West Roxbury Patch started the week off by letting you know of some local places that provide free WiFi. Have you tried any of them out? How is the service? Nail salons were not on the list of free WiFi, but nail salons in Boston will now be regulated by the City of Boston. Boston's Board of Health approved the regulations and salons will now have to apply for an annual permit and undergo health inspections. The City also announced the Boston Youth Fund Hopeline online registration opens on Feb. 1. Sign up quickly kids because there are limited spaces for summer jobs. One place Youth Fund …

Hey, did you notice there was a lot of snow this week? It was kind of hard to miss it, huh? As we waited for the snow the City of Boston started a snow emergency at 9 p.m. on Tuesday night. Before the snow emergency, Mayor Thomas Menino gave his State of the City Address, and photographer Courtney Sacco gave us a great image gallery of Menino's speech. Then the snow came. Vanessa McManus visited Shaw's before the rush. I went to the hardware stores to see how they were doing - I wonder how many shovels they sold on Tuesday afternoon? And once the heavy snow stopped falling the sleds came out…

Like an early workout show we started your Monday with Get Fit with Carol O educating us on why it is important to have strong body core. The biggest sports story of the week was the inter-neighborhood battle between Catholic Memorial and the Raiders of the West Roxbury Education Complex. CM won 82-68, but CM had to call off their vaunted press because the Raiders were able to beat it. Staying with WREC, writer Adam Vaccaro got an overwhelming response from students of the four schools in the building about the plan to go to just two schools next fall - they hate the plan.  Vaccaro also …

If grease were the word (think Travolta) it would've been replaced this week by snow being the word. New England got its first blizzard of this winter and the city shutdown with a snow emergency starting on Sunday at 3 p.m. The emergency lasted 27 hours during which time West Roxbury Patch informed you of what roads you are not allowed to park on during a snow emergency (keep this list handy for future storms). But some people still didn't heed the signs - and were towed.  Though snow always provides some great photographic opportunities: check out Vanessa McManus' image gallery of residents …

West Roxbury Patch started the week off with a feature on Paul Healy Jr., a West Roxbury resident, who is the captain of the Roxbury Latin wrestling team. The following day we gave you some more athletics-related fun with the debut of Get Fit with Carol O by Parkway resident Carol O'Connor. O'Connor's a fitness guru and will be providing tips on how to get in shape and stay in shape. Two other columns this week included the Boston Public Health Commission's Top 10 best and worst songs for relationships. And I must say, I'm not sure if it's because I'm getting older, but I agree with …

This past week was full of emotions in several ways - as the Boston School Committee voted to close nine schools throughout the city - and later in the week a very emotional scene had a man ram police cruisers with his own vehicle. The school committee vote will affect more people, so I'll start with that story. That was Wednesday night at English High School in JP. Concerned residents, students and LaRouche supporters, flooded the meeting to protest the school committee's support of closing nine schools and merging eight others.  West Roxbury-speaking (at least what has been publicly-…

This week we saw how the Boston Public School's proposal to dramatically change the system with mergers, closings and more will actually affect West Roxbury. This coming week the Boston School Committee will vote on the proposal that may very well lead to layoffs at the West Roxbury Education Complex. The school presently has four individual schools in one building, and BPS' proposal is to halve the schools. What drew more attention this week in West Roxbury was the possibility of 60 ELL (English language learners) students coming to the Lyndon School and what that means to programs. The …

West Roxbury Patch started off the week with a feature about Finn Sullivan, a West Roxbury resident selected to be a football captain for Roxbury Latin next season. Sullivan talked about what it means to be a captain, and what goes into being a captain. Staying with the athletic theme, writer Adam Vaccaro had a feature on Ally's Boxing Boot Camp - a very intense workout on the VFW Parkway. Looking to get in shape, check out Ally's. While many of us are in the holiday spirit, two suspects allegedly robbed their Thanksgiving host of her debit card and cash. (They were also allegedly heroin …

