News

Brianne Fitzgerald RN, NP The recent incomprehensible murders of black men in Georgia and Minneapolis have shaken even the most jaded among us.  Eleven weeks of COVID-19 quarantine were more than enough, and now we have faced man's inhumanity to man as well as our complicated relationship to race.  The world, as we knew it has changed.  We are changing along with it, and I am just not sure what we will look like as a community when and if the dust settles. The Boston Police Department, the oldest in the country, remains a beacon of hope and comfort for residents of our city.  Full disclosure:  I have no relatives or even any friends who are members of this outstanding department.  As one who works [...]

From the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Marian Manor in South Boston has taken numerous steps to support good hygiene, strong infection control and social distancing, all while providing the highly compassionate, high quality care for which it has long been recognized.  Today Marian Manor shared updated data about COVID-19 testing at is South Boston skilled nursing facility. Consistent with initial Department of Public Health recommendations, Marian Manor originally tested only symptomatic residents for COVID-19.  As of this past weekend, we were able to test nearly all our residents, with the support of DPH and the MA National Guard.  To date, we have a total of 103 COVID-19 positive residents a significant portion of the COVID-19 positive residents remain asymptomatic. We are saddened to report [...]

Union construction workers are answering the call for more hospital beds, converting the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center into a 1,000 bed field hospital in just 3 days.  With the state's health care system facing a shortfall of thousands of beds, members from Sheet Metal Workers Local 17 worked around the clock to adapt the convention center's air system for the enormous temporary hospital.  Currently, there are over 40 patients (sixteen homeless) occupying the facility. Local 17 members working at J.C. Cannistraro had just days to complete the project before patients arrived. They jumped into action, adding filtration, modifying the rooftop ventilation units, and preparing isolation rooms to keep everyone safe. "Sheet Metal Workers Local 17 went above and beyond what’s expected of them," said [...]

Brianne Fitzgerald RN, NP So starts the Queen's speech to the citizens of Great Britain yesterday.  As we enter what is expected to be the most challenging phase of our collective Covid-19 experience, I beg all of us to follow both Mayor Walsh and Governor Baker's directives.  Specific to what Boston Mayor Walsh said on Sunday that there are real and manageable recommendations to follow. We do not live in a dictatorship.  We are expected to use common sense and follow the guidelines laid out by our leaders voluntarily.  These guidelines are more than reasonable and by following them you will do your part, perhaps save a life or flatten the curve.  In case you still need a few more deadening statistics to move you [...]

By: Tara Kerrigan Hayes The surge is coming. The word is out. So, why then, are the people? The stats are everywhere and the outlook is grim. Despite the US death toll eclipsing China’s and continuing to rise at a staggering rate, it seems, for some, the severity of the situation is simply not sinking in. New York infectious disease epidemiologist, John Smith, succinctly conveyed how an outbreak like the Coronavirus spreads exponentially, “if your son visits his girlfriend, and you later sneak over for coffee with a neighbor, your neighbor is now connected to the infected office worker that your son’s girlfriend’s mother shook hands with”. Consider the power behind that fact, (and it is, indeed, a fact). Conversely, any break in that chain [...]

It was a full house at the Curley Center on Day Boulevard last evening, the 30th.   Several hundred concerned residents of South Boston and members of the Curley Center from all over the City (and beyond) showed up for the first introductory community meeting about the project to renew the Curley Community Center – commonly known as “the L”.   The meeting convened right at 6 p.m.  It took the following format:  Overview, Challenges, Opportunities, Schedule, and Discussion (including a Question-and-Answer session that lasted for nearly an hour).  Boston’s City of Operations Patrick Brophy hosted the meeting. South Boston Online is referring to this project as a “renewal” for several reasons.  The project as described at Monday’s meeting will deal with every portion of the L’s [...]

Mayor Martin J. Walsh today announced the City of Boston will be installing opioid overdose reversal kits in municipal buildings, thanks to a $30,000 donation from Aetna. The donation will be used to install kits containing the overdose reversal medication naloxone (Narcan), clear instructions for its use, and other medical supplies to assist individuals who experience an overdose. Prior to implementation, the Mayor's Office of Recovery Services will offer on-site voluntary overdose prevention and naloxone administration trainings to all interested City employees. "Increasing access to naloxone has been a core strategy in the City's approach to countering the opioid epidemic," said Mayor Walsh. "The unfortunate reality is that overdoses occur in all parts of our City, including in and around City buildings. By ensuring that [...]

It was a busy end of May, with all the usual Memorial Day weekend remembrances taking place.  The (unofficial) beginning of summer around here was blessed with fine, sunny weather.  There was more good news as well, especially since it concerns our own local summer enjoyment:  South Boston’s surrounding bay, harbor, and open ocean waters are virtually 100% clean, according to actual scientific test results, which were reported to South Boston Online by Save the Harbor/Save the Bay last weekend (Sunday, May 26).  Over the last six years (2013-2018), all of South Boston’s beaches have averaged between 98% and 100% cleanliness.  The figure of 98% cleanliness is the equivalent of failing the weekly tests just once in a full, two-year period.  The figure of 100% [...]

By Tara Kerrigan Hayes The familiar sounds of screeching tires and tearing metal rang through the neighborhood yet again last week, at the corner of L and East 6th.  While no injuries were sustained in this particular crash, it was another stark reminder that this notoriously dangerous intersection is still exactly that – dangerous. Local residents continue to express concerns for their safety ten months after the fatal accident that claimed the life of 2-year-old Colin McGrath and injured his 4-year-old sister, Sloane. “People are racing from the light at L and 8th to make the light at L and 5th, and vice versa”, says a local resident, (who prefers to remain anonymous), who narrowly escaped being struck by a car at the same intersection [...]

By Mayor Martin J. Walsh Every spring, we release our Capital Investment Plan which funds the critical improvements to our infrastructure and facilities in Boston over a five-year period. It is a reflection of our priorities, and is guided by the voices of over 15,000 residents who offered input for our citywide plan, Imagine Boston 2030. Our Capital Plan funds the essentials of community life -- our schools, streets, libraries, and parks, including climate and resilience projects. It’s a commitment to all those who call Boston home and to our future generations. Here in South Boston, we’re making investments across a wide range of projects, including parks and open space, streets and transportation, our schools’ infrastructure, and our delivery of City services.  We’re allocating much [...]