ABCD Head Start centers accepting applications for 2- to 4-year-olds

Readers with preschool-aged children that would benefit from an early childhood development program offering free education, health, social and nutritional services are encouraged to apply for acceptance at their local Action for Boston Community Development Inc. (ABCD) Head Start center.

ABCD Head Start and Children’s Services offer part- or full-day comprehensive early education services to 2,400 income-eligible children between the ages of 3 and 5 at 27 neighborhood-based programs throughout the city of Boston. The agency also serves 200 infants and toddlers at Early Head Start Centers in Dorchester, East Boston and the South End.

At Head Start, professionals provide children with education, health, special education, dental, mental health, social and nutritional services, with full-day, full-year options available to meet the needs of working parents.

The federally funded national Head Start program began in 1964 with the mission of providing children from low-income families with the educational, health and social services supports necessary to enter elementary school prepared for success both inside and outside of the classroom.

For more information on applying or to find a center near you, call 617-348-6272.

As part of its “Now is the Time” campaign, the Boston Election Department will be staffing a voter registration table in front of the Super Stop and Shop at the South Bay Center on Saturday, Aug. 9, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

The high-traffic retail center, which draws consumers from Roxbury, Dorchester, South Boston and the South End, is an ideal spot for registration workers to set up shop. And for unregistered citizens interested in casting ballots this fall, time is of the essence, according to the Elections Department.

“With a state primary election coming up on Sept. 16 and a potentially historic presidential election taking place on Nov. 4, voters are urged to register early to make sure their registrations are processed quickly,” the department said in a statement.

In Massachusetts, the deadline to register to participate in an election is 20 days prior to that election. A bill aimed at allowing prospective voters to register on the day of an election passed the state Senate, but failed to pass the House before the Legislature’s formal sessions came to a close at the end of July.

The deadline to vote in the state primary election is Aug. 27.

The Elections Department wants to remind voters that:

•    To register to vote in Massachusetts, they must be U.S. citizens, Massachusetts residents and 18 years of age on or before the day of the election;
•    If they were previously registered in another city or town in Massachusetts, they must re-register to vote in Boston;
•    Voters who were registered in a different Boston neighborhood than the one they live in now must notify the Election Department in writing of the address change, and the document must include the voter’s signature.

Voters will be able to make address changes, name changes and party affiliation changes at the Elections Department’s registration table on Saturday.

In addition to voter registration forms, the department will also have pollworker applications available at the table for individuals interested in serving at the polls on Election Day.

For more information, visit the Elections Department’s Web site.

The Boston Redevelopment Authority (BRA) is beginning a public process to seek neighbors’ input on the planned update of the Master Plan for the Christian Science Plaza, owned by The First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston.

Mayor Thomas M. Menino “wants to ensure that abutters and others have an opportunity to comment on the redevelopment process,” the BRA said in a statement.

The church first announced its desire to update the plan for the plaza, which has remained largely unchanged for decades, in April 2006. While the site will “remain as the world headquarters for the Christian Science Church, and the church will maintain control of the plaza and any new development,” the BRA said, the goal of the plan’s revision is to enhance the plaza for the community, increase its environmental sustainability and explore new opportunities for real estate thus far underutilized.

The BRA is seeking neighbors of the plaza — which is bordered by Huntington Avenue, Massachusetts Avenue and Belvidere Street — as well as representatives from nearby citizens groups, civic associations, business organizations and others to join a task force that will discuss potential redevelopment strategies. The task force will be selected by Menino, the BRA said.

Nominations for the task force are due by Sept. 12, 2008. They should be sent to planner Jonathan Greeley, either by mail to the Boston Redevelopment Authority, One City Hall Square, Boston, MA 02201-1007, or via e-mail.