Boston Police report:

Mark Cohen, a 28 year employee of the Boston Police Department and Director of the Hackney Unit, has been placed on paid administrative leave as a result of an internal complaint.

These allegations bring into question the overall management of the Hackney Unit. Accordingly, until a full review of the Hackney Unit is completed, Cohen will remain on leave.

A lawsuit by key members of the local taxi industry against upstart Uber is now a federal matter - San Franisco-based Uber yesterday had the suit transferred from state court to US District Court in Boston.

In the suit, Boston Cab Dispatch and EJT Management charge Uber, which lets customers use a smart-phone app to arrange a ride, violates state law, which requires taxis in Boston to carry medallions.

The companies charge Uber lets drivers refuse rides to certain neighborhoods. As East Boston residents know, city law prohibits medallion drivers from refusing rides there.

The Globe continues its look at the local taxi industry with some depressing news for anybody who gets injured by or in a local cab.

When the bars close down, cabbies pull the no-cash, no-ride trick, apparently. A discussion going on on Twitter:

A company that offers something like a hitchhiker app launches today in the Boston area. SideCar, already available in several cities, lets users find people going their way - people the company says have been vetted to weed out serial killers and the like.

There's a fee involved, of course, which will no doubt catch the attention of the local medallion-cab company, whose traditional monopoly on fee-based car rides is already under assault by online reservation services such as Uber and Hailo.

Updated Thursday morning.

The Dorchester Reporter reports prominent Boston lawyer William McDermott was struck and killed by an SUV as he tried to walk across Day Boulevard at L Street in South Boston Wednesday evening.

The Suffolk County District Attorney's office reports McDermott was hit by a Ranger Rover driven by a 33-year-old South Boston man:

Another indignity for Bostonians on the other side of the harbor.

Boston Police are looking for two guys who robbed a cab driver at gunpoint around 11:50 p.m. on Copeland Street. The cab hit several cars before coming to a stop.