Published March 21, 2011

Authorities are ignoring the grave risks of spent radioactive nuclear fuel currently stored at the Pilgrim and Vermont Yankee nuclear power plants, according to the the state’s attorney general.

The state, led by Attorney General Martha Coakley, has waged a long legal battle in an effort to force the Nuclear Regulatory commission to examine the risks spent nuclear fuel poses to New England. With the crisis in Japan focusing attention on nuclear safety, the state is asking the federal government to take a more active role in policing nuclear fuel.

Local economies are feeling the pinch caused by the world’s other crisis, military action in Libya. Gas prices continue to climb (Update: Gas prices are level this week), forcing the prices of goods ever-higher. The price of gasoline climbed 35 cents over the past month and almost 90 cents since September.

Revelers in Southie yesterday had double the fun as a second parade joined the traditional St. Patty’s Day parade and marched through the streets. Long a contentious affair because organizers have blocked GLBTQ and anti-war groups from participating, Veterans For Peace this year organized a second parade along the original parade’s route.

Surgeons at Brigham and Women’s Hospital performed the first full face transplant in the US last week. A spokesman told the Globe that a team of over 30 medical providers worked for more than 15 hours to replace the face of a Texas man who’d been horrible burned in an accident.

What we’re following: We’ll continue to report on the local nuclear power plants and the state’s political leaders weighing in on the military action in Libya and Japan’s recovery efforts. Radio Boston will speak with futurist Ray Kurzweil.

Published March 18, 2011

Wait, it’s not hockey?

Tonight the Boston University men’s basketball team is set to face off…um… tip off against powerhouse Kansas in the “second round”* of March Madness action.

If BU were to win, it would be the greatest tournament moment of all-time — the first 16-seed to vanquish a No. 1 seed in history.

All the team has to do is take a page out of fellow-Terrier Mike Eruzione’s book.

[youtube url=”lle3jmEHLYc”]

With five national championships, 13 Final Fours and 40 tournament appearances, Kansas has a rich basketball history. Watch out for the Morris twins — 6-10 Markieff and 6-9 Marcus.

This year marks BU’s seventh tournament appearance and its first since 2002. Still, the team went 21-13 on the season, won their league and is the only Boston-area team to march in the Madness. The only senior on the team, John Holland, won America East player of the year honors.

The game is at 6:50 p.m. tonight in Tulsa, Okla.

____

*- This year, in its infinite wisdom, the NCAA Tournament decided to add an additional round. Selecting 68 teams, four teams competed in two play-in games to start the tournament. That means the Round of 64, traditionally the first round, is now actually the second round.

Published March 18, 2011

Think you saw Zelda on the T? Ride the bus with Super Mario? Grab brunch with Mrs. Pac-Man?

It wasn’t just a dream. PAX East, a huge video game and gaming convention, invaded Boston for the second straight year last weekend. Thousands of gamers from all over the country streamed into Boston and to the Boston Convention Exhibition Center.

Radio Boston’s Anna Pinkert went to the convention and brought back this great slideshow.

Once a burgeoning industry in Massachusetts, the video game industry here has stumbled on hard times recently, as Radio Boston reported. The show also looked into the recent rise in female gamers.

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.”

Published March 17, 2011

A 110-pound light fixture crashed into the highway running through the “Tip” O’Neill Tunnel in early February, sparking a review of the more than 23,000 light fixtures that illuminate the tunnels built during the Big Dig.

State Transportation Secretary Jeffrey B. Mullan said that corrosion, most-likely caused by moisture and road salt, had eaten away at the aluminum rails that attach the lights to ceiling. After conducting a review, Mullan called the accident “a relatively isolated incident,” according to the Globe, and said that the tunnels were safe for travel.

Luckily, the dangerous light fixture dropped in the wee hours of the morning of Feb. 8 and didn’t impact any cars. The incident, however, brings to mind the 2006 tunnel ceiling collapse that killed a 38-year-old Jamaica Plain woman.

Overseas trying to bring economic development to the state, Gov. Deval Patrick yesterday reacted to the news that Massachusetts will lose over 1,000 Fidelity jobs. The firm gave the state no option to fight for the jobs being lost by the closure of Fidelity’s Marlborough campus, according to Patrick.

