Friday, November 6, 2015

Morning Commute

About to go on mine (Globe looks good today, doesn't it?) so fasten your seat belt.

"An 11-year-old boy was gunned down and his 16-year-old brother was critically wounded when someone knocked on the door of their western Pennsylvania home and began shooting when it was answered, authorities said Monday."

Couldn't even get out the door.

Volkswagen says it understated carbon dioxide output on cars

Investors flee as VW is pressured to reveal inquiry findings

Cheating software found on Porsches, more VWs

"A woman in her 70s died and another woman was injured after they were struck by a vehicle while walking across a street in the South End Wednesday afternoon, police said."

That was when the air bag deployed.

Mercedes reports problems with air bags on some models 

All right, now this is getting serious!! When the defects start hitting the richer's cars.... that's when I really get angry!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

October car sales are best in a decade

Here is why:

"A California man captured on video attacking an Uber driver has been charged with assault and battery. Benjamin Golden of Newport Beach also was charged Tuesday with assault on a public transportation property and battery on a public transit employee with injury. He faces up to a year in jail and a $10,000 fine if convicted of four misdemeanor charges. Golden is out of jail and couldn’t be reached for comment. Police say Golden, a brand manager for Taco Bell, was ordered out of the car on Friday in Costa Mesa because he was too drunk to give directions. Police say a dashboard camera video shows Golden slapping the driver, grabbing his hair and slamming his head against a window until the man pepper-sprayed him. Taco Bell has fired Golden."

Also see:

Housing and hotel plan above Mass. Pike goes forward

MBTA plans safety upgrade for commuter rail

Commuter rail officials show off new snow equipment

Orange is the New Green 

"Defect mars new windows at Government Center T stop; Reinstallation won’t delay reopening of City Hall site, official says" by Nicole Dungca Globe Staff  November 06, 2015

Not long after MBTA officials showed off the flashy 40-foot glass walls of the new Government Center station, workers have had to take down and reinstall the panels because of a manufacturer’s defect, according to officials.

The 358 glass panels in the station must be replaced because they were fogging up, a problem caused by faulty sealant.

Is there any product made anywhere that isn't a piece of shit, other than bank ATMs which never seem to miscount a damn penny?

But MBTA officials have promised the setback will not delay the $82 million station’s reopening, slated for next spring.

I don't know who they hired to write and report, but college 101 will tell you never begin sentences with a but. So jwho does the kid know, 'eh?

$82 million, huh?

“The work is proceeding without negatively affecting safety, quality, costs, or the schedule,” Joe Pesaturo, a spokesman for the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, said in an e-mail.

Uh-huh.

Pesaturo also said the defect will not cost taxpayers more money: The contractor, Barletta Heavy Division, must pay for the extra work. Pesaturo did not have estimates for how much the glass walls cost, saying the issue is between “the general contractor and one of its subcontractors.”

It already has.

In order to rebuild the station into a more accessible stop for riders with disabilities, officials closed the stop to passengers in March 2014 for two years. Frank DePaola, who took over as the general manager of the MBTA in March, said shutting down the station has expedited the reconstruction.

The project’s setback comes amid skepticism about the agency’s ability to complete large-scale construction projects with few problems. Earlier this year, MBTA officials revealed its recent estimates for the Green Line extension into Somerville and Medford could be off by nearly $1 billion.

In late July, DePaola gave The Boston Globe a tour of the construction site and said the station was on track to open on schedule.  At the time, engineers for the project touted the new glass walls that had been installed during the summer, saying the glass would give customers a completely different experience.

Ooooooh, Globe got a tour as the self-centered, self-adulating, self-aggrandizing public $ervants were conducting a public relations effort. Nice! $82 million bucks for a pos.

But earlier that month, the MBTA project office and the general contractor had begun investigating how the sealant between the two panes of the glass panels was failing, according to Pesaturo.

Oh, so they knew about the problem before the public promotions tour. 

Why is everyone in state government such $cum?

