Deval Patrick wrote an op-ed in the Globe yesterday about reforming Massachusetts transportation. He advocated consolidation and system-wide planning, and emphasized multi-modal transportation. Proposing an elimination of the Turnpike Authority, Patrick outlined a plan to turn over roads that go to Logan and the South Boston Seaport (including Mass Pike east of route 128) to Massport, while the Highway Department would take over the turnpike west of 128. Tolls will be eliminated on the western......

neuroboy74 caught this crazy intersection (as did amythyst_lake) Sex, drugs, and corruption in Washington. Is that really news? [NYT] Will the flailing MTA follow FNMA and FHLMC in requiring a bailout? [Blue Mass Group] What can $1000 get you? [Kiplinger] A building collapsed in Virginia, trapping workers inside. [CNN] We got ourselves another Matt. [WBZTV] You know things are bad when even animals have to go online to get a date. [CNN] We've created......

MassDebate presents opposing sides of a controversial local issue. If you have a hot-button topic you'd like to see us cover, or if you want to represent your view on a subject under debate, email us at tips at bostonist dot com. Bostonist does not endorse any opinions expressed in MassDebate. Perhaps no other subject in Boston has been written about more than the Big Dig, at least not recently. From bankruptcy to leaks to......

In addition to the approximately $7 billion in interest the Big Dig is costing the state, and the six figure salaries it pays sign-hangers, Mass Pike is doling out plenty in pensions as well. The Globe reports that several high-ranking Big Dig officials and other Mass Pike employees have received at least $100 million in taxpayer-funded pensions for stopping work before retirement age. The pensions are enabled by a 1945 law that ensures higher payouts......

Photo by minutemen1775 NASA wants pee. Lots of it. [Independent] Red line riders are seeing red--and rightfully so. [Globe] Marzilli can't stop... till he gets a pension? [Herald] The Pike is the new Fannie/Freddie. [Globe] No, you're not crazy--everything really is more expensive these days. [NYT]......

In addition to Fannie and Freddie's mortgage meltdown, there are other real estate problems going on in Boston: the Turnpike doesn't has the money to fulfill its duties, and can't take advantage of its real estate, either. The pike has a $100 million budget deficit, and Big Dig payments are coming due, but it doesn't look like it'll be able to take advantage of its prime real estate anytime soon. Theoretically, it should be possible......

Some Mass Pike toll takers allegedly thought they could get rich by skimming some of your grubby quarters. The Suffolk County DA's office announced that 10 people were charged for misclassifying cars that went through the toll and pocketing the difference. Here's the full scoop on their clever schemes: The most common scheme involved the intentional misclassification of taxi cabs and other commercial vehicles as ordinary cars. As vehicles pass through the tolls, the collector......

--So NOW Sal DiMasi wants to strike a deal on gambling? Guess we've learned one thing during the recent DiMasi stories. What happens in the State House stays in the State House. [Boston Herald] --McCourt Construction Company has pled guilty to overbilling for the work of Big Dig employees. What they billed, though--$314,494--seems like small potatoes compared to the alleged spending shenanigans of other Big Dig contractors. [Bloomberg/Boston Globe] --Traffic is down a little......

--The Turnpike Authority is giving you a choice: Bitch about traffic during the day while they do roadwork, or pay up for it if it gets done at night. [WBZ] --If you were feeling icky about horse racing after the gruesome death of Kentucky Derby runner-up Eight Belles, you're not going to like this: Horse manure from Suffolk Downs has been running into a Boston Harbor tributary. [Boston Herald] --The Federal Aviation Administration is......

--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.......

--The thought of Massachusetts drivers plus a U-Turn that's open to the public makes us skittish. [WBZ] --The National Transportation Safety Board released a report saying that the crash between a train and a truck that killed two maintenance employees last January happened because "several employees of the railroad failed to do a very important part of their job." [Boston Globe] --Remember that toll increase? Well, that money might to go pay off debt. And......

This is a story tailor-made for the Herald: The Mass Pike has changed a long-standing but secretive policy that allowed toll collectors to carry .38-caliber handguns. The union that represents these workers plans to oppose the rule change, saying they need the weapons for protection when transporting toll money away from the booths. State Senator Steve Baddour told the Herald: “It’s absurd. The last time I saw a toll taker carrying a gun was when......

