Our new transportation secretary, appointed in the middle of a snowstorm for minimum effect, tells the Globe he doesn't know what "Big Dig culture" means:

When asked yesterday whether he was a part of the Big Dig culture, Aloisi said: "I don't even know what that phrase means."

At Blue Mass. Group, David provides a handy little primer for Mr. Aloisi - whose new boss made getting rid of "Big Dig culture" part of his campaign, concludes:

... The unanswered question -- for Aloisi, for the Governor, and for all of us -- is whether Aloisi is the right guy to navigate the state's transportation bureaucracy out of that culture, and into the new era of reform that we've been promised. For all of our sakes, I sure hope so.

Don't you just love going outside to see that your neighbor just kept going with his snow blower and cleaned your sidewalk, too? Thanks, Marcos!

It's treemegeddon as the MBTA hacks away at trees menacing the trolleys on the Mattapan line:

"They really butchered it," said cemetery trustee John O'Toole. "We lost some really mature trees that provided a buffer between the cemetery on Madden Street and the trolley itself." ...

Earlier:
Is the D line overseen by the Lorax?

The Snow Emergency and Parking Ban in Boston was lifted this morning at 9:00 am.

This was confirmed by the Mayor's helpline 617-635-4500 and Boston's snow webpage:

http://www.cityofboston.gov/snow/

"12/19 10:00pm: The snow emergency and parking ban will be lifted at 9:00 am Saturday morning."