Mike Mennonno finds a good candidate involving somebody pining for some guy whose fly happened to be open at the Mass. Ave. stop on the Orange Line.

Councilor Ross explains what he and councilors LaMattina and Linehan are thinking up for Boston Common, which they say deserves to be not just America's oldest park, but it's greatest:

... The proposal that I'm most excited about is the establishment of a restaurant on the park. Our vision is a popular eatery that entices a diverse and vibrant crowd. When our Committee visited New York City, we saw two sites that were intriguing models for the Common: The Shake Shack at Madison Park, which serves $7 hamburgers and draws huge lines; and the Boathouse at Central Park, which provides a cafeteria, indoor and outdoor bar, and moderately priced restaurant, all with a great view.

There are several ideal locations for this establishment that will be presented in the report. We see great opportunity in this effort for improvements in the park, the neighborhood, and the city as a whole. A restaurant provides benefits by increasing year-round, late-evening traffic on the Common, which has a positive impact on crime in the area, and helps reinvigorate the neighborhood. ...

Kevin McCrea, meanwhile, provides the opposing viewpoint, at least when it comes to creating a conservancy for the Common.

Boston Restaurant News reports it's open again, at a new location, natch.

A federal judge has ruled a state law banning Massachusetts residents from buying wine from most out-of-state wineries is illegal.

Judge Rya Zobel of U.S. District Court in Boston, ruled that the law violates the interstate commerce clause of the Constitution because it lets all Massachusetts wineries to sell locally but blocks 98% of non-Massachusetts wineries from the local market for no good reason the court could discern (or words to that effect).

Her decision is on a suit filed by a group of California winemakers.

Read Zobel's decision.

Boston Police report a domestic house cat captured on Park Street last weekend was euthanized after it tested positive for rabies.

Click on the link for way more info than you probably want to know about what to do if you think you've been bitten by a rabid animal (go figure: there are an average of 100 rabid cats reported in Massachusetts each year - people, get your pet immunized, will ya?).

Boston Police report a robber used a sawed-off shotgun to rob a store and two customers around 9:30 p.m. yesterday at 130 N. Beacon St.

Police say the man, described as black, slim and in his mid-20s:

Displayed a double barreled sawed-off shotgun and assaulted a customer with the gun. According to all parties, the suspect then walked over to the counter, and demanded cash from the clerk. After getting the cash from the clerk, the suspect walked over to another victim, had him empty his pockets, and then went behind the counter and took an undisclosed amount of currency.

Total of five non-students arrested for brawling on school grounds, around 9 a.m.

While officers were attempting to disperse the group, they noticed one teen focused on and reaching for a school bag. Inside that bag officers located a loaded firearm.

Walter West, 17, of Dorchester, will be arraigned tomorrow in West Roxbury District Court on a gun-possession charge, according to the Suffolk County DA's office.

Damien Oliver, 17, of Dorchester, Tyrone Rutledge, 17, of Dorchester, and two juveniles, 16 and 13, were also arrested, Boston Police report.

Channel 5 has video.

Innocent, etc.

Pearl and High streets, Channel 5 reports.

Cambridge Police report a Richdale Avenue resident was mugged yesterday evening by a 50-something white guy who put something hard to her neck, took her purse, then fled in a small car.

Cambridge Police also report arresting a Lynn man at 200 Technology Sq. shortly before 11 p.m. yesterday on charges of cocaine trafficking, resisting arrest, carrying a dangerous weapon and assault and battery on a police officer.<!--break-->

Fresh back from a tour through Tel Aviv, Barcelona and London, Scott Stearns reports that people in London were dressed as warmly as people were in Somerville last night - except that it was 20 degrees warmer in London.

Lance reports on a case involving a Worcester Telegram reporter covering allegations against an online forum system she participates in regularly.

Ryan McBride reports a Bedford company is currently testing a new compound for dry eye made from fish oil - specifically, a chemical with anti-inflammatory properties that may help keep alive the cells that produce tears.

In these hard economic times, we're all looking for ways to save some cash. The State, as well as The City of Boston and other local municipalities, say they are strapped. Well, here's an idea: Don't put up or turn on Christmas lights until after Thanksgiving.

Many of you know how I feel about these practices in general. See HERE, if not. I was disheartened the other day to see municipal Christmas lights already lit in Watertown Square. It was the 16th, as I recall. Then Ron Newman showed me the following:

Christoper Columbus Park trellis lighting on November 24th.

Aside from the too-early aspect of these things, are these the best green practices? And how much money are these places spending on electricity for these extra days of lighting? I have my own personal ax to grind, but it certainly seems to me that I'd be hard-pressed to find a way to justify any expense associated with this.

Thoughts? Am I missing something here?

Andreas Matern: Harvard Square is in desperate need of a new soul.

Mike Mennonno: A KFC/Taco Bell there wouldn't be so bad.

