"State of the City" Tonight

Mayor Thomas Menino will address Boston residents and employees tonight in his 11th-annual state of the city address.

This is the second year Menino has chosen to speak from a Dorchester neighborhood, rather than downtown Boston. Last year, his speech focused on basic city services such as education, parks and safety, with a promise to decrease violent crime in hotspots like Dorchester.

Homicides and shootings in the city did decline in 2007 compared with the previous year. The tone or content of tonight's address may be influenced by a planned picket outside the event. The Boston Firefighters' Union is expected to demonstrate because of a contract dispute.

The city has declined to give the union a 21 percent raise over four years in exchange for random drug and alcohol testing.