-- The Alleged Criminal Formerly Known as Clark Rockefeller was denied bail today in Suffolk Superior Court. The German national had previously been offered a $50 million cash bond. [Herald] -- Somerville police nabbed two suspects, one a minor, yesterday for last week's daylight shooting at Foss Park. [Somerville Journal] -- An argument with tenants sent an Allston maintenance man into a rage yesterday afternoon, according to police. The 31-year-old man was arrested for breaking......

Your T pass might melt, but there's hours and hours of free entertainment all around town. It's true year round, but the quality of free music will be damn high for the next 48 hours or so. Newbury Comics is celebrating its 30th anniversary this weekend with 30% discounts, giveaways, and in-store performances at all of their locations. As Bostonist is typing, UK rockers The Kooks are playing at Newbury Street, and GZA will......

-- The gruesome June kidnapping that left an Allston man tied to a chair in his burning apartment and bleeding from his eyes was an attempt to steal pounds of pot from a small-time dealer, according to prosecutors. [Universal Hub] -- The marijuana that was found in the car of a Newton fire chief belonged to his grandson. [WBZTV] -- Harvard police might be racists. [WBZTV] -- A man was stabbed in the neck today......

Our favorite bodybuilding, back-aching ex-firefighter appeared on the radio to make his first public statements. Albert Arroyo wishes that other jakes—the ones who show up to work everyday—would be more sympathetic to his plight. [Boston Globe] MBTA employees complain about new federal regulations that require the monitoring of urine tests to detect drug use, in effect saying, "I can't cheat if you're looking." [The Boston Channel] Blame Canada! Our northern neighbors are considering a......

The Globe has a piece today entitled "Allston: From lamentable to lovable" that chronicles the writer's path from undesired entrance into the neighborhood as a BU undergrad to her hesitant departure as a "card-carrying member of the "real world"" with a new residence in the South End. The narrow view of Allston she offers (frat parties, the late Mr. Butch, "crusting sidewalk vomit," great takeout options) wouldn't be too objectionable if it wasn't pierced......

Three dollars and change can't buy much - a coffee, a pastry, a slice of pizza... or a friggin' huge sandwich stuffed with great meat and veggies. At Pho Viet, one of the stalls at the Super 88 food court in Allston, a bahn mi sandwich costs almost nothing but is still super filling and relatively more healthy than some of your other "cheap" options. A large crunchy, crusty baguette is toasted and filled......

There's something very summery about barbeque, but when the weather is so hot and humid, the last thing you want to be doing is tending the grill or the smoker. That's where SoulFire in Allston comes along. The meat is expertly cooked and left unsauced so you can add your favorite from their line-up of sauces - the sweet sauce was this Bostonist's favorite. The pulled pork sandwich ($6.95) was piled high with tons......

--Why does Lieutenant Governor Tim Murray have all this money in his coffers? Might the Herald be right in wondering if Deval Patrick will take a post in a potential Obama cabinet? [Boston Herald] --Elsewhere in the Patrick administration, Deval Patrick is taking a sick day. Quick--cross-check his calendar with Obama's! [Boston Globe] --Meanwhile, Patrick's frenemy, House Speaker Sal DiMasi, has been talking about the proposal to repeal the state's income tax, calling it......

-- The FBI raided Franklin Field projects in Dorchester, arresting 8 men whom they connected to a drug dealing operation. The raid is part of a concerted federal effort to curb gang activity across the state of Massachusetts. [Herald] -- A fourth suspect has been arrested in Sunday's brutal abduction that left a man bleeding from his eyes and tied to a chair in a burning Allston apartment. The 20 year-old Cambridge man pleaded not......

-- Police charged three women with abducting a 24-year old man and leaving him to die in a burning apartment building early Sunday. Investigators discovered the man's plight when his brother, whom the women had allegedly attempted to extort, contacted police in Brighton. Farrah Girault, 29, of Roxbury, Cheerley Chevalier, 30, of Taunton and Jillian Jacques, 23, of Allston allegedly kidnapped the victim, bound him with a hair dryer, and beat him until he vomited......

