Published July 26, 2010

Natural accumulation? (caribb/Flickr)

I know this feels really, really far away, but I need you to think about shoveling snow for a minute.

If you don’t shovel your sidewalk after a snowfall and someone slips and gets hurt, you’re liable. Until today, property owners could argue the white stuff was “natural accumulation,” thanks to an 1883 ruling that made the hair-splitting distinction.

The Supreme Judicial Court on Monday threw out that logic in Papadopoulos v. Target Corporation. (Read the ruling on Scribd.)

Emanuel Papadopoulos sued Target for negligence after he slipped and fell in front of a store in Danvers. Here’s how the story goes: It was a cold day in 2002 — below freezing — and the snow had stopped falling. Target did its duty and plowed the parking lot. The plow deposited a small mountain of snow on a median in the parking lot. Some of that snow melted onto the pavement, then refroze. And that’s where Papadopoulos took his unfortunate step, while trying to get back in his car, and fell.

Papadopoulos sued Target and lost. A lower court said the store was not liable, because that patch of ice was “natural accumulation.” An appeals court affirmed.

But the high court has ruled in favor of Papadopoulos, noting cleverly:

We do not accept this rationale where a property owner knows or has reason to know that a banana peel has been left on a floor by a careless customer; we have long held that the property owner has a duty to keep the property reasonably safe for lawful visitors regardless of the source of the danger.

Can’t wait to sue half of Brookline this winter.

Kudos to Universal Hub’s Adam Gaffin for turning me onto this story. Ever slipped on an icy patch? Do you have to shovel snow every winter? @Mainesailor grovels: “court doesn’t have plows shoveling snow onto walk!” Shout out in the comments.

Published July 26, 2010

The New York Times is a traditional news organization that broke a non-traditional organization's story.

They’re calling it this generation’s Pentagon Papers. WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) releases 90,000 classified documents that don’t reflect well on the American campaign in Afghanistan. The White House, stunned and embarrassed, rushes to defend the war effort.

Unlike in Vietnam, however, Boston University Professor Andrew Bacevich says the documents don’t tell us much about Afghanistan that we don’t already know. And the documents are unlikely to change operations on the ground.

Bacevich says the WikiLeaks story is more interesting in what says about the evolution of “information warfare” (emphasis mine):

Rather than being defined as actions undertaken by a government to influence the perception of reality, information warfare now includes actions taken by disaffected functionaries within government to discredit the officially approved view of reality. This action is the handiwork of subversives, perhaps soldiers, perhaps civilians. Within our own national security apparatus, a second insurgent campaign may well have begun. Its purpose: bring America’s longest war to an end. Given the realities of the digital age, this second insurgency may well prove at least as difficult to suppress as the one that preoccupies General Petraeus in Kabul.

Bacevich writes for The New Republic as part of a news partnership with NPR and WBUR.

Dan Kennedy, the Northeastern journalism professor, says it was wise for WikiLeaks to release the documents to traditional news organizations well in advance. It lets WikiLeaks get out of the way so “real journalists” own the story.

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Published July 26, 2010

Here are the most important stories to watch this week in the Hub:

1. Casinos. Gov. Deval Patrick is back from the Middle East and ready to tackle this last, big hurdle of the legislative session. He may well make or break the negotiations. House Speaker Robert DeLeo is the most vocal supporter of legalizing resort-style casinos in Massachusetts, including two within his district. The governor supports it, too, with one major exception: Patrick doesn’t want slots. Some people on Beacon Hill are calling for state lawmakers to table issue for the next session.
2. The Probation Department. This story won’t go away. After reporting on a culture of patronage at the state’s Probation Department, the Globe followed up Sunday and Monday with more reporting. Expect more fallout on Beacon Hill. Radio Boston will talk with Globe reporter Marcella Bombardieri today at 3.
3. The governor’s race. We’re expecting the results of a new Rasmussen poll on Guberfest 2010 today at 5 p.m. Rasmussen is a polling organization that WBUR trusts. The last poll showed Republican Charlie Baker making gains on Patrick, the Democratic incumbent. Watch this week for an in-depth profile of Baker from reporter David Boeri. And we’re waiting to hear from Massachusetts Citizens for Life, an anti-abortion PAC, to see if they still support independent candidate Tim Cahill, who is an abortion rights supporter.
4. The John Odgren case. An autistic teenager — convicted of murdering a classmate when he was 16 — goes to court Monday to ask for a reduced sentence. He was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility for parole. Today Radio Boston asks, Should the state be trying juveniles as adults? Many advocates argue the brains of adolescents are not as developed as adults, that they are more prone to act impulsively and should not be judged the same way as adults.

What stories are you following this week?

Published July 26, 2010

Where's my bus? (photoholic1/Flickr)

The data nerd in me likes this news — the T rider in me loves it. NextBus, which provides real-time transit data to the MBTA,  just dumped a boatload of new bus routes (including the Silver Line) into its database. It appears almost complete.

If you’re in Brighton, waiting… and waiting… for the 64 to take you to Central, you can find the exact location of your ride on a Google Map and even get a prediction of its arrival time.

The data is open, which means developers can hack up cool applications. One real-life example is the LED sign at JP Licks that shows when the next 39 bus is expected.

I’m still waiting on real-time data for trains, to see if the Green Line is delayed-delayed or just regular-delayed.

What apps or websites do you use to track the T? Share in the comments.

• NextBus MBTA
• The last expansion was in June
• The state started offering real-time data in November 2009