Top Stories - July 27, 2006

Not Everyone Likes Shaw's



There are some residents who, having always opposed a supermarket in the neighborhood, still oppose Shaw’s.
Bronwyn DellaVolpe of Cyrus Street said she and some other neighbors are boycotting the store, choosing to go out of their way to shop elsewhere. She said she’s not happy with the new traffic lights she says she gets stuck at, or the nighttime exterior lighting, or the additional traffic and headlights - and she expects traffic to be worse when school is back in session.
"My house still lights up green every time the light turns green," said DellaVolpe, whose house faces the Shaw’s entrance. "I feel it’s made a major, fundamental change in my lifestyle."
I was at Shaw's the morning of its Grand Opening, and I'll post about it soon, so stay tuned.

First Plan Cluster Plan Rejected

It looks like the town will have to wait a while for a so-called cluster development.
The Planning Board turned down a first-ever proposal for a D-1 Residential Cluster Development during its meeting late last month in a 3-2 vote with one abstention.
A special permit was needed to build on six house lots at the former Dillaway estate at 87-93 Montrose Ave. A typical permit is for four lots or fewer.

Menino Names a New Chief of Public Works and Transportation

Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino named a new chief today for Public Works and Transportation, tapping an official from Denver, Colo., for the post.
Dennis Royer, deputy manager for operations of Public Works in Denver, will begin work for the Menino administration Sept. 12 in the newly created cabinet-level position. Royer has more than 25 years experience in public works and transportation management and was chosen from a pool of more than 200 candidates, city officials said.
The mayor said he is counting on Royer to oversee the merger of the Transportation and Public Works departments in Boston and to bring the departments "into the 21st century."

Yet Another Reason to Hate the Big Dig

State Police and city EMS officials today began mapping a plan to move emergency vehicles quickly from East Boston to city hospitals after a former politician from Stoughton died of a heart attack when his ambulance was snared in Big Dig traffic.
The victim, Bruce D. Olsen, 65, was returning from Florida when he collapsed at Terminal A at Logan Airport around 4 p.m. yesterday. He was pronounced dead upon his arrival 50 minutes later at Boston Medical Center, EMS officials said.
Olsen, a former Norfolk County Commissioner from Stoughton, was facing drug charges stemming from an arrest in Key West on July 18 that came after he allegedly tried to purchase $40 worth of marijuana from undercover cops in the resort town.
His death yesterday triggered outrage from Hub residents and prompted Mayor Thomas M. Menino to demand an investigation into the circumstances of the ambulance’s delay.
"It’s very disturbing to me,” Menino said. "We have to look at this incident very closely."

(Sources: Wakefield Observer, Wakefield Daily Item, Boston Globe, Boston Herald)