Kenmore Square

Paola Ferrer snaps a photo of cabbies idling in the new bike lane on Comm. Ave at Kenmore Square.

It'll be a T-mendous day at Fenway Park: In addition to Richard Davey throwing out the first pitch (the Sox and the T have long promoted use of public transit to get to and from Fenway), the Sox will honor Orange Line train operator Charice Lewis and inspector Jacqueline Osorio for the way they stopped a train just inches from that drunk lady who fell on the tracks at North Station last fall. Also, the MBTA Transit Police Color Guard Unit will present the flag for the national anthem.

The Riverside downtime was apparently scheduled. The downed wire on the B line at Kenmore, though? On the weekend that BU is graduating? Totally unplanned, natch. Totally chaotic as the T brought in buses for service between Copley and Kenmore - with extra bus service for B riders to Blandford. Take a look at the scene in Copley around 9 p.m.

A.M. UPDATE: The river actually dropped overnight, but as of 5:45 a.m., was rising again and was back to 11.5 feet.

USGS data shows the Muddy River rapidly climbing the height ladder today. If it gets to 15 feet, the MBTA will haul out the large wooden boards and the sandbags and blockade the tunnel the Riverside Line uses to get into and out of Kenmore station.

Boston University Police report Jean Therapy, 524 Commonwealth Ave., was held up around 5 p.m. on Monday.

The suspect showed a silver handgun and took $300 from the cash register. He's described as black, late 30s to early 40s, 5'11" or 6', with a gray mustache and wearing a black scally cap, a green and black flannel jacket with denim sleeves and a hood and a pair of jeans.

Jeff Tamagini reports a run-in at Kenmore this morning with an MBTA supervisor unaware that the authority allows photography in stations:

... The train pulls up and opens its doors, I take my camera off my shoulder to carry it in my hand so it doesn't bang into the door, when I get a tap on the shoulder. It's the MBTA inspector that was in the little booth on the platform, he asking me with a snarky attitude if I am taking pictures, I say "No, I'm getting on the train", and I get a "Okay its against the law to take pictures on the T". When are the officials of this horrid system going to learn their own laws and policies! ...

Official MBTA photo policy, which states photography is allowed, with certain restrictions (such as no flash or tripod).

Boston University Police report a woman waiting for the elevator in the basement of 725 Commonwealth Ave. was indecently assaulted around 1:50 p.m. on Jan. 20 by a guy who looks like this who then took the elevator to the third floor.

If he looks familiar, contact BU Police at (617) 353-2110 or 353-2121.

Emily Sweeney updates us on everybody's favorite trolley cat.

The Globe reports T workers finally managed to capture the elusive cat and that a trolley driver from Roslindale took him home with her.

Boston Police tweet the Citizens Bank branch at 560 Comm. Ave. was held up this afternoon.

The Kenmore Square burger joint is OK this morning, but a kitchen in an apartment above it is a bit of a mess: A stove fire brought firefighters racing to the scene last night, although sprinklers had mostly doused the flames by the time they got there, the Daily Free Press reports.

The Traveling Wheelchair reviews Kenmore Square:

...Once safely on the brick sidewalk, I found it plenty wide enough and fairly easy to wheel on the bricks. As we were about to cross the street at a pedestrian sidewalk, we were pleased to see there is a map with Braille for the blind to read; and the crosswalk made of brick which provides contrast and is easy to see if you are visually impaired like me. I like it because the brick will always stand out and not fade as painted white lines do. ...

Boston Police tweet somebody had their face sliced with a knife on Comm. Ave. in the square late Friday night.

New footprint; click for larger version.

Construction begins next summer on a $500-million project across from Fenway Park that will replace a non-descript parking lot and aging commuter-rail station with new housing and offices - some built on a deck across the turnpike - and a large new train station, developer John Rosenthal and city and state officials said today.

Boston_Fireman tweets a car caught on fire around 9 p.m. on on Storrow Drive eastbound near the Kenmore exit. One person was reported trapped inside. Local 718 tweets the car hit a tree just before the BU bridge.

Danielle Ouellette tweets traffic is at a standstill.

Sheesh, some people are just so picky. It's not like there's ever anything that could go wrong that would require human intervention.

Sara Drummond tweets this morning:

T stopped so abruptly woman slid 3 seats. Stuck just before Kenmore [outbound] on green line. Maint working on train.

Photo of a cat on the tracks at the Kenmore stop on the Green Line Thursday night.

UPDATE: The Globe reported on Dec. 7 that a worker finally captured the cat and that a trolley driver took him home.

Boston Biker reports there's a meeting at 6 p.m. today (yes, today) at the BPL main branch in Copley Square - and that, as you might expect, Back Bay doyens and doyennes will oppose the plan.

No attendants and all the gates open at Kenmore around 3:30 p.m.

All the gates stuck on open at Harvard, around 4:45 p.m.

UPDATE: Fire ruled arson.

The Boston Fire Department tweets that the fire early this morning at 21 Bay State Rd. caused $1.5 million in damage and forced out 12 residents and a dentist.

The Boston Fire Department tweeted last night:

Incident Response: Tech Rescue response for Barnes & Noble bookstore at 660 Beacon St. Kenmore Square. at 11:22pm.

Incident Update: Small one foot square piece of morter fell to sidewalk. No injuries. Turned building over to BU (owner) to secure. 12:30 am

Final Incident Update: Six story building. Morter fell from top. BU will have engineer check further in the morning. Sidewalk closed for now

Small chemical explosion on the third floor, 590 Comm. Ave., around 8:45 p.m., hazmat team on the way.

Red Line, Green Line both having problems, the Twittersphere reports: People sitting in trains that aren't moving or jamming stations waiting for trains that aren't coming. Green Line especially fun: Switching problems at Kenmore at rush hour on a Red Sox game night.

Boston Restaurant Talk reports the seafood place at Kenmore Square's Hotel Commonwealth is closing this week.

Earlier:
Aujourd'hui deviendra Hier.