The following month, DePaola told the state transportation board they believed a defect from the glass manufacturer had led to fogging in the panels. He made the disclosure on the same day that MBTA officials revealed the Green Line extension could cost $1 billion more than expected.

Workers began removing the panels in early September and sent them back to the manufacturer, the California-based Innovative Structural Glass, according to Pesaturo. The company had to strip the panels of their sealant materials and reassemble the windows before workers could reinstall them.

More than half of the glass panels have been re-installed, according to Pesaturo. The entire re-installation should be done by the second week of December.

Oh, good. No harm, no foul.

Some close watchers of the MBTA aren’t particularly worried by the setback.

It's just “bad luck. They just got a bad batch of windows.” 

ARRRRRRRRRRRGHHHHHHHHH!!!!

--more--"

That's nuts (the Salem stop has leaks?). 

Two if by....

Nova Star ferry service adrift as creditors pursue money

Donors save historic ship in Philadelphia, for now

Wreckage of lost El Faro ship is identified

Space station marks 15 years of nonstop human presence

Had to stop for a train on my way back:

"Burned remains of woman found in Bridgewater; Homicide probe underway" by Evan Allen Globe Staff  November 04, 2015

BRIDGEWATER — The body of a woman burned beyond recognition, with her hands and feet bound behind her back, was discovered next to a secluded stretch of railroad tracks in Bridgewater Tuesday night, according to Plymouth District Attorney Timothy J. Cruz.

Investigators are treating her death as a homicide, he said during a press conference at the town police station.

What else could it be?

A law enforcement official briefed on the investigation, who was not authorized to speak publicly, said investigators believe the woman was killed somewhere else, then dumped and set ablaze at the tracks.

“This appears to be a targeted event. We do not believe at this point there is any danger to the people in the community,” said Cruz. “However, this investigation has just begun. And people should understand that.”

Related: Plymouth DA's Office 

No wonder violent criminals are roaming the streets over there.

Transit police and Bridgewater police made the grisly discovery at the tracks near Oak and Crapo streets after receiving a 911 report of a body on the tracks, officials said.

The body was still on fire, according to Cruz’s office; Bridgewater firefighters extinguished the flames and determined that the woman was dead.

Officials were not immediately able to estimate the woman’s age, Cruz said, and had not yet been able to locate any reports of missing women in the area. The woman’s hands were tied to her feet, he said....

Neighbors are rattled, students at Bridgewater State don’t feel safe, and those who live in the neighborhood say it’s a terrible thing.

--more--" 

So what was it, some shades of Grey gone too far? 

UPDATE: Globe looked good, but it was disappointing (again) when I started reading it.

NDUs:

"A man operating a lobster vessel off Crane Beach in Ipswich was uninjured after he jumped into the water when his boat caught fire Friday morning, the Coast Guard said."

"Suspect arrested in murder of woman found in burning car" by John R. Ellement Globe Staff  November 06, 2015

A Worcester man was identified in court Friday as a suspect in the death of a woman whose body was found inside a burning vehicle in Worcester on Wednesday.

Thomas E. Hogan allegedly misled Worcester police when they asked him about his contact with the woman, according to the office of Worcester District Attorney Joseph D. Early Jr.

Hogan, 40, was arraigned in Worcester District Court Friday on a single charge of misleading police. He pleaded not guilty. The judge set bail at $3,000 cash, lower than the $50,000 cash sought by prosecutors.

In court, Worcester Assistant District Attorney Terry J. McLaughlin said that “Hogan is a suspect in the killing,’’ Early’s office said in the statement.

The woman had not been identified, prosecutors said.

The investigation began around 10:30 p.m. Wednesday when firefighters were called to a wooded area on Swan Avenue, where a vehicle was on fire. After extinguishing it, officials discovered the body of a woman inside.

The investigation is continuing, authorities said."

Also seeCrash snarls Sagamore Bridge traffic in both directions

Better catch the ferry then.

Did the airbag deploy on that?

Also see: Family wants to bring victim’s body home to N.J.

Who would want to do such evil to such beauty?