--Green Line B train goes on a rampage! [Boston Herald, WBZ] --Remember how last week the MBTA put out an alert after a passenger became concerned about a child's welfare on the bus? And how it turns out that everything was OK? Well, the family is considering suing the MBTA. These people clearly don't realize that the MBTA is broke. [WBZ] --If they can retire, MBTA employees are taking the money and running. [Boston......

As more concerns rise about the Big Dig bolts, the Green Line goes on the fritz, and the fact that our tunnels don't have sprinklers, Amtrak is adding its own small voice to the mix. Amtrak must replace railroad ties made of concrete that is starting to crack. The company says that replacing the ties will cost "tens of millions of dollars." Here's the insulting part--Amtrak put the ties in during the 1990s. They should......

Turns out Green Line service is down between Government Center and Lechmere. Here's the T Alert that was sent out: Green Line - Due to a wire problem at North Station. A substitute bus shuttle is operating between Government Center and Lechmere making all local stops. Passengers should utilize Orange Line service to make connections for Haymarket, North Station or Back Bay (for Copley area). Please allow extra time for your commute. 2/28/2008 11:01 AM......

--Note to European officials: Next time you think you've got Whitey Bulger on your hands, make sure it's really him. Two people from Germany just announced that they're the people in the video circulated the FBI, which has led to the frequent hassling of innocent tourists. [Boston Globe] --A Green Line train with 70 passengers derailed at Reservoir last night. Of course, all you could hear if you were waiting for a Green Line......

Ever "Written to the Top" to complain to the MBTA that a bus or train you expected never arrived? And maybe, just maybe, they wrote back in apology? It's likely they did it on purpose, according to a Herald article: Top MBTA officials acknowledge that for years the agency has been secretly cutting thousands of bus and train trips from published schedules to lower costs - a practice that has left legions of customers waiting......

--The Coast Guard reined in a 933-foot tanker that broke down off the coast of Cape Cod. The tanker held liquefied natural gas, but the Coast Guard said it didn't leak any. [Boston Globe] --Soon after an accident in which an elderly driver struck a child while he was on his way to vote in Randolph, State Sen. Steve Baddour is campaigning to boost tests for all drivers "throughout their driving careers." [Boston Herald]......

--A truck making an illegal left turn near the BU East Green Line Stop hit a Green Line train yesterday morning. One Green Line passenger went to the hospital, and the truck driver has a date with the courts. [Boston Globe] --Speaking of bad drivers, some people never learn. [Boston Globe] --Laura Crimaldi into how the mortgage mess has hit the city, particularly Dorchester, where 33 percent of the city's foreclosures happened. [Boston Herald]......

If you saw the Boston Herald cover for today, you might think the Red Line is crawling with gropers--or, as Bostonist likes to call them, "T Bags"--even though it's the Green Line that spawned its own groper only recently. But Jessica Heslam took a look at the MBTA's recent crime reports and writes, All told, 35 indecent assault and battery incidents reported on the MBTA in 2006 and 2007 took place on trains and at......

Wrestling The Boston League of Women Wrestlers (BLOWW) will clobber each other tonight at Church. The Allston-Brighton TAB has a great profile of BLOWW that will give you an idea of what to expect. Let's just put it this way--don't go expecting to see Stacy Keibler. (For the record, Bostonist is rooting for Green Line Greta.) Midnight, $8. Music Editors, with Louis XIV and Hot Hot Heat, will be at the Orpheum, 7:30 pm. Get......

Movies Two-Lane Blacktop is one of the best underground movies you've probably never seen. Even though the 1971 movie about drag racers looks like a star vehicle for "Sweet Baby James" Taylor, the images and general restless atmosphere make it seem more like Godard than anything else. Throw in a performance by another one of Hollywoods unsung heroes, Warren Oates, and a haunting final scene, and you have a classic. Showtimes from the Brattle Theatre.......

A bright spot after the various scary episodes on the Green Line--MBTA General Manager Dan Grabauskas has announced improvements to a few bus lines in the city effective Saturday, December 29. The improvements will affect Route 15 (Kane Square/Fields Corner--Ruggles) and Route 111 (Woodlawn/Broadway and Park--Haymarket). According to the MBTA office announcement, specifically, Route 15 service "will be extended to provide increased evening and weekend service to Bowdoin Street, Geneva Avenue and Fields Corner Station."......

An outbound Green Line trolley struck an MBTA supervisor this morning. The AP reports that the supervisor was there to check out an unauthorized tree-cutting near Reservoir on the D line. The incident happened at about 10:20 am, the Globe reports. Joe Pesaturo at the MBTA said the supervisor hurt his left arm. Bostonist isn't superstitious, nor do we believe in ghosts, but today's incident gives rise to the question--what is happening on the Green......

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......

