Boston St. Patrick's Day celebration will begin earlier to curb ‘tomfoolery'
The parade is scheduled for Sunday, March 16, but will start at 11:30am — an hour earlier than usual — in order to wrap up earlier.
State Senator Nick Collins, Boston City Councillor Ed Flynn, and other officials sent a joint letter to the state's college and high school associations explaining their desires to see the "anything goes" attitude of last year's parade tamped down.
'The parade will be starting earlier this year in an attempt to get a better handle on the tomfoolery. Last year, there were regrettable moments at the parade that we don't want to see repeated this time around,' Collins told the Dorchester Reporter.
Last year, four individuals were captured on video beating another person just two blocks from the parade. The footage went viral on social media. Another video captured two men openly brawling in the street, and security footage captured a group of revelers tearing down a city street sign.
Minors were suspected of smuggling alcohol using the city's public transportation and at least one person was accused of public urination onto a Southie resident's property.
The letter was sent to the college and high school associations in hopes that they will spread the word to schools — and ultimately students — that there will be consequences for chaos and debauchery at this year's parade.
Flynn, who is serving as the parade's general chairman, said in the letter that he has been holding a monthly task force meeting with officials and agencies in the city to work to improve public safety and curb disorderly conduct at this year's event.
'Following last year's unacceptable violence and public drinking at the Evacuation Day Parade,' said Flynn, 'I convened a monthly meeting and task force with the South Boston elected officials, South Boston Allied War Veterans Council and city and state agencies, including the Boston Police Department, the Massachusetts State Police, MBTA Transit Police, and the Boston Parks Department, among others," the letter says. "This task force and partners in the community have met multiple times since then to prepare and discuss public safety for all and restore a family-friendly environment at this year's parade.'
Immediately after last year's event, Flynn called for a "zero tolerance" policy on public drinking, and even considered moving the parade out of Southie, breaking with years of tradition.
'With almost a million visitors to South Boston for the parade, we can't sustain an 'anything goes' attitude in the neighborhood,' Flynn said.
This year's parade will follow its traditional route, and it appears Flynn aims to focus more on Evacuation Day in hopes it will curb some of the harder partying and drinking. Evacuation Day is typically celebrated in Boston on March 17, and commemorates when the British pulled out of the city following the Siege of Boston in 1776. St. Patrick's Day and Evacuation Day are typically celebrated in tandem.
'I have made it a priority to ensure that the focus of the parade returns to Evacuation Day and honoring our veterans, military families, first responders, as well as our proud immigrant history and families that came to our city in search of a better life," Flynn said in a statement.
He and the other signatories on the letter implored visitors to the neighborhood to "show some common courtesy and respect to the residents" of Southie and to "operate under the golden rule" during the event.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles

24 minutes ago
Indonesia arrests 2 foreigners for smuggling cocaine to Bali
DENPASAR, Indonesia -- Indonesian authorities said Thursday they have arrested two foreigners accused of smuggling cocaine to the tourist island of Bali. A Brazilian man and a South African woman were arrested separately on July 13 after customs officers at Bali's international airport saw suspicious items in the man's luggage and the woman's underwear on X-ray scans. Indonesia has extremely strict drug laws, and convicted smugglers are sometimes executed by firing squad. The 25-year-old Brazilian man, who police identified by his initials as YB, was arrested with 3,086.36 grams (6.8 pounds) of cocaine in the lining of his suitcase and backpack shortly after he arrived at the airport from Dubai, said Made Sinar Subawa, head of the Eradication Division at Bali's Narcotic Agency. The same day, customs officers caught a 32-year-old South African woman, identified as LN, and seized 990.83 grams (2.1 pounds) of cocaine she in her underwear, Subawa said. During interrogation, YB said that he was promised 400 million rupiah ($2,450) to hand the cocaine he obtained in Brasilia to a man he called as Tio Paulo, while LN expected to get 25 million rupiah ($1,500) after deliver the drugs to someone she identified as Cindy, according to Subawa. Subawa said a police operation failed to catch the two people named by the suspects, whom police believee are low-level distributors. Authorities presented the suspects wearing orange prison uniforms and masks, with their hands handcuffed, at a news conference in Denpasar, the capital, along with the cocaine they were found with. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime says Indonesia is a major drug-smuggling hub despite having some of the strictest drug laws in the world, in part because international drug syndicates target its young population. The Denpasar District Court later Thursday is set to sentence two other groups of foreigners on drug charges. Verdicts for an Argentine woman and a British man who were accused of smuggling cocaine onto the island, and for drug offense against a group of three British nationals, including a woman, are expected to be read out separately at the same court. About 530 people are on death row in Indonesia, mostly for drug-related crimes, including 96 foreigners, the Ministry of Immigration and Corrections' data showed. Indonesia's last executions, of a citizen and three foreigners, were carried out in July 2016.


