Downtown

M/Y NamohThe owners of a yacht that rents for $99,500 a week are suing a Long Wharf marina over damage they say was caused by a sunken piling the marina should have done something about before the yacht hit it.

In the lawsuit, filed this week in US District Court in Boston, the owners of the M/Y Namoh say the crew of the 125-foot yacht with twin 2250-horsepower diesel engines was in the process of backing into a slip at the Boston Waterboat Marina on Aug. 30, 2011, when "its hull and propellers struck a submerged object within the slip's berth and its starboard engine immediately shutdown."

Rosina Lucibello reports she was waiting for an Alewife train on the Red Line around 7:15 p.m. tonight when an apparent drunk fell onto the tracks on the other side:

Watched a drunk guy fall. Then immediately another commuter jumped in and got him. Simple as that. He never hesitated. We were speechless. The guy went down on tracks. Grabbed him and helped him up. Then pulled himself back up. Very heroic and quick! We got nervous because they announced train approaching. Tense moment.

Panera Cares goes before the Boston Licensing Board tomorrow for permission to open at 3 Center Plaza, across from City Hall.

The new Panera, which could be open within a couple weeks if granted a food-serving license, will have a menu similar to other Panera outlets, but instead of fixed prices, diners at the non-profit restaurant will get to pay what they think their meal is worth - or pay nothing at all, if they have no money (people who don't pay can volunteer time, instead).

Licensing-board hearings start at 10 a.m. in the board's eighth-floor hearing room at City Hall.

Commuter-rail lines that share the Northeast Corridor with Amtrak (Providence, Franklin and Needham) are reporting delays thanks to an overhead Amtrak wire that came down somewhere between Forest Hills and downtown.

Nicole Oliverio at WHDH tweets the driver of one of the station's news vans had just gotten on I-93 south when she realized somebody was on the roof. Seems somebody with places to go but no way to get there had climbed on somewhere between the station's Government Center offices and the I-93 ramp.

The guy surprisingly wasn't hurt. Said he needed a ride, but didn't have $$

MBTA Transit Police report arresting a woman they say stole a Silver Line inspector's bag, threw it into Fort Point Channel and then announced to officers that she couldn't help herself because she's a kleptomaniac.

Nyllabrii Raikou, 20, was arrested shortly after 10 p.m. yesterday on the Summer Street bridge - where they found her being pursued by the inspector. Police say the inspector arrived at the inspector's booth at the Silver Line platform at South Station to find Raikou inside:

Upon noticing the victim Raikou exited and began to walk away. The victim immediately went inside the booth and noticed his personal bag was missing containing his cell phone and other items as well as a MBTA radio battery.

Upon noticing the victim still following her and seeing the flashing blue lights of a Transit Police cruiser less then a block away Raikou tossed the victim's bag with all its contents into the Fort Point Chanel. Officers made several attempts to recover the bag however the currents were moving too swiftly.

Innocent, etc.

Cactus on the Stair reports on how one Sob Story Guy's night ended with him on the train harassed by a panhandler.

Utile reports on an interesting proposal by a couple of Yale architecture students: Drain Fort Point Channel south of Summer Street and put the tracks underground there - under a brand-new South Station:

The benefit is a fully subterranean train station, allowing for the redevelopment of both the existing and new track areas for urban development that can knit the Leather District directly to the loft buildings in the Fort Point District.

Just as importantly, the new South Station headhouse will provide views north across Fort Point Channel and Boston Harbor to visitors first arriving in Boston. Only the train station in Venice provides a comparatively dramatic view. Commuters and visitors would find water taxis and ferries directly across Summer Street. Importantly, the new tracks and station could be built while the existing station is fully operational. With only a flip of a switch, trains could be directed into the new station, freeing up the old facility for demolition - except for the historic headhouse, which would be saved as part of a redevelopment plan.

Sounds cool, although, of course, there are some pesky details that would need some attention, beyond the whole idea of building a dam at Summer Street: Gillette uses vast amounts of water from Fort Point Channel at World Shaving Headquarters (although presumably that's why God gave us pipes) and part of the Ted Williams Tunnel goes right under the channel.

