From NYC: “N.J. Man Says He Was Jeered At For Pointing Out Suspicious Bag On Bus,” from CBS2 New York

A bus passenger from New Jersey tried to do the right thing and report a suspicious unattended bag on board to police. (Read more here.)

From Dublin: “This story about two kids chatting on a Dublin bus will make you feel super old,” from The Daily Edge

(You can see the whole article here.)

From Detroit: “Retiree's last bus ride home leads to sweet surprise,” from KPNX

So you’ve been ridin’ the bus for 60 years. (Read the whole story here.)

From Carolyn Carlson for The Alibi: ART Smart?

The following is pertinent to the controversial implementation of Albuquerque’s Rapid Bus Transit project. It is taken from a more extensive article dealing with the March 7 Albuquerque City Council meeting. The website where it appears is The Alibi.


Two measures were introduced regarding the proposed ABQ Rapid Transit plan. They were not discussed but are set to be discussed at the March 21 meeting. Councilors Ken Sanchez (D) and Don Harris (R) joined together to propose a bill that will ask for the Council to approve accepting federal monies and starting the project. Councilors Brad Winter (R) and Sanchez introduced a measure to allow residents and businesses along the proposed route to organize a transit advisory board. Councilor Dan Lewis (R) had said he will introduce a measure opposing the proposed ART route but it was not ready to be introduced. Recent public meetings have become unruly to the point of shouting, interrupting and face-to-face confrontations between Councilors, city administrators and residents. It seems no one at City Hall wants to look at alternate routes such as Lomas for the transportation route that could go from Old Town to the state fair grounds and malls, be welcomed by the businesses along the route, not add congestion into already cramped space, and actually spur development rather than deter development; the current proposal is obviously divisive despite bi-partisan Council support.

From Wilson County, Tennessee: “Meet the school bus driver with a Grammy,” by Brad Schmitt for The (Nashville) Tennessean

Those pre-K kids don’t really know what a Grammy is. Teachers say they just know Mr. Joe got a big prize. (Read the whole story here.)

From Joe Monahan: “Some Grumbling Over Berry Bus Plan At City Council But Not Much More”

The following is pertinent to the controversial implementation of Albuquerque’s Rapid Bus Transit project. It is taken from a more extensive article dealing with other political issues in New Mexico. The website where it appears is “Politics in New Mexico by Joe Monahan.”  


You would think that with the intense and emotional opposition  that has built throughout the city against Mayor Berry's ABQ rapid transit plan (ART) that at least one of the nine city councilors would be leading the charge to slow down the project. It would run rapid buses down a 10 mile section of a revamped Central Avenue, a plan that has drawn heated protests at recent public meetings.

GOP Councilor Brad Winter takes note of the opposition to the project in his NE Heights district saying, "I know it's the Mayor's project but we have many road projects that need to be done in my district. I went some help for them." But will Winter move to put the brakes on the buses? It doesn't appear so. Ditto for Dem Councilors Klarissa Pena and Pat Davis. They say it's the Mayor's project and there's nothing they can do but try to make sure it works.

The same impotence was displayed by the council when it came to the APD crisis that has cost the city tens of millions. The council also followed the Mayor's lead in ignoring the city's job crisis which was again crystallized when last month there were 10,000 applicants for 290 jobs at the new Cheesecake Factory restaurant. None of the councilors made a peep.

What the city council needs is a couple of members with fire in the belly. We already have plenty of chair warmers.

(Here's some video of Councilor Ike Benton being accosted over ART at a public meeting this week. Mayor Berry was not at that ART meeting or any of the others held recently).

From Joe Monahan: “ART Ache”

The following is pertinent to the controversial implementation of Albuquerque’s Rapid Bus Transit project. It is taken from a more extensive article dealing with other political issues in New Mexico. The website where it appears is “Politics in New Mexico by Joe Monahan.” This part specifically takes issue with what Monahan reports is a misleading headline in the Albuquerque Journal that implied the mayor was present at a recent ART pubic meeting.


An award for political duplicity? Certainly Mayor Berry's comments about the public hearings for his controversial rapid bus plan for Central Avenue (ART) is a leading contender for such an award.

Below a misleading newspaper headline that reads, "Colorful language greets mayor at ART meeting," Berry addresses the loud objections heard at recent public hearings on ART. The mayor has not attended the public meetings and faced the protesting public, but says: “Progress invites controversy but if we shy away from progress and improvements to our city simply because we don’t have the stomach for controversy, we’re going to shortchange our city, our citizens and our future.”

Just who doesn't have the stomach for controversy? Well, could that be the mayor who sends his no-name administrators out to face the angry public while he hides behind the curtains?

Apparently nurturing hopes for some kind of political future, Berry refuses to attend the meetings and face the howls of discontent over his plan that would make for some interesting TV clips. If there's anyone with a weak stomach around here, it's not those in the peanut gallery, it's the weak-kneed Mayor.

Then there's the spectacle of Berry insider and commercial real estate developer Paul Silverman blasting Jean Bernstein, owner of the Flying Star restaurant chain, for opposing the ART project because she believes the construction would be disruptive to Nob Hill and ultimately choke off business when it is completed.

Silverman points out that the Flying Star is in a bankruptcy reorganization that has nothing to do with construction but how she runs her business. Never mind that Bernstein isn't blaming any current construction for her woes, what about Silverman and what critics call his his crony capitalism, consisting of big public subsidies for his downtown apartments and grocery store near Central and on which ART buses would run? Or how about his appointment by Mayor Berry to serve on the ABQ Development Commission. Does all that perhaps have an impact on his opinion of ART?

Silverman denigrates Bernstein for her bankruptcy, but could he make it in the free market without his subsidies and friendships with City Hall? He might want to ask himself that the next time he attacks business owners like Bernstein who are not lining up at the City Hall trough at feeding time but battling it out in the real world of business.

Reader Bil Diven writes of the bus controversy:

Where is the creative leadership to improve and promote the existing bus system especially in lieu of new river crossings? And what about finally accepting Rail Runner as a regional asset instead of a Richardson hangover? There's a lot of infrastructure being left behind in pursuit of the new shiny toy.

Want to voice your opinion on ART? The ABQ Free Press is conducting a survey. You can take part by clicking here.