Up until now, the candidates have mostly contented themselves with playing up their own platforms on issues. Casinos, however, change everything.
Mike Ross blasted Dan Conley for calling for a citywide referendum on the Suffolk Downs proposal and threatening to sue to stop an Everett casino if Suffolk Downs goes down in flames:
A state agency that funds school construction projects today gave Boston permission to look at moving the Quincy Upper School and Boston Arts Academy into a new building, possibly on what is now state land near South Station.
The move could mean that if the project moves forward, the state will pay most of the costs - and the mayor's office is looking at opening the new building for the 2017 school year.
According to the mayor's office:
Josh Dawson proposes:
Mayor Menino has around $525k in his campaign account. He should use that money to pay for his name being taken off of all of these signs and banners throughout the city, and use some of the time he has left in office to sign an ordinance prohibiting any future mayor from using public property for their own name recognition purposes.
The Globe reports that late yesterday, Mayor Menino appeared to make a startling confession on Twitter:
Ballot 799 in North End. Almost skipped this one for margs but civic duty won. #toohottovote #masen.
It was accompanied by a photo of a bright-red nail atop an "I Voted" sticker.
Madison Park, the city's only vocational high school, hasn't gotten the improvements the mayor and the school superintendent promised, the Globe reports.
Mayor Menino today appointed Hardin Coleman, dean of the Boston University School of Education, to the School Committee to fill the term left vacant when John Barros resigned to run for mayor.
Coleman chaired the committee that came up with a plan to change the way elementary- and middle-school students are assigned to schools.
Coleman's term expires in January. In a statement, the mayor said:
Dean Coleman brings a unique blend of expertise and experience to the Boston School Committee — his leadership at one of our city’s finest higher education institutions; his extensive work with educators, counselors, and other partners; and a distinct perspective of Boston's schools and families through his recent work to improve our system's school choice process.
Gov. Patrick and Mayor Menino announced today that Kenneth Feinberg will serve as administrator of One Fund Boston, which is collecting donations to help the victims of Monday's bombings.
As of 5 p.m. Wednesday, more than $7 million had been committed to the fund by corporate partners and 5,000 individual donors, they added.
Who are we to argue with the president of the United States?
Boston is the vibrant, welcoming, and world-class city it is today because of Tom Menino.
Tom Menino entered Faneuil Hall a little after 4 p.m. today to a standing ovation and "My Way."
"I never dreamed I would end up here, mayor of Boston during its best years," he told the packed auditorium, saying that in jobs, graduation rates, construction, credit ratings, population and crime, the city is at its best numbers in decades.
"Boston's neighborhoods are thriving as they never have," he said. "And most important to me, we are more open and accepting city."
David Bernstein (who broke the news that Hizzona was not running again) wonders what exhibits the curators of a Menino museum simply must have (needless to say, it would have to be located near the Menino Arts Center and the Menino Wing of the Hyde Park library):
Mayor Thomas Menino will announce Thursday that he will not run for re-election this fall.
The mayor has set an announcement for 4 o'clock at Faneuil Hall - after telling his top City Hall administrators at a meeting in the morning, sources say.
"It appears to be the end of the line," said one of the mayor's close friends, who wished to remain unnamed.
It is believed his doctors have told him the rigors of a full fledged campaign might be too much for him to withstand in his present physical condition. The mayor has apparently said that he does not want to enter a campaign and fail to go through with it.
Mayor Menino announced the new program - in which iPads will come "preloaded with bestselling books and apps to connect them with job searching, social media, and language-learning tools" - in a speech today before the Boston Municipal Research Bureau.
Menino also pledged to have 30,000 new housing units built in Boston by 2020 - and that not all of them would be luxury apartments in downtown high rises.
If a casino comes to Boston, it will arrive with the full-throated support of Boston's mayor and East Boston's city counselor, representative, and senator. Our local leaders – including those who grew up here and know Eastie the best – risked everything they'd helped East Boston become and threw their support behind the statewide casino bill and the idea of expanded gambling at Suffolk Downs.
They didn't always support a casino here, though:
Anthony Petruccelli, State Senate
It's just not municipal election season until we hear the rumors about Menino winning re-election, getting Rob Consalvo elected city-council president and then stepping down so Consalvo can become mayor without an election. Oh, yeah, and the side rumor about Menino being Consalvo's godfather (he isn't).
Help keep Universal Hub going. If you like what we're up to and want to help out, please consider a (completely non-deductible) contribution.
