Published September 28, 2010

I’m back and slightly spaced out on cold medicine. Here’s what’s news on a gray Tuesday morning in Boston:

Toddler Among 4 Dead In Mattapan Shooting

The child, said to be 2 to 3 years old, was one of five victims gunned down at 40 Woolson St. at 1:15 a.m. A mom, her toddler son and two men are dead, as the fifth victim, a man, clings to life, sources said. (Herald)

August Home Sales Drop To Lowest Level In 2 Decades

Sales of Massachusetts single-family homes in August fell to their lowest level in more than two decades as the housing market continued to feel the effects of the expiration of a federal home buyers tax credit, the Warren Group said today. (Globe)

You Can Almost Hear The Whoosh Of Windmills

It’s been a very long journey for Cape Wind, and now it comes down to this: an obscure government panel, meeting in a makeshift hearing room above South Station in Boston. (WBUR)

Mass. GOP Blocks Supplemental Spending Bill

A pair of prisons would close, services for homeless families would be curtailed, Medicaid benefits for low income residents would sharply cut and state troopers would lose their jobs if lawmakers fail to approve a $400 million spending bill, Patrick administration officials and legislative Democrats said Monday. (State House News Service)

Boston Closes Fiscal Year With $9M Surplus

In a city that spent $2.3 billion last year, the extra money is not a windfall that will restore cuts in the coming year. The surplus represents less than half a percent of the city budget. For the average household in a city with a median income of $52,000, it is the equivalent of discovering an extra $208, a nice find, but not enough to pay the mortgage or fix the roof. (Globe)

More: Phoenix columnist David Bernstein saw this from a mile away.