Boston University

Service on the B Line was interrupted briefly around 1:30 p.m. by a family of ducks - and bystanders trying to convince them trolley tracks are not really all they're quacked up to be. MBTA spokesman Joe Pesaturo reports on the incident on Comm. Ave. near Blanford:

Approaching the tunnel portal, a trolley operator spotted a small group of people chasing some ducks on the Green Line right-of-way. The trolley operator stopped, and notified a Green Line supervisor. Service was interrupted for twelve minutes while the humans and waterfowl were cleared from the right-of-way.

Jamison Kissh adds workers from BU Facilities also joined in the duck hunt.

Boston University yesterday sued Amazon.com, charging the LEDs used in its Kindle tablets violate a patent the university holds on making the lights.

BU, which has already sued several LED manufacturers, says the lights infringe on work by Theodore Moustakas, a BU professor of electrical engineering and computer science, on "growing" LED components out of gallium nitride.

Linden Street fire. Photo by BFD.

The Boston Fire Department reports a fire that broke out around 6:30 a.m. at 87 Linden St. killed one resident, injured nine more and sent six firefighters to the hospital. BU Today reports the dead person was a BU student.

The Boston Fire Department says the injured residents and firefighters are expected to live. The department reports one resident jumped out a window to escape the flames; three others were brought down on ladders.

WBZ reports three firefighters were injured falling from the second to the first floor.

The Daily Free Press reports two students were walking near the intersection of Ashford and Malvern streets around 2:40 a.m. on Saturday when an SUV pulled up, three men got out and held them up - with one of the robbers warning them to just do as he said because one of his accomplices was out of his mind on drugs. The robbers then fled with their loot - a driver's license and a purse full of makeup.

BU Today reports she was Lingzi Lu, a graduate student in statistics and mathematics. Her friend and fellow BU grad student, Danlin Zhou was seriously injured.

BU Today reports.

Boston University yesterday sued Samsung for patent infringement, alleging it holds the rights to the way Samsung is making LEDs and similar electronic components.

In its lawsuit, filed in US District Court in Boston, the university charges that Samsung's charmingly named SPHWWTHDD805WHT0GD violates a patent for creating "highly insulating monocrystalline gallium nitride thin films."

The Daily Free Press reports the BU Rocket Propulsion Group hopes to launch its own rocket into space in 2015 - using a "hybrid" engine that uses laughing gas and tire rubber for fuel.

Sure, Leary is better known for his drug work at Harvard, but the Quad takes us back to Good Friday, 1962, when he traveled across the river and 20 divinity students sat in the basement of Marsh Chapel and consumed the pills he gave them - half containing psilocybin and half a placebo. Leary chose divinitiy students specifically because he wanted to see if the magic mushrooms could induce religious experiences.

The Daily Free Press reports BU campus police don't have tasers and that what some people thought was a taser was, in fact, a flashlight the cop was using to signal a fellow officer during an Esplanade snowball fight at the height of the storm. Police say the student was captured and released after throwing a snowball in the cop's face.

What do several hundred BU students do? Descend on Storrow Drive and the Esplanade. Police, of course, arrived not long after to break things up.

More video (snowball fight starts about 1:00).

BU Today reports Evan Holmes, 29, was arraigned in Brookline District Court today for one of the three muggings of BU students last Friday and Saturday.

Police are investigating three separate robberies of BU students overnight, one involving a big-nosed white guy with a gun.

BU Today reports a female BU student and two companions were held up at gunpoint around 12:15 a.m. at St. Paul and Thatcher streets in Brookline by two white men, one of them about 6'2" in a white hoodie and a black jacket, who held a gun and had a prominent proboscis. The other guy is about 6', thick, wearing a black jacket with a scarf over his face.

A BU student had his phone taken about 11:30 p.m. in the alley next to the Packards Corner Shaw after a brief beatdown by a white guy in a North Face jacket and a muscular Asian guy. The final incident was around 1:25 a.m. at 275 Babcock St., where a student sitting on the steps was approached by a black guy and a black woman, who pushed her to the ground and rifled through her purse.

Last fall, BU students were robbed in several incidents along the Brookline/Boston line. Three teenagers were charged.

Manhole went ka-boom shortly after 1:30 p.m. outside 590 Commonwealth Ave. In possibly related news, the Boston University computer network is down.

Boston University yesterday sued companies in the US and Taiwan that make and sell LED lights it says infringes on a patent it holds.

In two lawsuits filed in US District Court in Boston, BU accuses the companies of offering products that use the same techniques protected under its 1995 patent for highly insulating monocrystalline gallium nitride thin films, which is based on work by Theodore Moustakas, a professor of electrical and computer engineering. The patent describes a method for "growing" very thin crystal films that can be used in making LEDs.

BU is seeking an end to the companies' sales, all the money they've ever made from the sales and damages.

WBUR rounds up the top highest salaries for college presidents in Massachusetts.

The Daily Free Press reports, adds he doesn't match the description of the guy wanted for pushing women down and lifting their skirts for photos on Ashford Street.

Researchers drive around Boston, find 3,300+ natural-gas leaks.

The Daily Free Press reports that around 8 p.m. on Nov. 6, a BU student was pushed onto a set of stairs on Ashford Street by a man who then lifted her skirt and took her picture - and that this was the third or fourth such incident along Ashford since September.

UPDATE: Boston Police report five women have been attacked in the past six weeks. "The suspect is targeting women wearing skirts." The suspect is described as white or Hispanic, between 19 and 30. Police say they've increased patrols in the area.

The bicycle after the crash. Photo copyright Scott Eisen.

A 21-year-old BU student died after a collision at Brighton and Harvard avenues with an MBTA bus.

Scott Eisen reports the bus seems to have simply driven away. WCVB reports police say the driver of the Route 57 bus did not realize he'd hit someone. BostInno reports the driver was taken off the job as the investigation continued.

Boston Biker has some more info on the bicyclist.

Traffic in the area quickly snarled after police shut Harvard Avenue to allow an investigation.

In June:
Bicyclist struck, killed in collision involving MBTA bus on Huntington Avenue.

The Daily Free Press reports BU Police are warning students about getting mugged on Allston Street near Ringer Park - there have been three street robberies in on Allston between Comm. Ave. and Brighton Avenue over the past month.

Brookline Police report arresting two more teens for the four armed holdups near the BU campus over the past couple of weeks.

Taquari Milton, 17, of Roxbury, and a second teen too young to be publicly named, were charged with two counts of armed robbery, for incidents on Sept. 25 and Oct. 5. They are scheduled for arraignment Monday in Brookline District Court, police say, adding the younger teen turned himself in.

Innocent, etc.

BU Today reports the suspect, not named because of his age, turned himself into Brookline Police around 5 p.m. and is being charged with two counts of armed robbery.

The State Police sent out an alert this morning that a body - which would have been the third this week - was found in the Charles near Boston University. They quickly followed up with this correction:

At this time the Massachusetts State Police has experienced an internal issue with its email system. An older email, possibly stored in the system for delivery, was sent out as a new advisory. There was no new body found in the Charles River. We apologize as this appeared as a new advisory.

Suspects.

Boston University is announcing a $10,000 reward for information leading to the conviction of the teens responsible for four armed holdups in Brookline near the Boston line over the past couple of weeks.

Based on police reports, there has been a pattern here. However, last night's robbery took place on our campus. This brings the problem home, and it dramatically elevates our concern for the safety of our community. While the police are doing an excellent job, it became clear to us that it was time for the institution to enhance its support of the investigation.