USA Today
30 minutes ago
- USA Today
Immigrants forced to eat 'like a dog' in 'overcrowded and chaotic': detention centers
A Human Rights Watch report said three Miami detention facilities subject people to inhumane, at times life-threatening, conditions. Forced to eat the day's only meal "like a dog," with their hands shackled behind their back. Detained for days with nothing but shoes for a pillow and no other bedding ‒ just cold, concrete floors and constant fluorescent lighting. Medical care that denied a man with diabetes insulin for a week and may have contributed to at least one death. A Human Rights Watch report says three Miami immigrant detention facilities have subjected people to conditions so inhumane they have become, at times, life-threatening. Many ICE detention facilities are becoming overcrowded and conditions are deteriorating, according to the July 21 report. The July 21 report, which drew from the testimonials of 17 detainees, examined conditions since President Donald Trump took office in January. Investigators say conditions at the Krome North Processing Center, Federal Detention Center and Broward Transitional Center flout international law on holding people in immigrant detention and federal government standards. The conditions for people held in the detention facilities 'are not the way that any legitimate, functioning government should treat people within its custody,' report author and editor Alison Leal Parker, deputy director of the Human Rights Watch's US Program, said. While the facilities have had issues predating this administration, Parker said Trump administration officials have been unwilling to uphold standards to properly treat immigrant detainees. The conditions indicate the system is "overwhelmed, overcrowded and chaotic," she said. Tricia McLaughlin, assistant secretary for public affairs at the Department of Homeland Security, said claims of subprime conditions at Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention centers are 'FALSE.' 'All detainees are provided with proper meals, medical treatment, and have opportunities to communicate with their family members and lawyers,' McLaughlin said in an emailed statement. 'Ensuring the safety, security, and well-being of individuals in our custody is a top priority at ICE. ICE has higher detention standards than most U.S. prisons that hold actual U.S. citizens.' Southern, Republican-led states have emerged as key partners in the Trump administration's immigration crackdown. Florida stood up a tent city called "Alligator Alcatraz." Georgia is expanding its largest ICE detention center. And Louisiana is hosting the most dedicated ICE facilities outside Texas. Time at all three facilities Entrepreneur Harpinder Singh Chauhan, 56, spent time at all three facilities during nearly four months as a detainee, beginning in February. The British national, who first entered the country on an E-2 investor visa in 2016, opened small businesses in Florida. One of them failed ‒ a franchise of Dickey's Barbecue Pit, which also bankrupted many other franchisees. He and his wife were seeking permanent residency through a valid EB-5 visa petition when their business collapsed. While Chauhan was never convicted of crimes, he was ordered to pay restitution to Florida for tax issues, court records show. In February, he was turned over to ICE after a routine probation check-in. At the Krome facility, he spent days in cold, crowded processing cells without beds or showers. He said he was denied medical care, including insulin for his diabetes and an inhaler for his asthma. He used his shoes as a pillow. During a tuberculosis outbreak, he said the facility had no soap. Instead, staff made detainees use shampoo to wash their hands. Detainees jokingly said everyone had 'Krome's disease,' a play on Chrohn's disease, a chronic gastrointestinal illness, Chauhan recalled. Detainees were beaten for protesting their treatment, and one man was hogtied, the report said. Officials also used solitary confinement as punishment, according to women who spoke to Human Rights Watch. In June, detainees at Krome signaled 'SOS' to news cameras from the yard over conditions. The report said women were placed at Krome, a privately operated men's facility, where they were crowded in small holding cells without gender-appropriate care or privacy. USA TODAY reported on similar conditions inside Krome, where one man died ‒ an incident Human Rights Watch suspects may have been linked to medical neglect. Akima, a private Alaska Native Corporation that operates Krome, didn't respond to USA TODAY's request for comment. But in response to a Human Rights Watch letter summarizing findings and questions, the company said it couldn't comment publicly on the specifics of its "engagement" with the government, according to the report. 