Good morning, everyone, and rest in peace, Pete Frates. You were an inspiration to all of us, and not only because of the ice-bucket challenge. Now here are the five most important things you need to know today.

Another bad day for the T

The passing of Frank DePaola w as bad enough news yesterday, then the MBTA had to deal with the aftermath of a scathing new report that concludes that "safety is not the priority." And the Globe reports that the T's new fare system will take years longer than expected and cost hundreds of millions of dollars more.

U.S. entrepreneurship at an all-time high'

Last year saw early-stage entrepreneurial activity at an all-time high, BostInno reports. The rates of entrepreneurship also showed a narrowing of the gender gap between male and female entrepreneurs.

Local penny stock eyes reverse split

Woburn-based Yield10 Bioscience Inc. is hoping to undergo a reverse stock split to avoid being delisted by the Nasdaq, Lucia Maffei reports. The agricultural penny stock has two weeks to get its share prices above a dollar.

Crane Watch - Check out our regularly updated ArQule sold to Merck for $2.7B interactive map Former Goodwin chief Pisa shared insights breaking down the biggest construction projects in Greater Boston. What else you need to know Sporting news

Allison DeAngelis reports that drug giant Merck & Co. said yesterday it plans to spend $2.7 billion to buy ArQule Inc. of Burlington, a 26-year old biotech company that's struggled to bring a cancer drug to market.

Beyond the ice bucket

In case you missed this one from yesterday, Greg Ryan reports on a talk given by Goodwin's former longtime leader Regina Pisa to a lunchtime group of managing partners. She spoke candidly about the need for better attention to mental health and work-life balance.

Money matters

• The Celtics trounced the 5-18 Cleveland Cavaliers last night, 110-88. They head to Indianapolis for a matchup against the Pacers tomorrow night.
• The Bruins, on the other hand, lost to the Senators, 5-2. They travel to D.C. to play the Capitals tomorrow night in a face-off of the Eastern Conference's two divisional first-place teams,
• In college football, the TicketSmarter Birmingham Bowl will feature Boston College against No. 21 Cincinnati on Jan. 2.
• Exclusive: Cities looking to host the 2026 World Cup soccer matches (which include Boston) are wondering why they haven't heard from North American bid organizers since the winning of the bid last year.

This day in history

Those interested in extending their sympathy to Pete Frates' family members can make a donation to the Peter Frates Family Foundation, 21 Landers Drive, Beverly, MA 01915 or online at petefrates.com/donate.

They said it

These CEOs made 100 times - or more - than their company's median employee salary last year.

What I'm reading

On this day in 1901, the first Nobel Prizes were awarded in Stockholm, Sweden, in the fields of physics, chemistry, medicine, literature and peace.

What I'm watching What's on my playlist

"He was fundamentally a guy in state government who wanted to get stuff done, who wanted to solve problems." - former state transportation chief Rich Davey, on Frank DePaola, an "engineer's engineer" who ran the state's highway division and, ultimately, the MBTA. He died on Saturday at 64.

Another Hollywood moment

Moonwalking with Einstein, by Joshua Foer

Someday at Christmas, by Andra Day and Stevie Wonder

Boston and Worcester have more in common than a team called the "Red Sox" - they are both featured (along with the state's newest city) in the movie trailer that dropped over the weekend featuring Ryan Reynolds: Free Guy.

Unfortunately, despite almost no effort at all, I wasn't able to land a cameo, but you will see plenty of familiar settings all around Boston's Financial District. And for those of you who know downtown Worcester, you'll recognize fleeting images of Franklin Street and what I'm pretty sure is the interior of Union Station.

Fox dropped the trailer this past Saturday at a Comic Con where Gal Gadot unveiled her new Wonder Woman 1984 trailer and then, yesterday, the new Ghostbusters film trailer was also released (featuring Paul Rudd and the kid who played Mike on Stranger Things).

In Reynolds' film, he plays a bank teller who discovers he is actually in an open-world video game. He reportedly told the audience he wanted to "bring to the world a modern day Back to the Future for modern generations," citing Back to the Future filmmaker Robert Zemeckis as an influence (he also named Will Ferrell's work in Elf and Peter Sellers in Being There as an inspiration for his Free Guy character).

For those of you paying attention, this is not the first Ryan Reynolds film to be shot in Boston. It shouldn't even try to compete with The Proposal, which was filmed in the office building on Federal and High streets where the Business Journal was headquartered at the time. Don't agree? I have two words for you: Betty White.

It joins a long list of video-game-related movies either based on, or featuring, video games (most recently, Ready Player One). I just hope it's better than R.I.P.D.

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