View Larger Map Update: The Cambridge Chronicle is reporting that the pedestrian died. The Boston Herald added that he was "dragged to his death" and that a bystander ran after the driver trying to get him to stop. If you were wondering why all the bus drivers were taking unusual paths around Central Square today, word got out on b0st0n livejournal that a pedestrian was hit by a Shaw's tractor-trailer at Mass Ave and Prospect......

--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,......

--Somebody left an Aqua Teen memento at Fenway. Mayor Menino is not amused. [WCVB] --Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow, so it's six more weeks of winter. [AP/Boston Globe] --As the Super Bowl approaches, people in Arizona are looking for creative ways to make money, such as renting their home on Super Bowl weekend and throwing some strippers into the bargain. [Eye on Foxborough] --Speaking of the Super Bowl, we're plugging our fingers in our......

--A man was shot yesterday afternoon on Dorchester Avenue in what the Herald describes as an "ambush from behind." The 20-year-old victim was taken to the hospital but later died from his wounds. [BPD News, Boston Herald] --Fallout from the BPD officer arrested for holding up a Roslindale gas station. The family of Michael T. Jones is surprised. His mother added a few more details about him and said that he took time off from......

Councilor John Tobin thinks that Dominic Luberto, the man whose "Christmas Castle" bathes Jamaica Plain in holiday light, is courting disaster. Tobin wants Luberto to hire a police detail because he thinks gawkers driving past the "Christmas Castle" might cause a car accident. It's a legitimate question. One of Luberto's neighbors said recently, "I love the lights. I just don't want anybody to get killed." Luberto is rebuffing Tobin's suggestion. He told WHDH that the......

--A man who was shot on Friday night in Roxbury died at the hospital yesterday. Ruel Davis, 20, was shot on Walnut Avenue and Rockland Street. Davis' murderer was cold-blooded. O'Ryan Johnson reports that the shooter walked around Davis' body and kept firing until he thought the job was done: "Witnesses said the gunman coolly paced around the victim and continued shooting the man as he laid on the sidewalk outside the Walnut Avenue apartment......

-- Police shot and killed a corrections officer last night. Marquis Barker, 38, an officer at Nashua Street Jail, was gunned down after stealing a police cruiser and leading officers on a chase through Dorchester and Mattapan. Police responding to calls found Barker out of control outside his Dorchester home, wielding what appeared to be a handgun. Barker begged police to shoot and kill him before escaping in the police cruiser. After crashing the cruiser......

John Fulton Reading With Joshua Henkin Brookline Booksmith Tonight, October 22, 7:00 pm Free Fulton's Official Site John Fulton doesn't go for sly pop-culture references or verbal pyrotechnics in his short-story collection The Animal Girl. Instead, he zooms in on the emotions of his older characters who are attempting to find love. With Match.com and eHarmony, dating and romance seem easy and ordinary topics, but Fulton throws obstacles in the paths of his characters, and......

--More on the man who was shot to death early Sunday morning on New Whitney Street. The Globe reports that he was 22-year-old Shawndel Mitchell. Mitchell was a dancer and a Harry Potter fan. He attended the Boston Arts Academy and was taking courses to be an EMT. The Metro spoke with friends who called him a "superstar." He is Boston's 53rd homicide victim this year. --Early this morning, two people died and four people......

Happy first weekend of September - and happy Labor Day weekend, too, for our American cities! Let's take a look at what's been happening around the Ist-a-verse. The deaths of two firefighters shook Bostonist this week. Boston's firefighters bent over backwards all week long - first, they fought flames pouring from the Boston Tea Party museum, and then a restaurant fire killed two and injured many more. Their efforts make everything else - like Tom......

-- Some people just won't take no for an answer: after police ordered three people to leave an apartment in South Boston at about 3 a.m. Sunday morning, all three were back about an hour later. So were police. The suspects assured police that the leasee, "Rick," had given them permission to be there. Turns out that "Rick" doesn't live there - or, at least, isn't on the lease. David McCarthy, 40, and Pauline Zukowski,......

First, the Patriots draft troubled but talented safety Brandon Meriweather. Now, they trade for talented but troubled wide receiver Randy Moss, for a fourth-round pick and a round of KFC Famous Bowls. Is Bill Belichick trying to start a gang? Or is he convinced that he can take these miscreants and ne'er-do-wells and mold them into a Super Bowl team? Our money is on the latter. "There's no such thing as a bad boy," said......

Three kids left alone in their Roxbury apartment yesterday started playing with matches and set the place on fire. The oldest of the children was six, which raises the question, "Where was Mom or Dad?" The good news is that firefighters and neighbors were able to rescue the children in time. The Country Club Owner Murder-Suicide that emerged yesterday really is turning into a TV movie of the week. Neighbors are suggesting that financial problems......

The Coast Guard is looking for another Massachusetts boat lost at sea. The Lady Luck, which was off Maine, sent a distress signal and hasn't been heard from since. An absolute monster killed a seal with a shotgun blast. A spokesman from the New England Aquarium told the Globe, "This was not any great hunting. This was somebody who took aim, probably from a relatively short distance, at an animal who had no fear of......

Two teenagers were stabbed at the Savin Hill T stop. They're going to be fine, but the police haven't caught the assailants. A tragedy unfolded in Lexington following a car accident. On Friday, two brothers were riding together when their car crashed, rolled, and struck a tree. One brother died. The other brother who was driving the car may be facing charges because police say alcohol was a factor. The Coast Guard found the boat......

Bostonist has had its share of mortifying moments, with most involving inserting our foot into our mouth with the likeliness of alcohol being involved. We’re sure you too have cringed at the memory of some of your less-than perfect moments. So why not share those moments on stage in front of an audience? “Mortified” is a show that shares one’s most personal, embarrassing moments being read aloud on stage and it opens tomorrow night in......

Many buildings around the Hub are grandfathered, but those with new construction must comply with the American with Disabilities Act. The Act, signed fifteen years ago today by President Bush the elder, requires new and public facilities to be accessible by disabled persons. After spending a couple months in a wheelchair following a car accident, Bostonist became aware of all the challenges to getting that around people with disabilities face day in and day out,......

When two regular guys found a cache of antique banknotes buried in Methuen on Monday, Bostonist predicted that a visit to the courts would be in their future. Who would have guessed it would happen so soon? Barry Billcliff and Tim Crebase were arrested this morning on larceny and related charges after police determined that they fabricated the discovery, having actually taken the currency from a house where they were doing roofing work. Apparently,......