Beacon Hill

One of Boston's more unusual public monuments is the unexploded (but presumably defused) mine the Navy had put in the North Sea to blow up U-boats during World War I, now permanently on display next to the Soldiers and Sailors Monument at the top of Boston Common.

A Beacon Hill Times photo of a grinning German faker and his little daughter leaving church one Palm Sunday may be iconic, but Sony did not violate any copyright laws by using a replica in a TV show because it removed the elements that made the original photo unique, a federal appeals court ruled today.

Donald Harney, who took the photo on April 1, 2007 as the pair left the Church of the Advent, sued Sony because it didn't try to pay him for a similar photo it used in a made-for-TV movie about the faux-Rockefeller.

In its ruling, the US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit in Boston agreed with Harney that Sony copied his work, with a photo of actors posed like Rockefeller and his daughter.

But, it continued, Sony removed the palm leaf from the actress's hands and the church from the background, so the main similarity that remained was that of a father holding his daughter, which is so commonplace it's hardly copyrightable.

• Complete ruling

The city alerts us that skating on the Common has been canceled today due to weather.

Steve was in the State House yesterday for the quadrennial convening of our electors. To nobody's surprise, Obama and Biden won - after the grandchildren of the older electors led them and legislators in the Pledge of Allegiance.

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

At 5:54 a.m., MassDOT tweeted:

Traffic Alert: Boston- Storrow Drive tunnel at Leverett Circle, overheight truck stopped @ tunnel entrance. Traffic back up both ramps.

At 6:12 a.m., the agency alerted those who were awake that the truck had been removed (but that traffic was still heavy as a result).

A concerned citizen parent complains:

Frog Pond playground. Is this ramp supposed to hang so far below handrails? Seems dangerous. Have seen lots of kiddos fall through, including mine today.

The Boston Licensing Board yesterday approved a request from Domino's to extend the delivery hours of its Staniford Street outlet from 1 a.m. to 3 a.m. because of near-unanimous support from West End resident groups and nearby businesses - a dramatic difference from the reception Domino's has gotten in certain other neighborhoods.

Two hotels and Mass. Eye and Ear both supported the Domino's request, saying their customers and workers both require pizza late at night. Mass. General acknowledged its overnight workers often partake of Domino's fare, but refuses to formally support licensing requests, William Mohan, a Domino's rep, told the board.

Mohan said the later hours would ease pressures on existing late-night Domino's in other parts of the city, which he said now struggle to keep up the demand from the small neighborhood.

The main opposition at a board hearing on Wednesday came from the mayor's office, which wanted the board to delay action until after Domino's could meet with civic groups in neighboring Beacon Hill. A mayor's liaison said her office is concerned that later pizza delivery would only encourage Suffolk students living on Beacon Hill to party hardier later into the night.

She added the city is also concerned about driver safety, citing a recent attack on a late-night pizza delivery guy. When Mohan said he was unaware of any such incidents, she acknowledged it had happened in Dorchester.

The Herald reports a deeded parking space at the Brimmer Street garage on Beacon Hill now goes for $300,000 - plus $250 a month in maintenance fees. But hey, you're worth it - and as the Herald article, written by a real-estate broker, helpfully notes:

The price tag of $1,754 per square foot may seem outrageous, but it's less than some residences in the city.

A concerned citizen on Beacon Hill complained after the Boylston trolley accident this afternoon:

Is the helicopter circling for the T accident really necessary?? I don't think so... it's not medflight just the news being overly obnoxious. Not safe for it to fly over heavily populated areas. I thought there were safety regulations?

The city quickly closed the case:

The city of boston does not have jurisdiction over media helicopters in the area. i believe permission is granted through the federal aviation administration.

Boston Municipal Court Judge Mark Hart Summerville set bail at $1 million for Anthony Williams, charged with forcing his way into a Beacon Hill residence and raping its occupant, the Suffolk County District Attorney's office reports.

Should Williams, convicted of a 1996 rape in Salem, make bail, he'll still sit behind bars, because Summerville revoked his bail on an unrelated assault-and-battery charge.

The DA's office provided the following account of the alleged attack and Williams's capture:

Boston Police report arresting Anthony Williams, 45, on charges he forced his way into a Beacon Hill apartment, raped its occupant and stole some of her possessions early on Nov. 10.

