--Pants not here, pants not there, pants not anywhere! [Boston Globe, WCVB] --Good thing No Pants 2K8 was yesterday because a nasty snowstorm is coming in overnight, with the worst of it tomorrow morning. We're talking a foot during the commute. Find a way to stay home tomorrow. [WCVB] --Tips on parking, shoveling, etc., in a snow emergency. [Bostonist] --Are you a state employee? Your insurance premiums might be going up soon. [Boston Globe]......

--An 18-month-old baby girl from East Somerville was kidnapped, allegedly by her own aunt. WBZ reports that Somerville police found the baby today. Four people were arrested in the kidnapping of Hayden Augustin-Laurent, and one of them was her aunt, Ketia Valmont. Two detectives were hurt because one of those arrested went after them with a baseball bat. Auditi Guha at the Somerville Journal reports that the kidnapping may have resulted from a fight over......

--Framingham Police had to deal with a perp so drunk and unruly on Sunday that they had to hold his head still when they snapped him for his mugshot. According to the MetroWest Daily News, Sandro Romero's wild night started when police happened upon Romero's friends, who were trying to take him home. Even though they got him home, the officer involved got called back due to reports of a "screaming man." While being booked,......

--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......

-Some Blotter days are longer than others … --After two teenagers were shot this morning as kids were going to school in Dorchester, police officers swarmed on the neighborhood in search of a suspect who they thought was hiding out in a triple decker on Hendry Street. Globe reporters said the BPD was at the triple decker for two hours before deciding it was empty and that the shooter took off. The victims' wounds are......

--Police Commissioner Edward Davis has reacted to the information that corruption in the Boston Police Department might have extended beyond former officer Roberto Pulido and his sketchy crew. He even put a video on YouTube declaring that he will investigate the allegations. He said, "I will continue to press for the strictest sanctions against police corruption so that the excellent police work that I see every day from our officers will not be tarnished."......

--A former MBTA employee is in trouble for allegedly selling fake discount passes. Casey Ross reports that Giovanni Francis, 19, was selling discount passes for the elderly and blind to people who a) weren't old and b) could see just fine. T police caught them trying to sneak through on those passes, and video of the fake blind people is available on WCVB's site. Francis used to be a sales associate for the T. He......

…maybe because he is your average elderly tourist! Back when the FBI was posting pictures of an old white guy on its website because they thought it was Whitey Bulger, Bostonist wrote, "The particular pair in the photo look like any other upper-class retired couple looking for a European wine-tasting. If it isn't Whitey Bulger, then the retired couple mistaken for Bulger and Grieg are in for quite a surprise." And guess what? An old......

--Don't mess with the elderly in this city. They are not easy targets. A guy found that out when he tried to steal an old woman's purse at the Downtown Crossing T stop. On Wednesday night, Christopher Linehan, 29, of Dorchester, tried to snatch the purse of the unidentified 79-year-old woman. Neither party would let go of the purse, so Linehan tried dragging the woman to one of the black turnstiles. Good Samaritans started blocking......

Aye Caramba! Just in time for what promises to the most caliente Labor Day weekend in Boston history: if you mix up a mojito, do not rim the glass with flavored salt. No joke. The FDA says that the Stirrings, Inc., makers of Rimmer® Brand Mojito Cocktail Garnish have voluntarily recalled their green, minty salt-sugar mix nationwide because it has the potential to be contaminated with Salmonella. Rimmer® is sold everywhere in the U.S.,......

Londonist are starting to think their city is getting just a little bit too expensive, when even Christian Slater can't afford to go out there. And there's no escaping, as local singer Lily Allen discovered when she was barred entry to the US. The British mapping agency caused further bad karma, by blocking a 3-D representation of London in Google Earth. But the smiles returned to Londonist's faces as they interviewed Baroness von Reichardt,......

Two years ago the shag hit the floor. This time it wasn't carpeting but rather an alarm clock with wheels that ran away from the user. Clocky was developed by MIT student Gauri Nanda. In December we heard that the prototype had moved from the Alpha to Beta version and finally into production. Clocky was in commercial production with a promise that the runaway alarm clock would make it off the nightstand of the tech-loving......

--A woman drowned in Jamaica Pond yesterday night. The BPD has identified her as 43-year-old DeAngela Fuller. Her young son was on the shore and saw her go into the water. Her boyfriend, who had stepped away on an errand, called 911. Firefighters pulled her from the water, but she died at the hospital. While it may be tempting, people are not supposed to swim at the pond – it is 53 feet deep. The......

-- 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,......

Update: Good Blotter news! Thank you, tipsters, for spreading the word. Police found Starsha Tupper through bank records, and she is safe, according to the Gloucester Times. --If you're a robber, and you're looking for the big bucks, where are you gonna go? Isn't it obvious? The Yankee Candle store! Some robber dressed all in black held up the Yankee Candle at Quincy Market yesterday afternoon. Boy, he must be a thug – he wears......

Holy smokes! Giant fish on the MTA, Paris Hilton in jail, then out, then in again, Al Gore, goatses, blumpkins, Matt Damon, and baby art critics! It's been a busy week across the Ist-A-Verse, and here's a smattering of what's been going on. In Gothamist's neck of the woods, they found out that many things are possible: A man caught a 40+ pound fish off the Rockaways and took it home on the subway. Graffiti......

