Effort to increase pedestrian, cyclist access to Blue Hills Reservation gets community feedback
Just 5 miles south of Mattapan, the Blue Hills Reservation that covers parts of Milton, Quincy, Braintree, Canton, Randolph and Dedham is one of the largest state parks that’s closest to the city of Boston.

Springfield’s first Black female City Council president sworn in
Whitfield, a Springfield native and at-large city councilor, represents a long-overdue reflection of the city itself in a municipality that is nearly 50% Latino and one-fifth Black, yet historically governed by leadership that hasn’t mirrored that diversity.

Nubian Square welcomes Franklin Cummings Tech
The floor of the building’s lobby is embedded with brass plaques that chronicle the history of the site from Indigenous times to the opening of the new campus on Jan. 14. On the third floor of the building hangs an enormous mobile made of reclaimed lumber from the parcel’s history as Harrison Supply Company, a hardware store.

City’s new Parcel P3 plan draws anger, backlash
The announcement last week by Boston’s chief of planning, Kairos Shen, that the city is seeking to site a newly constructed Madison Park High School on Parcel P3 in Roxbury sent shockwaves through the Black community, drawing sharp rebuke from activists.

State education officials pitch new high school graduation requirements
(From left) Massachusetts Commissioner of Early Education and Care Amy Kershaw, Secretary of Education Patrick Tutwiler, Director of Multicultural Media Valentina Amaro, Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education Pedro Martinez and Commissioner of Higher Education Noe Ortega at a multicultural media roundtable, Jan.

Embrace Honors MLK: Friends and Family celebration
This year Honorees include Richard and Kathy Taylor, Marie St. Fleur, Bishop William E. Dickerson II and Lady Luella Dickerson among others. They were honored for their lifelong love of community in the spirit of the legendary Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King whom The Embrace Statute immortalizes.

Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Breakfast
Mass. Attorney General Andrea Campbell addresses guests at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Breakfast..

Temple Israel celebrates Shabbat Tzedek
Martin Luther King Jr.. Hall was presented a framed plaque of an Elie Wiesel passage and celebrates with members of the Temple’s clergy including Senior Rabbi Elaine Zecher, Rabbi Dan Slipakoff and Rabbi Suzie Jacobson..

“I told the kids they’d see a building...
“I told the kids they’d see a building here one day. Now I’m telling the grandkids it’s a historic preservation of a fence.”.

Community input is vital for Parcel P3 development
Last week, the Boston Planning Department announced that it was no longer going to support the Parcel P3 development plan that was presented by HYM and My City At Peace team and supported by the community through the community evaluation process written into Article 50, Section 2 of Boston’s Zoning Code in 1990.

Let’s build inclusive digital infrastructures
Digital systems now mediate access to essential services in education, health, employment, and civic participation.

IN THE NEWS
Stonegate Group of Natick is proud to announce the promotion of Janell Ramirez to vice president and chief financial officer. An alumna of the Isenberg School of Management at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, Ramirez has spent nearly a decade demonstrating exceptional financial leadership and operational expertise.

Black students are the fastest growing group of college applicants
Students who identified as two or more races were the second-fastest-growing group of college applicants, with applications rising 8% year over year.

A new company aims to help Black singles over 50 find connections off line
As 50-something single women, Boston professionals Kim Dickerson and Denise Kaigler had had their share of frustrations and disappointments in the dating world. They could not find “a fun, flirty, face-to-face way” to make meaningful romantic connections for people their age.

Segun Idowu stepping down as Boston’s chief of economic opportunity and inclusion
During his tenure, Idowu sought to reshape the city’s traditional chief of economic development role, including with his new title: chief of economic opportunity and inclusion.

Indiana crowns perfect season, Pats in Final Four
In a game that featured eight turnovers (five by the Texans), the second-seeded Patriots did enough to win their second straight playoff game under first-year coach Mike Vrabel.

How bribes turned star players into underperformers
I have had far too much experience with these kinds of stories during my journalism career to be surprised by them. This sort of thing has been going on since the inception of professional and college sports. This is just the latest chapter in a long-running saga that will probably get worse before it gets better.

Community rallies around Dorchester thrift shop
When community members heard that Debbie Cox may have to close her store, the DAC Thrift Shop on Dudley Street, they decided to conduct a community “mobbing,” where many showed up to the store to buy items at the local business that’s struggling or deserves more love.

Controne serves piping hot pizzas at Lamplighter Brewing Co.
The restaurant serves Roman-style personal pizzas and creative arancini [Italian rice balls] in flavors like speck, caramelized onion and roasted apple or mushroom and onion soubise. These hearty, comfort-food dishes are meant to be filling and warming during the cold winter.

‘The Great Privation’ unearths Black history across two centuries
The title of Nia Akilah Robinson’s 2024 play, “The Great Privation (How to flip ten cents into a dollar)” distills its theme: the great gaps in justice experienced by Black people in America starting with enslavement and their resourcefulness in rising from these injustices.

All-women exhibition at The Beehive explores art as a sacred ritual
January is the month of new gym memberships, new resolutions and goals with firmer guideposts. It’s for habit setting, intention-tracking, eating more kale and getting up an hour earlier.

Lorna Simpson is the 2026 recipient of the ICA Boston’s Meraki Artist Award
For more than 40 years, artist Lorna Simpson has pushed the boundaries and possibilities of the photographic medium, exploring themes of race, gender and unconscious bias in American society. Those decades of dedication are being rewarded: in December, the ICA Boston announced Simpson as the 2026 recipient of the Meraki Artist Award.