Results tagged “assemblysquare”

A big ol' boa was rescued from Assembly Square by Somerville police earlier today. The reptile had a bruised head but appeared otherwise in good conditoin. According to the animal control officer who picked it up, the boa was bigger than the 5-foot ball python she found in Davis Square last month and deemed "too small" to be dangerous. Could we have a Somerville snake epidemic on our hands?

-- Charles Cherry, the 66-year-old Roxbury man who was arrested in connection with Friday's murder of a 56-year-old neighbor is a disabled man who suffers from a neurological disorder that keeps him from walking unaided. Police, who originally believed that he had stabbed Elvia McField to death, now say that he shot her with a high-powered rifle after a dispute in his apartment over money. Cherry pleaded not guilty to the charge. [Herald]

--A new company, FlexPetz, will let you rent a dog for a few hours so you can enjoy canine companionship without getting up in the cold to walk the critter. Wouldn't it be great if you could just rent human companionship for a few hours? Oh, wait. That's illegal. Nevermind. [Boston Globe]

After much debate over whether or not the blue-and-yellow DIY furniture behemoth that is IKEA would be good for Somerville, IKEA has received permits to start building at Assembly Square. George Hassett at the Somerville News reports that construction will begin next summer, 10 years after IKEA first started making noise about moving in. That doesn't mean everyone's issues with the IKEA have been resolved. Somerville residents still want dibs on the jobs the IKEA...

--There are times when a police officer must stifle laughter. And yesterday had to be one of those times when police investigated an alarm that had gone off in a Dorchester house. The incident caused quite a stir, as the owner told police there were guns in the house. When a SWAT team forced its way in, they discovered 41-year-old Laura Buchman - in the clothes dryer. She must have smelled spring fresh. She's been...

IKEA is already here, in Stoughton, but the blue-and-yellow behemoth might be moving even closer. The Somerville News reports that the Swedish store with the make-it-yourself furniture has applied to start construction in Assembly Square. The arrival of the store could mean good news (new jobs!) and bad news (ugly traffic). IKEA tries to be soothing, well-organized, and clever, but the long lines at IKEA and technical furniture difficulties tend to put individuals in a...

(OK, not really.) If you live and work in Boston proper, or in Cambridge, or really anywhere other than Somerville, the ongoing saga of the development of Assembly Square feels like a distant local squabble. But for Somervillionaires, it's a big, exciting question: Will mayor (and assistant football coach at Somerville High) Joseph Curtatone be able to deliver on one of his major campaign promises and turn Assembly Square from a down-at-the-heels, semi-industrial wasteland to a prosperous, Ikea-having, retail and residential Shangri-La by the tranquil banks of the Mystic River?

For our years in academia and a continuing commitment to understanding social and economic policy, we’ve heard that ecological friendly initiatives won’t be widely popular unless economic incentive is the driving force. We thought the whole emissions trading market would help out our ambitions for green, before a certain someone backed out of the Kyoto Protocol. Recently, with gas going for over $3 a gallon (still way less per ounce than a Dunkie’s large regular), we were sure that the hybrid cars would make way for pure electrics or at least heavy reliance on mass transit systems. Maybe that’s happening. Slowly. Take your stance on the MBTA’s most recent proposal for a fare hike and it’s ecological and social merits. It may be the housing market's building boom that moves to green first. Transportation may follow.

The Brickbottom artists' district in Somerville has become one of Bostonist’s favorite places to go for Open Studios. We don’t feel as pressured to be snooty as we do when checking out art at the SoWa guild. And a plate of cheap Brazilian fare is just around the corner so we won’t be spending the big bucks eating at the likes of the Butcher Shop.

Several years ago, Bostonist was in Auburn, Maine, for work and we picked up a copy of the Lewiston Sun Journal. On the back page of the front section, we read with some amusement a story about the recent opening of a Wal-Mart in the town of Mexico. The article quoted resident after gushing, happy resident, many of them from neighboring towns with equally fun names (Peru, for example), all of whom said, in essence,...

Although the population of greater Boston probably doesn't think much about Assembly Square ("That's off 93, right?" "No, wait, it's off 28, isn't it?" Yes and yes), in Somerville it is ever on residents' lips and minds: "With but a few anchor mega-retailers," Somervillians muse, "a gleaming shopping Mecca might arise, nestled among humming highways and reaching into the wallets of Boston, Cambridge, Woburn, and - dare we say it - even Winchester!" It's...

Bostonist knows that elsewhere in the country, IKEA is just another store where you can buy home furnishings in a really big warehouse. Yet when the state of Massachusetts doesn’t even have one of these mammoth retailers, it is big news that one is slated to open this fall in Stoughton. The Swedish corporation recently opened a store in New Haven, CT, and has finally broken into the Massachusetts market with a 346,000 square-foot store to open on Route 24. (Work has also begun on a Somerville store in Assembly Square Mall after years of negotiations.) Some may remember the broken promises of opening stores in years past, when all plans were ultimately abandoned for one reason or another. IKEA is looking to hire 500 employees for its new store and is holding interviews on August 13 in Braintree. Bostonist doesn’t assume you have to know much about Swedish retail, but it might help if you can work a screwdriver. (If you have ever purchased any of the IKEA furniture, you, along with Bostonist, know that the low price=assembly required.)

If you are looking for something to do tonight besides watch "the last five minutes of The O.C." why not venture to Somerville and take in some alcohol and sweets? The Somerville Chamber of Commerce is hosting "A Wine and Chocolate Affair to Remember" which features local distributors and their samples of wines and chocolates. This second annual event is sure to satisfy whatever craving you might be having tonight...word on the street is that there are appetizers and a chocolate fountain to boot. It's being held at the Good Time Emporium in Assembly Square, from 6p.m. to 9p.m. Tickets are $20. If you go, let Bostonist know...unfortunately, we'll be home watching Summer and Seth.