--Total commuter hell broke out today with a tractor rollover that blocked the Mass Pike, along with dodginess on the Blue Line that left, according to one individual, "hundreds of people" stranded at the Airport T stop. [WHDH, b0st0n LiveJournal] --Speaking of transportation, an engineering firm has recommended the installation of 900 support anchors in the Ted Williams Tunnel to make up for the fact that some parts of the ceiling can't be inspected.......

--Wo ist Whitey? The Feds are going on the German equivalent of "America's Most Wanted" to ask for help looking for Whitey Bulger. If you are an old white guy planning a leisurely European tour or happen to know an old white guy considering such a trip, watch out for overeager foreign policemen, even if you wear a Yankees cap. [Boston Globe] --Read this before you go to the grocery store. Three words: "Rodent-gnawed......

Boston, you did Kimya Dawson right on Thursday night. So right, in fact, that we can't even tell you about it. Bostonist had fully intended to be able to report back to you today about how Dawson, the quirky and kickass singer-songwriter now captivating music fans with her work on the Juno soundtrack, performed during her 7 p.m. in-store at the Newbury Street music shop. We arrived on the scene a little later than we'd......

Bus schedule improvements? Mattapan high-speed? New Blue Line trains? Oooh, Santa Charlie isn't finished with us yet! The MBTA just announced that T riders are now able to use their cell phones and other wireless gadgets at Park Street, Downtown Crossing, Government Center, and State Street. They can also use wireless in the tunnels connecting the stations. Where to start? The news has its positives and negatives. The positives are obvious--less boredom while waiting......

The Blotter and the Bite Size are merged today, given that everyone seems to be on break. Thank you for reading this if you're here! --Merry Christmas to the Del Valle family. Powers Fasteners has agreed to pay 6 million to the family of Milena Del Valle, the woman who died after a portion of the Big Dig fell on her as she and her husband were on the way to Logan Airport. [Boston......

For the past few months, Bostonist has engaged in a scientific experiment. We've been sniffing around T stops to find out which ones are the most pleasant and which ones are an offense to the olfactory nerves. Each day this week, we'll evaluate the odors you will find at various T stops. And here it is--the complete list of T stops with the most distinct odors: Aquarium: High tide, dolphin pee Airport: Pleather luggage,......

--Maybe Fung Wah isn't so bad after all. The local press picked up on a b0st0n LiveJournal story that a Peter Pan bus driver felt that his passengers on a trip to Boston should be punished and forced to stay on the bus in Framingham because one of them called the company about his poor driving. The driver's sorry ass is about to get fired. [WBZ, Globe, b0st0n Live Journal] --Female parking enforcement officers......

For the past few months, Bostonist has engaged in a scientific experiment. We've been sniffing around T stops to find out which ones are the most pleasant and which ones are an offense to the olfactory nerves. Each day this week, we'll evaluate the odors you will find at various T stops. Today, the Blue Line: Aquarium: High tide, dolphin pee Airport: Pleather luggage, SFO-BOS redeye sweat, pee Government Center: Dunkin Donuts, stale cigarette......

Chanel 5's Cindy and Jeff have a blog. It's about traffic. Today it was about grabbing a Taxi. When Bostonist has a flight to catch we've been known to walk ourselves to the nearest hotel so that we can grab the flat rate to Logan because it's almost always cheaper than a ride with the meter running. As fast as the Big Dig has made an airport run, traffic usually slows us down enough to......

Zipcar and MBTA have formed an alliance, and Zipcars have been positioned at various MBTA stations to make life even easier for occasional drivers. A total of 24 Zipcars will be at the following T stops: Red line - Alewife, JFK/UMass, Savin Hill, North Quincy, Quincy Center, Quincy Adams Green line - Riverside, Woodland, Brookline Village Orange line - Forest Hills, Malden, Oak Grove Blue line - Left all alone at this time. Show the......

Boston awoke this morning to the news we dread, more Big Dig stories. Last night, sometime around 11 pm a large hunk of ceiling in the Turnpike connector tunnel came crashing down when a steel tieback let go. The three ton slab of concrete crushed a car; while the driver was rescued alive the passenger in the vehicle was killed. The stretch of turnpike connector to the Ted Williams Tunnel is closed until at least......

So this Saturday, as we learned from a recent MBTA press release, the Old State House entrance to the State Street station was closed for a week (till the coming Saturday) for the installation of exciting new Charlie Ticket machines and the Blue Line stopped going to State Street. Nothing terribly exciting, right? Right. But here's what vexes us: The T is providing free transfers so that Blue Line customers who ordinarily change for the......

Oh MBTA, why are you so, so, so wrong all the time? We read in Brian McGrory's column today in the Globe that the T is unveiling a new "courtesy campaign" to address employee and customer rudeness. Now, we know about rudeness (both receiving and dispensing), and more good feelings on public transportation would surely be a good thing. But when the state's secretary of transportation says, "The public isn't going to ride if......

It's no day in the park, but it still must have been a fun assignment at the Herald. Looking into sex-for-sale over Craigslist reporters at the Herald exposed the truth that other, less safe for work things than Christmas lights, can be found for sale on the community site. Don't take us wrong, we love Craigslist, but there may be some less than rosey uses. Bostonist had taken interest in the reports of pimps losing......

Update: Life is unfair. Bostonist wanted a regional or local story that would give us an excuse to gripe about the President, and we thought we'd found it (see below). Turns out, it was a hoax. So everything reported below about the U. Mass. student is not true. But President Bush is definitely still a disaster. Bostonist, like the Governor, has lately been checking out of local affairs and focusing on the presidency. But in......

The Globe reports that state environmental officials are giving the nod to the Green Line extension (to Union Square in Somerville and West Medford); more stops on the Fairmount commuter line in Mattapan, Dorchester, and Hyde Park; and more parking spots all around the area. Mass transit advocates are, understandably, dissatisfied, as JP is getting the short end of the stick, the Silver Line continues to be the stupidest "train" ever, and the Blue and......