Bonus fun fact: There used to be a looped train tunnel under South Station, but it was only used once and later part of it became a bowling alley.

MBTA Transit Police ordered a shutdown of the South Station bus terminal when a janitor found a strange item in the trash in the men's room. Alert New England reports it was a stolen coin box from a pay phone.

Earlier:
Riverside station shut due to suspicious coffee maker.

A concerned citizen complains about some boarded up windows at the Old State House:

This building is visited and photographed by 100s of tourists every month, we should fix asap, reflects badly on boston.

Firefighters went into the O'Neill Tunnel south of Clinton Street around 11:25 a.m. to extinguish a fire in an 18-wheeler carrying cardboard on the southbound side. Tunnel fans worked in quickly clearing smoke; they did nothing, however, to clear the traffic jam that quickly extended onto the lower deck:

Backup on the Zakim, on state highwaycam.

Bob Lawler reports the loud booms heard from Hyde Park to Uphams Corner to South Boston around 9:30 tonight were actually "a not so private fireworks show for a very big wedding" at the Boston Harbor Hotel.

Photos | Video.

Back when Egleston Square had a movie theater and an elevated train, in 1939, as captured by Leslie Jones. Jones also photographed snow removal closer to downtown - back when the downtown skyline consisted of one building:

More Leslie Jones snow photos.

Posted under this Creative Commons license.

Chris Lovett took some photos as the snow began.

Still, one suspects that Half-Naked Guy, captured by Alex Mellion across from the old Borders in Downtown Crossing, might have to throw something else on soon.

Sarah M. tweets:

Little kid asks dad why toy train at South Station isn't moving, "because it's just like real life."

Brian D'Amico reports somebody fell 20 feet down a shaft in a quartermaster building on Peddocks Island tonight. Efforts at CPR failed and he was pronounced dead at the scene.

MBTA Transit Police report arresting William Gwiazda, 33, on charges he went up to an undercover cop at the South Station bus terminal around 7:30 p.m. yesterday, started chatting him up, then offered to sell him some methadone:

MBTA Transit Police are looking for five teens for attacking a disabled 16-year-old outside the CharlieCard store at Downtown Crossing around 4:20 p.m. today. If caught, they'll be facing charges of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon - a shod foot.

The victim declined medical attention and was escorted to his Orange Line train. According to police, he got off an Ashmont train and was heading to the Orange Line when he was set upon.

All five suspects are black, between 16 and 19. Four are male; one female. The main attacker was described as 5'5" and about 140 lbs, wearing a gray Hollister California sweatshirt; the female as wearing a purple parka and green pants. Police searched the area for the group without success.

Boston firefighters rushed to 1 Beacon St. around 5:15 p.m. for a fire in a room on the 30th floor. They quickly doused the fire.

NECN reports the guy boarded a Boston Harbor Cruises ship, then untied it from the dock. Police managed to capture the vessel before he made it to the high seas.

Brian D'Amico reports a woman fell into the water from the Summer Street Bridge around 12:45 p.m. A passing Boston police officer jumped in to help the screaming woman and managed to get her a raft - to which they clung until shortly after 1 p.m., when a State Police boat arrived and fished them out - for transport to the Tea Party Museum next to the Congress Street Bridge. Two Boston firefighters also jumped into the water to help.

Boston EMS reports both woman and police officer suffered only minor injuries and possible hypothermia. Police say they firefighters also suffered hypothermia.

Stephen M. photographs the remains of the door at 125 High St.

The BPL has put up a ton of Leslie Jones winter photos, including this one of the Jordan Marsh nativity scene in 1950. Also see the Christmas displays at other long gone downtown stores, including Gilchrist's, R.H. White, Houghton and Dutton and Jordan Marsh in 1957.

Photo posted under this Creative Commons license.

An Everett man was sentenced to two to three years in prison for bashing a woman in the head with a baseball bat outside North Station while dressed as a member of the Furies from "The Warriors" on Halloween, 2010, the Suffolk County District Attorney's office reports.

Picardi's victim, 21 at the time, required reconstructive surgery for her skull and extensive speech, occupational and physical therapy, the DA's office says. In her victim-impact statement, the woman said: