The Zoning Board of Appeal today approved an Ontario developer's plans to replace the aging parking garage at 125 Lincoln St. with an 11-story life-sciences building with ground-floor space for a banquet hall - and with plans for 50 to 60 units of affordable housing on Essex Street. Read more.

Shamus Moynihan spotted Old Faithful at South and Beach streets in the Leather District this evening (and yes, he reports he called 911 first before he started recording). Read more.

What started as a 911 call in July about a larceny on Beach Street in Chinatown has spiraled into a licensing issue that could see a Chinatown restaurant lose its right to serve beer and wine - or even to stay open at all. Read more.

Boston Police told Chinatown residents and business owners that they will soon be assigning six officers to Chinatown between 2 a.m. and 3:30 a.m. - two to keep guard over the Chinatown Gate and four on bicycles to patrol the neighborhood as bars in nearby areas let out and people pour into Chinatown for food. Read more.

Boston Police report a man who carjacked somebody on Beach Street in Chinatown Thursday afternoon - after first dragging the car's owner for a while - drove over to Steriti Rink on Commercial Street in the North End, behind which he jumped into the inner harbor and then foundered there for awhile until Boston officers and State Police could get him out of the cold water. Read more.

The Supreme Judicial Court ruled today that a man who pleaded guilty to second-degree murder for a triple shooting when he was 17 should get an immediate parole hearing on the lesser charges that are keeping him behind bars even after he was paroled on the murder charge. Read more.

A nearby resident reports being awoken by the sound of gunfire shortly after 3 a.m. Live Boston reports police found at least seven shell casings - and a partially loaded magazine - on Beach Street at Oxford Street.

The gunfire came about an hour after a disturbance on Beech Street at Lincoln Street, on the other side of the Greenway: Read more.

Boston Police report officers who stopped a Dorchester man who'd been parked in front of a hydrant in Chinatown last night ended up charging him for the loaded, stolen gun and the "six individual clear plastic bags containing marijuana" they found in his car. Read more.

A developer yesterday showed off preliminary plans to convert 17-23 Beach St. - home to the Pho Hoa restaurant and the 1970's-style Mass. Medical Office sign - into apartments aimed at working-class Chinatown residents. Read more.

Boston Police report a man wielded a knife and a cane in an attack on two other men around midnight on Oct. 7 on Beach Street.

Both victims were taken to Mass. General for treatment.