Archive for April, 2007

City councillors Monday night denied a request to take by eminent domain two pieces of property on Beachmont Avenue that would have allowed stairs for beach access to be re-built at that location. The Council voted after much discussion – discussion that included more than 25 neighbors supporting the Beachmont Avenue location and one abutter... »

The city and Club Lido owners have entered into a settlement agreement that calls for the club to close as early as September 2008, or as late as December 2009. The settlement was announced last Thursday night at the License Commission meeting in City Hall. Both sides are trumpeting the agreement as a good compromise and... »

Mayor Tom Ambrosino has formally declined an offer by state Environmental Affairs Director Ian Bowles to head up the state Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) – the agency responsible for maintaining Revere Beach. In a phone call Monday morning, the mayor told Bowles that he would not accept the post, but rather would seek... »

Sigourney Street resident Vicki Richardson has been chosen as Revere’s ‘Unsung Heroine of 2007′ by the state Commission on the Status of Women. Richardson’s nomination and award were kept a secret until just last week, when there was a surprise party for her at the RevereCARES office on Ocean Avenue. Besides working full-time in Boston and... »

When Revere developer Michael Venditto got approval some two years ago to build a nice new multi-use building on the Revere Dairy site on Broadway, he was handed a permit with some 17 conditions. Now, the building still isn’t built and the conditions have become so restrictive that Venditto isn’t sure if he’ll even be... »

The Revere Housing Authority (RHA) got word from the federal government this week that they have been removed from the ‘troubled performer’ list. After compounding problems in the authority, in 2005 the RHA Board and federal Housing and Urban Development (HUD) officials began negotiating changes. In January 2006, the RHA was put on the troubled... »

The Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) announced yesterday that they are planning to close down the Boulevard to southbound traffic and west side parking for the next six months, starting on May 1. The restriction will run from Revere Street to Carey Circle – the entire northern half of Revere Beach. Tonight, Tuesday, April 24th,... »

City Councillors applauded Councillor George Rotondo’s motion Monday night that called for a change in the city ordinance that deals with billboards. The change would fine companies that leave their billboards torn, or out of date or just unsightly. Several billboards around the city have taken on an abandoned look from time to time, with... »

Recent statistics unearthed by the Journal and State Sen. Jarrett Barrios’s (D-Cambridge) office show that Revere has one of the highest rates of foreclosure in the state for a city its size, and one of the highest percentages of high-interest mortgages – mortgages that often lead to foreclosure proceedings. Some 52 percent of the mortgages... »

School officials said they had to remove a middle schooler from one of the schools Monday for threatening to copy the actions taken at Virginia Tech last week by a disgruntled student. The middle schooler was apparently serving an in-school suspension when he told a teacher that he could relate to the Virginia Tech shooter... »

Many may not have heard about a bill being proposed on Beacon Hill. The bill itself is a good idea, the practice it seeks to eliminate is just about the worst thing we’ve ever heard of, and yet another example of how the Internet can be a vehicle for those in our society without much... »

Mayor Ambrosino has apparently been considering an offer from the governor to take over the Department of Conservation and Recreation. Ambrosino, according to DCR officials who wished to remain unnamed, has been visiting the agency headquarters in Boston and familiarizing himself with its inner workings. If Ambrosino is in fact going to take the... »

Those of you rushing to the post office to file your taxes can rest easy – at least for the next 48 hours. Late Monday, the IRS decided to allow taxpayers affected by the winter storm in Massachusetts and other northeastern states an additional 48 hours to file their returns. So, tax returns don’t need... »

Storm surge nailed the coast of Beachmont and even pounded Revere Beach Monday morning – with the high tide mark at 11 a.m. producing some pretty dramatic waves. Winthrop Parkway was shut down Sunday night and the flood gates were closed early on. Waves began pounding the seawall from Roughan’s Point to Short Beach around... »

School police and school administrators have launched a full-scale investigation into an after prom party that went bad, apparently calling in scores of parents and kids during the course of the investigation last week. Officers and school officials interviewed a number of parents and RHS students last Thursday and Friday after sending out notices in... »

Councillor Mark Casella has employed Revere Attorney Gerry D’Ambrosio to defend him against a possible charge of operating while under the influence of alcohol, and D’Ambrosio tells the Journal that they are confident Casella will not be charged with that crime. D’Ambrosio said that the accident – which happened early in the morning on Tuesday... »

Calls came in Friday morning and afternoon about major police activity on the Boulevard. Revere Police affirmed that the police presence was just part of a training exercise for the SWAT unit, and not a response to any threat or accident. “There are at least 20 police officers dressed in black SWAT-like outfits just north of... »

Kindergarten teacher Ruthann Puppo got the tap as this year’s Joan Fox Manganiello Teacher of the Year this week. Puppo has taught in the Revere system for 35 years and is now teaching full-day kindergarten at the new Whelan School. She has taught everything from middle school to high school to kindergarten. “She is truly a... »

BEACH MEETING The state Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) announced that it will hold an update meeting for the Revere Beach Master Plan, specifically the second phase of construction work that began two weeks ago. Construction crews from D’Allesandro Contractors began work on the project again during the last wee of March, and hit full... »

The city’s Street Sweeping program will begin on Monday, Patriot’s Day, April 16th and continue through to November. The first phase of the program will involve the annual Operation Clean Sweep and residents are directed to move their vehicles according to the signage on their street or risk being towed. The city has already sent out... »