West Roxbury Patch started the week off (remember Sunday is the first day of the week) with Adam Vaccaro's continued coverage of the ongoing dog leash issues at Millennium Park.  The question was posed - should Millennium Park have a dog-only area for canines? Some say yes, some say no.  Also on Sunday, arts writer Christopher Treacy's article about Roxbury Latin's senior play "The Man Who Came to Dinner" ran with Treacy's introspective view on the play. Staying with schools, but moving over to Baker Street, Vaccaro gave a round-up of the Knights' standout football players. And unfortunately …

The biggest news for West Roxbury was that Matt O'Malley was elected to be District 6's next city councilor on Tuesday. O'Malley beat Jim Hennigan in the Boston City Council District 6 Special Election by a 60 percent to 40 percent margin. A date for O'Malley to be sworn in has not been set yet, but O'Malley was hoping to have it done asap so he could vote on the Dec. 1 hearing about whether City Councilor Chuck Turner should remain on the council after being convicted of a felony.  And check out the image gallery from Election Day.  Other news coming out of the Boston City Council …

West Roxbury Patch started its week off on Sunday with an image gallery of the Holy Name Casino Night, in which funny money was used to raise funds for a high school trip to New Orleans to help rebuild the Big Easy. That was a fun news event, but the following day West Roxbury Police alerted Parkway residents to be aware of a phone scam about jury duty. Residents were being told that they had missed jury duty and that a warrant was out for their arrest. Do not give out any of your info over the phone and report anything you believe to be a scam to police. Also on Monday, Anna Rubin delivered …

The 2010 general election dominated West Roxbury Patch this week, and with good reason as much was at stake locally and across the Commonwealth. Like most of the state, voter turnout was high in West Roxbury, with residents waiting inline before several polling sites even opened. Some poll workers said this week's election was busier than when President Obama was elected. For Patch's election coverage, there was an image gallery of scenes during election day; and then articles about State Senator-elect Mike Rush defeating Brad Williams; incumbent US Congressman Stephen Lynch easily beat his …

As a buildup to Tuesday's election, West Roxbury Patch provided you with four articles asking the US Congressional candidates about several topics. Your current Congressman, Stephen Lynch, did not provide his opinions on topics such as should the state sales tax be lowered from 6.25 percent to 3 percent; how they would work with opposing parties, and what are their thoughts on reforming social security. But his opponents, Vernon Harrison and Phil Dunkelbarger did: Ballot Question 3; How they'd work with opposing parties; how they'd reach across the aisle to other party members; and how to …

On Monday we started with how Boston Public Schools are implementing anti-bullying laws. Writer Adam Vacarro talked to West Roxbury Education Complex students, teachers and facilitators - and also wrote about Catholic Memorial parents attending a meeting about talking to their children about internet use. Personally, I'm glad I didn't grow up during the internet age. But the biggest story of the week was the preliminary special election for Boston City Council's District 6 seat.  There were five candidates Tuesday morning and quickly after the polls closed at 8 p.m the field was whittled down…

Columbus Day weekend means one thing to many West Roxbury residents - the Perham Road soap box derby races. It's a throwback to the 1950s - but with a DJ spinning tunes. Perham Road resident Paul Treseler, provided Patch with hundreds of photos from the event (thank you, Paul!) - and on Columbus Day, there were two Treseler photo galleries: Part 1 and Part 2.  Staying with photo galleries, Stephen Walsh stopped off at at St. George Church Bazaar & Food Fair on Friday.  Back to Monday, Patch gave you the story of West Roxbury's Theresa Strang, who started the BPS Lottery Reform organization, …

Political season is heating up as the television ads seem to be at every commercial break.  Political season is also heating up in locally in West Roxbury, as State Senate candidates Brad Williams and Mike Rush sparred over taxes in a Monday Patch article. Republican Williams wants Rush to take a pledge to not raise taxes. Rush's response? You'll have to read more about the two West Roxbury men whose election fate is set for Nov. 2.  Before you decide who will be your next state senator, you'll have the opportunity to vote in the preliminary District 6 Boston City Council election on Oct. 19…