Results tagged “winter”

Is your heating bill high? Unless your wife's a committed dimmer, there are many ways you can save money on heat and utility bills this winter. The Massachusetts Association for Community Action (MASSCAP) and Low-Income Energy Affordability Network (LEAN) have combined to offer Energy Bucks programs to help low-income families stay warm this winter. The aid includes fuel assistance, utility discounts, and help making your home more energy efficient. It's a smart combination of effort. The program doesn't just help heat inefficient homes, it helps make people's homes better able to retain the heat that is produced.

If you ask Bostonist reader Teenytinyturkey whether or not the Marmota monax groundhog known as Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow, we believe you'd get an astounding yes. This photo, with its classical style, is the perfect capture of a scene that occurs daily throughout New England this time of year.

                    

In the bleak mid-winter hundreds of intrepid (insane) and be-costumed Bostonians (and those from the surrounding environs) gathered together on the chilly Nantasket Beach to prove a groundhog isn't the only one who can predict whether we'll have an extended winter.

Each week, Bostonist is dedicated to bringing you the most viral Boston-related videos the internet has to offer.

--More fire department turmoil: A panel of union firefighters determined that the alcohol and drugs found in the bodies of firefighters Paul Cahill and Warren Payne in August's Tai Ho Restaurant blaze did not cause their deaths. But the fire commissioner begs to differ. [Boston Globe, background: Bostonist]

Much to the dismay of many of us out there, we can thank that overgrown rat from Pennsylvania for six more weeks of winter. Now while this might prove many people’s point that nothing good comes out of that state, Punxsutawney Phil's response means four more weeks of bad weather and dry indoor heating that will take a toll on your skin. But the Bostonist is here to help. We know your pain, so we did some research and found some of the best products to help you combat the winter elements.

--With this winter's especially foul weather, we have entered a new level of pothole hell. [Boston Globe]

--The Coast Guard reined in a 933-foot tanker that broke down off the coast of Cape Cod. The tanker held liquefied natural gas, but the Coast Guard said it didn't leak any. [Boston Globe]

--Local news outlets were especially good at stating the obvious today. The weather is windy, as in 70 mph, and the snot will freeze in your nose once you step outside. [Boston Globe, Uh, everyone]

--The State Supreme Judicial Court just overturned the conviction of a Methuen ex-police officer accused of raping a woman in 2000. The case hinged on whether or not lawyers could prove the woman was "too intoxicated to consent, not that she was merely high and drunk." However, the SJC felt that the trial judge didn't give proper instructions to the jurors. The ex-officer will get a new trial. [Boston Globe]

Punxsutawney Phil has nothing on the Drowned Hogs when it comes to the lengths taken to prognosticate the weather. While Phil lounges on a velvet-lined tree stump and a fleet of top-hatted handlers gently coax him into making his wintry prediction, members of the Drowned Hogs submit themselves to a plunge in the Atlantic Ocean to find out what February in Massachusetts really feels like. (Hint: Wicked cold.)

--Another "wintry mix" is already heading into town this evening to smack you in the face and mess up your drive home. Whoopee. [WBZ]

No indication as of yet that these events have been cancelled. Given the weather, double-check with the venue.

--Why merge the blotter with snow emergency announcements? 2007 appears to be ending quietly, blotter-wise, and, if the incoming storm is going to be as bad as the weatherheads say it is, someone's gonna get arrested for a parking-related problem.

When it snows in Boston, the rule is clear--you don't park in a spot that another person has shoveled out. The Mayor's Office backs this up:

In snowy weather like this, complaints about icy roads or snowpiles are normal. But you know the weather is bad when the snow is so heavy that it collapses the roof of a Rite-Aid.

--Another storm is on the way starting tonight and running through Sunday evening. [WBZ]