--Manholes are demanding attention! Two workers were injured in an explosion today in Quincy. [WBZ] --A comprehensive wrapup of the mess the Herald found itself in after its writer John Tomase popped the cork on VideoTapeGate. [Media Nation] --If you get luxury seats at Gillette Stadium, you better make sure you can actually pay up because the stadium will get that money from you somehow. [AP/Boston Globe] --Massachusetts high schoolers are flunking physical fitness.......

"...full of sound and fury, Signifying nothing." - Shakespeare, Macbeth Matt Walsh had his moment in the sun, and it turned out to be a whole lot of nothin'. The ex-Patriots employee promised tales of treachery and devious deeds, and hinted that he had shelves full of damning evidence. Just before the Superbowl, the Herald bit, and published Walsh's claim that the Pats taped St. Louis' final walkthrough before Superbowl XXXVI. Yesterday, Walsh met for......

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. The Herald decided to investigate. The cover of yesterday's paper is a terrifying number with a thuggy-looking tattoed......

--It seems like the only time news from Brockton reaches Boston outlets is when someone gets killed. That's true today as the Globe reports that a 15-year-old male was killed there when his 18-year-old friend's gun discharged. The Globe notes that the shooting, "...took place about an hour after Gov. Deval Patrick came to Brockton to laud local and state police for a surge of officers that had prevented any shootings since mid-February." [original......

Ex-Herald crime writer Michele McPhee hasn't completely abandoned print journalism for the joys of radio--which include sharing the booth with media maven Mayor Menino. She has a lengthy (4000+ words) and well-sourced piece in the newest issue of Boston Magazine that brings perspective and insight to the much-chronicled troubles of the Boston Police Department. The force's legitimacy has been crippled by a string of recent scandals, some of which McPhee recounts. But she's also......

--Twenty-four hours after a Herald cover story about BPD undercover agents who are aiming to reduce groping of women on public transportation, the tabloid reports that they've already busted one alleged criminal. The incident was on the green line and involved a 20-year-old BU student victim. [Boston Herald] --Four bombs made of household products were used to explode mailboxes in Lexington. Police there say they've received confessions from three teenagers, who could face felony......

The Boston Herald is well-known for its crime coverage, which is so potent that today they bring you every single story on our Boston Blotter. This is, we imagine, an unprecedented triumph. --Jessica Fargen reports on the strange saga of Che Sosa, who is currently serving 30-40 years and was in court today on a rape charge. He told those assembled that he assumes he'll be proven guilty and that when the judge is......

--As if it couldn't get any worse for the MBTA. Hackers have been playing with the Charlie Card. [Boston Herald] --The owner of Tai Ho Restaurant, where Boston firefighters Paul Cahill and Warren Payne died, wants to reopen. It's worth remembering that the fire gathered in the ceiling because grease accumulated in the vents. [WBZ] --A task force has decided, after much back and forth, to take down the homemade signs on highways thanking......

--A Woburn college student was cleared of rape charges after prosecutors could not provide enough evidence that an attack had taken place in a bathroom at Felt nightclub in Boston. The man, 21, continually proclaimed his innocence, and said that any acts were consensual. The prosecution had alleged that the woman was unconscious, but didn't have enough evidence to take the case to trial. [Boston Herald] --Police had surrounded a rape suspect's home in......

--Massachusetts earned a C in state government from the Pew Center. Given the state of the Big Dig, is it any wonder? [Boston Herald] --The Boston Center for the Arts (BCA, which includes Calderwood Pavilion and the Cyclorama) is undergoing a sudden change in leadership. [Boston Globe] --Glenn Ordway, local sports radio host on WEEI, is taking some time off the air because his wife and daughter sustained injuries during childbirth. [Boston Herald] --In related......

--Leading off with a happy story: officers in East Boston responded to a car where a woman was in labor. After her water broke in their presence, the police helped deliver the baby, put the baby in a blanket, checked that the baby was breathing properly, and then made sure the family arrived safely at Mass General Hospital. Somebody deserves a raise. [BPD News] --Authorities are investigating a string of robberies targeting illegal immigrants......

--Fraternity brothers at MIT's Delta Upsilon are saying that Robert Wells, who died over the weekend, fell from his window in an accident. [Boston Globe] --Over at the State Senate, Therese Murray has introduced a health-care reform bill. One point of the bill is to demand that health insurance firms explain themselves when they raise their rates. [Boston Herald] --Massachusetts legislators will discuss a bill officially allowing breast-feeding in public because there are still......

--Five men were arrested for the stabbing death of Terrence Jacobs, 16, last May. Everyone arrested is from Dorchester, except one man from Brockton. [Boston Globe] --In a follow-up to the case in which a man stabbed his ex to death, stabbed another woman 8 times, bit a man, and then stabbed himself to death in New Bedford, Jane Doe Inc. notes that the incident marks the sixth domestic violence homicide in Massachusetts this year.......

--Two people were killed in a brutal murder-suicide in New Bedford yesterday. A man stabbed a woman with a steak knife before stabbing himself to death. The man also went after the woman's roommates, stabbing one and biting another. [Boston Globe] --Che Sosa, a convicted rapist who is notorious for attacking his own defense attorney in the courtroom with a knife, returned to court yesterday. This time, he was accompanied by well-armed and well-covered guards......

--Some of those who treated the Big Dig like one big, fat ATM are finally getting their just desserts. Yesterday, a Big Dig contractor was charged with trying to overcharge the government by $300,000. They've agreed to plead guilty. [Boston Globe] --Things are getting hotter for Superior Court Judge Richard T. Moses. The Herald is ticking off a list of sex offenders he set free who then went on to commit more crimes. [Boston......

