News: August 2009 Archives

-- A community party designed to keep teens off the streets turned bloody Saturday night when 19-year-old Aaron Brown was shot to death. His body was found inside the YMCA, and officials believe that he was shot just before the last dance. Police do not believe that the killing was random. The dance was a part of a weekly series of events designed as a safe alternative to late night Boston streets. The Dorchester Y will not host any further events pending an investigation and possible policy recommendations. [Globe, Herald]

• Tens of thousands of people gathered on Friday to mourn Senator Edward Kennedy. [MyFoxBoston.com]

• • Cardinal Sean P. O'Malley of Boston and Rev. J. Donald Monan, formerly the president of Boston College will preside at Sen. Kennedy's funeral tomorrow. Other funeral details are available. [Boston Globe]
  Continue reading "Bite Size News, August 28: Mass. Mourns Ted Kennedy Edition"

Three men on bikes allegedly beat up a 50-year-old Cambridge man while watching Monday's Red Sox game at Cardullo's in Harvard Square. Fans traditionally watch ballgames on a TV in Cardullo's window. [Cambridge Chronicle]

Massachusetts began to say goodbye to Senator Edward M. Kennedy early Thursday afternoon. Kennedy left his home in Hyannis Port on Thursday, carried in a flag-draped casket to lead a motorcade that traveled from Cape Cod to Boston, wound through the city and finally reached the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library & Museum in Dorchester shortly before 5 pm.

An interesting query from GQ: What kind of douche bag do you aspire to be? Only in America. GQ listed America's Douchiest Colleges. Bostonist won't quarrel with most of the list. Most The biggest problem with GQ's list is a glaring omission: Where is BC? They've got the Eagle Douche, Double Eagle Douche, and the Triple Eagle Douche.

               

Bostonist contributor Korri Leigh Crowley sends a photo essay from the John F. Kennedy Library and Museum in Dorchester, where Senator Edward Kennedy will lie in repose beginning later today. As you can see, the memorial for our departed senator has already been arranged and mourners have already flocked to the library to pay their respects. Kennedy's public wake will take place in JFK Library's Smith Center later this evening and will continue tomorrow from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

-- Two days of bloodshed rocked Dorchester. A man was shot and killed Monday night on Glenarm Street, and two people were shot last night on Norwell Street. One of the victims, a woman, died of her wounds, and the second was taken to Boston Medical Center with life threatening injuries. Police have released little information about the crimes, which they have not suggested are linked, and no arrests have been made. [BPDNews, BPDNews]

Today, Bostonist joined everyone else in honoring the life and death of Ted Kennedy. We reported his death, honored his service and reviewed funeral plans.

• Republicans, who often opposed Kennedy's policy goals, spoke well of him after his death. Close friend Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) also praised Kennedy. [Boston Herald]

• Hillary Clinton praised Ted Kennedy. Kennedy's endorsement of Barack Obama over Clinton was a crucial factor in the 2008 election. [WCVB]

As the nation and the world continues to grapple with the passing of Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, initial details about the political figure's memorial and funeral services are beginning to emerge. While Kennedy is likely to be laid to rest with his brothers at Arlington National Cemetery, he will lie in repose and be remembered during funeral services in his native Massachusetts.

What can be said? What needs to be said about Senator Kennedy? His death today at 78 was expected yet still shocking. Tributes from the President, a tearful Vice-President, world leaders, and the Kennedy family are expectedly, and justifiably, glowing. They reflect his lifetime commitment to service and family. The family called him their "irreplaceable center," which comes as no surprise given his leading role in the many public moments of the life of the Kennedy clan.

That the crew at Universal Hub observed the square peg/round hole relationship to technology sometimes displayed by the Globe comes as no surprise here. In this case, the culprit is Alex Beam's Tuesday column. Bostonist remembers the Globe's odd use of an apparent Twitter-esque reporting style. And, don't forget they might think downloading music is a fad. (FYI, We know it's iPod and not I-POD.)

