Weekend Redux: What You Missed

Just because you spent all weekend grilling meats and drinking beer doesn’t mean the world stopped moving. We round up the notable stories you missed.

Saturday
Whoo hoo! Free rides on the T, everybody!

Disgruntled MBTA police officers, who have routinely issued more than 100 citations for fare evasion a month, have not issued a single ticket in May and wrote only seven in April, prompting the T’s top brass to accuse them of dereliction of duty.

Needless to say, Dan Grabuaskas is unhappy with his rebellious officers, who are upset because they’re forced to patrol in plainclothes and feel they should be busy looking for more dangerous criminals (pervs!).

Erwin Hirsch, the chief of the Boston Medical Center’s trauma surgery unit, died after his dinghy capsized off the coast of Maine on Friday. Suddenly, our desire to go on a boat ride has waned.

It’s not fun being to be both Jim Ognowoski and Rep. Carl Sciortino right now. Both men have fallen short of the number of signatures required to put their name on the ballot. Things might get worse for Ogonowski, as his potential Republican competitor, Jeff Beatty, has accused his campaign of forging signatures to get his name on the ballot.

Sunday
Good news for public safety: Local politicians don’t feel like fighting the powerful police union, so officers will continue to make a fortune by working construction site details.

Bad news for public safety: A Boston firefighter was arrested after he allegedly offered an undercover cop $29 for a “sex act.” Union president Ed Kelly blames the man’s actions on the acrimonious contract negotiations with the city. Seriously.

“I think that the pressures of working without a contract are beginning to manifest in the darndest ways,” said Kelly, president of Local 718.

Wow.

Bostonians still say “wicked,” but “dungarees” has fallen out of fashion. Just so you know.

We told you that the tensions between cabbies and the city of Boston would escalate. Police are cracking down on drivers who come in from other cities to make more money.

Monday
Filling in for the ailing sailboat racing Ted Kennedy, Barack Obama told graduates of Wesleyan University to give back to their communities.

“There’s no community service requirement in the outside world, no one forcing you to care. You can take your diploma, walk off the stage, and chase only after the big house and the nice suits and the other things our money culture says you should buy,” Obama said.

Or, you know, paying back your student loans and fueling your cars at the same time. Dream big, kids!

Good weather beats high gas prices every time. Winter-weary New Englanders still hit the road for short trips this weekend.