PHOTO CAPTION 1: Caffe Bella Vita staff member and Beacon Hill resident Brittney Herth.

Despite the downtrodden economy, several Charles Street businesses are now seeking to fill open positions.
“We’re not in dire need of help, but we’d like to have a couple of extra hands,” said Alice Blum, owner of North River Outfitters, a clothing store at 126 Charles St. that currently has part-time and summer openings. “It’s not really due to any change in the economy. During the summer, we just want more people here.”
At Salon Evergreen at 28 Charles St., business owner Yu His said the hair salon was continually looking for full-time and part-time help. She said the business had a high rate of attrition, adding that it was oftentimes difficult to find hairdressers who were the perfect fit.
Next door, Caffe Bella Vita is looking for part-time wait-staff. President Mohamed Momani said employee turnover was cyclical, since many of the café’s former workers were college and graduate students who eventually leave their positions to focus on their studies.
“We get lots of applicants in May when school lets out,” Momani said. “We also like to keep our eyes out for good [employees] who are responsible.”
Panificio also has part-time positions available, and like Caffe Bella Vita, many of the bistro and bakery’s staff members are students who leave their jobs once the school year starts.
“We have many students who go on to bigger and better things,” said Chris Spags, manager and part owner of the business at 144 Charles St. “It’s a sort of a neighborhood cycle.”

Hill House’s David Beardsley with Jennifer Hill, Donna Petro and Tania Shabazz, who represent three of the 13 businesses participating in Hill House’s Day After the Dash event. Participants in the Backyard Dash (Hill House’s annual fun run and community picnic) will qualify for discounts, giveaways, and other special offers on Monday, May 18, at Baranzelli Silk Surplus, Beacon Hill Hotel & Bistro, Blackstone’s of Beacon Hill, Boston Running Company, Cambridge Trust Company, Charles Street Supply, French Dressing, Good, Koo de Kir, Moxie, the Red Wagon, Rugg Road, and Upper Crust Pizzeria. Participating businesses pay a sponsorship fee of $100, $500, $1,250 or $2,000, which helps Hill House cover the costs of the Backyard Dash.
Businesses interested in joining the Day After the Dash event should contact Beardsley at 617-227-5838, Ext. 13. Residents who’d like to sign up for the Backyard Dash can visit www.hillhouseboston.org.

The Boston Ward 5 Democratic Committee and the Boston Ward 4 Democratic Committee jointly sponsored a Candidates Forum for those Democratic candidates running for Massachusetts state representative from the Third Suffolk District. The forum occurred Tuesday, April 21, at the Community Church of Boston, 565 Boylston Street, Copley Plaza (located over the Globe Bar and Restaurant), lasted about 90 minutes, and was open to the candidates running in the Democratic primary.
The following candidates appeared: Aaron Michlewitz, Susan Passoni, Lucy Rivera, and Brian Ross. Rob Whitney, chair of the Boston Ward 5 Democratic Committee, was the moderator. Each candidate answered eight questions, some of which concerned job creation, MBTA funding, the new state budget, casino gambling, and his/her priorities if elected to office. More than 60 people from many of the neighborhoods that make up the Third Suffolk District attended the event.
Immediately after the forum, the members of the Boston Ward 5 Democratic Committee held an endorsement vote, which Aaron Michlewitz obtained by a two-thirds vote.
The Boston Ward 4 Democratic Committee didn’t endorse any candidate that evening.

Let’s hope it will be quieter

This weekend’s weather should have left no doubt that summer is on the way.
After a winter of being sealed up, windows in many homes were wide open.
These open windows let us hear the usual sounds, such as shopping carriages being dragged through the streets in the middle of the night or the din of people leaving the restaurants after the final call.
In recent years, there has been the added sound of motorcycles racing up Beacon Street or down Hanover Street, with their exhaust systems illegally altered by their owners.
This makes for a terrible loud and grating noise.
There can be no doubt after hearing these motorcycles revving up why motorcyclists usually go deaf.
We shouldn’t have to pay the price of listening to their bikes making as loud a noise as possible just to satisfy some primal need of these riders.
Fortunately, thanks to Councilor Sal LaMattina, there is an ordinance on the city books to give the police the right to fine heavily the owner of any motorcycle that has been illegally altered by removing the silencing part from the exhaust system.
The rationale for this ordinance is simply that the part is needed to pass inspection. Therefore, it shouldn’t be removed after the sticker has been obtained.
We would like to see the ordinance go further.
It is too bad that if these altered motorcycles are stopped and the noise reduction part has been removed, then they should be towed. What a sight that would be- a motorcycle being taken away on a flatbed and the leather bound rider with the appropriate accompanying chains forced to take the MBTA.
Maybe then these free spirits would realize that no one has the right to intentionally and illegally inconvenience anyone else.
We are a civilized society.