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Who’s responsible for cracked streetlights leaning over a Boston road?

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Who’s responsible for cracked streetlights leaning over a Boston road?


The I-Team is getting the bottom of a potentially dangerous problem in a Boston neighborhood. 

Ann Marie Ford lives in Dorchester and says she’s concerned about the streetlights along Gallivan Boulevard. Many look to be in in disrepair, and she says they could pose a danger. 

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Ann Marie pointed out the cracks, rust and crumbling concrete telling the I-Team, “I was kind of shocked, because we just saw the one and then when we looked up, we saw them all down the median and it’s dangerous.” 

“Someone could get killed”

Potentially dangerous because the light poles are leaning into the street. We brought in Wentworth Institute of Technology Engineering Professor James Lambrechts who explained the danger. “Someone could get killed,” Lambrechts said. 

Streetlight Boston

Streetlight leaning on Gallivan Blvd. in Boston. 

CBS Boston


Lambrechts says it’s clear the poles are leaning towards the highway. “As it leans more, it bends more,” Lambrechts said. “Its foundation is going to be overloaded. That’s not good.” 

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Lambrechts found the poles are not just leaning, but cracking. “These are not good things for the pole to have this problem and it shouldn’t be like this,” Lambrechts said. 

Who owns the streetlights?

Gallivan Boulevard is a state DOT road. The I-Team asked for the inspection reports for the streetlights. DOT told us DCR owns the road. It does not. State records show Gallivan Boulevard was transferred to DOT in 2009. 

DOT then said Eversource owns the poles and told us it has notified the utility company about possible safety or maintenance issues. But they could not tell us when the poles were last inspected or whether the repairs or maintenance had been done. 

“You got to come out and maintain these things every once in a while,” Lambrechts said. “They all need to be inspected, evaluated and replaced as necessary.” 

Eversource has received calls about streetlights

As for Eversource, it refused to provide the I-Team with any records, but released a statement: 

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“Delivering safe, reliable energy service to our customers is always our top priority, and we are constantly working to maintain and upgrade our local electric distribution system across Massachusetts. 

With respect to the streetlights on Gallivan Boulevard, our maintenance responsibilities currently include maintenance of the pole, cable and luminaire. We also inspect these streetlights annually for stray voltage, and if we record an elevated voltage reading or other issue on a Gallivan Boulevard streetlight structure, we provide those findings and locations to the commonwealth. 

Our troubleshooters – who are out in our communities 24/7 – are also constantly evaluating the condition of infrastructure, including streetlights, as part of their daily work. If our crews observe that a pole’s condition poses a safety risk to the public, we work as quickly as possible to address that risk with the appropriate repairs, including replacements when needed. It is important to note that there are different considerations for concrete streetlight poles compared to a wooden utility pole, and if a concrete streetlight pole may have a lean, or visible crack, it doesn’t necessarily pose a risk to public safety. Gallivan Boulevard is a highly traversed state roadway with motor vehicle accidents that can cause such damage. 

Our customer call center has received a handful of calls about streetlights on Gallivan Boulevard this year, and any reports made to our call center about streetlight conditions get assigned for additional inspection. The City of Boston and our state agencies also have dedicated account representatives who communicate with those entities on a daily basis, and we have not received any separate recent complaints regarding streetlights on Gallivan Boulevard from state agencies or the city. When we do receive complaints, we have a process in place to coordinate with MassDOT and the City of Boston to quickly address any potential safety or reliability issues. Any decision to make a repair or to replace a pole is prioritized solely by safety and reliability.” 

Problem light poles in Boston 

Lambrechts says it’s their responsibility to maintain the poles. “If it falls over it’s not safe,” Lambrechts said.

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The risk of light poles in poor condition falling is real. In September of 2022, a woman was seriously injured when a corroded streetlight fell on the Moakley Bridge in Boston. An I-Team investigation found the city knew about the problem as far back as 2017. WBZ also uncovered a state report from months earlier showing the poles required immediate repair, but nothing was done. After the incident the city removed nearly two dozen dangerous poles.

As for the streetlights on Gallivan Boulevard, Lambrechts says maybe there is a protocol to change these out, but if not, he says he would not drive on the roadway in a storm. 