If you dare to venture out that way--and you may not want to after this morning and the storm that is coming in--Green Line Service is back up. Or, in the lingo of the T alert system: "Green Line service is running with residual delays as a result of an earlier medical emergency at Boylston station." If you hadn't already heard, Trolleys Collide, Closing Green Line This Morning A side note: A commenter let us......

Some Bostonists found out about this the hard way--by actually being on the green line and having our drivers announce "last stop Government Center"--but the Green Line is closed between Park Street and Kenmore Square this morning after two trolleys collided at Boylston. One trolley rear-ended a stopped trolley, and one car derailed, according to the Globe. Not only were legions (including some Bostonists) made late for work, but the Globe reports nine people complained......

A 25-year-old woman was nearly raped after leaving a Green Line train from the Brookline Village stop early this morning. She told police that the man followed her from Government Center to Brookline Village and attacked her on Cypress Street. When he attacked, she managed to get away and run home. Brookline police have released a description of the man. From the Globe: A Hispanic man, possibly of Mexican descent, who is about 5 feet......

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, we'll breathe in the Green Line--slowly: BU Stops (all of them): Natty Light, vodka, wet UGGS, Acqua di Gio cologne, raging......

--Handheld red laser beams can be a lot of fun, but a guy from Medford with a laser beam caused a ruckus on Saturday night when he pointed his beam at a State Police helicopter. The State Police swiftly summoned themselves, the Coast Guard, the Medford Police Department, and the Somerville Police Department to find the person. The feds are investigating. --The man who is accused of being the "Green Line Groper" has pled not......

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......

The Holiday season is in full swing in NYC, with holiday lights in Brooklyn, a giant snow globe in Bryant Park and Chanukah specials for ham. One citizen decided to go vigilante on annoying car alarms, a murder suspect used a fake Asian accent on the stand and a video of a man being beaten up by teenage girls on a subway shocked the city. And we interviewed soon-to-be-leaving-Gawker editor Choire Sicha, who said,......

--The Blotter usually focuses on how people get to jail, but not what happens to people when they get there. The Globe has launched a series about an outbreak of prison suicides, and the authors conclude that the suicides may be the result of "careless errors and dangerous decisions by correction officials and staff at UMass Correctional Health." Why is it important to think about what happens to criminals' mental health in prison? Because most......

But before they went back up, whoever writes the blotter wasn't getting a little sick of having to do so many test posts. Commenter Middleman gave us a heads up that something was brewing over at BPDNews.com. Somebody on the BPD end is getting frustrated: "TEST BY IRATE ACCOUNT MANAGER." Middleman responds, "HILARIOUSNESS IS ALWAYS A GOOD IDEA." --Good news. The Green Line Groper has been arrested. The Herald reports that the 60-year-old suspect......

--A woman who was pregnant with twins was shot in the back last night in Mattapan. Police are saying the 22-year-old was shot through her apartment window. The woman is now in stable condition. The Herald adds that Police Commissioner Ed Davis went to the scene and that It was unclear last night whether the woman was targeted by someone she knew or whether she was a victim of a bizarre act of random violence.......

If you see something, say something! Especially if it's a middle-aged man with white hair and a long beige coat packing a newspaper and an exposed pee-pee. For the past several months, a man fitting the above description above has been getting grabby and flashy with high school students on the Green "E" Line between Brigham Circle and Government Center. Oh, man -- skeee-eee-eeeve. If you have any info about the Green Line Groper......

Imagine that you're stuck on the Green Line, wedged in between two people yammering away on their cell phones, and one of them is stinky. Each stop seems to last for an hour. When you reach your destination, you think to yourself, "I could have walked there in half the time." You were probably right. The Brookings Institution has declared Boston America's second-most walkable city, second only to DC, and Beacon Hill as one of......

If the amount of T alerts entering our inbox is any indication, the new T Alert system appears to be working just fine. In fact, it proves what we already knew--that the green line is a sluggish nightmare thanks to disabled trains. An alert appears when a 15-20 delay happens. But one commenter, boston_sean, left us a note that the T Alert system needs a little work when it comes to the commuter rail: I......

MBTA employees are not endearing themselves to the public this week. First there was the driver on the C Line who injured a passenger by hitting the brakes at a bad time. She expressed her concern by going out for a smoke. Then there's the creep who made fake passes for the blind, which he sold to people who could see. Now there's the bonehead who wore a noose to the MBTA office for Halloween.......

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,......

STEP Fundraiser hosted by Taza Chocolate Thursday, October 25, 2007 Bloc 11 Cafe, 11 Bow Street, Union Square, Somerville 6:30 to 9 p.m., $25 suggested donation Somerville Transportation Equity Partnership can list a lot of fine reasons to extend the green line into the town that sits north of Cambridge like a jaunty sailor cap: pollution, population density, lawsuits, "revitalization". Bostonist has selfish reasons of our own, and they live in Union Square: crack-laced cream......