Readville

The Globe reports a West Roxbury District Court magistrate didn't find probable cause for criminal action against Kenneth Veiga, who was suspended from his job last month after, police say, he threatened a superior with carnage. That came following an incident at the Readville fire station.

A firefighter charged with threatening to go on even worse of a rampage than that Los Angeles cop was angry when the fire department ordered him back to work from a leave granted after he tackled another firefighter trying to kill himself in the Engine 49 firehouse in Readville, a source says.

The incident, about a week ago, ended with Kenneth Veiga covered in blood - and the other firefighter still alive - the source says.

Because of the traumatic nature of the incident, his commander gave him time off. On Tuesday, however, he failed to convince superiors that he be allowed to see his own physician, rather than a department doctor, before returning to work.

Boston Police allege he told a union representative and a superior officer that "I am Army trained and have weapons and ammunitions in a storage locker. Dorner will be child's play."

Veiga was suspended with pay and now faces a March 4 hearing before a West Roxbury District Court clerk on whether he will face criminal charges.

Department spokesman Steve MacDonald declined to comment on the incident, except to say that Veiga "is a 24 year veteran who is on paid administrative leave while police look into alleged statements."

In response to a citizen complaint about sheer chaos on the road, the city reports it's looking at installing traffic signals at Milton Street and Hyde Park Avenue just north of Readville station - an intersection that has it all: Hills, curves and, of course, Massholes.

Bob Houser's frustration has only grown since this meeting in 2010.

WBZ reports squabbling among a contractor, NStar and state officials means the homeowners are still paying their mortgage on what is now a vacant lot where their house used to stand until an explosion caused when a BWSC contractor's backhoe punctured a gas main during street repairs.

The contractor blames DigSafe, DigSafe and NStar blame the contractor, the state is holding hearings and meanwhile:

Houser and his partner are now renting, as well as paying the mortgage for the Hyde Park properly, while they wait. Until it's legally resolved and someone is found responsible, the homeowner is responsible.

A mostly abandoned warehouse complex at Boston's southernmost point was once one of the nation's first speedways, where drivers from across the country came to compete. See some photos of the Readville Racetrack.

From the BPL Leslie Jones collection. Posted under this Creative Commons license.

On Memorial Day weekend, the racing world's eyes turn to Indianapolis, of course. But once, the sleepy hamlet within a neighborhood of Readville was a prominent place on the racing circuit - thanks to the Readville Racetrack, where horses eventually gave way to cars - on land where the fabled 54th Massachusetts once trained.

Read more about the track.

The largest city in New England still has some areas wild and remote enough to require "No Hunting" signs, specifically, Meadow Road in Readville.

UPDATE: Franklin High School officials say the actual pugilists on the train were Franklin High alumni, not students, the Milford Daily News reports.

The 7:20 Franklin train last night pulled into Forge Park 63 minutes late because MBTA Transit Police had to board it twice to quell rambunctious Franklin High students returning from a hockey match at the Garden (which the Franklin Panthers lost). MBTA spokesman Joe Pesaturo relays this account:

After receiving a report of fighting aboard the train, Transit Police responded to Readville Station, where more than a dozen high school-aged teens were removed from the outbound train. As the train approached Norwood, Transit Police received another report of more disturbances aboard the train. Transit Police boarded the train in Norwood and rode the train. There were no further incidents. There were no reported injuries nor any arrests, but one or two individuals may face charges for vandalizing the inside of a passenger coach with graffiti.

Some kids live-tweeted the activity. One wrote:

State Police report a crash at Hyde Park Avenue and Milton Street around 2:40 a.m. killed the driver of one car and sent four occupants of the other car to the hospital.

State Police said the dead driver was a 24-year-old Hyde Park man. No charges have yet been filed and the crash remains under investigation.

OK, granted, it's man made, but if you want to remember what the stuff looks like, you can get a good view of the Great Blue Hill ski slope from Meadow Road in Readville.

Earlier:
What a difference a year makes.

District E-18 reports that over the past couple of weeks, several homes owned by elderly people in Dedham and Readville along River Street have been broken in at night - while the residents were at home.

Boston Police say both they and Dedham Police have stepped up patrols on either side of the town line in the normally quiet area - where Mayor Menino lives.

If you see anybody suspicious there, contact E-18 detectives at 617-343-5607 or the anonymous tip line at 800-494-8477.

Bill managed to get on one of the trains actually moving between New York and Boston last night. Then a tree fell against the overhead wires in Readville around 11 p.m., caught fire and brought the Northeast Corridor to a halt again, with powerless trains just sitting on the tracks for almost 90 minutes. He reports:

After a 3hr 22 minute delay, Amtrak train 2170 arrives at South Station.

Boston Police report arresting Jerome Brody, 24, in connection with a September shooting that left a man near death on a normally quiet Readville street.

Brody was arrested with the help of U.S. marshals and will be returned to Boston to face charges of assault with intent to murder, assault and batter by means of a dangerous weapon and unlawful possession of a firearm in connection with a Sept. 8 attack in which the victim was shot eight or nine times on Millstone Street, police say.

Javann Hall of Dorchester was arrested two days after the attack. At his arraignment, prosecutors described Hall as the driver, not the shooter, and said the shooter was a member of the Orchard Park gang out to get the victim, an alleged member of the H Block gang, both in Roxbury.

Innocent, etc.

Steve Poftak looks at the numbers from Tuesday's election, notices that John Connolly's tally in Hyde Park and the neighboring part of Roslindale dropped more than 1,000 votes from 2009:

What's the explanation here? Well, my best guess would be a certain 60-something Readville resident and civic leader might have been less than fully supportive.

Chris Lovett also looks at Hyde Park's numbers - from 1999, the year of Dapper O'Neil's last hurrah.

