Proposed layout of replacement bridge by MassDOT.
MassDOT officials tonight showed off preliminary plans for the replacement for the West Roxbury Parkway bridge over the train tracks between Holy Name Rotary and Belgrade Avenue - plans that include a new center turning lane and a bicycle lane in either direction, even though the bike lanes will initially be of little use since the parkway doesn't currently have any marked bike lanes. Read more.
Westie bridge is crumbling down, crumbling down, crumbling down, my fair lady.
MassDOT plans to replace the bridge that carries West Roxbury Parkway between the Holy Name rotary and Belgrade Avenue over the Needham Line train track sometime in 2024, following a July inspection that found it in "poor" condition. Read more.
Surveillance photos via FBI.
The FBI's Violent Crime Task Force has released photos of the man it saysrobbed a Citizens Bank branch on VFW Parkway on Tuesday. Read more.
Update: Photos of suspect released.
The Citizens Bank branch in the Hancock Village mall on VFW Parkway at Independence Drive was robbed around 11:20 a.m., by a man dressed in all black and wearing a black ski mask, about 5'8", who passed a demand note, got some money, then ran across VFW Parkway towards Manthorne Road.
Officers investigating the bank robbery wound up arresting another man they happened to find in the parking lot who was wanted on a warrant unrelated to the robbery.
Windows on the long empty space next to Bruegger's at the strip mall on VFW Parkway are now plastered with signs advertising the imminent arrival of Kwench Juice Cafe, which promises, among other things, fresh raw juices, power juices, fresh raw smoothies, superfood smoothies, wheatgrass and turmeric shots and juice cleanses (to go, we assume), as well as some more solid items, such as salads. Read more.
West Roxbury's own Filene's Hole, as seen through tear in fence covering tonight.
Gary Martell, who tore down a 19th-century home and a 1960s-era pillbox of a bank branch on Centre Street to make way for a 21-unit condo building, today sued the BPDA for failing to schedule a vote on the project, which has now left West Roxbury's main shopping area with a large fenced-off pile of dirt. Read more.
Scene as boy is being readied for transport by EMTs. Photo by Michelle Bylsma.
A little kid crossing Centre Street at Bellevue Street was hit by a car driver who apparently ran a red light there, around 3:25 p.m., according to witnesses - although the driver says he thinks he had a green light. Read more.
The Family Dollar store, where Value Village used to be, at the corner of Centre and Park streets, is closing for good one of these days, which means West Roxburyans with a yen for discount stuff will have to drive into Roslindale, Hyde Park or Dedham for a Family Dollar. Owner Harris Krafchik put the 8,000-square foot building, built in 1930, up for lease this summer.
Mary Ellen got up early enough this morning to watch the blood moon set behind a neighbor's tree. Read more.
Organizers of the first ever Westie Fest couldn't have asked for better weather. West Roxbury residents came to Billings Field for dancing, hot dogs and pizza, information about the new apartments up on West Roxbury Parkway and to paint dozens of small pumpkins, which they then set on a long table to dry.
Also making the rounds was Chuckie the Puggie: Read more.
Mary Ellen caught a pair of red-tailed hawks doing some heart-shaped bonding in West Roxbury the other day.
No more woods for you! Photo by JPYuppie.
Update: State rep says the lot will be re-opened today.
DCR, which has been hauling boulders into Stony Brook Reservation for years to close off parking space, this weekend shut off access to a small parking lot on Enneking Parkway that provided access to the main paved path that circles around the reservation forest and Turtle Pond. Read more.
School Superintendent Mary Skipper told Lyndon K-8 Pilot School parents yesterday that she's appointed school Co-Leader Catherine Carney, who only started this summer, to take over as full School Leader after the other school co-leader, Andre Ward, suddenly went on leave. Read more.
New playground map, from Parks and Rec.
Replacing the playground at Millennium Park in West Roxbury was always going to take longer than similar jobs elsewhere because it sits atop a former landfill, which meant the new walkways and concrete pads for equipment would have to have time to settle first, but even with that, plans called for kids to be playing this summer. Read more.
Wandering the moors along the Charles River in West Roxbury, Mary Ellen spied a dickcissel, no doubt debating whether those seeds it's eying are worth risking getting swallowed by a hawk.
Which of course, raises the question of who the bird formerly known as the black-throated bunting so offended in the ornithological world that they renamed it with one of birddom's more ridiculous names. Read more.
The Ohrenberger School on West Boundary Road went into "safe mode" this afternoon after somebody began firing a gun nearby. Read more.
An elderly man was hit by a vehicle on Spring Street in front of the Star Market in West Roxbury around 9 p.m. Because of the seriousness of his injuries, the homicide unit was called in. The driver remained on scene.
Colleen Powell spotted it from Washington Street while looking past Grove Street late this afternoon. Read more.
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