• Former Sox minor-league pitcher Greg Montalbano, 31, died Friday after a long fight with cancer. [Boston Herald]

• Michael Davey, 34, was a Weymouth cop, Iraq War veteran, and a father of three. He died, while on duty, after being struck by a truck driven by a 79-year old man. [Boston Globe]

The Lizzie Borden Bed and Breakfast is the Fall River joint in the house where Lizzie Borden's parents died, possibly under her whacking ax. It's also now the proud owner of a trademark on Lizzie Borden's name. Basically, the B&B is the only entity that can legally sell merchandise in the United States emblazoned with the famous spinster's name. But can they do that?

Despite the sweet t-shirts, YouTube channels, rock band endorsements, and shiny new presents from the city, the 2009 Boston mayoral race has been kind of a snoozer. Sure, Menino's opponents have dogged his record on development, education, and crime, painting him as a dictatorial autocrat with his hands on every municipal project. But, when you open up the dictionary to "Mayor of Boston," the entry reads "dictatorial autocrat with his hands on every municipal project." Menino's most polemical opponent, the South End developer Kevin McCrea hasn't gotten much traction outside of the Boston wonk corner of the internet.

-- The victim of a savage beating that was the alleged work of a group of well dressed men succumbed to his injuries today. The man was found beaten outside of Club 33, in the Back Bay, where an alleged verbal altercation turned into an alleged beating at the hands of 12 men, 9 of whom were wearing matching red tuxedos because they had just been to a funeral. The victim, Jose Alicea, was 22 when he died. The 12 suspects were arraigned today on charges of aggravated assault and battery and held on bail ranging from $100,000 to $200,000. The Suffolk County District Attorney has not announced new charges in light of the victim's death. [BPDNews, Suffolk County DA]

The City of Boston has just unveiled an online, searchable map that allows visitors to see where and when complaints to the city's 24-hour hotline were made. From requests to fix broken sidewalks—common—to requests to replace missing signs—surprisingly uncommon—the map lets you see, at a glance, how broken the city is.

-- The Red Sox "B" logo is everywhere these days. Unfortunately, it's now appearing on alleged criminals while they are doing bad things. In New York, 13 muggings have been perpetrated since January by a man in a Red Sox hat. He does his thing on the subway, mainly against women, and has taken cash, bank cards, cameras, phones an i-Pods. He gets around, too, as he has struck in Manhattan, Brooklyn, the Bronx and Queens. Newsday describes the suspect as a "Boston fan" and decided to include a reference to David Ortiz and Kevin Youkilis in their coverage. Bostonist is not laughing.

-- Twelve men, allegedly wearing tuxedos, were arrested Friday morning outside for of Club “33” on Stanhope Street. A fight allegedly took place involving a male who went to Massachusetts General Hospital for treatment. Witnesses directed police to a parked limousine to locate other fight participants. [BPDNews.com]

• Some young artists from Cape Verdean Community Unido worked on a mural to honor the revitalization of Dudley Street. The MBTA owned the site of the mural, objected to it, and forced a change. [Boston Globe]

• The large X-Men mural on a Lincoln Street building in Allston will be gone in less than two weeks. [Boston Globe]

Yesterday, Bostonist received a notice from Sam Yoon's campaign urging us to enter a sweepstakes that that the mayoral candidate was holding. The prize? A pair of box seats to tonight's Red Sox-Yankees game. The details were simple. Text "Red Sox" to the Yoon campaign's special phone number, which subscribes you to Yoon's text alert service, and wait to see if you ended up with the tickets. It's pretty sweet deal, if you were the winner, but doesn't it sound sort of fishy? Can the Yoon campaign legally pay people to become supporters?

