Brookline Police Investigating Pine Manor College Armed Home Invasion

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May 6, 2018

Brookline police are investigating an armed home invasion that left one college student in the hospital, officials said.

Brookline police officers responding to a disturbance on Heath Street about 1:20 a.m. Friday were alerted to a past home invasion that resulted in a Pine Manor College student being taken to the hospital with minor injuries, police said.

Preliminary reports suggest four people wearing masks and brandishing firearms were involved in the incident.

During the investigation, Brookline police said they received information that led them to obtain a search warrant for a student’s room. While executing that search warrant, officers recovered a firearm and placed the student under arrest on several weapons charges, police said.

The student, whose name has not been released, is scheduled to be arraigned Monday in Brookline District Court.

Investigators are working to determine whether the two incidents are related.

Judy Moses Passes At 64

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May 4, 2018

An unlicensed 17-year-old teenager has been charged with drunk driving in the death of a Winthrop native.

Judy Moses, 64, of Chestnut Hill and a Newton Realtor, was struck and killed on a Medford street Sunday afternoon. Moses was the owner and agent at Pathway Home Realty Group and was doing what she was passionate about at the time.

She was the daughter of Winthrop residents Ronald and Elinor Moses. She is also the sister of Capt. Tom Moses of the Winthrop Fire Department. She was a graduate of Winthrop High School Class of 1971 and Simmons College.

She was the beloved wife of Charles Capace. She is also survived by her extended family and friends. She was a member of the Brookline Rotary Club, and past president of the Women’s Section of the National Association of Realtors.

As an advocate for the homeless and her love for animals, donations in lieu of flowers may be made to Rosie’s Place, 889 Harrison Avenue, Boston, MA 02118, the Dedham Animal Shelter, 55 Anna’s Place, Dedham, MA. 02026 or the Northeast Animal Shelter, 347 Highland Avenue, Salem, MA, 01970.

Visiting hours will be held in the Bell-O’Dea Funeral Home, 376 Washington Street, Brookline, on Thursday, May 3 from 3:00 – 8:00 p.m. Relatives and friends are kindly invited.

For directions to the funeral home please visit here. A Funeral Mass will be celebrated on Friday, May 4, at 11:30 a.m. in the Holy Rosary Church, 1015 Shirley Street, Winthrop. Interment will follow in the Winthrop Cemetery Belle Isle Section.

$60K For An Open Parking Spot?

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May 2, 2018

Would you pay $60K for an open space parkin spot in Brookline?

Spot No. 3 at 114 Addington Road, Brookline, MA 02445, which sold for $45K in 2016, is back on the market.

The Realtor.com listing is here.

Brookline Investor Buys Rockland Property For $2.7M

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May 2, 2018

Brookline-based Newman Properties has acquired 346 Union Street, Rockland, MA 02370, a mixed-use building in Rockland, for $2.7 million.

Winchester Savings Bank provided acquisition financing. Marcus & Millichap‘s Boston office represented the seller. Known as the Rice Building, the property contains 20 apartments and a number of retail spots.

Around Town

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May 2, 2018

1. Bring LEGO to life on May 3. With the help of Empow Studios instructors, students can learn animation software, film editing and bring LEGO to life in a movie. The event is for children ages 8+ and has a maximum capacity of 12 kids. It will run from 3:00 to 5:00 p.m. at the Brookline Village Library branch.

2. Kentucky Derby Day party on May 5. The Brookline Library Foundation will host the event which will raise money for the branch’s renovation and to fund technology at each of the Brookline branches. The event will run from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m. and will feature bluegrass music and of course a viewing of the 144th Kentucky Derby.

3. Olive Connection on May 5. The free tasting will feature Sicilian olive oils from Olio Taibi. It will run from 12:00 to 4:00 p.m.

4. Family fishing festival at the Brookline Reservoir on May 6. The event is open to everyone from kids to adults and is $7 per family. The festival will run from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00.

5. Vote on the Town’s Election Day. Polls will be open from 7:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. on May 8, according to the Town Clerk’s website here.

How To Stop School Shootings

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May 1, 2018

“What’s Happening? Resisting The Assault On America II”

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May 1, 2018

Boston OLOC (Old Lesbians Organizing For Change) presents “What’s Happening? Resisting the Assault on America II” on Sunday, May 6th, from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. at the Brookline Senior Center at 93 Winchester Street in Brookline, MA 02446.

After last year’s standing-room-only crowd at the first “Resisting the Assault on America,” OLOC feels it is time to revisit the ways in which the Trump administration is assaulting America. The forum panel will include Holly Gunner (ACLU Foundation), Jenn Doe (Lead Labor Union Organizer for SEIU Local 509), Patience Polly Crozier from GLAD (GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders), Colleen Flanagan (disability rights activist) & Nancy Kelly (Manager of Immigration Unit of the Greater Boston Legal Services). This panel of expert speakers will explain how their organizations are responding & resisting these attacks on the rights of the most vulnerable among the community.

Sue Katz stated, “Now a year has passed & while there is still a sense of disbelief, our worst nightmares are coming true, as this new Administration attacks civil & human rights & encourages the worst kinds of racism & sexism. This year’s panelists will cover very different areas of struggle – from disability rights to immigration policies to workers’ situation. Join us!” Boston programs & events are open to lesbians of all ages, including transgender lesbians.

OLOC’s mission includes their commitment to creating communities of older lesbians & solidarity with allies for racial, economic & social justice. Following the event there will be an early dinner at Pho Lemon Grass at 239 Harvard Street in Brookline, MA 02446.

The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Brookline.com.

Brookline Booksmith’s Dana Brigham To Retire

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May 1, 2018

Dana Brigham, the longtime general manager and co-owner of the Brookline Booksmith in Brookline, MA, will retire at the end of May after 37 years with the bookstore. Booksmith assistant managers Lisa Gozashti and Peter Win will become the store’s new managers. The two became co-owners in 2015. Booksmith controller Tim Huggins, who is the former owner and founder of Newtonville Books, will become the store’s new CFO. Brigham will remain a member of the Booksmith’s board and a senior adviser to the store.

During her tenure, Brigham helped lead the Booksmith through a series of strategic initiatives in a changing bookselling environment. In 1999 she oversaw the acquisition of a sister store, the Wellesley Booksmith, from the defunct-Lauriat’s chain. The store was sold in 2010 and became Wellesley Books. In 2012, Brigham also led the acquisition of the Globe Corner Bookstore’s stock and online presence, creating a Globe Corner Travel Annex within the Brookline store.

In an statement, Booksmith co-owner Marshall Smith praised Brigham’s “low-key, highly successful management style,” for the store’s success both within the community, and “far beyond.” Smith founded the bookstore in 1961. His son Jed will join the bookstore’s board as its new chair as part of the changes in management when Brigham retires next month.

Realtor Judy Moses Was Killed In A Medford Pedestrian Crash

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Brookline.com

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April 30, 2018

Judy Moses was realtor since 1986, who took pride in mentoring others, especially women, as a past president of the Women’s Council of Realtors and an owner of Pathway Home Realty Group in Newton.

“I feel blessed to love what I do,” Moses wrote on her website. “I feel I was born to help people buy and sell homes. It is my ministry.”

On Sunday, Moses, 64, had finished showing a house in Medford when she stopped on Spring Street on her way home, her husband said, because her father had told her that he had spent part of his childhood there.

At about 4:49 p.m., she was struck and killed by a Toyota RAV4 driven by a 17-year-old who was found to be operating under the influence of a drug, police and a colleague said. The crash happened near the intersection of Spring and Emerald streets.

Moses was also a member of the Brookline Rotary Club, the organization wrote in a tribute to Moses on Facebook. “She will be remembered for her big heart, dedication to literacy, love of animals, and so much more . . . ” the Rotary Club said.

Rest in peace!

The Dexter And Southfield Schools

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April 30, 2018

The Dexter and Southfield Schools
20 Newton Street
Brookline, MA 02445

Tel.: 617-522-5544
URL: Dexter and Southfield Schools

Campus Setting:

Both the Dexter School and the Southfield School are located on a 36-acre campus in Brookline on the Boston-Brookline border. The campus is truly beautiful and has many impressive facilities, such as a heated indoor pool, two ice rinks, an astronomical observatory, and a central courtyard. Both the Dexter and Southfield School have a bus system that goes to 20 different communities in the Boston area; the buses are driven by faculty of the schools and the cost is included in the tuition.

