While one suspect in Back Bay’s recent rash of armed robberies has been caught, four others remain at large.

Police arrested a local man thought to be responsible for several attacks at area ATMs last week after he was found with a paper bag containing remnants from the broken glass bottle described as his attack weapon.

According to police reports, the man entered an ATM at 221 Massachusetts Avenue at 3:50 p.m. on September 27 and tried to grab a $20 bill from the woman at a machine. She struggled with the man, who pulled her to the floor and held a jagged glass bottle to her neck, stating “Bitch, I’ll stab you.” The woman let go of the money and the man fled with the bill towards Westland Avenue. The woman was treated for a small cut to the back of her neck and was released.

A witness described the man as 5’10,” 185 pounds, and of medium build with shaggy, ear-length grey hair and scruffy facial hair. He was described as wearing a gray sleeveless shirt with a blue or green stripe.

Police found a man matching that description at 1:31 a.m. the next morning in front of an ATM at 200 Berkeley Street. He wore blue hospital scrub pants and his thumb bore a cut with dried blood. His arm was tattooed with the word “Leo.”

Officers stopped the man, who appeared “nervous and jittery” and put the brown paper bag he was carrying on the ground. He told police that he was coming from New England Medical Hospital and going home. When an officer said that the man was neither on the path back from the hospital nor on the one to the home address he gave, the man said that he was “on several types of medication and that he smokes crack,” according to the report.

The man then said that he was coming from a convenience store where he had purchased a soda, although he could not name the store. An officer then picked up the brown paper bag and found a clear metal cap inside. The man explained the absence of the alleged soda by explaining he had suffered a fall that broke the soda. He was arrested and taken to the D-4 police station.

The man is also thought to be responsible for an ATM robbery at 279 Massachusetts Avenue, around the corner from his residence.

Meanwhile, police are searching for four men who robbed a woman at gunpoint on the 200-block of Beacon Street on the evening of August 26. All four were wearing ski masks and dark clothing.

According to police reports, the woman walked down Dartmouth Street and turned onto Beacon Street when she noticed “what appeared to be four black males in silhouette described as approximately 5’7” to 5’9.” The men were described as “medium to heavy build.”

The victim passed them and one of the men stopped her and stuck a handgun in her side, the report said. He told her to look down while the other men took her purse, cell phone and $200 in cash. All four suspects then fled down Beacon Street towards Boston Common. Keys and personal papers from the woman’s purse were found in the bushes in front of 251 Commonwealth Avenue.

Police believe the men could be responsible for an armed robbery that took place on Rutland Street about 20 minutes later that night.

“There are similarities [between the robberies], like the weapon, the close time frame and the fact that the [robbers] were wearing ski masks both times,” said Sgt. Kevin Power, District D-4 community service supervisor. He could not say whether armed robbery in the Back Bay appears to be on the rise or in decline.

FEATURE
credit: Courtesy photo
caption: The Tegan Twenty — Lorraine is front and center, and her husband John is left of center in the back row.





This October 15, when Back Bay resident Lorraine Tegan gets ready for the 14th annual Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Walk, she’ll have a lot of reasons to make the six-mile journey.
There are the 20-odd family members and friends who will walk with her, the so-called “Tegan’s Twenty,” who raised $20,000 in donations last year alone. There’s the unofficial family of people she sees each year, people who have been part of the fight for the 14 years she’s been showing up to support the walk against breast cancer. And at the base of it, there’s the awareness of loved ones whose lives have been affected by breast cancer: people like her mother, who died of the disease at 72, and her children and grandchildren, who have walked the path of her disease with her and who, she fervently hopes, will be spared direct experience of the disease.

According to the American Cancer Society, breast cancer is the second most common form of the disease among women in the United States, with some 213,000 new cases and 41,000 deaths expected in 2006 alone. On October 15, some 40,000 people are expected to converge at the Esplanade for the annual walk, which is the nation’s oldest and largest one-day event of its kind. Since its inception, the walk has raised some $32 million for research, early awareness programs and patient support.

Lorraine Tegan knows how much that research helped her fight cancer once before — and she’s rallying for another battle this year. Diagnosed in 1993 with the disease, Tegan was the math director of the Tewksbury Public Schools when she underwent a yearlong treatment that included surgery, radiation and chemotherapy. “The diagnosis was a shock, and it wasn’t — my mother died of the disease, and I knew there was a risk,” she said. “Mostly I was just shocked and sad; my daughter was pregnant at the time with our first grandchild, and I decided I needed to get the best treatment possible, so that I could be there,” she says.

