Free H1N1 shots at BMC

H1N1 Flu Shot Clinic, Wednesday, January 27, 9AM-3PM - Boston Medical Center will offer a free, community H1N1 flu shot clinic in the Menino Pavilion lobby located at 840 Harrison Ave. The vaccine will be available for individuals age 24 months and older. Those who should not get an H1N1 vaccine include people who currently have a fever or those who have an allergy to eggs, a history of Gillian-Barre Syndrome and have experienced a severe reaction to a flu shot in the past. For more information, call Maureen McMahon, BMC Disaster Coordinator, 617-638-6317 or maureen.mcmahon@bmc.org.

Mind your car valuables

UNiversal hub blogs this post about 12 car break-ins in South Boston. A reminder to not leave GPSs, Laptops or any electronics in your car. Or better yet, leave nothing in your car that might be attractive to someone passing by.

State Senator Diaz at Ellis

Our neighbors at the Ellis NA extend this invitation:

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The Ellis would like to extend an invitation to you all to attend our board meeting this coming Tuesday, January 26 at 6:30PM. The meeting will be held at the Boston Ballet building (19 Clarendon Street) in the 5th floor conference room. We will be hosting Senator Sonia Chang-Diaz and we believe this will be an important meeting for all South End residents to voice any concerns/issues as well as ask pertinent questions. This meeting is open to all so we hope you will join us.

1. State Senator Sonia Chang-Diaz

2. McKinley School - Christine Stella, Program Director, McKinley Elementary & South End Academy

3. Executive Committee Update

· General Updates

· Approval of Prior Minutes

· Treasurer’s Report

4. Committee Updates

5. Other Business - Stuart Street Planning Study

No January meeting - what's next?

There will be no January Eight Streets meeting.

We may not get any voting business for February, so I’d like to ask the NA if there are topics you’d like to discuss. I didn’t get many responses when I polled about activities for December. It would be nice if NA could be more than just business issues, but lately unless we have a hot or controversial topic, the meetings have been thin.

What topics or activities would inspire you to get more involved in the neighborhood?


In other upcoming news:

- Next Tuesday, 1/12 is the last day to get your Christmas tree recycled. If you put it out this Friday or after the 12th, it will be taken away as trash
- Tuesday the 19th is the special election for the US Senate seat. Keep an eye out for televised, radio and web debates between the three candidates.

- John Mc

Holidays and City Services

Some updates on City Services for ESNA over the next two weeks:

- There will be no trash pickup Friday, Dec 25th. Trash will be picked up the following day: Saturday the 26th.

- The new mixed recycling program now allows Christmas wrapping paper to be recycled (it used to be prohibited). So add all that wrapping paper to your clear plastic recycling bag.

- They will be picking up trash on the regular schedule on Friday, January 1

- Christmas trees can be put out on recycling days for the first two full weeks of January. For ESNA this means Tuesday 1/5 and Tuesday 1/12 only. Trees put out any other time (including 12/29) will not be recycled (but will be taken as trash). Please remove everything from your tree (lights, ornaments, tinsel), and do not put the tree in one of those tree bags (remove it from the bag when you get it to the street if you used a bags for needle-free tree removal).


Have a great Christmas and a safe and Happy New Year.

Hey, it's gonna snow

Snow expected tonight, for those with a computer but don't check the news or the weather. :)

A snow emergency has been declared beginning 10pm tonight (Saturday, 12/19). That means parking restrictions.

Keep up to date on parking and other regulations on the City's Snow Web Site

Get more up-to-date alerts on things like snow emergencies on the City's Alert pages. There you can sign up for email or text alerts when emergencies are declared or schools are closed.

And, of course, please remove your snow. Complete city regulations (PDF) can be found here. In brief,

• Clean sidewalks no later then three hours after snowfall stops
• Clean a path 42" wide. (one-shove-wide paths are cheating :-)
• If you live on a corner, clean both sides of your property
• If you live on a corner or have a crosswalk in front of your property, you must clean all the way to the street. If you can, re-shovel after snow plows go by.
• If you live near a fire plug, please shovel it out
• Residents - don't shovel snow into the street
• Car shovelers - don't throw your snow back on the sidewalks.

Stay Safe, clean up, and happy snow day!

Saturday: Meet your State Rep

On Saturday, Dec 19th State Representative Aaron Michlewitz will be having community office hours in our neighborhood. Everyone is welcome to stop by to ask question or raise any concerns you might have. Or just grab a cup of coffee and say hi.

Saturday, Dec 19th
9-11am
Berkeley Perk cafe
69 berkeley St, same block as 7-11

Aaron's State web site
Aaron's informal web site

More holiday events

A plethora of holiday events continues this weekend in the South End!

There are still plenty of trees left from our local vendor. This year Charlie and his Christmas Tree sales have returned to their Berkeley Community Garden location. Stop by the corner of Tremont and East Berkeley and pick up your tree or wreath. They have trees for all size homes!

