Town will take down Black Lives Matter sign after Select Board agrees on new signage policy
Brookline town officials will take down a Black Lives Matter sign in front of Town Hall after voting on a new public signage policy Tuesday. The sign has stood in front of Town Hall since 2020, a response to the Black Lives Matter movement and protests over the murder of George Floyd. But it’s time to take it down, said Select Board chairman Bernard Greene, who led the initial push to put the sign up three years ago. Greene, who is Black, said at a recent meeting that the town should consider making a “broader statement against hate.” The sign …
Who’s behind the colorful utility boxes popping up around Brookline?
Wondering why 10 utility boxes around town have turned colorful over the past few weeks? It’s part of a town-led effort to make Brookline more photogenic and “visually vibrant” by enlisting artists to brighten up drab parts of public infrastructure. Funded by $225,000 from the federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), the town set out last year to create public art in Brookline’s main commercial areas. “Public art was identified as something business owners wanted, residents wanted, and really the general public wanted,” said Aaron Norris, the town’s economic development and long-term planner. The 10 utility boxes, five painted and …
Brookline Then and Now: Boylston Street East of Cypress Street
These photos show the north side of Boylston Street from Cameron Street, on the right, to Cypress Street. The building on the left in both photos is just across Cypress Street. It was featured in an earlier Then and Now and is the only building in the older photo that is still standing. At the far right on both photos are street signs for Cameron Street. The older photo, from the Metropolitan Water Works Photograph Collection, is part of a wider-angle picture taken on February 14, 1917. It shows workmen and onlookers at the site of a water main break. …
News in brief: Former Lincoln principal dies, Green Line closure coming next week
Long-time Lincoln principal dies Barbara Shea, who helped transform the Lincoln School during her 16 years as its principal, died on Nov. 28. Shea was appointed principal of the school in the fall of 1990, and she oversaw a physical move and a cultural shift that led the school to raise its academic achievement. She retired in 2006 a beloved leader and educator, who had the school’s library named after her. “Her impact on the school community continues to this day,” Louise Lipsitz, who was a parent and PTO co-president when Shea was hired, wrote in an email to Brookline.News. …
School officials violated law by emailing information on May ballot questions to parents, state finds
The state Office of Campaign and Political Finance found that Brookline school officials violated campaign finance laws by sending emails with information about ballot questions to parents ahead of the May election. In a letter to the town sent on Nov. 28, OCPF Director William Campbell said that the use of Brookline schools’ “staff time, computers and email system to distribute materials relative to a ballot question” did not comply with Massachusetts’ campaign finance laws and regulations. Nine emails sent this past spring, two of which were from Superintendent Linus Guillory, were in violation, the OCPF found. The other seven …
Select Board votes not to call Special Town Meeting on controversial Israel resolution, defying state law
The Brookline Select Board voted Tuesday against scheduling a Special Town Meeting to debate a controversial resolution in support of Israel, breaking state law in the process. Massachusetts law require a town’s Select Board to hold a Special Town Meeting if it’s requested by 200 registered voters. Over the last few weeks, several Town Meeting members successfully gathered enough signatures to put forward a resolution standing with Israel during its ongoing war with the terrorist group Hamas. The resolution stated that Brookline’s Town Meeting would condemn the Hamas attacks of Oct. 7 and stand with the people of Israel. It …
Changing of the guard at a ‘home away from home’ for families of children with cancer
Dawn Emerman first came to The Boston House in 1979. She was 4 years old, and she arrived from Maine with her mother and younger sister, Danielle, who was being treated for medulloblastoma at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Boston Children’s Hospital. The Boston House, then a Ronald McDonald House, became their home away from home, a haven on Kent Street that provided lodging and emotional sustenance for families of children with cancer or blood disorders. They affixed an “I support Ronald McDonald House” bumper sticker to their car, and wore buttons supporting the house. Even after Danielle died of the brain …
Bad Intersection tries to make comedy more diverse and more ‘nice’ with Brookline standup shows
In the basement of the Garrison House in Brookline Village, Matt Shore and Tyler Durniak have their backpacks placed on the small stage. The room is lit ambiently, a red neon sign reading “Social Club” behind a microphone stand, laptop and a music synthesizer atop an ironing board. It’s a Sunday night, and doors to Bad Intersection Comedy, Brookline’s only regular comedy show, open at 6 p.m. Shore and Durniak created Bad Intersection in September 2022, after meeting at an Allston open mic night. A few years in, they’re developing a groove and cultivating a strong community around stand up …
New Coolidge Corner comic book shop born from owner Rob Tuck’s lifelong passion
Friar Tuck’s Comics and Collectibles is out of this world. The new store on Harvard Street near Coolidge Corner has 80,000 comic books in stock, classics and deep cuts curated by owner Rob Tuck. The store held its grand opening in Coolidge Corner on Monday, welcoming comic experts, newcomers, and everyone in between. The space at 310 Harvard Street, next door to the Coolidge Corner Theater, has a meticulous outer-space aesthetic: astronaut GI Joes hanging from a satellite-decorated HVAC unit, with shimmering disco balls and a starry night ceiling. Tuck said the grand opening was his 38th day straight of …
Clara Delcamino-Yang balances ice and school
Editor’s note: This story is being published in partnership with The Cypress, the student newspaper of Brookline High School. Read the original story here. Figure skating. School. Homework. Senior Clara Delcamino-Yang has learned how to balance her sport with the other important pieces of her life. Delcamino-Yang started ice skating when she was 5 years old. She has been competing for seven years and is currently ranked 18th in the country and third in New England for figure skating. Delcamino-Yang skates for one and a half hours and does one hour of conditioning from Monday to Friday, and then she skates for two …
RE: Town will take down Black Lives Matter sign after Select Board agrees on new signage policy
I was happy to see the decision to remove the sign. I agree with Black Lives Matter but did not …
RE: Town administrator asks residents to stop putting Israeli hostage posters on public property
On Oct. 7, Israel experienced the brutal massacre of 1,200 people, primarily civilians, that represented the largest loss of Jewish …
RE: Town Meeting passes major rezoning plan likely to reshape Harvard Street
The important fact that the zoning plan that was passed at Town Meeting will ensure that Brookline is in full …
RE: RE: Town Meeting passes major rezoning plan likely to reshape Harvard Street
I want to thank Chris for his letter to Brookline.News. I do not thank Chris because he said nice things. …