Just weeks ago, DOT started a new program requiring inspections and the keeping of records for structures along their roadways, regardless of who owns them.



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Kraft Group reaches deal with Foxborough on security funding for World Cup games at Gillette Stadium – The Boston Globe

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Kraft Group reaches deal with Foxborough on security funding for World Cup games at Gillette Stadium – The Boston Globe


The town’s Select Board had refused to grant the entertainment license that soccer’s governing body, FIFA, needs to stage the World Cup in Foxborough.

The statement, bearing the logos of Boston’s World Cup host committee, Kraft Sports & Entertainment, and the town, said they had reached an “understanding collectively” to “finalize the details” necessary for the town to approve an entertainment license.

The agreement said Foxborough “will not incur any cost or financial burden related to the FIFA World Cup, with Boston Soccer 2026 providing advance funding for security-related capital expenditures and the full extent of deployment that public safety officials have determined is needed to execute the event with Kraft Sports + Entertainment’s backing.”

The town had set a March 17 deadline for the local organizing committee, Boston Soccer 26, FIFA, or the Kraft Group that owns the stadium to front the funds or the Select Board would not issue the necessary entertainment license.

The nearly $8 million was supposed to be delivered as part of a federal grant that was included in last year’s One, Big, Beautiful Bill Act. Massachusetts was allocated $46 million in funding for security needs, with the money originally scheduled to be released by the Department of Homeland Security in late January.

But the money has yet to be disbursed to any of the 11 US cities that are hosting games. (The full tournament, running from mid-June to mid-July, will play in 16 cities in the US, Canada, and Mexico.)

The dispute underscored what business leaders around Greater Boston said was deeper dysfunction and looming financial troubles within the Boston organizing committee, which is now scrambling to pull off the event in less than three months.

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Boston Soccer 26 — dominated by allies of Patriots owner Robert Kraft — appears well short of the $170 million goal it said it needed to stage a World Cup that could draw 2 million visitors to Greater Boston. Exactly how short remains a mystery.

But the dispute with Foxborough pushed the local committee to make a rare public disclosure last week: that it had only $2 million in the bank, but anticipates depositing another $30 million soon.

That’s a fraction of what was envisioned by the organizers two years ago, spawning concerns about what the World Cup will actually look like at kickoff on June 13.

Meanwhile, in Foxborough over the last several weeks, a series of increasingly contentious meetings highlighted a David and Goliath dynamic between the five members of the town’s Select Board and a host committee working closely with FIFA, the global soccer organization that projects the quadrennial tournament to to generate $11 billion in revenues.

At the last meeting on March 3, two lawyers representing the host committee conveyed a proposal that, in part, guaranteed the Kraft Group would backstop all costs.

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Board members made no effort to hide their disbelief and dismay the host committee lawyers did not arrive with essentially a check for security costs that a town with a population of some 18,000 was not equipped to fund.

“I don’t really think you’re hearing us,” said Select Board chair Bill Yukna.

Select Board member Mark Elfman was more direct.

“I find it hard to believe — I’m sorry — that you don’t know after all the discussions that have gone on over the last couple of months exactly what we want,” he said.

Foxborough Police Chief Michael Grace also dismissed the proposal, calling it a “failed strategy.”

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Over the weekend, the Kraft Group issued a terse response to what it saw as the select board’s intransigence: “We are deeply disappointed that the town has seemingly reached a conclusion unilaterally without the platform of a public hearing, which is already scheduled for March 17, and would like to understand what the town requires at this stage to get to ‘yes.’ ”

Then, by Wednesday, all the parties got to “yes.”

“We look forward to moving forward together positively,” the statement concluded, “in our shared goals of providing the highest level of public safety for this historic event and delivering a global experience for our region, which will infuse the Commonwealth and Foxborough with an influx of new visitors and associated economic impact.”

The parties also singled out Massachusetts state Senator Paul Feeney, US Congressman Jake Auchincloss, Governor Maura Healey, and Lieutenant Governor Kim Driscoll for helping to bring about the security plan.


Michael Silverman can be reached at michael.silverman@globe.com.

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Shay Maloney’s overtime goal lifts Boston Fleet to road victory

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Shay Maloney’s overtime goal lifts Boston Fleet to road victory


VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — Shay Maloney scored 41 seconds into overtime and the Boston Fleet edged the Vancouver Goldeneyes 2-1 on Tuesday night.

