Results tagged “Boston Herald”

Normally, the Boston Herald, and other papers, relies on the Associated Press for information. This week, the roles got reversed as an AP story referred to prior reporting by the Herald. On Tuesday, Bostonist noted a Herald story that said the federal government sent economic stimulus checks to Bay State prisoners. The AP reported this on Wednesday night and noted "The Boston Herald first reported that the checks were sent to inmates." A Social Security Administration audit is underway.

According to Steve Buckley of the Herald, Julio Lugo has been designated for assignment by the Red Sox, who confirmed the news. The team now has 10 days to trade or release the shortstop.

The last thing Boston's political scene needs is some Karl Rove-style tactics injected to its already tension-filled campaign season. But, that's just what we've got from the folks at ChangeforBoston.org despite their alleged support for reforming what ails Boston.

• Massachusetts has the second-lowest obesity rate in the nation at 21.2%, which still seems too high. [WCVB]

• Boston firefighters are defying Boston Fire Department orders to volunteer to staff three stations. [Boston Herald]

• Governor Deval Patrick gave a tax credit to movie stars. [Boston Herald]

• The sales tax holiday will probably be taken away. [Boston Herald]

• Governor Deval Patrick may have signed a bill to eliminate the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority but the Pike might cost us even more. [Boston Herald]

Isn't it fitting that the Boston Herald can provide an entire Oddbblotter by itself? Dudes, thanks for always delivering our crazy crime fix.

There's a first time for everything, and yesterday marked the first time we didn't have an aneurysm or punch somebody after reading a Howie Carr column. In fact, we think he might be right. Inconceivable! Carr's column used trademark Herald cleverness in branding email as "see" mail, stressing the fact that others can "see" what you write, even if it's incriminating. He cited Phil Markoff and Sal DiMasi as examples of this phenomenon, most recently illustrated by incompetent South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford. Anyway, the column degenerates into rambling about Whitey Bulger at the end, but not before making the important point that "emails are writing." Pulitzer! Pulitzer!

• Dr. Jerri Nielsen FitzGerald, the woman who treated herself for breast cancer while working in the South Pole for the National Science Foundation, died at her home in Southwick on Tuesday. [WCVB]

• A 7-year old boy from Weymouth saved his mother's life with the Heimlich maneuver. [WCVB]

• If your business is struggling this month, just look out the window to get the reason for it. [Boston Globe]

--O'Ryan Johnson, a Boston Herald crime reporter, faces up to 10 years in prison for allegedly kicking a man in the chest. Johnson asked for help at a laundromat in Groveland and the 74-year old man who responded got yelled at then kicked. Johnson was reportedly with a young girl. [Lawrence Eagle Tribune]

Tom Brady owns two Super Bowl MVP trophies from the three Super Bowls won by the New England Patriots. Could he soon have as many children as he does Super Bowl MVP? The Internets have confirmed Gisele Bundchen may or may not possibly be slightly pregnant. Both the Boston Globe and Boston Herald credit something called RadarOnline.com with scooping, well, everyone on the conception.

--Police in Cambridge continue to unravel Monday's shooting of a 21-year old man at Harvard University's Kirkland House residence hall. Middlesex District Attorney Gerard T. Leone Jr said the killing occured after an alleged drug deal gone bad. Jabrai Jordan Copney, 20, turned himself in and will be arraigned today in Cambridge District Court. [Boston Herald, Boston Globe]

--For some reason, 32-year-old Keni Garcia of Haverhill allegedly wanted 85,000 bullets. The ATF, ICE and state and local authorities seem to think this was a bad idea. Who knew? Essex County prosecutors are charging Garcia, who was scheduled to become an American citizen today, with illegal possession of ammunition, three counts of possession of a high-capacity firearm, and illegal storage of a firearm. Investigators found 10,000 rounds in his car, 20,000 rounds at his house. He allegedly tried to buy 55,000 more rounds in New Hampshire.[Boston Globe, Boston Herald]

The Globe needs to cut $20 million; the Herald outlines how the rival paper proposes to cut $14 million by freezing pension contributions, eliminating 401k contributions, cutting vacation days, and more. Where will the other six million come from? Not clear yet.

