Franklin Park

The Herald reports BPD is now investigating the incident, which happened as tensions are rising between dog owners who keep their pets leashed in the park and those who don't.

Boston Police report somebody hot-wired five golf carts at the Franklin Park golf course late Tuesday or early Wednesday. Police recovered four of them near the twelfth hole, but say the fifth remains missing.

The officer observed that the control panel of the carts had been ripped from where they were fastened and that the starters were hot-wired to get the carts moving. A Sawzall may have been used to cut the chain of the gate to the holding area.

If you see a golf cart puttering down the street, contact B-2 detectives at 617-343-4789 or the anonymous tip line by calling 800-494-TIPS or by texting TIP to CRIME (27463). Otherwise, the golf course could be in the hole for the $6,000 cost to replace the cart.

BPD rendition of the missing cart.

Sometime overnight, somebody broke into a garage at Franklin Park and ransacked several trucks, making off with several thousand dollars worth of equipment.

Missing burl. Boston Parks photo.Boston Police report arresting a man
who may be responsible for vandalizing trees in the Emerald Necklace in recent months - by sawing off burls, large bark protuberances that are popular among woodworkers and sculptors.

Police say Mike Scanlan's mistake this morning was wielding a chainsaw on a tree in the Fenway Victory Garden, where several witnesses saw and heard him - and then called police after they watched him walk over to an apartment building at 15 Park Drive.

When officers arrived at the gardens, they found "what appeared to be several pieces of freshly cut wood," police say.

Over the past day, rumors have flooded Twitter that the city has canceled the Aug. 25 event because of recent violence, but Jacquelyn Goddard, spokesperson for the Boston Parks and Recreation Department said this afternoon: "The Boston Carnival has not been cancelled."

Jacquelyn Goddard at the Boston Parks and Recreation Department says whoever complained about being forced to print out a coupon to get a discount at the William Devine Golf Course is wrong:

The City of Boston does accept "smart phone" coupons. The coupon for the golf course discount says the coupon "must be presented" and this means we allow golfers to show us the coupon on their phone and that we do not insist the coupon be printed. So, the City of Boston is paperless and that can be an option for golfers.

A puttering citizen complains that he was forced to print out a coupon to get a discount on a round of golf at the Franklin Park course:

Boston Parks and Recreation requires golfers to print out coupons and physically bring them to the course to receive a discount. In this day and age, mister mayor, can you please force them to "GO GREEN" and allow people to present coupons via their smartphone? A lot of people, especially the young professionals you want to keep from moving away, don't own printers.

A concerned citizen tries to help out tourists and other infrequent visitors to the Franklin Park Zoo who might get a sudden yen for animals while puttering around the Back Bay:

This sign at the int. of Beacon and Arlington directs drivers straight down Beacon St to the Franklin Park Zoo. This is bad advice by the city since drivers will hit a lot of unnecessary red lights. The fastest way if you ask most people is a left onto Arlington, left onto Herald, and down the X-way to Columbia Rd.

The city replies by marking the case closed, because while Beacon Street might not be the best route to the zoo, the sign is neither damaged nor missing.

Boston Police say this sketch shows a man they want to talk to in connection with an attempted sexual attack on a woman pushing a baby stroller through the park (near Shattuck Hospital) on Nov. 28.

Police say the man "is not considered a suspect at this time." They say he is Hispanic, in his mid-20’s, 5′ 8” with a medium build.

If he looks familiar, contact detectives at 617-343-4400 or the anonymous tip line by calling 1-800-494-TIPS or texting TIP to CRIME (27463).

The Jamaica Plain Gazette reports the advocacy group is organizing a flashlight march starting at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday from the golf course clubhouse, in reaction to yesterday afternoon's attack on a woman pushing a stroller on the JP side of the park.

It was kind of striking yesterday: Around the same time, women in two separate neighborhoods were reporting being sexually attacked.

