Top Stories - August 3, 2006

Riding for a cure

New Hampshire’s Mount Washington stands at an intimidating 6,288 feet. On Aug. 19 - mixed with feelings of honor and horror - Wakefield resident Richard Cohen will bicycle up the mountain in memory of his father and on behalf of the Myelodysplastic Syndromes Foundation.

Cohen will participate in the Mt. Washington Auto Road Bicycle Hillclimb. The climb, widely regarded by many professional cyclists as the most challenging uphill race in the world, ascends 7.6 miles on the Auto Road’s severely steep grade. With an average incline gradient of 12 percent - sections of which span as high as 18 percent and the final 100 yards which steeply rises to a 22 percent gradient - the Auto Road’s cycling terrain is tumultuous and often unpredictable.

While Cohen has participated in triathlon events - consisting of swimming, cycling and running - in the past, he has not partaken in a cycling-exclusive event. For training, Cohen has spent the majority of the past five to eight months riding up and down Prospect Street and taking cycling trips to Mount Wachusett and Mount Ascutney in Vermont, and averages 150-200 miles on his bike per week.

It's official: Special Town Meeting items are set

The official warrant for the Special Town Meeting is ready for voters to debate on Aug. 17.
The meeting was called by town officials and will be held Thursday, Aug. 17 at 7:30 p.m. in Galvin Middle School's auditorium, at 525 Main St. Officials called the meeting to deal with three timely issues. They tried to keep the warrant short, and hopefully uncontroversial, since many residents are on vacation during the summer and won't be around to vote.

The full warrant can be viewed at Town Hall on Lafayette Street.

First Big Dig reopening in sight

In a telling sign that the first major Big Dig sections will soon reopen, construction crews today began moving concrete traffic barriers into a key tunnel that helps link South Boston to Logan International Airport and the North Shore.

The barriers, part of the final safety work, will keep vehicles away from a troubled section of the route, which goes from a ramp off D Street in South Boston on to a short section of the Interstate 90 connector and into the eastbound Ted Williams Tunnel. Crews today also finished installing new ceiling panel fixtures in the eastbound Ted Williams Tunnel, and neared completion of shoring up two massive jet fans in the South Boston ramp with cable supports.

With approval from federal highway officials, the sections -- closed for nearly a month -- can reopen to traffic.

Contractor rips ‘fabricated’ tunnel memo in Globe report

An explosive memo warning of a potential tunnel-ceiling collapse was “fabricated,” says a key Big Dig contractor, casting a long shadow over the Boston Globe, which first published it last week.

Officials at Modern Continental say virtually every claim made by safety inspector John Keaveney in the Globe’s July 26 story and in the alleged May 17, 1999, memo is refuted by the company’s internal documents. The alleged 1999 memo warned of a collapse in the Interstate 90 Seaport connector tunnel, the same tunnel where a Jamaica Plain woman was killed July 10 when a section of the concrete ceiling fell and crushed the car in which she was a passenger.

(Sources: Wakefield Observer, Boston Herald, Boston Globe)