--The Department of Social Services, whose name has come up more than once in investigations of the deaths of children in this state, received a D minus from the watchdog group the Children's Advocacy Institute. [Boston Herald, DSS in Bostonist] --Bad: A water main broke on Devonshire Street. Worse: The damage was so bad that repairs will continue through the summer. Worst: No hot water or heat until THURSDAY. [WBZ, Boston Globe] --Pour one out......

Despite evidence to the contrary, we know that the State House is bigger than two men, more than just a turf battle between Governor Deval Patrick and Speaker of the House Sal DiMasi. For example: it also includes Speaker Pro Tempore Thomas Petrolati. A day after the House passed Patrick's tax plan (some corporate taxes went up, smokers got another thing to complain about while shivering outside), a key DiMasi legislative ally takes a......

If the crocuses and unexpected sunshine haven't clued you in, robbery suspect Timothy Flaherty, 51 of Lawrence, has provided further evidence that spring is upon us. Last night, after allegedly robbing a victim on Beacon Hill, Flaherty led police on a wild chase through the Common and the Public Garden before diving into the Frog Pond Lagoon to elude capture. (We assume that it looks much bigger in the dark.) Police surrounded the pond......

Deval Patrick isn't the first person to get into casino-related trouble, though few of us had to be publicly confronted with our regrettable outcomes the way Deval Patrick did. Eager to move past his failed plan to create much needed revenue for the Commonwealth through gaming, Patrick gave a major economic address yesterday at MIT. Patrick's speech (text here, video here) lists $344 million in budget cuts, a several billion dollar infrastructure improvement plan,......

On Tuesday we wrote about how Governor Deval Patrick's intellectually lazy casino job creation numbers gave ammunition to the skeptical of gambling Speaker of the House Sal DiMasi. Yesterday, however, Patrick got some good news from the Chamber of Commerce, who released numbers much more helpful to his cause. The previous criticism was related to Patrick's projection that the three proposed casinos would create 30,000 new construction jobs, while a more balanced analysis in......

Sean Garballey, 23, a grad student at Suffolk, soundly defeated two opponents yesterday to gain a seat in the commonwealth's House of Representatives. Garballey will represent Arlington and part of Medford. Garballey is a recent graduate of UMass Lowell and has served on the Arlington School Committee. On his campaign website he exclaims, "Public Service is my life!" He credits a volunteer tour guide position at the State House when he was 16 with......

City Councilor Michael Ross has a new project--the beautification of Beacon Hill. But, wait, you ask, isn't Beacon Hill pretty already? Sure. But Ross is underwhelmed by Cambridge Street and wants to " http://www.bostonherald.com/business/real_estate/view.bg?articleid=1075736">extend the Beacon Hill Architectural District" to include the street, the Herald reports. Offensive eyesores on Cambridge Street include a sign for Subway sandwiches and ATM machines that don't look like the World's Fanciest 7-11, which you can find on Charles......

Bostonist knows a girl who once got lingerie on Valentine's Day from her Dunkin' Donuts guy. They weren't dating or anything. He just thought a bra & panty set was an appropriate "getting to know you" gift. Take our advice: if you don't have access to her drawers, both literal and figurative, do not give her lingerie. If you are able to check her tags (or are one of the four people on earth who......

--Fires ran rampant yesterday. A mother and her son were injured last night in a fire in Somerville. One firefighter was treated and released at the hospital. [Boston Globe] --Another fire broke out in Haverhill last night, and people were injured jumping out of the windows. No one died in the blaze, but 24 people have lost their homes. [Boston Globe, Boston Herald] --The state Supreme Judicial Court is letting Heidi Erickson, who kept......

In Cambridge, some residents are irritated by the sound of leaf blowers--as opposed to all the other noises one can hear in Cambridge. So, the City Council is spending its valuable time debating when and where the dastardly leaf blowers can be used. According to Matt Dunning at the Cambridge Chronicle, the City Council spent the "better part of two hours" discussing how strong bans on leaf blowers should be. Exceptions to the ban kept......

Imagine that you're stuck on the Green Line, wedged in between two people yammering away on their cell phones, and one of them is stinky. Each stop seems to last for an hour. When you reach your destination, you think to yourself, "I could have walked there in half the time." You were probably right. The Brookings Institution has declared Boston America's second-most walkable city, second only to DC, and Beacon Hill as one of......

The Thomas Crown Affair and The Friends of Eddie Coyle Brattle Theatre, Harvard Square, Cambridge Wednesday-Thursday Showtimes and tickets Millionaire Beacon Hill residents have a lot of time on their hands. Who can blame them if they use it plotting bank heists? Norman Jewison's The Thomas Crown Affair (1968), which screens tonight and tomorrow at the Brattle, doesn't point any fingers. It's a schizophrenic movie with a paper thin plot and a clumsy script. Thomas......

Living in the 'hood of Beacon Hill is rough. The Charles Street Doggz must cope with prying eyes, envious gazes, pedestrians who aren't wearing Lilly Pulitzer, and now the noisy beeps made by crosswalks. The Charles Street Doggz immediately investigated the situation and discovered those crosswalks were beeping so blind people would know when to cross the street. The Charles Street Doggz were faced with a tough choice--themselves or the blind. So they complained to......

--A man became Boston's 48th murder victim this year when he was shot in front of the Quick Stop Market in Dorchester last night. He has not yet been identified. --A hunter discovered human remains off Route 122 in Rutland on Monday afternoon. The body has been identified as Linieda Gonzalez, of Worcester, who has been missing since February. She also went by the name of Linieda Olivera. Gonzalez/Olivera may be the latest victim of......

