir Hossein Mousavi. "For me, it's more about showing my solidarity with all my friends in Iran, my family in Iran, everyone who...

A South Shore preteen band named after a Dropkick Murphys song about a drunken bruiser is getting support from their punk rock heroes as they fight for the right to perform in bars. Ken Casey, a Dropkick Murphys founding member, told the 9, 10, 11 and 12-year-old members of Barroom Heroes yesterday: We survived and so can you. “Most of the good punk songs out there are about the man keeping you down. You are not a true punk band until you’ve been shut down,” Casey said yesterday in a Herald interview before he invited members of the pint-sized band...

FYI- WE ARE NOW UP ON CH 42- PLEASE LET OUR VIEWERS KNOW We received your recent e-mail regarding our digital channel. We are now simulcasting our digital signal on Channel 7 and on Channel 42 (our pre-transition digital channel). In order to see us on Channel 42, you will need to rescan again. To rescan, press "menu" on your remote. Then choose "auto-scan" or "installation." This begins the rescan process---it may take several minutes to complete this process. Like a number of other stations in cities across the country, WHDH is experiencing signal difficulties following the transition that took...

Family advocates are outraged by a prom held at Boston City Hall that was open to children apparently as young as 12 featuring crossdressers, homosexual heavy petting, suspected drug use and a leather-clad doorman who teaches sexual bondage classes. Children from middle schools and high schools across Massachusetts on May 9 attended a Youth Pride Day event ending with a prom inside of Boston City Hall sponsored by the Boston Alliance of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Youth, or BAGLY, a group seated on the Massachusetts Commission for GLBT Youth. Boston Mayor Thomas Menino issued a proclamation welcoming homosexual and...

Family advocates are outraged by a prom held at Boston City Hall that was open to children apparently as young as 12 featuring crossdressers, homosexual heavy petting, suspected drug use and a leather-clad doorman who teaches sexual bondage classes. Children from middle schools and high schools across Massachusetts on May 9 attended a Youth Pride Day event ending with a prom inside of Boston City Hall sponsored by the Boston Alliance of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Youth, or BAGLY, a group seated on the Massachusetts Commission for GLBT Youth. Boston Mayor Thomas Menino issued a proclamation welcoming homosexual and transgender...

The vote was 277 "no" to 265 "yes."

CHICAGO (MarketWatch) -- The largest union representing employees of the Boston Globe narrowly rejected management's final contract offer Monday, possibly setting the stage for the closure of the embattled newspaper. Parent New York Times Co. /quotes/comstock/13*!nyt/quotes/nls/nyt (NYT 6.34, -0.15, -2.31%) threatened earlier this year to shut down the Globe unless it could get $20 million in concessions from the paper's unions. Last month, the Boston Newspaper Guild and the Globe had reached a tentative deal that on a proposal that included a substantial pay cut, unpaid furloughs, and modifications to the lifetime job guarantee provisions that protect almost 200 employees....

The Boston Globe’s biggest union last night refused to bow to contract concessions demanded by its New York corporate masters in a high-risk slap that dares management to make good on threats to impose a 23-percent pay cut or even shutter the struggling broadsheet. It was a close vote but the Boston Newspaper Guild rejected the company’s contract proposal by a vote of 277-265. Guild members dared management to impose a draconian 23 percent pay cut rather than accepting the company’s 8.4 percent salary cut and drastically reduced benefits.

Hub bar and restaurant owners are burning up over the city’s sudden crackdown on puffing patrons on rooftop decks or in sidewalk cafes as part of the city’s tough new workplace smoking rules. “We used to have a patio full of people, smokers and others who don’t smoke but are socializing with them,” said George Lewis, owner of The Foundation Lounge at the Hotel Commonwealth in Kenmore Square. “Now it’s empty.” Lewis is among a group of tavern owners considering challenging the new smoking restriction in court. They fear the ban, coupled with an increased meals tax, will scare away...