One of the attacks got played up extensively in the media, the other didn't. Naturally, it would be easy to assign bias to the fact that the news copters and vans raced to Wellesley to cover the attack by a bald black guy on a white teenager in her large suburban home, but couldn't seem to find Franklin Park on a map (with some exceptions).

Sketch released.

Boston Police are looking for a man they say sexually attacked a woman pushing a baby in Franklin Park near Shattuck Hospital early this afternoon.

Police say the man approached the woman from behind and began attacking her. Some golfers at the nearby golf course heard the woman's screams and managed to scare the guy off.

He's described as Hispanic, 5'8" and 150 lbs, with a black baseball hat, white tanktop and blue jeans. He spoke both Spanish and Spanish-accented English and was carrying a long-sleeved, black T-shirt in his hand as he fled.

Asita introduces us to some of the plant species you can find while meandering Franklin Park's woodier areas, from blueberry bushes to Solomon's seal.

Due to rain forecast for Tuesday. More details.

Nick DiSebastian and Kyle Tuttle performed the Harrison classic the other day on the Jamaica Plain side of Franklin Park.

AlertNewEngland reports two men in an apparently stolen car tried to speed away from police and wound up hitting a pedestrian on Columbus Avenue and two cars, including one that finally stopped them on Seaver Street.

The two men fled on foot. One suspect was quickly captured; the other made it to the bear cages at the Franklin Park Zoo before being apprehended.

The Herald reports on a one-sided tiff: High-school track officials say Boston park rangers kinda suck; Boston park officials say this is news to them. Bottom line: Many meets that used to be at Franklin Park are now being held 25 miles away in Wrentham.

Baaa

The BPL has put up a collection of Boston post cards from the early to mid-1900s, including this one, from back in the day when sheep roamed free in Franklin Park.

Chanie posts a photo of somebody snowboarding up a hill in Franklin Park thanks to a kite. Another photo.

DotBike will be out in force tomorrow afternoon measuring paths in Franklin Park to help convince the Parks Department to allow bikes back in.

The Franklin Park Coalition hosts a tasty tour of Franklin Park this weekend:

Join us this Sunday, May 3rd at 4:00 pm for the popular Weeds as Feed Edible Plants walk in Franklin Park. Learn what can heal you and what you can eat. Believe it or not, spring shoots of the incredibly invasive, Japanese Knotweed, are delicious when cooked into a rhubarb-like compote (and baked with a brown sugar topping!) Bring a trowel and bag for harvesting; there'll be a treat to sample. Led by local naturalist and FPC member, Pamela Kristan. Meet at the Williams Street Entrance to the park along Forest Hills Street.

Earlier:
How Japanese knotweed saved the life of a Franklin Park Zoo giraffe.

Jef Taylor reports he spotted an opossum yesterday in Franklin Park:

... These marsupials, having worked their way up from South America only a couple million years ago, are ill-equipped for New England winters. Their hairless tails and ears are frequently frostbitten, and you can tell an older individual (one that has survived at least one winter, and the oldest will only survive about three) by its truncated extremities. If it weren't for their ludicrous litter size and relatively young sexual maturity, they wouldn't make it here. ...

Earlier:
I still haven't fully recovered from my 2006 'possum trash incident.

Who'da thunk it, that all the snow would be melting on Feb. 7, the same day of the planned snowcapades at Franklin Park? Still, Liam reports there was enough snow left for participants to have a blast, sledding and snowman building. With photos.

That would be Jef Taylor holding the wolf spider he'd just found in Franklin Park:

... This spider probably found paltry hunting out there, and moved toward the building, with it's year-round warmth and year round source of delicious crickets, cockroaches, woodlice, and earwigs. When I found him (his large palps and skinny abdomen suggest he is a male) he had fallen on hard times. He was sluggish, and after some handling began to curl his legs toward his underside in the classic spider death pose. Hopefully his offspring are out there in the warmth of decomposing leaves, snug in an egg-case the female is carrying ...

It's interesting what can pop straight up out of the ground in Franklin Park.