There is Trouble With the Trees

Another heartwarming tale from Mayor Menino's "safe city".

Robbery stirs fears among residents

Pair, 67 and 71, are latest victims in Jamaica Plain

By Suzanne Smalley, Globe Staff June 8, 2005

A couple coming home from an evening stroll to J.P. Licks ice cream shop was robbed at gunpoint on one of Jamaica Plain's busiest residential blocks last week, stirring fears among residents upset by the slaying of a 97-year-old woman late last month.

The armed robbery on Burroughs Street last Wednesday occurred just five days after the killing of Gerda T. Bissett in her home on St. John Street, which is just two long blocks from the site of the robbery, in a neighborhood where residents are unaccustomed to violent crime.

Sound familiar? But wait, this one has a new, yet unsurprising, twist.

Conant said Burroughs Street is well traveled because it is one of the only thoroughfares leading to Jamaica Pond. He said police told residents the street's foliage may have contributed to the crime because the street lights are obscured by leaves.

That's not a typo.

"...the street's foliage may have contributed to the crime..."

So, now the trees have to share some of the blame for the violent crime in Boston. For 50 bonus points, guess which inanimate object will be responsible for crime in the city next week.

UPDATE: Never mind. I just answered my own question.

Fake bullet-proof fashion draws fire from critics

Seventeen-year-old Tyrone Smith doesn't see what the big deal is.

"It's not real, but it's fashion," he said yesterday at the Antonio Ansaldi store in Dorchester, seller of the hottest urban teen must-have - fake bulletproof vests.

The "Raid Vest," which is priced from $40 to $109, has drawn fire from some people who say it promotes violence.

"Officer, it's not my fault he's dead. Sure, I shot the motherfucker, but I thought he had a bulletproof vest on! It's the fake vest's fault. I'm an innocent victim here!"