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South Boston to crack down on public drinking at St. Pat’s parade, as BPD warns about spiking

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South Boston to crack down on public drinking at St. Pat’s parade, as BPD warns about spiking


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Officials promise tougher enforcement after last year’s chaos, while police urge paradegoers to protect their drinks and watch for signs of spiking.

Empty beer boxes, candy, and confetti littered the street during the annual St. Patrick’s Day parade on March 17, 2024. Jessica Rinaldi/Globe Staff

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  • Your St. Paddy’s Day parade survival guide

Boston officials are warning that public drinking will not be tolerated at this Sunday’s St. Patrick’s Day parade in South Boston, as police also urge attendees to be vigilant about drink spiking during one of the city’s busiest nightlife weekends.

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The Boston Police Department issued a community alert ahead of the celebration reminding attendees that public drinking, providing alcohol to minors, and open containers in public are illegal.

Police also cautioned attendees about the risks of drink spiking — when drugs such as “roofies” are secretly placed into beverages. These substances are often colorless, odorless, and tasteless and can cause disorientation, confusion, temporary paralysis, or unconsciousness, leaving victims vulnerable, according to the BPD statement. 

Police advised having drinks served directly by a bartender or server and to keep beverages attended at all times. BPD also suggested using drink-testing tools, such as test strips or special nail polish designed to detect drugs, and covering drinks when they are not being actively consumed. 

“Let’s work together to ensure a safe and enjoyable spring break for all,” police said. 

The warnings come as local officials say they are backing stronger enforcement after last year’s parade weekend saw incidents of violence and disorder. 

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City Councilor Ed Flynn, U.S. Rep Stephen Lynch, state Sen. Nick Collins, and state Rep. David Biele wrote a joint letter to education leaders across Massachusetts, asking them to notify Boston-area college presidents and high school superintendents about the public safety protocols and potential consequences for students who break the law. 

“As elected officials, we have given our full support to public safety officials to enforce the law and keep the community safe,” they wrote.  

The group said it has spent the past year working with state and local agencies on a task force to address the “unacceptable ‘anything goes’ atmosphere” that developed last year. Issues included public drinking, disturbing incidents of violence, public assaults, people standing on rooftops without roof decks, overcrowded bars, beer cans thrown at parade marchers, and public urination on private property. 

“The Task Force is committed to restoring the Evacuation Day & St. Patrick’s Parade to a family-friendly event — inclusive for our seniors, persons with disabilities, and young children and families — that not only focuses on celebrating a consequential victory during the American Revolution, but to honor the service and sacrifice of our veterans, military families and first responders, as well as our proud immigrant heritage,” the group wrote.

In addition, the task force said they have developed strategies to address public drinking and underage alcohol smuggling on the MBTA, and Boston Fire Department Commissioner Paul Burke said there will be enforcement over roof deck overcrowding.

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The City of Boston Licensing Board told Boston.com that it has reminded establishments about special rules in place for parade day.

Rules that licensees must follow include not serving alcohol before 12 p.m. without express permission, alcohol service must end by 7 p.m., and all patrons must leave licensed premises by 7:30 p.m. 

The spiking problem

Concerns about drink spiking were also discussed during a City Council hearing Thursday led by Councilor Gabriela Coletta Zapata.

Zapata said dozens of drink-spiking incidents are reported in Boston each year. The city recorded 116 reports in 2022, 107 in 2023, and 71 in 2024.

While the numbers have declined, experts believe many cases go unreported, she said.

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Flynn said he has been meeting with Boston police monthly to discuss the issue and safety planning ahead of the parade.

The hearing also included testimony from residents, including one woman who said she was drugged in late 2022 at age 56 and taken to Massachusetts General Hospital.

She said she was denied a toxicology screen because she had not been sexually assaulted.

“I’m grateful I wasn’t, but a victim should not have to experience the worst-case scenario to receive basic medical evidence collection,” she said.

Wu administration officials and Boston police testifying at the hearing said a number of steps have been taken to try to prevent drink spiking, including distributing thousands of drink covers to bars and restaurants so patrons can protect their beverages. 

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But the woman who testified said she had never encountered the covers.

“Where are they? I live in Boston, go out often, and have never seen one,” she said. 

“Any one of you could be drugged today, via a glass of water, coffee, wine. Your teenage daughter, your son, your mother, your father — nobody’s immune,” she added. 

Councilor Erin Murphy questioned whether the approach is effective, saying she has never seen people using the drink covers and that they could imply victims are responsible for preventing their drinks from being tampered with.

