NorthEndWaterfront.com reports on a two-hour neighborhood meeting about trash and rats; says Councilor LaMattina has made some calls to particularly offensive property owners to get them to clean up their property. Other offenders get a "Letter from the Councilor" with tips on making their refuse less rat-happy.

Pouring 40,000 oysters into Boston Harbor to help clean it up even more:

Massachusetts Oyster Project blog.

Via NorthEndWaterfront.com.

The Boston Licensing Board yesterday ordered the owner of 5 North Square to take out the bar seats in a room where servers pick up drinks and patrons wait for tables.

The move came after complaints from some nearby residents about the restaurant's "service" bar, which is only supposed to prepare drinks for patrons eating meals, but which had a few seats at which waiting patrons could order both food and drinks from waitresses.

The restaurant had asked the board to remove the "service" restriction, but the board voted to keep that restriction in place. It also ruled waiting patrons could be served no more than one drink while waiting.

The Boston Licensing Board tackles the question Thursday when it decides what to do about neighborhood complaints about the bar at 5 North Square.

Location

NorthEndWaterfront.com reports on a trifecta of out-of-control parties in the North End, including one on Halloween at 224 Hanover St.:

... College students were throwing bottles and cans down to the street. The police initially had difficulty gaining access when a male dressed in a baby's outfit refused to open the door. BPD eventually gained access and the officers detained 15-20 Suffolk university students. There probably were more at the party which had dispersed as the police entered. ...

Ya know, we haven't had a good horrifying rat story recently. Chris Faraone to the rescue, with a look at Boston's rat rampage, from the North End to Allston/Brighton. With bonus fun fact on how male rates mate with up to 20 other rats a day.

On Monday, the Supreme Judicial Court hears arguments in a case that pits a North End developer against a resident who wrote about issues with his projects for a neighborhood newspaper.

Jen can't decide, but says the cannolis at Mike's have one advantage - if you buy so many that you can't eat them all at once:

... From personal experience, I have found that the cannolis from Mike's Pastry keep longer. The shells seem to stay relatively crunchy for at least one whole day (overnight), whereas the Modern Pastry cannolis get soggy in less than 24 hours. This could be because the Modern shells are smaller, lighter, and more delicate than the heftier, cookie-like shells from Mike's. ...

Mary Pierce posts video of gun-toting nuns at Commercial Street and Foster Street as part of, naturally, Ben Affleck's roving art installation, Guns on the streets of Boston. Actually, it looks a lot like a lot of people milling around not doing anything much besides shooting guns, then the nuns show up, then everybody goes back to milling about, firing weapons.

Oops, did I just give the plot away?

You pour them into Boston Harbor from Commercial Street in the hopes they'll establish a colony and help clean up Boston Harbor.

Massachusetts Oyster Project - which has already placed 150,000 oysters in the harbor by the mouth of the Charles.