Weekend Redux: What You Missed
Just because you spent all weekend fighting the urge to turn up the heat, it doesn’t mean the world stopped moving. We round up the notable stories you missed.
Saturday
Chuck Turner says he will be be back at work today after he was arrested on charges of accepting a bribe and making false statements.
People are saddened and shocked by the news that Turner was allegedly involved in the Dejavu debacle. Even his colleagues are surprised.
“Chuck really believed in what he was saying, was very principled in that,” [Boston City Councilor John] Tobin said. “Even if I didn’t agree with that, he made you think.”
That’s a nice way of saying “we thought he was a harmless nut.”
Looks like poor John Kerry will have to content himself with the chairmanship of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Hillary Clinton is widely reported to be Barack Obama’s choice for Secretary of State. And while fellow short-list name Bill Richardson will get a consolation prize, Kerry’s name hasn’t been bandied about.
Yeah, sure. Give the Turnpike Authority all the money it needs. It’s clearly doing a bang-up job of managing its money.
The Massachusetts Turnpike Authority spent more than $160,000 to raise the wages of 13 managers over the past year, even as the cash-strapped agency was gearing up for a major toll increase.
We’ve got yet another hole in the ground due to a construction project that’s ground to a halt.
Sunday
Suck it, Yale!
Evictions in Massachusetts are way, way up, especially in New Bedford. Businesses in the Financial District are struggling. The federal deficit might top $1 trillion. We’ll be right back. We’re going to stock up on canned goods and guns as the apocalypse is nigh.
But let’s not lose focus on the story that is clearly the most important issue of our time: Research shows that people like to sing in the car.
A form of whistling our way to work, singing in the car, experts say, is a primal urge rooted in impulses scientists don’t fully understand. But if our Neanderthal forebears hummed merrily as they dragged a carcass across the savannah – and scientists think they did – that same urge is alive and kicking today.
Did someone accidentally deliver a copy of The Onion to our doorstep on Sunday? There are bigger fish to be fried, friends, than some guy’s desire to sing “Pour Some Sugar On Me” as he drives down Route 1. Like Chuck Turner. Or the ethics case against Sal DiMasi. Or the complete meltdown of the economy as we know it.
The Mafia might be out of Southie, but some locals are still disappearing. This time, it’s Sully the Turkey. Maybe he’s hanging out with Coochy the Poodle.