Boston Police Capt. Det. Terry Thomas said bars and restaurants are encouraged to remake drinks for anyone who suspects their beverage may have been spiked.

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Zapata said the concerts are particularly relevant heading into St. Patrick’s Day celebrations — “one of the busiest weekends for nightlife” in Boston.

“We know Boston is safe, but we also know that drink spiking has been a concern in the city over the last several years,” Zapata said. “Public safety means making sure people can enjoy [themselves] without worrying that their drink could be tampered with.”

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SEE THE GOOD: Roxbury center reminds young adults ‘You got this’ – Boston News, Weather, Sports | WHDH 7News

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SEE THE GOOD: Roxbury center reminds young adults ‘You got this’ – Boston News, Weather, Sports | WHDH 7News


BOSTON (WHDH) – The You Got This center, run by Children’s Services of Roxbury, helps young adults coping with homelessness, mental health needs, and addiction.

The drop-in center also provides a space to create community.

One of the programs they center offers, freestyle Fridays, held on the first Friday of every month, gives members a chance to test out their rap skills.

Members said programs like these have taught them to be more confident.

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“It’s a comforting area,” Deryq Samson-Brown said. “I’ve never felt like an outcast; I don’t think anybody has really felt like an outcast. It’s like a real accepting place.”

Samson-Brown said the center has inpsired him to pursue a career giving back to youth.

(Copyright (c) 2026 Sunbeam Television. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

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Chickadee, the popular Mediterranean restaurant in Seaport, is shutting down – The Boston Globe

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Chickadee, the popular Mediterranean restaurant in Seaport, is shutting down – The Boston Globe


The half fried chicken served with black bean hummus and cauliflower cashew pilaf at Chickadee Restaurant in the Seaport.Matthew J. Lee/Globe staff

An Instagram post that announced their closure on Tuesday evening did not point to any reason for the closure, and requests for comment were not immediately returned.

“Eight years ago, we opened our doors at the Innovation and Design Building with a simple hope: to bring you honest, delicious food and a warm place to share it,” read the post. “What we found instead was a community – regulars who became friends, first dates that turned into anniversaries, celebrations, quiet lunches, and everything in between. You made this restaurant so much more than a place to eat.”

Globe Food Critic Devra First awarded Chickadee 3.5 stars in October 2018, where she wrote how some meals “are magic, everything cooked perfectly, making you swoon.”

At the time, it was also considered one of the earliest restaurants to have opened in the still-industrial far reaches of the Seaport, which was home to ship-repair facilities and cutting-edge design firms, seafood wholesalers, and biotech companies. In terms of location, some said it was ahead of its time.

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DaSilva, a three-time James Beard Best Chef: Northeast semifinalist, has led some of the top restaurants across the Greater Boston area. Aside from Barbara Lynch’s flagship No. 9 Park, he opened Spoke Wine Bar in Somerville in 2013. During his time at Spoke, he received a number of accolades and was named one of Zagat’s “30 Under 30” for Boston and earned the title “Rising Star Chef” from StarChefs.

Kilpatrick, who also left Lynch’s group in 2014, worked for the team behind O Ya to help open restaurants in New York. According to his LinkedIn, he started a new job as a regional operations manager for Lark, a boutique hotel management company, in April.


Alexa Gagosz can be reached at alexa.gagosz@globe.com. Follow her @alexagagosz and on Instagram @AlexaGagosz.





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GBH Daily: Come sail away

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GBH Daily: Come sail away


This is a web edition of GBH Daily, a weekday newsletter bringing you local stories you can trust so you can stay informed without feeling overwhelmed.

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🥵Very hot, with highs around 97 degrees. Sunset is at 8:19 p.m.

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GBH’s Dan Murphy captured Abby Evangelista and her corgi, Rocko, at Sail250 this weekend. “Rocko gets dressed up for lots of occasions … sometimes just to go to the store, and he does so great with meeting people,” Evangelista said. Keep reading for more photos from the tall ships. 

A year ago today firefighters were extinguishing flames at the Gabriel House, an assisted living facility in Fall River. Ten people died in the fire, a tragedy for their loved ones and a scary moment for about 18,000 people who live in assisted living facilities across the state.

Now state officials have created new regulations for fire safety in assisted living facilities, going into effect later this month. Fire departments will inspect these facilities once a year, and facilities will need to submit emergency plans and train their workers on what to do in case of a fire.

GBH’s Craig LeMoult found that neither the new regulations nor state or federal fire codes address checking sprinkler systems. Some of the sprinklers at the Gabriel House weren’t working the night of the fire, including the ones in the room where it started.