Academics:

Dexter School and Southfield School are known for their classical-based academic that curriculum that centers on the essential aspects of learning. As both schools enroll students from preschool to twelfth grade, the academic curriculum varies throughout the grade level. Students in the elementary grades learn skill development while students in the upper grades can use these skills as a foundation for mastering more complex and challenging academic material. Upper schools in both the Dexter and Southfield School (grades 9-12) have a Regular, Honors, and AP program in which students can participate and challenge themselves. Both schools also have an Arts program that consists of Performing Arts, Music, Fine Arts, and Woodworking.

Clubs and Activities:

Fitness is an important aspect of the educational experience at the Dexter and Southfield Schools. Students participate in physical education up until second grade and then intramural sports until grade seven. Once students reach the upper school, they can choose from a variety of interscholastic sports in which they would like to be involved, and they are actually required to participate in these sports until graduation. For students interested in marine biology or oceanography, the Briarwood Marine Science Center in Cape Cod offers an off-campus summer resource for students to learn about the ocean.

Rapper Token Announced Via Twitter That He Will Be Performing At Brookline High School

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April 29, 2018

Marblehead rapper Token announced via Twitter that he will be performing at Brookline High School on Tuesday, April 30 at 6:00 p.m. “I’ve always wanted to talk and perform in front of a school,” the 19-year-old rapper wrote. Peep the full Tweet below and follow @tokenhiphop for updates.

I’ve always wanted to talk and perform in front of a school. I never did… until tomorrow. Tryna inspire kids my age who were taught u can’t make a living off your passion that you always can. Always. Excited to explain my story. Brookline high school tomorrow at 6pm.

— Token (@tokenhiphop) 29 април 2018 г.

Kids’ Podcast Festival Kicks Off Week Of Screen-Free Events

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April 29, 2018

Boston’s NPR news station is debuting its first podcast festival geared to young listeners.

WBUR says the two-day event — dubbed “The Mega Awesome Super Huge Wicked Fun Podcast Playdate” — started Saturday at Brookline’s Coolidge Corner Theatre.

Podcasts will include WBUR’s “Circle Round,” Gimlet’s “Story Pirates,” WHYY’s “Eleanor Amplified,” Minnesota Public Radio’s “Brains On!,” Vermont Public Radio’s “But Why” and National Public Radio’s “Wow in the World.”

The event continued Sunday and kicks off a week of screen-free events designed to pry children away from smartphones, TV and video games.

Organizers say it will feature live performances from actors, musicians and podcast producers.

Topics will include where dreams come from, why animals hibernate, what goes on aboard the International Space Station, and more.

Deutsche Bank AG Acquires 88,206 Shares Of Brookline Bancorp, Inc. (BRKL)

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April 29, 2018

Deutsche Bank AG lifted its holdings in shares of Brookline Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:BRKL) by 77.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 201,582 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 88,206 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG owned approximately 0.26% of Brookline Bancorp, Inc. worth $3,162,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. New England Research & Management, Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Brookline Bancorp, Inc. during the fourth quarter worth about $254,000. Aries Wealth Management acquired a new stake in shares of Brookline Bancorp, Inc. during the fourth quarter worth about $372,000. Teacher Retirement System of Texas acquired a new stake in shares of Brookline Bancorp, Inc. during the fourth quarter worth about $410,000. Aperio Group, LLC boosted its stake in shares of Brookline Bancorp, Inc. by 36.6% during the fourth quarter. Aperio Group, LLC now owns 32,929 shares of the bank’s stock worth $517,000 after buying an additional 8,830 shares during the period. Finally, Pinebridge Investments L.P. lifted its position in Brookline Bancorp, Inc. by 21.5% in the fourth quarter. Pinebridge Investments L.P. now owns 57,951 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $910,000 after purchasing an additional 10,255 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.08% of the company’s stock.

In other Brookline Bancorp, Inc. news, Director John A. Hackett sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.25, for a total value of $81,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 31,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $511,875. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Darryl J. Fess sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.49, for a total transaction of $329,800.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 47,500 shares of company stock valued at $784,850. 2.51% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Shares of NASDAQ:BRKL opened at $16.85 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 1.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $1,353.29, a P/E ratio of 19.37 and a beta of 0.90. Brookline Bancorp, Inc. has a 52 week low of $13.60 and a 52 week high of $17.20.

Brookline Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:BRKL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 25th. The bank reported $0.24 EPS for the quarter, meeting the Zacks’ consensus estimate of $0.24. Brookline Bancorp, Inc. had a net margin of 18.90% and a return on equity of 7.99%. The firm had revenue of $65.66 million during the quarter. sell-side analysts anticipate that Brookline Bancorp, Inc. will post 1.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 11th will be issued a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 10th. This is a boost from Brookline Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.09. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.37%. Brookline Bancorp, Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 45.00%.

BRKL has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Piper Jaffray restated a “hold” rating and issued a $16.50 price objective on shares of Brookline Bancorp, Inc. in a research report on Tuesday, January 9th. BidaskClub downgraded shares of Brookline Bancorp, Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, April 7th. Finally, ValuEngine upgraded shares of Brookline Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 7th.

Brookline Bancorp, Inc. Company Profile

Brookline Bancorp, Inc. operates as a multi-bank holding company for Brookline Bank and its subsidiaries; Bank Rhode Island (BankRI) and its subsidiaries; First Ipswich Bank (First Ipswich) and its subsidiaries, and Brookline Securities Corp. As a commercially focused financial institution with 50 full-service banking offices throughout greater Boston, the north shore of Massachusetts and Rhode Island, the Company, through Brookline Bank, BankRI and First Ipswich (individually and collectively the Banks), offered a range of commercial, business and retail banking services, including cash management products, online banking services, consumer and residential loans and investment services throughout central New England, as of December 31, 2016.

The National Center For Jewish Film’s Annual Festival Starts May 2

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Brookline.com

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April 29, 2018

The National Center for Jewish Film’s annual festival will feature limited release screenings, regional premieres and insightful discussions from May 2 to 13.

Professor of American Studies Thomas Doherty, Adjunct Associate Professor of Jewish Film and Executive Director of the NCJF Sharon Pucker Rivo, and Hadassah-Brandeis Institute Research Associate Dalia Wassner will participate in post screening film talks during the festival. Additionally, many of the events are being sponsored or presented by Brandeis organizations.

Founded in 1976, The National Center for Jewish Film is an independent non-profit organization with its offices located on the Brandeis campus. It features more than 15,000 reels of feature films, documentaries, newsreels, home movies and institutional films date from 1903 to the present.

A full listing of film festival events can be found on the website for The National Center for Jewish Film. The following film festival screenings will also feature discussions with Brandeis faculty:

“The Dybbuk” May 6, 4:00 p.m. at Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. A mystical tale of star crossed lovers and supernatural possession in which two friends tempt fate by betrothing their unborn children. Made in Poland on the eve of WWII in a stylized, expressionistic manner that has been called “Hasidic Gothic.” The screening is the New England premiere of the film. Followed by a Q&A with NCJF co-directors Sharon Pucker Rivo and Lisa Rivo.
“None Shall Escape” May 8, 5:00 p.m., Coolidge Corner Theatre, Brookline. The only Hollywood film made during World War II to depict the events later known as the Holocaust, None Shall Escape was released in January 1944 and powerfully imagines a postwar reckoning in which a United Nations Tribunal charges a Nazi war criminal with the murder of Polish Jews. The film was scripted by Lester Cole, a future member of a group of blacklisted writers who became known as the Hollywood Ten. Ensuing Q&A with Brandeis Professor Thomas Doherty, and celebration of his new book “Show Trial: Hollywood, HUAC & the Birth of the Blacklist.” To purchase tickets, please click here.
“Cuba’s Forgotten Jewels” May 9, 5:30 p.m., Coolidge Corner Theatre, Brookline. This documentary explores the little known story of the Jewish refugees who escaped Nazi-occupied Europe and found a safe haven on the Caribbean island of Cuba. Q&A with filmmakers Judy Kreith and Robin Truesdale, moderated by Dalia Wassner of Hadassah-Brandeis Institute to follow. To purchase tickets, please click here.

The following Brandeis institutes, departments and centers are co-sponsoring and co-presenting events: The Tauber Institute for the Study of European Jewry, Sarnat Center for the Study of Anti-Jewishness, Center for German and European Studies, Schusterman Center for Israel Studies, Hadassah-Brandeis Institute, Brandeis Alumni and Friends, Brandeis National Committee, Department of Near Eastern and Judaic Studies, and the American Studies Program.

Welding Torch Explodes, Causes Fire At Brookline High School & $150K In Damages

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April 25, 2018

The United Arts building at Brookline High School was evacuated late Wednesday morning after a welding accident caused a fire.

