Says there's no way he'd do that. At least, that's what the Herald headline tells us. As Dan Kennedy notes the story itself is filled with the sort of weasel words that leave City Hall an out should city finances deteriorate even more - so the Globe Globe story the Herald is in reaction to isn't necessarily wrong (besides: It said the layoffs were under consideration, not a fait accompli).

And what about teachers and firefighters? The Herald either didn't ask or is holding that for its new series: City Hall Under Siege.

Meanwhile, the Outraged Liberal wouldn't be at all surprised if Menino authorized the leak that led to the Globe story (which was based on conversations with two unnamed officials in an alleged position to know) as a way to send a message to Deval Patrick to go easy on the local-aid cuts.

Down amidst the news about Tom Menino spending roughly $400,000 a year campaigning for the past three years against, oh, nobody in particular is Hizzonah's assertion that he's not yet sure if he'll be running next year.

Meanwhile, Yoon recently sent out a fundraising e-mail that went something like: I need to raise $100,000 by the end of the year to run for mayor in 2009 or I'll be called home.

Don't really want to cause chaos on local roads.

Stop the Pike Hike.

The Herald reports the mayor made the plea to help about 500 property owners immediately.

The goal is to keep them building, the Globe reports; money could start flowing in four months and will use federal money. The Filene's hole in the ground could be one of the first projects.

If you look at Tom Menino's recent campaign financial statements, there are some expenditures that indicate Hizzona is strongly considering another re-election bid in 2009.

In September, the campaign paid Network Solutions $144 to renew domain names (like themeninocommittee.net - which doesn't have a corresponding Web site yet) - would they do that if their guy weren't running again?

Even more telling is the $30,000 the Menino campaign paid to Fairbank, Maslin, Maullin & Associates, a California polling company. Would somebody getting ready to retire on Dec. 31, 2009 do that?

Then again, it's not like the money is denting his campaign war chest. PolitickerMA reported the Menino campaign has more than a million just sitting in the bank right now, in addition to $400,000 or so in his active campaign fund.

On Thursday, the Boston Public Health Commission will vote on whether to kill off the few remaining cigar bars and sheesha cafes.

How can unelected bureaucrats legislate with such power over the rest of us? I blame the heavy hand of Menino, whose attempts to stifle any fun or mild mischief is making Boston a dead place. Maybe it's time to start an initiative petition to elect the Public Health Commission.

These bars already have stringent ventilation rules, so the impact on workers approaches nil. Anyways, as with a lot of jobs, individuals can assess the risks and benefits.

Oh yeah, and he lit a tree. He had with him Santa, the world's most hyperactive MC, a strange half-elf-half-christmas-ornament or two, a couple of Tacticool-dressed Boston Police officers, a few detectives/mayoral-protection-looking types, a decent-sounding band, and an armada of vehicles. Total count: Two tour trolleys, a big "stage" on a trailer, a mysterious Chevy Tahoe hybrid, 5 motorcycle units, 6-7 cruisers (one parked in a bus stop), a cherrypicker and pickup from the city (both parked in a bus stop), and an SUV each from Boston EMS and Boston Fire (safety first.) I happened to wander by with my camera and took photos.

They blocked off the Centre Street side of the Monument square; not very smart, given the fire station is a block up the road and the massive amounts of Saturday-afternoon traffic South and Centre usually see. I only saw one officer do a few minutes of directing, and he spent part of it standing in the middle of the street talking on his cell phone.

Someone was passing out flyers for Boston Main Streets and tiny containers of eggnog; one of the trolleys had Dunkin Donuts coffee for the dozens of people the Mayor had in tow. All of it ended up as litter on the street, along with the ticker tape the mayor fired off. In Jamaica Plain? Is he brain-dead? It's all over the road, sidewalk, and lawn of the Unitarian church.

Robert Dunford's department vehicle was there, and whoever was driving it left with a woman wearing what looked like an MWRA-logo'd fleece jacket, which was a bit odd...

Kevin McCrea notes Chuck Turner's alleged sloppiness in collecting money (that affidavit suggests he had several opportunities to get money but kept losing the guy's phone number), wonders if his alleged sin is really so different from other things going on in Boston:

... But, is it more wrong than Michael Flaherty actively working for a lawfirm that handles zoning matters in the City of Boston while he sits on the Boston City Council? Is it more wrong than Boston Mayor Tom Menino putting a level 4 Biolab in the heart of Boston? Menino has taken thousands of campaign funds over the years from Walsh Construction and their associates and family, and has received much help from the BU people who are going to profit from this. He has surely been able to legally "take his wife to dinner" more than once on those thousands of contributed funds and call it a campaign expense. Was there Quid Pro Quo there, which could put tens of thousands of people at risk for their lives? ...

Mass. High Tech reports the city will use a geographic information system this winter to couple complaints to the city hotline (which is not 311) with GPS signals from snowplow trucks to figure out where to direct the plows during and after snowstorms.

Now if only they could put that on a Web map. ...