Seven Days in Brookline: Sept. 27 - Oct. 3

Brookline's last seven days were marked with unusually convenient criminals, asterisksed signs of economic improvement and forthcoming advances in bike and car sharing, but it all started with the story of a Brookline man who allegedly stole a cart from Boston City Hall and went for a short-lived joyride down Beacon Street.

And Boston police didn't get all the fun. In Brookline, cops were kept busy dealing with a trespasser at Devotion School, drug-dealer-robbing cousins on Brook Street and a hat-stealing face-puncher on Beacon Street (all allegedly, of course). And if that weren't enough, Brookline police joined cops around the state in cracking down on drivers who text while behind the wheel on Thursday, when a new statewide ban went into effect.

But Brookline's cop got a break on Friday, when an alleged bank robber did their job for them by climbing into the trunk of his own car minutes before officers had it towed to Brookline Police Headquarters. The man was arrested when police noticed a bouncing in the trunk and popped it open to see what was inside.

And speaking of making things easier on all of us, town budget-makers reported this week that a surprise drop in health care costs has freed up around $1.4 million in cash, which officials plan to put toward building new classrooms and paying the future costs of retiree health care.

Elsewhere in the world of good news, economic development officials reported this week that the number of vacant storefronts in Brookline fallen off slightly in the last year in part because a flurry of activity in the town's business districts. In all, 42 new business have opened their doors in the last 12 months, something officials say reflects the remaining volatility in the economy.

At the same time, more Brookline residents are now back at work, according to a state study that found that town has one of the lowest jobless rates in the state, even though some local social workers say many of Brookline's neediest residents are still out of work. Even so, Brookline now holds the distinction of being by far the largest community in Massachusetts with less than 5 percent of its workforce out of a job.

Among those businesses now looking to start working in Brookline: a car-sharing company called iCar and a bike-sharing company BIXI. Both are looking to expand into Brookline in the coming year, with luck.

And speaking of work, the editors and writers of Brookline Patch are kept fully employed each week following all the news and happenings in Brookline, so check back with us next week to see what happens in the next seven days.