When thousands of New Yorkers came to Boston for the NCAA Lacrosse championship at Gillette Stadium, the Boston Globe-Democrat ran a front-page article on the economic benefits of all those tourism dollars. "I love New Yorkers, especially when they leave so much money behind," the head of Boston's tourism bureau said. Then the boats of the Volvo Ocean Race came to town, "leaving $20 million in spending by spectators, sponsors and participants in its wake," according to the Boston Herald. "The boost came at an opportune time for the city’s hotels, restaurants, retailers and other businesses, compensating for a large...

Homosexual Youth Pride Day: State-sponsored homosexual & transgender activities for children PART I: "Celebration" in downtown Boston. With lots of strange adults everywhere. You can't make this stuff up. The MC of the day's event was a man dressed as a woman. This is what your politicians think of you and your children.

Howie thread starting with his Sunday Herald column

The Boston Police Department wants to arm neighborhood patrol officers with high-powered military assault weapons, but the mayor doesn't think it's such a good idea.

After a month-long indefinite suspension following his offensive remarks about illegal Mexican migrants, WTKK radio host Jay Severin will return to the airwaves Tuesday, the Hub station announced today. In a statement, station management said they have had conversations with Severin over the past several weeks about his “hurtful, inappropriate remarks” and that he understands the station will not accept “this type of commentary on our airwaves in the future.” The station said that based on that understanding, they have agreed to conclude Severin’s suspension and he will return to his afternoon-drive show Tuesday. “We want to emphasize that WTKK...

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood defended the pro-mass transit policies of the Obama administration today, and fired back at conservative writer George Will, who devoted an entire column to attacking LaHood earlier this week. "We have to create opportunities for people who want to ride a bike or walk or take a streetcar," he said. "The only person that I've heard of who objects to this is George Will." Will wrote a column in Newsweek magazine criticizing the secretary, whom he dubbed "Secretary of Behavior Modification," for supporting measures to wean commuters off automobiles. LaHood, a former Republican congressman from Illinois,...

BOSTON -- An East Boston man was arrested Tuesday, accused of groping a plainclothes Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority police officer at a subway station.

Swine flu is so April, but here’s Mumbles Menino, stepping to the microphone to brief the city on the closing of Boston Latin. “I ask for your continued core-op-peration and patience as we take the appropriate steps to take - keep residents healthy. And this decision, let me just say wasn’t done, wasn’t done . . . a lot of thought, a lot of consideration in it.” Kind of like his campaign for another four-year term as mayor of Boston. This is an incumbent who, despite rampant street crime and even more rampant corruption at City Hall, can still raise...

Top Boston philanthropist Carl Shapiro is reportedly facing a criminal probe into his ties to Bernard Madoff, although experts say it’s not clear the 96-year-old Hub man will ever face charges. “When you hit 96, I think you get some immunity,” said Willis Riccio, former New England chief of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The Wall Street Journal reported yesterday that Shapiro is one of at least eight Madoff associates targeted by a probe into Madoff’s $65 billion Ponzi scheme. Others include Shapiro’s son-in-law Robert Jaffe - a part-time Weston resident who allegedly served as Madoff’s Hub salesman -...

Station may cut ties WTKK talker Jay Severin’s future at the radio station still remains in limbo two weeks after he was yanked off the air. Station spokeswoman Heidi Raphael said yesterday that Severin remains on suspension. She declined further comment. Severin was suspended indefinitely without pay April 30 after calling illegal Mexican immigrants “leeches” and the world’s “lowest of primitives” when talking about the swine flu on his show. Severin’s drawn-out absence - and silence - has fueled speculation that the station wants to reduce his hefty salary or cut him loose altogether. “I just get the impression from...

The 24-year-old Boston trolley driver who allegedly was texting his girlfriend when he slammed into another trolley last week was hired as a minority because of his transgender status, according to a state transportation official. Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority spokesman Joe Pesaturo told ABC News that there was "nothing unusual" in the hiring of Alden Quinn, and that he was picked out of a hiring lottery in 2004.

