The company was accused of presenting false discharge records to the Coast Guard in ports in Connecticut, Florida, New York and the Virgin Islands. Ionia leaders have said senior company officials were not aware of the intentional oil discharges and would not have condoned them.

OK, Benjamin probably should get a Tony, not an Oscar.

After all, his dramatic loophole is just that; it allows smoking in bars by having the bars hold a feigned "theatrical production." As one of the exceptions in the Freedom to Breathe Act implemented in October, smoking is allowed in public places as long as it's part of a theatrical production.

Thus Benjamin suggested earlier this month that bars offer "theater nights" in which all patrons are given a script and considered actors in the production. Several bars statewide have taken his suggestion; some reportedly because they are experiencing hard times in the wake of the ban.

After a nine-month wait for the first batch of the much-vaunted, half-moon rainwater tanks to arrive from China, the Ipswich plastics experts enlisted to assemble the 88 tanks away from public view have abandoned the task after concerns about poor-quality products.

Staff at Plastic Mend have spent the past four days struggling to assemble only about 15 tanks – described by Jim's Water Tanks as akin to a Ferrari – as they wrestled with large gaps in joins that didn't fit.