A day after celebrity cop James Crowley's service records were released for public consumption, we got a glimpse at what he gets paid for all of the aggravation the privilege of serving the city of Cambridge. We can thank the Cambridge Chronicle for this list of the salaries of every non-school city worker for FY'09 (7/08-6/09). We know everyone is only really interested in the $114,687.52 Crowley was paid, not to mention the $109,566.93 he took home in 2008. It's noteworthy that around 120 - Bostonist counted quickly - Cambridge employees earned more than Crowley in FY'09.

-- What began as your run-of-the-mill New Bedford fistfight ended in a smashed truck and death. A fight broke out early Wednesday morning between James Donnelly and, 20 of New Bedford, and Michael Raposo, 26 of Dartmouth, outside of a New Bedford Chinese joint. Raposo allegedly attacked Donnelly with a crowbar during the altercation, which did little good against the presumably gifted pugilist, who absconded with Raposo's keys and his pickup truck. Not to be outdone, Raposo allegedly leaped into the back of the truck, crowbar flying, as Donnelly sped away. Raposo's crowbar attack proved to be a suicidally fatal distraction when Donnelly lost control of the pickup, which flipped over, throwing Raposo to the pavement and killing him.

You saw the YouTube video of Steven Tyler, right? No, not the video of his shoulder-cracking fall. The video of him shopping at Pembroke Center Liquors and looking like a frail elderly woman. The fall at Sturgis earlier this month, and his physical appearance, is causing concern about the 61-year old rocker to a degree that the rest of Aerosmith is united against Tyler in a passive-aggressive fued that screams rock star, at least that's what the nameless sources allegedly connected to the band tell the Herald's Inside Track.

• Fountains, "tot sprays" have replaced fire hydrants as a way for kids to keep cool in the city. [Boston Globe]

• The Globe provides a list of 10 ways to beat the heat. [Boston Globe]

Not with an appearance from Deion Sanders, but with another strangely sensible proposal from Sam "YoonTube" Yoon, who wants to expand government to "prime-time hours." By keeping City Hall (which currently closes at 5:30 pm on weekdays, long before many folks have left work) open late at least once a week (until 8:30 pm on Wednesdays), Yoon theorizes that he'll be allowing residents to speak their minds and become more involved with their government. Many local cities, including Brookline, Cambridge, and Somerville, already offer late-night government at least once a week. We have been impressed with some of Yoon's other ideas, like car sharing, before; other mayoral candidates may want to step up their innovation quotient.

The looney lawsuit brought against the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority by celebrity lawyer Jan R. Schlichtmann no longer looks so promising after a Superior Court Justice denied, in no uncertain terms, the plaintiffs' motion for an injunction against the Pike. Justice H. J. Smith, Jr. wrote, "At this juncture, the court finds that the plaintiffs have not demonstrated that they are likely to prevail on the merits of their contention that the MTA's tolls are unconstitutional taxes." (Hat tip to BlueMassGroup for hosting the order.)

The national insanity over health care town hall meetings came to Dartmouth last night, and Congressman Barney Frank created an Internet sensation when he verbally smacked down a question comparing health care reform to Naziism.

It was hot today, sure. But, if you have respiratory problems, you might have been wondering why you suddenly couldn't breathe. It's because we're stuck in "a large dome of high pressure," a WeatherDome, so to speak. And the WeatherDome brought New England its "first major pollution episode of the summer." You can see the effects in the satellite photo above, and you can read more about it at the Weather Underground's always awesome Wunder Blog.

-- Brookline police say that two men grabbed a Brookline woman in the street this morning, strangled her, threw her into a pickup truck, and raped her. According to police, the pickup truck is a red, two-door Ford that was captured on video by a Brookline surveillance camera. [Brookline Tab]

Today may be the hottest day of the summer. How are Bay Staters reacting to it? Well, earlier today, Bostonist happily wrote about city pools staying open so we can beat the heat. Mayor Thomas Menino knows how to keep voters residents happy duuring a heat emergency. Everyone is not as lucky. After Cambridge struggled to keep Veterans Memorial Pool at Magazine Beach open longer, the pool was closed today after a chlorine spill. Across the state, 21 of 27 pools run by the state Department of Conservation and Recreation are closed for the summer due a lifeguard shortage.

Barney Frank is fearless when it comes to giving his opinion. He was pro-universal healthcare back in Marchand hasn't changed his mind. He also takes no crap from Bill O'Reilly.

Transportation is a big problem in Massachusetts. Let's recap, shall we? We have traffic, of course, texting trolley drivers, tunnels that kill people, government officials more interested in a feud than what commuters pay for public transportation, near collisions at the airport, a rash of crashes with older drivers.

-- Apparently, Eric Clapton was right. It is in the way that you use it. If you live in Hingham. A woman from the tony town was arrested after "assaulting" a store clerk with an apple juice bottle and a Slim Jim. She escaped the scene in her black Saab convertible after ripping down a store flag. There's more. She must have blended in with all of the other Saab drivers in Hingham as she eluded the cops for a day. She was brought to justice after an officer observed a Saab driver suspiciously singing along with loud music. Probable cause, clearly. She was charged with assault and battery with a dangerous weapon. The comments on the Patriot Ledger's story contain many of the jokes running through your head. [Patriot Ledger]

Notwithstanding the MBTA's inability to create its own iPhone app, five tech-minded Massachusetts companies have made it to the semi-final round of Forbes Magazine's "Boost Your Business" competition. i-Nalysis of Concord, Plank of Charlestown, INeedAPencil.com and Ksplice of Cambridge, and Audissey Guides of straight-up Boston make up a quarter of the Fortune semi-finalists. A rundown of the operations:

Are you a fan of Google Maps? Are you a fan of the MBTA? Wait, that second one might be a bit too much to ask for. How about: do you have to use the MBTA and/or would you like to use it more often and more efficiently?

-- A 23-year old nursing assistant at a Quincy assisted-living center pled not guilty on Friday to seven counts of assault and battery on a person over 60. She allegedly abused four Alzheimer's patients on one eight-hour shift last Saturday. The employee, since fired, is accused of a range of abuses from hitting a 79-year old woman who allegedly hit her to allegedly forcing an 89-year old woman onto a toilet by grabbing her jaw and reportedly telling a co-worker "I should make her eat it." The suspect faces 21 years in prison and $7,000 in fines if convicted. [Herald]

• Cops and cabbies have something in common. Neither seem very concerned with the new city rule that bans cell-phone use by cabbies while driving. [Boston Herald]

• US District Court Judge William G. Young ruled Boston exceeded its authority by trying to force cabbies to convert to hybrid cars by 2015. [Boston Globe]

-- A man from Weymouth allegedly stole a truck and used it to steal a lawn mower from Sears. While trying to escape, he drove the wrong way on I-495, and eventually hit a tree. [Metro West Daily News] -- A 23-year old man from Georgia was arrested on Tuesday for possession of an illegal firearm. The suspect was stopped on Meridian Street with a broken brake light an officers determined he had an invalid driver’s license and illegally attached plates. [BPDNews.com]

Yesterday, Bostonist reviewed the plight of Jason, a dateless young man with a creepy friend who has free time and a passionate interest in Jason's love life. And, ladies, take it from the north of 28 crowd, 28 is not old. Jason hadn't met Ms. Right yet - we don't know about any Ms. Right Nows - so his friend set up a website to introduce him to potential suitors. No successful connection yet despite lots of attention.

Ashley Judd will probably never forgive us for saying she is currently enrolled at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government in the Mid-Career Master in Public Administration program. Bostonist knows she's there because the Harvard Crimson and the Boston Herald told us so weeks ago.

-- Boston police have identified the bodies of the two men who were found dead and parked in a car outside of a Hyde Park apartment building last week. The victims, Anthony Glover, 33, of Taunton and Paul Roberson, 25 of Randolph, had been shot and stabbed to death, and police are looking for suspects in the murders. [BPDNews]

• A chicken was abandoned at St. Joseph’s Cemetery in West Roxbury and is now at the Animal Rescue League’s Dedham facility. The report confirmed it is legal to keep chickens in your own home, with a permit. [Wicked Local West Roxbury]

• An apparently rare triggerfish was caught off Gloucester. It is currently alive, somewhere, until an appropriately-sized pan is found. Bostonist kids. [GoodMorningGloucester]

If the clever shirts weren't enough for you, mayoral candidate Sam Yoon has a new pun-tastic offering: YoonTube. A YouTube for the Yoonies, YoonTube is a two-way platform allowing Sam to provide updates to voters and for voters to upload videos expressing their viewpoints on Boston. It's not actually a separate service; to use it, just tag your YouTube videos "YoonTube." Yoon staffers will pick their favorites for inclusion on the YoonTube page on Sam's site. Fittingly, Sam's first YoonTube entry is about the importance of making use of 21st-century technology. Wait, could this be an example of a politician saying something is important and then actually following through on what he says? How strange. Our only question is whether YoonTube will see any contributions involving Felix, Mickey, or Jerry.

The leading news story of the day is the death of Eunice Kennedy Shriver at the age of 88. Earlier today, Shriver's body was moved to the Kennedy's Hyannis Port compound where a family wake will take place. Funeral plans are not yet known. Reaction to her death and remembrances of her extraordinary life are continuing all day. Her brother, Senator Edward M. Kennedy, issued a touching statement in her honor, as did her son-in-law California Gov. Arnold Schwarzeneggerand Cardinal O'Malley. The JFK Library posted two condolence books today.

We went to the first of those MBTA fare increase workshops yesterday, and tweeted a little about it. As Dan Grabauskas alleges his opposition to fare hikes and Deval Patrick and Jim Aloisi rush to put the blame on the MBTA for the proposed fare increases, it's not clear whether any fare increase proposal will go forward anytime soon. But if you've been thinking of going to one of the workshops anyway, we have a couple of tips.

-- Boston cops have captured a suspect in the bloody shoot out that left two dead near Ka-Carlos, the Dorchester Cape Verdean restaurant. An investigation led cops to Emmanuel Depina, a 26-year-old Boston man, who surrendered to the Dorchester District Court this morning. [BPDNews]

-- State Police, Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and the Bristol County District Attorney’s Office arrested nine suspects Wednesday night and Thursday after a six-month investigation into alleged cocaine trafficking. Cops seized at least 13 guns, ammunition, 200+ grams of cocaine and at least $45,000. Operation Lightning Bolt is still ongoing. [Herald]

• Will people pay to read the Boston Globe on the Internet? We may find out. [Boston Herald]

• James Aloisi, the Mass. Transportation Secretary, suggested the MBTA may no longer need a general manager at all after Daniel A. Grabauskas "resigned" on Thursday. [Boston Globe]

Could the Bay State be turning into a mecca for people focused on fashion? Probably not. However, Massachusetts is getting some fashion buzz this week. The Herald reported today that Michelle Obama shops at Hingham-based Talbots. She wore three Talbots dresses at three recent official events. This has caused quite a bit of interest in the specific items Obama wore. Image the chaos that would unfold in the 02043 if people couldn't get the Obamapparel. That may be why the Hingham Police recently purchased a small arsenal of M4 semiautomatic rifles.

As if the labradoodle threat weren't enough, Boston-area residents have a new danger to combat: bicyclists (and not even just fixie riders!). The Globe conducted a highly scientific study that involved standing around and counting bikers that committed infractions. Shockingly, a lot of bikers ran a lot of red lights, and some of them even went up on the sidewalk. This is breaking news!

It may be the namesake for the sweet and delicious Fig Newton, but Newton is currently the battlefield of a bitter conflict. It's not about health care, Iran, or cash for clunkers. No, Newton is fighting a much scarier spectre: the mini LabraDoodle.