Brookline firefighters responded to the call at 11:33 a.m. and knocked down the fire by 11:52 p.m.

When a student tried to ignite a welding torch in a jewelry-making class around noon, it exploded, and caused the tank to release oxygen and acetylene into the room, Deputy Fire Chief Colin O’Connell said.

The student suffered a small burn on her hand but did not have to go the the hospital, as she quickly dropped the torch when it exploded. The flames damaged an area of the floor.

About 15 students and a teacher were in the classroom located in the Unified Arts building, which is separate from the main school building, O’Connell said.

O’Connell commended teachers and staff in the building for their quick response.

Fire Breaks Out At Brookline High School

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Brookline.com

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April 25, 2018

A welding tank sparked a fire Wednesday morning at Brookline High School, officials said.

Firefighters responding to the arts building on campus battled a blaze that had broken out on the second floor.

The fire has since been contained. It is not clear if anyone was injured.

No additional details were immediately available.

Brookline High School Senior Ani Mathison Wins Pearlman Writing Award

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April 25, 2018

The third annual Edith Pearlman Creative Writing Award was presented to senior Ani Mathison at the Brookline High School awards ceremony on Tuesday April 24. The award was established in 2016 by the Trustees of the Brookline Library to honor Pearlman, who the Boston Globe has called “our greatest living short story writer.”

The award, given in conjunction with the Brookline High School English department, honors a student who has demonstrated exceptional passion and skill in the area of creative writing. Ben Berman, Ani’s creative writing teacher, says “I have been blown away by her depth and facility with language.” Mary Burchenal, English Department Chair, notes that “Ani has been an anchor member of our Slam Poetry team for 3 years and is currently co-captain. She writes lovely, highly crafted poetry, and delivers it powerfully. She has served as an excellent role model for the younger poets.”

In addition, Ani has been a staff writer and photography editor for Sagamore, the High School’s newspaper, for several years.

Edith Pearlman is a long-time resident of Brookline. She is celebrated for her non-fiction and travel writing and especially for her short fiction. Her essays have appeared in The Atlantic, Smithsonian Magazine, The New York Times, and many other publications.

Among her acclaimed books of short stories is the anthology, Binocular Vision, which was nominated for the National Book Award for fiction in 2011 and in 2012 won the National Book Critics Circle award. Her most recent collection of stories, Honeydew (2015), has been praised by novelist Ann Patchett, New Yorker literary critic James Wood, and many others. Pearlman’s skillfully crafted, compassionate work should inspire young writers like Ani Mathison and future winners of the Edith Pearlman Book Award.

Around Town

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April 25, 2018

1. Enjoy an evening of poetry at the Brookline High School Poetry Fest on April 26. Brookline teens will share their poetry at the event which will start at 6:00 p.m.

2. Learn how to bring mindfulness into your day to day with the Mindfulness at Work event on April 26. The Brookline Chamber will host the event featuring speaker Neil Motenko who will provide a basic orientation to mindfulness. It will take place at Waterstone at the Circle from 5:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Tickets can be purchased online through the chamber’s website.

3. Teens can start the weekend off with cupcake decorating at the library on April 27. As part of the Brookline Eats! series, teens grades 7 to 12 can decorate cupcakes at the event which will run from 3:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.

4. Celebrate art at A Taste of Gateway 2018 on April 28. At the event Gateway artists donate works of art which art ticket holders can take home at the end of the evening. The event also includes live and silent auctions, food, refreshments and live music. Tickets can be purchased online.

5. Catch author and king of satire Christopher Moore at the Coolidge Corner Theatre on Monday, April 30. More will discuss his new book NOIR at the event which will run from 6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. Tickets can be purchased online through the Brookline Booksmith website.

Vera Hill Passes At 92

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April 24, 2018

Vera Hill died peacefully Wednesday, April 18, 2018, at her home. She was 92. Vera June VanTassel was born April 1, 1926, in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. She was the daughter of Kathleen Donovan and Alexander VanTassel. Vera lived with her mother and a brother, George VanTassel, in Royalton, New Brunswick, where she attended school in a one-room schoolhouse and graduated from high school.

Vera was known as a bright student who enjoyed school and learning. During the years of World War II, Vera worked for the Canadian Red Cross. After the war, Vera moved with her mother and brother to Brookline, MA. Her mother purchased a home on Newbury Street and created a business renting rooms for income. It was in Brookline that she met her husband, John Hill, who was employed at the Charleston Naval Shipyard and had secured a rental from Vera’s mother. A romance bloomed and the couple married Sept. 8, 1956, in Boston. They made their home in Brookline for several years before moving to Midcoast Maine, where they owned homes in Rockport and Camden, eventually retiring in Rockland.

Vera was a very loyal wife to her husband, John’s, career path as he rose to become general manager of Dragon Cement Co. and president of People’s Heritage Bank. Vera was employed for nearly 20 years by a Canadian corporation, National Sea Products, which operated out of Rockland. She worked as an executive assistant and personnel manager for National Sea Products and took pride in her work. Vera became known for her strong work ethic and professional competence by the management and employees.

Vera was also active in the Episcopal churches in Camden and Rockland for many years. Vera is remembered for her cleverness and quick wit, her natural ability to listen and engage others in conversation, and her great sense of humor. She and John had a strong network of friends through the years and loved their life on the coast of Maine.

She was predeceased by her mother, her brother, and husband John in 2015. During the last few years of her life, Vera was cared for in her home by a team of warm and caring friends including Cara, Jean, Kahdejah, Rona and Sherry. At Vera’s request, there will be no memorial service. A burial is scheduled for June 8 at 10 a.m. at the Seaview Cemetery, corner of Chestnut and Bayview Streets, Camden.

To share a memory or story with Vera’s family, visit her on line Book of Memories at bchfh.com. Arrangements are with Burpee, Carpenter & Hutchins Funeral Home, Rockland.

New Task Force Set To Review Devotion’s Name Due To Slaveholding History

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April 22, 2018

“You just picture a little black kid having to walk into a school with the name of a slaveholder,” Brookline resident Deborah Brown said during an Ad Hoc Task Force meeting on March 27.

The Ad Hoc Task Force, a committee open to the public that discusses issues in the community, and led by Helen Charlupski is addressing a petition made by Deborah Brown and Brookline resident and Devotion parent Anne Greenwald to change the name of the Edward Devotion School because Edward Devotion was a slaveholder.

Deborah Brown contacted the Devotion PTO and the Brookline School Committee in August 2017 and heard no response until The Boston Globe published a story on the matter on Feb. 28 2017 and then the Brookline Tab on March 14.

“The issue was brought up in 2006, 2009, 2012, and {Anna and I} started some correspondence in August 2017,” Brown said. “We got no response, and I sent a letter into the BrooklineTab, the {Boston} Globe picked up on it; then we got a response.”

The Devotion School is currently under construction and will be re-opened next September. Those who want to change the name hope to do so in time for the re-opening.

In order for the name to be changed, The Ad Hoc Task Force needed to decide whether or not to form a task force that would investigate the name. On March 27 a tentative committee was formed to begin the investigation.

If the task force decides that the name should be changed, that recommendation would be brought up to the Town’s Naming Committee, who would then decide on a new name, and this would then be taken to Town Meeting for a vote.

“We don’t have {a process for changing a name} because first we are deciding whether we should change the name or not,” Charlupski said. “So the School Committee will need to figure out how we will give a name, because we’ve never done it, at least not in recent history.”

A list of possible members from March 27 indicates that the committee may consist of Devotion alumni who are still prominent members of the community, and a member of Hidden Brookline, which is an organization that studies Brookline’s history with slavery and the abolition movement.

According to Greenwald, she co-petitioned to change the name because she wanted to educate the community about the town’s history with slavery.

“I think that we really need to bring to light the history of slavery in Brookline,” Greenwald said. “It’s about having people understand the role that slavery played in Brookline. I think there is a myth that slavery was only in the south, when it was in fact completely prevalent in the north.”

Both Brown and Greenwald do not want the name to be forgotten if changed; they hope that this process is educational to the community and that the town’s history with slavery will be remembered.

“All the division and turmoil that is present today goes back to that history,” Greenwald said. “We can’t really heal from it as a nation without acknowledging it and without making the stories of African Americans and Native Americans at the forefront.”

Jackie Perelman

#Equality

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April 13, 2018

Modern Educayshun

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April 13, 2018

Brookline Runners To Participate In The 2018 Boston Marathon

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April 13, 2018

130 Brookline residents, 80 of whom are women, have signed up to run the 26.2-mile Boston Marathon on Monday along with nearly 30,000 other participants.

