Police seize cache of guns from home near Coolidge Corner

Police officers checking on the well-being of a reclusive Brookline man discovered a cache of 36 firearms, including 14 high-powered rifles and 1,200 rounds of armor-piercing ammunition, in his residence near Coolidge Corner Monday. Brookline police also found several silencers and thousands more rounds of ammunition at 181 Harvard St. and arrested resident Richard Becker, 55, who is expected to appear in Brookline District Court Wednesday on multiple charges stemming from alleged firearms violations. Police Chief Daniel O’Leary said Tuesday that the Bureau of Alcohol, Continue reading >>>

Foxboro Post Office building to close

FOXBORO — The town’s Wall Street Post Office building will be closed and put up for sale, and Foxboro’s carrier routes will be moved to the Mansfield Post Office under a plan announced to workers Tuesday. But Foxboro will still have a post office. A postal storefront will be opened in Foxboro to maintain customer service, including post office boxes, according to an announcement postal officials were assigned to read to their staffs. “When these recommendations are set in action, it will provide Continue reading >>>

City board to consider approving Huntington Ave. YMCA addition

The gym and wellness facilities will be moved into the main building, which will be renovated to be more modern, efficient, and handicapped accessible. At a community meeting late last month, Y members and neighborhood residents expressed some concerns about the project, but others were optimistic the changes would help the organization. “I realized that this place is historic not because of the framework and everything; this place is historic because of the people,” said Christopher Rogers, 19, of Dorchester, who has been coming to the Y since he was a child and continues to frequent the Continue reading >>>

Jose Canseco makes latest pitch

OAKLAND, Calif. — Selected by the A’s in the 15th round of the 1982 draft, Jose Canseco’s first pro contract came with a $10,000 bonus. Thirty years, 462 big league home runs and $45 million in salary later, he’d work for less. You say he’s stalking the spotlight and hasn’t figured out the futility of this hunt. He says he’s chasing his own personal dream. And that it’s his right to do so. The next phase of Canseco’s pursuit brings him to the roots of his glory. He’s making an appearance Saturday evening at Banner Island Ballpark, the home of Oakland’s Single-A affiliate Continue reading >>>

MBTA could use boost from Amazon collecting Mass. sales tax

In addition to leveling the playing field for local businesses, requiring Amazon.com to collect sales tax on purchases made in Massachusetts would also provide a needed boost to the MBTA, which receives a portion of sales tax revenues as its main state subsidy (“Mass. may tell Amazon to charge sales tax,” Page A1, June 6). Additional revenues from online sales would not be enough to solve the T’s current fiscal woes, but it would certainly help, especially as the T budget deficit for next year remains unresolved. Like many other knowledge-economy companies, Continue reading >>>

House set to approve $49m in aid for MBTA

With debt payments, energy costs, federally mandated door-to-door service for the disabled, and employee health insurance driving MBTA costs up faster than its income, which comes chiefly from fares and a portion of the state sales tax, the T faced a deficit of $160 million for the coming year. The Patrick ­administration whittled that to about $60 million, partly through fare increases and service cuts that will take effect ­July 1, before asking legislators to make up the difference, mostly through a little-known surplus generated by statewide motor vehicle inspection fees.

Poll: Sick adults in Massachusetts struggle with health costs, despite …

Fourteen percent of sick adults in Massachusetts were unable to get health care they needed in the past year, according to a poll conducted by the Harvard School of Public Health and others. More than 7 in 10 of those who said they could not get treatment cited financial reasons, saying they could not afford the out-of-pocket costs or their insurer refused to cover the test or treatment. “In a state that prides itself on universal coverage, it’s a finding you wouldn’t expect to see,” said Robert J. Blendon, health policy professor and director of the Harvard Continue reading >>>

Local Architecture & Engineering Firms Improving, But Not Across The Board

Monday, June 11, 2012, 11:39am An improving economy and industry-wide restructuring are helping the recovery of the architecture and engineering (AE) industry in Greater Boston, according to a recent report from Woburn-based, AE-focused CPA and consulting firm DiCicco, Gulman Co. LLP (DGC).Profits for the average AE firm increased roughly 23 percent from $9.27 per direct hour to $11.40 per direct hour. Continue reading >>>