Opinion

By Phil Orlandella

FOCCP Honors President and Late Husband

It was a nice gesture when the Friends of Christopher Columbus Park (FOCCP) recently honored President Joanne Haynes-Rines and her late husband Robert H. Rines, dedicating two benches in the park.

Joanne has been President of the neighborhood non-profit organization for the past 10 years and continues to lead FOCCP with great dedication and commitment.

It was well deserved.

T Develops Public Engagement Draft

A public engagement draft document intended to advise and solicit feedback from the general public has been put together by the MBTA.

The draft seeks to explain which processes, projects and discussions that can be influenced through public comments, which will be accepted through March 20 at 5 p.m. by visiting www.mbta.com/public-engagement. A copy of the draft plan is also available on this website.

Geared toward outlining why the public is important, how the MBTA will reach out to the general public, goals for responsible and thoughtful outreach, methods, type of community events and the MBTA’s responsibility to ensure access and accommodations for everyone to participate, according to the T.

Public transportation projects are paramount to provide safe and customer friendly service to the general public.

Providing a draft plan in public meetings the T is rightly attempting to get the public involved on a first-hand basis.

Citizen should take full advantage of this opportunity to express comments and obtain information provided by the MBTA.

NEAA Baseball Registration Deadline April 1

It’s only February but for the North End Athletic Association (NEAA) it’s the beginning of baseball season starting with registration.

Signing up to play baseball is an important first step for the NEAA in order to form teams, purchase equipment and scheduled games which will be played on the road in three possible places, Charlestown, The Greenway or the Boston Common, until the North End fields become available following renovations.

Registration is easy, log on to neaabaseball.org.

Play ball!