Carlo Basil announced last night that he will be seeking the state representative seat to be vacated by Anthony Petruccelli. Petruccelli’s victory in yesterday’s primary is expected to ignite a contest for his seat, which is confined to all of East Boston.

Basil is a former high ranking Registry official with strong ties to the East Boston community. He said last night at Petruccelli’s victory party at the Logan Hilton that he’s already rented a headquarters and that his campaign will be getting underway immediately.

City Councillor Dan Rizzo lost his bid for State Senate on Tuesday by an unofficial margin of 2,349 votes.
In a day of low voter turnout throughout the whole district, Rizzo unofficially got 5,193 votes to State Rep. Anthony Petruccelli’s 7,542 votes.
Revere voters cast fewer than 5,000 ballots, which proved to be the key in the lynchpin for the Rizzo campaign.
A key area was also East Cambridge, where everyone thought Rizzo would mop up Petruccelli. However, there were over 23,000 registered Cambridge voters and only 1,600 voted. Those who did vote chose Petruccelli by a margin of 3 to 1.
Winthrop was another key area where Rizzo didn’t get the votes. Everyone conceded that Winthrop was Petruccelli territory, but many believed that Rizzo would carry some weight. However, Winthrop voters tallied 1,741 votes for Petruccelli and only 576 for Rizzo.
The North End was a similar result, with 771 for Petruccelli and 197 for Rizzo.
The biggest and most important story, though, was Revere.
Revere voters just didn’t support their candidate. Fewer than 5,000 votes were cast in Revere. Local elected officials from the state delegation and City Council could never get unanimously on the same page. What was thought to be a given at the outset - that being Revere people supporting the Revere candidate - was not so.
In the end, Revere cast 3,628 votes for Rizzo and 1,031 for Petruccelli.
Rizzo thanked his supporters at his time at the Comfort Inn around 9:15 p.m. - conceding the election with poise and pride.
“We’ve made great friendships here,” he said. “The City of Revere really came together. It was a great thing for the community. We didn’t allow the [Boston] machine to walk into office. We put up a fight…They heard us. I guarantee that.”
Other unofficial totals throughout the district were:
East Boston: 2,651 (Petruccelli), 333 (Rizzo)
Beacon Hill: 124 (Petruccelli), 27 (Rizzo)

Several people have responded to the article in the Journal and on this Blog about an incident on RHS Senior Day at the Red Sox game.
There are more than 19 comments on the original entry - a very lively discussion about the use of alcohol among youths in the community and the consequences of such situations.
Since the articles, school officials have said that there is no question that the girls had beer, and that they have a report from Fenway Security to back it up.
They also indicated that a third girl was caught and was disciplined similarly. Officials said if they knew of others, they too would have been disciplined.

Dan Rizzo and Anthony Petruccelli are going down to the wire this weekend, as the Memorial Day is not going to interfere with last minute campaigning. The showdown on Tuesday is likely to be decided by the size of the vote in Revere - with everything else following naturally.

That is to say, if Revere votes big and Rizzo comes away with 80 percent of that total, he is a winner. On the other hand, if Revere does not come out big, Rizzo cannot win as the numbers for him simply aren’t there. There is the feeling among many of this city’s political handicappers that Rizzo wins even if he loses because he has set himself up as Mayor Ambrosino’s heir apparent.

Ambrosino has been telling his associates that he is probably a few years away from seeking something else out of his life, although he is not exactly sure what it will be. The likelihood is that Rizzo runs for mayor if he does not win the senate seat when Ambrosino leaves. Carol Tye is another wild card in this expanding plot. Many people here believe Tye could not lose if she ran for mayor.

State Senator Jarrett Barrios announced yesterday that he is going to resign his seat in the state senate to take over as the head of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Foundation.

Senator Barrios leaving creates a situation where a special election will be held to fil his empty seat. The district he represents includes part of Revere, all of Chelsea, Everett Charlestown, part of Somerville and part of Cambridge.

