Beacon Street

Turlach MacDonagh spotted this Town Taxi cab on Beacon Street the other day:

Masshole parking for taxis 101. I didn't realize that you could use crosswalks for parking too! What great dual use. The killer is there was 3 free legit spots behind me. And if you are wondering if the driver was in the car, nope.

Copyright Turlach MacDonagh. Posted in the Universal Hub pool on Flickr.

The scene. Photograph by Cory Gardner.

Updated with MIT info.

Kanako Miura, 36, a visiting scientist at MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, died this afternoon when she was struck by a dump truck, MIT and Stanley Staco report.

Boston Police report the victim was pronounced dead at the scene shortly after the 3:30 p.m. incident.

A mangled silver and black bicycle, believed to be hers, was found several blocks away on Bay State Road at Silber Way, Brian D'Amico reports.

Proper Bostonian reports on the wild turtle (tortoise?) she spotted ambling down Beacon Street near Charlesgate, all by himself:

There were a lot of runners passing by; it was likely he'd get squashed on or run over if he wasn't relocated. Bringing him home to meet the cats flashed through my mind for maybe a second; they have never mentioned any interest in amphibians reptiles, although the kittens have more scientific curiosity than Possum or Wendy. But I didn't see that scenarios ending well.

Finally, I picked him up and carried him to some green weeds under a rosebush, not far from the Muddy River.

An irate citizen complains about this BTD vehicle on Beacon Street in the Back Bay:

BTD has the time to hassle an elderly woman double parked with no traffic trying to get stuff out of a car as she is dropped off, yet has their windshield almost totally obscured with figurines and plush toys!

Turlach MacDonagh wonders: Why were happy green people carrying a big log down Beacon Street in Brookline this morning?

UPDATE: Looks like it's this thing where people undergo a simulated special-forces training run. H/t Matt D.

Copyright Turlach MacDonagh. Tagged as universalhub on Flickr.

Neville Williams took this photo of smoking Green Line tracks at Coolidge Corner around 12:40 p.m., around the time the T was issuing an alert about delays due to "fire department activity" in Coolidge Corner.

Boston Police report three men were stabbed in two altercations early Sunday.

Police say around 1:30 a.m., two men were stabbed following a fight with a larger group of men at 74 Beacon St. One victim, 24, was stabbed in the shoulder; the other, 25, in the back. Both are expected to survive, police say:

Stuck car in Brookline. Photo by MBTA

UPDATE: Seems to be a national epidemic.

The MBTA reports a woman who says she was only following her GPS's directions wound up stuck on Green Line trolley tracks in Brookline early Monday.

According to MBTA Transit Police, Natalie Thibeault of South Attleboro was driving in Brookline shortly after 1 a.m. on Monday when she consulted her GPS to see what she should do next:

According to Thibeault, the GPS told her to take a left turn onto Beacon Street. Thibeault stated she took the left when the GPS said to, and drove onto the inbound tracks. Thibeault stated a male who was passing by in another vehicle, told her she was fine and to continue down the tracks and get off them at the next intersection.

At that time, Thibeault continued down the tracks and when she didn't think she could make it any further she attempted to put the car in reverse. Thibeault said the tires to her vehicle spun but the car did not move and the vehicle became stuck.

Police issued Thibeault a citation for a left-turn violation and for impeded operation.

Gintautus Dumcius photographed the people removing the paint from the 54th Massachusetts memorial today, realized that's not a job he'd want on a day like today.

Photo by Matthew I.

Boston Police report arresting a Quincy woman on charges she threw yellow paint at the memorial across from the State House this afternoon.

On arrival, after confirming damage to the memorial, officers were able to locate the suspect who was still on scene being detained by Park Rangers. Officers observed yellow paint on the suspect's face, hands and clothing. Additionally, a can of yellow paint was seized as evidence.

Rosemine Occean, 38, of Quincy, was charged with willful and malicious destruction of city property.

Innocent, etc.

Steve Annear at BostInno posts a photo of chained Ride riders across Beacon Street today, protesting fare increases scheduled to go into effect on July 1. Alternatives for Community and Environment has more photos.

State Police have asked the city DPW to send somebody over with a bolt cutter.

How else to explain what Brookline Selectwoman Jesse Mermell saw on the train home today?

