--More fire department turmoil: A panel of union firefighters determined that the alcohol and drugs found in the bodies of firefighters Paul Cahill and Warren Payne in August's Tai Ho Restaurant blaze did not cause their deaths. But the fire commissioner begs to differ. [Boston Globe, background: Bostonist] --While it's good that the mayor is throwing his efforts behind saving Hendry Street from the foreclosure crisis, the housing problems in Dorchester aren't limited to......

-- MBTA and MBCR in a war of the quips over why the commuter rail sucks. Massachussetts Liberal says "Grabauskas must go!" (via Universal Hub) -- Senator Steve Baddour wants to milk some sacred cows. It sounds dirty, but he just wants to get rid of the police details. -- ACLU reminds Boston residents targeted by the BPD Safe Homes project about a crazy little thing called rights. -- Get ready to learn about Downtown......

We can't get the image of the neon red lights invading Kramer's apartment in the episode of Seinfeld when Kenny Rogers Roasters opened up a joint right outside his bedroom window. The affliction for Northeastern University residents in the proposed building wouldn't be the sleepless nights, apartment trading, and addiction to rotisserie chicken, rather perverse Village People nightmares as the YMCA sign flashes into the evening. If approved, the GrandMarc, a proposed 34 story......

We're playing a little game we call "what's Tommy's name not on?" The Zamboni that smoothes the ice at the Frog Pond? It's on there. The welcome sign to Boston? It's on there. The toothbrushes the Boston Public Health Commission distributes? It's on there (and happens to be absurdly huge.) The Boston Convention and Exhibition Center? Yeah, that's it. Menino's name does not adorn the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center is not yet called......

The Boston Redevelopment Authority has finally approved the construction of a new Apple store on Boylston Street in Back Bay, which could be done as early as December 2007. Not only will you be able to wait in frustration for hours at the "Genius Bar", but you'll be able to join the scads of Bostonians you try to avoid in said line. Sweet. Admittedly, the building (a giant glass cube) is alluring. Moreso, though,......

A River Runs Through it or How Harvard Bought up Allston, Drafted a Plan, and Got a Life. The Allston Initiative at Harvard handed over their plan for development of the University owned land across the river from the Cambridge campus to the Boston Redevelopment Authority. The posted executive summary starts out lofty (natch, it's Harvard)Seldom does an urban university have the opportunity to plan for decades of growth adjacent to its current campus and......

The city of Boston unveiled new plans today to hold private developers to a more environmentally friendly standard. The Globe reports that the Boston Redevelopment Authority (BRA) will incorporate these regulations into building codes for the city. Anyone planning a building over 50,000 square feet must meet 26 of the US Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standards, and they must also meet a few extra Boston-specific standards, such as......

Totally ready to chalk it up to yet another hare-brained scheme by Menino, we read on and found out that the Walk of Fame idea was presented by one of our favorite city councilors, John Tobin. In even more shocking news Bostonist is on the same page as Globe columnist Brian McGrory. The proposed Walk of Fame, an idea which St. Louis, Mo., Lansing, Mich., and Toronto, Canada among others have already stolen, would spice......

We've been sitting on our hands wondering how we were going to approach Menino's call for a new downtown skyscraper last week without making all sorts of inadequacy jokes, you know, how this skyscraper might just be Menino's viagra. Damn, we blew our load already. To be just as blunt the basic story told is that Menino has called for a 1,000 foot skyscraper (that's roughly 80 stories, John Hancock is 62). And all Bostonist......

Oh, Haymarket, how Bostonist loves your super low prices, general uncleanliness, and the gruff attitude of most of your vendors. What we really enjoy is the good bit of sauce you leave at the end of the day. But we’ve found a new spot for our fresh food, Mondays and Thursdays, so we don’t have to wait for the weekend. Walking across the Old Northern Avenue Bridge, a vibrant open air market surrounds you.......

Bostonist learned from today's Globe that Boston City Councilman Paul Scapicchio (about whom some unrelated, but interesting, news here) wants to change the rules regarding affordable housing lotteries to give priority to neighborhood residents. In the past, similar rules were rejected on the (probably correct, we suspect) theory that favoring neighborhood residents would perpetuate racial segregation (because new housing in, say, a mostly white neighborhood would end up going mostly to white people). But Scapicchio......

Navy Yard, home to that thriving vibrant life associated with a National Park Service site and home to the oldest commissioned warship in the US Navy’s fleet is missing art. Yes, art. Boston has successfully turned the factories of the South End into SoWa, with First Fridays open studios and dozens of little galleries. Where’s the next hotbed of inspiration? The Charlestown Navy Yard really screams to us "I want to be a Creative......

Making a charitable contribution is always nicer when you get an immediate return, flowers for mother's day or a couple hours of bowling. Lucky Strike at Jillian’s is holding a book drive tonight to benefit ReadBoston’s program. For $10 and a new children’s book (might we recommend Make Way for Ducklings) or $15 without a book you’ll get unlimited frames and shoe rental from 6 pm to 8 pm. Ok, so it won’t be candlepin......