You can use the information below to track the runners on the day of the race or to plan where to cheer them on their way.

The Brookline runners’ list in the order of their last names is as follows:

27512 Stefanie Acierno
26986 Caroline Allen
26234 Sarah Andler
26716 Brittany Baltay
26557 Melissa Barden
27916 Zachary Baron
25482 Jessica Berardi
2830 Eric Bergen
27256 Alexandra Black
16538 Cheryl Blauth
26134 Molly Boigon
16702 Beth Braunegg
6436 Jason Burke
30377 Giuliana Caranante
20982 Lynne Castronuovo
25618 Cathleen Cavanaugh
27478 Danielle Chaplick
26316 Victoria Chen
25958 John Christian
25666 Lynne Chuang
29112 Julia Coleman
29121 Brian Collins
28983 Samantha Curran
11486 Megan Dawson
30858 William Diamond
2511 Michael Diiorio
25768 Allyson Dilsworth
11496 Rebecca Dobbin
19645 Kate Driscoll
16915 Lindsay Ewing
7086 Anna Fang
29104 Tasha Feilke
25237 Jennifer Foley
1482 Daniel Forward
29117 Aaron Friedland
28493 Danielle Gaynor
14877 Christine Goldman
6933 Katie Hand
5403 Xianbao He
690 Andreas Heilmann
26527 Juan Herrera
248 Matthew Herzig
29700 Heather Ichord
18717 Elizabeth Idhaw
14216 Michelle Iovene
25944 Mariam Ismail
28018 Lauren Italiano
16260 Amy Jackson
17419 Samantha Jaffe
8647 Samantha Johnson
5767 Ted Julian
26286 Seth Kaufman
29118 Ronit Kempler
14886 Katie Kiracofe
9838 Celeste Kmiotek
9010 Alexy Kochowiec
26632 David Koenig
29763 David Krakauer
25285 Nicole Kuhnly
26936 Anne Kuphal
3862 Neal Lakdawala
26590 Arianna Lanpher
29971 Emily Legere
25547 Michael Levin
29123 Kathleen Mackinnon
29093 Mackenzie Macrae
26705 Hilary Maddox
26213 Christopher Maki
9465 Ronit Malka
5769 Christopher Marshall
27918 Colin Mcevily
27434 Sara Mckinney
27594 Catherine Mclaughlin
30297 Jerri Mcmannis
28179 Casey Mcnamara
16483 Martina Mcpherson
17098 Emily Miller
31092 Leonid Mirkin
25399 Ilan Mizrahi
13260 Saundria Moed
27528 Fabian Mok
26251 Cullene Murphy
27656 Anna Nason
27568 Laura Nicholson
7683 Amanda Nurse
86 Ian Nurse
30656 Patrick O’Brien
28222 Lauren O’Connor
29243 Tom O’Keefe
11301 Matthew Palmer
29465 Elyse Pengeroth
788 Charles Pfander
25323 Erin Phelps
21201 William Pine
3775 Marc Pollina
10946 Bronwen Price-Dierksen
29108 Madeleine Pronovost
27485 Harrison Reeder
26477 Isabella Riehl
27648 Corinne Rivard
4908 David Robb
27435 Hannah Rochman
8788 Rachel Rodin
27073 Dan Rosen
1008 Trenton Ross
28866 Alexander Rotenberg
11219 Rachel Rudder
499 Matthew Salminen
29096 Daniel Scaparotti Nagle
29091 Maryanne Senn
9441 Kristin Shaw
5726 Emily Shea
29058 Brittany Stefano
29109 Tamar Strauss-Benjamin
29374 Kevin Sullivan
27697 Johnny Sze
31232 Mary Taber
1159 Katsuhiro Togami
29124 Brian Trinque
4465 Andrew Trotman
7594 Duane Wesemann
9100 James Wilson
25612 Rachel Wolfberg
27433 Jessica Wolk
25472 Kate Woodward
26379 Lisa Wyman
13650 Amy Yu
29565 Cecilia Yudin
30194 Michele Zanini
25636 Scott Zoback

Good luck to all!

Chemical Health Policy Stricter Than State’s

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Brookline.com

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April 13, 2018

Since the 90s, the high school has enforced a chemical health policy that is more strict than the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association (MIAA), specifically in regards to the statement: “in the presence of” controlled substances.

The MIAA details the minimum punishments for athlete violations. According to the MIAA Wellness Handbook, it is considered a violation of the chemical substance policy for a student to “use, consume, possess, buy or sell, or give away any beverage containing alcohol; any tobacco product; marijuana; steroids; or any controlled substance.”

After a student’s first offense, they cannot participate in a quarter of their school’s sports games, and if there is a second offense, punishments can become stricter. After a second violation of the policy, the student will have to miss 60 percent of their season, but that number can be reduced to 40 percent if the student voluntarily submits themself to counseling.

The MIAA Wellness Handbook states that if a student is in the presence of drugs or alcohol and not using, the student will not be punished. It specifically excludes from its minimum standards what it calls “guilt by association.”

Yet, some schools, including Brookline High School, make their policies stricter than the MIAA policy. The high school considers students who are in the presence of illegal substances to be in violation of its policy on substance abuse, whether or not they partake in the actual consumption of illegal substances. The high school also adds a minimum three day suspension for students caught using substances such as alcohol, marijuana, nicotine and other drugs on school grounds or at school-sponsored events.

According to the Brookline High School Handbook, the high school’s policy regarding chemical health is that during the school year, students cannot use, consume, buy, sell or give away alcohol, marijuana, steroids or any controlled substance or be in the presence of any of these substances.

According to Athletic Director Pete Rittenberg, the high school added “in the presence of” to deal with a recurring situation at parties at which substances were present.

“In 1990 the decision was made because there were police reports that came in, and essentially everybody on the list was denying that they were drinking except maybe the host,” Rittenberg said.

Rittenberg said that the administration makes case-by-case decisions about what counts as being “in the presence of.”

“The way we really interpret it is knowingly ‘in the presence of,’” Rittenberg said.

Despite administration leniency about what “in the presence of” means, many students feel that parts of the policy are unfair.

Student council member and sophomore Max Siegel and some fellow council members are in the process of drafting a bill for what the handbook policy would look like without a minimum suspension.

“We just want to eliminate that completely because it seems like the wrong idea to take a student out of school,” Siegel said.

Senior Talia Lanckton, an athlete who dives for the high school, wrote in a social studies paper about the inconsistencies in the policies for punishments in regards to chemical health.

According to the Brookline High School Handbook, on offense number one, a student in possession or using a controlled substance will be suspended for minimum of five days and three days, respectively. However, there is no suspension listed for sale or transfer for offense number one but expulsion will be considered.

“I think my biggest qualm with the drug policy is probably that even though, in implementation, transfer and sale get longer suspensions, possession and use have suspensions mandated in the handbook, whereas transfer and sale do not,” Lanckton said.

Lanckton used this discrepancy in the policy to argue that the minimum punishment for use should be eliminated.

“The fact that there aren’t minimum suspensions for sale and transfer shows that you still can have harsh and effective punishments without giving an arbitrary minimum for the offense,” Lanckton said. “I think arbitrary minimum suspensions aren’t accomplishing the goal of either helping the student who is receiving disciplinary action or the school community.”

According to the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, from 2015-2016, six out of 2,010 students in Brookline were disciplined for illegal substances. That is only 0.30 percent of the student body.

From 2015-2016, Newton North High School disciplined 0.75 percent of students for illegal substances, Walpole disciplined 1.26 percent, Natick disciplined 0.36 percent, Braintree disciplined 0.40 percent, Belmont disciplined 0.79 percent, and Milton disciplined 0.49 percent.

On the far end of the spectrum, in 2015-2016, Framingham High School had 2.16 percent, or 47 out of their 2,178 students disciplined for violating the policy about illegal substances.

Although Lanckton still has some hesitation about the policy, she is not opposed to the way the administration handles violations of the chemical substance policy.

“On the handbook level, I’m against the policy,” Lanckton said. “But on the implementation level, I’m not as strongly opposed to it.”

*Image caption: Although the high school has stricter chemical health policies than the MIAA requires, less students in Brookline are disciplined for substance abuse violations than many of its Bay State Conference rivals.

By Sophia Stewart
Graphic by Lauren Mahoney
Additional reporting by Becky Perelman & Josh Gladstone

Brookline’s Bernard Lown, MD, Among Diabetes Activists Protesting Insulin Prices

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Brookline.com

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April 11, 2018

Physicians joined patients with diabetes and other activists in a demonstration against the high cost of insulin in the United States held in the capital this past weekend.

