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News & Press

City tackles growing concerns over rats
Boston Metro, Wednesday, December 19, 2007
By Greg St. Martin

City officials faced tough questions on rat control during a hearing at City Hall yesterday, following a jump in resident complaints and a recent rodent report that put the Hub on the hot seat.
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After the storm, officials point fingers
City's timing, drivers, plowing, intensity of snow are blamed
Boston Globe, Saturday, December 15, 2007
By Peter J. Howe and Donovan Slack

After the snowstorm: The blame game.
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Archdiocese to close Dorchester schools
Boston Now, Monday, December 03, 2007
By Christopher Loh

City officials are reaching out to the families of two Dorchester parochial schools that will close at the end of this school year.
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Review to urge random drug test
Mayor's special panel on Fire Dept. may report findings today
Boston Globe, Friday, November 30, 2007
By Donovan Slack

A special review panel convened by Mayor Thomas M. Menino will recommend today that the city adopt random drug and alcohol testing of firefighters, according to two people involved with the review
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Clean sweep
South End News, Thursday, November 01, 2007
By Justin A. Rice

On Oct. 15 the city towed 340 cars to pave the way for street sweepers. A little less than half of those cars — 143 of them — were plucked off of the streets within District 2 City Councilor Bill Linehan’s neighborhoods.
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Flaherty erupts in anger at youth violence hearing
South End News, Wednesday, October 31, 2007
By Justin A. Rice

A Boston City Council hearing on youth violence grew tense last week when At-Large City Councilor Michael Flaherty lectured youth advocates for their failure to endorse his proposal to extend the Boston Center for Youth and Families Street workers program into the Boston Public Schools (BPS).
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Youth violence, housing dominate at-large debate
South End News, Thursday, October 25, 2007
By Justin A. Rice

Debating for a Beacon Hill crowd at a gleaming elementary school with a pen full of Razor Scooters in the lobby, At-large City Councilor Michael Flaherty’s closing remarks deviated from his usual Obama-like campaign rhetoric about bridging “Two Boston’s.”
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Towing firms cleaning up
Globe Columnist , Friday, September 7, 2007
By Adrian Walker

A longtime South Boston resident was headed to work one recent morning when a vehicle came charging the wrong way up her one-way street.
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A window on crime
Globe Columnist , Sunday, September 2, 2007
By Joan Vennochi

SOMETHING terrible happened to a window in the Massachusetts State House. It was pierced by a bullet.
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Councilor takes aim at Hub gun loophole
Boston Globe, Wednesday, August 1, 2007

Boston has moved a step closer to closing a loophole in the law that makes it a misdemeanor crime to have an unlicensed gun inside a home, when it's a felony to carry that same weapon on the street.
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Council advocates gun law change
Boston NOW, Wednesday, August 1, 2007

The descriptions were stark: A mother afraid to live at home with her gun-toting sons, a "specific public safety crisis."
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Gun loophole hearing commences
Boston NOW, Tuesday, July 31, 2007

There are two Bostons, according to City Councilor Michael Flaherty. One is safe. One is deadly. What divides them, he said, is money.
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BPD paid consultant $22G for money-saving tips: Funds designated for drug programs
Boston Herald , Saturday, July 28, 2007

Boston police officials paid a private consulting firm nearly $22,000 - using funds earmarked for anti-drug programs - to find a way to save money on undercover BPD cars, according to a Herald review of the Law Enforcement Trust Fund.
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Antigang workers face uphill climb
Boston Globe, Thursday, July 19, 2007

A beat-up van with a City of Boston seal pulled into a Mattapan parking lot, and five people in matching navy T-shirts with "STREETWORKER" lettered on the back got out and began to walk the neighborhood. They are part of an elite crime-fighting force that Mayor Thomas M. Menino once hailed as the city's first line of defense against skyrocketing violence. Their job is to find and form relationships with gang members and try to steer them away from lives of crime.
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City council mull on casino possibilities
Boston Now, Tuesday, July 17, 2007
By Christopher Loh

City Councilor Michael Flaherty filed an order for a hearing to begin an official discussion on building a casino, similar to the $1 billion complex proposed by the Mashpee Wampanoag in Middleborough. That project is stalled.
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Council to debate ballot requirement
Boston Globe, July 10, 2007
By Matt Viser

The city council tomorrow will consider re-jiggering the city elections this year to avoid holding a September preliminary to narrow a field of at-large City Council hopefuls by one, from nine candidates to eight.
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Flaherty calls for Chinese ballot translation
Boston Globe, July 09, 2007
By Jennifer Peter

Boston City Councillor Michael F. Flaherty is joining the chorus calling for the complete translation of election ballots into Chinese in certain precincts.
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Waiting for mayor's seat
Globe Staff, July 9, 2007
By Donovan Slack

