Since I’ve come to admire these resilient urban hamlets in the past decade or so, I have also grown disgusted with the attitudes that people often have about these places.
GUEST OP-ED: LAWRENCE AND THE NORTHERN FRONT
I know a homeless person who was told by a Beverly police officer to “go to Lynn.” In fact, he was even offered a one-way ride there. I met a couple from Saugus who lived under the Casey Bridge last summer. I asked them, “Why are you here?” They told me, “We are users but are trying to get back on our feet. The cops in Saugus wouldn’t let us stay camped out in the woods.”
THE GENTRIFICATION OF WEED (OR THE YEAR I DITCHED MY MASS MEDICAL MARIJUANA CARD)
I will no longer participate in the gentrification of weed after my card expires in February, and I apologize for wanting something so badly that it took me so long to see what was going on. I just wanted a good night’s sleep, man.
AMAZON OCTAGON
Mass pols stand ready to fight each other for the right to bribe a multinational At least 17 Massachusetts cities and towns are now preparing to do battle with each other—and hundreds more municipalities nationwide—for the dubious “honor” of “winning” the right to throw enough public money and tax breaks at Amazon to become […]
OLDSOUL: LOWER YOUR GUARD FOR THE LOWELL SCENE
That buzzy, warm, emo sound you hear? That’s oldsoul, and they’re on the brink of bursting out from Lowell’s city limits.
FOTOBOM: DEADMAU5 @ TSONGAS ARENA, 10APR17
One of the basic challenges a DJ faces is how to differentiate yourself from the pack when the live show consists of people blissfully dancing in a massive, dark room and you’re on a giant stage by yourself. Joel Zimmerman aka Deamau5 figured that out pretty well when he adopted the murine-styled headgear that […]
THE VERIZON SHUFFLE
Why the telecom company’s FiOS promise to Boston is a bait-and-switch
JOB BLOWS: A MAN, A MISSION, A MODERN MASSACHUSETTS UNEMPLOYMENT ODYSSEY
Clearly, I thought, the state’s joke of an unemployment system has been covered and gutted. But it hasn’t been gutted enough.
SWAT INC: THE COMMONWEALTH’S MOST INFAMOUS MILITARIZED POLICE FORCE CONTINUES TO FLOUT RECORDS LAW
After nearly two months, seven in-person visits, numerous phone calls and emails, and a run-in with the Wilmington police, we finally received some of the records we requested.
HOT TICKET: ALL THE WORLD’S A STAGE, AND NOW YOU CAN AFFORD IT
There are a couple hundred performing arts organizations in the area, and while we’d like to comb through the fine print of each and spotlight the ways to make them all accessible, well, we’d need a bigger boat. We also know you don’t have the attention span for a list that long. We’ve hand selected […]
