East Boston

Daniel Weintraub files this report:

Last night a fallen soldier, escorted by 2 active Marines was returned to Boston on my flight from Atlanta. The casket was received with full honors outside the gate by the Massport FD, Local State Troopers, Local Marines, and of course the family. Heartbreaking scene. A good 1/4 of our flight stood and watched with respect from the terminal as the casket was unloaded.

Would anybody know who he was?

Channel 4 reports Robert Kraft and Steve Wynn are suspending their effort to get a casino built in Foxboro, now that Foxboro voters have given anti-casino forces a majority on the board of selectmen - giving the Suffolk Downs proposal even better odds at getting the one eastern-Mass. casino license. Voters in East Boston and Revere still get to vote on the idea, however.

Erin Sullivan reports from the Blue Line today:

Dude next to me on the MBTA had an iguana on his shoulder and I didn't notice until it tried TO CLIMB ON ME. There goes 10 years of my life. I fear reptiles as much as I fear birds only I SHOULD NEVER ENCOUNTER A REPTILE.

A Revere man was ordered held without bail at his arraignment today on charges he beat and sliced up a drinking buddy early Friday, then dragged his body into an alley - leaving behind at least two of his fingerprints in his victim's blood - the Suffolk County District Attorney's office says.

Sara photographed the cab line at Logan around 12:45 this morning.

Mark Garfinkel got a cool shot tonight.

SantaBoston Police report arresting Cristian Santa, 20, on charges he fatally stabbed John Barrientos, 50, early Friday.

Barrientos's body was found behind 220 Chelsea St., around 7 a.m. on Friday.

Santa, arrested around 10 p.m. on Saturday, will be arraigned tomorrow in East Boston District Court.

2012 Boston murder map.

Innocent, etc.

The BPL has been posting horse photos by Leslie Jones, including this scene at Suffolk Downs in 1935.

Posted under this Creative Commons license.

UPDATE: Revere man arrested for murder of John Barrientos.

Boston Police report finding a man with "multiple traumas" around 7 a.m. outside 220 Chelsea St. in East Boston.

The exact cause of his death remains under investigation. Peter Schworm of the Globe, however, tweets neighbors told him police were calling it a stabbing.

MassDOT reports some good news for East Boston drivers.

No wonder she's smiling: Look at that wad of bills.

The FBI's Bank Robbery Task Force has released a couple of photos of the woman they say held up the Sovereign Bank branch in Maverick Square last Wednesday.

She's described as 5'3" with brown hair, about 110 lbs. and in her 20s. She was wearing baggy pants and a hoodie that said "PINK" on the back.

The Boston Fire Department reports a fire that started around 5 p.m. at 7 Havre St. did an estimated $250,000 in damage. Two firefighters were treated for debris in their eyes. No residents were injured, the Red Cross and the mayor's office are assisting residents to find new places to stay.

The cause of the fire is under investigation; ISD is on scene looking at a possible illegal apartment in the basement.

Greg Cook took plenty of photos at today's Wounded Vet Ride from Everett to East Boston, which this year honored Marine Cpl. Evan Reichenthal of Princeton and Marine Cpl. Greg Caron of Ellington, CT, who both lost legs during combat in Afghanistan. The Boston Fire Department, which flew a large flag across the route (along with the Massport Fire Department), estimates 2,000 motorcyclists took part.

WBUR reports on the new branch, which will replace the current two branches - and be larger than both of them combined.

Redsox223 watched as the first non-stop JAL flight from Tokyo landed at Logan yesterday, after passengers were feted with Boston-inspired donuts and clam chowder.

Copyright Redsox223. Posted in the Universal Hub pool on Flickr.

Jean "Tyson" Torres Vargas, wanted for allegedly beating a man to death at an East Boston bus-stop was arrested by Chelsea Police today, the Suffolk County District Attorney's office and Boston Police report.

Vargas is now due to be arraigned in Suffolk Superior Court tomorrow. Prosecutors charge he beat Michael Costa so severely on Nov. 2, 2010 that Costa never fully recovered and died in December, 2011.

A clerical error in the Suffolk County Criminal Clerk's office let Vargas walk before he could be arraigned.

Innocent, etc.

Photos from BPD.

A Suffolk County grand jury has indicted an East Boston man for the death of Michael Costa 13 months after Costa was beaten to the ground at a bus stop on Nov. 2, 2010. Boston Police and the Suffolk County District Attorney's office have launched a manhunt for Jean "Tyson" Torres Varga, thanks to a mistake by the Suffolk County Criminal Clerk's Office, which let him walk by mistake before his araignment.

Police say Costa and a friend were waiting for a bus on Meridian Street when Costa spotted Vargas and pointed him out to his friend because he knew the two had had words before:

The Revere Journal reports on one man's campaign against the proposed Suffolk Downs casino, which would be mostly in East Boston, but enough in Revere that that city gets to vote on allowing it as well.

Boston Police this morning are looking for Jeffrey Cooper, an autistic teen with a love of trains and the Boston Garden. Police are attempting to use a LoJack-like system that led to his safe return after he disappeared last September.

No Eastie Casino holds an open house on Wednesday, starting at 7 p.m. at Sacred Heart Catholic Church, 303 Paris St., in East Boston.

Mayor Menino today announced a Host Community Advisory Committee to consider the ramifications of a proposed resort casino at Suffolk Downs, chaired by Brian Leary, partner at McCarter and English (and, yes, former Channel 5 reporter).

Other members: Sarah Barnat, VP of development, National Development (and East Boston resident); Lisa Calise, CFO, Perkins School for the Blind (and former top financial aide to the mayor); and Ronald L. Walker II, president and founding partner of Next Street.

WBZ reports Massport is expected to make a final decision on April 26 on a three-month pilot project.

A fed-up citizen complains about the Western Union flyers now found all over the neighborhood advertising money-transfer services to Latin America, to the point where they've gotten more annoying than the omnipresent phone-book stacks, because at least those stay in one place:

The streets are dirty enough, can't the city fine them for these blowing all over the neighborhood?

Firefighters are at 330 Chelsea St., where a fire quickly went to three alarms shortly before 2 p.m. About five minutes later, firefighters were ordered off the roof and a fourth alarm was ordered. After the roof collapsed and firefighters evacuated the building, a fifth alarm was ordered around 2:45; a sixth at 3:15 p.m.; a seventh at 3:25 when fire flared up in the original location.

The following just in from State Police:

Troopers from Troop F of the Massachusetts State Police, along with a State Police bomb squad K-9, the Massport Fire Department, and TSA security personnel, responded to a bag room at Logan Airport this morning after TSA personnel noticed a noxious odor coming from a checked bag. The bag room was evacuated and people who had been in the room were quarantined until the identify of the item was determined. Troopers and Hazmat personnel identified the source of the odor as a common household chemical item that a couple had placed into their bags to ward off mice. The chemical was disposed of, and the situation determined to pose no threat. The couple was traveling overseas. They were allowed to continue on their way, and the bag was allowed on board. The room was aired out; no one who smelled the odor required medical attention. The scene has been cleared.