News

Suffolk County Sheriff Steven W. Tompkins was appointed to serve as chairman of the Roxbury Community College Board of Trustees by Governor Charlie Baker. A member of the Roxbury Community College board since 2013, Sheriff Tompkins served most recently as its vice chair before this new appointment.

More than eight months into her first year on the job, Rollins has already made her mark on the county’s criminal justice system, filing a lawsuit against federal immigration authorities over their practice of making civil arrests in courthouses and, most recently, checking a Boston Municipal Court judge who sought to override her prosecutor’s discretion.

Last week, the South End-based college announced a partnership with Apprenti, an apprenticeship program partially funded by U.S. Department of Labor and affiliated with the Washington Technology Industry Association’s Workforce Institute.

Last week, a former Boston Planning and Development Agency official pled guilty to accepting a $50,000 bribe from a developer to influence a Zoning Board of Appeal vote on a real estate project, drawing scrutiny to the sometimes cozy relationships between city officials and players in the real estate development field.

News that longtime Trotter Institute Director Barbara Lewis was taking a voluntary retirement sparked worry last week, with the Trotter and other institutes at UMass Boston in the midst of uncertainty around their budgets

Corey Harris joined the Boston Public Schools on July 1 as Chief of Accountability, overseeing the offices of Data and Accountability, Turnaround and Transformation, and Community Hub Schools, to lead strategies for ensuring continuous improvement of all schools.

A coalition of education activists is putting their hopes for increased funding on court action. In June, the Council for Fair School Finance filed a lawsuit against state education officials alleging constitutional violations of students’ education and civil rights.

Supporters of efforts to allow undocumented immigrants to obtain state driver’s licenses gathered at the State House on Sept. 4 to push for passage of the Work and Family Mobility Act.

Boston City Council President Andrea Campbell, in partnership with Ron Savage, Dean of the Professional Performance Division at Berklee College of Music, announced last week they will host the Mattapan Jazz & Unity Festival at the 'greens' in front of the Foley Senior Residences, 249 River Street, Mattapan, on Sunday, September 22 from 1-5 p.m.

The Clubhouse Network, with a makerspace in the heart of Boston, has been awarded a Scale grant of $100,000.

Roxbury Community College recently completed a $72 million renovation that included extensive upgrades to its buildings’ heating and cooling systems, a new cafeteria and student center, and a state-of-the-art nursing laboratory.