Boston Blotter: Not-So-Magic School Bus

--Two school buses crashed into each other yesterday afternoon in Allston. It wasn't a fender bender - 22 people were hurt.

It was a chain-reaction event started by a pickup truck that hit the brakes, causing the school bus behind it to hit the brakes. Then another school bus rear-ended the first bus, turning students into projectiles.

The Globe says that a block bus drivers use to lodge under the wheels somehow got under one of the drivers' brakes.

--In news of the irritating, some residents of Spencer felt a sensation during their morning showers, and it had nothing to do with being Zestfully clean. Lye got into the community's water supply, causing about 90 people to suffer skin irritation and moderate burns" Early reports said 40 were infected, but the number grew, and WCVB said 90 by about 8:30 pm last night. WCVB also noted that, besides the skin irritation, some people became nauseous after drinking from the water.

A spokesman for the state Department of Environmental Protection said it was normal for lye to be in the water - only not in such large amounts. They're trying to flood out the water supply, but no one's going to trust Spencer's tap water for a long time.

--The city has yet another murder victim to add to its tally – number 18. In a brutal case, a man was stabbed to death while walking on Blue Hill Avenue.

--Some people went to a heap of trouble to break into an ATM in Brookline on Monday night. They cut a hole in the roof of a building and liberated the cash inside. Depending on how you look at it, the daring stunt paid off, and the thieves got $200,000.

--ATM thieves have been busy in Brookline. Some less clever thieves stole someone's wheelchair and used it to transport an ATM from a condo complex. They only received $1800 and a spare wheelchair for their troubles.

Image of Magic School Bus from Wikipedia.