Readville Post Office: Residents aren't licked yet.

Postal officials come to Hyde Park on Tuesday to explain their proposal to stamp out the Readville post office. The Readville and Camp Meigs neighborhood watches, however, are planning a little special delivery of their own: A large turnout to show that residents don't want to or can't travel all the way up to Cleary Square for their postal needs.

The session begins at 6 p.m. at the Hyde Park Community Center, 1179 River St.

HallJavann Hall of Dorchester was arraigned today on charges he acted as the driver for a gunman who blasted away at a Readville man about to get his todller out of the car Saturday night.

Suffolk County Assistant District Attorney Mark Lee estimated the victim was hit eight or nine times by bullets as he and his girlfriend stood outside their apartment on Millstone Street, in one of the city's most remote, quietest areas. Lee told West Roxbury District Court Judge Kathleen Coffey that while the victim is expected to survive, he is still in bad enough shape that officials are still not sure exactly how many times he was shot.

Boston Police report arresting Javann Hall, 26, for the Thursday shooting that sent one man to the hospital in critical condition.

Hall will be arraigned Monday in West Roxbury District Court on assault with intent to murder, assault and battery by means of a dangerous weapon and unlawful possession of a firearm, police say.

Innocent, etc.

Update: Arrest made

Update: Boston Police report the victim, in his 20s, was shot repeatedly.

A man was shot tonight at 47 Millstone Rd., off Neponset Valley Parkway, backing up to the old Stop & Shop warehouse property. The homicide unit was summoned, which means the victim was taken away in critical condition.

Police are looking for two cars: A black Dodge Charger or Intrepid with "some chrome" and a foot-long black antenna out of the rear window and a dark, four-door Civic-like vehicle with a heavy-set driver wearing a cranberry-colored sweatshirt.

This is the second shooting in less than two weeks in what is normally the sleepier end of Hyde Park.

Boston Police report a security guard making his rounds at Westinghouse Plaza got into a confrontation with a man who didn't belong there around 1:30 a.m.

During the altercation, the victim says the firearm discharged and struck him. According to the victim, the suspect was described as a 6'0" tall Hispanic male wearing a black mask, black clothing and black shoes. After the gun discharged, the victim says the suspect fled on foot in the direction of Readville Street.

Readville Post Office: Small, but no easy walk to the next post office.

The US Postal Service has released its list of Massachusetts post offices it's thinking of shutting down to save money.

In addition to those locations, the postal service is thinking of ditching post offices in Inman Square, East Arlington, East Dedham and a whole bunch in Newton, as part of an effort to close 3,700 post offices across the country.

Bob Houser, whose house exploded yesterday, asked Mayor Tom Menino for help tonight.

An NStar official told 100 Readville residents tonight that workers for the contractor who managed to blow up a house yesterday nicked another gas line nearby two days ago. Bill McCabe, director of gas distribution for NStar, which services the Danny Road area, said at the time, a company inspector did not think the damage to the plastic line, done with a hand shovel, was troublesome, but as a precaution had several feet of the pipe replaced.

Remains of a house: Photo by Boston Fire Department.

A Readville home was completely destroyed in a fireball this morning when a backhoe being used by contractors for the Boston Water and Sewer Commission hit a natural-gas main out front.

Boston Fire Department spokesman Steve MacDonald says a contractor doing water-main work in the neighborhood was digging up the street at Danny and Reynold roads with a backhoe around 8:30 a.m. when he not only hit the gas main, but pulled it up - with such force it pulled the house's gas meter off the wall. The house immediately began filling with gas, and two workers ran up and began banging on the door to try to get anybody inside out. They were just heading back down the stairs when the house exploded, he said.

He said two people live in the house - one was on vacation and one was at work. He added it's amazing nobody in the surrounding area was hurt. A second house may have also been damaged beyond repair and the force of the explosion not only shattered windows, it pushed entire window frames into buildings for a couple of blocks around. A detail cop was in his car, moving it at the request of the contractors, when the house exploded.

MacDonald said investigators from a variety of city and state agencies are on scene trying to determine how the contractors managed to hit the main - a key question is whether they contacted DigSafe, which provides gas-main information for people digging up streets, and if so, if they were told about the specific main. The explosion caused an estimated $1 million in damage to the neighborhood, he said.

Residents of some 30 nearby homes were evacuated. MacDonald said they are slowly being let back in as NStar - which provides gas in that area - checks each home.

AlertNewEngland reports Boston Police set up a perimeter around the former St. Anne's School on Como Rd. this afternoon to catch some kids who allegedly broke in to tag up the roof. One of the kids escaped, but police got him in custody when his father brought him back to the school and turned him in.

UPDATE: Arrest made.

BPDCrimelog tweets Boston Police are looking for a teen who fled in a beige car after two people were shot at Turtle Pond Parkway and River Street around 6 p.m.

Channel 5 reports both victims, including one shot in the back, are expected to survive and that the neighboring DCR pool had to be shut as police investigated.

Rob Villegas updates us on the status of the 5-Yard, an old railroad yard split equally between Boston and Dedham that the MBTA says will be clean enough to be build on by 2012.

Minor pesky problem: What to build on it? Dedham's half is zoned residential; Boston's is designated for industrial/commercial use. An earlier proposal for the land collapsed when the developer couldn't reconcile that and walked away.

Also kind of ironic: The T will use trucks to haul away contaminated soil (lead, arsenic and petroleum byproducts_ from the yard over the next year or so because it apparently couldn't reach agreement with CSX to use trains to remove the dirt from the yard, which has been a train yard since forever.

The parcel's not all that far away from the similarly split Stop & Shop warehouse. Remember when Boston wanted to annex that so a developer could put a huge residential project there?