Williams, convicted of a 1996 rape in Salem, is scheduled for arraignment tomorrow in Boston Municipal Court. According to the Suffolk County District Attorney's office, Williams was already wanted for failing to register as a sex offender for that case as well as for a separate assault-and-battery charge.

In 2002, the Massachusetts Appeals Court ruled Williams had gotten a fair trial.

Innocent, etc.

Suffolk University Professor Bob Allison as a Pilgrim on approaching winter.

A slipsiding citizen complains about Ridgeway Lane, off Cambridge:

River of fryer grease. People slipping and falling, getting injured. Attracting rats.

Craig posts a copy and photos of the handwritten note he found attached to the Robert Gould Shaw/54th Massachusetts memorial across from the State House yesterday:

Dear 54th Massachusetts regiment,

Thank you for your service. You fought during a time when the country was ripped in two, the wound bleeding with the souls of its people. On that fateful day, some of your bodies perished, but never did your spirit. You all serve this country forever and always with your devotion to the belief that one nation and all its people should stand united under a belief in the powers - the liberty - of man. Now, again, our county has split in two and I leave this as a piece of my thanks to those who believe in the solidarity of this country's people.

Sincerely, A Citizen

UPDATE: Arrest made.

Surveillance photo released by BPD

Boston Police report they are looking for a man they say sexually assaulted a woman in her apartment around 2 this morning at Joy and Myrtle streets on Beacon Hill. The man also robbed her, police say.

Boston Police report three men were stabbed in two altercations early Sunday.

Police say around 1:30 a.m., two men were stabbed following a fight with a larger group of men at 74 Beacon St. One victim, 24, was stabbed in the shoulder; the other, 25, in the back. Both are expected to survive, police say:

Troublewithtribbles photographed this building-sized Halloween decoration on one of the stately manors of Louisburg Square last night.

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

The owners of Scholars are planning a $1-million makeover of an old storefront office on Beacon Street to create a neighborhood bar with a "whiskey lounge," two pool tables and American food with "a French bistro twist to it."

The Boston Licensing Board decides tomorrow whether to license Carrie Nation, 11 Beacon St.

Attorney William Ferrullo said the management team behind the nearby Scholars are behind the planned renovation of the old Boston Real Estate Board offices.

"This will not be an Irish pub," he emphasized.

The application does not include a request for hatchets with which to smash whiskey barrels.

A Somerville man was arraigned on charges of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon today for an attack early Monday that left a man walking down a Beacon Hill street with a broken nose, a broken hand and facial injuries, the Suffolk County District Attorney's office reports.

A Boston Municipal Court judge set bail at $1,000 for James Plunkett, 26.

According to the DA's office, the 29-year-old Army veteran - who suffered head and neck injuries in an explosion in Iraq - was walking near the intersection of Charles and Pinckney streets around 1:30 a.m. with his wife, when he saw a couple of guys urinating on the sidewalk:

MBTA Transit Police report arresting a Maynard man on charges he indecently assaulted a woman - twice - on an inbound Red Line train around 8:30 a.m. on Oct. 3 after the train left Charles/MGH.

Ashish Mittal, 38, was arrested yesterday on a charge of indecent assault and battery, police say.

Innocent, etc.

The Globe reports.

The Boston Public Health Commission says the woman, in her 50s, was hospitalized, but has since been released. However, because she had traveled before becoming ill, the commission has no idea whether she picked up the virus from one of our local infected mosquitoes.

The virus has been detected in mosquito samples from Dorchester, Hyde Park, West Roxbury, Roslindale, East Boston and Jamaica Plain, the commission says, adding that the risk won't go away until the first hard frost.

In most people the virus creates mild flu-like symptoms, but people with compromised immune systems can have bigger problems.

In 1995, the House of Compassion opened its doors taking in people living with HIV and AIDS to live in a welcoming home environment. The House now faces closure, with a looming 30,000 in debt threatening the homes of their ten residents. Find out more about the House of Compassion!

This just in from the Boston Police Department:

Traffic & Parking Advisory: Relative to College Move in Weekend August 31-September 4, 2012 Residents should expect congestion and delays in the areas of Allston, Brighton, Fenway, Back Bay, Mission Hill and Beacon Hill as 70,000 college students will be moving in these neighborhoods.