🦛 Boston's Moo Deng

You made it. It's finally Friday.

Today's weather: ☀️ Sunny in the mid-70s.

🎵 Sounds like: Sting's croaky new single "I Wrote Your Name (Upon My Heart)." He's at the MGM Music Hall tonight.

Happy birthday to Boston's Duck Tours, which launched 30 years ago today.

Today's newsletter is 713 words — a 3-minute read.

The MBTA's Green Line Extension is back in operation after a derailment Tuesday afternoon sent several passengers to the hospital and caused another headache for a transit agency that can't seem to catch a break.

Why it matters: The T's 2-year-old $2.3 billion expansion through Somerville to Medford has been plagued with issues as the agency tries to get out from under federal safety oversight.

Driving the news: Trains began running again on the Union Square spur and between North Station and Medford/Tufts around 10:30am Thursday after a 40-hour stoppage.

• The lead car in a Green Line train left the tracks by Lechmere Station around 5pm Tuesday.
• Federal inspectors had been on the scene to determine what caused the accident.

The intrigue: Gov. Maura Healey suggested this week that the derailment wasn't caused by problems with the rail or track and that operator error could have been to blame.

• Healey might be protective of the track and rails since her administration had to repair the whole thing when it was discovered that the wrong specifications were used when the project was originally built.

Flashback: The Federal Transit Administration leveled the MBTA in 2022 with a 90-page, 53-item report on problem areas, internal culture concerns and safety issues resulting from years of starving the agency's day-to-day operations in favor of large-scale capital projects.

• Ever since, the MBTA has struggled to hire more workers to provide safe service, inspect faulty tracks that weren't corrected by the capital projects and provide service to a ridership that dwindled during the pandemic.
• The T has shut down branches of the subway for weeks at a time to repair "slow zones" in tunnels where trains couldn't operate at full speed.

What's next: The T faces a huge budget crisis and needs another $700 million next year to operate safely, continue repairs and maintain the current level of service.

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The Franklin Park Zoo's family of pygmy hippos hasn't gone quite as viral as Internet sensation Moo Deng, but they're still our own slimy, adorable hometown hippos.

Why it matters: Ptolemy, the zoo's youngest pygmy hippo, turns four tomorrow.

• And we think he was just as moistly lovable a calf when he was a baby as Moo Deng is now.
• Just check out his highlight reel from 2021!

Flashback: Ptolemy didn't generate the avalanche of memes Moo Deng has when he was born in fall 2020, but he was still stinking cute.

• The 13-pound COVID baby was born to mom Cleopatra and named after the Egyptian queen's youngest son.

Moo Deng-mania isn't lost on Franklin Park Zoo's staff. They've been posting throwback videos, like this one of one-year-old Ptolemy with the zoomies.

• He's a lot more grown up now, but visitors can still check him out at the Franklin Park Zoo.

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Sidelined Celtics star Kristaps Porziņģis, who underwent leg surgery in June, was shooting practice shots with the team in Abu Dhabi this week. (NBC10)

• The Celts play the Nuggets in exhibition games in the UAE Friday afternoon and Sunday morning without the recovering Porziņģis.

The state's program to analyze risky gambling behavior is finally getting going, 13 years after casino gambling was legalized in Massachusetts. (CWB)

New Yorkers headed to Nantucket for the island's annual Christmas Stroll can now get there with dedicated Cape Air flights.

• It's only $1400 roundtrip -- pocket change for the type of people who'd even consider it.

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The Red Line's slow zones have been all but eliminated after lengthy shutdowns to fix the tracks and assure that trains can operate safely.

• Meanwhile, the Orange and Blue lines were providing service at pre-pandemic levels.

Grade: D. Why? The Green Line Extension derailed and sent seven people to the hospital.

• Otherwise it would have been a great week.

Alerts: The Orange Line is out of service between Forest Hills and Back Bay/Copley Tuesday.

• The Green Line's D branch won't run between Kenmore and Newton Highlands this weekend.
• The Red Line's Mattapan trolley line is suspended tonight through Sunday.

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Deehan is headed to Maine for seafood, friendship and in-person subtweets.

Steph can't wait to tell you about the Wicked Haunted Fest.

This newsletter was edited by Jeff Weiner.