Featured Archives - Page 36 of 42

MSAC celebrates five decades of Medicare & Medicaid

August 25, 2015 karengarden 0

On August 6, 2015, members of Mass. Senior Action Council from around the state gathered in Dorchester at the MSAC’s main office to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Medicare and Medicaid. We were joined by partners and supporters from organizations such as MassCare and Mass. Alliance of Retired Americans. Although millions of seniors have been helped by Medicare and Medicaid these plans are threatened with cuts and elimination therefore we must strive to sustain both. Expansion for all is a priority. Twenty-eight states have adopted the Affordable Care Act which expands Medicaid. Massachusetts has not. Lobbyist for physicians insurance companies and pharmaceuticals and other special interest groups would like to dismantle Medicare and Medicaid. We cannot continue to allow corporate interest to supersede the health and well-being of the citizens. Health care is a human right therefore we need to continue to educate and fight for single-payer healthcare. Single-payer healthcare is a system where government rather than private insurers pays for all health care costs. To view the completed video go to MATV’s program schedule […]

Hope for drug-riddled Miller Park is realized in renovation

July 31, 2015 escorsello 0

On Monday, June 22, 2015, a dedication ceremony was held for the reopening of Miller Park following its renovation that began in June 2014. Among the attendees, along with the Mayor’s Office, the Malden Redevelopment Authority and the Malden Housing Authority was the Miller family, wife, Patricia, and son, Bob, of Robert D. Miller, the man named in the bronze plaque situated in the center of the park, for his “…unselfish service and personal dedication to the youth of Suffolk Square.” Neglected for 20 years, Miller Park, also known as Harvard Street Park, located in Malden’s poorest neighborhood, slowly became a haven for drug dealers and was surrounded by a community too fearful to enter its gate. The Robins family, 30-year residents, have had sticks thrown through their window and on one occasion a brick came crashing through the glass and landed on the couch. “That was terrifying.” Helen Robins said. “One night,” Robins, whose house abuts Miller Park, recalled, “My niece was sitting on the back porch, on the stairs, having a cigarette and […]

Filming ‘Ted 2’ at Malden Public Library: An Inside Look

July 13, 2015 annedr 0

Perhaps unbefitting to the historical significance and elegant grandeur of the Converse Memorial Library in Malden, the interior of the library’s historic wing provides the setting for a scene in the recently released Ted 2 comedy starring Mark Wahlberg and Amanda Seyfried. The scene was created and filmed over a two-week period in July last summer. Full disclosure: I’m on the Board of Trustees for the library and have an inside view for this story. The Trustees voted on the approval for the filming after the library was approached by the film company, Raging Bear, last June. There was some, but not much hesitation, on approving the deal. According to John Tramondozzi, President of the Library Trustees, “Our main concern was the safety of the building.” The library was offered considerable compensation for the filming, though the project would require a great deal of time and extra work on the part of the library staff. “Sure, we would have loved for the film to be a period drama,” says Dora St. Martin, the library’s executive […]

Ashanti Munir kicks off ‘Live on the Lawn’ music series

July 10, 2015 neighbormedia 0

On July 8, Ashanti Munir took the stage in front of the Malden Public Library, ushering in the Live on the Lawn concert series that will take place on every other Wednesday evening for the rest of the summer. The crowd, which included such pillars of the Malden community as Mayor Gary Christenson, danced along enthusiastically to Munir and her band’s soulful songs, filling the whole block with music and merriment. Sponsored by Eastern bank, the concert series will continue with Four Guys in Tuxes on July 22 at 7 p.m., followed by an outdoor movie on August 5 at 8 p.m. and will wrap up with Hungrytown on August 19 at 7 p.m. –Len Tetta

Historic reading of Revolution War-era document from Malden

July 7, 2015 neighbormedia 0

Was Malden a major player leading up to the American Revolution? A historic document, dated May 27, 1776, contains the “Instructions of the Inhabitants of Malden, Massachusetts to their Representatives in Congress” was read on the lawn of the Malden Public Library on Friday, July 3. Local historian and period actor Tom Coots, the captain from the Gardner’s Regiment group of the Charlestown Militia, performed the reenactment. The document was recently rediscovered when Mayor Gary Christenson was searching for a historic Malden relic to display at the State House. “This document that was read tonight is probably the first recorded acknowledgement of an entire community voting for independence from Great Britain,” explains Coots. “The first time I read it, I actually cried. The more I read it, the more I realized what the words meant.” This document is credited as a precursor to the Declaration of Independence written in July of 1776 when the Continental Congress formally declared their independence from England. Click here for the complete presentation by the City of Malden. –Sam Baltrusis […]

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Negotiations continue to secure funding for Housing Families and Youth Harbor

June 30, 2015 karengarden 0

Laura Rosi, director of housing and advocacy for Housing Families, Inc. (HFI) of Malden presented the increased need for funding to the legislators at the State House on June 2. Rosi was accompanied by Kelly Irving, case manager, Rhonda Dunn and Clarissa Thomas, recipients of assistance from HFI. Joining were Sam Margolius, of Youth Harbor, and Cyril Fonrose, who was helped by Youth Harbor. Youth Harbor assists homeless, unaccompanied high school students with housing and individual life skills in order to become self-sufficient. There has been a request for $2 million put into the budget. Margolius thanked Senator Lewis for the support. Youth Harbor has not had public funding before. For the record, there are an estimated 5,000 homeless, unaccompanied high school students in Massachusetts. Fonrose told his story of being left on his own as a teenager. He was in Malden High School and was referred to Margolilus, the high school representative of Youth Harbor. Margolius was able to help Fonrose get housing and assisted him with college admissions. The group first met with […]

Ferryway students Skype chat with Malden Reads author

June 29, 2015 annedr 0

In J.D. Salinger’s classic young adult novel “A Catcher in the Rye,” the protagonist Holden Caufield notes “What really knocks me out is a book that, when you’re all done reading it, you wish the author that wrote it was a terrific friend of yours and you could call him up on the phone whenever you felt like it. Then he laments wryly, “That doesn’t happen much, though.” Well it did at the Ferryway School! Fifth grade students read “Escape from Mr. Lemoncello’s Library” by Chris Grabenstein, one of this year’s Malden Reads companion books. The book was a hit with the readers. On June 17, a select group came for an afterschool Skype chat with the author from his home in New York City. They got to “meet” Mr. Grabenstein via a projected image on a smartboard and ask him questions. Students prepared their questions ahead of time and the students each took turns asking them. They asked about the author’s writing process, where he got his ideas, how he came up with the […]

End of an era as Malden’s historic Ruderman’s building is torn down

June 22, 2015 thatandtheotter 4

Michael Young stands at the podium in the moments before the bidding begins at the Antique Co-op and Auction House on Eastern Avenue on May 23. As he speaks into the microphone the crowd before him goes silent, “At this very moment the old Ruderman’s is getting torn down,” says Young. “Head on down there this afternoon for a commemorative brick – it’s the end of an era.” After years of vacancy the Ruderman’s building at 42 Ferry St. has indeed been torn down. The last business to lease the space left in 2011. For years the building has stood with locked doors and newspaper lined windows, its fate uncertain. A CVS will be constructed where the old Ruderman’s once stood. CVS currently operates in three distinct locations in Malden: Pleasant Street, Eastern Avenue and Broadway. Neither an exact date for start of construction nor a projected open date for the location have been publicly announced. There has been neither confirmation nor denial of speculation that this CVS may serve as a replacement for the […]

FOOGI boasts 10 years of successful plant swaps

June 19, 2015 art4muse 0

On Saturday, June 13th Friends of Oak Grove, also known as FOOGI, held their annual community plant swap at the Malden Community Garden on the Malden bike path Now on its 10th year, the event was well attended by “old timers” as well as a new “crop” of Maldonian gardeners. People from the neighborhood showed up ready to share from their gardens, anything from small herbs to ready to plant pear, peach and fig trees. FOOGI’s mission statement includes turning neighbors into friends and organizing community activities. –Elena Martinez

“Touching Experience” showcases art inspired by the visually impaired

June 19, 2015 Ose Schwab 0

What does an art exhibit that considers the visually impaired look like? If the Touching Experience exhibition is any indication, it looks like a celebration among friends who discover through art what is possible for others. A few artists in Malden and the surrounding area offer this multimedia exhibition of touchable art through June. Held at the Beebe Estate Gallery in Melrose, a Touching Experience is a combination exhibit of touchable art and works produced by artists with some vision loss, and a performance series intended to appeal to everyone, including individuals with little or no sight. Touching Experience comes as a response to a friend’s journey going blind. Alyce Underhill, Georgetown artist and founder of the project, describes a day three years ago, when guitar maker and musician friend Joe LeBlanc comes to her photo exhibit. “He stands three inches away from the image. Even then, he has to ask his wife to describe what she sees,” she emotes. “That is so wrong.” “By not offering enough accessible art, we’ve cut people with vision […]