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To: [email protected]

To the editor:

Councilor Michael Flaherty’s idea to slash the city’s motor pool by having workers ride the T is a brilliant strategy for doubling the number of employees on the payroll. How else does he expect to maintain the same level of productivity when workers are forced to spend half the day waiting for trains and buses that run infrequently and arrive late, if at all?

We've been living in Brighton Center for over a decade and until recently never had to worry about crime. The worst we had to put up with was drunken parties thrown by the BC students who rent on our block, and some years even that isn't a problem if the students are polite.

(A couple of years ago there were a couple of really talented guitar players renting across the street from us. They often jammed late into the night with their friends, but man, they were good, so we didn't care. Wish they'd stayed!)

Howie Carr thinks those little-known state and county holidays were created by hacks for their own enrichment. Apparently Howie thinks these holidays are on the books purely to enable all those Boston teachers, court clerks and sanitation workers to sail their 35-foot boats on the taxpayers' dime. Nothing could be farther from the truth.

John Houghton
Superintendent, Cabot Bus Garage
MBTA

Dear Mr. Houghton,

They say that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. If so, then I must be insane to rely on the T.

It’s not so much that many of the 5xx express buses were horrendously delayed for hours this morning. I understand that was caused by a problem outside the T’s control, in particular, a stuck railroad crossing gate out in Waltham.

In a story that ran in today's Boston Herald, Mayor Menino's campaign trashed a non-profit organization whose sole purpose is to provide voters with the resources they need for civic engagement. The organization, MassVote, works to increase voter education and turnout amongst communities of color, youth, the disabled and in ethnic communities where language is a barrier. Since its creation in 1999, MassVote has helped empower thousands of Massachusetts voters.

O.K. so I'm moving to somerville (davis area) from brighton and I'm totally psyched because I think brighton is really lame and somerville seems so much cooler. I am also looking for a much better quality of life without having to move to the burbs' and still be very close to boston. I was drawn to it because it seemed much different in that it was artsy, diverse, laid-back, and seemed like there are real people there v.s. brighton which is filled with a lot of the same types of people-annoying preppy college kids, and sports obsessed meathead jocks.

http://www.bluemassgroup.com/diary/16125/flaherty-...

blog.kamens.brookline.ma.us...daughter-on-the-wrong-plane/

http://eltiante.blogspot.com...sox-preview-offense.html

An Acela train hit three workers this afternoon just south of Providence, according to ProJo.com. One worker died.

Of secondary importance, runs on the Providence line are ending at South Attleboro, with buses to Providence.

In this week's installment of Metro Moments with Menino, a reader from Davis Square says a cabbie refused him a ride home. When he called the hotline to report it, it was down. Menino responds with "thanks for complaining. We 'looked into it' and you're wrong, but if you're right, we're sorry" routine:

Boston is roughly halfway between Hollywood and Slough, so it would make sense that Ricky Gervais and his writing partner Matt Robinson would meet here to film their upcoming film, "This Side of the Truth".

"The Office" boss, Extras star, and major UK celebrity reports that they have just finished a week in town scouting locations. No word of when filming will start, or if Karl Pilkington will be appearing on set.

UPDATE:

Click on through for a rockem-sockem loosey-goosey summary of the media coverage of this story, which was varied to say the least. Will the grand but lightweight Globe take the short-but-sweet prize for best writeup? Or will the rough, battle-hardened Herald take the Globe to the cleaners? What about the litter transit pulp papers? How do the Kings of Swooshing Animations and Lead-Ins fare?

First up, at 194 words: Maria Cramer, from The Globe:

Let me begin by saying that I fervently hope I am wrong in what I thought I heard on Fox 25 last night. But it was bantered about a few times, so I don't think I'm wrong.

During the pre-weather chit-chat, the meteorologist (I think it was Kevin Lemanowicz) opined that with the earlier shift to Daylight Saving Time, it would be interesting to watch what happens to all those weather records, since there's more sunlight, so it'll get warmer. I guess he forgot that DST only changes the time of sunrise and sunset-- it doesn't alter Earth's orbit around the Sun.