It's hard to feel rhapsodic about how the New York Times is the guardian of democracy when Judith Miller's former employer is pulling this shit.

Slate's Jack Shafer wants to bring back yellow journalism. Could sensationalistic muckraking be the future of the nonprinted word? Clay Shirky asserted this month that "Society doesn't need newspapers. What we need is journalism." He didn't say yellow journalism specifically, but maybe there's something to that argument. Even as newspapers have slid, the demand for off-color items of interest has certainly grown: witness the recently-31 Perez Hilton's fame or the insane amount of visitors to TMZ.

The Herald laid off 24 people recently, 13 voluntarily and 11 involuntarily. In a twist on recent reductions in reporting staff, the cuts were made on the business side of the paper instead of in the newsroom. The voluntary departures were partially in response to a buyout offer sent to 20 folks. The Globe is also suffering in this economy, recently offering buyouts to 50 employees; 24 accepted.

Our beloved Herald has offered buyouts to 400 employees in a bid to shed at least 20 people. Newspapers are dying left and right, but publisher Patrick Purcell says the Herald is doing well and the buyouts are just a "proactive" move. As long as the Herald can maintain its Tom and Gisele coverage, everything should be fine.

We're so glad that Lissa Harris, former editor at the Weekly Dig and eternal badass, has started a blog to catalogue what she calls "Women Do ____" stories. Apparently, women get and create tattoos, use electronics, and, according to the Boston Herald today, drink "manly" drinks like Scotch.

Tom Brady's main squeeze and shopping companion, Gisele Bundchen, apparently sends 10 million dollars to her family each year. That's less than a third of her reported $35 million in annual earnings, but still a hefty hunk of change. has protested that the report of Gisele sending home $10 million a year, originally asserted in Star magazine, is false.

Leave it the Boston Globe to get itself embroiled in a sex scandal that didn't even happen in Boston.

Our friends at the Herald astutely point out that police officers on road detail have made over 100 arrests since January 2007, insinuating that we'll be less safe if normal folks are allowed to work details in lieu of police officers. Gosh, it is so sweet and touching that cops continue to do their real jobs while serving details--just imagine how many more arrests they might make if they were patrolling the streets, investigating cases, and following leads, instead of tooting whistles and waving their arms! Additionally, most of these situations caused the officer to leave the detail to make the arrests, meaning that no one was doing that all-important detail job (perish the thought!). A Beacon Hill Institute Study from 2004 concluded that police details cost the state millions of dollars and do not improve safety. As with those "consumer-protecting" price stickers, it may shock Bay Staters to learn that no other state puts police on detail--and crime has not swallowed up the rest of the country as a result. It's time for Massachusetts to stop doing things a certain way just because it's always been like that, and start doing things that actually make sense. We know this may cause some heads to explode, but we're willing to take that loss.

Beverly's offensive Horribles parade float that made fun of Gloucester's recent spate of teen pregnancy may have been sour grapes. It turns out that the much wealthier Beverly only lags 25 teen pregnancies behind its Cape Ann neighbor for the title of Preggers City, MA. Meanwhile, despite recent headlines, Gloucester's teen pregnancy rate has actually declined 45% over the past decade. [Herald]

It's some vicious newspaper-on-newspaper action 'round the internet today as the Globe calls out the Herald for slashing jobs as it relocates its printing operations. Publisher Patrick J. Purcells is giving the planned move 90 days for consideration, but would like to have printing services moved by the end of September. Chicopee's Dow Jones & Co. plant will print every edition of the Herald except Saturday's, which will be printed by a Boston Offset press in Norwood. Up to 160 people currently employed by the Herald press could lose their jobs in the move. A Herald insider tells Bostonist that the paper's current press is not even capable of printing accents or diacritics of any sort; hopefully the new presses are at least more diverse in their abilities, if farther away.

--Manholes are demanding attention! Two workers were injured in an explosion today in Quincy. [WBZ]

"...full of sound and fury, Signifying nothing." - Shakespeare, Macbeth

Machetes have popped up on the Blotter often, and two questions always pop up: a) How does one get a machete? and b) How does one tote around these large knives without getting caught? One item on the BPD Blotter was about a man who was just walking around with his machete dangling from his belt.