Results tagged “bigdig”

• After a near collision yesterday and another mishap involving trains in Massachusetts today, does Jeffrey Mullan really want to run the new MassDOT when it opens up for business on November 1? Really? [Boston Globe]

• The Massachusetts House of Representatives may vote as early as Thursday on a bill that would allow Gov. Deval Patrick to pick a temporary replacement for Sen. Ted Kennedy in the U.S. Senate. Channel 5 reports the bill would pass the House but not necessarily the state Senate. [WCVB]

• Tim Cahill doesn't want to be a Senator. He wants to be Governor, though. [Boston Globe]

• John McCain can't vote in our special election to replace Senator Kennedy. That fact didn't stop him from butting into the Bay State's business by tying to get Curt Schilling to run. [CNN]

The looney lawsuit brought against the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority by celebrity lawyer Jan R. Schlichtmann no longer looks so promising after a Superior Court Justice denied, in no uncertain terms, the plaintiffs' motion for an injunction against the Pike. Justice H. J. Smith, Jr. wrote, "At this juncture, the court finds that the plaintiffs have not demonstrated that they are likely to prevail on the merits of their contention that the MTA's tolls are unconstitutional taxes." (Hat tip to BlueMassGroup for hosting the order.)

After two Aggregate Industries managers pleaded guilty to fraud and conspiracy charges about a month ago, their testimony has been used to convict four other managers of the same type of charges. Aggregate managers conspired to deliver more than 5000 trucks of concrete that was unusable for a variety of reasons. The company paid $50 million in settlements and fines to address the matter, $27 million of which was originally earmarked for use on Big Dig repairs. The payments kept Aggregate eligible for government contracts, including $4.2 million in stimulus funds received this year. The convicted managers are expected to be sentenced in November.

-- Two managers of Aggregate Industries NE, Inc. pleaded guilty to charges that they participated in a conspiracy to deliver substandard concrete to Big Dig construction sites. Gerard McNally and Keith Thomas were two of six men charged in the case. McNally and Thomas will testify against their co-defendents as a condition of their plea agreements. [Herald]

-- Boston police have issued a warning about a string of sexual assault cases that began when the victims got into the wrong cab. Five incidents of sexual assaults involving cabbies or livery drivers have been reported since October 4th. Suspect descriptions have varied, and at least one suspect has been jailed. The BPD offers a list of prevention tips to keep women safe. Among the most useful: only hail cabs that have Boston licenses, stay in groups, and never get in the front seat of a taxi. [BPDNews]

Massachusetts has reached a settlement with Modern Continental, the bankrupt Big Dig contractors responsible for bolting in those deadly tunnel ceiling tiles. The $21 million agreement bars Modern Continental from performing further work on the Dig. Project managers Bechtel/Parsons Brinkerhoff settled earlier this year for $407 million, and Powers Fasteners (who made the glue used along with bolts to hold up the tiles) paid out $6 million. At least the Green Line tunnels aren't falling down... yet?

Remember the Silver Line? The world's fanciest and most often maligned bus routes will finally be joined by the world's most expensive tunnel if the MBTA has its way. The "Little Dig" (or, more formally, "Silver Line Phase III") will cost more than $1.2 billion, take more than five years to complete, and quite possibly cause the entire Bay Village neighborhood to slide below the Earth's crust. The completely broke MBTA has no plan to pay for the project, aside from federal matching funds, which would leave the T on the hook for more than $500 million, plus any budget overruns. Every blogger in Boston thinks that it's a bad idea. How about you?

            

After years of construction, destruction, reconstruction, and tragedy; our city has another public works project named after someone in the Kennedy clan. The Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway, which formally opened on Saturday, stretches from Boston's boot to bonnet.

-- A high-caliber shooting near Donnelly field left a pair of Cambridge houses riddled by bullets. A pedestrian, who remains at large, fired a .45 caliber pistol at a moving car, according to police. [Cambridge Chronicle]

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The pensions are enabled by a 1945 law that ensures higher payouts for those who have worked for at least 20 years or whose positions are eliminated. The law was originally intended to protect workers, but now it seems to be costing taxpayers and benefiting already-wealthy middle managers who are working new jobs while receiving pensions from the state.

The Globe reports that Modern Continental, the largest Big Dig contractor, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection this morning. The filing comes amid news that the firm owes between $500 million and $1 billion to creditors. Additionally, the U.S. Attorney's office filed fraud charges against Modern Continental late Friday afternoon. Some Big Dig contractors thought money would just fall from the sky. Instead, they got ceiling tiles.

--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]

--Have you heard the BPD is installing massive woofers to the front of patrol cars? You may hear and feel "The Rumbler" if you're pulled over. [Boston Globe]

-- Police found a man shot to death this morning in Hyde Park. The body was found shortly after 7:00am, and there are few details to report. [BPDNews]

--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]

--People marched yesterday in memory of Martin Luther King, Jr., and Steven Odom, a 13-year-old who was shot and killed in random gunfire. [Boston Globe]

--Bechtel, Parsons & Brinckerhoff still keeps this city on a tight leash. They received $5.3 million after the Big Dig was supposedly finished. [Boston Herald]

MBTA General Manager Dan Grabauskas isn't the only one saying that we're broke. The entire state is broke and in even bigger trouble that you might think. Yes, we're talking "broke-ass." If you thought we were in a budget crisis, wait until you read today's paper.

--A four-alarm fire broke out in Brookline overnight on Sewall Avenue. The building was vacant, but 120 people were evacuated, and three firefighters were injured. [WCVB]

--Massachusetts earned a C in state government from the Pew Center. Given the state of the Big Dig, is it any wonder? [Boston Herald]

We were in Detroit for the weekend, and the most frequently asked questions about Boston were "What happened in the Super Bowl?" and "Is that Big Dig thing finally finished?" The latter is easier to answer: No.

--Some of those who treated the Big Dig like one big, fat ATM are finally getting their just desserts. Yesterday, a Big Dig contractor was charged with trying to overcharge the government by $300,000. They've agreed to plead guilty. [Boston Globe]

Some truck driver decided to make like a college student on move-in day yesterday afternoon. He blithely ignored the height limits on the Big Dig and plowed his way through the I-90 connector. Noah Bierman at the Globe describes the ensuing chaos resulting from the alleged dumbassery: "The trucker had dodged a height restriction, almost, until his load met with the ceiling, causing sparks to fly."

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.

--Terry Francona will stay with the Red Sox through 2011. [Boston Globe Extra Bases]

While we assume that not everyone who planned the Big Dig were drinking at the time they did it, the news that the design prevents inspection of the bolts makes us wonder. Casey Ross at the Herald (who is afire lately with the MBTA ride-hide story) reports that not enough crawl space exists around the bolts. Even if inspectors wanted to check the ceiling bolts, they couldn't fit: