Dorchester Reporter

10/30/2025

BPD’s female officers spread awareness of breast cancer with flag football event

About 100 off-duty Boston police officers hit the gridiron in Dorchester’s Garvey Park last Sunday (Oct. 26) for the inaugural Pink Ribbon Bowl, a “powder-puff” flag football tournament featuring the women of the BPD raising funds for a special cause.

“We have eight strong teams across the department, all off-duty female officers, who joined us today to raise money for breast cancer awareness,” said event organizer Char Coleman, “Everyone involved is in law enforcement. Everyone took the day off to be here.”

Story by Cassidy McNeeley: https://dotnews.com/2025/bpd-s-female-officers-spread-awareness-breast-cancer-flag-football

10/30/2025

Neighbors on two Mattapan side-streets say they are feeling boxed-in by two big construction projects that are causing their streets to be shut down for hours at a time.

https://dotnews.com/2025/multiple-projects-leave-mattapan-residents-feeling-they-re-boxed-0

10/30/2025

Coming up on 11/8 in Dorchester

10/30/2025

Bathed in the reds, yellows, and oranges of fall, the tree-lined paths of the newly restored Mattahunt Woods showcased a complete revival last Friday (Oct. 24) from forgotten dumping ground to a place of beauty and serenity.

An 18-month restoration program was completed earlier this summer, but at the ribbon-cutting event last week, the many attendees looked on as the natural beauty of the place displayed its vibrant colors.

More: https://dotnews.com/2025/serenity-woods-blight-bliss-mattapan-forest

Photos by Seth Daniel/Dorchester Reporter

10/29/2025

New on the DotLife podcast: Boston's Business Legacy Awards feat. Aliesha Porcena, director of small business for the City of Boston, and Reporter co-publisher Linda Dorcena Forry, 2x small business owner and Legacy Business Award Winner.

The deadline to nominate Boston businesses for the fourth annual Business Legacy Awards is Oct. 31.

https://youtu.be/v1WslJtVio8?si=ElwjTSH2Y2tcmzXr

Go here to nominate: boston.gov/legacy

This week's show featured Aliesha Porcena, director of small business for the City of Boston, and Linda Dorcena Forry, 2x small business owner and Legacy Bus...

10/29/2025

City Councillors Henry Santana and Liz Breadon last Wednesday (Oct. 22) filed a hearing order on single-room-occupancy dwellings — or SROs as they’re commonly known — seeking ways to expand the city low-cost housing stock.

“The units are forms of permanent and affordable housing for thousands of Bostonians, but they have the untapped potential to house many more,” Santana said. “Over the years, the number of SROs has drastically gone down, due in large part to urban renewal policies, gentrification, and hostile zoning laws.”

Councillor Santana’s order for a hearing on SROs has not yet been scheduled, but it sparked interest. In addition to Liz Breadon, councillors Gabriela Coletta Zapata, Sharon Durkin, Julia Mejia, Ben Weber, and Brian Worrell have signed on.

Full story by Yawu Miller for the Dorchester Reporter: https://www.dotnews.com/2025/two-councillors-seek-ease-process-single-room-dwelling-expansion

Photo: The Dartmouth Hotel in Roxbury provides units for formerly homeless people. Studio and one-bedroom apartments have bathrooms and kitchenettes. The building has full-time security and an on-site manager. Yawu Miller photo

10/29/2025

Traffic presents obstacle for condo plan at Granite Avenue and Hill Top Street

A developer who wants to build a 24-unit condominium building on a Granite Avenue site adjacent to Cedar Grove Cemetery offered updates on his plans during a city-organized virtual meeting on Oct. 20 that involved discussion about the traffic situation at Hill Top Street’s intersection with Granite Avenue just north of the bridge over the Neponset.

Story: https://www.dotnews.com/2025/traffic-presents-obstacle-condo-plan-granite-and-hill-top

10/29/2025

Popular Jamaican eatery Murl's Kitchen plans to relocate to bigger space in the new Four Corners Plaza in , add sit-down dining, bar

Story: https://www.dotnews.com/2025/murl-s-kitchen-eyes-expansion-four-corners-plaza-space

10/28/2025

Undefeated Madison Park volleyball squad surges into state competition

The Madison Park Technical Vocational High School girls volleyball team powered its way over East Boston at Friday’s City Championships in the Boston Latin Academy gym, topping off a 17-0 regular season and earning a high seed in this week’s Division 5 state tournament.

Madison Park will kick off their state tournament season as the number two overall seed after a bye week.

More: https://dotnews.com/2025/undefeated-madison-park-volleyball-squad-surges-state-competition

Photos, story by Seth Daniel for the Dorchester Reporter

10/28/2025

Coming up on Sat., Nov. 22— the annual Hidden Heroes & Sheroes Celebration hosted by the Codman Sq. Neighborhood Council and the Greater Four Corners Action Coalition.

This year's event will be held for the first time at Southline Boston!

Join us!!

10/28/2025

Early voters make their choices ahead of Tuesday’s city election

A slow but steady trickle of 2,230 voters cast early ballots at one of the ten locations that were opened over the weekend for voting ahead of Boston’s Nov. 4 municipal election.

At Dorchester’s Richard J. Murphy School, 185 residents cast ballots on either Saturday or Sunday.

More at https://www.dotnews.com/2025/early-voters-make-their-choices-ahead-tuesday-s-city-election

Story, photos by Nathan Metcalf.

This story is part of a partnership between the Dorchester Reporter and the Boston University Department of Journalism.