Hyde Park

The Globe reports on the discovery by Boston firefighters and police yesterday evening at 1661 Hyde Park Ave., in a desolate industrial area right next to the Northeast Corridor train tracks and just a few blocks from Mayor Menino's house.

A lightning bolt shortly before 7 p.m. set the Victorian at 1149 Hyde Park Ave. on fire, the Boston Fire Department reports.

The second floor erupted in flames, with the third floor following not long after. The fire reached two alarms before being knocked down around 7:25.

The department estimates damage at $150,000.

Around 6 p.m. on June 7, a 23-year-old Hyde Park man was sitting in Los Magicos Barber Shop, 79 Fairmount Ave., when he was shot. According to a police report:

A black male, approximately [in his] 20s reached his arm inside the barber-shop door and fired a shot.

The victim was shot in the leg. Three days later, a detective recovered a spent .22-caliber copper-coated hollow-point bullet from inside the seating area of a chair.

The barbershop is in a stretch of Fairmount Avenue that local officials have been trying for years to upgrade - the shop is next door to the Fairmount Grill, which recently opened where Townsends used to be.

On the other side of the neighborhood, on Wood Avenue, a shooting late Saturday has raised fears that the area is seeing the end of relative calm now that several members of the Wood Avenue Eagles gang are getting released from prison.

Police have not announced arrests in either case.

This morning, Scott Isaacs got to Kelly Field on Turtle Pond Parkway to find some jerk on an ATV destroyed the field overnight.

Boston Strolls adds:

Probably same jerks tearing up the Stony Brook trails for a year. Sent photos of them to MassDCR, but no result.

Around 11:15 p.m. on Saturday at 321 Wood Ave., just off River, Stanley Staco reports.

Boston Police report the man is in critical but stable condition at Boston Medical Center - and that a second person was injured by shattered glass.

Around 6 p.m. yesterday outside 78 Fairmount Ave.. No details yet on his or her condition.

Mike Ball checked out the Fairmount Grill and says if you liked Townsends, which it replaces, you'll feel at home here. But its ale and wine lists are not as extensive as Townsends, he adds.

Karie Kirkpatrick asks:

Anyone seen a bobcat in the Hyde Park/Dedham area? My friend swears he saw one in his backyard on Child St.

The Fairmount Grill, where Townsends used to be on Fairmount Avenue, opens at 5 p.m.

H/t Mike Ball.

On June 18, the Zoning Board of Appeals considers a request from Leovofs LLC to turn the derelict Eagles Lodge at Dana and Hyde Park Avenues in Hyde Park into nine apartments and some commercial space and to add a five-car garage.

The proposal, which would be one of the first major changes in Cleary Square in decades, would involve adding two additions to the existing structure, one three stories tall, the other two.

Leovofs, which has mostly developed projects in Dorchester and Mattapan, bought the lodge and its roughly fifth of an acre of land last fall for about $260,000.

The hearing begins at 9:30 a.m. in the ZBA's eighth-floor hearing room in City Hall.

WBZ reports on findings by state regulators that the contractor failed to even check with DigSafe before its workers hit a gas main during road work, which caused an explosion that leveled Michael Burns and Bob Houser's home in 2010. The company fought the state all the way and the couple is now planning to cut their losses and sell the still house-less land.

Boston Police report they are looking for a man in connection with an incident early Friday morning outside 171 Crown Point Dr. in Hyde Park.

Police say the man, wearing a face mask and a black hoodie, walked up to a woman around 6:20 a.m. and pointed a gun directly at her. He then pulled the trigger, but no bullet came out of the gun, police say. He then fled.

He's described as 5'10" with a medium build. If you know him, contact E-5 detectives at 617-343-4595 or the anonymous tip line by calling 800-494-TIPS or texting TIP to CRIME (27463).

Unofficial city returns show state Rep. Linda Dorcena Forry with roughly 82% of the vote against Republican Joe Ureneck.

So who will host next year's St. Patrick's Day breakfast in South Boston?

Meanwhile, in the Democratic primary in the 8th Suffolk state rep's race, Jay Livingstone beat Josh Dawson roughly 68-32.

