Forest Hills

Don't try riding your bike up the escalator while holding a cup in one hand. SC reports watching in amazement today as a guy rode his bike down the Orange Line platform at Forest Hills, then tried to ride it up the escalator:

He got stuck at the bottom & spilled his coffee everywhere. ... Got one wheel on and lost control while still on the seat.

Wonder if he's the same guy spotted riding his bike down the Orange Line platform at Back Bay last month.

A blue Honda Fit had its rear window blown out by gunfire around 3:30 p.m. outside 219 South St., according to AlertNewEngland and Mike Flynn (who took a photo of the damaged car). Four suspects in an older Ford were reported to have fled toward Centre Street.

Boston Police report two Jamaica Plain teens were arrested after they allegedly held up a pizza driver at knifepoint last night at 155 Williams St.

The Casey Overpass is scheduled to be shut between 9 p.m. Sunday and 5 a.m. Monday for repaving, MassDOT advises.

The Jamaica Plain Gazette reports the city has put the T's Arborway bus yard on its list of problem properties, which it usually uses for places at high risk of catastrophic fires, excessive illegal activities and the like. In the yard's case, the issue is chemical storage and fumes. The T has shelved plans to renovate the property, citing lack of money.

Orange Line riders wait for mystery shuttle bus at Green. Photo by Rick Pinchera.

UPDATE, 9:24 a.m.: The T says normal service has resumed, but with "residual delays."

You'd be hard pressed to pick a worse time for the Orange Line to die than 8 a.m. on a weekday. But there's no service south of Ruggles as the T tries to figure out where the power went. Shuttle buses are allegedly plying the roads; the queueing masses at Forest Hills are being told to take the 39. Rider Jennifer M sums it up:

BLARG

Of course, the problems quickly backed up north of downtown as well. Shana O. tweets:

Stuck on an orange line train packed like sardines delayed at CC, feeling claustrophobic

AlertNewEngland reports a man was shot at 218 South St. this afternoon, possibly by the two men police reported fled toward the Southwest Corridor Park.

Jamaica Plain Patch talked to a man who said he was talking to the victim - expected to survive - when he was shot.

Sarah Freeman (l.) and Beth Worell were among the protesters on New Washington Street under the Casey Overpass today urging the state Department of Transportation to replace the crumbling hulk with at-grade intersections and parks.

Forest Hills has been split between people who want the state to build a new overpass and those who say that for $21 million less, you'd get at-grade intersections that a state study said could handle the same amount of traffic but would also mean enough land to build a Copley Square-sized park that reconnects severed parts of the Emerald Necklace and provides a better environment for local businesses.

State officials had planned a final hearing on the project next week, but postponed that until an as yet unspecified date in January.

• Casey Overpass Project: Documents and schedule

Martin Connolly reports some savvy/sneaky inbound commuters at Stony Brook and Green Street take the outbound train to Forest Hills, then don't get off as the train becomes an inbound one, which reduces the odds that poor Forest Hill saps like him can get a seat.

Boston Police report a Plymouth man who helped lead them to the guy who held him up at gunpoint near the Forest Hills T stop yesterday wound up arrested himself when it turned out the stuff he'd had stolen was itself stolen property.

First, police say, Gregory B. Bray, 41, of Dorchester, was arrested at the T stop on armed-robbery charges after he used a pellet gun to stick up Joel Diaz-Sanchez, 32, of Plymouth on South Street around 1 p.m. Police say investigating officers found Diaz-Sanchez's stuff in a trash barrel at the station:

Officers recovered from those bags a number of items ranging from Calvin Klein shirts to Armani wallets to Victoria Secret perfumes totaling in excess of $1,000.00. The caller was then asked if he had receipts for the items in the bag but could produce none.

Police say Diaz-Sanchez was then arrested on a charge of receiving stolen property.

Both innocent, etc.

Liam, who lives in Forest Hills, explains his support for a proposal to replace the crumbling hulk of an overpass by the T stop with an at-grade crossing, rather than with another overpass:

I am aware that traffic engineers in your department have determined that both a bridge and the at-grade option will handle the predicted traffic flow of 2035 in roughly the same way. In light of this I see no reason to build a bridge. In future projects, I believe that the recently consolidated MassDOT would serve Massachusetts better to find ways to hold traffic flow around our fair city to the levels of 2011 or less instead of planning for traffic increases. This could be accomplished in many areas by developing public transportation, a safe connective bikeways network and pedestrian-friendly streets that encourage active transportation and healthier lifestyles.