BOSTON, MA – NESN announced today that Red Sox color commentator Jerry Remy will take a leave of absence for an indefinite period of time so that he can fully recover from the effects of cancer surgery. “I want to focus on completing my recovery so that I can return to work without distractions or interruptions,” said Remy, adding that he had hoped for a more immediate return but experienced a setback due to an infection and subsequent case of pneumonia. Remy, a former smoker who underwent surgery for lung cancer late last year, said he hopes his experience will...

Tuesday afternoon, April 28, several major homosexual activist figures, including a prominent state employee, led a screaming demonstration to terrorize a downtown Boston church while it was holding a peaceful religious training event inside. Using a bullhorn, they illegally trampled through an adjoining Revolutionary War-era cemetery in order to be directly outside the church's windows. Despite numerous apparent violations of the law, the Boston Police talked with them but refused to make any arrests.

BOSTON — A state official says Massachusetts Turnpike Executive Director Alan LeBovidge has resigned. LeBovidge’s agency has been under fire for turning off the Zakim Bridge lights and allowing massive traffic backups on Easter. The state official said LeBovidge submitted his resignation Wednesday, effective immediately. The official spoke on condition of anonymity before the news was publicly released. LeBovidge became wealthy as an accountant, before turning in his later years to public service. He served as Revenue commissioner for former Gov. Mitt Romney. Most recently, he has been charged with cost-cutting at the Turnpike, a notorious patronage haven.

The Boston Globe is dying this weekend, one way or the other. It probably lingers on a while longer, on life support, a Terri Schiavo of journalism, but this comedy is ending the way it was destined to. Labor is caving, management is winning. Pinch Sulzberger, it so predictably turns out, is only a liberal with other people’s money. So now the rich kids in New York do away with seniority and the “lifetime” job guarantees for their fellow silver spoons in Boston. Sorry, comrades. The Velvet Coffin is being shoved into the crematorium. Maybe you can get a job...

WENHAM — The bear doesn't look like a bear. It looks like a man in a bear suit. The bear doesn't say anything, and the actors around him don't say much either. But Bruins fans are hearing their message loud and clear. A new series of commercials teaching the rules for Boston Bruins fans has become a sensation, with half a million hits in the first week on YouTube. Mullen Advertising of Wenham created the spots using the talents of Jesse Blatz, 36, of Brighton and Greg Almeida, 31, of Peabody. "The Bruins as a client are great," Blatz says....

The following came from a blog called sperlings best places concerning a person who moved from Boston Taxachewsets to the communist dictatorship of Maine. Well... Get a load of what he had to say...The cost of living in Maine is very high. I moved to Biddeford from Boston so we could afford to buy our first home. We had just had a baby and felt it was important to ground the baby in a more permanent home environment and to build a life for her. We had a time constraint of finding and moving into home within a 2 month...

Boston police have taken into custody a suspect believed to be the Craigslist killer, sources tell the Herald. The 23-year-old suspect, whose name was not immediately released but is believed to be from Quincy, is thought to be the clean-cut white man who nonchalantly strode into the Marriott Copley Place April 14 while typing on his Blackberry before murdering a 26-year-old aspiring model and actress, Julissa Brisman of New York City

Boston cops have arrested a man they suspect is the "Craigslist Killer," the Daily News has learned. A man is in custody, police sources said, and a press conference is expected later tonight. The suspect's name could not immediately be learned. The arrest came just hours after police released new photos showing that the suspect strolled casually to and from his three crime scenes, peering into his blackberry. The security camera photos taken last Thursday show a 20-something 6-foot-tall blond man in the hallway of a Warwick, R.I., Holiday Inn Express where a prostitute who advertised online was tied up...

A field of 26,386 runners left Hopkinton for the Boston Marathon on Monday, with some top American contenders hoping to earn the first U.S. victory in the race in decades. Temperatures in the 40s with a light headwind greeted the competitors at the start of the 113th edition of the race.

