Five Things to Know

Monday, May 21

Essential daily information at a glance, including a benefit Tuesday for the JP Music Festival featuring the music of Levon Helm.

1. Forecast: Mostly cloudy. A chance of showers, mainly this afternoon. Highs in the mid 60s. Chance of rain 50 percent. 2. I'm glad the North won the Civil War, but as a Southerner I can't listen to Levon Helm belt out "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down" without getting goosebumps (and crying a little.) If the music of the recently-departed drummer for the Band gets to you too, you've got to be at the Midway on Tuesday night for "Life is a Carnival: Songs of Levon Helm and The Band." And besides, it's a fundraiser for the JP Music Festival. 3. Are your kitchen knives more like bludgeons these days? Take 'em to the knife sharpener who is scheduled to be at the Centre Street City Feed from 4 to 7 today. 4. Here's a bit of good news on the…

• Videos (1)

Opinion: Do Boston Families Even Want Public Schools?

Low attendance at a city-sponsored meeting sends the wrong signal.

When you’re a member of the audience, you hope to outnumber the performers.  An empty venue is disheartening for those on stage and there’s less energy in the room. Boston Public Schools (BPS) took the stage this past rainy Tuesday night at Copley Library, holding its latest community meeting on improving school choice. But with fewer than two dozen people attending, speakers included – we barely made it. Go ahead, you can yawn – “community meeting on improving school choice” is one boring string of words, and not an event destined to be standing room only. But I was wide-eyed, thinking of the immense task Mayor Thomas Menino created for the city in January, in promising to overhaul the lottery assignment process and begin fostering school…

• Photos (2)

Jamaica Plain Artist Ginny Zanger Participates in "Fresh Paint Day"

Jamaica Plain artist Ginny Zanger is one of dozens of artists fanning out across Boston on Sunday to paint out in the open. She'll be at Jamaica Pond.

Jamaica Plain painter Ginny Zanger once told Patch "Body and soul — I am drawn to the magical qualities of water." That artistic tendency will be on display again Sunday as she participates in the Copley Society of Art's "Fresh Paint Day." She'll be one of 34 artists fanning out across the city to create fresh art. Fittingly for someone whose work seems always to come back to water, Zanger plans to paint at Jamaica Pond. The event runs from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday. For a map of where all the artists will be, please see the PDF attached to this post. The resulting pieces of art will be auctioned in June as a fundraiser for the Copley Society of Art.

• Photos (1)
• Documents (1)

Arrest Made in Killing of Mariano Malave

Police arrested Charles Reddicks, 18, of Dorchester and charged him with the April 27 killing of Mariano Malave, 25, on Hyde Park Avenue.

UPDATE, Friday 6:15 p.m. — Prosecutors have released further information, including their claim that Malave was shot dead in a dispute over a pound of marijuana. ~~~~~ An 18-year-old Dorchester resident has been charged with murder for the April 27 killing of Mariano Malave on Hyde Park Avenue. Charles Reddicks is being held without bail after being arraigned Friday at West Roxbury District Court, according to the Suffolk County District Attorney's office. His bail on an unrelated shooting case has also been revoked, prosecutors said. Malave, 25, answered the door at his girlfriend's 132 Hyde Park Avenue home to a person with a gun, who shot and killed him. Reddicks' next court date is June 20. Police report that Reddick is also charged …

• Photos (1)

Yard Sales This Weekend: May 19-20

Check out our printable list of area yard sales.

Welcome to Patch's yard sale feature. Below you'll find yard sale information for your town and surrounding areas. Are you holding a yard, garage, moving or estate sale this weekend, too? In the comments section below, tell us when and where your sale is.  Heading out on the yard-sale circuit? Print this list, or access it on your smart phone by downloading the Patch app. Please note the 120 Child St. sale on Sunday in JP is the massive yearly JP Vinyl Yard Sale.

• Photos (1)

House Hunt

Open Houses in JP, May 19-20

A look at what's open on the housing market this weekend.

Searching for a new place to call home? Here is a sampling of open houses this weekend in Jamaica Plain. Flip through our photo gallery to take a peek at the open properties. Details about the property and open house are included in the photo caption. Are you selling your home or are you an agent? Add a photo of your house and leave the address, price, number of bedrooms and baths and open house day and time in the caption.

• Photos (5)