Hey, there! Log in / Register

'Little blonde girl' causes big ruckus in Alley

A Boston Police sergeant today described a near-riot that allegedly started inside the Gypsy Bar when a joker called a woman a lesbian.

Sgt. John McBrien told the Boston Licensing Board that a Gypsy manager bounced the man and his pal around 1:30 a.m. on March 19 after one of the woman's companions complained. But at closing time, McBrien said, the woman and two friends began to have words with the bartender as they were leaving. McBrien, who was on scene, was talking to the manager at the entrance, when all of a sudden, "a shoe, like a wingtip," came flying at the manager.

McBrien said he turned to face the women and told them they better not be throwing shoes around; that could get them arrested. In response, he said, one of the three, "a little blonde girl," ran up to him, swearing at him and grabbing him by the neck. As he was trying to get her off him, he said, some guy came up and began swearing at him and demanding he leave the woman alone. Some other guy then grabbed that guy and they started fighting. The other two women jumped in, a fight was on and the hordes assembled in the Alley all seemed to jump in and began brawling, he said.

"There was a melee going on," he said. Meanwhile, he continued, he tried radioing for help but couldn't get anybody to respond beyond the detail officers on scene because some cop had left his radio on for ten minutes, making it impossible for anybody else to get through to the dispatcher. Order was eventually restored and "the little blonde girl" wound up under arrest.

The licensing board decides Thursday what action, if any, to take against the bar for the incident.


Ad:


Like the job UHub is doing? Consider a contribution. Thanks!

City licensing head: Bouncers who instinctively punch flailing patrons in the mouth should find a different line of work

A bouncer at the Tam, 222 Tremont St., acknowledged today that when a possibly drunk customer objected to being ejected by hitting him in the cheek, he responded by punching the guy in the mouth.

Boston Licensing Board Chairwoman Nicole Murati Ferrer acknowledged the bouncer may have felt under attack during the incident around 8:20 p.m. on March 20 - especially after he said he feels "terrified by some of the people out there." A Boston Police detective told the board the bouncer punched the man "reflexively" after getting hit himself.

But Ferrer continued, "Maybe you should change jobs. ... Unfortunately your job does require you to have more restraint than usual."

The patron was being escorted out of the bar because staff thought he might be drunk - the bouncer said he tried to quietly persuade the man for close to 15 minutes to leave because his eyes kept closing and he seemed "under the weather." Finally, he said, he took the man's beer glass away and began to walk him out. He said the man began screaming and threatening to call OSHA and have the bar shut down. As soon as they got outside, he said, the man punched him in the cheek.

The man, however, denied being drunk, although under questioning from the bar's attorney, did admit to having downed a shot of whiskey before arriving at the Tam. He said he was in the bar because he had just withdrawn money from a nearby ATM and had learned a woman with whom he had an appointment in the building had told him she couldn't see him. Ferrer would not let the bar's attorney argue the man was in the bar upset because the woman was a prostitute who was refusing his business. The man said he had all the money in his pocket because he'd planned to wire several hundred dollars to his family in Africa. He denied hitting the bouncer.

The licensing board decided Thursday what action, if any, to take against the Tam for the incident.


Ad:


Like the job UHub is doing? Consider a contribution. Thanks!

When umbrellas are outlawed ...

Wicked Local Burlington reports the Burlington Mall was evacuated and police from five towns - and the State Police and a regional SWAT unit - called in for what was reported as a man with a rifle, who turned out to be a man with an umbrella.

The umbrella mistaken for a gun.


Ad:


Like the job UHub is doing? Consider a contribution. Thanks!

Odor of burnt pot no longer reason to pull somebody out of a parked car, court rules

Prosecutors can't use a rock of crack cocaine found in a Jamaica Plain man's pocket against him, because Boston Police officers shouldn't have pulled him out of the illegally parked car he was in, the Supreme Judicial Court ruled today.

The court said decriminalization of possession of small amounts of marijuana in 2008 means police should have done no more than write Benjamin Cruz a ticket for illegally parking next to a hydrant on Sunnyside Street in Jamaica Plain.

Suffolk County prosecutors argued the odor of burned marijuana was only one of several justifications for ordering Cruz out of the car, including the fact he appeared very nervous and was parked in Hyde Square, a high-crime area.

