Boston Police report the suspected attacker in Saturday's North Bennet Street attack was a Hispanic male, about 5'5", who tried to talk to his victim before lunging at her:

The victim says the suspect suddenly pulled her towards him, showed a knife and attempted to kiss her.

On April 4, 2009, a woman walking near the North Bennet Court was able to fight off a man, described as a light-skinned Hispanic or Italian male, about 5'5", who pushed and attempted to attack her. That attacker was also described as being about 30 and with dark sideburns and large brown eyes.

Over the past couple of years, there have been several nighttime attacks on women in the North End.

Via The Boston Channel

Mayor Thomas M. Menino today took his record fifth oath of office at Faneuil Hall.

In his inauguration speech (complete text), Menino said his next four years would be devoted to four main goals: Transforming education in Boston, creating a high-tech research community on the waterfront, improving basic city services through new technologies and bringing the city's residents and neighborhoods closer together.

Menino compared Boston as the recession seems to be ending with Boston in 1776 after the British fled: A bit shaken up, but still fundamentally strong. He said the city's population is heading toward 700,000, the public schools are "the most improved educational system" among big cities, crime is down, the budget is balanced, and neighborhoods are stronger than ever.

But, he said, we can do more. "Today, knowing that all of our potential remains, we innaugurate a new era of shared innovation."

Specifics

Education: He called the right to a decent education "the civil-rights issue of our time" and called for a series of reforms, including bypassing arbitration at "persistently underperforming schools." He said he wants "one system of education in Boston:" free of "wasteful feuding" of resources in arguments about such issues as pilots and charter schools.

Tech development: Called for an "Innovation District," focused on green, biotech and Web development, which would include "live/work opportunities" for entrepreneurs and researchers on the South Boston waterfront. "It's time to get back to engineering," such as "new designs, new floorplans, new material."

Improving municipal services: He said he was never really "the urban mechanic" and the monicker is completely outdated now because "we are all urban mechanics," who, thanks to things such as smartphones, are increasingly involved in fixing problems. He issued "an open call to foundations, entrepreneurs, technologists and neighbors: Help us make Boston the hub of municipal innovation."

By April, he said, he will identify two dozen existing programs to cut and consolidate and six more to expand and support.

Bringing Bostonians together: "We've come very far, from the divisions of decades past, but we still have some distance to go. [Sometimes, it seems] We share zip codes and sports teams more than a shared sense of experience. ... Complacency is no excuse for leaving people out. Our aim should be even higher." He said he would propose ideas for using parks, businesses, houses of worship, even our restaurants "to bring our city closer."

He concluded, "let us show the world that here, history is just a prelude, that here we don't lay capstones, we lay foundations."

Naturally, the guy who holds five patents on components of Sensodyne toothpaste lives in Cambridge. And naturally, he was put out to read state Sen. Anthony Galluccio's claims that the sorbitol in the toothpaste is why his at-home breathalyzer set off alarms at the probation office. Galluccio goes to court today to find out if he gets to stay at home for the next six months or if the readings are enough to send him to jail.

The patents.

Ryan Fox is reporting a late-night flurry of activity at the facility off Forsyth Road: At least 11 emergency vehicles, one of them a hazmat truck and one a ladder truck with its ladder extended to the roof on the Ruggles side. Possible formaldehyde leak in the building.