There was good news and bad news last week.

First the good news: The long-dormant Bradlee's on Morrissey Blvd. was re-opened by a New York company called National Wholesale Liquidators (NWL). When doors first opened last Tuesday morning, there were some 300 people waiting to get in. It was good to see a new business investing in the neighborhood.

But NWL also produced some bad news: Its parking lot was filled to overflow from the start, and parking was chaotic.

Motorists quickly filled all available parking spaces, then moved on to take spaces reserved for adjacent stores. Cars were parked along the adjacent service road (clearly marked "No Parking Anytime," but unenforced). Even worse, shopping carts were left everywhere, and on Tuesday afternoon we saw a half dozen carts abandoned along the service road. The company seemed oblivious to the situation, and there was no evidence that store made tried to manage the situation.

One exasperated shopper wrote anonymously on our dotnews.com web site, "The first and most obvious problem was the traffic. You would think that there would be workers from NWL directing traffic while the other merchants could rest easy knowing that they would not lose any money from repeat customers because they could not find a parking spot ... I observed people yelling at one another over parking spots. Our little community has been overwhelmed with people with little respect for property as well as others."

This week, conditions seemed somewhat more controlled, yet still confused. We haven't yet made an effort to shop the store, and likely will avoid it until - and unless - the parking situation comes under control.

National Wholesale Liquidators will be welcome in our neighborhood, but the management should learn they did not make a very good first impression. Let's hope these business people intend to be good neighbors, and show some concern for the neighboring businesses and nearby residents.

- Ed Forry

The City's Traffic Department has been installing new stop signs on some residential streets, and so far it seems like a welcome idea for residents concerned about the increased traffic plaguing many streets with high speed and heavy volume. We first noticed new stop signs at Carruth and Minot streets last spring, then on Florida Street and on Melville Ave. Last week, a new stop sign was installed on Milton Street, at the corner of Granville. Motorists must now come to a full stop at these intersections.

The idea seems to be to slow down traffic along the streets used as short-cuts to bypass main arteries that have become clogged with traffic.

It is an innovative approach, and one that should be welcomed by local residents. Now, let us hope the city will enforce the laws, and write some tickets for people who continue to ignore the new regulations.

- E.F.