Much of the game was a goalie duel, with neither side scoring until the third period.

Haley Winn was first to strike, getting the Fleet on the board early in the final frame with her second goal of the year.

Hannah Miller responded for the Goldeneyes with 3:26 remaining, blasting a one-timer past Boston goalie Aerin Frankel from just inside the blue line. Frankel stopped 25 of the 26 shots she faced, and the Fleet won its sixth straight game.

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Kristen Campbell made 25 saves in the Vancouver net.

The win moved the Fleet back into sole possession of first place in the league standings, two points ahead of the Montreal Victoire.

Vancouver was without goalie Emerance Maschmeyer, who is listed as day to day with an upper-body injury. Kimberly Newell served as Campbell’s backup.



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Boston Police Blotter: Southie pub brawl leads to alleged stabbing

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Boston Police Blotter: Southie pub brawl leads to alleged stabbing


Two people were stabbed following an alleged bar brawl in Southie over the weekend.

According to a police report, officers arrived at Tom English’s around 10:30 p.m., Friday for a report of a fight. When they arrived on the scene, a victim told police that he was sucker punched during a fight and pointed out a person who was the “main aggressor” throughout the incident.

The suspect was pat frisked by police, but the report said they did not find any weapons. “The suspect stated that he was jumped [by the party of the victim,” the report said. “The suspect refused to cooperate any further after repeated attempts by officers to get his version of events.”

Both the suspect and victim declined EMS.

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Then about an hour later, three more victims arrived at a nearby police station to report that two of them had been stabbed in the fight at Tom English. One of the unnamed victims said that the fight started after the suspect kept moving coins he put down to play pool. The suspect, according to one of the other victims, told them to meet him outside.

All parties were kicked out by a bouncer and “a large brawl ensued,” the report said. The victims told police that that suspect brandished a knife and the victims said they “fled the scene on foot fearing for their lives.”

In the report, police noted that they saw wounds on two of the victims. EMS was called to treat them.

BPD did not confirm whether the suspect was arrested.

Fireworks call leads to firearm recovery in Mattapan

Reports of fireworks led Boston Police to recover a firearm Monday night in Mattapan.

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Officers responded to the area around Callender Street at about 10 p.m. for a call of shots fire, but a supervisor alerted them that individuals were shooting off fireworks.

When police got to the scene, they said they saw a group of people standing near a car that had several packages of fireworks. As officers approached, one man started to sprint towards Blue Hill Ave., throwing a jacket off as he ran, according to BPD.

Multiple officers responded to detain the suspect and a pat frisk of the jacket uncovered a ghost gun with 7 rounds in the magazine, police said.

Kahnari White, 24, of Mattapan was charged with carrying a loaded firearm without a license, carrying a firearm without a license, possession of a firearm without an FID card, and possession of a large capacity feeding device.

While the foot pursuit and arrest of White unfolded, police said the group standing with the fireworks began to become “hostile and threatening to an officer who remained with them on scene.”

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One person allegedly continued to threaten an officer and bumped him on the chest as more officers arrived.

“Multiple de-escalation tactics were attempted, but the suspect continued to threaten officers,” Boston police said in a statement.

Eventually, officers were able to detain Sean Galvez, 40, of Quincy. Galvez was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct, resisting arrest, and assault and battery on a police officer.

Both suspects are expected to be arraigned at Dorchester District Court.

Gun recovered after foot chase in Dorchester

A 22-year-old from Dorchester was arrested on gun charges after police said they approached the suspect for drinking in public Monday night.

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Officers saw a group on Draper St. drinking publicly around 8:30 p.m., and when they approached them, one individual started to walk away.

“When officers advised the male that he could not be drinking alcohol in public, he fled on foot,” Boston Police said in a statement. “A foot pursuit ensued, and officers stopped the suspect.”

Police recovered a Smith and Wesson M&P Bodyguard .380 with nine rounds in the magazine during a pat frisk and said that the serial number on the gun was defaced.

Denilson Pires was arrested and charged with carrying a firearm without a license, possession of ammunition without an FID card, and defacing a firearm serial number.

He is expected to be arraigned at Dorchester District Court.

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