Friday Morning: Bostonian Freed, Menino Peeved

Published August 27, 2010

Top stories in and around the Hub on a pleasant Friday morning:

  1. Boston Man Set Free In North Korea
    A Boston man being held in North Korea since January for crossing into that country illegally was freed yesterday at the behest of former President Jimmy Carter, and is expected to arrive back in Boston today. (Globe)
  2. Mayor Menino Blasts Vornado
    The bottom line for Thomas Menino is that there’s a crater in the center of Boston’s Downtown Crossing shopping district, where Vornado halted construction in 2008 on a $700 million mixed-use high-rise. That Vornado is bidding on the Hancock Tower and also moving forward with plans to construct a Manhattan skyscraper has enraged Menino. (Herald)
  3. Brown’s Campaign Donations Keep Rolling In
    Brown now has more than $6 million in his campaign account, and about two-thirds of his donations are coming from Massachusetts residents. (WBUR)
  4. First Family’s Vacation Winds Down
    The president will go back refreshed from 10 days in a place where almost all the faces he saw were smiling and where the prime concern of almost everyone, even the trailing national media, was whether he was having a good time. (Vineyard Gazette)
  5. A Mini Fenway Will Park In Norton
    Phase one involved the Mini Fenway facade and landmarks, including the Green Monster and the Citgo sign, and two youth baseball fields and four practice fields. (Sun Chronicle)

What stories are you following?

Sound Bites, Thursday: Leaking Pipes, Barf Bags, Time Machine

Published August 26, 2010

(Steve Brown/WBUR)

There’s a leak near the site of that massive water-main break in Weston. (WBUR)

A time machine has appeared on the roof of MIT. (Bostonist)

A flotilla of fishing vessels stormed Boston Harbor to protest commercial fishing restrictions. (Herald)

Police in Attleboro have arrested a man who dumped four garbage bags on the mayor’s desk last month. (Sun Chronicle)

A Mass. Republican candidate for Congress is distributing barf bags with his campaign message. (WCVB)

Salmonella-tainted eggs are still edible! If pasteurized. (Telegram & Gazette)

Passengers: I Have Had It With This (Bothersome) Snake On This (Bothersome) Train

Published August 26, 2010

I’m not making this stuff up, folks. The latest Green Line delay is courtesy of this charmer:

A Boston-area train was temporarily stopped Thursday after riders reported a man aboard had a snake around his neck.

The man had already left when police arrived at the Green Line’s Brookline Village station at about 12:30 p.m. to investigate.

From the T’s policy on pets:

For safety and convenience during rush hours, small domestic animals must be carried in lap-sized containers and out of the way of exits.

Related.

Alaskans Wouldn't Put Up With Scott Brown

Published August 26, 2010

Former Alask Gov. Sarah Palin criticized Sen. Scott Brown on Fox Business.

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin criticized Sen. Scott Brown on Fox. Brown is like, whatev. (Click for video.)

While Scott Brown stumps for moderates here in Mass., Sarah Palin accuses him of being a populist sissy instead of a “hardcore constitutional conservative.”

Speaking on Fox Business Network, Palin criticized Brown for siding with Democrats on financial reforms and the jobs bill.

“That’s Massachusetts, and perhaps they’re not going to look for such a hardcore constitutional conservative there, and they’re going to put up with Scott Brown and some of the antics there,” Palin said.

“But up here in Alaska and so many places across the U.S., where we have a pioneering, independent spirit, and we have an expectation that our representatives in D.C. will respect the will of the people and the intelligence of the people, well, up here, we wouldn’t stand up for that.”

In a statement, Brown’s spokeswoman kind of responds:

Senator Brown’s votes are based on what’s in the best interests of Massachusetts and he has made his priorities job creation, controlling spending and reducing the deficit. All Republicans can agree on that.

Todd Domke, WBUR’s Republican political analyst, calls it a clash of the celebrity titans.

“They were projecting onto him this idea of being a great down the line conservative. But that wasn’t his record as a state senator,” Domke said.

