As we head toward spring and the rebirth of everything frozen and covered with snow and ice for months already, at least we do so in the knowledge that there will likely be 80 days of professional horse racing taking place at Suffolk Downs. All the agreements necessary to make this happen apparently came...
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Expensive Holidays – This Experiment isn’t Adding Up
The so-called Suffolk County hack holidays – Bunker Hill Day and Evacuation Day – were literally done away with last year when the governor agreed with the Legislature that more money would be saved than is spent keeping Suffolk County offices open on these two days than closed. So two important historical events...
The ‘Sun’ is Setting on Second EBMHL Season
The EBMHL’s second season began with Urban Sun Tanning rolling over the competition, but with 3 weeks remaining, have suffered 6 consecutive losses giving way to the East Boston Yacht Club who have stormed through the league to take first place thanks to the 72 pts from Charlie Daniels and the outstanding goaltending of Chris Grossmann. For...
Obituaries 03-02-2011
Charles Zuffante Member of DAV and Sons of Italy Charles T. Zuffante of East Boston died on February 28. He was a US Army veteran of World War II, a member of D.A.V. Post 77 of East Boston and the Sons of Italy. He was the beloved husband of the late Anna (McGrane)...
Wall Street Pioneer Bernard Beal Visits Young Business Students
-By John Lynds john@eastietimes.com East Boston High School students participating in the school’s Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA) Foundation for Investor Education’s Stock Market game got a surprise visit last week from Wall Street pioneer Bernard B. Beal. Beal, the billion-dollar dealmaker and CEO of M. R. Beal & Company, was on...
Permanent Collection – Historic Leonard King Paintings will be Incorporated into Design of New Building
-By John Lynds john@eastietimes.com It’s good news for residents that were trying to keep the historic paintings that currently hang in the Meridian Street branch of the Boston Public Library in East Boston. It was announced this week that the painting by Frederick Leonard King would be incorporated into the design of the new...
Excel Given the Go-ahead to Open Two more Charter Schools
By John Lynds john@eastietimes.com The Massachusetts Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education has endorsed East Boston’s Excel Academy Charter School’s application for two new charter schools in Boston and Chelsea. Commissioner Mitchell Chester endorsed Excel’s plan late last week and it will need final approval from the Massachusetts Department of Education on February 28....
A Solid Return – Ryan Lee Displays an Impressive Degree of Honesty in Returning $2,000
East Boston resident Ryan Lee found $2,000 in a plastic bag in the snow on Meridian Street two weeks ago. The Project Bread employee did not pocket the money. He took it to the District Seven police station and handed it over to the police. What he found was a deposit waiting to be...
World Beater – The Global Reach of Dr. Gene Sharp
Dr. Gene Sharp in our midst is a wonderful find. Inside an unassuming apartment in the neighborhood, he runs one of the most prominent information centers on how to overthrow oppressive regimes. What he runs is called the Albert Einstein Institute for Non-Violent Struggles. It is believed by other scholars that his work has...
Sen. Petruccelli Appointment is right on the money
We congratulate Senator Anthony Petruccelli on his recent appointment to the chair of the Banking and Financial Services Committee by Senate President Therese Murray. In this position, Senator Petruccelli will make good use of his analytical skills, which are substantial and especially meaningful for this new position as banking and finance are the pillars...
Obituaries 02-23-2011
Anneliese Barletta Worked at East Boston Social Center Anneliese (Meissner) Barletta of Chelsea, formerly of East Boston, died on February 20. Mrs. Barletta worked at the East Boston Social Center. She was the beloved wife of Phil Barletta with whom she shared 58 years of marriage; loving mother of Evelyn Auld and her husband,...
Is Roseland Ready to Resume Work on Pier One?
-By John Lynds john@eastietimes.com It’s been close to four years since East Boston has heard anything about the Portside at Pier I project. The property developer Roseland, property owner Massport and even elected officials have been tight lipped on a stalled project that was supposed to breath new life into the dilapidated waterfront and...