'Like a dog' Midway through his detention, on April 15, Chauhan was placed inside a crowded Federal Detention Center holding cell awaiting transfer without a meal for the day. Styrofoam food containers sat full for hours on other side of the federal prison's bars. In the evening, he and others finally received food. But with their hands shackled at their waist, they were forced to eat by putting their faces to bite into potatoes rolling around, rice and dry chicken, he said. 'You've got to kind of prop it up with your knees and then eat out of it like a dog,' Chauhan said. Another 21-year-old detainee interviewed by Human Rights Watch also described being forced to eat like an animal. The 25 to 30 men forced to eat this way were transferred from the facility several hours later, Chauhan said. Less than a week later, at Broward, Chauhan collapsed in the heat awaiting dinner and was taken to a hospital, with no information given to his family. He had not had his insulin for nearly a week. A 44-year-old Haitian woman, Marie Ange Blaise, died at the facility in April, following a medical emergency that was not treated urgently, according to Human Rights Watch and advocates. "We strongly believe her death could have been prevented," Guerline Jozef, director of the nonprofit Haitian Bridge Alliance told USA TODAY at the time. "We will continue to demand accountability and protection for people in ICE custody." GEO Group, which operates Broward, denied the report's allegations, including questions about Chauhan's account. The facility has around-the-clock access to medical care, as well as access to visitations, libraries, translation services and amenities, Christopher Ferreira, a spokesperson for the company, said in a statement. Support services are monitored by ICE, including on-site personnel, and other organizations within DHS. A 'dark time' in US Chauhan was ordered deported and boarded a flight back to the United Kingdom on June 5. His family, including two adult children, stayed in Florida to close what remains of their businesses. Now living outside London, Chauhan said he plans to keep paying his Florida debt. Even though his family is ready to leave, he hopes to one day return to America. 'Every nation goes through a dark time,' he said. 'I feel this is just a test.' Lauren Villagran contributed to this report. Eduardo Cuevas is based in New York City. Reach him by email at emcuevas1@ or on Signal at emcuevas.01.


Business Upturn
32 minutes ago
- Business Upturn
India and UK sign landmark free trade agreement, set to boost bilateral trade by $34 billion annually
India and the United Kingdom have officially signed a historic Free Trade Agreement (FTA) on Thursday, aimed at significantly enhancing market access and driving a surge in bilateral trade by an estimated $34 billion per year, according to the British government. The agreement, described as the UK's most economically significant bilateral trade pact since Brexit, was finalised in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer. Officials from both sides said the FTA would reduce tariffs, enhance investment flows, and open new avenues in sectors such as pharmaceuticals, financial services, textiles, and renewable energy. The deal comes after years of negotiations and is expected to create jobs, spur innovation, and strengthen geopolitical ties between the two nations. More details of the agreement, including sector-wise impact and implementation timelines, are expected to be released in the joint press statement later today. Ahmedabad Plane Crash Aditya Bhagchandani serves as the Senior Editor and Writer at Business Upturn, where he leads coverage across the Business, Finance, Corporate, and Stock Market segments. With a keen eye for detail and a commitment to journalistic integrity, he not only contributes insightful articles but also oversees editorial direction for the reporting team.