The Brookline Transportation Division reports both the Select Board and the Transportation Board have approved an "open streets" plan to reallocate some of the asphalt along Harvard Street, Longwood and Brookline avenues and part of Beacon Street for use by people not in cars so that they can get around while maintaining social distance, at least during the current Covid-19 emergency. Read more.

The MBTA is reporting delays of up to 20 minutes on the C Line inbound because of a trolley with a door problem.

New England Folklore recounts the story of the two elms that flank the Robert Gould Shaw memorial at Beacon and Park streets - planted by John Hancock himself before the Revolution. Turns out the memorial sits on a vault designed to protect the roots of the trees.

A concerned citizen filed a 311 complaint over what appears to be a crash early on New Year's Day at the intersection of Beacon and Berkeley streets: Read more.

The Emerald Neclace Conservancy posted this photo, taken from Beacon Hill in 1857, that shows Beacon Street extending across the Back Bay to the rest of the continental United States. To the left of the street is a spit of land, then called Gravelly Point, that eventually became the Fenway.

UPDATE: Group that says it's based in Rome takes responsibility.

Bomb squads from both Boston and Cambridge Police today recovered small metal boxes with taped "Open Me" notes on the side as the departments urged the public to be cautious and to call 911 if they found more. Read more.

The MBTA reports delays of up to 15 minutes on the C Line due to "a disabled train with a mechanical problem" at Dean Road.

Pat Tomaino and friend showed some Boston-area love for runners on Beacon Street today.

But are you surprised? The Green Line riders lost whatever chance they might have had when, naturally, their train was taken out of service at Kenmore.