The White House has released a transcript of President Obama's latest remarks on the situation in Haiti, made today in the White House just after 1 p.m. Read more

A coalition of organizations from across Boston are joining forces to raise funds for Haiti's relief effort on Saturday, Jan. 16 in Roxbury's Dudley Square. Billed as a "collaborative earthquake relief effort", organizers say that funds and items collected at the event will go to the American Red Cross, Partners in Health and The Boston Foundation. The event, set to run from 10 a.m. until 6 p.m. at Hibernian Hall, 184 Dudley St., will include a speaking program and entertainment. For more information on supporting the event, contact Nancy Rosseau at miss_rousseau@yahoo.com. Read more

Updated: Thurs., Jan. 28 — An emergency resource center set up to assist the families of earthquake victims and survivors will continue to offer assistance for two more weeks, according to officials who run the operation. It is now located at the Mattapan branch library on Blue Hill Avenue. The center, coordinated by staff from the union and the Boston Public Health Commission, has been helping Haitian Americans connect to relatives and other services. The new number for the center is 617-593-0363.
Beginning next week, the City of Boston's Referral and Support Center will continue to operate out of the Mattapan Public Library at the following times:
Tuesdays: 2:00-7:00 pm
Thursdays: 2:00-6:00 pm
Saturdays 12:00-5:00 pm
Attorneys and mental health counselors will continue to be available during these hours.
Call (617) 593-0363 for more information. Read more

Emily Rooney discusses the aftermath of the earthquake on her radio program on WGBH 89.7 on Wednesday. Go to WGBH to see a preview of a special documentary "Egalité for All", about The Haitian Revolution (1791–1803) and Toussaint Louverture (1743–1803), which will air on PBS stations locally on Friday, Jan. 15. Read more

Rev. Richard ButlerThe Reporter has made contact with Fr. Richard J. Butler, a Boston Archdiocesan priest who arrived in Haiti on Tuesday, just hours before the quake. Butler, a senior priest at St. Mary of the Assumption in Brookline, was traveling to a Boston-affiliated hospital— St. Boniface— in the southern town of Fond des Blanc when the earthquake hit.

In an e-mail today he reports the following:

"We arrived Tuesday at 1:30 at Port au Prince and were almost at Fond des Blancs when the earthquake occurred. Thank God as we arrived at the St. Boniface Hospital the damage was minor. We quickly heard how severe was the damage elsewhere.
"We have had continuing tremors and are staying alert but we are safe." Read more

Western Union, the money transfer company, has begun offering "no fee" money transfers to Haiti today, the company tells the Haitian Reporter. The company says the offer is good on "any amount sent to Haiti from the United States, Canada and France... for a period of seven days, once service is reestablished throughout the country, when sending money to Haiti from the U.S., Canada and in France, in cooperation with our Agents." Read more

The International Committee of the Red Cross has set up a missing persons database that can be used to track the whereabouts of loved ones.

A Haitian-American family in Philadelphia is getting text messages from their uncle in Delmas who is seeking relief aid at the Diatsu dealership there. They have posted an appeal at CNN.com Read more

New England Cable News covered tonight's emergency meeting held at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross in the South End.
Related: Menino, state leaders roll out plans for Haiti response

City to open resource center for local families and offer direct outreach to Haiti

Editor's note: The following is a press release issued by Mayor Tom Menino's office at 5:40 p.m. today:

Mayor Thomas M. Menino announced this afternoon that the City of Boston,
in conjunction with a number of community partners, would begin
mobilizing resources to assist the victims and families impacted by the
magnitude-7.0 earthquake that struck Haiti yesterday. In an outreach
effort aimed directly at victims in Haiti as well as local families with
ties to the country, a number of city agencies will work with partner
organizations to open a local resource center for Boston's Haitian
community in addition to sending direct assistance to Haiti. Read more

Massachusetts Senators John Kerry and Paul Kirk are calling on President Barack Obama to lift a ban on granting Temporary Protected Status (TPS) to all Haitian nationals now living in the U.S. , Kerry and Kirk joined 13 other senators in issuing a letter to the president this afternoon.

The letter follows an announcement made by the Office of Homeland Security earlier in the day that said the U.S. would halt "returns" of illegal Haitian immigrants to Haiti "for the time being." That brief statement made no mention of revising the TPS policy. Read more

On the anniversary of the Jan. 12, 2010 earthquake, the Reporter goes back into its archives for a look at how we covered those first hours. Below is a record of that coverage, starting just minutes after word reached Boston.

Tuesday, Jan. 12
(5:50 p.m.)- Haiti, a country besieged by deadly hurricanes and grinding poverty, has experienced yet another catastrophic natural disaster today. CNN is reporting that the island nation has been rocked by a 7.0 magnitude earthquake centered some 10 miles off the coast of the capitol Port-au-Prince.

Kenson Calixte, a Haitian-American from Abington, has talked to two relatives on the ground in Delmas, a community about 15 miles from Port-au-Prince. Calixte said they reported widespread devestation, including a hotel that had collapsed.

"My uncle said he'd never felt anything like this before," said Calixte. "The house shook and there was much damage inside the house. There are houses that have collapsed in his neighborhood."
"My cousin thinks there are casualties there at the hotel. He was walking the street saying there are a lot of people hurt." Read more

Chale MizikChale Mizik
Mme Bruno
Miami-based Chale Mizik ranks high among the Haitian music industry’s roster of new bands. The group’s first release, “Mme Bruno” is a 14-song collection of original material. The album is an independent release. Read more