Cameras on the street

Some may call it Big Brother. On Tuesday, police will unveil a draft policy on how to use video cameras trained on "critical intersections" in town. Part of a regional security initiative to ease traffic in case of an emergency evacuation, the cameras are to be networked with others in and near Boston, and are already installed in several communities. But because they will be on 24 hours a day , the cameras could also be used to catch or deter criminals or to document the circumstances of an accident. Brookline police will also be able to monitor cameras in Cambridge, Chelsea, and Boston. "The potential for solving crimes, linking crimes, and removing dangerous criminals from our streets is huge," Chief Daniel O'Leary wrote the selectmen last month. The hearing on camera policy will be at 7:30 p.m. in the Selectmen's Hearing Room, 195 Boylston St.

Town Meeting yanked health benefits for current members of the Board of Selectmen Tuesday night. Arguing the benefit price now exceeded compensation (board members are paid a stipend of $5,000 a year, chairmen $7,500), and its continuance into retirement could add up to $1 million or more per selectman taking a family plan, the town's legislative body nixed the six-member body's health insurance option. According to town officials, three current selectmen use the benefit, for which the town pays 75 percent, or about $5,000 for an individual, $15,000 for a family. Another argument for cutting the benefit: No other elected or appointed board gets insurance.

They were only worried that the money might be needed elsewhere, but proponents of holding onto the $465,000 allocated last May for a high-tech library check-in/out system lost the vote Tuesday night. Town Meeting voted to allow Town Librarian Chuck Flaherty to steam ahead with plans to purchase a radio frequency identification, or RFID, system to speed book processing. Opponents noted that the system could be especially valuable if staff needed to be cut in future. "This could offer tremendous labor savings," said Jonathan Margolis, a library trustee. Proponents argued that they wouldn't cut the system unless less appealing cuts loomed in fiscal year 2010, which starts in July.

Got a news item for Brookline? E-mail Andreae Downs at andreaedowns@yahoo.com.

The successful car-sharing program, Zipcar, had its start in Cambridge in 1999, and the City Council is now considering a bike-sharing program here. Because bicycle commute paths tend to cross through a number of cities and towns, "a bike-share program in Cambridge would need to be part of a larger regional one in order to be viable," City Manager Robert Healy reported at Monday's City Council meeting. Nevertheless, "city staff have researched these programs extensively over the years" and are investigating the possibilities in a working group convened with staff from the city of Boston this fall, he said. Such programs are often dependent on visibility and advertising to be successful, the City Council noted, but might help decrease the use of cars in the city.

The voter list problems that plagued the city on Election Day remained a topic of discussion at last week's City Council meeting, with three policy orders seeking an explanation of the matter. City Manager Robert Healy also submitted a letter again explaining that approximately 6,400 names were left off the voter list because an individual at the Election Commission failed to copy all appropriate computer files. Because of the error, 299 voters had to cast provisional ballots and Healy apologized for "any inconvenience that may have been caused." He added that the city obtained permission from the secretary of state's office to count these ballots early, before polls closed on Election Day.

Activities at the 2008 Cambridge Science Festival included lunch with Nobel Prize laureates and investigative work with the Science Club for Girls. Now, organizers are looking for entries to include in next year's festival, April 25 to May 3. If you have ideas for events and exhibits that make science "accessible, interactive, and fun," and are interested in joining an august group of institutions in working on the festival (collaborators include Harvard, MIT, WGBH, and the Museum of Science), organizers want to hear from you at www.cambridgesciencefestival.org.

Got a news item for Cambridge? E-mail Victoria Cheng at vcheng@globe.com.

Just in time for winter, Somerville police have stepped up enforcement of bike traffic rules, focusing on getting cyclists off sidewalks in business districts. Biking on the sidewalk is prohibited on a stretch of Broadway in Winter Hill and in major squares: Davis, Union, Porter, Ball, Teele, and Magoun. (Everywhere else it's legal, if frowned upon.) Violations incur a $20 fine. Discussion is afoot at www.somervillevoices.org.

Dustin who? Not only did a Somerville baseball team win the championship of the Boston Park League, but its general manager became the first woman in the 79-year-old amateur league's Hall of Fame. According to publicist Chrissy Kinch, Mary Ellen Grossman, the treasurer of Somerville's Grossman Marketing Group, joined her father, Edgar, in the hallowed halls on Nov. 14. The Grossman team - once Mass. Envelope, the company's former name - scored a whopping 74 runs in the post-season to beat Carlson Club and Hines/ADSL. As for the award - plaque, schmaque: Photos indicate she got to meet former Red Sox broadcaster Jerry "waaaaay back" Trupiano.

Yet another reason to sleep late: Pollution levels near I-93 are highest in morning. A pilot study in January found amounts of ultrafine particles, nitrogen oxides, and carbon dioxide in the air "are strongly influenced by both meteorology and traffic volume," said John Durant, Tufts professor of civil and environmental engineering. As researchers examine air pollution-related health effects, he said, "We really need to understand who lives where and what they're doing in the early morning." The full study will start in the Ten Hills area in spring with the Mystic View Task Force and Somerville Transportation Equity Partnership. Durant presented results at the task force annual meeting Wednesday.

Got a news item from Somerville? E-mail Danielle Dreilinger at djdreilinger@comcast.net.