The view from inside 1010 Mass. Ave.

One floor of the city office building at 1010 Massachusetts Ave. was evacuated this afternoon after a worker in the Fire Prevention office opened an envelope "containing a powder substance," the Boston Fire Department reports.

Workers on other floors of the six-story building were told to stay in their offices after the 1 p.m. incident. Mass. Ave. in front of the building was shut down.

The building houses a number of city departments, including Inspectional Services, the Boston Public Health Commission and the Parks and Recreation Department.

Boston Police are being brought into the investigation.

The Dorchester Reporter posts a statement from the Richard family of Dorchester.

Specifically, in not finding the nearest dumpster and tossing a certain Globe columnist into it headfirst after said columnist (one guess which one) accused him of taking steroids because, after all, he's old and Dominican (yes, he went there). Not linking to the column because I don't feel like giving him my two cents worth of Web traffic, but it should be easy enough to find for anybody who can log into bostonglobe.com.

The total numbers may be small, but they're trending upward: The latest statistics from Boston Police show 76 people were shot in Boston between Jan. 1 and May 7 - a 41% increase over the same period last year.

The 13 fatal shootings we've had this year are up 2 from last year. We've also seen more arrests for gun possession - 143 vs. 117 last year.

Through May 7, we've had 17 murders (which includes the three people who died in the Marathon bombings), compared to 16 last year. Overall, however, major crime - from purse snatchings and car breakins to rape and murder - is down 12% from the year before.

City Councilor Sal LaMattina (East Boston, North End) warns our status as a world-class city is threatened by inadequate funding for our parks:

I know that we recognize that protecting, preserving and improving our parks is vital to continuing to grow Boston's population and maintaining our status as a world class city.

Mibsam Wiggins, 23, of Roxbury was one of the two men shot to death while sitting in a car in the parking lot of the Warren Street Walgreens last week.

Wiggins's mother, Melinda Stewart, writes:

The family of Mibsam Wiggins is reaching out to the community in hopes of raising donations to assist with the cost of his burial. Despite the tremendous loss to our family and community we know that he is at peace in his new home with the Lord. We know that he is in a place where there is no more struggling, no pain, and he is not suffering any longer. Please consider helping our family lay Mibsam to rest. The Mibasm Wiggins Fund was established at TD Bank: Any TD Bank branch location will accept donations to this fund. Mibsam is the son of Melinda Stewart.

In an interview with the Herald today, Tina Chery, founder of the Louis D. Brown Peace Institute, discusses her so far fruitless efforts to set up a fund to help Bostonians with children murdered in street violence pay to bury those children.

The folks at the Boston City Archives wonder if you can figure out when and where in Boston this photo was taken. See it larger.

South End strolling.

After I posted the photo of the tortoise on a leash in the Back Bay, Kate Terrado reported she'd seen - and photographed - the lady and the tortoise in the South End last week. Hopefully, that bag isn't for cleaning up after the tortoise because, well, yeesh.

Alison Rush spotted this plump possum on the steps of her apartment building this evening.