Little Joe the gorilla has led a storied life at the Franklin Park Zoo. He gained national attention back in 2003 when he escaped, and was found sitting at a Blue Hill Avenue bus stop. But soon he will be leaving Franklin Park Zoo for good, but not of his own volition. The 33-year-old western lowland gorilla was selected to be part of a breeding program at an unnamed zoo. He was selected because of…
Jamaica Plain News
Three Jamaica Plain projects are receiving city and federal funds to create and preserve affordable rental units for seniors, assistant living memory units, mixed-income units, and those experiencing homelesness. $3 million — The Rogerson–Beaufort project Led by Rogerson Communities, this new build includes the creation of 41 new affordable senior and 66 new assisted living memory care units to replace existing memory care services on their campus along the Jamaicaway. This six-story building will be…
Get your hands dirty later this month for the annual Earth Day Clean Up at the Bussey Brook Meadow in the Arnold Arboretum. The focus will be on removing invasive plants within the woodland areas adjacent to the Blackwell Footpath and South Street to improve the ecology of those areas and build previous volunteer efforts. Volunteers will also pick up litter between Bussey Brook and the train tracks, as well as along the South Street…
Café Selah opened earlier this month and is serving coffee drinks, teas, sandwiches, salads, bowls, pastries, and more. The cafe is at 613 Centre St., the former home of When Pigs Fly (closed in August 2025), and describes itself as “study friendly” on its Instagram page. The cafe’s menu highlights “Saleh Signatures”, including affogato, berry mocha latte, island foam latte, passion fruit matcha, shaken brown sugar espresso, and more. The menu also highlights its four…
There are three upcoming virtual public meetings led by the state to engage the community about how to redevelop the Shattuck Campus on Morton Street. The meetings are to generate interactive discussions and to help that the redevelopment meets the community’s needs. What is known is that the Shattuck Hospital at 170 Morton St. in Franklin Park, will be razed at some point. In 2021, the state sought proposals to redevelop the property for 75…
Just as its name indicates, JPZeroWaste is looking to curb waste, and has launched a reusable to-go container program and a BYO mug program with Jamaica Plain restaurants. In the program, restaurants go through Recirclable, a service where customers can order their takeout in reusable containers. Then, after the purchaser is finished, they can return the vessel to any participating establishment for no cost. JPSeafood Cafe is participating. Customers can order online or in person,…
Do you love the Wake Up The Earth Festival? Or maybe you’ve never been to it. Either way, volunteers are wanted for numerous aspects of the annual Wake Up the Earth Festival happening May 2. Volunteers are wanted for different roles for the day of, day before, and lead up to the festival activities. Volunteers can: Create art for the festival and parades, glow up our festival puppets, paint and sew festival banners Volunteer for…
We’ve got some good tree news and some bad tree news. The good news, the Emerald Necklace Conservancy with city and state personnel, recently completed an inventory of 3,500 previously evaluated and undocumented trees along Jamaica Pond, Francis Parkman Memorial, and the Jamaicaway. That includes 2,400 newly inventoried trees, which significantly provides a better understanding of the current tree canopy. That will help with long-term planning and management of the more than 13,500 trees throughout…
The MBTA recently announced that its proposed capital investment plan will fund the remaining design and construction costs of a new Arborway bus facility that would house a fleet of battery-electric buses. The MBTA includes a $380 million budget for the new facility in its proposed 2027-2031 capital investment plan. The new, larger facility would accommodate up to 200 40-foot buses to serve routes stemming from the Arborway yard, Cabot bus yard in Dorchester, and…
After condemning President Trump’s threat to destroy the “whole civilization” of Iran, U.S. Rep Ayanna Pressley called upon Congress to stop the war and remove him from office. Pressley was relieved when Trump backed off his threat to drop bombs all over Iran on Tuesday, but stayed pat on the need to remove him. Deeply relieved that the bombs will stop—for now.But threatening the destruction of an entire civilization has repercussions.Republicans must call Congress back…