Tegan, who has now retired from the district, credits her co-workers and especially her family for her recovery. “I remember a breast cancer survivor told me once, ‘A day will come when this cancer will not be on your mind every minute of every day.’ It didn’t seem possible, but it’s true. It is possible to go on living and to go on surviving and not think about the health issues all the time.”

With her cancer in remission after a five-year treatment with the drug Tamoxifen, Tegan has been doing exactly that: living her life, enjoying her family, and even volunteering as a math tutor and outreach coordinator.

Then, in July, came the news: the cancer was back. And while Tegan admits she’s not exactly pleased, she said she’s ready for the next stage of her fight. “I think it’s hard when you’ve been cancer-free for thirteen years and you’ve survived it once to hear that you’re going to have to fight the fight all over again,” she said. “But the thing that’s really encouraging is that there has been so much research done during those years and more women are surviving. I’m very optimistic about the future.”

For now, Tegan is taking a new drug, Femara, under the care of her oncologists at the Tufts/New England Medical Center. They’re going to see how the cancer reacts to the drug, and how her body reacts to it, to determine what the next steps in her treatment might be.

On October 15, though, Tegan knows exactly where she’ll be: surrounded by friends and family, enjoying the autumn air and participating in an event she believes helped save her life. “We’re getting to the age when some of the grandkids have football games on the day of the walk, and I always tell them that they shouldn’t skip them. But they say, ‘This is more important. I can’t miss this.’ And it makes me feel good.”

Apple will take a bite out of Boston – specifically upper Boylston Street, where Apple Computer Inc. plans to construct a glass and steel cube that will look unlike any building the historic street has ever known.

The Apple corps of designers and architects came to town on Wednesday, October 4, to present their plans at a neighborhood meeting sponsored by the Boston Redevelopment Authority. They were a sleek army of efficiency with cool collapsible easels to hold their many renderings of what will grow into a big boxy store on Boylston. It’s a landmark in the making on what used to be the site of a low-tech copy store.

Bob Bridger, an Apple executive who, save for his shaved head, bears passing resemblance to founder Steve Jobs, declared his company’s yen for the Hub: “I can’t say how much we want to be part of the Boston community.” He said the objective of Apple stores nationwide is “really to add to our community.” To wit, Bridger promised one entire floor of the three-story Apple store will be devoted to free stuff. Technical questions will be answered “without charge.” People will be able to take their Apple gadgets for gratis fixing and tune-ups. Bridger also said customers could bring digital photos in and get help creating DVDs and slide shows. “We really look for our store to be a place for people to enhance their life through technology.”

A group of thirty or so interested Back Bay residents attended the hearing in a hall at Fisher College. There were many questions but few concrete answers as the project is still evolving, although the basic design and materials were approved in a split decision by the Back Bay Architectural Commission in August. Dennis Quilty, Apple’s Boston lawyer, gripped the coveted BBAC certificate of appropriateness firmly in hand and Apple representatives frequently referred to it when addressing queries.

Soft-spoken Karl Backus, the San Francisco architect who designed the Boston outlet, presented the scheme for the store. Basically, the theme is transparency. The façade will be a double layer of the “most transparent glass available,” framed vertically and horizontally by silvery steel burnished to a matte finish that echoes the metallic case of an Apple laptop. The only adornment facing the street will be a large white acrylic Apple logo.

The windows will not have shades, and temperature inside the store will adjust through a complex “double skin system and thermal cavity chimney” to vent the heated air. The Apple store faces south and will inevitably get bombarded by natural light. Backus says there will also be green technology incorporated into the design, including a verdant rooftop of sedum, low-growing vegetation.

When it came time for the neighbors to voice their questions and concerns, the themes centered on internal lighting, signage, delivery truck congestion in the back alley along Newbury Street, garbage disposal and sidewalk stone. The garbage issue was disposed of most easily. Apple will place its dumpsters in the basement and not out behind the store.

However, the concerns about sidewalk stone, lighting and alley congestion were not assuaged. According to Bridger, the lighting plan in Apple stores is a work in progress, with constant situational adjustments, as have occurred at the New York Apple emporium on Fifth Avenue. As for the sidewalk stone, Backus said he is “still working on paving.” Signage and colors will be contained within the store and displayed on the walls. Decorative plasma screens will not face the street.

The most difficult situation seems to be the alley congestion. How will cars and pedestrians jockey for the precious space with Apple’s truck fleet feeding product to the store? “I hope you would work out something so cars could get by the trucks,” said Sue Prindle, a representative from the Neighborhood Association of the Back Bay. The plan for the alley is “still evolving,” said Mark Nitkey, an Apple project manager. “We will continue to listen to the neighborhood organization.”

