Working in the Longwood Medical and Academic Area it is easy to forget how close we are to some of the most exciting art galleries in the United States.

The Museum of Fine Arts and The Isabella Stewart Gardner enjoy worldwide reputations as impeccable museums, but don't overlook the prestigious galleries within the Massachusetts College of Art and Design. 

Nine nurses from Beth Israel's Emergency Response Team left Boston this morning to travel to Florida to provide expert assistance and medical care to victims of Hurricane Irma. 

The Boston Globe featured the story here. 

Safe travels and we thank and applaud you for all you do! 

Yawkey Way Extension is now officially David Ortiz Drive.

From MLB.COM: The City of Boston renamed the street near Fenway Park in honor of the Red Sox legend on Thursday, the first in a series of events leading up to the retirement of his No. 34 before Friday night's game against the Angels at Fenway.

"This city means a lot to me," Ortiz said Thursday at the unveiling of David Ortiz Drive. "This city got me to where I am."

The Netherlands is known for its beauty AND its abundance of cyclists. For years motorists in The Netherlands have exited their vehicles in an awkward yet SAFER manner: It's called the Dutch Reach.

Now, MassDOT is encouraging drivers to adopt the habit of opening your driver side door with your right hand, forcing you to look behind you before you open the door, with the goal of avoiding "dooring" an oncoming cyclist.

Last weekend volunteers from BIDMC partnered with the City of Boston's "Love Your Block" initiative to support the city's efforts to "clean up your neighborhood."

With financial support from MASCO, BIDMC and Harvard Medical School, eight volunteers spent the better part of their Saturday cleaning up sections of Mission Hill.

With the rallying call of "Science is good for your health" upwards of 700 people turned out to support the nationwide "March for Science" in April. 

A wonderful recap from WBUR is below:

Two LMA docs are preparing for Monday's Boston Marathon and have very personal reasons for running. 

Dr. Stephen Odom is an acute care trauma surgeon at BIDMC and will be running his fourth Boston Marathon this year. Impressive. But, what’s even more impressive is that he’ll be running the Marathon TWICE that day. Early Monday morning, Dr. Odom (along with his colleague, BIDMC orthopedic surgeon Dr. Joe DeAngelis) will run the 26.2 miles from downtown Boston to Hopkinton, turn around, and run the 26.2 miles back to Boston with the other runners. Incredible.

The MBTA, in development of its Strategic Plan, invited MASCO to offer comments and insight. MASCO President and CEO Marilyn Swartz-Lloyd offered the following to the board regarding the T and the LMA:

"The effective staunching of escalating operating costs by $192 million in two years is very impressive. These activities have begun to restore the public’s faith in the MBTA system and the Fiscal and Management Control Board’s term should be extended through FY2020 in order to continue this rigorous forward momentum.

Mayor Walsh and his Transportation officials released their vision and action plan for the city's future. 

So what does this mean for the LMA? Well, the GoBoston recommends 58 projects worthy of pursuing, several of which may add transit to the LMA including our very own Transit Hub. The plan emphasizes improving access and transportation in an equitable, economically supportive and climate resilient manner.

The Verb Hotel Bus Stop is officially moving Monday February 6th.

Starting Monday, the Fenway Shuttles will pick up and drop off at the corner of Boylston and Yawkey at the MBTA Bus Stop in front of 1295 Boylston. For the first week, Fenway Shuttles will make pick ups and drop offs at both the old and the new locations, but effective Monday February 13th, only the new bus stop will be serviced. See graphic below.