Grand Gesture – Project Bread Worker Returns Dough to Owner
john@eastietimes.com Let’s be honest. Most of us would have pocketed $2,000 in cash if we found it laying in a snowbank and no one else was around. But East Boston resident Ryan Lee did the exact opposite when faced with the scenario mentioned above. Two weeks ago Lee, an Eastie resident and employee at...
Global Reach – East Bostonian’s Writings are an Inspiration to the Egyptian Cause
john@eastietimes.com Some said it was the ‘people power’ protests in Tunisia that set it off, others claim it was Facebook that made it easy for protesters to rally an entire country against Hosni Mubarak. But there is one thing for certain, the writings of one humble East Bostonian has shaped the future of Egypt...
In this Case, ‘Almost’ is Good Enough
-By John Lynds john@eastietimes.com East Boston has always been known for its cuisine and now it’s producing some talented chefs. One of those Eastie chefs has just won the top prize during the New England Regional S.Pellegrino Almost Famous Chef competition. Last week, Cambridge School of Culinary Arts student and Eastie resident, Anthony Messina,...
Obituaries 02-16-2011
Frances Lepore St. Anthony’s Parish Devotee Frances A. (Belmonte) Lepore, a lifelong resident of Revere, died at the Bear Hill Nursing Center of Wakefield following a long confinement on February 10. She was 86 years old. Born and raised in Revere and a 1942 graduate of Revere High School, she was a dedicated wife,...
Clean Air Act – Proposal by LaMattina and Arroyo might be a Hard Sell, but it’s Worth the Effort
Society has come to a place where many of us who might be inclined to light up a cigarette or a cigar in our own homes would be ordered instantly and without regard for protocol, in most instances, to put out the cigarette or the cigar or be asked to leave the house immediately....
Take a Deep Breath … Balloon City Preps for a Busy Holiday
-By John Lynds john@eastietimes.com Everyone sends flowers for Valentine’s Day so why not be different and send a balloon? This is the question the owner of Balloon City on Bennington Street in Orient Heights is asking. With Valentine’s Day right around the corner, Christine Yannetty Bernstein, who has successfully run the popular balloon and...
Jerry Zullo, Self-made Businessman, Fixture in Neighborhood
-By John Lynds john@eastietimes.com Jerry Zullo, a longtime businessman who owned several restaurants in East Boston for nearly a half a century, died on Saturday, February 5 following complication from pneumonia at the Kaplan Family Hospice in Danvers. Mr. Zullo was born and raised in Chelsea and attended schools there until the eighth grade. Mr....
EBSB Reports Significant Gains
-By Joshua Resnek The year of 2010 was a great year for Meridian Interstate Bancorp, the owner of the East Boston Savings Bank. Company officials said business was up substantially and especially at the bank’s East Boston locations this year. Fourth quarter results and year-end results released last week revealed an upward trend in...
Ecco Plans a Special Four-course Dinner
-By John Lynds john@eastietimes.com Building on a successful New Year’s Eve fixed dinner and new head chef, owners of Ecco Restaurant and Lounge onPorter Street in East Boston is hosting a Valentine’s Day dinner on Monday, February 14. The $60 per person prefixed four course meal offers an appetizer, second course of soup or...
Police Briefs 02-09-2011
January 31 John Shea of 148 Saratoga Street, East Boston, was arrested on an outstanding parole violation. February 1 No arrests. February 2 No arrests. February 3 Ira Jones of 49 Elmore Street, Roxbury, was arrested and charged with possession of Class D drugs with intent to distribute within 1000ft of a school zone....
Basile on the Rise- Rep earns a key post from the speaker
Representative Carlo Basile has received an important post from the Speaker of the House Robert DeLeo. This does not come as a surprise. Basile is a loyal soldier for the speaker and the speaker has returned the support by showing that he, too, is loyal to those who are loyal to him. This is...
Bad Timing- A strike at Suffolk Downs won’t Help anyone
If ever a strike by some employees of Suffolk Downs was ill-advised, it is ill-advised right now. Horse racing at Suffolk Downs is not a right. It is a business. And as a business, it has been struggling for quite some time. Striking right now – disrupting the track’s vastly depleted gambling revenues by...