New MBTA experience: Woman across from me changing her whole outfit on the train, including stockings. I'm torn between being appalled & impressed. I didn't have room to tweet about the full body lotion application. It was intense. No towel. Not even close. And there was extensive lotion application.

Flames on Beacon Street. Copyright Pamela Rosenthal. Posted with permission.

Channel 25 has video of the fire this morning at 1471 Beacon St.

Pamela Rosenthal is posting photos. She writes:

The Brookline fire is more than a burning building. In an instant, the people living there lost everything they owned.

Dan Geller posted video.

So far this morning, a charred 39 bus was towed from Huntington Avenue near Brigham Circle and buses had to be rolled out for the C line when an overhead power line came down near Cleveland Circle.

They had to remove the car that wound up on the tracks near St. Paul on the C line.

MBTA Transit Police report arresting a woman Sunday afternoon on charges she escalated an argument on a C trolley by smacking one opponent in the back of the head with her umbrella and then smacking another by opening the umbrella up in her face.

Isoline Peart-Smith, 21, was charged with assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and resisting arrest following the 2:30 p.m. incident on an outbound C trolley by St. Mary Street, according to a police report.

According to the report, Peart-Smith hit the one of the women in the back of the head twice with her multi-colored umbrella and then turned her attention to the other woman with whom she was arguing "by hitting the button on the handle and expanding it."

The report adds "the umbrella was secured and submitted into evidence," but does not say what the argument was about.

Innocent, etc.

Maybe there's a good reason an MBTA supervisor was blocking a handicap space and the sidewalk while parked on grass along Beacon Street today, but Todd Kirrane, who took the picture, says the driver just seemed to have stopped to do some shopping.

Sara watched the burning tracks in Coolidge Corner shortly before 7 p.m. today.

Channel 4 reports one trolley drove right over the fire - on purpose.

Leslee noticed the return of the sneakers to that one home on Beacon Street on Beacon Hill where they always use sneakers as part of the landscaping.

Posted under this Creative Commons license and in the Universal Hub pool on Flickr.

The MBTA is running shuttle buses between Cleveland Circle and Coolidge Corner due to a "power problem" at Cleveland Circle.

Kevin Aries happened to be right there when the problem occurred, around 7:30 p.m.:

May have just witnessed a small explosion on the live wires above the tracks at Cleveland Circle. Looks like a piece of the wire fell down onto the tracks.

Boston Police report officers were immediately suspicious when they saw some guy puttering along in a golf cart around 1 a.m. today on Beacon Street near Clarendon in the Back Bay:

When officers asked the operator why he was driving a golf cart on a public roadway, the operator stated he was doing work for a construction company. Not convinced, the officers posed the question a second time. To which, the suspect stated, "I'm out doing a survey. What the (expletive) is it to you?"

Eventually, police say, the officers established Thomas Wright, 45, had simply taken one of the carts left outside Boston City Hall by organizers of yesterday's Hub on Wheels event. Since Boston has yet to set up its golf-cart-sharing program, Wright was arrested on a charge of larceny over $250, police say.

Innocent, etc.

Wicked Local Allston/Brighton reports police charge Kevin Michael McCarthy robbed the Beacon Street Tedeschi store in August, then attempted to throw investigators off his trail by changing his photo in the BC imaging system.

According to police, McCarthy robbed the store around 5 a.m. on Aug. 13, four hours after he went in and inquired whether the store was open 24 hours and if the coffee was fresh. After beating the clerk and forcing him to empty two registers, police say, McCarthy demanded to know where the coffee was before fleeing.

Innocent, etc.

Guess when the earthquake hit the Boston area: From Boston College's Weston Observatory.

An earthquake in Quebec near the Ontario line sent tremors through the Boston area shortly before 2 p.m. A residential building at 1180 Beacon Street in Brookline was evacuated after it began shaking, possibly because of the quake, Neal Simpson at Brookline Patch reports.

Louis Cameron tweets he felt it at 253 Summer St. on Fort Point Channel. At 1:53, he exclaimed:

Matthew Cote was among the onlookers who watched Boston firefighters extinguish a fire in the alley behind Pino's Pizza on Beacon Street tonight. Don't worry: He reports the fire did not involve Pino's.

Sean Roche reports the bicyclist managed to stay on her bike after being hit by a car driven by an 81-year-old woman who kept on going - at least until police, whom the bicyclist called with the license-plate number - stopped her.