This weekend (12/12-13) brings the return of the South End Holiday Market. Come to the Cathedral Gym Saturday and Sunday (10-6) to shop from 80 artist and designers. The Holiday Market also has their Cell Phone Santa raffle. Attendees of the Holiday Market purchase chances to win and approximately every 1/2 hour, from 10-6, a winner is chosen and Santa calls them on their cell phone to tell them they won. Prizes include beautiful artwork from the Holiday Market and gift certificates from local businesses.

For more information, check Holiday Market web site.

And don't forget about the South End Scavenger Hunt, which continues through December 20th. More information on the SEBA Web Site

Have a great weekend!!

one more time - VOTE Tomorrow

Tomorrow, Tues 12/8 is the primary election for US Senator. I know it's the third election cycle within the year, but that doesn't make a vote less important.

There are 4 candidates on the Democratic slate. Being a blue state, these are the candidates filling the airwaves with commercials and robo-calling your homes. But there are also two candidates on the Republican primary ballot.

A list of all candidates on the primary ballots can be found here

If you are a registered member of either party, you can vote in that primary. If you are unenrolled, you can also chose one party and vote in that party's primary. Voting for Eight Streets takes place at Cathedral High School, at the corner of Washington and Waltham.

The winner of each party, as well as any other 3rd party and independent candidates, will be on the ballot in the Final election on January 19th

ODNA Safety Committee - seeking vounteers

Old Dover Neighborhood Association has been spearheading a neighborhood safety agenda. I've been reporting on some of their meetings and passing on safety information.

They are having semi-regular meetings of their safety committee. As they are our direct neighbors, and we share the safety problem sin Peters Park and Berkeley Gardens, I'd like to maintain an Eight Streets presence at these meetings. Someone to participate, help out with things if you choose, and keep me and the NA up to date on what's going on.

Their next meeting is this Tuesday, December 8th. Meeting notice below. If you are interested in being the ESNA rep on the ODSC, please let me know.

thanks!

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OLD DOVER SAFETY & SECURITY MEETING - TUESDAY, DEC 8TH, PROJECT PLACE 6:30-8:00 PM

Objective is to launch the Neighborhood Watch implementation and identify all the stakeholders.

The goal being to educate and improve communications among all constituents

Discussion will include role of team captains, how to interface with BPD and Pine Street, exploration of technology solutions

No December meeting

Due to no critical business agenda, (and an informal email poll), we will not be having a December Eight Streets business meeting. Our next meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, January 6th

Remember to start your South End holiday right with a visit to the tree lighting This Weekend - starting at 3pm. Details can be found here

Holiday tree lighting

The BCA and South End Business Alliance are hosting the annual Tree Lighting on the BCA plaza this Saturday, December 5th. Festivities start at 3pm. The event will feature “Families Connect at the BCA an afternoon of workshops that foster creativity, self-expression and artistic development in a fun and nurturing environment.”, as well as several performances, and the traditional visit by the Mayor and the big S. The event is free and open to all.

For more information, visit the SEBA Web Site

Trader Joes in the South End?

The Herald reports that GTI is working to put a Trader Joe's store in the old teolley barn warehouse on Harrison (the building where the South End Market is held).

Article (Herald article go off-line after a week, so the link is only good for a short time)

S End Cleanup Postponed

Due to the impending rain, the South End clenaup has been postponed until November 21.

Original blog post on cleanup

Recycling notes

The latest Boston Recycle More newsletter is now on line. We'd like to highlight some recycling news from the newsletter, and from our regular meetings with DPW.

• Since we no longer have to separate paper from other recycling, recycling rates have skyrocketed. In other neighborhoods, just as they have in the South End.



• If you live on a drivable alley (Dwight st) or live near an alley entrance, the city will give you a large recycle bin-on-wheels. (picture in the newsletter). Call the city to get one delivered.



• If you have another covered bin you’d like to use for recycling, call the city and ask for an “official” recycle sticker you can put on the bin to indicated it contains recyclables and not trash.



• ESNA and the city continue to encourage the use of clear plastic bags for recycling (if you have no space for a wheeled cart). The city is phasing out the ‘standard’ blue bins. They tend to get knocked & blown over easily and scatter paper and recyclables all over the street. Eventually the blue bins will go away (but you can keep your blue bin in the house)



• Cardboard boxes: They must be broken down and folded flat. If they are still assembled, recycling will NOT take them. They will assume the box wither a) contains styrofoam, which we do not recycle or b) it contains trash, which is trash. They will not look in each box – they will just take it as trash rather than recycle it. So please, break down your boxes and lie them flat under your recycling bag(s).



• TVs and computer monitors cannot be recycled or put out with trash. Call the city and arrange a pick-up time. You can leave it curbside on the day of the arranged pick-up time.



• We will continue to ask for recycling pickup on both trash days. Keep asking for it and we’ll keep pestering the city, and can hopefully get recycling pick-up both days in the future.

Remember you can keep your recycling in any kind of bin(s) in the home, and then collect it into a clear bag on recycling day. Or, just buy a second container for your home, line it with the clear bags and keep it near your household trash, so you can separate on the fly and just collect the clear bag to take to the trash. Just remember to not put 5-cent deposit cans and bottles into the trash or the clear recycle bags – the street collectors will tear the bags to get to the cans and make a mess on the street.

City recycling pages: http://www.cityofboston.gov/publicworks/recycling/default.asp
Phone number for Recycling & Trash issues: 617.635.4500

Taylor tree removal

A tree in Taylor Park (Taylor & Milford) has been determined to be too close to a home nad is causing structural issues. The tree in the rear of the park marked with orange tape will be removed by the BRA (the owner of the land). There will be a meeting W, 11/18, 6pm in the park for more information. The text of the BRA flier is below

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The Boston Redevelopment Authority (“BRA”) is the owner of parcel ID # 030581000 located at #14 Taylor Street in the South End section of Boston

A large Alianthus tree that is growing on the BRA parcel is causing potential foundation damage to the immediate Homeowner located at 247 Shawmut Avenue. The homeowner retained the services of Rene Mugnier Associates- Structural Engineers whom have inspected the site and documented the necessity that this tree needs to be removed. A Massachusetts certified arborist has been retained by the BRA to make an opinion about the condition of the tree and its impact to adjacent foundation

It is the professional opinion of the Certified Arborist from Royer Tree Service Inc. as well as the Engineer from Mugnier Associates to remove the tree immediately preventing any further root damage caused to the foundation wall of the adjacent Homeowner.

An on- site meeting has been scheduled for the evening of Wednesday November 18th at 6:00 pm sharp. An orange tape has been tied around the tree in question

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to call the BRA’s Asset Management Department Project Manager Fran Collins at 617-918-6232.

South End cleanup this weekend

A reminder that South End cleanup is this weekend - Saturday, November 14th.

This is similar to the Springtime Boston Shines effort, but on a smaller scale. While Eight Streets doesn’t organize a neighborhood-wide cleanup, we encourage everyone to get out and cleanup in front of their homes. Ever little bit makes our neighborhood cleaner.

If any street or group of residents wants to hold their own mini-cleanup that day, let me know ASAP and I’ll let the city know so they can have extra supplies on hands. Rakes, brooms, shovels and garbage bags are made available at the BCA plaza from 9am-noon, but if you don’t let me know you’ll be cleaning up, they may be short on supplies.

Street sweepers will be around on Saturday, but there will be no special towing. DPW will be making trash pickups that day. Have anything to pick up out by 11am; preferably at a corner where DPW can spot it easily.

Yard Waste

Yard wastes (Leaves, etc) are now picked up on Recycle Day. Place yard waste curbside by 7am on recycle day (Tuesday for ESNA). Yard waste must be in Paper Bags or Open Barrels (Yard waste in garbage bags will be taken away as trash). Yard waste will be picked up in this manner every Tuesday through December 4th (Dec 1 last ESNA yard waste pickup).

November business meeting

VOTE VOTE VOTE.

Don't forget to vote on Tuesday!!! The elections for Mayor and City Councilor-at-Large are big races this year. We vote at Cathedral High School, corner of Washington and Waltham. We're Ward 3, Precinct 7. Polls open 7am-8pm. See the City Election page for ballot and more info. http://www.cityofboston.gov/elections/

The Wednesday after, Nov 3rd brings us our November meeting. Meeting will be at our regular location at Boston ballet 5th floor board room; from 6:30-8:30

Usual meeting format:

6:30-7 - Neighborhood Networking.

7-8:30 - Business meeting

Agenda includes:

- Update on Coppa. Construciton is in full swing, and will likely open within the month. Get an update on progress and more details on their business. This is an update only, with no votable business.

- 56 Dwight st - seeks support to add two decks and an oriel on the side of the building. There will be a vote.

- City services updates - Some information from our occasional meeting with DPW.

Hope to see you all there Wednesday, and of course - VOTE on Tuesday!

- John Mc

Vote Countdown

Less than a week remains before election day. Voting takes place Tuesday, November 3rd – polls are open form 7am-8pm. Put it on your calendar now so you don’t forget. This is a big election, as (in case you missed it) we will be voting for the Mayor of Boston. Also up for election are the City Councilors-at-Large. (Our city councilor, Bill Linehan, is running unopposed)

The city election pages can be found here. Here is a PDF listing the candidates in ballot order.

See you on Tuesday (And yes, I’ll remind everyone again next week…)

Community Safety Training - Repeat session

If you missed the previous session, D4 will have another round of it's "eyes and ears" community safety training. This session will be next Monday, Oct 26th from 7-8pm at the Blackstone Community Center. See the BPD notice below for complete information.


There will be an Eyes and Ears Training for interested Boston residents on Monday, October 26th at the Blackstone Community Center, 3rd floor, Childcare Room from 7 pm - 8 pm. The training/information session is designed to make residents more aware of what goes on in their neighborhood and what to do if, or when, something is happening. It is meant to provide information on the critical role of residents and their participation in their community. It will provide residents with a means to learn crime prevention methods. Your neighborhood safety lies in the combined efforts of all neighbors to look after one another and work with local police. Please contact Carolyn MacNeil, the Director of the Neighborhood Watch Unit of Boston Police for more information at 617-343-5682. Hope to see you there.