CAPTION: Renderings of what LED displays might look like at the proposed building at 20 Somerset St.

New details emerged about Suffolk University’s proposed art school building at 20 Somerset Street, including the possibility that a prominent corner of the structure could be illuminated by digital art displays.
Architectural consultant Alex Krieger showed design renderings of all four of the building’s facades, showing the public the same glass-dominated design that was revealed to the task force earlier in the month.
Two new striking potential features shown to the public will offer the university an opportunity to showcase student work. Most notably, a corner of the building above the Somerset Street entrance may be used for a large LED display to project works of art.
“This corner will help to illuminate and reveal the sidewalk,” said Krieger, while it also enables the university to promote students’ artwork.
One side of the building would also feature a sidewalk gallery behind translucent glass that would enable pedestrians to see displays of student art.
The goal is to make the building not simply an academic enclave, but a part of the cultural fabric of the neighborhood, said Krieger.
The tower design, as shown earlier in the month, is dominated by a mixture of translucent and more reflective glass facades. The more opaque façade will create a reserved backdrop to the Garden of Peace to the north, said Krieger. The south facing facade, meanwhile, will be more transparent, allowing those in Roemer Plaza to see activity inside the building.
As was revealed at the last task force meeting, university officials also want to use the building and the redesigned Roemer Plaza to commemorate the contributions of the Metropolitan District Commission (MDC), a group formerly housed at the location that helped to preserve much of the state’s important green spaces. The commemoration could include historical plaques and displays worked into the brickwork and steps of the plaza, as well as displays inside the building.
"It was a very helpful and informative meeting for the Suffolk design team,” said Suffolk Vice President John Nucci. “What's really becoming clear is that there is a very strong positive reaction to replacing the existing, dangerously decayed structure with a new, bold, and exciting building. We're also excited about remembering the accomplishments of the MDC by using the existing outdoor plaza and display areas inside the building."

Senator Dianne Wilkerson is expected to release a statement tonight on what she plans to do next, following her defeat in last week’s primary.
Challenger Sonia Chang-Diaz narrowly upset Wilkerson, 9,051 (51 percent) to 8,823 (49 percent), in an election that only saw 14 percent of voters turn out.
“The senator is still deciding what to do,” said a campaign spokesperson, Monica Dean. “She will make a public announcement at 6 p.m. [tonight].”
Wilkerson reportedly is mulling whether to ask for a recount in the Second Suffolk District, or to possibly run as an independent in the November election.
If she runs as an independent, she had to gather signatures from 50 voters in each ward and submit them by last night. She would also lose her backing by Gov. Deval Patrick, who is now supporting Chang-Diaz as the Democratic nominee.
In the weeks before the primary, Wilkerson had many prominent backers. Wilkerson is the only black senator, and has an impressive voting record for her 15 years in office that drew many endorsements.
However, many blamed Wilkerson’s loss to her various legal and financial battles, recently topped last week with Wilkerson reportedly having to rush over a $1,200 check to the attorney general's office to pay the balance of a $2,200 fine for campaign finance violations.
She also faced foreclosure proceedings on her home, and served 30 days in a halfway house after pleading guilty to four federal income tax misdemeanors. Wilkerson recently paid a $10,000 fine and admitted to campaign finance violations.
Political analysts also said when the district was redrawn in 2001, it reduced the number of black voters in the district when sections of Mattapan and Dorchester were lost; while Jamaica Plain gained more voters. Chang-Díaz won the race with strong support in her home base of Jamaica Plain, along with Back Bay, the Fenway, Chinatown, and the South End. Wilkerson took Dorchester and Roxbury.
Chang-Díaz had narrowly lost in her challenge two years ago, in a race that had both as write-in candidates, when Wilkerson missed the deadline to register.

A Charlestown student on her way home from a babysitting job in Beacon Hill is on life support after suffering a head injury from a bike riding accident last week.
Kristen Kearins, 26, of Charlestown, is in a coma. The day of her accident, Kearins was baby-sitting until about 4 p.m. on Beacon Hill. She had dinner in Boston with a co-worker, then left to meet a friend on her bike, on a rainy night. Kearins is a clinical nurse's assistant at Children's Hospital in Boston, and is studying at Bunker Hill Community College, with plans to go to nursing school.
Police aren’t sure what happened, but said Kearins texted a friend at 8:23 p.m., and was found at around 8:40. Kearins was found face down and without a pulse by a pedestrian on the Charles River Dam Bridge on September 12. The bridge was reportedly slippery from the rain, so perhaps Kearins skidded and hit her head on the railing.
Kearins' mother, Pam Sheehy, said her 26-year-old daughter has been on life support since arriving at Massachusetts General Hospital on September 12. Sheehy said MRIs revealed blunt trauma to the head, but otherwise, Sheehy only had a small cut above her eye. A spokesman from the Suffolk County district attorney's office said police determined Kearins was injured in an accident.
“Krit” Kearins has been a resident of Charlestown for several years. A former Andover High School star diver and gymnast, she is the youngest of four siblings. After graduating from Andover High, Kearins earned a degree in early childhood education from Plymouth State University in New Hampshire.

