Youth Football Gone From Park Near 'Methadone Mile': The HUB

Boston MA

08 September, 2021

3:02 AM

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The HUB is a daily newsletter designed for what you want — to be caught up on the most interesting, important news in 5 minutes or less. It's a little bit of this, a little bit of that, but if there's something you want more or less of, email me at [email protected]. Today is Wednesday, September 8. Let's get started. Dirty needles on the youth practice field — that's what caused coaches for the Boston Bengals Pop Warner football program to relocate their teams to a new neighborhood. Before every practice at Clifford Park in Roxbury, the coaches would split up and scan the practice field for needles in the grass. Coach Licinio Pires said every practice, he'd find 15 to 20 needles. Other coaches found more. The conditions at the field became so dire that the Boston Bengals merged with another Pop Warner program, the Brookline Jamaica Plain Patriots, to keep kids from being at risk from the dirty needles. Clifford Park is about a half-mile from "Mass and Cass" at Melnea Cass Boulevard and Massachusetts Avenue, the intersection known as "Methadone Mile," the epicenter of Boston's opioid epidemic. Team President Domingos DaRosa told the Boston Globe Clifford Park has had issues with encampments, prostitution and drug dealing, as have "every single park that's within walking distance of 'Methadone Mile.'" Read more from The Boston Globe. Top stories The Boston mayoral race has largely stayed clean, but just days before the city's preliminary election, several candidates vying for a shot in the race, went on the attack in the 11th hour. The most notable mud ball slung escalated a feud between Acting Mayor Kim Janey and City Councilor Andrea Campbell over a new attack ad from a pro-Janey political action committee. The PAC criticized Campbell for supporting charter schools and accused her of being on the wrong side of "special interests versus kids with special needs." Campbell, frustrated by the ad, held a news conference Tuesday, where she demanded Janey disavow it, saying it's spreading "misinformation and lies." (Boston Herald) The kids in Boston go back to school Thursday, with masks required and without virtual learning. And though many parents are happy to send their children back to the classroom, others are nervous, with the delta variant continuing to create a resurgence of the COVID-19 pandemic. A group of parents held a virtual protest, calling out Boston Public Schools' lack of remote learning options for when the school year starts. One parent protester, Courtney Karp, told WBUR she's "really freaked out," because her daughter has been hospitalized several times for severe respiratory infections. (WBUR) There's just six days left before Boston voters cast a ballot in the preliminary election and whittle a crowded field of candidates down to two. Two debates this week will give the race's five contenders one last chance to make their pitch to residents, but how will the candidates attack their rivals? Will mayoral hopefuls go after Acting Mayor Kim Janey, or will City Councilor Michelle Wu, who has emerged as a front-runner in recent polls, be the one on the defense? The Boston Globe's Danny McDonald provided an insightful preview into what is expected to be a contentious week for the candidates. (The Boston Globe) If you have a minute Hockey is a sport that's dear to my heart. I've been on the ice since age 3, when I was pushing around a milk crate to keep my balance. It's a sport where I made lifelong friends and continue to make memories every time I lace up the skates. And knowing that can be taken away in one collision — a single-moment — makes my heart sink. Unfortunately, that moment became a reality over the weekend for Milton Academy Mustang and Fitchburg native Jake Thibeault, when he became paralyzed from the waist down, after suffering a spinal cord injury following an on-ice collision. How to help Jake Thibeault, local hockey player who suffered serious injury over weekend https://t.co/eaBwkpJdq4 pic.twitter.com/omIMaI8udU— WEEI (@WEEI) September 7, 2021 But in the wake of tragedy, the hockey community rallied around Thibeault. The Greg Hill Foundation, as of Tuesday night, has raised nearly $38,000 to help him and his family, as he embarks on a long road to recovery. A second fundraiser through GoFundMe has already raised more than $300,000 as of Tuesday. "My family is amazing and this "setback" will not define us or change who Jake is," said Jake's father Michael in a Facebook post. "Jake is tough, is overflowing with grit, and is determined to walk again. But he is scared beyond belief. Losing hockey and his dream of playing collegiately, which we now know for certain was happening, is soul crushing for him." (Milton Patch) Elsewhere In Massachusetts A Revere man is facing an animal cruelty charge after leaving his dog chained to a steel rod at the edge of a beach, leaving him to the "mercy" of the next high tide, state police said. Police and the owner of a Revere kennel rescued the dog, which was found Aug. 29 on the bottom of the ramp from Winthrop Parkway to Short Beach. Had the dog not been found, he could have been trapped underwater when the tide came in, police said. Elias Pacheco-Osario, 27, was arrested Friday following a days-long investigation by state police. (Malden Patch) Massachusetts State Police Sports New England Patriots Hall of Famer Sam "Bam" Cunningham died Tuesday at his home in Inglewood, California. Cunningham, a running back for the Patriots from 1973 to 1982, still remains the team's all-time leading rusher. But Cunningham's impact on the game went well beyond his performance on the gridiron. Cunningham, is widely regarded for his role in speeding up the process of integrating Black athletes into the game at the college level, especially across the South. (ESPN) Weather: The National Weather Service says sunny, with a high near 84. South wind 7 to 17 mph, with gusts as high as 28 mph. – Jimmy Bentley About me: Jimmy Bentley is a Massachusetts and Rhode Island field editor for Patch covering Cape Cod, Braintree, Barrington, East Greenwich, East Providence and North Kingstown. He was a reporter at the Plympton-Halifax Express and interned for Patch while earning his master's at Emerson College. In his free time, Jimmy hits concerts (sometimes reviewing them for Patch), watches movies and plays ice hockey. Email: [email protected]. Twitter: @PatchBentley.