About Jeanne Rooney

Jeanne Rooney is the Editor in Chief for South Boston Online.
30 08, 2017

Innovations at Boston Public Schools Get Full Test This Fall

2018-11-27T13:06:35-05:00August 30th, 2017|Categories: Happenings, News|Comments Off on Innovations at Boston Public Schools Get Full Test This Fall

By Richard Campbell   This past July the Boston Public Schools signed a contract with nationally known Revolution Foods to provide school breakfast and lunches, in the hopes of significantly boosting nutrition and taste for meals consumed by Boston school students. Given the past reputation of the food at BPS that this writer saw in online forums, the move could not have come sooner. It was heralded in major media as a slam-dunk achievement for school superintendent Tommy Chang, who has faced other more intractable problems than finding better nutrition. In the official press release Mr. Chang said: “For many students, the meals they receive at school are their most nutritious of the day, Revolution Foods embraces our nationally-recognized efforts of making sure every student [...]

30 08, 2017

Sunday at the Seaport

2017-08-30T15:58:02-04:00August 30th, 2017|Categories: Happenings, News|Comments Off on Sunday at the Seaport

by Rick Winterson Last Sunday afternoon, August 26, was memorable, in part because of the 2017 Jazz Fest in South Boston’s Maritime Park, in part because of how varied the South Boston Seaport vista has become, and in part due to Mother Nature’s gift of incredible weather.  It was an afternoon to walk leisurely from east to west in the Seaport District. The most prominent happening was the 2017 Jazz Fest, which took place in the South Boston Maritime Park at the northern end of D Street.  After resolving a few moisture-related problems, six groups played for seven hours – noon till 7 p.m.  Each one performed a full set of original works.  South Boston Online has space to review only one of those groups [...]

30 08, 2017

First Places for Yacht Club’s Junior Sailors

2017-08-30T15:52:18-04:00August 30th, 2017|Categories: Sports|Comments Off on First Places for Yacht Club’s Junior Sailors

South Boston Yacht Club sailors  (from left): Owen (Instructor), Mary, Erin, Matt (instructor), Jacob, Bill (Junior Sailing Committee), Dylan, Sinead (holding the winner’s cup), Ernie (SBYC Commodore), Tommy, Kiera, Jack, Jaelyn, Eddy (standing), Maeve, and Isabel. Not present: Sean (Instructor), Lydia, Colin, Duncan, Lily, and Ian. In the recent set of two races between the young sailors from the Harry McDonough Sailing Center and those from the South Boston Yacht Club Junior Sail, the South Boston Yacht Club (the SBYC) won both.  An SBYC boat also garnered a third place finish -  SBYC junior sailors ruled.  These races were held in Pleasure Bay, inside the arc formed by the Sugar Bowl and the Causeway.  Much thanks goes to SBYC Commodore Ernie Myrvang and to Bill [...]

30 08, 2017

Back to School: Sage Ideas for Academic Development

2017-08-30T19:39:27-04:00August 30th, 2017|Categories: Lifestyle|Comments Off on Back to School: Sage Ideas for Academic Development

Students: Academic Links for this story are at the bottom of the page. By Richard Campbell Summer is over. Where did it go, you might ask? Now you are ready for school.  Right. And the Celtics are going to win the championship this year too! All kidding aside, many student’s find research and writing skills to be the most difficult things to learn- especially for students who get bored with dry details.  What follows here is a global view of the skills new high school students need to learn, written out in plain English. Yes, Freshman: this article is aimed squarely at your cerebellums. Awareness: No One is Average. It is hardly an overstatement to say that the pressure to perform well academically increases upon entering [...]

26 08, 2017

Mayor Walsh Visits West Broadway Unity Day

2017-08-26T19:43:50-04:00August 26th, 2017|Categories: News|Comments Off on Mayor Walsh Visits West Broadway Unity Day

  by Rick Winterson      It was very much to his credit that Mayor Martin J. Walsh dropped in at last Saturday’s West Broadway Unity Day celebration. Last Saturday was the day of the so-called “Boston Free Speech” Rally on Boston Common.  A permit allowing such a gathering was issued – fittingly so, because the Common (within hailing distance of the legendary “Liberty Tree”) has historically been the location of so many other examples of the free speech we enjoy in America.  The Rally itself drew only a few hundred participants.  However, a very large number of protesters – 50,000 or more – marched from Roxbury to the Common, including some members of Antifa. But wisely, the Mayor stuck to his pre-established schedule, arriving [...]