“Somalis, FBI in other U.S. cities on alert for terrorist recruiting” “While Minneapolis is the core of an investigation, leaders elsewhere want to keep youth from being drawn to violence.” COLUMBUS, OHIO - SNIPPET: “”No one has disappeared,” said Ahmed Hosh, who works with Somali youths in Columbus. “But if those who did the recruiting were individuals talking to someone alone, the scary thing is it could happen here.” The Twin Cities area has been at the center of the federal investigation ever since a 27-year-old from Minneapolis blew himself up in a suicide attack in Somalia last fall. But...

US Marine arrested at Logan April 19, 2009 05:42 PM Email| Comments (0)| Text size – + John C. Drake, Globe Staff A US Marine was arrested today at Logan International Airport after federal airport screeners discovered a gun, bomb-making materials, and ammunition in his checked baggage, State Police and Transportation Security Administration officials said. .

12 minute slideshow of photos I took at the 2009 Boston Tea Party, both on the Boston Common and also at the later event held at Christopher Columbus Park. (Photo of the USS Constituion from prior event). http://www.flickr.com/photos/real_bostonian/sets/72157616871560884/show/

New England Cable News -- sort of CNN on steroids -- is avoiding any mention of the TEA Party rally set for today in Boston. They ARE finding time to do articles on Obama's new dog, how to make art from melted crayons (I am not making this up), extended talk about the weather, Easter traffic backups last week, Facebook updates, Chevrolet cars, the danger of using plastic baby botrtles, and more vital news. NECN -- you're a joke.

Jay Leno fans will be able to catch his new show in his old Boston stomping grounds. The Andover native and Emerson College grad is staying put on Channel 7. The station did an about-face yesterday and said it planned to broadcast Leno’s new 10 p.m. show in September rather than lose Leno for an hour of local news. “Upon further consideration, we have decided to telecast Jay Leno at 10 p.m. starting in September,” WHDH-TV owner Ed Ansin said in a brief statement. “Jay is from Andover, where I went to school. I enjoy his humor. We hope the...

Here is video of Sen. Ted Kennedy throwing out the ceremonial first pitch yesterday at the Boston Red Sox game at Fenway Park in Boston. . . . . . (Watch Video)

The New York Times Co. has threatened to shut The Boston Globe unless the newspaper's unions swiftly agree to $20 million in concessions, union leaders said yesterday.Executives from the Times Co. and Globe made the demands Thursday morning in an approximately 90-minute meeting with leaders of the newspaper's 13 unions, union officials said. The possible concessions include pay cuts, the end of pension contributions by the company, and the elimination of lifetime job guarantees now enjoyed by some veteran employees, said Daniel Totten, president of the Boston Newspaper Guild, the Globe's biggest union, which represents more than 700 editorial, advertising,...

BOSTON, April 3 (Reuters) - The New York Times Co (NYT.N) has threatened to shut The Boston Globe unless the newspaper's unions agree to $20 million in concessions, the Globe reported on Friday, quoting union leaders. The union officials said executives from Globe and the Times, which owns the Boston newspaper, made the demands on Thursday morning in a meeting with leaders of the newspaper's 13 unions, the Globe reported

NBC says it will strip WHDH-TV (Ch. 7) of its network affiliation if the Boston station goes ahead with its plan to add a 10 p.m. newscast to its lineup and bump Bay State native Jay Leno from his new prime-time slot. “WHDH’s move is a flagrant violation of the terms of their contract with NBC,” said John Eck, president of the NBC TV Network. “If they persist, we will strip WHDH of its NBC affiliation. We have a number of other strong options in the Boston market, including using our existing broadcast license to launch an NBC-owned and operated...

Boston's John Hancock Tower, New England's tallest building, was sold Tuesday in a foreclosure auction held by an investor group for $660.6 million, half the price paid by real-estate private-equity firm Broadway Partners three years ago. The winning bidder was a partnership between Normandy Real Estate Partners and Five Mile Capital Partners, which holds the senior portion of $700 million in so-called mezzanine debt, or the part that fills the gap between the first mortgage and a borrower's equity. The partnership agreed to pay $20.1 million for the mezzanine debt and assume the first mortgage of $640.5 million. The Normandy-Five...