Domke says Palin’s vocabulary is, erm, “elastic.” He thinks she might be jealous that Brown plans to back former Gov. Mitt Romney for president in 2012.

As New York Magazine points out (“Sarah Palin Wishes Scott Brown Were a Better Representative of Alaska, or Something”), Brown has voted with Republicans a measly 82 percent of the time.

Phoenix Uncovers Old Bill O'Reilly Columns

Published August 26, 2010

Bill O'Reilly

Bill O'Reilly

BU grad and Fox News host Bill O’Reilly has always been “a pompous, self-important do-gooder,” according to the Boston Phoenix, but he was a bit more humble back in his college days.

The Phoenix has uncovered O’Reilly’s first column for the paper, published April 30, 1974. O’Reilly demonizes the pornographer Gerard Damiano, who created “Deep Throat” and “The Devil in Miss Jones.”

If there was ever any question concerning the star of the evening, whether it was the film or the producer, it was answered right then as half the audience ignored Damiano’s query and filed noisily out the doors.

Those who remained were treated to the usual banalities and well rehearsed answers concerning censorship, the Supreme Court and so on, that a man in Damiano’s position must constantly spew forth.

O’Reilly penned several pieces for the Phoenix, as well as the defunct Cambridge alt-weekly, The Real Paper. From the Phoenix blog post:

His pieces were noticeably lacking in the right-wing fire and brimstone and the general vitriol he is now known for. In fact, his contributions were largely about movies (including this interview with the soon-to-be-honorary-Oscar-ified Eli Wallach).

Still, not whose byline I’d expect to find in the Phoenix.

New CommonHealth Blog Is Live, Awesome

Published August 26, 2010

CommonHealth logoCommonHealth, WBUR’s health care blog, has been resuscitated, redesigned and relaunched. Check it out now at commonhealth.wbur.org.

Veteran health reporters Carey Goldberg (NYT, LA Times, Globe) and Rachel Zimmerman (WSJ, NYT, Seattle PI) are your hosts. Here is the blog description:

Massachusetts is the leading laboratory for health care reform in the nation.   It is also the hub of medical innovation But as the nation looks on, what is the reality on the ground here? We’d like the new CommonHealth to be your go-to source for news, conversation and analysis about these historic efforts as they unfold.  Plus the latest research and what it means for your personal health.

Consider the latest posts:

And that’s just from today.

Thursday Morning: Sun, Subway Bridges, Scott Brown, Stabbing

Published August 26, 2010

Forgive the late posting. Slow-ish news day today. Here are the top stories around the Hub on a sunny(!) Thursday morning:

  1. Unidentified Shining Object Spotted
    The sun finally broke through after four days of rain that ended with a record-setting downpour Wednesday. The National Weather Service said the 2.76 inches of rain that were recorded at Logan International Airport Wednesday shattered a record that was more than 100 years old. (Globe)
  2. Experts Sound Alarm On Crumbling T Spans
    T passengers unwittingly ride over dozens of crumbling, decrepit railroad and subway bridges deemed so perilous that experts are calling on the transit agency to step up repairs before disaster strikes, a Herald review found. (Herald)
  3. Father, Young Son Stabbed In Cambridgeport Break-In
    The alleged intruded entered the back of the home located near Pearl and Hamilto streets and encountered the boy and his father at about 1 a.m., said Cambridge police spokesman Dan Riviello. (Globe)
  4. EEE Virus Found In Central Mass.
    The virus that causes Eastern equine encephalitis has been detected in mosquitoes collected in Bolton. (Telegram & Gazette)
  5. Sen. Brown Stumps For Moderates
    Sen. Scott Brown, initially celebrated as a champion of conservative Tea Party politics, is focusing much of his political capital on more moderate candidates backed by the GOP establishment as he builds his own national network. (Globe)
  6. Groups Sue To Push Cape Cleanup Forward
    Two environmental groups began legal proceedings yesterday against the EPA and officials on Cape Cod, asserting that they have allowed nitrogen-containing sewage to flow into Cape waters in violation of the federal Clean Water Act. (Globe)

What stories are you following this morning?

