Environment

Forest Hills Tree Horror Should Have Happy, Green Ending

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Toole Square, Tuesday, March 17, 2015. Credit: Chris Helms

Residents, especially those not clued in to the massive Casey Arborway project, are expressing sadness or even outrage over the removal of 160 trees from around Forest Hills Station. What planners haven't done very well is explain that by project's end, there will be about 400 more trees than before the crews started cutting them down. The devastation is easy to see. It's to make way for new streets and reconfigured facilities as part of the razing of the Casey Overpass and switch to a network of surface roads.

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Photo of the Day

Stump

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Stump. Credit: Coleman Johnson

JP's Coleman Johnson shared this photo of a colorful neighborhood stump. Johnson and I met in a photography class at JP's Eliot School. I've taken two photo courses at the historic school and recommend them highly. Each weekday we post an image from around the neighborhood.

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Pin oak knocked down in the Arnold Arboretum during the storm of Oct. 22-23, 2014.
Weather

Wind Advisory Continues Through 11 p.m. Thursday

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It's been a tough 48 hours for the trees of Jamaica Plain. Soaking rains combined with wind gusts of 50 mph brought down trees all over the neighborhood. At this writing, just before 11 a.m. Thursday, the storm has diminished. But the National Weather Service is keeping a wind advisory in place until 11 p.m. Thursday. The federal forecaster says to expect another round of strong winds in the afternoon and evening.

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Photo of the Day

Peters Hill Autumn Sunrise

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Deb Beatty Mel rose early and was rewarded with this autumn sunrise on Peters Hill in the Arboretum. Thanks, Deb, for sharing this in the Jamaica Plain News photo pool on Flickr! Each weekday we post a random image from around the neighborhood. If you have a photo that screams (or even whispers) "Jamaica Plain," here are four ways to nominate it as our "Photo of the Day":

Email me at chris@jamaicaplainnews
Tag a picture on Twitter with @02130News
Put your photo in the Jamaica Plain News photo pool on Flickr
Tag a picture on Instagram with #02130News

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Near tree plantings along the Arborway, July 2014.
Environment

New Trees Planted Along Arborway

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Resident Clay Harper noticed dozens of red oaks being planted this week along the Arborway. Harper said that, by his count, the Department of Conservation and Recreation had planted 41 trees as of Wednesday: Thirty between the Upper Arborway and Arborway proper in the median between Hillside and Centre, eight in the median between Kelly and Murray circles and three on the Arboretum side near the gate that gives on to the Hunnewell Building. "From my perspective, this is a very welcome sight and timely restoration of the Parkway character," Harper wrote in an email, "but it is unclear to me how this might effect some of DCR's planning for the Hunnewell crosswalk." The state and community groups have been working on how to make that crosswalk safer for pedestrians and bicyclists. The health of oaks along the Jamaicaway has been an issue in recent years, with grub infestations harming mature trees.

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