Downtown

Man knocks woman out of way as she gets into SUV; takes off. Punches one of the kids when she tries to take the keys out of the ignition; other kid jumps out then. First kid jumps out not long after.

Police looking for a black male, about 30, with a thin build, driving a blue 1989 Ford Explorer.

80 Bedford St.

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White male entered shop, showed gun, demanded money. Fled on foot with undetermined amount of money.

235 Washington St.

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Man walked in, said he had a gun, demanded money; fled without any money.

111 Causeway St.

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Brian Riley, 28, of Malden, charged with hitting victim in face with bottle.

Victim found outside holding towel against head to stop bleeding; taken to Mass. General for treatment. Riley was placed under arrest after EMTs treated him for cuts to his hand.

80 Causeway St.

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Police discover man lying motionless with numerous cuts and bruises.

Security from a club at the location pointed out two suspects. They resisted arrest; a third man tried to get a crowd that had gathered to turn against police. He was also arrested. Victim taken to local hospital.

State and Broad streets

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Employees confronted an alleged shoplifter who dropped the blue Polo ski jacket but then waved a box cutter at them before fleeing.

426 Washington St.

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Large fight broke out on dance floor of Vertigo; two women report being stabbed multiple times. Treated at New England Medical Center for non-lifethreatening wounds.

126 State St.

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Man, 31, found bleeding from face and chest; taken to MGH with serious but not life-threatening injuries. Westwood man arrested.

Broad and Water streets

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Police had to respond en masse to Warrenton Street after the bars closed; one man arrested on charges he was punching somebody repeatedly.

"Officers observed Daniel Gibson, 22, of East Boston, swinging at patrons causing them to run through the parking lot to avoid him. Gibson then began punching an unknown white male at which time officers attempted to place Gibson under arrest. He failed to comply with officers and violently resisted arrest. While the officers were cuffing the suspect, he pounded his head on a motor vehicles windshield causing it to shatter."

100 Warrenton St.

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Man repairing anti-skate guards outside a building was allegedly assaulted by eight skateboarders, one of whom struck him with his board before fleeing. No word on whether they fled on their boards. No medical assistance required.

185 Franklin St.

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I admit it - I just love those cartoonish directional signs that have sprouted all over downtown T stations over the last year or so. Sure, they make it look like the T has cut its systemwide signage budget to $50 a year - and has outsourced even that to some guy who's trying out all the fonts on that 1-million-graphics CD he found in the Best Buy discount bin. But they boldly (and italicly) say "The T just wanna have fun!" - how can you not smile when you see one of these jaunty signs?

OK, not everyone agrees: It's like shopping in Filene's basement with these signs.

Store clerk at 7-11 struck in head with brick; victim grabbed cigarettes and alcohol. Pedestrian walking by went in store, confronted suspect, who dropped the goods and fled. Victim refused medical help.

70 E. India Row

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Francis Nearis, 34, of Malden arrested in the Aquarium MBTA station after allegedly robbing the Store 24 on State Street. Police recovered a silver pistol-cigarette lighter.

177 State St.

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Well, sure, I'm not telling you anything you don't already know. But now its infamy is spreading westa 128. The Project for Public Spaces has named City Hall Plaza the worst public space in the entire world:

... There is no square as terrible and bleak as this one. It is the polar opposite of what belongs at the center of one of North America's greatest cities. We believe that City Hall and the Plaza should be torn down and rebuilt as a great gathering place linked to the all the great places nearby. It would give the people of Boston such a sense of relief after decades of looking at this disaster. There is nothing good about either the building or the plaza, and the sooner Boston decides to move on the better. ...

On the plus side: Since it beat out plazas in Paris, London, Rotterdam and Barcelona, we can finally boast of being a world-class city! Also, if you hold the back of a penny upside-down, you can see Boston City Hall (well, if you squint).

Via Andy, who fully agrees with the judges' decision (no quibble from me on the plaza, but I'll stick with my argument that the Hurley Building is the ugliest building in Boston).

D.L. notes a guitar player on an Orange Line platform at Downtown Crossing on Friday:

... A gentleman wearing a Santa hat was quietly and beautifully playing Christmas Carols on his guitar. I think it worth noting these were not holiday songs they were of Christmas. He played them with respect. They were superb and enhanced by the venue -- how very fortunate for his regularly changing audience.

The carillion built into the side of the building, to be exact.

Sid describes an encounter with open-source doyen Richard M. Stallman:

Ran into the one and only GNU guru (and part time lawn gnome) whilst waiting for the train down in the ugly stinking pit of the Downtown Crossing T-stop in Boston (he got off at Kendall Sq., natch). ...

Ed. note: Yes, yes, I know that rms is the father of free software and free software is NOT the same as open source and Linux should be called GNU-Linux and the fate of the world hinges on people understanding the difference, but, well, honestly, I don't care.

Although the man/train accident was at Park Street, commuters elsewhere on the line report the same sort of chaos that broke out there. In a letter to T officials, Goose details what happened at Downtown Crossing:

The Red Line train I was on was stopped about 20 yards short of the platform at Downtown Crossing. We were held there without light or ventilation for 20 minutes. Why wasn't the train moved to the platform before shutting off the power? Any additional emergency that might have occurred on stopped trains would have compounded the crisis. ...

Other problems the T should fix: Non-functioning PA systems, inadequate crowd control and a blocked off Park Street (which meant problems for the shuttle buses that were supposed to ferry riders around Park Street).

News that Filene's will soon be no more got John to researching the chain's history. He discovered the Filene brothers were quite the innovators:

... Both brothers were very interested in the ideas surrounding scientific management, and using research to develop new methods for marketing and retailing. It is a sad day for Boston to lose such a historic brand. ...

The state Department of Mental Health's Hurley Building was designed in the same "brutalist" mode as the nearby City Hall. But City Hall is a delightful little confectionary compared to this truly brutal, depressing series of concrete fists smashing the spirit of onlookers into a thin pulp. Elephantine concrete columns follow one after another, with no visual relief, figuratively pounding you in the head without stop. Dynamite would be too kind for this monstrosity, which would be far better suited as the headquarters of the KGB circa 1965 than a building in the cradle of American liberty. It's especially depressing given its location across the street from the classic West Church and, for that matter, all of Beacon Hill.

Ron notes that a merger of the companies that own Macy's and Filene's could mean the end of Filene's:

Everyone in New England should be praying for this deal to fall through. Nothing good can come of it.

David takes the T today and is repeatedly reminded why he doesn't like taking the T:

... Then, before we could pull out of Park Street, the T driver got up suddenly, came out from behind her curtain like the Wizard of Oz, looked at the car full of people, said something unintelligible and then walked off - only to be replaced by 2 MBTA cops. They surveyed the crowd, talked to a few people and stayed on board until the hysterical driver returned 3 or 4 minutes later. Did she think she'd spotted a suspected terrorist in her rear view? ...

Sarcastic Sam reports:

Just heard on the radio that FBI is searching for a dirty bomb in Boston...supposedly another FBI office had a lead that someone was trying to detonate a DB in Boston...hmmm should I ask to go home early?

WTF is up with that?