The protest, held on April 8, was organized by the Right Care Alliance, a grassroots activist group of clinicians, patients, and other stakeholders dedicated to making “health care institutions accountable to communities and put patients, not profits, at the heart of health care.”

The event is part of a campaign involving several such demonstrations in US cities.

The Alliance is an arm of the Lown Institute, a think tank founded by the renowned cardiologist Bernard Lown, MD, Brookline, Massachusetts, that advocates for “a radically better and uniquely American health system that overturns high-cost, low-value care.”

Several of the physicians who participated in the rally were in Washington to attend the 2018 Lown Institute Conference, held on April 9 and 10.

According to the Alliance’s website, as many as 7 million people with diabetes in the United States rely on insulin, including up to 3 million with type 1 diabetes and about 4 million with type 2 diabetes. The average cost of a vial of insulin has risen from $33 in 1996 to $112 in 2010, and is $275 today.

At the event, about 40 participants stood in front of the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery holding “portraits” of people with diabetes adversely affected by the high cost of insulin. Participants took turns at the megaphone telling the individuals’ stories, including those of two young adults with type 1 diabetes who died while rationing their insulin.

A portrait was also presented of US Health and Human Services secretary Alex Azar, who was president of Lilly USA, the largest division of Eli Lilly and Company, during a time that the price of insulin rose substantially. Another protester’s portrait of David A Ricks called out the current chairman and chief executive officer of Eli Lilly and Company for continuing to raise the price of the company’s product.

“It’s Not a Functioning Market….Action, Not Talk, Is Needed”

“There’s no real market justification for the kind of price structure we have and the price increases we’ve seen in the last 10 to 20 years,” Lown Institute president and cardiologist Vikas Saini, MD, Brookline, Massachusetts, told Mеdscаpе Mеdicаl Nеws, adding, “It’s clearly a case of doing what the market can bear. It’s not a functioning market, and it hasn’t been for a while.”

The solution, he believes, needs to involve the entire health care system.

“There’s this finger-pointing game. The pharmaceutical companies point to the pharmacy benefit managers, and the pharmacy benefit managers point to the pharmaceutical companies and insurance plans. Everybody is pointing at each other, and the reality is that prices keep going up. So, we’re asking people to join us and begin to get organized to create pressure to change that dynamic.”

But, he also said that pharmaceutical companies could unilaterally lower prices.

“The president could demand that they lower the prices. He could create a commission, or Congress could create a commission, to lower the prices. That’s what people need. Not talk, but action.”

In the meantime, Saini advises physicians to ask patients about the affordability of their drugs.

“Doctors often are in a cloud. They just write the script, hand it out, and move on. They have no idea what it means in the life of the patient. I think it would be very instructive for them to find out.”

“Drowning Underneath the Costs”

Maia Dorsett, MD, PhD, an emergency physician from Rochester, New York, told the group about a recent patient, a middle-aged man who presented with nausea, extreme hyperglycemia, and rapid breathing. It turned out that he was due to start a new job the following week and was already in debt from previous medical bills. He had been rationing his diabetes medications until his new health insurance kicked in.

“This man was drowning underneath the costs of his medications that he needs to live,” Dorsett said.

Her hospital has social workers on-call to help and a voucher program that covers some medications, but “this is rare, and really only a temporary fix for a lifelong condition. I have to work to fill the holes in patients’ lives because we have a system that does not provide everybody with health insurance. We have a system that lets drug companies charge unpayable prices for a drug that my patients literally need to live.”

Dorsett addressed the latter part of her remarks directly to clinicians.

“If you care about what is best for your patients, your role as a patient advocate does not end at the door of your hospital or clinic….I’m here to ask you to join us in the Right Care Alliance, and together we can force drug companies to lower their prices and bring some justice back to health care.”

Jonathan Weinkle, MD, a general internist and pediatrician at a federally qualified health center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, came to Washington to attend the Lown conference for the second year in a row because the issues addressed are so pertinent to his patients.

He is currently working to reduce the amount of formulary switching that occurs in Medicaid plans.

“Because of the high price of insulin, they keep switching brands. This creates confusion, gaps in coverage, and I think, terrible harm….The noncoverage creates a delay, and people ration,” he told Mеdscаpе Mеdicаl Nеws, noting that the problem also occurs with glucose meters and test strips.

“You don’t want people taking risks.”

Insulin Manufacturers Respond to the Criticism

Reached for response, all three of the major insulin manufacturers said they support the cause and have established programs to help patients who cannot afford their insulin.

“We are pleased that people in the diabetes community are engaged in this issue, and demonstrations are one way to do so. It will take continued effort across the health care system to effect real change, and Lilly is committed to working with others to make it happen,” the company said in an e-mail to the media.

In the last year, Lilly has “introduced a number of initiatives to help reduce the amount people pay at the pharmacy until broader changes occur,” including a savings program through Blink Health that allows people who pay full retail price for Lilly insulin to save 40% at the pharmacy, and another called Inside Rx, through Express Scripts. Links to Lilly’s support programs are available here.

Novo Nordisk spokesperson Ken Inchausti called the current situation “not acceptable,” but also said that the responsibility isn’t the pharmaceutical industry’s alone.

“Ensuring access and affordability is a shared responsibility, and we’re committed to collaborating with those within the health care system….The best approach to finding viable solutions is through collaboration among all stakeholders: pharmaceutical companies, pharmacy benefit managers, insurance companies, employers, patient organizations, and policy makers.”

Sanofi said it is “determined to do our part in pricing our medicines with greater transparency and according to their value, while continuing to advance scientific knowledge and bring important treatments to patients worldwide.”

To that end, the company has begun limiting its year-over-year price increases to National Health Expenditure (medical inflation) projections and disclosing its aggregate gross and net price changes.

Sanofi also offers several programs to help reduce out-of-pocket expenses, including co-pay cards for eligible patients and the Sanofi Patient Connection program, which provides medications at no charge for qualified low-income, uninsured patients.

And the company has just launched the Insulins VALyou Savings Program for insulin glargine (Lantus) and insulin lispro (Admelog) for all nonfederally insured patients, regardless of insurance status or type of plan.

No Safety Net in the United States

Some of the speakers at the protest acknowledged those programs, but dismissed them as insufficient to create sustainable change in an “essentially broken” system.

Rally organizer Hannah Crabtree, who was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes 23 years ago at age 4 and whose mother died at age 45 of complications from the disease, told the media: “We just don’t have a safety net in this country that guarantees us access to insulin. And without that, we’re days away from dying.”

Saini, Dorsett, Weinkle, and Crabtree have reported no relevant financial relationships.

Local Designer Sells Her 1950s-Style Attire In Brookline

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Brookline.com

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April 11, 2018

Stepping into L’Accent boutique in Brookline is like going back in time. Billie Holiday’s crooning voice plays softly in the background, racks of dramatic full-skirted and caped dresses, two-piece suits, pillbox hats, and fascinators line the shelves. Pictures of Luna Joachim’s fashion designs are placed all over the walls.

Joachim is the owner of the shop and designer of Luna Joachim Collection, a fashion line she started in 2013 that has been showcased in fashion shows all over the world and has women in the Greater Boston area buzzing for the vintage 1950s and 60s style clothing.

Naturally, Joachim’s line is based on her own personal closet, the majority of which she made from scratch herself.

“I’m in love with the ’50s and early ’60s, the hats and the gloves. That’s the only thing I wear,” says Joachim, who names Jackie Kennedy as one of her style icons.

“I’m the only one here in Brookline selling stuff like this,” she says.

Describing herself as a self-taught designer, Joachim began making her own clothes as a child growing up in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.

“I always had a sense of style and liked my own stuff. They called me ‘royalty’ even until today,” she says about her lifelong love of elegant and chic clothing.

Joachim first learned to sew while attending a summer camp program. “I made my first beautiful dress, I will never forget that.”

The budding designer finished high school in Montreal, where she also took on the popular trends of the time, including sporting an Afro and bell bottoms.

She moved to the U.S. after graduating and lived with her brother, who was an entrepreneur, in Connecticut. Then she began her decades-long career as a nurse in 1988.

Joachim primarily worked in Brookline, first as a private nurse for a client and then for a Brigham and Women’s doctor — but, “fashion is in my blood,” she says, and so she decided to pursue a different career.

