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BOSTON/State House - Demanding a more equitable transit system Wednesday, demonstrators targeted the State House where the Senate is expected to vote on a transportation bill next week. The bill proposed by the Senate gives more funding to infrastructure than the $500m called for by the House bill, but still falls short of Governor Deval Patrick’s requested $1.9 billion for transportation and education. An MBTA board meeting at the Transportation Building was also picketed by demonstrators as officials met to pass a budget expecting state funding to close a $118 million deficit.

Cambridge, Mass. - The free software movement—based on the idea that computer programs should be available for anyone to use or modify—is in some ways at the top of its game, and in others facing its most difficult challenges.

For example, free programs like Firefox and mostly free Android are highly popular. And collaborative software projects are tackling serious, global issues like improving health care in developing countries. But activists are still struggling to gain broad support, and to stay relevant in the face of increasingly proprietary devices.

Transcript of the Tate Williams interview with Boston Phoenix Editor Carly Carioli for Open Media Boston. Transcribed by Tate Williams. 

Carly Carioli: It’s been a roller coaster. Yesterday was pretty rough but I think we’re all incredibly proud of the work that we were able to do, in my case for the past 20 years, but even for people who had been here a much shorter time.

We all felt that we were really going out at the top of our game.

Tate Williams: It seemed very shocking to a lot of people. Why was the closing so sudden?

BOSTON/Jamaica Plain - In a neighborhood as diverse—and vocal—as Jamaica Plain, it’s not surprising the wide assortment of problems and opportunities discussed at the third annual State of the Neighborhood Forum.

Everything from bus routes, to the rising cost of housing, to crime, to composting came up at the event Tuesday night, which centered around a panel discussion with state representatives Jeffrey Sanchez and Liz Malia, and city councilors Felix Arroyo and Matt O’Malley.