The Boston Public Health Commission (BPHC) announced on July 9 that a mosquito test sample obtained from Jamaica Plain tested positive for West Nile Virus (WNV). The virus is carried by mosquitoes and can be spread to humans through the bite of an infected mosquito. There haven’t been any confirmed human cases of WNV in Boston, and the BPHC says the risk of transmission is low. The best way to reduce the risk of West…
Jamaica Plain News
Jamaica Plain nonprofit Community Servings recently announced the election of seven new members to its Board of Directors: Kara Becker is Corporate Communications Director at Vertex Pharmaceuticals, the Boston-based global biotechnology company. She joined Vertex in 2019 and focuses on external communications, corporate storytelling, and thought leadership. Katrine Bosley is a Venture Partner at Advent Life Sciences who has built and led multiple successful biotechnology companies. She served as CEO of Editas Medicine, a CRISPR-based genome editing…
Creating a mural featuring former President Barack Obama and the late Anthony Bourdain was an incredible experience for graffiti artist Lee Beard. “This mural was such an honor to paint, I grew up in Jamaica Plain on South Huntington,” said Beard who goes by SOEMS, and a member of the AOA Supply art collective. “It’s always nice to be able to come back to where I learned the ropes of mural making, and being into…
Have you ever wondered the history of the Soldiers Monument, Jamaica Pond, the Loring Greenough House, Green Street, and other JP areas? Then you should sign-up for a free Jamaica Plain Historical Society tour. This is the 31st season of JPHS’ historic walking tours. All JPHS tours are free to the public. Tours start on Saturday at 11 am at specific locations relevant to the focus of the tours. Tours last between 60 and 90…
There will be a virtual public meeting to discuss the new plans for the Poor Clare Nuns Monastery on July 8. The plan is now to raze the building and erect a new structure for 158 residential units. The new proposal is for 79 condo units and 79 rental units — consisting of studios, one-bedrooms, two-bedrooms, and three-bedroom units. This new proposal is different than the previous iteration that included renovating the current 50,000 sq.…
All July, Boston residents have the power to decide how to spend $2 million of the city’s budget to directly benefit city communities. So how would you like to spend it? This is thanks to the city’s Participatory Budget initiative called Ideas in Action. In the past funding has gone to to supporting an immigrant legal defense fund, neighborhood fresh food initiative, housing stability funding, workforce trading, youth financial literacy, and more. The fastest way…
Boston has issued an excessive heat warning for July 1 through July 3 due to expected temperatures of 100-plus degrees. The city’s excessive heat warning includes additional support for residents along with a recommendation to reschedule most outdoor events. Stay Informed Residents can sign up to receive updates through the city’s AlertBoston mass notification system, by phone, text, or email for information regarding extreme weather events. Places to Cool Off There are cooling resources across…
In July, the Arnold Arboretum’s landscape comes alive with the broad, luminous blooms of temperate hydrangeas—plants that reward close observation, particularly when encountered in their diversity. Across the Arboretum’s living collections, 183 hydrangeas representing 79 accessions—comprising 15 species and many varieties and cultivars—offer a vivid panorama of form, texture, and color as summer takes hold. Each species tells its own story in the landscape. Bigleaf hydrangea (Hydrangea macrophylla) represents perhaps the most familiar species in American gardens, offering an array of mophead and lacecap flowers whose colors shift with soil chemistry—from saturated blues to pinks…
Animal control officers are searching for a raccoon (or raccoons) that bit two people in a two-day span in Jamaica Plain. Both residents were being treated at area hospitals. One person was bit on June 26 at Jamaica Pond, and another person was bitten on June 27 near Kenton Street. From Jamaica Pond to Kenton Street is about a 10- to 20-minute walk for a human, so it would probably be longer for a raccoon…
A developer has proposed demolishing the existing Poor Clare Nuns Monastery and replacing it with a new building for 158 residential units. This new proposal is different than the previous iteration that included renovating the current 50,000 sq. ft. monastery along the Arborway. That proposal was due to people being upset about an original proposal to raze the monastery to create affordable senior housing. But after receiving feedback from neighbors, residents, and the Arnold Arboretum leadership…