Charles River

Historygradguy peered down the Charles River by BU at the height of the storm yesterday.

From the storm photo gallery.

Copyright Historygradguy. Posted in the Universal Hub pool on Flickr.

Check out this message in the snow along the Charles, photographed yesterday from the eighth floor of Mass. Eye and Ear.

Via CommonHealth.

The Boston Fire Department reports a pet owner's stroll along the Charles River in Brighton almost ended in tragedy when the ice his black Labrador was walking on broke away from shore and floated out into the river around 8 p.m.

Firefighters from Engine 29, Ladder 11 and Rescue 1 responded to a 911 call from near Community Rowing. A firefighter from Ladder 11 got into a survival suit, tethered himself to a safety rope and managed to get to the dog, by then about 45 feet from shore, and then bring the pet safely back, the department says.

The dog was put into a cruiser for heat and reunited with its owner.

Tristanne Lentz posts a photo of our very own Yellow River and wonders why.

MassDOT reports on the slightly less creaky Craigie Bridge, which will be partially shut off again sometime early next year for more repairs.

Variety of sizes available, starting at 24x8. Framing available.

Sure, there are the annoying people on the T and the panhandlers and the outrageous cost of an apartment, but Elliot Haney reports there's nothing like a run on the Esplanade in the fall to make you appreciate Boston:

Running in a city is unlike running anywhere else. There is such an energy here, that it may almost be worth the cost. I feel like I'm a part of something here, wether it's the fact that I feel such a connection to the city because of my work with City Year, or whatever it is, Boston is a pretty amazing place.

Paul Keleher watched the Head of the Charles Regatta today.

Copyright Paul Keleher. Posted in the Universal Hub pool on Flickr.

The Globe's Neil Swidey writes an excellent account of a really sad story: The May night when a man jumped into the Charles from the Mass. Ave. Bridge to try to save his suicidal friend.

The Globe today thunders against a Cambridge bylaw that lets companies advertise themselves on their buildings in Kendall Square. Setting aside for a moment the way the Globies ignore the fact that the astroturf effort to overturn the measure is one company's grudge against Microsoft (as Scott Kirsner noted in the Globe just the other day), they managed to pen this WTF statement:

[W]hile some signage is reasonable, the beauty of the Charles is in its quiet blend of green space and historical and modern structures.

So apparently nobody at the Globe has heard of the Citgo sign? And they think Kendall Square as seen from the river is a "quiet blend of green space and historical and modern structures" rather than a bustling collection of information-age buildings?

One possible outbound Longfellow realignmentA state task force meets Wednesday to consider possible options for re-aligning the venerable bridge as part of the state's $255-million repair program.

The session to consider three options begins at 6:30 p.m. in the Shriners Hospital auditorium, 51 Blossom St.

Options range from keeping the current two car lanes in both directions to shrinking car lanes to one in each direction - and reducing their widths. According to a draft report, most task-force members would prefer to go down to one car lane outbound from Boston to allow for wider bike and pedestrian lanes.

The task force rejected a proposal for "flexible" lanes that would be restricted to bicyclists only at certain hours, in part because task force members realize Massholes would attempt to drive in the lane during those hours.

Regardless of road configuration on the bridge, the task force agrees the state needs to reconfigure the approaches for cars, pedestrians and bicyclists at Charles Circle, and that the state finally build the missing 500 feet of a walkway under the bridge on the Cambridge side. One proposal calls for construction of a new pedestrian bridge linking the Longfellow to the Esplanade.

• Longfellow Task Force documents and discussions

Boston University Police report a bystander sprung into action around 3:40 p.m. yesterday when he saw a man on a bicycle grab a woman's buttocks on the Esplanade by the Bowker Overpass: He followed the guy and held him until State Police arrived to arrest him.

UPDATE: Dedham's safe for granny again: They grabbed the gator.

Channel 5 reports a canoeist spotted a decent-sized gator on a log in the Charles yesterday. With photo to prove it.

So, to recap: We've got coyotes and turkeys up the wazoo, emus running amok, wild parakeets ruling the roost, jellyfish in Walden Pond and a pig rooting around the Commonwealth Avenue Mall. And now an alligator. Maybe the state could make some money by declaring greater Boston a wildlife preserve and putting up admission booths around 128.

State Police are investigating how the body of an older white male came to be by the Hatch Shell early this morning, the Suffolk County District Attorney's office reports. The office adds that the body, spotted by a passerby around 4:45 a.m., shows no outward signs of trauma or foul play.

The Boston Fire Department reports firefighters pulled two guys out of the middle of the river by the Mass. Ave. Bridge early this morning. After rescuers put life rings around them both and got them out of the water, they were taken to the MIT boathouse for evaluation by EMTs.

Boston Police, who had their own boat on the scene, reports both men, one 22, the other 21, were pulled from the water "conscious and alert" with what appeared to be "a mild state of hypothermia." The two were taken to Mass. General.

"Unclear how they got there," BFD says. BPD wouldn't hazard a guess, either.

The Tech reports on the quiet end to the suit by two volunteers cleaning up the Charles who received some nasty burns when they dragged up a block of sodium that then exploded in 2007 (three other volunteers were also burned). Dropping sodium blocks in the Charles had been a big fave among MIT student who like watching things explode.

ForLeft considers two alternates for a rebuilt Longfellow - one of which has only one traffic lane in each direction:

... I love the idea of cutting down on car traffic and [putting] benches on the walks. This is a chance to really change the urban environment. ...

As they approach the dock I can kind of tell that the captain, or acting captain of the vessel, is not the sharpest sailor on the sea. He misses his approach and is forced to place the vessel in reverse(missing the 30 feet of dock before him). It was not a terribly embarrassing moment- though you would never be able to tell from the apparent"spouse's" reaction towards me. Crewed with three people I thought for sure that they would have someone among them, who could safely and efficiently dock. Nada uno.

On April 30, 1908, Harry Houdini walked from a nearby hotel to the Harvard Bridge, where he had himself chained up before he jumped into the still frigid Charles River. From The Amazing Harry Houdini:

"But aren't you even afraid, Mr. Houdini?" one of the reporters shouted to him. "Afraid?" Houdini asked with a loud laugh. "What do I have to fear? I am the King of Handcuffs. Nothing can hold me!"

And, of course, he eventually surfaced - after the assembled throng of some 10,000 began to fear he had drowned. That night, he appeared as scheduled at Keith's Theatre on Washington Street.

The photo is the first in a series of four in the Library of Congress's American Memory collection. The last shows Houdini bobbing at the surface after he unshackled himself.

WBUR reports.

Channel 4 reports.

BU Today's Caleb Daniloff learns that watching the eight-boats slice down the Charles is much easier than actually doing it.

At Albemarle Field in Newton last night. Meanwhile, Vasant Marur shot the Esplanade fireworks:

Esplanade photo copyright Vasant Marur. Tagged as universalhub on Flickr.

Derrick Jackson at the Boston Globe notices how the Charles River is so nice and clean, these days:

On the Fourth of July, the Charles River retreats to a backdrop for the majestic music of the Pops and the magic of fireworks. On closer look, we have much more to celebrate, as we have granted these once-horribly polluted waters their own independence ...

Not only the river itself but the pathways along the Charles have become much cleaner, the result of efforts by the state and private organizations to reduce the effects of having a large resident geese population.

Matthew I. watched the Esplanade fireworks.

Copyright Matthew I. Posted in the Universal Hub pool on Flickr.

Jcrbuzz2 took photos from Coolidge Corner.