And now the state loses out on $145 million in federal stimulus funds; money was to have gone to a fancy-shmancy Silver Line extension through Roxbury and Mattapan that state officials tried to foist on the neighborhoods as a fait accompli.

Lawmakers ask state to withdraw 28X proposal (from the Dorchester Reporter a couple weeks ago).

Steve Poftak is sad.

Earlier:
Gloria Fox, Byron Rushing objected to bus cramming.

Brian Lee faces life without parole if convicted of the 2006 murder of his father, who had taken out several restraining orders against him in the years before his death. More from Channel 4.

Location

Local 718 tweets hazmat units are at 1509 Blue Hill Ave. dealing with "unknown substance oozing from suitcase."

UPDATE: That's out behind Simco's. Gosh, what could be there that might ooze?

Sameski is being lauded for racing into a burning house in Dorchester this afternoon and saving the life of an unconscious 14-year old.

Two years ago, Sameski climbed up into a burning building on Blue Hill Avenue in Mattapan and saved a little girl.

Via GC.

Location

The Boston Fire Department reports a fire in a single-family house on 83 Blake Street went to two alarms this evening and caused an estimated $400,000 in damage.

The homeowner had a fire going in the fireplace; the department says the fire escaped the chimney and set the home's walls ablaze.

Location

Boston Police report that while they continue to look for the killer of Carlos Romero Franco, 31, shot in the face on Oct. 16 at 598 Harvard St., they are now also looking into the ownership of heroin worth an estimated $1 million at the same location.

Police records show that a few hours after Franco's death was reported, a resident of the building was arrested and charged with heroin trafficking. Police did not say if the arrest and Franco's death are connected. In addition to the heroin, police say they also found a gun and cash.

In a development project that's actually happening, construction is now proceeding at a snappy pace at the new mall going up where the old paperboard plant used to be on River Street, near the Mattapan line. And there's now a "coming soon" sign for a PriceRite supermarket. It'll join the Shaw's and Americas' Food Basket, both on Hyde Park Avenue, and the baby Stop & Shop on Truman Parkway.

A 29-year-old man died this afternoon after being shot in the head in his apartment at 598 Harvard St. Police are looking for two suspects.

More to come.

Neponset River Watershed is a Flickr group just for photos of Boston's southern border.

Capt. James Claiborne, who currently heads up Boston Police's B-3 district (Mattapan and parts of Dorchester and Roxbury), is retiring at the end of the month - and will take a job as deputy chief of the Harvard University Police Department.

In a statement, Harvard University says Claiborne and retired Cambridge Police Superintendent Michael Giacoppo will both serve as deputy chiefs and help the university make policing improvements proposed in a report by former Suffolk County District Attorney Ralph Martin.

"His background with community policing, his management experience and his experience working with Boston-area universities will be an asset to the Department," Harvard says.