Co-workers, friends and family gathered to honor Kevin Owen at a surprise farewell party on September 17 at the Hampshire House in Beacon Hill.
Owen, a popular bartender at Cheers Beacon Hill, is being deployed to Iraq with the Massachusetts National Guard 772 Military Police Company out of Taunton. He has been in training for three years with the National Guard and will begin duty next month in Iraq, where he and his company will be training and overseeing Iraqi police.
Owen, 23, graduated in 2003 from Whitman-Hanson Regional High School, where he was a member of the football and wrestling teams. He attended Norwich University before joining the military and transferring to UMass-Boston. He has worked at Cheers for five years and has built up a large and loyal following in the city.
“Kevin’s an unbelievable guy – a great kid, a neighborhood guy, and the sweetest guy in the world,” said Brian Cawley, bar manager at Bulfinch Pub and chief organizer of the farewell celebration. “He’s built up a real good following in the city. He’s going to go over there and do us proud over there. We wish him the best of luck. We can’t wait for him to come home.”
Tara Doran, a waitress at Cheers, praised Owen for his camaraderie and friendliness and wished him well in his service in Iraq.
“He’s a great guy and a true gentleman who’s always there for anybody at Cheers,” said Doran. “He loves the customers. He loves us and the country and he’s going out there to serve. I’m very proud of him, and I hope he comes home safe.”
Eddie Doyle, a long-time employee at Cheers, said Owen is well liked by all.
“He’s one of the best guys to ever come along here,” said Doyle. “I appreciate the effort he put forth to be a bartender and a great one, too. He has a lot of courage, and that’s why they call him KO – not just because of his initials. He’s just a great person. We all wish him the best.”
Owen was touched by the tribute from his co-workers and friends.
“Thank you very much for putting this party together,” Owen told Cawley and the assembled guests. “It’s great to see this many people here – people from work, from home, my family, and my college friends. It’s great to know that there are so many people supporting what you do.”
Kevin Owen is the youngest of four sons to Ken and Mary Owen.
“It’s very touching to see the large turnout for Kevin here tonight,” said his father, Ken Owen. “As parents, we’re extremely proud of him. He’s a special kid - as all our sons are. I always described Kevin as, ‘if I was a 23-year-old kid, I would want to hang around with him.’ He’s just a wonderful kid, and he’s been a wonderful son as well.”
Brian Cawley no doubt summed up the sentiments of the guests who came to say good-bye and to thank Kevin Owen as he departs for Iraq.
In a heartfelt toast to Owen, he said, “We’re going to miss you. We love you. You’re a friend. You’re our family, and you’re our hero.”

Former Boston Mayor Kevin White and his wife, Kathryn White, are shown enjoying lunch at Anthony’s Pier 4 with good friends David Sargent, president of Suffolk University, and George Regan of Regan Communications.

Running on the Esplanade and appreciating it

The Esplanade in the fall is all about magnificence. The water, the trees, the people, the passing traffic, the warmth of the sun on your face, the gorgeous skylines of Back Bay and Cambridge, the sparkling Charles River – do we need to say more?
And yet, all of this Athenian-style Boston grandeur almost became a two-lane temporary highway if the Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) had its way.
The same DCR that was unable to preserve precious iron pieces from the Longfellow Bridge was ready last year to eliminate the Esplanade as a place for runners, joggers, bikers, lovers, sailors and everyone else who enjoy this precious green slice of urban Boston, in order to repair Storrow Drive and the Bowker Underpass.
In other words, the Esplanade was saved from the clutches of the DCR.
Thank goodness for people like Linda Cox and the Esplanade Association.
Now the Boston Landmarks Commission is apparently doing a study about the Esplanade with the ambition of having the Esplanade named an historic landmark that can’t be touched by the likes of the DCR, or anyone for that matter.
No report has been issued yet.
For the sake of those of us who run on the Esplanade, and for kids, the elderly, for bikers, joggers, lovers, for everyone who uses the Esplanade, we hope and pray for the historic designation.
Even the squirrels preparing for winter will be happy.

Congressman Capuano and the bailout

Who among us has failed to note the extraordinary drama now taking place in the world’s financial centers since the collapse of a number of major financial institutions and the near collapse of the stock market?
The government has been drawing down billions upon billions from the Treasury to maintain calm in financial markets, and the stock market rally at the end of the week seems to have calmed things down just a bit.
But this is a new week that will bring new questions and new challenges for the scrambling money managers on Wall Street and at the Federal Reserve.
There is not going to be much peace or calm or even a return to yesterday because the financial system is being forcefully challenged. The system needs to be changed.
One piece of the system cannot be changed or eliminated because capitalism spawns greed – and it’s greed that has brought down the major financial institutions like Bear Stearns, Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch, Fannie Mae.
The present crisis in a lack of confidence in the workings of the national economy is because greed got the best of us.
This week, the Senate and the House will meet to carve out a bail-out deal to save the day. Initial talk among legislators and power brokers in Washington, D.C. indicates the government will be asked to commit $700 billion to make things right.
But as our Congressman Mike Capuano has been repeatedly asking his colleagues in government, “Do we just give these people [meaning the Republicans in the White House] a $700 billion blank check? I wouldn’t give my own mother a $700 billion blank check,” he has been heard to say.
“I was sent to Congress to think and reason, not just to say yes to important questions,” he added in area speeches about the crisis, “and so I will be asking questions about where all that money is going to go.”
Thank you, Congressman Capuano.