The current situation under the bridge is quite the harrowing experience for pedestrians and cyclists and even for motorists. ...

Meg Fowler Tripp got on a train this morning and soon after heard the driver exclaim:

I'm closing the doors to this train, and don't you be thinkin' God's gonna open a window and let your ass on.

If you immediately thought gotta be the Orange Line, congratulations, get yourself a donut at Mike's or Donut and Donuts.

Superguppy reports power is out along Hyde Park Avenue from Ukraine Way to Walk Hill Street tonight - the same area that had a planned outage on Oct. 14 for NStar to do some maintenance work.

A fed-up citizen files the latest report on somebody calling himself Bold, who keeps scribbling his fool name all over Forest Hills.

The Jamaica Plain Gazette reports a task force looking at how to replace the hulking Casey Overpass are down to two options: A bridge that would replicate the current traffic flow and ground-level intersections. State Rep. Russell Holmes, who favors a bridge, said the committee should hold hearings in Dorchester and Mattapan, in addition to JP, because of the overpass's importance as a regional route.

The Metro reports. Don't worry: Homeland Security paid for the upgrade.

The Boston Climate Action Network reports, posts photos from a march from Forest Hills to downtown on Saturday

On Sept. 13, an advisory group working on the Casey Overpass replacement project is scheduled to reveal three possible alternatives: Two involving bridges and one involving the complete demolition of the current hulk and replacing it with a ground-level intersection.

Pete Stidman of the Boston Cyclists Union is looking for a volunteer to work on a video explaining why ground level would be better:

For cyclists, it would greatly improve connections between the parks and also improve crossings for the North South routes along Washington Street, South Street and Hyde Park Avenue, not to mention creating a much larger green space at the trailhead of the Southwest Corridor big enough to hold community events.

A roving UHub photographer captured the scene around 7:15 a.m. Wednesday in the Zipcar spaces next to the liquor store across from the Forest Hills T stop, where two Honda Insights had had their wheels stolen.

MBTA Transit Police report arresting a Jamaica Plain man on indecent assault and battery charges for an alleged attack at the Forest Hills busway on Saturday.

The Jamaica Plain Gazette reports an unexpected federal grant could provide enough money to start work on the $200-million rehab of the "temporary" facility - which the T recently said it couldn't do at all.

Sure, the tracks can kink all they want, but at least riders don't have to worry about plunging to the ground (well, except maybe in that stretch under the Big Dig ramps). This photo, from the BPL's Leslie Jones collection, shows the result of a derailment in 1921. The T took down the elevated in 1987.

MBTA Transit Police report arresting two teens at the upper busway at the Forest Hills T stop yesterday morning on charges they attacked a police officer trying to stop them from smacking around a woman who objected to one of them lighting up a cigarette.

The Forest Hills Educational Trust announced today the annual Lantern Festival will go on after all this summer. In December, the trust announced the suspension of all programs in 2011 following the departure of three staffers, including the executive director. But in an e-mail today, the trust said:

After temporarily suspending programming for strategic planning, the Forest Hills Educational Trust is pleased to announce that the 13th annual Lantern Festival will be held on Thursday, July 14th (raindate: July 21). A much-loved community event for Jamaica Plain, as well as Greater Boston, the Lantern Festival draws its inspiration from the Japanese Bon Festival -- a celebration each year when a door opens to the world of their ancestors allowing loved ones to send messages to the other side. It is a time when neighbors come together to share stories, celebrate, and honor the memories of loved ones.

Although the Lantern Festival is inspired by Japanese Buddhist tradition, it incorporates the diversity of the community that provides its setting and includes many multi-cultural events throughout the day.

Thanks to Ron Newman for forwarding the e-mail.

The Jamaica Plain Gazette reports the Cambridge-based co-op market will open a new outlet as part of a retail project planed for MBTA-owned land near the Forest Hills T stop.