East Boston

Two East Boston residents were charged with heading a ring that would deliver women to johns' homes, the state Attorney General's office reports.

Firefighters are at 518 Sumner St., where a fire was reported shortly after 7:30 p.m.

The Boston Fire Department reports a fire at 114 Bayswater St. did an estimated $40,000 in damage.

Fire officials say the blaze, called in around 11:45 a.m., was confined to the top-floor porch of the house with a cannon out front. Cause: "Careless disposal of a cigarette."

No injuries were reported.

Two Logan Airport baggage handlers were arraigned today on charges they stole thousands of dollars' worth of electronics, tobacco and cash from luggage at Terminal E, which mostly handles international flights.

LaShawn Fontenot, 25, of Lynn, and Joshua Wright, 25, of Mattapan, were arrested yesterday in the baggage area, according to State Police. Wright allegedly had some freshly stolen goods on his person; additional stolen stuff was recovered from both their houses, State Police say.

State Police say Massport contacted them several weeks ago about complaints of thefts from checked luggage.

Both were arraigned in East Boston District Court today on single charges of larceny over $250, but additional charges are expected, the Suffolk County District Attorney's office reports. East Boston District Court Judge Roberto Ronquillo, Jr., released them on their own recognizance with orders to stay away from Logan while their cases are pending.

Innocent, etc.

City Councilor Sal LaMattina wants to slap some sense into Dish Network: Either they voluntarily clean up the eyesore East Boston has become with their goddamned satellite dishes haphazardly hanging everywhere or he'll introduce an ordinance to make them try to install the dishes somewhere other than the front of buildings across the city, the East Boston Times-Free Press reports. Apparently, the company was on the verge of joining a pilot program to de-uglify the neighborhood when Philadelphia moved to ban dishes from the fronts of residences and now the company is refusing to do anything at all until the FCC rules on the matter.

The Boston Fire Department reports a two-alarm fire early this morning did an estimated $100,000 damage to Rosticeria Cancun, 39 Maverick Sq.

The department says part of the problem in putting out the fire, reported around 4:50 a.m., was the tight quarters - the restaurant is only ten feet wide.

read more at bluemassgroup

Cissy Huang sings the praises of Mi Pueblito on Border Street in East Boston:

For just $6, I can get a cheesy hot pupusa and two tacos to go.

The Boston Licensing Board today approved a request by Pollos a la Brasa el Chalan in Day Square to extend its closing time from 11 p.m. to 2 a.m.

Even the mayor's office, which normally opposes requests from restaurants to stay open that late, supported the request, saying its 405 Chelsea St. location is in the middle of a commercial district, that its owner had shown a commitment to not causing problems and that it serves good food to boot. District City Councilor Sal LaMattina and at-large councilors Ayanna Pressley and Felix Arroyo also supported the later hours.

The pollo place has been open since 1997.

Scott Arfin was at Logan today when Wally helped Jet Blue inaugurate its new Soxjet service (see it larger).

An East Boston man who apparently had no time had no time to wait for a hair cut yesterday had plenty of time to wait for his arraignment on a variety of charges today.

Boston Police report arresting Manuel Medrano, 24, of East Boston on charges of threats, unlawful possession of a firearm, unlawful possession of ammunition, assault by means of a dangerous weapon and willful and malicious destruction of property following an incident yesterday afternoon at the Logan Barber Shop, 333 Sumner St. Police say Medrano entered the shop shortly before 1 p.m. and asked for a haircut:

Mike Moura photographed a rollover around 3:30 a.m. on the 300 block of Bremen Street that sent the driver to the hospital with what looked to be a pretty nasty head wound.

Channel 4 reports on some treasure hunters who will soon be sailing from East Boston to retrieve what they say is $3 billion in Soviet platinum that's been sitting off Provincetown since a U-Boat sank the ship carrying it in 1942. Don't get any funny ideas: Channel 4 reports crew members will be "heavily armed."

The East Boston Times-Free Press reports the station will be completely replaced by the spring of 2014 and that work to begin later this year will mean the station will be shut for six months and that buses will replace trains past Airport on weekends for four months.

A painting.

So if you've been to Chicago and think Potbelly is the cat's meow of sandwich places, well, you'll have a new reason to jump on the Blue Line to Airport.

Fans of sandwich chains will recall, of course, that Earl of Sandwich first came to Boston via Logan before winning a bid to turn the former Boston Common men's room into an outlet.

H/t Jim.

Matt Karolian reports a harrowing ride today with a cabbie who refused to accept that city regulations prohibit him from charging the cost of the return toll to people headed to East Boston - a ride that ended at Boston Police District A-7, where the cabbie wanted Karolian charged with fare evasion and Karolian threatened to press a kidnapping charge.

Boston Police are looking for two men for an armed home invasion and pistol whipping around 2:30 p.m. on Wordsworth Street.

The gunman is described as white, 5'9" and about 175 lbs. He was accompanied by another white man, about 6' and 300 lbs., in a dark blue hoodie.

Updated with arrest information.

A Roxbury man was ordered held in lieu of $5,000 bail today on charges he used a special slit in his pants to masturbate and expose himself on a Blue Line train as it traveled under Boston Harbor on Dec. 24, the Suffolk County District Attorney's office reports.

Abdelhakim Rezzoug was arraigned in East Boston District Court on a charge of open and gross lewdness for the incident. A rider captured him on video as he got off the train at Airport around 5:40 p.m., MBTA Transit police say. The DA's office says that not long after MBTA police released a wanted poster, a Boston Police sergeant reported he knew that guy - he was a resident of a DMH facility.

The DA's office says Rezzoug was arrested today on the Blue Line and that he will also be charged for a similar incident earlier on Dec. 24 on the Red Line.

The video taken by a passenger:

Boston Police report a Hispanic man in his early 20s was found stabbed at 100 Meridian St. He was taken to Mass. General, where he was pronounced dead.

Channel 5 reports a Peabody woman was stopped from bringing a cupcake back to Boston from Las Vegas by an alert TSA agent who felt the frosting was too "gel-like."

That it was "gel-like" at all was pretty amazing since the woman had brought it with her on a flight from Boston to Las Vegas, where she didn't eat it and then, for some reason, decided to bring it back home again, perhaps (althought the article does not state this) because she lives on the North Shore and the cupcake was from Wicked Good Cupcakes all the way down on the South Shore.

The East Boston Times-Free Press reports on efforts by clammers for compensation for lost wages caused when a large spill at the airport last year that caused the death of clams in beds around the airport.

Matt Karolian wonders what happened in East Boston to delay his package.

The Herald reports on the looming battle royale between Tom Menino, who wants a casino at Suffolk Downs, and Robert Kraft, who wants a casino next to his football stadium/mall in Foxboro.

A fellow passenger alerted a Delta flight crew to the "explicitly sexual and extremely disturbing" photos of children Grant Smith was allegedly looking at on a plane headed to Boston, the Suffolk County District Attorney's office reports.

Smith, a material-sciences professor at the University of Utah, was ordered held in lieu of $75,000 bail following his arraignment today in East Boston District Court.