--Laurel Sweet at the Herald did a piece on the sharp rise in domestic violence in the state. The statistics are startling. She writes, "Authorities project that by New Year’s Eve 57 people will have died this year in Massachusetts because of domestic violence - a toll not seen in 15 years." Almost a year ago, the Phoenix made similar observations, noting that the media remains fascinated with endangered women, yet no one seems to......

View Larger Map During today's "Rolling Rally," be sure to thank Jacoby Ellsbury for stealing a base and earning everyone in the nation a free Crunchy Seasoned Beef Taco. If you are looking for a taco after the rally, your best bets are the Taco Bells on Comm Ave, at Cambridgeside Galleria, and in West Roxbury. Even if the promotion is somewhat absurd, at least according to the transcript of Royce Clayton and Coco Crisp......

--Boston revealed yet again that it is quick on the draw - maybe too quick - when it comes to terror threats. After disposing of a pedestrian counter downtown, the law investigated some funny-tasting white powder found in a water cooler in a South Boston high school Wednesday afternoon. The hazmat system around here is impressive. They had the people who drank the water tested, then they tested the water itself - only to find......

There's been blood spilled in one of the local malls. A multiple stabbing took place at the CambridgeSide Galleria last night. Three people were stabbed outside and then ran inside for help They are now recovering. The Herald mentioned that two of the victims ran up an escalator, which makes us wonder where they were trying to get to. One of them only made it as far as the first floor. Besides the public, dramatic......

This little gem came in on the tip line over lunch So what's filled with over 10,000 gallons of water and in Boston metro area? If you guessed "AQUARIUM." You're right. If you guessed "Best Buy at Cambridgeide." You're also right!As it turns out 10,000 gallons is a lot less than we thought, an Olympic Swimming Pool holds quite a bit more. 10,000 gallons (an imprecise calculation – probably more likely on the scale of......

Trolley service recently returned to the Lechmere station, replacing the bus service that had been the temporary replacement beyond North Station. Somervillionaires are debating the stops and length of an anticipated northern expansion of the Green Line. Today, in the latest Green Line development, ground was broken on North Point NorthPoint (hip one-word version, just like Charlie.) The construction project is a fairly intuitive idea – build housing where there's already transportation. It's easier, given......

September 17 terrorism comes to the Hub. The Boston Globe got hold of a memo outlining the plans for an upcoming terrorism drill to be conducted by federal officials and the City's office of homeland security. There is great value in staging drills, but there is a bit of complacency that comes along with knowing that a drill will happen. When the fire alarm goes off in the building it's a slow stroll out to......

If you happen to be a student in an extremely progressive high-school, letting you surf the internet during class hours, or in college – therefore giving you a worthy enough excuse to skip class (as if you couldn’t find any others), or a male between the ages of 15 and 40 (you dirty old lech) … then this might be your lucky day! Word has it that Amanda Bynes will be at the Cambridgeside Galleria......

Earlier this week, Bostonist was busy using up some Best Buy gift cards at the Cambridgeside Galleria. There was a noticeable lack of activity on a Tuesday evening, just after dinnertime. Wandering through the empty rows of stores we wondered what might be the fate of the large Filene’s that occupies the space – will Cambridgeside see the transition to Macy’s, Bloomies? We thought for a second on the question and then just went to......

In other parts of the world, stampedes are pretty much reserved for passion-inspiring subjects like soccer and religious pilgrimages. In this country, we stampede for post-Thanksgiving bargains. Bostonist doesn’t know who fares better in that comparison (being not especially enamored of soccer, religion, or shopping), but we generally start to feel a little disgusted as the holiest day in the retail calendar approaches. This year was no exception, and we swore on Thursday night that......

Being a hopeless romantic, one of Bostonist's guilty pleasures is reading the missed connections section of craigslist. Originally meant to help flash-in-the-pan flirtations develop into lasting booty-call relationships, missed connections has become the catch-all home for messages to unknown or unseen parties, ranging from the you-were- hot-but-I-didn't-have- the-gumption-to-talk- to-you posts to more cryptic fare. Closest to Bostonist's heart, though, is the pining letter to a loved one who has gone away. Why do we mention......

Bostonist doesn't recall the local shopping mall as an unsafe location growing up in our teen years, but in Holyoke no one under the age of 18 will be allowed into the local mall (after 4 p.m. on weekends) without parental accompaniment or proper identification. The reported problem is that large "gangs" of children shoplift and their presence is scaring away older clientele from the mall. The mall claims that since the policy was implemented,......

Veronica Mars is the best quippy cute high schooler on television since Buffy Summers. No joke. Veronica Mars swings like vintage early Buffy, but instead of demon fighting we have a teenage private eye trying to solve the mystery of her best friend's murder. The show is noirish and funny and a thoroughly satisfying watch. You may have missed it thanks to the fact that it's on Tuesdays at 9 PM on UPN. Give......