The Herald reports on Menino's opening public salvo in negotiations with Wal-Mart over opening stores within city limits.
Compare to New York, where the megachain has launched a marketing campaign against the city council, which opposes it.
It was a busy day today at the Mayor's Hotline office in City Hall - more than 2,700 calls by 2 p.m. I spent some time there, will have a report later, but for now, here's an image showing how they measure snow at City Hall.
The Metro reports on a request from Mayor Menino to the state legislature to increase fines for red-running bicyclists from $20 to $150.
Boston Biker says fine, but only if the city does the same for pedestrians:
Ray Flynn, who used to ride snow plows when he wasn't busy confronting pit bulls or running into burning buildings, thinks plowing has just gone all to hell under Menino; claims City Hall never got a single complaint about snow plowing under his watch.
Tom Menino used a speech before business leaders this morning to call for a new teacher contract that would let the city tie teacher pay to student performance, extend the school day and give principals more flexibility in assigning teachers. Also, the city needs to finally re-district its elementary-school assignment zones so it can spend more on education and less on busing, he said, adding he fully supports a proposal to cut costs by shutting and merging a number of schools. The School Committee votes on that tomorrow night.
Bob Houser, whose house exploded yesterday, asked Mayor Tom Menino for help tonight.
An NStar official told 100 Readville residents tonight that workers for the contractor who managed to blow up a house yesterday nicked another gas line nearby two days ago. Bill McCabe, director of gas distribution for NStar, which services the Danny Road area, said at the time, a company inspector did not think the damage to the plastic line, done with a hand shovel, was troublesome, but as a precaution had several feet of the pipe replaced.
Boston yesterday launched a pilot program to give public-school students a single ID card that will also get them on the T and into community centers and let them take books out of the library.
""This card will help make the assets of our city more accessible and remind each student everyday that there are community centers and libraries for them to explore throughout Boston," Mayor Tom Menino said in a statement of the new BostONECards, initially handed out just to students at the Josiah Quincy Upper School in Chinatown.
WBZ talked to Tom Menino about his comments last week that he'd like to slowly torture the people responsible for killing the hard-working Hyde Park man - whose daughters had both worked in the mayor's office. Three people were arrested for Nova's murder as he delivered a pizza to what turned out to be an abandoned house on Hyde Park Avenue.
Developer Don Chiofaro says 48 stories is as low as he can go with his proposed $1 billion project in front of the Aquarium and that dramatic changes mean the city should just let him move forward.
"Frankly, I think this is an opportunity for the mayor to step forward as a leader and do something that could be really terrific for the city," he told Emily Rooney on "Greater Boston" tonight (watch).
Mayor Menino has appointed state Rep. Byron Rushing to the Boston Public Library board of trustees.
As the Dorchester Reporter notes, earlier this year Rushing told library trustees he could not recall a group that has had a worse relationship with lawmakers than BPL trustees.
The Globe covers the dedication of the city's new free-range chicken farm on Long Island, in a story that has the greatest paragraph the paper will run this year:
"Bawk," Menino said. "Bawk, bawk, bawk."
The Herald reports that Mayor Menino rejected an idea from developer John Hynes to rebuild Filene's Basement - and add a parking garage - on the crater off Washington Street, but that Menino said that wasn't good enough.
As the Herald almost comes out and says, Hynes's scaled-back plan was half-baked - it assumed the state would kick in $25 million - but Menino wants a tax-generating tower there, not just a discount store and a garage.
The state Attorney General's office said today no charges are warranted against mayoral aide Michael Kineavy for deleting e-mail because he was just doing what he and other City Hall employees were told to do: Purge their inboxes every day because messages would be stored on a back up server - which turned out not to be the case.
Last-minute "administrative efficiencies" means the city will be able to keep 42 school custodians originally slated for being laid off and offering 200 more summer youth jobs, the mayor's office says in a press release.
Help keep Universal Hub going. If you like what we're up to and want to help out, please consider a (completely non-deductible) contribution.
