Published March 18, 2011

State Transportation Secretary Jeffrey B. Mullan shocked commuters Wednesday when he revealed that authorities found corrosion among some heavy light fixtures in Big Dig tunnels and that at least one light fixture had crashed down from a tunnel ceiling onto the highway below. Turns out, Mullan’s boss, Gov. Deval Patrick, was pretty surprised too.

Mullan acknowledged yesterday that he should have told the public — and the governor — of the issues sooner. He only informed Patrick Tuesday, the day before making his findings public, after a five week investigation.

Derided as an excuse for public workers to hit the Irish pubs, Evacuation Day — St. Paddy’s Day — has been a bone of contention among the public for years. While city and state agencies were open for business yesterday for the first time in years, canceling the holiday may not have eased voters ire. State employees who worked yesterday will receive an extra paid day off within the next two months and many municipal employees raked in time-and-a-half.

On the other side of the coin, many believe that the “hack holiday” deserves to be celebrated. Herald columnist Peter Gelzinis argues that the history of the holiday can unite sections of the city that normally don’t interact.

Prepping for a possible presidential run, former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich was in New Hampshire yesterday. WBUR’s David Boeri crossed the border for St. Paddy’s Day with Newt.

Without maestro James Levine at the helm, the Boston Symphony Orchestra still impressed critics at Carnegie Hall in New York last night.

What we’re following: Check wbur.org throughout the day to catch up on all the breaking international news from Japan to Libya. We’ll also follow problems in the operations department of Boston police, rising gas prices and public school students tracking their graduation progress. Radio Boston will speak with Phyllis Schlafly’s niece, Suzanne Venker, to talk about “The Flipside of Feminism.”