News Nearby: Gas Tax Hike or MBTA Cuts? Reps Say that's Likely the Choice

Each Saturday, Melrose Patch will run a round-up with links to stories from surrounding communities that are of interest to Melrosians.

MEDFORD-The , but the state legislature is likely to come up with its own. The MBTA Caucus of the state's legislature - state representatives whose communities are served by the MBTA - met Tuesday, and are actively meeting to develop their own plan as alternative to the transit authority's offerings, State Rep. Carl Sciortino, D-Medford, said Wednesday. "MBTA fares have more than doubled since the gas tax was last raised in 1991 and now," Sciortino said in a phone interview Wednesday. "We have to have a conversation again about the gas tax." Sciortino isn't alone. State Senator Patricia Jehlen and State Rep. Denise Provost agreed: The state is headed to another debate on increasing the gas tax.

WOBURN-The three remaining suspects in last February's home invasion at Reading Commons pled guilty in Woburn Superior Court this afternoon and, despite the Commonwealth's recommendation, will avoid jail time.

STONEHAM-A 25-year-old Stoneham man may have been outside his disabled car when he was struck by a Ford Explorer, owned by WHDH Channel 7 and driven by a 42-year-old Sudbury man and employee of the TV station, on Route 93 near Exit 29 in Somerville, according to Massachusetts State Police.

WAKEFIELD-Police have released five photos of the man who robbed the Salem Variety Store at knife point on Jan. 17, 2012: three from the actual robbery, and two from the East Boston Savings Bank in Lynnfield, where the man was reportedly seen within an hour of the robbery.