--The state owes snow plow operators $69 million for their work. Now that's a way to thank them for keeping our roads clean. The state has already--ahem--plowed through its snow-plow budget due to the abundance of snow this year. Sorry. Couldn't resist. [Boston Globe] --Two fires broke out at the same building in Fitchburg on Thursday, 12 hours apart. [WCVB] --An author from Dudley, Misha Defonseca, has admitted that she made up a best-selling memoir......

--The body of a dead woman was found in a car in Malden. Police are treating the case as a homicide but have not yet disclosed many details about what might have happened. The family of a woman who has been missing since February 13, the owner of a Malden hair salon, say they are "99 percent sure" it is her. [Boston Globe, WBZ] --A Westfield 14-year-old has miraculously emerged from a long coma......

--The Massachusetts House voted overwhelmingly in favor of preliminary approval to pour $1 billion into life sciences investment over 10 years. [WBZ Radio] --Of course Manny Ramirez would forget about $10,000 that the state of Massachusetts owes him. And if you think the state owes you some money, too, go to findmassmoney.com. [Boston Herald] --Is it just us, or is Bridget Moynahan looking better and classier than ever? Or is it just extended Super......

--The search for the Northeastern student who had been missing since the day after the Super Bowl has ended. BPD detectives tracked him to Paris, France, and he has now contacted his parents to let him know that he is well. He better bring some baguettes back for his parents and the BPD. [BPD News] --A South End woman and her friend allegedly lured a Brockton man back from a nightclub to her apartment,......

--Someone found violent messages in women's bathrooms, along with the date of February 28 (tomorrow), at Bridgewater State. Given recent violent incidents on college campuses nationwide, the school boosted security. Police are offering a $500 reward to find out who did it. [Boston Globe, Boston Herald] --Meanwhile, someone left a note in a bathroom at Framingham State this afternoon, leading to an evacuation. [WBZ] --57 Boston bars have been given more time to install......

--The Executive Director of the Turnpike Authority wants to CharlieCard everything so that you can use your card at the tolls. While we're all for not having to save spare change, automation might make it easier to miss fare hikes. [Boston Herald] --Massachusetts Bay Community College has been accused of spending money like a drunken sailor. While $450,000 may sound like peanuts in a city whose private schools roll in money, some staff aren't......

--Revere police arrived to a crime scene today at 3:15 p.m. They reported a fatal stabbing and a non-fatal shooting. There aren't many details available at this point, but a source tells the Herald that the victim was attacked by her son. [Boston Herald] --A Brookline teen was charged with drunken driving after hitting a 21-year-old pedestrian on Comm Ave between Exeter and Fairfield in the Back Bay at 2:30 a.m. on Saturday. He......

--A judge set the bail for Damion Jamaal-Anthony Haley, the man who allegedly fired a gun into a crowd of brawling partygoers at Aria over the weekend, at $1 million. [WBZ] --Four people sustained injuries after trying to get off a train before it stopped at Whitman Station yesterday afternoon. [MetroWest Daily News] --Looks like people are getting the Baby Safe Haven message. Last year, people delivered five newborns (two stillborn) to hospitals. Baby......

Oh, you know the Oscar drill already: Marion Cotillard surprised everyone by winning Best Actress for La Vie en Rose, further proving the rule that if you go ugly for a movie role, you will win. Poor Julie Christie just looked too beautiful. Otherwise, Tilda Swinton delivered the best speech for winning Best Supporting Actress for Michael Clayton. The men's races were yawners. Of course, Javier Bardem won Best Supporting Actor for No Country for......

--Violent revelers turned a party for "Girls Gone Wild" at Aria on Tremont Street into a full-on fracas early this morning: "Two people were shot, a state trooper broke his arm and a Boston police officer was in a cruiser crash." A brawl involving 20 to 35 people swinging champagne bottles broke out, and then one armed man started firing into the crowd. [Boston Herald, BPD News] --Police are looking for a former student at......

--Terry Francona will stay with the Red Sox through 2011. [Boston Globe Extra Bases] --The New York Times glad-games the Greenway, asking if it was worth the trouble given the issues of the Big Dig. [New York Times] --A student at Bentley College is being treated for bacterial meningitis. Last year, a Bentley freshman died from bacterial meningitis. [WCVB] --If you feel the need for speed, squelch it if you are passing through Marshfield,......

--Note to European officials: Next time you think you've got Whitey Bulger on your hands, make sure it's really him. Two people from Germany just announced that they're the people in the video circulated the FBI, which has led to the frequent hassling of innocent tourists. [Boston Globe] --A Green Line train with 70 passengers derailed at Reservoir last night. Of course, all you could hear if you were waiting for a Green Line......

--Someone kept the President's Day spirit going a little too long, allegedly robbing a Bridgewater bank yesterday while wearing an Abraham Lincoln mask. Police have apprehended a suspect who they think actually robbed the same bank once before (though not donning the Honest Abe facade for that caper.) [Boston Globe] --A Haverhill woman was convicted of drug trafficking and given 15 years after she was tied to 51 kilograms of cocaine, with a street......

--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] --While it's good that the mayor is throwing his efforts behind saving Hendry Street from the foreclosure crisis, the housing problems in Dorchester aren't limited to......

--Are you freaking out over the fact that the St. Patrick's Day parade falls on the same day as Palm Sunday, March 16? 'Cause the press sure seems to be making a fuss. [Boston Herald, Boston Globe] --The local papers are bombarding us with Foreclosure Doom. Foreclosures in Massachusetts are up 128% in January. Bus tours of foreclosed homes might reflect a corresponding increase. [Boston Globe] --A Globe blog post headlined "Suburbs, the future......