The MetroWest Daily News shed some light on the Turnpike Authority Board yesterday. The following line says it all: Turnpike Authority Board members were surprised to discover yesterday the authority is paying $100,000 a year for two advisory boards. Even though the Turnpike Authority Board claims no knowledge of these advisory boards, they are required by the state Legislature. Newton's mayor is chair of one of the boards and says that the board is an......

Good to know Bostonist isn't the only one who gets nervous driving under the Shaw's in Newton that appears to balance precariously over the Mass Pike. Oh, and through the Prudential Tunnel. And through pretty much any tunnel in this city. The Globe reports today that private businesses are responsible for maintenance of the piece of tunnel that passes under their building. The problem isn't with Shaw's or the private companies. Here's the problem:......

In snowy weather like this, complaints about icy roads or snowpiles are normal. But you know the weather is bad when the snow is so heavy that it collapses the roof of a Rite-Aid. Last night, in Brighton at Market and Surrey, the roof of a Rite-Aid buckled under the weight of snow. According to WCVB, four employees and a customer escaped. Falling debris hit the customer in the head, but the injuries were......

With Thanksgiving and the holiday season approaching, the time has come to focus on travel options. Vamoose buses now offer WiFi access and guaranteed seating, but perhaps it is time to take another look at its oft-maligned competitor, the Fung Wah Bus. Established ten years ago, Fung Wah, which is Cantonese for “magnificent wind,” has gained notoriety for buses slamming into guard rails and getting stuck in a toll booth. But even with these occasional......

- Two men are on the lam after an attempted carjacking in broad daylight on the Mass Pike. The suspects jumped into the back seat of a car waiting in line for the Allston-Brighton toll. When they arrived at the booth the driver alerted the attendant to the carjacking while being "pistol-whipped" with a handgun. The car hit another and then stopped, at which time the two men fled and have yet to be......

From the DA's Office: A man was arrested for attempting to kidnap a Los Angeles woman who was walking her bike in Allston early this morning. At about 3:00 am, 25-year-old Bruce Saidi, of Chelsea, and an unknown accomplice, who is still at large, grabbed the woman and held a knife to her throat. Saidi held her head down while the other guy took the bike, and the two forced her over the footbridge over......

Is this how a porn star is welcomed in Boston? A drunk driver swerved in front of Ron Jeremy's tour bus as he and his friends with the Porn Debate were leaving town early Saturday after holding their Porn Debate at the Middle East. Luckily, no one got hurt, but Ron Jeremy and his posse were rattled. Jeremy, anti-porn activist and self-described "porn pastor" Craig Gross, and members of the Porn Debate tour crew......

If your residence is as close as Bostonist's is to the Pike you're in luck if you also like casino gaming. Of course, you can get to Mohegan Sun by hopping off 395 and hitting some lesser travelled byways for a short jaunt to their front door – but if the Mohegan Sun ownership has anything to do with it you'll soon be able to hit the pike and just get off at the Palmer......

Bostonist was walking past the hustle and bustle of Fenway Park on Friday afternoon when we finally identified that nagging feeling that had been with us ever since the Park Street station. We had seen more Baltimore Orioles jerseys, hats and T-shirts in an hour than we saw all day when we traveled to Camden Yards last season! What was going on? Everyone knows that the orange-accented Baltimore ballpark is known fondly in Red Sox......

The Globe calls it Highway Blogging. Operation Over calls it effective. Yesterday the collective calling themselves Operation Over, working to stop a new BU biolab from opening its doors in Roxbury tossed bed sheet banners to display their message on 128 and the Mass Pike. They're looking to get their message out to a larger community, including the suburbs. Threatening situations like the spread of Ebola in the Hub – or even smallpox – has......

Poor Mitt Romney, stymied at every turn. Last week, the Supreme Judicial Court refused to tell him whether he could legally demote Mass Pike chairman Matthew Amorello, and this morning we learn that there are even more leaks and defects in the Big Dig than previously thought (Bostonist can imagine Mitt inside the Statehouse, shaking his fist at one of the east-facing windows that looks down Ashburton Place toward the John Adams Courthouse). Worse still,......