Massachusetts Avenue

The Supreme Judicial Court today upheld first-degree murder convictions for two men who decided to escalate an Orange Line staredown with a rival in 2003 by shooting him, only the guy with the gun missed and instead put a bullet into a woman whose baby was only two weeks from term.

The baby was delivered alive in an emergency Caesarian section, but died shortly after.

The state's highest court ruled Chimezie Akara and Andre Green got a fair trial and they can now spend the rest of their lives thinking about the evening of February 5, 2003, when they turned car 1205 on an inbound Orange Line train into a shooting gallery as it pulled into Mass. Ave.:

A nose-holding citizen reports from Roslindale:

Porter potty needed for field- athletes have no facilities and are using the tunnel that connects Fallon field to Belgrade ave to relieve themselves. It smells like urine and is unnerving for walkers.

And in the South End, a disgusted citizen posts a photo of a hole in the ground:

Homeless people have dug this foot-deep hole in Chester square park and use it as a restroom. It is roughly across the street from 553 mass ave, next to a small tree.

The view from inside 1010 Mass. Ave.

One floor of the city office building at 1010 Massachusetts Ave. was evacuated this afternoon after a worker in the Fire Prevention office opened an envelope "containing a powder substance," the Boston Fire Department reports.

Workers on other floors of the six-story building were told to stay in their offices after the 1 p.m. incident. Mass. Ave. in front of the building was shut down.

The building houses a number of city departments, including Inspectional Services, the Boston Public Health Commission and the Parks and Recreation Department.

Boston Police are being brought into the investigation.

Last night, Jed Hresko followed a chalk line on Mass. Ave. near the Orange Line stop:

Transit Police report a man faces arraignment today on a charge of open and gross conduct for an incident last month in which he "directed his genitals" at a woman on the Orange Line.

According to police, around 6:20 p.m. on March 8, John McDonald, 48, dropped trou on an inbound train just before Mass. Ave. and then kept his junk pointed at the woman for roughly a minute. At Mass. Ave., he sauntered off the train, police say.

Police say McDonald was arrested yesterday at Ruggles after an officer recognized him from a wanted poster.

Innocent, etc.

Gnimsh captured part of his his show in front of the old Best Buy at Mass. Ave. and Newbury.

Ed. note: It will never happen, but wouldn't it be awesome if he teamed up with Chicken Man and danced in the back of his truck?

Shortly before 7 a.m., a driver managed to firmly wedge his box truck into the underpass eastbound at the Harvard Bridge, causing a nice little blockage just as rush hour was getting underway. He tried moving the truck back, but all he did was set of a shower of sparks from where his truck's roof scraped against the top of the underpass.

UPDATE: After working on the truck for around 45 minutes without success, the Cambridge Fire Department ordered an electric saw to the scene to cut the top of the fool thing off.

Jed Hresko captured a new train countdown clock at Mass. Ave. on the Orange Line tonight. The T began rolling out the service on the Red Line a few months ago. He reports:

Pretty sophisticated. The sign changes from ARR to BRD right as the train got halfway down the platform. The signs at the turnstiles announce both directions. Sadly, the voice is gone, now replaced by computer-speak - by necessity, considering the endless combinations that are now announced.

The Globe reports on a crash around 1:15 a.m. at Mass. Ave. and Haviland Street.

Brockton24_7 tweets somebody fell on the tracks at the Mass. Ave. stop shortly before 3 p.m. Service was, of course, halted to let him be scooped up.

Iseut reports on a couple of apples she picked from a tree at the corner of Comm. Ave. and Mass. Ave. Yes, our Comm. Ave. and Mass. Ave.

We ate these in a yummy compote with local garden plums and quince.

Melinda Green spotted a Sob Story Guy and two Sob Story Girls having a little chat this morning at the Mass. Ave. stop on the Orange Line. She reports:

I've been keeping track of the little blond one's tales of woe for over a year now. Wondering if this is their daily starting point? The little blond one must be the pimp-I-mean-the-brains of the operation. Sometimes she has to get back to Providence for 1-3 kids, sometimes age 7, sometimes age 16.