Sound Bites, Wednesday: Kennedy Remembered, Schools Boosted

Published August 25, 2010

An onlooker held a sign as Sen. Edward M. Kennedy's funeral entourage proceeded through Mission Hill. (Korri Leigh Crowley for WBUR)

An onlooker held a sign as Sen. Edward M. Kennedy's funeral entourage proceeded through Mission Hill. (Korri Leigh Crowley for WBUR)

One year after Kennedy’s death, the people’s champion is remembered around Massachusetts. (Boston Globe, Attleboro Sun-Chronicle, WBZ’s Jon Keller)

Mass. schools are getting a $204 million boost, on top of the $250 million “Race to the Top” money. (WBUR)

The EPA is suing Revere over raw sewage allegedly flowing into Boston Harbor. (Universal Hub)

Joel Tenenbaum, the BU grad student sued for illegally downloading music, is appealing the already-reduced damages he owes to the RIAA. (Boston Globe)

Patients now have a Zagat-like guide for Mass. hospitals. (CommonHealth)

O’Neal might Shaq up in Sudbury. (The Inside Track via Bostonist)

A new butcher shop, The Meat House, has opened in Coolidge Corner. (Patch Brookline)

POTUS is kind of pwning on the golf course in Martha’s Vineyard. (POTUS Pool on Tumblr)

WBUR host Meghna Chakrabarti is having a baby today. (Radio Boston)

Boston Blotter: Never Disrespect Mom's Cooking

Published August 25, 2010

My mom is a great cook, but even if she weren’t, I would never have the audacity to do this (from the BPD blog):

UNRULY SON ARRESTED AFTER DISRESPECTING MOM’S COOKING

At about 4:53pm, on Tuesday, August 24, 2010, officers from Area A-7 (East Boston) responded to a radio call for an out of control son in the area of 73 Lexington Street. On arrival, officers spoke to the mother who stated that her son lost his temper and, in an enraged state, proceeded to tear apart the house. Officers … observed a turned over kitchen table, two broken kitchen chairs and broken light fixture in the kitchen ceiling. According to the mother, her son got angry after she prepared a meal he didn’t like. Officers also observed some kind of food splattered all over the kitchen.

Arrested on charges of willful and malicious destruction of property.

Talk about a food fight.

The Rain Is Coming To An End!

Published August 25, 2010

A young fan looked at the field at rainy Fenway Park on Tuesday. The baseball was postponed. (Elise Amendola/AP)

A young fan looked at the field at rainy Fenway Park on Tuesday. The baseball game was postponed. (Elise Amendola/AP)

Boston is underwater — literally, in some places. This is epic, Noah’s Ark rain. But don’t worry, sunny skies are ahead.

A flood advisory and high-surf advisory are in effect for Wednesday. @UniversalHub has been doing a good job on Twitter covering rain delays and power outages. Boston and state police had to remove a woman trapped in her flooded car on Route 1A North in East Boston. Meanwhile, the Red Sox-Mariners day-night doubleheader is on time (details at the Herald’s Sox blog) after yesterday’s cancellation.

Forecasters say the rain will taper to showers and drizzle this afternoon with temperatures remaining in the 60s. A cold front on its way will bring dry, warm weather for Thursday. Weekend temps will get close to 90.

And now a question for you bicycle commuters: Got any advice for biking to work in this? I wore ski pants over my pants and my WBUR rain jacket, but it didn’t make any difference. Share your wisdom in the comments. (Maybe the best advice is to not bike. I was the only person I counted on two wheels today.)

Rain-related update, from my POTUS Pool Miniblog:

POTUS came back out the front door and went to the takeout window at Nancy’s, joined soon by FLOTUS. She turned to the crowd after ordering, with a big smile, and said “How y’all doing? Drying out? Finally!” The crowd responded warmly.