Coach Joe Marchese’s Everett High baseball team earned its second straight outright Greater Boston League title with a pair of hard fought victories this past week over GBL rivals Malden and Medford. “This team has really come together this season,” said Marchese. “We overcame the loss of some key seniors from last year and then the season-ending injury to our best hitter, Chris McCarthy. But somehow we found a way to win another league championship.” The Crimson Tide clinched at least a share of the GBL title with an 8-7 triumph over Malden in which Marchese’s charges overcame an Continue reading >>>

More than one in five homeowners with mortgages in Greater Boston are “underwater” these days – that is, the house is worth less than the loan. That might seem like bad news, but Zillow.com casts this information released today in a flattering light. After all, the national average is closer to one-in-three (31.4 percent of all homes with mortgages are underwater). And only 7.7 percent of Boston-area homeowners owe more than double the value of their homes, compared with 15 percent nationwide. Click here to read the full story. Continue reading >>>

Rajan Sonik ’12 is the winner of this year’s Andrew L. Kaufman Pro Bono Service Award, recognized for performing the highest number of pro bono service hours in the Class of 2012. During his time at Harvard Law School, Sonik provided over 2,500 hours of free legal services. The class of 2012 as a whole performed 352,120 hours of free legal service while at HLS, an average of 597 hours per student.Sonik participated in array of volunteer activities and clinical programs, including serving as co-executive director of the Prison Legal Assistance Project at HLS, and working at the Harvard Continue reading >>>

TUESDAY: Justin Halpern (“I Suck at Girls”) reads at 7 p.m. at Brookline Booksmith … Richard Russo and Kate Russo (“Interventions”) read at 7 p.m. at Newtonville Books, 10 Langley Rd., Newton Centre WEDNESDAY: John Palfrey and Urs Gasser (“Interop: The Promise and Perils of Highly Interconnected Systems”) read at 6 p.m. at Wasserstein Hall, 1585 Mass. Ave., Cambridge (rsvp necessary at http://www.harvard.com/event/john_palfrey_and_urs_gasser/) … Marjorie Williams (“Markets of Paris”) reads at 7 p.m. at Wellesley Books, 82 Central Street, Wellesley … Jacqueline Sheehan (“Picture Continue reading >>>

May 23, 2012 Rabbi Todd Zeff When we look to the Torah for guidance in handling challenges in our modern world, our eyes do not usually fall on the agricultural laws detailed in the recent weekly parshah, or Torah portion. But in its teaching of the Jewish laws of the Jubilee year, the Torah offers both a model and an imperative that can help us re-envision the landscape of Jewish education. This parshah tell us that in this 50th-year, all debts are cancelled. If a person finds himself in financial straits, even in year 49 of a 50-year cycle, the loaner is obligated to help his fellow man. (Leviticus Continue reading >>>

Schechter ties tuition to income Andria Weil said she heard some troubling stories when she talked with other parents about tuition at Solomon Schechter Day School of Greater Boston. Weil, the board of trustees president of the Newton school, said parents of three children told her that they could only afford day school for their two older students but not their youngest.The full version of this story is only available to online subscribers. Non-subscribers may access the Candle Lighting Times and events calendars for free; to access all other content, please subscribe by following Continue reading >>>

By Matt Rocheleau, Town Correspondent The Family Service of Greater Boston based in Jamaica Plain will receive a $40,000 grant in conjunction with an award honoring the organization’s CEO for “outstanding leadership.” Randall Rucker, who heads the 177-year-old Boston human service and child welfare agency, received the 2012 Peter B. Goldberg ARAMARK Building Community Executive Leadership Award, officials said this week. “Rucker is a tireless and outspoken advocate for the power of community centers to help Boston’s most at-risk children and families build their lives,” said a statement Continue reading >>>

WATERTOWN, MASS. (05/23/2012)(readMedia)-- Adam Skolnick, general manager of Greater Boston Toyota dealership Toyota of Watertown, looks out over his full dealership lot and smiles, knowing that one year ago he was facing a much different picture. Inventories at Toyota dealerships were sparse for much of 2011 after the March 11 earthquake in Japan hindered production at Toyota plants worldwide, but months of work have put the automaker back at the top of its game. "Toyota's resurgence is nothing short of incredible," Skolnick said. "It's amazing that a year ago we were Continue reading >>>

Massachusetts Energy and Environmental Affairs and the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority yesterday announced a policy for public access to open space along aqueducts in 14 communities, including the Sudbury and Cochituate aqueducts in Wellesley. The policy sets forth guidelines for the Cochituate, Sudbury, Weston and Wachusett aqueducts. A press release explains that these aquaducts once supplied water for Greater Boston, but are now used only as emergency back-up resources. “These aqueducts follow miles of scenic, tree-lined paths across the landscape, which will be a great addition Continue reading >>>

BOSTON (AP) - The agency that oversees water and sewer services to dozens of greater Boston communities is opening up 40 miles of previously closed trails to the public. Officials with the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority say "No trespassing" signs along the trails that span from the Wachusett Reservoir in Clinton to Newton will be removed, opening them to hikers, bikers, skiers and others. The trails run atop the Sudbury, Weston, Wachusett, and Cochituate aqueducts. The trails, which are at most 100 yards wide and composed mainly of dirt or grass, run through Berlin, Boston, Clinton, Continue reading >>>