A family affair

She first opened L’Accent in Malden in 2010, selling fashions from other designers. Despite it being her first business venture, Joachim was not a stranger to entrepreneurship, having been exposed to it by her parents who were “always in business.”

She says her parents, who sold fabrics and wholesale food in Haiti, helped her start up the boutique, and she never had to borrow any money. “Everything is mine, I don’t owe anyone anything.”

L’Accent in Malden ran for seven years. For the first three years, Joachim was not selling her own clothes yet, although she regularly wore her own designs to work and church.

“Each time I get dressed, for church especially, they always want what I wear,” says Joachim. “They would ask me, ‘Where do I buy it?’”

That’s when Joachim plunged even further into the fashion world by distributing her own designs. Her fabrics are sourced from New York, France and Italy and her prices range from $200 (“although that’s rare,” says Joachim) up to $800. Most of the dresses, which go from size extra-small to extra-large, are priced between $400 to $800.

Each dress is given a woman’s name. For example, the “Betty” dress is a polka-dotted, swing-skirt, cinched-waist number.

Joachim makes up to 12 pieces in each style. “I want my line to stay exclusive. I don’t make a lot of pieces,” she says.

Luna Joachim Collection has been shown at New York Fashion Week, London Fashion Week and Paris Fashion Week.

Joachim says her 26-year-old daughter, Rebecca, is the face of her line and often models the designs. Rebecca, who works as a therapist, helps the designer set up fashion shows, along with Joachim’s niece, Jessica Kernizan, and designed the Brookline store layout.

The designer says the reason she moved the store to Brookline in November 2017, was that the market there seemed more suited for the style and price range of her clothes.

“People in Brookline love it,” she says about the styles she offers. Joachim’s store is now the top place for women to buy dresses and fascinator hats for the annual Kentucky Derby event in Brookline, which Joachim was asked to attend as a judge this year.

Joachim plans to launch a summer collection at the end of May, with lighter blouses and dresses. And this fall, she will be showing new designs as part of Boston Fashion Week.

Dual passions

Although perhaps contradictory, Joachim says the two most important things in her life have been fashion and ministry. In addition to being a designer and store owner, she is highly involved at her church, the Holy Bible Baptist Church in Somerville.

She runs the children’s programs at the church, organizing kids-only services, choir and summer programs, and distributes a newsletter to parents and families every three months.

“It’s in my blood,” says Joachim about her dual passions. “God put everything in everybody.”

Around Town

By

Brookline.com

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April 11, 2018

Upcoming events

Thursday, April 12

Lavenber Bee Baking Company Pop-Up: Noon to 6:00 p.m., Lavender Bee Baking Company, 14 Pleasant Street, Brookline. For more information, please e-mail here; or visit here. Lavender Bee Baking Company is a local nut-free specialty baked good business.

Phenomenal Foodies: 5:30 – 8:00 p.m., Showcase Superlux Chestnut Hill, 55 Boylston Street, Newton. For more information or to buy tickets, please visit here. A Women’s Panel featuring women in the food industry. Features appetizers from Davio’s and a cash bar.

Pop & Protection: 6:30 p.m., In Good Company, 1653 Beacon Street, Brookline. Free. For more information or to RSVP, please call 617-695-4617; e-mail here; or visit here. Attendees learn about the different types of insurance and the components of a basic estate plan, while exploring sparkling wines.

Saturday, April 14

Spring Pruning Workshop: 12:30 – 3:00 p.m., Minot Rose Garden, Saint Paul and Browne streets, Brookline. For more information, please e-mail here. The Friends of the Minot Rose Garden annual spring pruning workshop. Master Rosarian David Cannistraro will demonstrate pruning techniques and guide participants as they prune the roses in anticipation of their spring blooms.

Summer Ensembles & Intensive Programs Open House: 2:00 – 5:00 p.m., Lincoln Elementary School, 25 Kennard Road, Brookline. For more information, please visit here. During Summer Preview Days, Brookline Music School invites the community to explore its summer program options, including full- and half-day programs, weekly music classes, and private lessons.

Sunday, April 15

Opera at the Cinema: “Carmen:” 10:00 a.m., The Makery, 2 Sewall Avenue, Brookline. Cost: $20-$23. For more information, please e-mail here; or visit here. Presented by the Royal Opera House. Bizet’s classic French opera stars Anna Goryachova in Barrie Kosky’s production.

“Phantasy:” 7:00 – 9:00 p.m., St Paul’s Episcopal Church, 15 St. Paul Street, Brookline. Cost: $10-$30. For more information, please visit here. Winsor Music’s 2017-18 season will conclude with a varied program of English, American and German masterpieces, highlighted by the premiere of a “Song for the Spirit.”

Tuesday, April 17

Couples & Money: 6:30 p.m., In Good Company, 1653 Beacon Street, Brookline. Free. For more information or to RSVP, please call 617-695-4617; e-mail here; or visit here. A talk about the roles behavior and money play in every relationship.

Wine Centered: Malbec & Raw Milk Cheeses: 7:00 – 8:30 p.m., Curds & Co., 288 Washington Street, Brookline. Cost: $35. For more information or to register, please visit here. Flights of wine paired with an array of raw milk cheeses.

Wednesday, April 18

Marketing for People Who Don’t Like Marketing: 12:30 – 1:30 p.m., Inner Space Yoga, 17 Station Street, Brookline. Free. For more information or to register, please visit here. For consultative professionals in charge of their own marketing, including realtors, financial advisers, coaches of all varieties in the first two-five years of business.

Brookline GreenSpace Alliance annual meeting: 6:00 – 8:30 p.m., Wheelock College, 43 Hawes Street, Brookline. For more information or to RSVP, please e-mail here. A celebration of 30 years of environmental advocacy. Ken Liss, president of the Brookline Historical Society, speaks about “Public Squares and Parks Reserved: An Early History of Open Space in Brookline.”

Thursday, April 19

Short-Term Goal Planning: 6:30 p.m., In Good Company, 1653 Beacon Street, Brookline. Free. For more information or to RSVP, please call 617-695-4617; e-mail here; or visit here. Attendees make a plan to achieve their most important financial goal.

Sunday, April 22

Brookline Open Studios Preview Show reception: 1:30 – 3:30 p.m., Brookline Town Hall, 333 Washington Street, Brookline. For more information, please visit here. A chance to see work by participating artists, as well as a chance to meet some of them.

Calliope’s Call presents Cross Connections: 5:00 – 7:00 p.m., All Saints Parish, 1773 Beacon Street, Brookline. A series that presents selected works of song by a featured composer alongside works by other composers and poets who have influenced the featured artist’s life and career. This first program will focus on the compositions of art song composer, Tom Cipullo, whose works explore the entire spectrum of human emotions.

Piano Trio of Forte New York concert: 5:30 – 7:00 p.m., The Korean Church of Boston, 32 Harvard Street, Brookline. Free. Presented by Oasis Cafe Music Night and the Forte NY Chamber Music present. Features Vicky HyunJin Lee, violin; Yu Mi Bae, cello; and Hyojin Rhim, piano. Free refreshments.

Monday, April 23

Shakespeare show: 1:30 p.m., Wingate Residences at Boylston Place, 615 Heath Street, Brookline. Free; space limited. For more information or to RSVP, please call 617-244-6400. Actor Stephen Collins will perform his one-man Shakespeare show.

Schindler survivor to speak: 7:30 p.m., Pine Manor Ellsworth Theater, 400 Heath Stret, Chestnut Hill. Cost: $18; $5 for students. Doors at 7:00 p.m. Spce limited. For more information or to reserve seats, please call 617-738-9770 or visit here. Chabad at Chestnut Hill will be hosting guest speaker Mrs. Rena Finder, who was 10 years old when the Nazis invaded Poland. Her father was killed at Auschwitz. She and her mother were sent to work at Emalia, Oskar Schindler’s enamel and ammunition factory.

Brookline Democrats Candidate Forum: 7:30 p.m., Brookline Town Hall, fifth floor, 333 Washington Street, Brookline. For more information, please call Cindy Rowe at 617-277-6282; or e-mail here. Attendees can meet the candidates for lieutenant governor and secretary of state.

Tuesday, April 24

Community presentation and discussion: 5:30 p.m., Frederick Law Olmsted National Historic Site, 99 Warren Street, Brookline. For more information or to RSVP, please call Alan Banks at 617-566-1689, ext. 221. Frederick Law Olmsted National Historic Site is hosting a community gathering to present and discuss its Treatment Plan for managing the adjoining Green Hill Parcel located at 111-135 Warren Street.

