Deal reached in MIT fraternity prank – Two burned in blast get undisclosed sum
By Alex Katz – Globe Correspondent / August 10, 2010

Nearly three years after a Massachusetts Institute of Technology fraternity prank caused an explosion that severely injured two environmental cleanup volunteers, a six-figure settlement has been reached, the plaintiffs’ lawyer said yesterday.

Insurance carriers for both the Tau Epsilon Phi fraternity and one of its members, Bhaskar Mookerji, have agreed to pay an undisclosed amount to compensate Thomas Soisson and Kate Nardin for their medical expenses and emotional trauma, the victims’ lawyer, John J. Barton, said.

“No settlement can fully compensate individuals like Tom and Kate for all that they have been through, but they are pleased with this result,’’ Barton wrote in an e-mail.

Barton disclosed that the settlement amounted to six figures but he declined to give a specific amount.

Longwood Towers’ rental revival – Plans for condos at the Brookline complex are put on hold, with renovated units offered for lease
By Jenifer B. McKim – Globe Staff / August 10, 2010

BROOKLINE — It is back to the future at Longwood Towers.

Five years after a developer purchased the stately apartment complex for about $110 million, with plans to sell the 277 apartments in three buildings as condos, a new owner has temporarily scrapped plans to complete the final phase and instead put newly renovated units up for rent.

The historic complex, a towering symbol of Old World style that is steps from the Longwood Medical Area, has gone through a tortured evolution of ownership and complications since an Atlanta developer, Radco Cos. and its investment partner Arcapita Inc. launched an ambitious $30 million renovation project in 2005, just as the housing market began to decline.

Zoom in on ‘Avedon Fashion’ at MFA
By Jill Radsken / Boston Herald – August 10, 2010

Call it curator chic.

“Avedon Fashion: 1944 to 2000,” hit the walls of the Museum of Fine Arts yesterday, the first of several upcoming exhibits and events there dedicated to all things style.

The legendary lensman’s work, showcasing more than 100 pictures culled from his decades as a fashion photographer for Harper’s Bazaar and Vogue, is just the beginning of the MFA’s heavy fashion phase. Next month, fashion couturier Arnold Scaasi (Jacqueline Kennedy, Barbra Streisand among his devotees) gets the runway treatment in a dedicated MFA show followed by a monthlong celebration that includes makeup bars, fashion shows and appearances by Matthew Weiner (creator of “Mad Men”) and tattoo collector Don Ed Hardy.

610 – Laylat al-Qadr: Muhammad begins to receive the Qur’an (traditional date).  More anniversaries.