Councilor Connolly asks for support for Autism Insurance Bill
June 25, 2010
The Massachusetts Legislature is considering a bill entitled: An Act Relative to Insurance Coverage for Autism. This bill will require health insurers to provide the coverage necessary for individuals to be screened and treated for Autism Spectrum Disorders. As Chair of the Boston City Council’s Committee on Education, a former teacher, and a parent, I care deeply about the education of all of our students and I make no exception for the 11,520 Boston Public School students with special needs of which more than 500 are diagnosed with ASDs.
Beyond providing life-changing medical assistance to those affected by Autism, this bill will improve the effectiveness and quality of our classrooms and provide much needed support to families. Currently, lack of early detection places students in inappropriate learning environments. By increasing health coverage to include Autism diagnosis, affected students can be quickly identified and placed into the appropriate classrooms with the support and attention that will provide them with the best education possible. The current system places the financial and social burden of identifying and treating special needs students on the school districts. Autism Speaks, the nation’s largest autism science and advocacy organization, projects that the Commonwealth of Massachusetts would be able to save approximately $7 million dollars in early intervention costs, should insurance companies be required to expand their coverage.
On April 27, 2010, I sponsored a City Council resolution urging the State Legislature to quickly vote in favor of this vital bill. I’m proud to report that the City Council unanimously supported this resolution. Please join me in encouraging our state lawmakers to support this important legislation.
At-Large Councilor John Connolly, Chair, Committee on Education
The Boston Fire Fighter’s Contract. What’s your opinion?
June 3, 2010
The Boston Fire Fighters Union Local 718 and the City of Boston have been embroiled in a contract battle for the past few years. Recently, an independeant arbitrator awarded the BFD members a 19% pay raise. The contract is now in front of the Boston City Council for thier approval.
From Centre Street to City Council Chambers, everyone seems to have an opinion. What do you think?
Unassigned and Angry? You are not alone.
May 19, 2010
Do you feel slighted? Do you feel left out? Have you noticed the increase in “For Sale” signs? That feeling could be from your child not being assigned to a Boston Public School. And the “For Sale” signs? Well that could be that it is Spring, or it could be ….. something else.
For those of you that are experiencing this for the first time, I am sorry. For those, like me, who have been dealing with this for years, it is more of the same. And for those of you that did get your school of choice, Congratulations.
Now I don’t know about you, but when I try to explain to friends outside the City about the process of getting kids into the Boston Public Schools, they scratch thier heads, often times think I am exaggerating, then tell me to stop complaining and move. It is very frustrating.
Like you I pay my taxes, participate in the community and I VOTE, so why is it that the Boston Public School lottery System is so broken? Why is it that a discussion has to take place in homes across this community, every Spring, about what to do about their kids? Should we move? Should we stay? Should we hold out hope that things will change?Shouldn’t we be able to all go to a neighborhood school? Isn’t it our right?
I am sick of loosing good friends and neighbors to the suburbs because of the schools. Something MUST be done.
What are your thoughts? How can we fix this? Is it a problem that needs fixing? Looking for some help? You are not alone go to the BPS Lottery Reform Group on Facebook.
Letter to the Editor
April 26, 2010
An editorial by Marie Watson.
People have long regarded West Roxbury as the ideal town in which to raise children in the City of Boston. It is small, but not too small. It’s close to downtown, but far enough away that you feel at peace with kids walking by themselves. It’s old homes with pristine lawns and white picket fences have had people flocking here for the chance to get their kids the best. This is the image we portray, but I am now well aware that this is all a facade that West Roxbury residents have built up, but will not back up.
In the past few weeks many people in and around West Roxbury have been reading about the issues my family has been dealing with since August of 2008. I feel no need to go into the details of the situation, as many people can refer to the Bulletin and Globe articles as well as the comments section on the Globe article which is where a lot more was said. Long story short, my brother was harassed and tormented in Cooperstown,NY on a trip that while not sanctioned by Parkway Little League (PLL), was made up of all PLL players as well as PLL coaches. The head coach was Nick Nasuti. Read more
Stopping House & Car Break-Ins
April 9, 2010
Answer lies in addressing root cause and trends associated with crime.
An Op-Ed by Paul Sullivan
Like many residents, I am disturbed by the recent rash of house and car break-ins in and around West Roxbury. As a former assistant district attorney for nearly 3 years, I worked with victims and the police to prosecute those who perpetrated these types of crimes.
Those who commit these types of crimes often possess common traits: lack of education, substance abuse issues, and unemployment. Instead of trying to address these issues, we seek a quick fix and continue to lock up offenders rather than addressing the root of the problem. Police and those in law enforcement are not at fault and sometimes we are left with no other choice but to seek incarceration. The real problem lies with policies. Rather than continuing with the status quo and hoping things will change, I want to break the chain by addressing the issues that lead to these behaviors. Read more
March Madness ParkwayBoston Pick’em Pool III Contest – It’s FREE
March 12, 2010
It is that time of year again, March Madness. Join us for the 3rd annual “ParkwayBoston Pick’em Pool” and take a shot at picking the winners in the 2010 Men’s NCAA March Madness Tournament. The price is FREE and winners will receive prizes form local business, including over $100 in Restaurant Gift Certificates. Challenge your neighbors and see if you have what it takes to come out on top.