Pizza. The word alone can kick-start the salivary glands of most Americans, and we might remind you that vegans and vegetarians have pizza-craving taste buds too. Going veg doesn't mean that you have to give up the delicious foods you grew up with: enter T.J. Scallywaggle's Vegan House of Pizza in Allston. Touting itself as "comfort food for enlightened times," TJ's is a mainstay in the Boston veg community and the only completely vegan......

-- Boston police arrested a woman for setting the fire that killed two young girls, Acia Johnson, 14, and her 3-year-old sister, Sophia, in South Boston last month. Nicole Chuminski, 25, will be arraigned Monday on two counts of murder and one count of arson. Chuminski was reportedly the girlfriend of the victims' mother, and the alleged arson may have been the outcome of a vicious spat. [Globe; Herald] -- The truck driver whose careering......

-- The story of Haleigh Poutre, the 14-year-old girl who, in 2005, was brought by her parents to a Westfield hospital in a vegetative state could not be more crushing. The girl has finally emerged from her coma, defying predictions that she would never reawake. (The Massachusetts Department of Social Services, for one, wanted to shut off her feeding tube.) Police interviewed her from her pediatric unit bed yesterday and have revealed a story of......

--Police put out a BOLO ("Be on the lookout") for a recent immigrant from Haiti who speaks no English and who has been missing since Wednesday. His name is Roc Sanon, he is 43 years old, and his photo is to the left. [BPD News] --Early this morning in Jamaica Plain on Gayhead Street, a woman was stabbed eight times and sustained life-threatening injuries. The BPD report indicates that the victim knew her attacker and......

-- A man killed himself after shooting a co-worker at the Alloy Fabricators of New England in Randolph this morning. Howard Trang, 48 of Dorchester, allegedly barged into the factory with a .45 caliber pistol, shot 52 year-old Gene Dure in the arm and abdomen, and turned the weapon on himself. Police have not advanced a motive. Dure was taken to Caritas Good Samaritan Hospital in Brockton. No word on his condition. [Herald; Globe] --......

--A 25-year-old man was shot to death while sitting in his car early this morning in Allston. An image of the shot-out window and info on WBZ indicates that whoever killed him walked to the rear passenger window and fired. [WBZ] --The alleged child rapist who escaped from police in New Bedford was sighted at a YMCA. [WBZ] --In Brighton early this morning, a 22-year-old fell off a second-story porch. His injuries were not life-threatening......

Update: The BU Free Press has a piece today entitled "Frat Brothers Try to Dispel Myths." Although we were expecting them to say they actually trash Radissons, not Days Inns, some of the nicer fraternity brothers explained that a few of them engage in philanthropy. Allegedly a national convention for the Lambda Phi Epsilon fraternity turned into National-Lampoon-esque chaos at the Days Inn on Soldier's Field Road. The Allston-Brighton Tab reports that 100 people were......

--We were looking at the weekend crime stats provided by the Boston Police Department and were surprised to see that there were eight non-fatal stabbings over the Easter weekend. Call us ignorant, but that seemed like a lot of stabbings. But last weekend's report also listed eight non-fatal stabbings (the report itself is confusing: the headline suggests that the numbers are for a 96 hour period, while the first paragraph says it covers 24......

--The thought of Massachusetts drivers plus a U-Turn that's open to the public makes us skittish. [WBZ] --The National Transportation Safety Board released a report saying that the crash between a train and a truck that killed two maintenance employees last January happened because "several employees of the railroad failed to do a very important part of their job." [Boston Globe] --Remember that toll increase? Well, that money might to go pay off debt. And......

Bostonist tends not to eat at places with the word “junkyard” in their name, but when the food is as good as at Spike’s Junkyard Dogs, rules can be broken. Spike’s offers up hot dogs, chicken sandwiches, subs, salads, and wings (plus burgers at the Somerville and Boylston branches) that are quick, inventive, and delicious. The obvious order is a hot dog, but there are so many toppings to choose from. You can order......

