Newton

But if the one you're with happens to be yourself, you might want to find someplace a bit more private than the parking lot of a Newton Whole Foods.

Rick Santorum to speak to Catholic Citizenship Tuesday Feb 1, 2011 at Hotel Indigo, 399 Grove Street in Newton MA on the topic "Faith, Conservatism & Politics in the 21st Century."  The brochure promotes his talk this way:

A rollover on the turnpike eastbound in Newton around 1 p.m. shut the road and sent two to the emergency room, state Transportation Secretary Jeff Mullan reports.

Among those sitting with no place to go until the scene was cleared was Sean William, who tweets he was stuck for 90 minutes in the car with his fashion-impaired mother:

I wasn't sure how much longer I could sit in the car with my UGG wearing mother before saying something!

Dead trolley at Chestnut Hill this morning.

7:35 update: One could ask the same thing about commuter rail: As I type, there are 17 alerts about delays at the MBTA Web site.

9:00 update: Probably should have written "What is it about the T?" since switch problems at Oak Grove AND a dead train are causing agita on the Orange Line. Or as Boon Sheridan tweets: "Orange line from inbound from Oak Grove dead in the water. Seek alternate routes and aspirin."

Wicked Local Newton reports a Watertown teen allegedly objected to the "Newton" sweatshirts three other guys were wearing at the Arsenal Mall and pulled a knife on them before fleeing.

The Herald reports on what happens when you rely too much on technology.

Meanwhile, the Globe reports the T itself is cracking down on actual scofflaws at its parking lots.

Sean Roche reports that the proposed mall for the old Omni Foods site on Rte. 9 will actually make pedestrian access along Rte. 9 worse and that that's just fine with the city lawyer, who got into a "heated exchange" with an alderman on the topic, basically arguing that nobody walks along Rte. 9 and never will - which Roche refutes with photos of some actual pedestrians walking along that stretch of Rte. 9.

Wicked Local Newton reports on two residents caught by scams on Craigslist, one to the tune of $10,000.

At 9:30, Bari Walsh tweeted:

Traffic just stopped on 9 west in Newton as 10 or so wild turkeys crossed the road. I swear.

Rabbi Benjamin Shalva, who moved from Virginia in August to lead Temple Reyim in Newton, quickly found himself faced with some major tsouris:

Lyrics.

Via Chuck Tanowitz.

Wicked Local Newton reports police are looking for a man spotted sitting in a tree at the Underwood School taking care of business while watching kids at play.

The Globe reports on the warehouse-like store in Newton.

MBTA General Manager Rich Davey reports the first three-car train will pull out of Riverside station 7 a.m. on Monday, with a second to follow at 8:30 a.m. In e-mail, he writes:

We're starting this up on a trial basis as personnel from the Green Line and Power Department closely monitor the performance of the train and the D branch itself. If all goes well, we plan to increase the number of trips made by 3-car trains and expand the program to the B branch. You are probably aware that the Riverside and Boston College lines are the longest branches of the Green Line. All of the train platforms on the D and B branches can accommodate 3-car train sets.

He says this is the first time the Green Line will see three-car trains in five years. What spurred the return, he says, were comments from a number of customers asking for increased capacity during rush hour, at a "Join the GM" session at Riverside last month.

He adds that in the afternoon, there'll be three-car trains at 4 and 5:40 p.m.

Wicked Local Newton reports two Newton teens were arrested on charges they broke into a concession trailer at a Newton Centre fair and stole three one-ounce bags of Doritos Nacho-Cheese flavored chips. The site adds that by the time police had arrived, the two had already opened two of the three bags.

I just spotted the ribbon-cutting ceremony for a new bus service from Alewife and Riverside to NYC. World Wide Bus (worldwidebus.com) starts service on October 27th, with introductory fares of $10. The regular fare is $15 weekdays, $20 weekends. They'll have free wi-fi.

Here are some articles:
http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2010/10/19/bus-new-cambridge-nyc/
http://www.boston.com/yourtown/newton/articles/2010/10/08/bus_lines_to_nyc_get_new_competitor/

I think it's great that there will finally be a bus service from the Cambridge/Somerville area, and an affordable service from Riverside.

They're probably using T property because Boston and Cambridge won't allow intercity buses to stop on the street, even though federal and state law allow interstate buses to do so without local permission.

Workers and the remains of the tree: Photo by MBTA.

UPDATE: Service has been restored.

No trolleys, only buses between Reservoir and Kenmore due to a tree falling on the tracks in both directions.

