-- Police arrested the Dorchester man responsible for the February 27th lunch brawl at West Roxbury High School. Edwin Reyes, 39, surrendered to police yesterday. Police say that Reyes led a posse of four adults, including his two brothers and an unidentified woman, to assault a West Roxbury student who had allegedly beat up Reyes's son. Reyes stands accused of punching a West Roxbury student and driving his car into a school police officer while......

--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......

-- A woman was robbed at gunpoint today during a daytime invasion of her parents' home in Everett. Michelle Nguyen, 24 of Malden, was babysitting her 2 year-old nephew this morning when a man dressed completely in black entered the house and held a gun to her head. She parted with $500. Both Nguyen and her nephew were left unharmed. [Herald] -- Cambridge has a flasher in a trench coat. A 20 year-old Harvard student......

Some alleged boneheads should have their Red Sox Nation cards revoked, and we're not talking about Hank Steinbrenner. In a scary incident reported in the Cambridge Chronicle, a man wearing Yankees attire got beat up outside the Cantab Lounge in Central Square early Sunday morning. From the Chronicle: The Yankees fan was transported to the hospital March 2 at 1:41 a.m. for medical treatment for head injuries, including swelling over his entire face and several......

--So, just how many new construction jobs will the casinos proposed by Governor Deval Patrick create? He said 30,000. An independent analyst says no way: "... building three casinos at a cost of $1 billion each in Massachusetts would create a total of 4,000 to 5,000 new construction jobs for the duration of the building period, probably three years." [Boston Globe] --Now this is cool--A look at BNN's studios in an old Roxbury substation.......

--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......

-- If you saw a red-handed man downtown today, he was probably a bank robber. Police are searching for a man in his 50s in connection with the afternoon hold-up of the First Federal Savings Bank. The man fled the scene in a cab until a red dye pack in his loot bag exploded. He then fled on foot. Confidential to cabbies: people running from a bank with a bag of money are likely to......

--A 9-year-old was injured in a hit-and-run in Dorchester overnight. [WBZ] --The BPD put out an alert regarding a man who attempted to kidnap a girl in South Boston on Tuesday. The man attempted to get her into his car, but she ran away. He is described as "a white male, in his late 30’s, with black and gray hair, an oval face, a dime-sized mole under his right eye, long nose and deep voice."......

--Two months since reopening after a five year hiatus and one million dollars of renovations, the Golden Banana strip club's future is in jeopardy after a man was shot in its parking lot last night. He was hit in the shoulder and is expected to survive. The club, however, was closed for code violations in 2003, and could face penalties from Peabody officials who were already leery about the establishment being reopened. [Boston Herald]......

--Four people, among them three juveniles, have been arrested for the fatal shooting of a man in Cambridge at Windsor and Howard Friday night. The victim was 18-year-old Lucien Christalin, of Mattapan. A spokesperson for the Middlesex DA said "the victim and shooter knew each other." [Boston Herald, Cambridge Chronicle] --The BPD swept the Boston Common, aka Deval's Front Yard, and made 10 arrests. [BPD News] --Police nabbed a notorious sex offender at a motel......

--If we can't make an event out of a Super Bowl victory, then we'll make one out of Super Tuesday. Get answers to your burning questions, watch McLovin learn to vote, experience the rock-star presence of Barack Obama, and find out where to party. [All links Bostonist] --One of presidential candidate Mitt Romney's fund-raisers, James Sims, has stepped down from his post as a national finance co-chair. It seems that he had trouble paying......

Despite what Bostonist is now calling "The Debacle" of last night, other stuff happened today. --The weather will be appropriately "dreary" on the day during which the Rolling Rally was scheduled. But at least it will be easier to vote! [Boston Globe] --Speaking of elections, many of the presidential candidates are looking for Massachusetts love. [WBZ] --The mother of Imette St. Guillen, who was murdered by a bouncer in New York City, has filed......

--So there was this blizzard in 1978, and the blizzard was ridiculous. But a blizzard can't be that bad if you get trapped at the Garden with color TV, beer, and hot dogs. [Boston Globe] --The Globe found not one, not two, but five Republicans in Cambridge. That's hard. [Boston Globe] --A high-school athlete in Scituate died Saturday in a car accident. The young man was a passenger in a car driven by a friend,......

--Cambridge was the scene of a violent attack on a homeless man. Early on January 29, the man was walking with his girlfriend in Central Square on Norfolk when three men attacked him, and one of them stabbed him in the back. [Cambridge Chronicle] --Although the incident happened in June, Dorchester is still reeling from an online video showing local Vietnamese American teens and young adults brutally beating a teenage boy and a teenage girl......

--An MBTA employee and a friend were charged with larceny for using fake refund tickets to squeeze $465 from the T. The employee worked in the Revenue Audit Department and allegedly gave his friend the fake tickets, which she would then cash in. An MBTA employee cashing in the tickets brought the incident to light. Now, the duo will appear on next year's crime report. [MBTA press release] --A fight between two men resulted in......

--The BPD tied up some loose ends with an armed robbery arrest that happened on the 23rd. They also arrested a 17-year-old and a 20-year-old for pot and guns, while a 17-year-old was arrested for breaking into cars in Dorchester and a 19-year-old was arrested for a road-rage incident on Milk Street. [BPD News] --That's not the last of the budding perps on today's blotter. A 15-year-old was charged with phoning in bomb threats to......

