Screen shot of top of map for First Thursdays Art Walk for May 1, 2014
Arts

Here’s Your Map to Nearly 40 First Thursday Art Walk Locations

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The second "First Thursday Art Walk" of 2014 happens from 5-9 p.m. on Thursday, May 1. If you've never experienced it, you should wander into the Centre/South section of JP and check it out. Businesses up and down the corridor will have art exhibits, live bands and tastings of food, wine and beer. Among highlights for this month's Art Walk is a "Maker Space" invading 668 Centre St. Accompanied minors can use 3-D printers and soldering to bring the objects of their imagination to life.

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Logo of Jamaica Plain Centre/South Main Streets
Morning Memo

Centre/South Main Streets Hosts Business Breakfast on Thursday

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Good morning, JP. Here's your morning memo for Wednesday, April 23. JP Centre/South Main Streets Spring Business Breakfast: If you own, manage or work at a JP business and haven't taken advantage of the help our neighborhood's three "Main Street" programs have to offer, you're leaving some good advice and practical help on the table. On Thursday morning, those of you in Centre/South should consider attending the Centre/South Main Streets Business Breakfast. The agenda includes a presentation by retail consultant Christine Moynihan of Retail Visioning.

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The Hubway station in front of Bank of America in Centre/South on April 9, 2014.
Transportation

Hubway Station Moved From Post Office to Bank of America

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If you didn't like car parking spots being taken up in front of the post office by a Hubway bike station last year, you might be happy they're now taking up auto spots in front of Bank of America. In a departure from the bike sharing service's usual policy of not consulting neighborhoods over placement of the bike-rental stations, Hubway reached out to at least two neighborhood organizations to figure out where the station should go. In negotiations brokered by JP resident and Boston Bikes director Nicole Freedman, Centre/South Main Streets and the JP Business and Professional Assoc. picked — for now — a spot in front of Bank of America. It's a temporary placement that could be moved pending a future community meeting in May or June, said Andrew Zarro, executive director of Centre/South Main Streets.

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Launch party for Jamaica Plain News, Thursday, April 3, 2014.
Business

Packed House Celebrates Launch of Jamaica Plain News

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We launched the neighborhood's newest news source, Jamaica Plain News, with a party during the spring's inaugural First Thursday Art Walk. Dozens of residents stopped by to give their best wishes to the new project. My wife, Jane, and I are deeply appreciative of the warm welcome back to the neighborhood. The launch party took place during a celebration of First Thursday. Mayor Marty Walsh attended and spoke of the link between the arts scene and a healthy neighborhood economy.

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Celebrating the reboot of First Thursday Art Walk at 668 Centre St. on Thursday, April 3, 2014.
Business

Mayoral Visit Caps Big Night for Small Business and the Arts Along Centre/South

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If you weren't among the throngs who turned out for the re-boot of First Thursday Art Walk along Centre/South, you missed art exhibits, concerts, food tastings, a visit from the mayor — and free beer. Thursday night from 6 to 8 p.m. the event packed sidewalks and businesses from The Hallway Gallery all the way to Tres Gatos. Inside the "pop-up" event space at 668 Centre St., about 100 people joined Mayor Marty Walsh and the board for Centre/South Main Streets to celebrate the renewed tradition of First Thursday Art Walk. Walsh, in remarks from a podium set up where a jazz trio played earlier that night, called the Art Walk an "exciting, innovative program." "It's a perfect example of how the small business community and arts community can come together," the mayor said.

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Boston Mayor Marty Walsh
Business

Meet Mayor Walsh During First Thursday Art Walk

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Mayor Marty Walsh will be attending the Jamaica Plain News launch party on Thursday during his visit to First Thursday throughout Centre/South — please stop by and meet him. We're hosting the launch party with JP Centre/South Main Streets as the business development organization relaunches the First Thursday Art Walk. All along the Centre/South corridor there'll be music, food and drink tastings and lots of art in the various businesses and offices. The party is from 6-8 p.m. Thursday at 668 Centre St. That's the old Verizon store, between City Feed and the Smoke Shop.

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Students from the Curley board their bus on Feb. 13, 2014.
Morning Memo

School Cuts Include Teachers and Bus Service

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Here's your morning update for Thursday, Feb. 27. Parents from JP schools are organizing to fight proposed cuts that will hit all schools (including the Curley and Mendell, among others.) On Tuesday, for instance, I saw a delegation from the Curley in City Hall making their case. This morning the Globe detailed the overall cuts, which include about 250 teacher and classroom positions, roughly 120 jobs from the central office and putting seventh- and eighth-graders on the T instead of school buses. If you're a Curley parent, here is a list of contacts if you want to get involved.

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