Lechmere

Should we walk, or do we have time to take the T?

, the answer apparently is: It doesn't make a difference.

In their latest attempt to cover up how minimal the replacement shuttle bus service between North Station and Lechmere really is, the MBTA has just put up a series of new posters at North Station "suggesting" that people destined for Science Park might want to walk there instead of taking the shuttle bus. The read (in part):

Getting To Science Park

Shuttle Bus: 15 Minutes
Walking: 15 Minutes

and proceeds to extoll the benefits of walking instead of using the bus.

MassDOT today announced an agreement to swap land at Lechmere with land by North Station that will lead to a new rail service north and west of Boston - and actual construction of the long stalled North Point development.

Alleged perv in action

MBTA Transit Police say this guy allegedly used his position at the bottom of the stairs on a Green Line trolley to snap an inappropriate photos of women between Lechmere and Government Center around lunchtime on July 5. Police are looking for him about his allegedly "secretly photographing partial nudity," which is illegal in Massachusetts and carries penalties of up to 2 1/2 years in jail and a $10,000 fine.

According to a police report, the alleged overweight slob took one photo up a woman's skirt and several of a woman's breasts when she bent over to pick something up. When this woman heard the clicking, she took out her own cell phone, snapped his photo and forwarded it to police.

Wanted poster, should you want to print some up and post them or something.

The Supreme Judicial Court ruled today the legislature has the right to let the developers of the massive NorthPoint project build on what were once tidal marshes.

In practical terms, the decision on a lawsuit brought by John Moot - who died last year - may be moot because the developers of the project are embroiled in other legal wrangling and may never finish the project.

However, it does uphold the legislature's right to reduce requirements for building on "landlocked tidelands," such at NorthPoint, where the tidelands become landlocked in 1962, when the state let the Boston & Maine fill in some of the marshes. In 2007, the SJC agreed with Moot and said the developers had no right to build on the land under state law. In response, the legislature passed a law - signed by Gov. Patrick - that exempted such lands from the state law regulating coastal construction.

The court ruled today the law passes constitutional muster and that while the developers, if they ever get their act together, no longer have to go through licensing, they and the state still have to prove the public good of the work.

Complete decision.