Mattapan
Boston Police report arresting a Boston man yesterday following a carjacking in Mattapan and an attempted carjacking in Quincy. Read more
Ghetto Uprising notes the strange absence of mailboxes along the street:
if my frustrated, informal, impromptu, rushed survey of Blue Hill Ave while looking for a mailbox is correct, then there are more liquor stores and churches on that street than there are mail drops. ...
Channel 7 reports on a late-night crash in which the truck went up the front steps of St. Paul's Victory Christian Assembly of God, 870 Cummins Highway.
Boston Police report officers responded to 60 Goodale Rd. around 5:40 this morning to find a man lying on the ground with a gunshot wound.
He was taken to Boston Medical Center, where he died later in the day. Police are describing him only as black and 22.
Bob LeLievre breaks down Coakley's large win in Boston by neighborhood, along with comparisons to 2006 numbers for Deval Patrick. Some interesting numbers: She lost South Boston, barely took West Roxbury, Charlestown and Tom Menino's redoubt of Readville, but got 96% of the vote in Mattapan and 92% in Roxbury.
Next stop, Newport, RI
You cross over to Milton from Mattapan Square and one of the first things you see is a sign pointing the way to Newport, RI, and you think "Huh?" Was there ever a time when people in Mattapan or Milton needed to know the way to Newport, RI?
UPDATE: Yes, there was. See NotWhitey's note in the comments.
Boston Police tweet a car and bus carrying 16 students collided at Blue Hill Avenue and Woodhaven Street this morning. Police say the injuries were minor.
Boston Police tweet the two bodies were found inside 50 Fairlawn Ave. this morning and that the homicide unit is on scene. The Globe reports police are looking at a murder/suicide.
A Suffolk Superior Court jury today found Brian Lee, 45, guilty of first-degree murder for the 2006 death of his father, Edward Lee, in his Mattapan home, the Suffolk County District Attorney's office reports. Read more
Chris Faraone interviews Singapore Kane, who says he's the best rapper in Mattapan:
... "I stand out for a few reasons," he says. "I don't really consider myself a street dude, but you can look me in the eyes and see that I got stabbed right in my face. I've seen someone get shot a couple of times, and it's something that will give you nightmares. Rappers need to stop glorifying bullshit and tell both sides of the story. If you talk about selling drugs, then you have to talk about going to jail." ...
But is Mattapan too old school? Maybe it's time to make way for Roslindale.
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.
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.
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.
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.
The fast-moving storm that just hit Boston knocked down trees across the city, Boston Fireman tweets:
A tree that fell on Cooper Street in the North End blocked the street and hit a couple of parked cars, while plunging trees on Greenville Street in Roxbury and Courtland Road in Mattapan took power lines down with them. A tree also fell across the road at Alwin Street and Dietz Road in Hyde Park.
A federal appeals court ruled today Suffolk County prosecutors can use a gun seized from a man who ran away from cops on Blue Hill Avenue in Mattapan as evidence against him. Read more
Mark Baard posts a photo of a sign in Mattapan Square seeking Michael Jackson impersonators.
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