John Jamar Cokley, 38, who once worked with at-risk teens and who was arraigned in April on child-rape and related charges, was indicted last week in a 30-count indictment that, among other things, accuses him of raping and trafficking minors and getting them to pose in the nude for photos, the Suffolk County District Attorney's office reports. Read more.
Patrick Maguire reports a bumper crop of hydrangea bushes across Boston this summer. "The most vibrant color in recent years," he writes.
Where's Johnny when you need him? All of Greater Boston is under a tornado watch until 8 p.m.
Martin Evans compares Boeing's quality-control issues with GBH's recent and "shameful" layoffs and show terminations, says both have lost sight of their "core competencies:" Read more.
A disgusted citizen filed a 311 complaint about the way BPS only announced it was canceling school today late in the day on Thursday: Read more.
On June 21, 1974, US District Court Judge W. Arthur Garrity issued his ruling in the case of Morgan v. Hennigan, which changed the city forever, concluding the Boston School Committee had created a segregated school system and that it was past time for a change: Read more.
Boston Public Schools has decided that instead of just closing the BPS schools along the Celtics victory parade route tomorrow, they're closing all schools all across the city, so today is the last official day of school. Read more.
Update, 3:36 p.m.: Cambridge Police report 911 is back up.
Both Boston Fire and Boston Police say that if you need emergency services, go to your local fire-alarm box and pull the handle. Alternatively, call 617-343-2880 for BFD or 617-343-4911 for BPD. Read more.
Mayor Wu has declared a heat emergency in Boston for Tuesday through Thursday, with the heat index (actual temperature plus humidity) possibly going above 100 during the day. Read more.
New England Baseball Journal reports on Boston English's 7-1 victory over Georgetown in the Division 5 championship game at Polar Park.
A 16-year-old from Turkey and his mother, a prominent Turkish author, are behind bars awaiting a hearing Tuesday on whether they can be released on bail while awaiting extradition back to Istanbul, where the teen faces charges in a vehicular homicide in which he allegedly killed one person and injured several others while doing more than 100 m.p.h. on a road with a speed limit under 20. Read more.
Joe Kidston watched the sun go down over the water and way out there, Boston, from Hull this evening.
Paul Friedmann got a good view of the sunrise over Boston this morning.
Handmaid watched the sun go up over Franklin Park: Read more.
Boston City Councilors Ruthzee Louijeune, Julia Mejia and Henry Santana (all at large) this week will formally propose changing the way Bostonians elect municipal officials to a more Cambridge-like system in which voters would rank candidates in order of preference. Read more.
The YouTube channel NASS just posted a pretty cool restored/colorized video of our own fair city. Worth subscribing for some fun historical video from all over the world, but this one hits particularly close to home. Enjoy!
The Boston City Council today approved a request to the state legislature for permission to temporarily increase commercial tax rates to try to shield homeowners from a potentially huge increase should downtown office-building assessments collapse as many workers continue to stay at home. Read more.
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