Say hello to new columnist Ol' Scratch, who is posting on all things retro in Boston. Here's how he describes "Retroville" to us: "Amongst Boston's many underground scenes and small, quirky social groups, a segment who are passionate about the 'classic' lifestyle has arisen. Whether it's the greasers who love rockabilly, the classy cabaret kids, the swing dancers, or the bodacious burlesquers, they've all got one thing in common: They all live in Retroville." With......

Music Atlas Sound, featuring Bradford Cox going solo during Deerhunter's hiatus, hits the Middle East tonight, riding a wave of praise for his new project. Cox's hometown weekly, Atlanta's Creative Loafing, raves, "Let the Blind contains Cox's most haunting and sad songs to date. It throbs with delirious depression, and is bursting with powerful, barely contained emotions." For those of you who can handle strong emotions in the bleak winter, Cox is your fella.......

When a fast-food restaurant has a name like UBurger, the first choice is, obviously, to order a hamburger. And UBurger definitely has plenty of choices when it comes to burger toppings. But the hidden delicacy on the menu is the chicken. The marinated, grilled chicken breast is a fast-food of dreams. While most chain burger places use chicken that doesn’t always look like chicken, the meat at UBurger is always a whole chicken breast,......

Dancing Hipsters Probably most famous for dating producing transatlantic hipster heartthrob MIA, Diplo made his name DJing. He's a dance music polymath who introduced the world to Brazilian Funk Carioca and Baltimore Club while inspiring a legion of white guys in skinny jeans to invest in Serato Scratch Live. He spins in Allston tonight. Great Scott, 1222 Comm. Ave, Allston. 9:00 pm. $15. Music --Darkbuster's Hometown Throwup continues with Hub City Stompers, The Allstonians,......

We just read Boston.com's update on our developing snow situation, and, honestly? We're more confused than we had been before. Read the following two quotes to see if you can spot a snow emergency plan: Point: "Governor Deval Patrick sent home all nonemergency state employees, and officials urged private businesses to do the same so snow crews can safely clear the roads." Counterpoint: "Mass Highway officials were recommending commuters leave later and keep the roads......

Is this photo by BehindDarkEyes a bit crass? Yes, yes it is. But the strategically placed sticker on the crotch of a Will Ferrell poster in Allston made us laugh, and who can't use a nice laugh on a Tuesday afternoon?......

Typically, a nice dinner out does not translate into being served raw meat and cooking it yourself--but at Shabu Zen it's a different story. Shabu-Shabu, the Asian hot pot cuisine, is said to have originated with Genghis Khan to feed his massive army. Today, it translates into good, healthy food served relatively cheap. Located in Allston, Shabu Zen offers a cool, almost hip atmosphere with its open layout and black sparkly bar. With the exception......

--With this winter's especially foul weather, we have entered a new level of pothole hell. [Boston Globe] --Although some local figures might be gearing up to run against Mayor Menino, the mayor might be earning votes by working to help Hendry Street residents floored by the mortgage foreclosure crisis. [Boston Herald] --Despite all that planning, construction on the new Harvard Allston Science Complex has already pissed off Allston residents. Neighbors had been told construction......

Manchildren Founder of K Records and former member of Beat Happening, Calvin Johnson mastered precious naivete decades before it became the default indie mode. His off-kilter baritone is what sold it, and he's bringing his voice and an acoustic guitar to Cambridge tonight. Teenbeat Records founder Mark Robinson also performs as Cotton Candy. Lily Pad, 1353 Cambridge St., Inman Square, 7:00pm, $10. Men With Children Gibby Haynes of the Butthole Surfers is returning to......

Awkward Lectures Cory Arcangel's best known artwork Super Mario Clouds turns the world's first scrolling video game into a digital environment of placid repetition. It percolated on the internet and spilled into the Whitney's Biennial, making Arcangel a digital art superstar. But his true calling may have been as a lecturer. Whether the topic is hacking old electronics or copyright; his willful ignorance of art history or his place in it, Arcangel always entertains.......