Oh Christ. A new one just boarded my train. Claims to be HIV positive and needs to get to Fall River.

A vigilant citizen reports that that is, indeed, a giant pile of trash outside 581 Mass. Ave. this morning.

Boston Police have their stop-sign runners and speeders and MBTA Transit Police have their fare piggybackers. A man stopped for allegedly evading the fare at the Mass. Ave. Orange Line stop yesterday afternoon proved to have warrants for more serious offenses, police say.

According to a police report, plainclothes officers watched William Brady, 37, of Chelsea, following a fare-paying man through a fare gate at Mass. Ave. around 1:20 p.m.

That's normally good for just a ticket, but a check showed Brady had outstanding warrants for armed robbery and cocaine distribution, the report says. Also, he had a folding knife and some marijuana on him, police say. He was brought to MBTA police HQ for the warrants - and to be issued citations for fare jumping and possession of less than an ounce of marijuana.

Innocent, etc.

A dumbfounded citizen complains, from Mass. Ave. and Melnea Cass Boulevard:

Dude is selling copies of the metro, the free paper. Somewhat aggressive in his approach, knocking on car windows.

An outraged citizen reports from 605 Mass. Ave.:

Street tree vandals have struck again and mostly destroyed a street elm. Needs to have attention and if possible saved or queued to be replaced.

The Mass. Ave. tree killer last struck in February.

Wicked Local Cambridge reports on a Thursday incident on Mass. Ave. in Cambridge.

Channel 4 tracks down and interviews the driver captured on Eoin O'Carrol's helmetcam on Mass. Ave. a couple weeks back.

Also don't realize that some bicyclists now wear helmetcams for just such occasions, as Eoin O'Carroll demonstrates in this video from Mass. Ave. (the Boston one) yesterday:

Boston Police report arresting a man they say took exception to a cab at Mass. Ave. and Boylston Street early this morning and attacked it with his fists and a slice of pizza.

Robert Bragan, 27, of Lynn, was charged with being a disorderly person shortly before 2 a.m., after, police say, he refused to get out of the way of a cab trying to turn onto Mass. Ave. from Boylston.

Witnesses say the suspect began hitting the front of the cab and threw a slice of pizza onto the hood of the vehicle. When asked to step out of the street, the suspect refused and began to verbally disparage the officers.

Innocent, etc.

Turns out one of the four teens arrested for their alleged part in a series of attacks along Mass. Ave. on Aug. 9 was a PITA to Northeastern Police.

The Huntington News reports the kid had been arrested on campus twice for trespassing. A custodian scared him off a third time as he was watching porn on a classroom computer. Cops knew it was the same kid because he fled before he could log out of his Facebook account, the News reports.

Mark Corsillo reports the Au Bon Pain on Mass. Ave., across from the Christian Science Center, is now an ex-Au Bon Pain.

Photo by Mark Corsillo.

Mat Marquis tweeted from the 77 bus this morning:

Driver just put the bus in park in the middle of Mass Ave., between stops. "People aren't moving back enough, so I'm not moving."

"You're already twenty minutes late," a woman protests. "Buy a car," he replies. She exits; he stands, punches the ceiling, then drives.

This was it, for me. This was the one - the commute wherein I swear off that bus forever. Henceforth, I walk to the train station.

Mike Ball reports on last night's hearing on proposed bike lanes along Mass. Ave. from the river to Symphony Hall. Among other topics:

The local D-4 police captain, Paul Ivens (also a cyclist) ... was jolly but firm. Along with their regular duties, his officers have issued several hundreds of tickets to bike-lane car parkers since July. He noted that they would likely be handing out non-ticket tickets to cyclists soon as warning educational devices.

The city holds a hearing on Thursday to see what people think of the proposed addition of bike lanes to one of Boston's busiest streets.

City officials say bicycles now account for up to 14% of vehicle traffic on the avenue during rush hours - and that Mass. Ave. has one of the highest rates of bicycle accidents in the city. Under the city proposal, five-foot bike lanes would be striped on both sides of the road.

The hearing begins at 7 p.m. at the BPL main branch in Copley Square.