A Suffolk Superior Court jury today convicted Michael Corbin and Earl Fulgiam for the 2011 double murder of Billie Marie Kee and Kevin Thomas, Jr. in their apartment at 957 Hyde Park Ave., the Suffolk County District Attorney's office reports.

The verdict means a mandatory sentence of life without possibility of parole.

According to the DA's office:

At Ron's in Hyde Park.

At 12:42, State Police tweeted:

Report of explosion at Hyde Park Commuter Rail station is unfounded. Bird flew into overhead power lines. Responding units called off.

Ed. note: I was listening to Boston Fire on the scanner at the time, and they were just responding to a report of smoke underneath the River Street bridge - which was gone when they got there - not an explosion.

WGBH followed Tom Menino's run for a city council seat in 1983.

Yes, Hyde Park has a town/gown problem. James Thomas, one of the owners of Master McGrath's on River Street, told the Boston Licensing Board today that Thursdays are Curry College nights and that the bar employs two door people to check IDs and make sure only students from the college just over the line in Milton get in.

"Locals and the Curry kids kind of don't mix too well in that area," he explained.

Thomas was before the board to do some other explaining - about a report from two Boston Police detectives on a routine inspection who found more people in the bar than allowed by its permit, as well as an underage Curry student on Feb. 7 (a Curry night).

Thomas said one of his doorman's counts showed the bar was exactly at its capacity of 65 - a detective said he counted 91 people. He had no explanation for the underage drinker - but denied a police account that there was no doorman at the door when the two detectives arrived.

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

Jose "Joey" Carrasquillo of Roxbury was ordered held without bail yesterday at his arraignment on a murder charge for the death of Orlando Guerrero at the Mandela Homes project in December, the Suffolk County District Attorney's office reports.

According to prosecutors:

Boston Police homicide detectives conducted an interview with Carrasquillo in which he allegedly admitted to robbing Guerrero with another man. Carrasquillo allegedly admitted that he and the other man arranged to meet Guerrero, that their intent was to rob him, and that he knew the other man was armed with a handgun when they undertook that robbery. Carrasquillo allegedly provided detectives with additional facts and circumstances that were known to investigators but had not been released publicly.

Innocent, etc.

UH has been OK about reporting on the Townsend's shenanigans and delays. Adam's less invested than those of us in lower Hyde Park though.

We're fairly giddy watching sudden activity on the signs of biz. For over a year, a FOR RENT sign has been in the front window by the bar; shades have been down and nothing visible. In the past week:

• An electrician has been modifying the interior in likely prep for a leasee
• Some shades have been up, letting us nosy types see work in process
• Yesterday the rent sign disappeared
• The Townsend's sign holder above the entrance remains, but the old name is gone and just white plastic remains
• Today a plumber started working there

Stuff happening.

If this is a way to pique pent up demand, it's working on me.

The Globe reports a West Roxbury District Court magistrate didn't find probable cause for criminal action against Kenneth Veiga, who was suspended from his job last month after, police say, he threatened a superior with carnage. That came following an incident at the Readville fire station.

Stanley Staco reports somebody in a gray Jeep shot up the area around 1295 Hyde Park Ave. around 7:15 p.m.

The location is roughly a block south of the E-18 police station.

Join Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders at our annual Summer Party held outside in the heart of Provincetown, MA on Saturday, July 27 from 4:00-7:00PM. Enjoy the view of the harbor, mingle with other GLAD supporters and learn more about our ground-breaking cases.

Tickets are $75 online | $85 on site | $30 student
Purchase at www.glad.org/events.

Don't miss our amazing auction and celebrity auctioneer Kate Clinton. You don't have to be present to win. Travel packages, restaurants, massages, and much more - something for everyone!

Children are welcome to attend (at no charge) and will enjoy a range of fun activities.

Delicious summer fare and refreshing cocktails provided.

More information, tickets and sponsorships are available at www.glad.org/events.

Mike Ball reports from the Boston Snow Dog Run today near the Stony Brook Reservation skating rink.

Those of us with images of driven Ititarod racers fairly devouring 1,000 miles of ice and snow were obviously amused at the huskies playing with each other and sometimes pulling in different directions. It seems they are largely pets who have a great time. Getting them competitive is not always easy.