26 08, 2017

A History of Dissent: Boston Common

2017-08-26T20:44:20-04:00August 26th, 2017|Categories: Featured, Lifestyle|Comments Off on A History of Dissent: Boston Common

  By Richard Campbell The long history of the Boston Common may be obscured to contemporary visitors who wade at the Frog Pond, take merry-go-round rides, or picnic on the lawn- but it has a history as a place of dissent that continues to echo down to this day.  What is America’s oldest park began as a 42-acre private cow pasture, owned by a hermit English Clergyman William Blackstone (Blaxton) who received a patent for the property three years after the arrival of the Pilgrims, in 1623.  Blackstone suggested to original settlers in Charlestown’s fetid swamp- who were suffering from a shortage of potable water- that they should cross what was then the peninsula of Shawmut to settle on the Boston side. Shawmut in Indian [...]

26 08, 2017

Groundbreaking Ceremony: Martin’s Park

2017-08-26T19:20:26-04:00August 26th, 2017|Categories: Happenings, News|Comments Off on Groundbreaking Ceremony: Martin’s Park

  by Rick Winterson      To say that it was a “celebration” strikes the wrong note.  It was a “bittersweet” occasion.  But there was something “uplifting” or even “solemnly joyful” and “fitting” about breaking ground for the park at Children’s Museum dedicated to Martin Richard’s memory.  Martin Richard left us because of the Marathon bombing on April 15, 2013.  He won’t return, but Martin’s Park assures us that he’ll never be forgotten. Such it was by the Children’s Museum at 64 Sleeper Street early last Wednesday afternoon.  The sun shone brilliantly on an event formally called “Martin’s Park at Smith Family Waterfront, Groundbreaking Ceremony, 1:00 p.m., August 16, 2017”.  A crowd of perhaps as many as a thousand gathered across Fort Point Channel from [...]

17 08, 2017

Broadway – Both Old and New, Both East and West

2017-08-17T16:52:36-04:00August 17th, 2017|Categories: Happenings, News, Real Estate|Comments Off on Broadway – Both Old and New, Both East and West

   “Oh, East is East and West is West, and never the twain shall meet …” The Ballad of the East and West" Rudyard Kipling, 1889   by Rick Winterson      First, a bit of local history:  Way back, Broadway was split into West and East Broadway at Perkins Square; the two east-west segments were (and still are) each about a mile long.  Over the years, West Broadway came to be known as “Big Broadway” because it was a much more popular place to go.  East Broadway, even though it had its own movie theater and a bowling alley, was called “Little Broadway”. Times changed, as they always do, and the attractions along “Big Broadway” began shrinking.  For many reasons, East Broadway became the [...]

17 08, 2017

Comicon Invades Boston Convention and Exhibition Center

2017-08-17T16:40:12-04:00August 17th, 2017|Categories: Lifestyle, News|1 Comment

  By Richard Campbell There is probably no building more suited to the Boston Comicon than the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center, with its strikingly similar design to the Star Ship Enterprise, space geeks would most certainly feel right at home at this Fan Expo.  This past week August 11th-13th, a full scale invasion commenced, and no, I’m not referring to North Korea.  With well over 50,000 fans and 500 exhibits, the Comicon draws exhibitors from all over the country, but my non-scientific poll would place the majority of the fans to hail from New England. One thing that is very apparent, besides the scale of the event, is that it attracts a pretty diverse audience.  I was under the impression that the event would [...]

17 08, 2017

6th Annual Seafood Festival on a Roll

2017-08-17T16:20:31-04:00August 17th, 2017|Categories: Happenings, News|Comments Off on 6th Annual Seafood Festival on a Roll

The Conventures Crew posed during the Seafood Festival. by Richard Campbell Sunday August 13th proved to be perfect weather for the Boston Seafood Festival, a rustic promotional event of all things seafood that draws New Englanders from the industry to entertain visitors to the South Boston Seaport.  From the shucked shellfish, to witty chefs, campy music-crowds soon gravitated to standing room areas that supported plenty of beer.  Sponsored primarily by the Boston Fisheries Foundation to raise awareness of the state of the industry, as well as to promote products and services. The better part of the festival is locals offering their fresh seafood at cut rate prices. One of the most important items on the agenda is to get yourself some fresh oysters or cherry [...]

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