Author Terry Ann Knopf talk: 7:00 – 9:00 p.m., Brookline Booksmith, 279 Harvard Street, Brookline. Free. For more information or to register, please call 617-566-6660; or e-mail here. Terry Ann Knopf will discuss her book, “The Golden Age of Boston Television.” Books available for sale.

Wednesday, April 25

Legal Bootcamp: Protecting Your Business Assets Through Restrictive Covenants: 12:30 – 1:30 p.m., Inner Space Yoga, 17 Station Street, Brookline. Free. For more information, please visit here. Attendees join Daily General Counsel for a workshop focusing on non-solicitation agreements to prevent the poaching of employees, customers and vendors, and the importance of non-disclosure and non-competition agreements.

“Healing the Planet & Ourselves”: 1:30 p.m., Wingate Residences at Boylston Place, 615 Heath Street, Brookline. Free; space limited. For more information or to RSVP, pleae call 617-244-6400. J.T. Vannah will explore elements in nature that contribute to natural disasters as well as disease, investigating nature’s parallels with health and well being.

Ongoing events

“Off the Wall:” 9:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. Monday-Friday, through April 27, Gallery 93, 93 Winchester Street, Brookline. Photographs by Julie Smith, taken during her travels, feature stencils and wall art superimposed on layers of paint and plaster.

Release Rebalance Restore Essentrics Class: noon – 1:00 p.m. Fridays, All Saints Parish, 1773 Beacon Street. Cost: $15-$65. For more information, please call 617-738-1810; or visit here. A full-body, rebalancing exercise program designed to slowly build strength, flexibility and balance. This class is for those who are new to, or returning to exercise, have slightly-limited mobility, or have atrophy-related stiffness, frozen shoulder or other chronic aches and pains.

Zen meditation & talk: 6:00 – 7:00 p.m. Thursdays, Eishoji Zen Center, 1318 Beacon Street, Brookline. Free; space limited. For mor information, or to RSVP, please call Jason at 508-360-2323.

Al-Anon Family Group meeting: 7:00 – 8:40 p.m. Tuesdays, United Parish – Brookline, Choir Room, 210 Harvard Street, Brookline. For families and friends of problem drinkers. Anonymous, confidential and free. Open to newcomers.

Caffe’ Italiano — Free Italian Conversations: 12:30 p.m. Wednesday and noon Fridays, Coolidge Corner Library, meeting room, 31 Pleasant Street, Brookline. Supported by the Publish Library of Brookline and the Italian Consulate in Boston. A free and friendly Italian conversation, leaded by an Italian teacher. Participants practice and improve their Italian regardless of proficiency. No registration require; drop-in. For more information, please visit here.

Game Day for Seniors at Putterham Library: 1:00 – 3:00 p.m. Thursdays, Putterham Branch Library Community Room, 959 West Roxbury Parkway, Brookline. MahJongg, chess, Scrabble, dominoes, bring your own game or request. Handicapped accessible; wheelchair available. For mre information or to request a game, please call Helen at 617-942-7547.

Mindfulness Practice & Meditation: 7:00 – 8:40 p.m. Tuesdays, United Parish of Brookline, 210 Harvard Street, Brookline. Attendees sit and walk mindfully together, read a text and share what comes up for us in the reading. MPCGB links the 17 ongoing meditation groups in the greater Boston area that practice in the tradition of Thich Nhat Hanh, to build relationships and deepen the practice of mindfulness. Free. For more information, please call 617-738-5917; or e-mail here.

Learn to Meditate: 12:30 – 1:30 p.m. Sundays, Shambhala Meditation Center of Boston, 646 Brookline Avenue, Brookline. Taught by qualified instructors, this basic meditation class is for beginners, as well as anyone who would like to refresh their understanding of the technique. Drop-in class; no registration required. Participants are welcome to come as often as you like, but the class is designed as a one-time introduction with the same content each week. Suggested donation: $5-$10. For more information, please call 617-734-1498; or visit here.

Overeaters Anonymous: 9:45 – 11:00 a.m. every Saturday, Brighton Marine Health Center, Hawes Building, third floor, 77 Warren Street, Brighton. Attendees find physical, emotional and spiritual recovery. For more information, please call Deanna at 617-731-8150.

Marathon Security Gets Test Run

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Brookline.com

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April 10, 2018

With situations playing out in real-time, nearly 250 public safety officials trained inside the state’s underground bunker Tuesday morning to prepare for next week’s Boston Marathon.

During the drill, a kitchen fire broke out at Masonic Lodge in Hopkinton and someone reported a drone flying near the Ashland-Framingham line.

“It is still undetermined at this time,” the group heard during a briefing in regards to the drone. “Ashland is en route to identify the operator and take steps to address the situation.”

Brookline officers investigated an unattended bag reported at the Hawes Street T station in Brookline.

The large-scale functional exercise, which lasted several hours, brought together 70 local, state and federal agencies, private nonprofit organizations and private companies who will be working together at the the Unified Coordination Center at Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency MEMA headquarters in Framingham for the Marathon. Each town and city along the course has its own emergency operations center.

“We will test our ability to communicate, to share our information and to move resources depending on the situation and to make quick effective decisions on small things to major things,” said Kurt Schwartz, MEMA director.

Nearly 8,000 uniformed and undercover public safety personnel will line the course.

The group worked with many scenarios, including protestors standing on the course with signs.

“Our plans change every year. There are new threats and hazards that we worry about and focus on,” Schwartz said. “A few years ago, we didn’t focus on cyber security and the possibility of some sort of attack on our network infrastructure. We do that now. We weren’t focused five years ago on car-ramming attacks. We are now.”

The team keeps an eye on the weather, too.

“We deal with weather most often and we’re already looking at the forecast for next week,” he said. “It is looking like it might be a cold, wet, windy day.”

Students Left Scrambling As AG Healey Looks Into UMass-Mount Ida deal

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Brookline.com

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April 9, 2018

Thousands of students are scrambling to decide on their future as the state’s attorney general looks into a deal between UMass-Dartmouth and Mount Ida College, which announced last week that it would be closing its doors this fall due financial problems.

UMass-Amherst will acquire the struggling college campus under a deal finalized Friday. Current seniors will graduate from Mount Ida, while all others will be able to attend UMass-Dartmouth.

Forty staffers from UMass-Dartmouth visited the Mount Ida campus on Monday to go over the transfer process.

“It seemed like UMass-Dartmouth was our option. That’s where they want us to go. They’re streamlining us there,” said sophomore Andrew Foley.

Mount Ida struck a deal with UMass-Dartmouth that would allow current students to transfer directly there. Problem is: not all of the majors offered at Mount Ida are available at UMass-Dartmouth.

In the days since the announcement, many Mount Ida students have voiced concern about UMass-Dartmouth, saying the campus is too far away. That leaves students, like Margo O’Dea’s son who is studying to be a funeral director, in a lurch.

“There are big issues about accreditation and licensing for kids who are seniors and even juniors, so what’s my son supposed to do?” said O’Dea.

The agreement between the colleges also doesn’t guarantee admission to high school seniors who were accepted to Mount Ida in the fall.

“They asked me my GPA since it was below 3.0. They’re like ‘ooooohhhh we can’t do that for you, sorry,’” said high school senior Jacob Solomita.

Mount Ida says all deposits will be refunded to those incoming freshman. UMass-Dartmouth promises any students who transfer will pay the same admission or less. Attorney General Maura Healey is keeping tabs on the situation and has promised an investigation.

Healey’s office set up a hotline for students regarding loans and transfer options.

“I think it’s really important that we have in place a process that works for these students that will allow them to complete their education,” Healey said. “Students who have taken on loans might be eligible for a discharge of these loans due to their school closing down.”

Brookline’s Newbury College said Monday that it will offer help and accept Mount Ida students who would like to transfer and finish their degrees.

Chase Chooses Three Locations For Its First Local Bank Branches

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Brookline.com

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April 6, 2018

JPMorgan Chase has won state approval to open three bank branches — two in Boston and another in Brookline — making good on its strong hints earlier this year that it was planning a retail presence in Boston.

Chase (NYSE: JPM) is set to open brand-new branches at 800 Boylston Street in Back Bay, the address for the Prudential Tower; at 1 Winter Street in Downtown Crossing, and at 1364 Beacon Street in Brookline, according to a report on Friday from the Massachusetts Division of Banks. The agency approved Chase’s applications for the sites last week.

The three locations will give Chase, the country’s largest bank, its first retail branches in Massachusetts. The company now has 1,000 employees in the city, according to a spokesman, in areas like asset management and commercial and investment banking.