But the court said nope, not good enough; the cops did not have sufficient grounds on which to conduct a warrantless search. Young men have reasons to be nervous around cops that have nothing to do with hiding criminal activity, Cruz was specifically known to one of the cops as a kid who had avoided trouble up to that point and he was sitting in a car on the very street on which he lived.

Not only has the penalty scheme for possession of one ounce or less of marijuana changed, as the Commonwealth concedes, but the status of this conduct changed as well. By mandating that possession of such a small quantity of marijuana become a civil violation, not a crime, the voters intended to treat offenders who possess one ounce or less of marijuana differently from perpetrators of drug crimes.


Ad:


Like the job UHub is doing? Consider a contribution. Thanks!

Hunt on for driver whose car hit little kid, then drove off

Boston Police are looking for the driver of a Mitsubishi who hit a 6-year-old child on Delhi Street shortly before 7 p.m. yesterday, sending him to the hospital with serious injuries.

Police recovered the car this morning about a mile away on Oakridge Street. No arrests have yet been made.

Mon, 04/18/2011 - 18:45
Neighborhoods: 
Topics: 


Ad:


Like the job UHub is doing? Consider a contribution. Thanks!

The next set of MBTA apps is now approaching the station

The MBTA today kicks off a program to find developers who want to give commuters a way to complain immediately about the problems they see.

As first reported on Universal Hub, the T's new Commuter Connect program will let developers of mobile apps tie into an API so that users can upload complaints and photos of problems.

Developers who sign up for an API key and submit an app by May 20 can win a one-month pass good for travel anywhere on the MBTA system.

The purpose of the Commuter Connect Application Challenge is to incentivize the creation of applications that allow customers to submit comments and pictures of issues they see in the system. These applications will allow customers to submit pictures of infrastructure issues, comments, or safety concerns directly to our customer service center using the Commuter Connect tools.

Commuter Connect is modeled on Boston's Citizen Connect complaint system.


Ad:


Like the job UHub is doing? Consider a contribution. Thanks!

A little bit of quiet on a manic day

Amanda Wild shows quiet happens even on a Green Line train entering Copley.


Ad:


Like the job UHub is doing? Consider a contribution. Thanks!

Who are "They"?

Faster than Peter Rabbit escaped from Mr. McGregor's Garden, the news that a Seattle third-grade school teacher banned the use of the term "Easter Eggs" has taken the Internet by storm.

What purportedly happened was that a 16-year old girl who was volunteering at the school attempted to give a classroom full of kids candy hidden inside colored plastic eggs but their teacher stopped her, saying she'd have to check with the school's administration. Subsequently, the girl was told that she could distribute the eggs, but only if she called them "Spring Spheres". (The giving of candy to children was apparently okay, without challenge.)

This happened last week. Since then, everyone began searching, without luck, for proof it actually happened.

That didn't stop local Fox 25 personality Maria Stephanos from spouting off about what she heard. Stephanos, who considers her position "a passion, not just a job," made her comments on the news, the other night. Here she is with self-proclaimed "scientist" (you know, like Einstein, or Hawking), Kevin Lemanowicz.

My favorite quotes:

"First they were saying "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas" and now, the politically correct, they are going after Easter."

"They want to take religion out of the annual egg hunt."

"If you don't want to participate in Easter ... then don't."

Of course, 1) it wasn't an egg hunt; and, 2) it never happened.

But, does that even matter? They are still out there.

The original radio show that kicked off the drama: Seattle school renames Easter eggs 'Spring Spheres'


Ad:


Like the job UHub is doing? Consider a contribution. Thanks!

A call that gave firefighters paws

Cambridge fire

ChinatownKicks reports Cambridge firefighters responded to Paws on the Ave, 2528 Mass. Ave., for a fire this afternoon. No injuries were reported.

Copyright ChinatownKicks. Posted in the Universal Hub pool on Flickr.


Ad:


Like the job UHub is doing? Consider a contribution. Thanks!

Wonder if they had any takers?

Demotivators

Nathanael Hevelone captured a pair of demotivators along the Marathon route today.

Posted under this Creative Commons license and in the Universal Hub pool on Flickr.


Ad:


Like the job UHub is doing? Consider a contribution. Thanks!

Pages