At about 8:30 pm on Friday, reports the Associated Press.

Cambridge Police report on an incident involving assault with a dangerous weapon:

On 10/24/08 at 11:28 AM, staff from the Community Charter School of Cambridge contacted the Cambridge Police after several students reported that they were involved in an altercation with an unknown group from Boston, MA as they exited the Kendall Sq. train station.

This evening the Red Line was completely FUBAR'd, supposedly because of a crack in the tracks near MIT/Kendall. This was resulting in a combination of weird subway patterns (the outbound train I was on ended up on the inbound platform at Charles MGH), busses, and of course, delays. At Downtown Crossing, the Ashmont/Braintree platform was packed with people waiting for a train.

Around 8PM, they had just started busing from Charles MGH with impressive efficiency- rather than line up a block's worth of buses to the same place, buses were running to individual stations along the red line. I saw buses to Harvard, Kendal, and Central, and drivers were waiving people on fast and furious. Plenty of exasperated riders were happy to show some hustle.

As usual, the Boston Globe could give a damn about reporting problems with the MBTA, so who knows whether they fixed the problem or not. If you believe it, the MBTA status board shows an all-clear.

Used to go to Baja Betty's on Harvard Street in Brookline for the occasional weekend lunch with the toddler son. My favorite burrito joint in the Boston area. Spicy mushroom quesadilla for the adults, rice and beans for the boy. The boy got a sister and got older, the family got busier, so we don't find ourselves in Brookline Village of a weekend afternoon so often.

Imagine my delight to learn that MexiCali Burrito Co., 500 Technology Square (Main Street), just around the corner from my Kendall Square office, is an off-shoot of Baja Betty's, down to the spicy mushroom quesadilla and burrito filling.

Must make up for lost time.

Stacie reports getting a warning from a cop this morning:

... I did a typical bike thing--I ran through an intersection instead of stopping because it's easier--and I got caught. Had I been fined, I'd have paid it and (believe it or not) I wouldn't have complained about it. When you're wrong, you're wrong. ... Now, how about handing out some tickets to people in cars who (1) park in the bike lane and/or (2) run red lights?

Sunday's Cambridge Carnival parade crawled down the streets of Kendall Square, with plenty of stops for dancing and singing.

SJ was admiring the gray-haired man's stretching as he meditated in the Kendall Red Line stop. And then it hit him: Not only was the guy on the tracks, he was holding onto the third rail:

... The meditator was meandering down the tracks into the tunnel, bags in hand, not rushed but with intent. Now there were dozens of people, all watching him, many idly. I stayed on the phone, offering voice updates and a description for a third time. After a minute, something made him return to the end of the other platform and climb up. ...

Shane Curcuru reports:

... [T]he Mem. underpasses to the Longfellow are glub, glub, glub. ...

Joe Pesaturo at the MBTA passes along a letter to the T from Daniel Verinder of Jamaica Plain:

Recently, I was preparing to enter the gates at the southbound T station at Kendall when a passenger said to me, "I'm going to go through with you," meaning that they were going to enter for free on my pass. Without thinking about it, I said, "OK." But as I entered the train car, I started thinking about how unreasonable this action was. I am a big fan of public transit, including the MBTA, and I did not like the though that I had cost the MBTA money. ... Regardless of the fare-evader's economic situation, the MBTA should not be the one to suffer for their lack of funding.

So Verinder bought a CharlieTicket and sent it back to the T and made a donation to Alternatives for Community and Environment. And next time, he says, he'll pay for a CharlieTicket for somebody who wants to get in with him for free.

Cambridge Police say this is a photo of a woman who held up the Bank of America branch at 226 Main St. in Kendall Square on March 25:

The suspect handed the teller a note demanding money. The suspect managed to escape with some cash.

She's also wanted for robbing a Citizens Bank branch on Cambridge Street yesterday.

Call 617-349-3370 with any info.