A Chase representative declined to answer questions about the three branches, including when they would open, saying the bank was not ready to comment on the locations.

The banking giant announced in January that it wanted to add up to 400 new branches nationwide in the next five years, even as many banks are shrinking their brick-and-mortar footprints. Chase did not say at the time where it would expand, though it made a point of saying that it was not yet in Boston.

The last megabank to enter Boston by opening new branches, rather than acquiring another bank, was Citibank (NYSE: C). At its height, it had more than 30 branches in Massachusetts, but it announced in late 2015 that it would close all of its local retail branches less than a decade after they opened. Citi never gained as much market share locally as other large banks like Bank of America and TD Bank. Webster Bank (NYSE: WBS) took over Citi’s branches.

At the moment, Chase’s retail operations in Boston are limited to exactly three ATMs, according to its website: Two in Logan Airport, and one at 30 Rowes Wharf.

David Bonetti Passes At 71

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Brookline.com

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April 6, 2018

David Bonetti, an incisive and passionate art critic for the Post-Dispatch from 2003 to 2009, was found dead Wednesday in his apartment in Brookline, MA.

Mr. Bonetti was discovered by his apartment manager, who came to change batteries in a smoke alarm. Slumped in a chair, he had been listening to classical music, according to Amanda Doenitz, a close friend who spoke to a police detective in Brookline. He was 71.

As a critic for the Post-Dispatch, he brought a new, sharper tone to art criticism in St. Louis, says Harper Barnes, former critic at large for the paper.

“He could be very acerbic, sometime to the point of cruelty. But he also was a master at digging out the deeper meaning of some of the work he wrote about, and beneath his sarcasm was a deep love of the creative process.”

Mr. Bonetti graduated from Brandeis University in 1969 and was the art critic for the Boston Phoenix when he was recruited by San Francisco Examiner publisher Will Hearst in 1989, in a bold move to beef up the Examiner’s art coverage when it was the broadsheet afternoon daily.

From the start, Bonetti stood out for his commitment to the Bay Area art scene in all its venues no matter how small, garage galleries being a favorite. He was an early and ardent advocate for gay and queer artists, along with all forms of high art and low art. The only thing he could not abide was kitsch.

“As a critic and colleague, David was smart, funny and bitchy — all good qualities,” said his longtime editor Paul Wilner. “As a writer, he was clear on his likes and dislikes. And while funny in conversation, he was serious and committed to his beat.”

“He was very lively, very opinionated and lots of fun,” said Sandra S. Phillips, curator emerita of photography at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. “He was also very knowledgeable about the art that he was focused on. If you get into an argument with him, you had to know what you were talking about because he could tackle you very adroitly.”

In addition to promoting gay artists through his criticism, Mr. Bonetti was a collector and owned work by Andy Warhol, Cindy Sherman and Jerome Caja, a San Francisco eccentric who used nail polish to paint perverse iconography on tiny thimbles and pieces of cardboard. “David arrived at the apex of the high queer era in San Francisco,” said queer historian Gerard Koskovich. “It was a time period that saw an extraordinary political and cultural response to the darkest years of the AIDS crisis and the extreme attack on LGBT people during the right-wing culture wars.”

After the Examiner merged with the Chronicle in 2000, Mr. Bonetti became uncomfortable in his role on the combined staff. He ultimately took a buyout in 2002 and decamped for the Post-Dispatch to become a visual arts critic.

He was in St. Louis for seven years, during which he developed both a national reputation for arts criticism and more than a few foes in the St. Louis art world.

“I would be the first to admit that St. Louis and I were not a match made in heaven,” he noted in a final blog post.

But he did not hesitate to recommend things to various institutions. In a 2009 piece about a St. Louis Art Museum exhibit featuring satirist and visual artist Tom Huck, he wrote:

“Now, the museum has allowed Huck to browse through its print collection and choose some of the artists who have influenced him. The resulting exhibition, ‘Tom Huck and the Rebellious Tradition of Printmaking,’ is small, but says a lot. Pieces by seven artists, including Albrecht Durer and Max Beckmann, are shown with work by Huck in a show in which ideas and influences ricochet off each other until you wonder who is influencing whom…

“SLAM is a little late in the game in asking artists to work with its collection. But the Huck show is so successful that the museum ought to consider doing similar exhibitions in the future. Artists need not be local. Among other things, it’s a way to make Durer contemporary.”

And everything he praised was not always high art:

“But what makes the (Dog Museum of America) fun is that it doesn’t just hold out for art that might fit comfortably into a general art museum like, for instance, the St. Louis Art Museum. (Which, by the way, has two superlative dog paintings on view — one by Landseer, the other by Courbet.) The Dog Museum shows everything from high to low with all the levels in between.”

When he retired, Mr. Bonetti moved to Brookline, where he had grown up. He was a freelancer and wrote about opera for the Berkshire Fine Arts, a website.

A memorial service is pending. Survivors include a brother, Gary Bonetti of Milford, MA.

Brookline Native Continues Legacy Of Women Marines

By

Brookline.com

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April 6, 2018

In 1918, one-hundred years ago, woman-kind was granted the ability to enlist into the Marine Corps Reserve for clerical duty. Opha May Johnson officially became the first woman Marine, which set the example for others to emulate.

Olivia G. Griffin, a Brookline, Massachusetts native, is currently in the process of enlisting out of Recruiting Substation (RSS) Boston and hopes to continue Johnson’s legacy and become a Marine even in the face of others’ negative thoughts and feelings.

“I have always loved my country and wanted to serve,” said Griffin. “Getting ready to go into high school in 2014, I decided that the Marines were the best fit for me because of the challenge, camaraderie and the idea of ‘earned never given.’”

Though committed to earn the title, Griffin’s parents were reluctant at first to accept her dream of becoming a Marine, she said. For recruiters, a common issue they face is concerned parents.

Engaging with unsupportive parents can be extremely challenging, said Gunnery Sgt. Daniel J. Eddy, the staff noncommissioned officer in charge of RSS Boston. He said that in cases like Griffin’s, recruiters try to explain to parents how the Marine Corps will benefit their children.

“Often times it is difficult for us to overcome their fears of their children potentially being placed into dangerous situations,” said Eddy. “As a father to an eight-year-old daughter, it would be difficult for me to see her leave for any institution, whether the Marine Corps, another military branch, or a college or university, but it is an inevitable part of our lives and we should strive to ensure that we prepare them.”

Griffin’s mother, Caroline Levine, explained that she was not surprised by Griffin’s interest in the Marines. Levine said she will support her daughter if this is her goal and wants her to feel supported by her family. She also believes Griffin will be a great leader because of her determination, intelligence and physical fitness level.

Currently, only about 30 percent of age-qualified youth are eligible to serve, but more than 90 percent of them are disinterested. Even more so, of that 30 percent, less than eight percent of women are even interested in military service let alone the Marine Corps.

Griffin explained that people unfamiliar with the Marines are often shocked when she shares her plan to serve after graduating early from Brimmer and May, a K-12 school. She believes it’s mostly because she’s a female.

Regardless of what people said of her decision to enlist, Griffin swore into the delayed entry program (DEP) on June 7, 2017, to serve in the Military Police (MP) occupational specialty. Upon entering the DEP, Griffin became what is known as a poolee and will continue to prepare for recruit training until her scheduled ship day.

Griffin said that no one looks at her differently because of her gender at RSS Boston. Raymond Tam, also a poolee at RSS Boston, shared his thoughts on Griffin’s character traits.

“She is highly motivated, physically fit, willing to go above and beyond, and helped me and others meet goals, expectations, and become overall better,” said Tam. “I see her excelling in everything she does, and it will definitely follow her throughout her time during [recruit training] and her career.”

While in the DEP, Griffin became the poolee guide, which is a position of leadership among enlistee pools of recruiting substations.

“Poolee Griffin, from day one as a poolee, here in RSS Boston, has demonstrated consistent professionalism far exceeding her current age and experience,“ said Eddy. “She demonstrated initiative in not only improving her physical fitness and Marine Corps knowledge, but also mentoring and encouraging the other poolees to push themselves.”

Upon graduation of high school, Griffin will leave for recruit training May 21, 2018, and hopes to work with military working dogs as an MP.

“Some people think I’m crazy for enlisting, while others see it as a great opportunity and respect it,” she said. “I think it’s pretty cool how far everything has come since Opha May Johnson’s time. I’m proud to help continue that legacy and I’m excited for what’s to come in the future.”

QUANTICO, VA, UNITED STATES
04.06.2018
Story by Sgt. Shaehmus Sawyer
Marine Corps Recruiting Command

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