The Apple store is not without its detractors. At the August meeting of the BBAC, Ali Rizvi, vice-chair of the Commission, denounced the project as not appropriate for the neighborhood. “A glass building in this location sets the clock back twenty years,” he said and called it a “parking garage aesthetic.” Ultimately, two of his fellow commissioners stood with him, but the bulk of the body voted to approve. After the BRA meeting, Sue Prindle said she “believed in the process” that made way for an Apple to grow on Boylston.

Demolition of the old copy store at 815 Boylston will come first. “We hope to start before the end of the year,” said Nitkey. Construction of the tri-level glassine box will then be continuous.

The BRA will continue to accept public comment on the Apple store until October 11. Contact John Fitzgerald, the city’s point man for the project, at 617-918-4267.

Both the Commissioner’s Landing West and East docks in the Charles River Boat Haven have been closed for public use by the Department of Conservation and Recreation after a Union Boat Club rower fell through a deteriorating board.

During the annual mini-regatta held between the local boat club and the University Barge Club of Philadelphia on September 16, UBC member Peter Schnorr of Marlborough rowed in a doubles shell with his father Don Schnorr of the Philadelphia club, as was their traditional father-son custom. After the race, the two were carrying the shell from the water back to the boathouse on the west dock when the younger Schnorr’s leg went right through the rotten boards.

Schnorr weathered the fall well. “My leg was scraped and bruised, and I limped for a while,” he said. “But nothing is broken.” Despite the fact that many of the rowers present were doctors who advised him to get a tetanus booster shot because of the rotting wood and rusted metal spikes, “I chanced fate and it turned out I didn’t need it.”

Due to both Schnoors’ firm grips, the boat was uninjured.

Until this time, Aleks Zosuls, who takes care of the Union Boat Club property, had been patching the rotten boards to keep the dock safe for the public and for boat club members who must cross it to launch their shells from an attached floating dock. “This time, I thought I would go right out and nail on another piece of plywood, but when I lifted off the broken board there was nothing left underpinning it,” said Zosuls.

“It took a strong heavyweight like Schnoor to make this happen,” said UBC President Eugene Clapp.

Clapp contacted the DCR, which, after inspecting the dock, closed it for public use. It was determined that the boards supporting the center of the dock were safe enough for the UBC members to cross so that they could continue to launch their boats, and pieces of plywood have been temporarily placed over the rotting boards.

A week later DCR closed the east dock from the public as well. That dock was a favorite of many fishermen.

DCR is now conducting engineering studies on the docks and has not yet determined how long they will be closed and what temporary repairs can be made.

Clapp has been working with Community Boating, the Esplanade Association and the Department of Conservation and Recreation to get all four of the Boat Haven docks restored but anticipates that will not take place for at least two more years.

Keep the Citgo sign

Remember the Boston City Council 10 or 20 years ago — councilors complaining about new immigrants or trying to get the council to vote on matters of national interest that had nothing to do with the city council’s mission.

We hope the councilors don’t return to those embarrassing days. But we’re a little concerned, because there recently has been a nutty suggestion coming from one quarter.

Councilor Jerry McDermott wants to take down the Citgo sign in Kenmore Square and replace it with an American flag because Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez insulted George W. Bush, calling him a devil.

It is possible that it takes one to know one.

And McDermott should remember that most Bostonians, including his constituents, are not fond of Bush. It is easy to imagine that many of McDermott’s constituents for the first time probably agreed with something Chavez said, given that this Bush takes money from the poor and gives to the rich through his tax policies, allows his friends in corporate power centers to ruin the earth, rejects scientific findings in medicine and the environment, fraudulently leads us into a war that brings greater tragedy to a nation already hammered by decades of cruel dictatorship, gets Congress to let him torture suspected terrorists, gets rid of habeas corpus, and finally, by this war, creates an environment where terrorism flourishes. (We didn’t need a leaked report to tell us this.)

What name would McDermott call a person who engaged in such behavior?

Chavez wasn’t talking about McDermott or Americans. He was talking about a man who is not admired even by most Americans, if the approval ratings are to be believed. McDermott does not have to get his back up over an insignificant remark.

But Bush is beside the point in all of this.

The Citgo sign has nothing to do with Venezuela or oil companies or Chavez or Bush. The Citgo sign has to do only with Boston. Whether one likes it or not, it is a piece of Boston’s history. It adds levity to a city that can sometimes be too serious about its Revolutionary War past. It looms over Fenway Park for Red Sox fans to enjoy.

The City Council has come a long way since some councilors made it a laughing stock. McDermott and his colleagues have plenty to do in a city that needs better schools, better maintenance and more housing and more successful businesses. He should focus on those problems.