William provides the blow-by-blow for his neighbor's re-reroofing project, which he started today:

... Luckily I had a huge tarp to add to Josh's collection and the guys frantically started to cover up the house. This was no easy job. Check out the driving rain and the look of grit determination on Bill's face. They got it covered up in short time and now it looks like some of the houses from back home in the Ozark Mountains. ...

Fun Massachusetts fact: The state Constitution (article XIX) gives every resident the right to have his or her representative or senator introduce legislation for them.

And so, now that the legislature is done raising your taxes and cutting your services, it gets to debate a law that would require moviemakers to only use Massachusetts-raised and approved pigeons in the movies they make here, the Herald reports.

At least H. 816 is to the point:

AN ACT RELATIVE TO PIGEONS IN MOTION PICTURES.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:

SECTION 1. Not withstanding any General Laws to the contrary, all pigeons that are used in motion pictures within Massachusetts must be licensed and banded within Massachusetts.

See it in its natural habitat.

Michael Flaherty reads the Globe, too: After reading yesterday's article about the city's awful school athletics, he demanded the mayor immediately tackle officials from the region's pro sports teams and get them to help remedy the situation:

Now more than ever we need be creative about how we fund our important programs and carve out more opportunities for our BPS students. That's why I am calling on Mayor Menino to immediately broker partnerships with all the major sports teams that call Boston home -- the Red Sox, Celtics, Bruins, Patriots and the Revolution - and ask them to step up to the plate and help bolster BPS athletic programming.

Technically, the Patriots and the Revolution don't call Boston home, but you get the idea. His complete press release:

Flaherty Says "Status Quo" is failing Our Youth
Calls on the Mayor to partner with Colleges, Universities and major sports teams to support BPS athletics.

We will never win the war against youth violence unless we begin to make real investment in alternative options for our youth. Chronically underperforming schools, dead-end jobs and a non-existent BPS athletic program will not be enough to save our children. Simply put: If we don't want our kids to fail, then we must not fail them first.

For the better part of Mayor Menino's 16-year tenure, he has presided over the city during good economic times when real investments were more than possible. Blaming the current economic crisis for the city's dismal athletic programs in BPS is only the latest illustration of the fact that the Mayor is dangerously out of touch with the needs of Boston's youth and our growing gang problem.

Now more than ever we need be creative about how we fund our important programs and carve out more opportunities for our BPS students. That's why I am calling on Mayor Menino to immediately broker partnerships with all the major sports teams that call Boston home -- the Red Sox, Celtic's, Bruins, Patriot's and the Revolution - and ask them to step up to the plate and help bolster BPS athletic programming.

As taxpayers, we pay for the celebratory parades each time our home team wins and we provide the additional police presence required to maintain the public's safety during each of these games. Mayor Menino has missed yearly opportunities to demonstrate real leadership and engage our major sports teams in mutually beneficial partnerships.

In addition, the colleges and universities need to pay their fair share as well. That's why I am reiterating my call to reform the PILOT system to increase revenue for the City. I am also imploring Mayor Menino to ask all colleges and universities to join our effort to increase our investment in our public school's athletic programs by sharing their field space, providing coaching assistance and contributing funding for team equipment and uniforms.

Youth violence is a community-wide problem and it's up to the community to be part of the solution.