Protestors on Beacon Hill voiced their opposition to a great many things today—gay marriage, a proposed (and soon defeated) ballot question on gay marriage, Nazism, and even specific sexual positions:......

Thanks to Universal Hub (great detective work Adam) we're now a little more self-aware; a better scope of the breadth of what we do over here on this little corner of the internet has been uncovered. For a while we thought it was all typos and quickly written blurbs about news, sports, and current haps in and around Boston. Apparently Google is listing www.bostonist.com alongside the street address for Boston City of: Homicide Unit......

Today a tremendous crowd* turned out in Boston to protest the Iraq War, to support our troops who are risking their lives, and to express their anger at the Bush administration for starting it. Many of those in attendance didn't stop with Bush, Cheney, & Co. - they also railed at the Democrat-controlled legislature, whom they feel aren't working enough to stop the war. At first, it seemed as if the rally would be......

We can't make fun of Senate President Robert Travaglini, lovingly known as "T-Vag," anymore. T-Vag (not to be confused with "T-Weed" of I Love New York fame) has announced that he's leaving that he is leaving the guv'mint for a higher-paying job. $90,000 dollars a year wasn't enough for him, so he's moving on to bigger and better things. The Globe says T-Vag will launch "a lobbying company that would help clients navigate the political......

Front page news this morning was that Deval Patrick was making some staffing changes in his administration. The dirty-laundry list of mistakes was aired on radio and listed in the dailies – the Caddy, the drapes, the $70k assistant for the first lady, helicopter rides, and that phone call. Looking for a bit of a fresh start for the executive branch he's boosted some Beacon Hill veterans to help him walk much more carefully. Joe......

Anytime we hear about diplomats we always think about those episodes of Law & Order where they get away with crimes or that extra special perk they've got that allows them to park illegally outside of the UN without getting parking tickets or towed. Members of the International Committee of the Red Cross are often issued diplomatic visas and passports from their home countries. Boston City Councilors are not. Councilor Michael Ross has been banking......

Today is Willard "Mitt" Romney's last day as Governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts – well, for now, he could come back to haunt later. The Globe ran a story in this morning's edition to let us know that he actually left a little stink in the statehouse by making a slew of 11th hour appointments to state offices. Though he's attempted to exit the Governors office stage right (which is really to the left......

A couple of bars in the Faneuil Hall area tout their age and history as part of the Boston's cultural landscape. The Boston Beer Company has created a whole brand identity using Sam Adams as an iconic brewer and patriot. Yet, it's still difficult or just downright expensive to get a liquor license in the city. The bill was passed yesterday by state lawmakers that will allow 55 new permits to be issued within the......

A true story of seven strangers picked to live in a…firehouse. Back in 1997, when Bostonist was still eligible to participate as a member of MTV's Real World cast (sadly we're too old and not enough of a stereotype for the current seasons), the show filmed a season with the cast living at a converted Beacon Hill firehouse. Yesterday the Boston Globe ran an article about an Eastie residence which sold for $1.15 million, also......

Governor Romney, only weeks away from being a lame duck, announced that the MBTA would resume random bag searches of transit system passengers. We thought at first they'd be riffling through our bags trying to find any tokens we still have in our possession, though really they are indeed looking for bombs. The announced plan will deploy portable machines outside of stations that will test baggage for bomb residue, and, with probable cause, police can......

One of the big stories today was really a big story of yesteryear. Michael Terranova, a Beacon Hill homeowner, was renovating his property when he uncovered a cache of 19th century artifacts. Robert Roberts (the man so nice they named him twice) was a free black man living in Boston serving the governor in the early 1800's when he built his home, the home that Terranova now inhabits. Boston University Archeologist, Ellen Berkland was called......

As if the constant gridlock, brown-outs, and stifling heat weren’t enough, now Bostonians can add “stranded in Chelsea” to their list of complaints. Yesterday afternoon, Massport nixed the exit 26 airport detour in favor of diverting traffic over the Zakim Bridge, through the winding flyaway ramps, and onto the Tobin bridge, ending at exit 27, Beacon Street. This, however, is not the Beacon Street of Brookline and brownstones. This is Beacon Street Chelsea, and......

Beacon Hill, during the Constitutional Convention July 12, 2006 12:02pm......

For those enthralled with the decorated cattle all over the city, the Jimmy Fund has created a city map with all of the 117 cows' locations. While it appears that a good number of them are grazing along Boylston Street, the rest of the statues appear to be placed along the Waterfront and Faneuil Hall area. Beacon Hill is perhaps the most sparse area on the map and Bostonist was excited to see that even......

Bostonist advises to stay the hell away from the C-line today if at all possible. Last night on our way home around 9p.m., we heard word of a water main break in Beacon Hill. Well, it turns out our anonymous (incorrect) source got it wrong and it was actually on Beacon Street in Brookline. Let the shuttle busing begin! Starting last night and now into this morning, there are no C-line trains on the Green......

It’s been a while, but now we’ve got to do some spring cleaning. Bostonist is cleaning out our ears and putting them to good use eavesdropping. We hope you’ll help us by sending in the things you overhear on your commute, at lunch, or as you’re waiting for your TurboIce at Gate B of Fenway Park. Drop them into an email and send it off to us cyber-space style to the address overheard –......