Local News

Morning Updates: BPL’s past losses, tracking Roslindale man’s Facebook likes

The alpha lion of the Boston Public Library — err, President — has resigned. The Boston Globe/David L Ryan

By Eric Levenson @ejleven

June 4, 2015

3 minutes to read

Good morning, Boston. Here are the stories you need to know for the day ahead, including the alleged plotting of a Roslindale man to kill police, Walsh’s opposition to pot legalization, and Caitlyn Jenner’s new docu-series.

Man shot by police in Roslindale spoke of attacking police: “With two hours left to live, Usaamah Abdulla Rahim had a change of plans. Forget the idea to kill in another state, he told a friend, according to a federal criminal complaint filed today. He was going to do it right here, at home in Massachusetts. ‘I’m just going to, ah, go after them, those boys in blue,’ he said, according to the FBI. But the same people Rahim planned to attack were watching him.’’ (Boston.com)

Tracking his likes on Facebook: “Rahim ‘liked’ the Islamic State of Iraq on a Facebook page that a friend said was his and posted links to other images and figures tied to violent extremism. … His gallery of ‘likes’ includes Mizanur Rahman, an extremist British preacher; Ibn Taymiyyah, a 14th century Islamic scholar whose writings inspired much of contemporary violent Islamist ideology; and several groups and people affiliated with Salafism, a fundamentalist branch of Islam.’’ (The Boston Globe)

After artworks go missing, library chief steps down: President Amy Ryan said she would resign to “allow the work of the Boston Public Library to continue without distraction.’’ (The Boston Globe)

Lost artwork, #ThrowbackThursday version: “It was August 1998 when a more than 100-year-old water main broke in the middle of the night and destroyed an estimated 50,000 reference books, 300,000 documents, and 3 million microfiches. … ‘Some librarians have reported waking up at 2 a.m. in a panic to save some essential book or paper, only to realize they can’t,’ a Globe report from a few days after the incident said. ‘Others have kept a vigil at the library, trying to save as much as possible.’’’ (Boston.com)

Mayor Walsh gets hammered for opposing pot legalization: “It makes little sense for a society in which tobacco is legal, and alcohol cheered, to make marijuana — no more intrinsically harmful than they are — illegal. Walsh is resolutely unmoved by those arguments. ‘I’m not a scientist,’ he said, and he doesn’t want to argue about studies. … This is a losing battle for Walsh, and not just because he hasn’t got time for it. Legalization is not just inevitable. It’s right.’’ (The Boston Globe)

Only slightly biased: “This 5-year-old made a chart of the best athletes ever [by number], and it’s amazing.’’ Color code: red is for baseball, blue is for football, green is for basketball and black is for hockey. (Boston.com)

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E! teases the premiere of Caitlyn Jenner’s new docu-series: “Wouldn’t it it be great to just be normal, to blend into society?’’ says Jenner, the Olympic star formerly known as Bruce. “Put it this way — I’m the new normal.’’ (Vulture)

Black Mass authors got a cameo in their own movie: “There is a different scene, where Gerry [O’Neill] and I meet the FBI agent John Morris,’’ Dick Lehr said. “So they have a coupe of actors who play us, and the director put us in the next table in the restaurant. And I honestly don’t remember the actors’ names. They were some local guys. They didn’t allow us to play ourselves.’’ (Boston Magazine)