Michael F. Flaherty has spent years crafting an image as Boston's next mayor. He became president of the City Council, built a citywide political organization and a record-setting fund-raising machine.
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Flaherty working to close the city’s gun law loophole
West Roxbury Transcript, Wednesday, July 04, 2007
By David Ertischek

City Councilor Michael Flaherty is fighting to make sure that a gun law loophole is closed to impose a mandatory prison sentence for those found with illegal guns in their home or at work.
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'We need to work . . . to stop this now'
Boston Globe, June 26, 2007
By Donovan Slack

Community leaders and city officials reacted with outrage yesterday to the shooting death of an 8-year-old, the youngest person killed by gunfire in Boston since 2002.
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Gov. Patrick lifts age limits for new police
Boston Now, May 20, 2007
Christopher Loh, cloh@bostonnow.com

Bostonians will soon see an influx of men in blue. Gov. Deval Patrick approved legislation raising the maximum age limit to enroll in the Boston Police Department from 32 to 40.
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Councilor seeks more outreach workers
The Boston Globe, May 9, 2007

Councilor Michael F. Flaherty wants to hire eight additional outreach workers next year, double the number the mayor has proposed, for four high schools in areas most affected by violence.
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Council considers tax for safety budget
The Daily Free Press, May 3, 2007
By Victoria Demaria

Keeping consistent with its search for alternative solutions to lower Boston's rising violent-crime rate, the City Council proposed a new sales tax yesterday that would go directly toward Boston's safety budget.
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Councilor sharpens focus on local issues
The Boston Globe, May 1, 2007
By Matt Viser, Globe Staff

Councilor Chuck Turner has long been a champion of broad, international concerns, but last night he called a meeting of the adults and children of his neighborhood to launch what he called a sweeping measure to combat crime and other "roots of our crisis" in the district.
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City Council touts drug detector
The Daily Free Press, April 27, 2007
By Victoria Demaria

After examining a new drug-detecting device that checks material surfaces for traces of narcotics, members of the Boston City Council's Committee on Public Safety said they are considering using the product at city offices and Boston Public schools, though civil liberties lawyers say the product could lead to false accusations.
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Get some green for thinking green
Roslindale/West Roxbury Transcript, February 14, 2007
For those of you who don’t care about recycling and see no need to play any role in helping to help save the planet, Councilor Michael Flaherty wants to help bring a lot more inspiration. He wants a hearing to examine the services of a Philadelphia-based company, RecycleBank. This company uses an incentive program to encourage people to recycle.
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Four Catholic schools eyed for closure
Dorchester Reporter, February 14, 2007
By Patrick McGroarty and Bill Forry
The Archdiocese of Boston is considering a plan to consolidate the eight remaining parochial schools in Dorchester and Mattapan into four regional K-8 schools that would be located at the sites of existing Catholic schools in the neighborhoods.
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In sickness and in health: BPD captain to donate kidney to ailing wife
The Boston Herald, February 12, 2007
By Michele McPhee
It is a conversation that Boston Police Capt. Kelley McCormick and his wife Kim have practiced with each other before they will say it aloud to their 5-year-old son in the coming weeks.

“Mommy has a kidney that’s not working and Daddy has one that he can give her.”
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The search that lost its way
The Boston Globe, February 8, 2007
Editorial
It's time for Boston Mayor Thomas Menino to blow up the city's baleful school superintendent search process, with its unwieldy screening committee, unnecessary secrecy, and political machinations. There must be a more reliable way to find the next leader of the city's schools.
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Ad scheme triggers bomb scare
The Boston herald, January 31, 2007
By Jessica Heslam, Laura Crimaldi and Dave Wedge
A guerilla marketing campaign for a popular adult cartoon thrust Boston into pandemonium today until 10 circuit boards initially thought to be bombs were identified as battery-operated ads strategically placed around the city by the Cartoon Network.
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City leaves cash on the sidewalk
The Boston Herald, January 22, 2007
By Boston Herald Editorial Staff
Pity the poor soul who goes five minutes over at a Boston parking meter. If you don’t pony up the $25 fine right away, expect the city to demand the financial equivalent of your first-born.
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For Flaherty, shift in seat may also alter prospects
Loss of gavel could free up time to pursue his other ambitions
The Boston Globe, January 22, 2007
By Donovan Slack
As president of the Boston City Council, Michael F. Flaherty was a behind-the-scenes deal-maker and a record-breaking fund-raiser. Rarely appearing in public without a crisp, gray suit, he was a consummate insider who was increasingly viewed as a possible heir-apparent to Mayor Thomas M. Menino.
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