Dan Rizzo and Anthony Petruccelli are going down to the wire with a full slate of heavy campaigning for former senator Robert Travaglini’s empty seat.

Despite major campaigns launched by both candidates, turnout is expected to be light. A heavier turnout in Revere boosts Rizzo’s chances of beating Petruccelli while a smaller turnout in Revere works the opposite effect.

Handicappers believe the race to be close. Experts claim the election will be won on primary day - next Tuesday - with the campaign best able to pull out the vote coming away victorious.

The closure of the General Edwards Bridge last weekend turned out to be a disaster for Revere people heading north and for North Shore people heading south.

It does not appear that any thought whatsoever was given to the implications of the bridge closure by Revere or Lynn oficials, with no police posted to take care the traffic jams which took place on Broadway from the Chelsea line all the way to Salem.

The only police to be found were state police paid details sitting in their cars behind barriers on both sides of the closed bridge - which makes absolutely no sense as the barriers prevented passage over the bridge.

In West Lynn, an added 200,000 automobiles passed through that part of Lynn without a police officer directing traffic to be seen. With another bridge closing scheduled for next week, local residents are hoping public officials in Lynn and Revere might make preparations for the traffic jams whgich are going to ensue.

Senator Jarrett Barrios is apparently set to leave his senate seat. Barrios, it is claimed, will be taking over an important state post offered to him by Governor Deval Patrick in the prison system or he will be taking a post in the private sector.

Barrios’ resignation is expected within the next two weeks.

Two RHS seniors didn’t get the taste of hops that they had hoped. Instead, they got a taste of real world consequences when they tried to buy beer at Fenway Park during a school-sponsored trip to the Red Sox game.
Two senior girls were corralled by Fenway security for trying to get men to buy them beer. They were at the recent game as part of the school-sponsored Senior Day activity.
Apparently, they were able to convince a man to buy them beer, but once he gave it to the girls, Fenway security moved in. Security brought the kids to the school chaperones to have them taken out of Fenway, rather than having them arrested.
School officials reported that the two girls are being disciplined as required. They will have social probation, meaning they will not be allowed to attend Friday’s prom or any other senior activities. They will be allowed to cross the stage to get their diploma at graduation.

The Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) announced rather suddenly on Tuesday morning that they would be closing the General Edwards Bridge on Rt. 1A for the entire weekend.
Revere Police Chief Terence Reardon told the Journal that the DCR informed him that they would close the bridge on Saturday morning at 3 a.m. and would not open it to traffic until 5 a.m. on Monday morning.
“In other words, you will not be able to access Route 1A from the North Shore and you won’t be able to get to Lynn and the North Shore from Revere this entire weekend,” said Reardon. “People should avoid Route 1A and the Lynnway and we anticipate major traffic problems on Broadway, the Lynn Marsh Road and Squire Road. It is expected to be a nightmare on the roads this weekend.”
The short notice was also a bit of a surprise, he said.
“It would have been nice to know a little more in advance, but what are you going to do?” he said.
The closure comes about as DCR begins to do repairs to the bridge. Previously, they have closed the bridge during the night hours on weekends, but never for an entire weekend.
The announcement just adds to the burden on Revere residents who seemingly can’t go 50 yards without running into a road or building construction project.
Already, Revere Beach Boulevard, Revere Beach Parkway, Revere Street and Park Avenue are bearing the brunt of major construction that is causing tie-ups in traffic – not to mention the building projects at the new Public Safety Facility and the Rumney Marsh Academy.
City councillors addressed the construction subject briefly on Monday night at the Public Works Committee. There are few solutions, they noted, but many complaints.
“We’ve really been bombarded,” said Councillor Ira Novoselsky. “The city has been surrounded by construction. It is a good thing, but unfortunately it hasn’t been timed that well. It took my friend over one hour to get from the GE Bridge to Wonderland the other day.”