Cleary Squared says he just goes on the Internet now:<!--break-->

I used to go there for their various English comic magazines, like Viz, and their newspapers, since 1984. Thanks to the Internet, I can find out what scrapes Sid the Sexist and Biffa Bacon are getting into, as well as how Tarquin and Gwin will outsmart their clueless, rich, smug, faux-pious parents.

Amanda: Say it ain't so.

Martin notes the other Harvard Square closing:

I'll miss Out-of-Town News — much more than the nearby Crate & Barrel, which is also closing — and I'm sure I'm not alone in that sentiment.

The news seemed to hit the ink-stained wretches among us particularly hard:

Joel Brown, whose father once worked there: Holy crap:

... Out Of Town News was second only to Harvard in securing the Square's reputation as an international crossroads of learning and weirdness. You could get anything there, and it was a great relief to many that the newsstand survived the various "improvements" to the Square over the years. It maintained an eclectic clientele even as most of the Square's once-eccentric businesses gave way to the toxic blandness of chain retailing. Now it will probably turn into a f*ing Starbucks. This is heinous news. At least Charlie's Kitchen still serves a cheap martini.

Rhea Becker, another long-time newsie, sees her world spinning:

It feels like this is all happening so fast. My whole newspaper life is flashing before my eyes. And it's very sad. ...

David Harris, local scribe, is shocked:

So what now? Maybe it's a place for the city’s new bike-sharing program, as City Councilor Craig Kelley pointed out. But we really don't know. We still have to let the shock subside.

Dave Copeland, who got his start in journalism in part because of the newsstand, writes: There is something sad and unsettling about the prospect of Out Of Town News in Harvard Square closing:

... I do know that Out of Town News, and that nearly-forgotten grade school report, planted the seed that got me to where I am today. My Dad, I am certain, was equally thrilled by Out of Town News for the other side of the equation - he spent almost his entire career as a salesman for printing companies and found ways to be endlessly fascinated by offset presses, four-color processes and watermarked paper. ...

Liver found, no onions.

Here's your chance to own a piece of literary history: Dennis Lehane has put his West Roxbury home up for sale. The Bulletin details the features of the 19th-century Victorian on Ivory Street.

What? You didn't know the author of "Mystic River" actually lived a lot closer to the Charles? He used to be a regular at Auntie B's on Centre Street.

Photo courtesy Bulletin Newspapers:

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Train Rider reports the lot at his Worcester Line stop was less than half-full this morning now that it costs $4 to park (commuters at Forest Hills might not have much sympathy, though - they're now paying $6 a day). Also:

... It is impossible to fit four folded or rolled dollars into the slot. You have to fold two dollars together and then insert them twice. So, now it takes twice as long to pay. ... The dollar coins do NOT fit in the slots. So, if you want to use coins, you have to feed 16 quarters into the slots. ...

Buy bus and subway drivers their own heaters so they don't crank the heat up to 90 on the rest of their vehicles when it gets cold, Bostonia Rantida suggests.

Wicked Local West Roxbury reports on a Nov. 11 incident at the Taco Bell on VFW Parkway in which a man who felt another patron had hit his car cursed her then pulled out a handgun before driving off.

This evening, whilst waiting for the bus, I observed the following: an older white mercedes SUV, with huge gaudy rims and two white-rapper-wannabees (complete with the over-the-top hooded sweatshirts, and the passenger tapping on his cell phone) come to a tire-squirming stop at the light.

The jostled passenger looked up and said something angrily with a motion of the hand to the driver. To my absolute amazement, the driver stared him down for a few seconds with a "what's the matter with you?" look, and pointed to the traffic light where a "no turn on red" sign. The passenger responds with incredulousness, is stared down some more, and returns to his cell phone.

Would it be insufficiently nostalgic to suggest that Out of Town News be replaced with an internet cafe?

It's hard to summarize David Bernstein's detailed history of the Roxbury mosque, because there are so many bizarre and infuriating things about it. But for a Boston resident, one highlight is the way the city sold the land for the project to a Saudi-dominated suburban group for well below its market value on the promise the mosque would dedicate resources to all nearby residents, a promise the mosque seems unlikely to keep - all at the insistence of a mosque backer who also happened to be a BRA staffer:

... It is the involvement of city officials — backed by the strong support of Menino and the now scandal-tinged state senator Dianne Wilkerson — that distinguishes this project from the many churches, synagogues, mosques, and other facilities that are built and expanded all the time. ...

Even more on the mosque.<!--break-->

Jaime van Schyndel reports on a Harvard Square coffeehouse that couldn't figure out why its espresso had suddenly gone bad:

... The problem was not immediately obvious but after a series of tests and diagnosis issues, we finally found out what had happened. The water softener leaked into the espresso machine and brackish water was making for some nasty shots. ...

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Did Jenny Frazier see what she thinks she saw on the other platform at the Downtown Crossing Red Line stop today? Some pictures would help you decide. Well, urine luck, she had her camera handy.