The tournament selction show is on Sunday March 14th so sign up now. Picks must be completed before the first game on Thursday March 18th.
To accept the invitation, just follow this link. Or go to Yahoo Sports, sign in (if you don’t have a yahoo account sign up for free).
Enter this information:
Group ID#: 45613
Password: parkway
Good Luck and Giddy up!
Forget the House, Let’s Talk Yards…Playoff Style!
January 23, 2010
Wow. I expected ALL of the rested home favorites to win last week, and although most of them did – - those blasted Chargers were thwarted by the lithe, tricky men in awful dark green. For the second week in a row, the Jets shocked the nation when they traveled to San Diego to take on the Chargers as 8.5-point underdogs and won outright 17-14. How do they keep beating superior teams? What is wrong with the Chargers to allow that kind of choke-dome to overcome them? Norv Turner is a wimp; San Diego should have gone for it a couple of times on 4th and short and instead they went and missed field goal opportunities. Phillip Rivers is a franchise quarterback. He is also incapable of utilizing the play clock productively and inept in come from behind situations. For crying out loud, this was a PLAYOFF game people! As long as conservative (being nice) Norv Turner is calling the shots, the Chargers will choke when it means the most…like last week. Read more
Forget the House, Let’s Talk Yards!!!
January 16, 2010
Wow. Last week’s Wild Card Playoff weekend had more shocks and surprises than I was expecting.
It all started with the Jets beating the Bengals in Cincy 24-14 and knocking me right out of the Sudden Death Playoff Pool I was in and am now no longer involved in. Darn Bengals, I should’ve picked the Cowboys.
Going into the game it was my impression, as well as most of the Sports advisors, that Sanchez was the weakest link. I was surprised that the Jets put Sanchez in the position to have to win the game with his arm and they didn’t rely solely on their run game and defense (like Coach Rex Ryan said they would). That Coach is tricky. He said Sanchez “wasn’t ready” to fling the ball around in the playoffs therefore it was to my amazement that Mark even threw the ball at all and then shock and surprise, Sanchez threw on three different 3rd and longs and connected on each one. The J-J-Jets seemed to have really been on their toes and Cincy was sluggish. New York won the game fair and square. And even though it was a defensive game and had the lowest total of all four games last weekend, it went over the posted 34-points. Ocho won’t be talking crap for at least another nine months after getting stuffed by the men in awful green and Cincy’s QB Carson Palmer most likely pulled an ostrich out and stuck his own head in the sand after hearing that he was Mark Sanchez’s boyhood idol – - now Sanchez has a playoff win under his belt and Palmer doesn’t. Doh. Read more
Forget the House, Let’s Talk Yards…Playoff Style!
January 9, 2010
I hope everyone had a safe and happy New Years. As we say Too-Doo-Loo to 2009, we also end the NFL regular season and step into PLAYOFF MODE BABY!
Last week, there were three games where the opponents would be facing each other again this week in the Wildcard Week: Green Bay/Arizona, Cincinnati/Jets and Philly/Dallas.
Each team approached these games differently, some didn’t want to show their hand and give their opponent an extra week to study them so they rested some of their starters (Arizona). Some teams didn’t want to shut down for a week only to reboot the following week and chance the stutter it may cause (Green Bay). And some teams were just fighting for the chance to participate or increase their standings in the post-season (Jets/Dallas/Philly). Read more
Happy New Year!!
December 31, 2009
Well it is almost 2010 can you believe it? The decade of the 00′s went by so fast that it is hard to believe what has happened over the past 10 years. From September 11th to the Gulf War & Afghanistan, from George Bush to Barack Obama, from Loserville to a Decade of Dominance in Boston sports. It makes you wonder what the next 10 years will bring.
When the decade began no one ever heard of Facebook or Twitter. Texting was primitive at best, and difficult. ParkwayBoston wasn’t even a word and most people still read the newspaper.
In 1999, “Wait til next year” was the expression most spoken when referring to Boston sports, since then the Red Sox won 2 World Championships, the Patriots have 3 Super Bowls, and the Celtics raised banner 17. Even the Bruins have been making a go of it lately.
Ten years ago Theo Epstein had just graduated from law school, Tom Brady was getting ready to lead Michigan in an Orange Bowl Victory, Coach Bill was a Defensive Coordinator in New York and Rondo had just started high school.
Here we are at the dawn of a new decade and it will be interesting to see what will be different. Will the print media become obsolete? Will tweeting become a fad, or the norm? Will there be a Middle Eastern Perestroika? Will the US be hit again? Will the Bruins win the Cup? Will there be a new Mayor in Boston?
Let us know what you think.
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