Wicked Local reports on a a bike-vs-pedestrian crash near BC in Newton the other day, adds:

Bicyclists lose a lot of credibility for their deserved gripes about cars not sharing the road when they are running people down in crosswalks.

Patients needing emergency care at Newton-Wellesley Hospital now have an easy way to find out how long the ER wait is- before they actually get there. The Hospital is introducing three new innovative tools for its patients: an Emergency Room (ER) wait time display on the Newton-Wellesley website, a Hospital iPhone application available on iTunes for download and a mobile version of the website available for many smartphones.

Newton-Wellesley Hospital has already begun displaying the current average ER wait times on the hospital's website, www.nwh.org. The ER wait time is automatically updated every five minutes and represents the average time it takes for a patient to be placed into a treatment room to be seen by the ER practitioner on duty. Patients are triaged on arrival by a registered nurse and are then seen by an emergency medicine provider based on severity. Those determined to require immediate attention will go directly to a room. The service is meant for patients with urgent complaints, but not for those with life-threatening emergencies.

A man died when he fell under a train around 8 a.m. The MBTA is now running buses between Wellesley Hills and Newtonville, but says riders should expect "significant delays" and seek alternate transportation if possible.

MBTA spokesman Joe Pesaturo the body is under the third coach on an inbound train and that Transit Police are now attempting to figure out what happened.

Urban Grape in Chestnut Hill reports it was forced to cancel a Groupon discount-coupon promotion today:

It came to our attention a few hours ago that the type of promotion Groupon ran this morning in The Urban Grape’s name is prohibited under Massachusetts law. The second we found out (I kid you not, I was standing in a playground in Jamaica Plain), we asked Groupon to pull the deal, and they immediately complied. While I wish Groupon had known about this before they ran the deal, I must say that they are working hard to make this situation right for all of you. For that we are quite thankful.

Via Dale Cruse.

NEWTON-WELLESLEY HOSPITAL WOMEN’S IMAGING CENTER
ASKING PATIENTS TO “PAY IT FORWARD”

Pink Card Program to Generate Awareness Around
Importance of Early Detection in Breast Cancer

While breast cancer can take years to develop, women rarely have any symptoms in the early stages. However, if breast cancer is found early with a mammogram, the five-year survival rate is 98%. Mammograms, along with clinical breast exams and general breast awareness, are vital for early detection and successful treatment.

During the month of October, after a patient has her routine mammogram at the Manton Women’s Imaging Center at Newton-Wellesley Hospital or other locations in Natick and Walpole, she will be asked to pay it forward in an effort to potentially save a life.

In recognition of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Newton-Wellesley Hospital is asking patients coming in for a mammogram to pass along a pink reminder card to their mother, sister, daughter, or friend as a way to encourage a loved one to schedule her annual mammogram.

EveryScape, a small Newton company, yesterday sued Adobe Systems over a Photoshop tool that lets users "clone" sections of photos.

The company, founded in 2002 by Byong Mok Oh, says it has patents on techniques for easily adjusting the perspective and lighting on pieces of images copied to other parts of images (for example, to erase a bird from in front of a cloud)and that Adobe illegally copied those techniques. In a lawsuit filed yesterday in U.S. District Court in Boston, Everyscape says it began selling a Photoshop plugin called "Perspective Clone Brush" in early 2005, but that:

Three months later, on April 27, 2005, Adobe announced the release of its next version of its PHOTOSHOP program, Adobe PHOTOSHOP CS2 ("CS2"). Adobe press releases touted PHOTOSHOP CS2's new feature, “Vanishing Point, which allows users to clone, paint and transform image objects while retaining visual perspective." Adobe's promotional literature called Vanishing Point "Nothing less than revolutionary” and claimed "[O]ne use and you'll wonder how you ever lived without it." In fact, however, Vanishing Point used the same functionality as the Mok3 Perspective Clone Brush technology.

• Everyscape complaint
• First patent
• Second patent

To preview your primary ballot for tomorrow, click on the link from the Secretary of State's website:

then enter your address and select a political party. It will show you what choices you'll have on tomorrow's primary ballot.

Video of a debate between Frank and his oppponent in the Sept. 14 primary, Rachel Brown. Brown opened by saying she wants to get rid of Obama, bring back Glass-Steagall and spend trillions on a project to move water from the mountains of Alaska and Canada to the deserts. Frank retorted that colonizing Mars is not the best use of federal funds.

Wicked Local Newton reports a 13-year-old boy was crossing with the light at Waltham and Washington streets around 5:15 p.m. Tuesday when a car plowed through the intersection and hit him. He went to the hospital as a precaution; the driver fled after first checking on him.