-- The parole bid of James Riva, the so-called "Vampire Killer," may not have had a lot of gas, but it did give the Herald the chance to run the banner headline "FANGS FOR NOTHIN'." [Herald]

• Plankton Power of Wellfleet is working with government, corporate and research groups to build an algae farm/biorefinery on Cape Cod to turn pond scum into fuel. [Boston Herald]

• A123Systems Inc. of Watertown is getting $249.1 million in stimulus bucks to build a plant to make batteries for electric vehicles. [Boston Business Jounal]

Has the world gone mad? Our entertainment world has lost its collective mind and has been shaken to its very core. Paula Abdul has left American Idol. The Globe and WEEI appear to have a rapproachment. And, George W. Bush finally thought of a mistake he made. Okay, made that one up. The other two look solid, though.

-- Malden police shot and killed a man after a traffic stop went sour last night. The man, 29-year-old Alexander Nesom, allegedly rammed a stolen car into a pair of police officers, who shot him. He died of his injuries today. Two other men were arrested during the incident and face charges of receiving a stolen vehicle and drug possession. [Globe]

• John Quincy Adams was ready for Twitter 200 years ago. His diary entries will finally become tweets. [AP via Boston.com]

• A survey released today reveals a predictable yet disappointing racial divide in opinions on the Henry Louis Gates Jr. arrest controversy. [Boston Globe]

When Bostonist read last week that Boston Celtics co-owner Stephen Pagliuca and Boston business guy Jack Connors were leading a group to purchase the Boston Globe and involve a "nonprofit foundation" to run the paper, we asked the following question: "So, the Globe gets sold and still doesn't make money?" In the Herald today, Mike Barnicle Jayson Blair Howie Carr began his column with the following statement: "Correct me if I’m wrong, but I thought The Boston Globe already was a nonprofit newspaper."

An unidentified man knocked over a Mansfield Shaw's supermarket last Wednesday by posing as a cash register repairman, police say. According to reports, the criminal mastermind told store employees that he had been sent to fix cash registers in Taunton but that he ended up in Mansfield instead and offered to "fix" some cash registers while he was in the neighborhood. We're not 100% certain that he didn't use air quotes. The story was likely enough that store managers sent him to an ailing cash register, which he allegedly repaired by removing the $460 in cash that had been stuck in it.

An SUV driver made a quick study of first a light pole, and in turn a Quality Mart, at the intersection of Beacon and Mass Ave earlier this evening. We're guessing the store is closed for business for a while. No one was hurt that we know of.

The proposed MBTA fare increases (view full details in PDF) of nearly 20% will be officially debated soon, in a series of public workshops leading up to the public hearing on August 27. If you can't attend a meeting, you can also submit your opinion in writing before September 4. Written comments can be directed to MBTA, Attention: Fare Proposal Committee, 10 Park Plaza, Boston, MA 02116, or to fareproposal@mbta.com. You can call 617-222-3200 (TTY 617-222-5146) to speak your mind as well. Interpretors will be in attendance at the public workshops as indicated. Information for the first Boston workshop is below; view all other workshops listed after the jump.

Stinky Journalism, an organization dedicated to unearthing instances of questionable journalism, has seized on one of the most important issues of our age: Gisele Bundchen's belly. A new set of Bundchen-starring ads for coatmaker London Fog were apparently photoshopped to conceal Gisele's pregnant stomach—but for "privacy" reasons rather than aesthetic ones. Sure. Backseat Cuddler led us to the above video, which supposedly provides additional pre-retouching "baby bump" evidence. There was none that we could see, but we must confess that we got bored about 30 seconds in and stopped watching. Modeling is super dull! At least we can all thank Gisele for popularizing the flasher look. Stinky Journalism is also all over other important Photoshopping cases that threaten our fundamental right to see people as they really are.