--A man was in court for holding a knife to the neck of one of a mentally disabled co-worker at the Lincoln-Sudbury High School cafeteria. The alleged attacker said he was stressed out by his job and told the investigating detective, "One hundred kids want chicken fingers." [MetroWest Daily News] --Usually, domestic violence incidents lead to a trip to the hospital, but this time the incident happened at the hospital. A woman allegedly tried to......

--A massive fire that started in an abandoned nightclub and eventually destroyed 14 buildings in downtown Lawrence broke into the national news. In a miracle given the size of the fire, no one was hurt. However, 30 families were displaced. Authorities think the fire is suspicious. The owner, who was in the process of turning the spot into a restaurant, says he has no insurance and that someone "jealous of his success" started it.......

Gus Rancatore, owner of Toscanini's, which was seized by Massachusetts for nonpayment of taxes, is launching an effort to save the beloved ice-cream store, and he's taking his efforts to the media. A website has been started to help raise money for Toscanini's. As we learned from the Cambridge Chronicle, Rancatore owes a considerable amount in unpaid taxes, and the company must provide a down payment before re-opening. If you want to contribute to the......

-- A man was shot to death waiting for his food at a Jamaican restaurant in Dorchester last night. Police have not identified the 24 year-old victim, the eighth Boston homicide and the fourth in three nights. His death punctuates an spree of violence in Dorchester unprecedented in recent memory. [Boston Herald] -- The Dorchester killing prompted a swift reaction from Boston Police. A massive warrant sweep netted 67 alleged criminals, several firearms and a......

Update: The Cambridge Chronicle hopped right on it and, while they couldn't reach the owner, things aren't looking so good for the burnt caramel: "Toscanini’s Ice Cream, a mainstay for cool treats in Central Square since 1981, may not ever open again, and its owner, Gus Rancatore, owes the state’s Department of Revenue more than $167,000 in back taxes." (Thanks, Ron!) Another Update: The Web Outside is already running a campaign to save--or at......

--16-year-old Carlos Sierra was shot to death in Dorchester last night. At this time, the BPD is still searching for a motive. Police say a gray Honda was spotted leaving the scene. His family told the Globe that he was shot 13 times, and they feel he was targeted. [Boston Herald, Boston Globe] --Eight of 10 women in Massachusetts who are trying to get away from domestic violence can't find a space in shelters because......

--The BPD reported a sexual assault on Charter Street at about 8:00 am yesterday morning, in the thick of the snowstorm. Here is the perp's description: "The suspect is described as a light-skinned Hispanic male, approximately 6’0” in height, short hair, medium build, 25 - 30 years in age, wearing a gray-hooded sweatshirt and black pants." Police also think the same man was involved in a similar crime last summer. [BPD News, Boston Globe] --A......

--Dr. Judah Folkman, who found a new way of fighting cancer by cutting off blood supply to tumors, died yesterday. [Boston Globe] --After one meeting ended unsuccessfully, the Cambridge City Council decided that Denise Simmons would be mayor. [Cambridge Chronicle] --The judge in a Florida case involving former FBI agent/Friend-of-Whitey-Bulger John J. Connolly has recused herself. [Boston Herald] --Coyote ugly: An injured coyote was spotted and rounded up last night in the North End.......

--A parking rage incident turned so ugly in Chelsea early this morning that a man was shot in the stomach. The Chelsea police chief said the whole mess started solely because one parked car was "touching" another parked car. And this is what happens when people with anger-management issues have guns. [Boston Globe] --In a drug-related shooting, an innocent 68-year-old man was shot in the back in Roxbury after trying to defend his apartment building......

--18-year-old Darrion Carrington was shot and killed late last night in the front lobby of the Canton House in Dorchester. Police don't think it was random. However, it is scary that the assailant just walked into the restaurant and started firing. [BPD News, Boston Herald] --Cambridge police arrested a suspect in the shooting of a man at a party on Cherry Street on Sunday night. He was arrested on numerous charges: "possession to distribute a......

--Three firefighters were injured in a blaze in Weymouth. At first, officials suspected arson because the home was about to be sold, but they've since declared it accidental. [WBZ] --Firefighters could use a dose of good PR, but it's not coming. On the heels of cheating accusations, some firefighters are under suspicion of boosting their disability pensions by claiming their injuries took place when they were filling in for higher-paid superiors. [Boston Globe] --In a......

--This is borderline blotter and definitely dumbass. A South Boston high school set up a shooting range for its students. The shooting range is for Junior ROTC students and is in the basement at Monument High School. According to the Herald, "A school employee notified the Herald about the practice after seeing two teenagers firing weapons at targets without supervision or warning signs in a locked classroom in early December." Weren't school officials trying to......

--What is the mystery object pictured above? It was spotted off Willow Avenue in Somerville early Friday, and Big Fat Whale was there to capture the thing in motion. [Big Fat Whale] --Tensions among racial groups in the Fire Department and tensions between the firefighters' union and the panel that is supposed to overhaul the department have collided. After the firefighters' union demanded that its members resign from the panel, a black firefighter refused......