As Japan continues to struggle with a trifecta of disasters — the earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear radiation fears that have wracked the country since Friday — many Massachusetts businesses with ties to the country are expecting dour economic news. As WBUR’s Monica Brady-Myerov reports, Japan is the state’s fourth largest destination for imports and Massachusetts companies will have to cope with a severely limited Japan for some time.

After winning the race to become Boston’s newest city councilor Tuesday, Tito Jackson walked the streets to thank his new constituents. He’ll take over for the scandal-plagued Chuck Turner.

Parents used to teenage angst and sarcasm might roll their eyes at this one: Every few months the Institute of Contemporary Art opens its doors and programs to a group not normally known for its passion for art — teenagers. Since 2005, the museum has hired teenagers to plan and market events designed to attract the younger set.

Fans who know him as a Pro Bowl safety currently playing with a $8.75 million contract might be surprised to learn that Patriots defensive back Brandon Meriweather grew up amidst guns, gangs, crime and drugs. On Feb. 28, Meriweather witnessed a shooting in his hometown of South Apopka, Fla., outside Orlando. The investigation is ongoing, and Meriweather has not been charged with any crime.

Millions of basketball fans around the world hope they have the Luck o’ the Irish this St. Patrick’s Day. The NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament — “March Madness” — continues today, with a full slate of games.

WBUR has lots of St. Patty’s Day programming, including the Boston-based Irish rockers the Dropkick Murphys live in-studio on On Point at 11 am.

What we’re following: We’ll continue to follow the investigation into the faulty Big Dig tunnel lights, Newt Gingrich trolling the Presidential waters in New Hampshire and Gov. Patrick’s return to the state. Radio Boston will investigate the state of bus travel after a recent spate of deadly bus accidents.

Published March 16, 2011

Boston-based financial giant Fidelity Investments announced yesterday that it is closing its operations in Malrborough and transferring almost of all of the 1,100 jobs there out of state. Rhode Island and New Hampshire stand to gain most of the jobs, though a spokesman said some of the jobs would be shifted to the company’s Boston location.

The nation’s second-largest mutual fund company has shed over 4,500 jobs in Massachusetts over the last five years. Fidelity-watcher Jim Lowell told Morning Edition’s Bob Oakes that technology may shoulder part of the blame for recent Fidelity job cuts.

Boston has a new city councilor. After a landslide victory, Tito Jackson will be the new representative in Chuck Turner’s old seat. Jackson garnered 82 percent of the vote. WBUR’s David Boeri profiled both Jackson and his opponent, Cornell Mills, on Monday.

From the strange news stories that just keep getting stranger department: the man known as “Clark Rockefeller” may be headed to California to face murder charges. Authorities in California have filed a federal complaint seeking the man’s return to face trial in a murder investigation from 1985. “Rockefeller,” nee Christian Karl Gerhartsreiter, is currently serving a sentence of four to five years at a prison in Gardner for the 2008 kidnapping of his daughter.

Cambridge’s school committee last night voted to add four new middle schools to the system. WBUR’s Monica Brady-Myerov previously reported on the plan and how officials hope it will help close the city’s achievement gap.

The Associated Press reports on a Bostonian who traveled to Japan to teach English and barely survived Friday’s tsunami. This story is a fascinating first-hand account of the catastrophe.

What we’re following: We’ll report on legislation that would change the Parole Board getting its first legislative hearing today, the city of Marlborough as it reels from the Fidelity job cuts and the fight over state redistricting. Radio Boston will dive into New England’s nuclear power industry and the public’s perception of it after disaster in Japan.

Published March 15, 2011

Japan’s continued struggles with its stricken Fukushima-Daiichi plant have re-raised long-standing questions about nuclear power’s safety. Yesterday, Sen. John Kerry called for “more fail-safe plants if any are going to be built” in the future.

This morning, WBUR’s Bianca Vasquez Toness reported from Plymouth’s Pilgrim Power Station. Though the plant is similar in design to the damaged site in Japan, Plymouth officials are reassuring residents of the plant’s safety.

Following Bianca’s story — and with three power plants in or just outside Massachusetts — we asked users: Are you concerned about nuclear power following Japan’s crisis? Here’s what you said:
Continue reading →