“Had the sprinklers functioned properly, we’re not having this conversation right now. It is maybe a single fatality fire, but certainly not more than that,” Fall River fire chief Jeffrey Bacon told LeMoult. “The good news is that some of the sprinklers did function. And had they not, we would be here talking about 20, 30, 40 victims.” You can read the full story here.

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Four Things to Know

1. Colleagues and friends are remembering Louisa Gag, a Boston transportation planner killed last week when a truck driver hit her as she rode her bike near the Roxbury Crossing MBTA stop. Gag grew up in Roslindale and worked for the city on expanding the BlueBikes bike-share program. Before that, she worked for the LivableStreets Alliance, co-authoring a plan to help cities stop traffic deaths. You can see her talk about her work in this 2019 video.

“In moments like these, there is a tendency to reduce the person to the way they died and to their activism,” said Stacy Thompson, a former executive director of LivableStreets. “While we may know Louisa as a deep champion of the city and a close advocate, she’s also a Boston Latin [School] kid. She’s also, like, the most infectious, hilarious person you’ve ever met. She’s also a daughter. It’s so important to us right now for her life to not be reduced to how she stopped living.”

2. More than 4,000 nurses are back at work at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. They went on a one-day strike last week, and hospital administrators kept them from returning to their jobs for another five days. The Massachusetts Nurses Association and Brigham management have been negotiating a contract for seven months, going back and forth over wages, health insurance premiums and staffing levels.

“It’s exciting, but also frightening,” said Christine Forgeron, a cardiac nurse at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. “I don’t know what to expect when we go back to our patients. What happens next, because we still don’t have a contract,is the most unsettling part.”

3. Michael Walsh, a Republican candidate for state attorney general, will be on the primary ballot in September despite what Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Karp called “substantial evidence in the record of voter fraud.” The case began when Adam Roof, executive director of the Massachusetts Democratic Party, submitted a complaint accusing a signature gatherer Walsh’s campaign hired of either falsifying or not meeting state requirements for 1,021 of the 10,677 signatures they submitted. Candidates for statewide office need 10,000 signatures to get onto the ballot.

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Karp said that there was indeed evidence that the signatures came not from voters themselves but from a list of registered voters the state’s Republican party gave the signature gatherer. But the case fell on a technicality: state law required Roof, the Democratic party official, to submit his complaint by certified mail, and he did not do so. The state’s highest court still has to decide what will happen to Anne Manning Martin, a Republican candidate for lieutenant governor who used the same signature gatherer.

4. Residents of towns around the Quabbin Reservoir flooded into the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority meeting last week to ask for a better deal. The Quabbin supplies clean drinking water for dozens of cities and towns in the eastern part of the state. Right now, the state requires towns like Shrewsbury, Belchertown, Orange and Pelham to keep their development in check to keep the Quabbin clean. Though those towns get some money in return, local officials said it’s not enough to cover their costs.

“We are protecting this watershed by foregoing any type of economic development, which is a cornerstone of providing the basics of education [and] public safety,” said state Rep. Aaron Saunders, of Belchertown. “It’s time for a change, and not an incremental one.”

Tall ships sail into Boston

The Colombian vessel ARC Gloria passes spectators watching from Castle Island on Saturday, July 11 in Boston.


Dan Murphy / GBH News

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Tomorrow is the last full day of Sail Boston, the city’s tall ships celebration. The ships will leave our harbor Thursday morning. GBH photographer Dan Murphy was there over the weekend to capture the Parade of Sail.

People in white sailor's uniforms waving towards camera on white sailing ship flying Chilean flag

Chilean sailors aboard the Esmerelda wave to spectators on Castle Island during the Meet Boston Parade of Sail on Saturday, July 11 in Boston.


Dan Murphy / GBH News

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The Esmeralda, a ship from Chile, sailed by Castle Island.

Woman in navy shirt and black baseball cap points to ship out of frame for child in white pinstripe shirt sitting on her shoulders

Carolyn Gustine points out a ship to her son, Patrick Gustine, during the Meet Boston Parade of Sail on Saturday, July 11 at Castle Island in Boston.


Dan Murphy / GBH News

Carolyn Gustine carried her son, Patrick, on her shoulders.

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You can see the full photo essay here. 

Dig deeper: 

Spectators line Cape Cod Canal to see tall ships make their way to Sail250 in Boston

The World Cup transformed Greater Boston. Will it last?

Department of Agricultural Resources celebrates Ice Cream Trail program

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