Editor's note: The following is a press release. It’s hard to miss the neatly stacked cereal, pasta, canned goods and other non-perishable foods piled in the front office of the St. Theresa School. Twice weekly those items are loaded into a car and delivered to a food pantry in Dorchester run by Catholic Charities of Greater Boston.  According to Catholic Charities Director of Community Services Beth Chambers, the bulk of the pantry’s food comes from the Greater Boston Food Bank, but it often isn’t enough to meet the growing need.  Chambers said that the donations from St. Theresa’s Continue reading >>>

With budget pressures threatening to sink the South Shore’s ferries, supporters are giving the MBTA plenty of reasons to keep the routes afloat. They keep cars off the roads, offer commuters a faster route into Boston and provide economic support for businesses near their docks. But there’s another argument for retaining these boats: Unlike other vehicles in the MBTA’s mass transit fleet, the ferries were manufactured here in Massachusetts, by a local company. The T’s buses and rail cars were made out of state, by out-of-state firms. (Although the newer Green Line trolleys were assembled Continue reading >>>

Up is down; down is up Given the Winchester home had just been listed at the height of a hot spring market, you might reasonably expect the sellers to have stuck close to their asking price, especially in the first few days. And you’d think the sellers of the Arlington home would be fairly flexible with the price and terms, especially the week between Christmas and New Year’s. Heck, they might even be desperate. In Winchester, my buyers made their very best offer right from the start, which came in just a little more than 94 percent of the asking price. It was accepted within hours. Continue reading >>>

FORTY YEARS ago, activists from both sides of the Charles came together to sink a pair of ruinous highways. They crossed neighborhood boundaries, bound together and argued that people, not roadways, build communities. And they won. Their victory came before construction crews walled off their neighborhoods with lanes of speeding cars, but after bulldozers had demolished thousands of homes lying in the paths of the planned highways. Instead of running a highway from Hyde Park to Roxbury, state transportation officials built the Orange Line. The subway line, built along Continue reading >>>

Motorists who had their fill of high gas prices a few years ago won’t like what’s over the next rise in the road: potential record-high gas prices by Memorial Day. The statewide average hit $3.60 per gallon yesterday after rising 4 cents from a week ago and 18 cents over the past month, according to a survey by AAA Southern New England. Tensions in the Middle East have driven oil prices higher, which in turn has pushed up prices at the pump and renewed worries about $4-a-gallon gas. “What we’re seeing is pressure and fear from Iran. There’s really not much else to it,” said Patrick Continue reading >>>

Reagle Music Theatre Presents Rachel York and Brent Barrett: Isn’t It Romantic? Love Songs from the Stage and Screen Music Director and Pianist, Eugene Gwozdz; One performance only on February 19 as part of Celebrity Concert Series at Reagle Music Theatre of Greater Boston, Robinson Theatre, 617 Lexington Street, Waltham, MA; Series continues on April 22 with Mitzi Gaynor in  “Razzle, Dazzle!” Box Office 781-891-5600 or www.reaglemusictheatre.org “Heaven, I’m in heaven…” after spending two hours in the company of Broadway musical theater stars Rachel York and Brent Barrett performing Continue reading >>>

Why do you want to buy? How long do you see yourself staying in this property? Where do you work and how will you commute to work (public transportation or by car)? Do you think that you might move to a different employer in a different location while you are living in the property? If so, do you have a sense of where that is likely to be? What is the longest commute from your current employer or projected employer that you would be comfortable with? What are your absolute must haves? What else would you like to have? Do you plan to have pets in the property? If you are buying with a spouse Continue reading >>>

What is it? A new transportation system for adults age 60 and older and visually impaired individuals called iTNGreaterBoston debuted in 15 Greater Boston and MetroWest communities including West Roxbury and Roslindale this week. The nonprofit transportation network matches older adults who are unable or no longer want to drive, with volunteer drivers from their own communities. Carefully screened drivers provide door-through-door rides in their own or donated cars, providing an affordable, flexible mode of transport for seniors often rely on family members when public transportation is not Continue reading >>>

IF YOU’RE an indigent criminal defendant, the state provides you with a lawyer for free. But there is no such guarantee for needy Massachusetts residents involved in civil cases, such as home foreclosures or the threat of losing medical coverage. Especially in tough economic times, the most vulnerable citizens are left to fend for themselves in court. Legal aid organizations rely on financial support from the state and federal government, as well as from donations from private lawyers. That money has been drying up, and with it, access to Continue reading >>>

One of the region’s independent golf shops is packing up its clubs for good. Golfology owner Phil Upham said he plans to close his store on Route 123 in Hanover by the end of the month. Upham is holding a liquidation sale at the location to clear out excess inventory from the store and the Hyannis shop that he closed last month. Upham started the business 26 years ago as an Edwin Watts Golf franchise. As recently as five years ago, Upham had owned five golf shops in Southeastern Massachusetts. By the time he broke from the Edwin Watts chain and changed his stores’ name to Golfology in Continue reading >>>