--A few days old, but still exciting--the MBTA says it will improve the lighting at the JFK/UMass stop. [Boston Globe] --Speaking of transportation improvements, the city will start work on the intersection of American Legion Highway and Walk Hill Street, which one neighbor calls "Kamikaze Way." [Boston Globe] --Want to know how to help Frank Enwonwu, the local man who may be deported to Nigeria, even though he informed for the DEA? [Bostonist] --Cable......

--Early yesterday morning, a 16-year-old was shot on Columbia Road. According to the BPD, witnesses said the victim was taking out the trash when he got hit. His injuries are non-life-threatening. [BPD News] --A driver who struck and killed a 13-year-old boy in Taunton early this morning and then took off surrendered to Taunton police this afternoon. [WCVB] --A woman stole a cab in Chelsea and wound up crashing it in Revere. That wouldn't be......

--Police arrested another person who was allegedly involved in the murder of Revere police officer Daniel Talbot in September. WBZ reports that 17-year-old Gia Nagy was charged with being an Accessory to Murder After the Fact. --The Brookline TAB announced that the Brookline PD will hold a community meeting about the rise of sexual assaults in the area on Thursday, December 20, at 7:30 pm, at the station on 350 Washington. The meeting will be......

--Police have arrested a man for attacking a woman as the left the Brookline Village T stop early yesterday morning. The victim identified 23-year-old Samuel Prado as her attacker. The Herald reports that a State Police dispatcher made a connection when Prado was caught "acting aggressively" at Logan Airport. --A woman and her two children were found dead yesterday in Springfield. According to the Herald, Juan Mejia, 32, of Springfield, the dead woman's husband, was......

--The BPD arrested two people in the South End for Unlawful Possession of a Firearm. The gun wouldn't have been discovered if it hadn't accidentally gone off in the bathroom. The Herald reported that the woman who was arrested was the mother of Dontel Jeffers, the child who died at the hands of his foster mother, who was recently sentenced for the crime. Laurel Sweet writes, "Crystal Claiborn [Jeffers' mother] claimed that while aiming the......

--On Saturday morning, a construction worker in Watertown went on a crazy trip to Brookline. The worker, 24-year-old Kevin Lasquade, happened to be drunk at the time. According to WHDH, Lasquade got noticed when "he allegedly hit a parked car on Beacon Street in Brookline." He also took the backhoe into a Stop & Shop lot and almost did some damage there. As if driving drunk weren't bad enough, WHDH pointed out that Lasquade didn’t......

Fanny-patting may be endangered now that the Massachusetts Legislature plans to discuss a ban on spanking this morning. The Brookline TAB's Jessica Scarpati is relieved that Brookline, which passed a "non-binding resolution" against spanking (!?!), isn't alone: "Seeeeee, it’s not just Brookline being Brookline." But the comments from Herald readers are the craziest by far as they quickly leap into other topics. They whip themselves into a froth by raging against the liberal species of......

The T announced that it is going to order 10 more of the infamous Breda cars for the Green Line. We wondered why the T would order more cars that don't work. The T's problems with Italian company AnsaldoBreda go waaay back: The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority signed a $222 million contract in 1995 with an Italian company now known as AnsaldoBreda to provide the trains. The company was supposed to deliver 100 "Breda" cars,......

Attention, Brookline web surfers – Brookline has wireless Internet starting yesterday, and you now have free wi-fi for a month. Alas, after that, you have to subscribe, but if you have a subscription, you can still hop online and surf if you are in Brookline. The SSID is Brookline Wireless. The Brookline TAB has details on how the wireless works if you're just passing through Brookline and feel the urge to check your e-mail: Other......

It's official - Brookline will purge trans fats, which increase bad cholesterol, from all foods made within its restaurants and schools. Per the ban, restaurants must "stop using trans fats for frying by Nov. 30, 2008, and to end their use in baked goods by April 30, 2009." The ban proposal enjoyed overwhelming approval, and, since more and more food products are phasing out trans fats, these bans don't seem that ridiculous after all. "Trans......

Trans fat, the substance that keeps certain foods mysteriously moist for an artificial length of time, might be banned in Brookline effective May 29, during the town meeting. Studies show that trans fats increase bad cholesterol and lower good cholesterol, which can lead to heart disease. They became such a concern that the amount of trans fats in a food is listed on food labels - which you don't get in restaurants. If the ban......