BOSTON—Duck tours, sure; Segway tours, no way. The city hauled into court today Allen Danley, owner of Boston Gliders Segway tour company, "on six charges of violating the city ordinance against Segway operations in city parks and on city sidewalks, the Suffolk County District Attorney's office reports. ... Danley faces fines of up to $500 per offense." [The Hub]
EAST BOSTON—Boston Business Journal editor George Donnelly takes Mayor Menino's financing idea for that big East Boston development push to the woodshed: "Although the mayor didn’t say it, clearly East Boston development remains hampered by a lack of access. The mayor’s answer: fleece unsuspecting tourists at the Black Falcon Cruise Terminal of a few bucks and expand water transportation service along the waterfront, raising $1 million a year to underwrite service. Here, the mayor is following one of the oldest tactics in the political playbook: When raising taxes or fees, always target those who can’t vote you out of office." [Biz Journal]
MASS.-WIDE—Attorney General Martha Coakley wants Congress to hold hearings on mortgage lender Ally Financial, one of five that the she sued last week on behalf of the commonwealth (Ally then promptly ripped most of its lending business from Massachusetts). "Coakley said Ally Financial's subsidiary GMAC had broken laws by cutting corners while foreclosing on homes, which has exacerbated the nation's foreclosure crisis." [AP via Boston.com]
BOSTON—The cost of doing construction in Boston was up 0.64 percent in October over mid-year, according to a new report from consultancy Rider Levett Bucknall. That's ahead of the national average increase of 0.52 percent, and squarely in line with price rises in New York, San Francisco and Los Angeles. [RLB]