Well, when it comes to accidents, we sure are careful! Don't be fooled by the Blotter! Our rate of accidental deaths is low compared to the rest of the nation. Yeah, it surprised us, too, especially since the ink maker and paint maker behind the November Danvers explosion just got cited with 23 health and safety violations. But good for us! The National Safety Council says "Massachusetts had the lowest accidental death rate at 20.6......

--In Everett, 26-year-old Stacy Russo robbed an apartment – and she took her baby along for the ride. She used her own daughter's baby carriage has a handy place to stash her ill-gotten gains. But the baby was in the carriage at the time and probably didn't appreciate having to share her space with a bunch of extra stuff. Russo then took her baby for a wild ride to a Dunkin' Donuts, where police caught......

We've seen teenagers sneaking beer out of neighbors' garage fridges. We've seen people stealing the equipment used to brew beer. But we've never heard of a beer holdup. The BPD reports that a guy was walking out of a convenience store in East Boston with a 12-pack when another guy told him "to hand over the beer or something bad was going to happen." The victim figured a 12-pack of beer wasn't worth dying over,......

--Three separate stabbing incidents tied up the BPD last night. Later in the evening, a man was found in the South End with stab wounds. He's in stable condition. Then another man was found stabbed in the back in the South End and was taken to the hospital. A man was found stabbed early this morning in Mattapan, and he later died of his injuries. --Citizens of Medford and Somerville must be relieved. Police arrested......

Adam at Universal Hub first brought this to our attention, then we heard it on WBZ in the car: it's a brilliant Gil Santos mashup in which he simultaneously announces the opening day games of all four of our local teams. That Zdeko Brady Matsuzaka is a hell of an athlete, leading the league in assists, RBIs, and completion percentage. The Red Sox joined the growing number of MLB teams who've had to cancel games......

--The gang who couldn't shoot straight has struck again, and a five-year-old boy was the victim of their error. A family stopped in Dorchester at Harbor Point and was driving to Malden when someone thought they were suspicious, enemies, wearing the wrong colors, whatever. So they started shooting at the car on I-93 near the Zakim Bridge. These individuals hit the little kid in the backseat. He is now in fair condition at the hospital......

--As Quinntessa Blackwell died, the victim of a shooting in broad daylight, she uttered the words, "Cedric." And the young man who got shot at Centre and Highland was named "Cedrick." The revenge motive automatically springs to mind. Local media started putting two and two together right away. Boston isn't Dodge City, and, no matter how the movies glamorize it, vigilante justice isn't the best idea. Besides, what if the killer or killers got the......

Let's just set aside the Celtics current troubles and cheer for Gerald Green, who won the NBA All-Star Slam Dunk contest with skill and some serious showmanship. Green needed to be flashy because the All-Star events were already set in the shiny, sparkly city of Las Vegas, and he lived up to the landscape. With Paul Pierce as his set-up man, Green competed against Orlando's Dwight Howard, Chicago's Tyrus Thomas, and last year's winner, Nate......

After the groper and the shouter from yesterday, it seems that everything settled down a little bit last night. The big news is the potentially large blotter that might result if people don't start shoveling their sidewalks. According to Fox 25, you'll get fined if you don't shovel, and 4,000 citations have been given since Wednesday. If you are a business or homeowner reading this, and you haven't been shoveling - then start! Not only......

The mercury hit 70 three weeks ago, didn't it? Overnight tonight forecasters are calling for single digit temperatures, tomorrow they'll barely break into the double digits. Wind chill temps will make it seem like the temps are actually below freezing. These bitter cold temperatures will combine with sustained northwest winds of 15 to 20 mph to produce below zero wind chills. Wind chills will drop to between 5 and 15 below zero late tonight... and......

Hey, don't blame Bostonist if the door hits Mitt Romney's behind a few times in one day as he vacates the corner office. Not only did the SJC deny him the chance to force legislators to vote on a measure that would put banning same-sex marriage on the ballot (not a total victory, but not terrible, either), but governor-elect Deval Patrick has thumbed his nose at the man he will replace by restoring the old......

Some people don't give crime a rest over the holidays, especially when they're under pressure to put presents under the tree. Today's BPD Blotter was filled up with people trying to fill their gift obligations at any cost. This morning's post had the following jarring change in tone: "Merry Christmas / Bank Window Smashed." (The police didn't get the perp.) Then, two guys took last-minute Christmas shopping way too seriously and tried to liberate $1,000......

Hey, have y'all been using our new "Recommend this" feature at the bottom of each post? This week we're bringing you the "Most Recommended" posts from across the -ist world, as well as recommending some of our own. Phillyist thinks that readers recommended this post the most because "most of our quieter readers (probably) agree with us that rude commenting sucks." Know what else sucks? Philly's not getting the Olympics, but they are getting thinner.......

It’s been a bad run for Boston lately. The tunnel collapse, the botched detours, the political infighting and the ever-increasing number of bad bolts, all this bum news can really get a person down. Unless, like 76-year old Mark Smith (former owner of Finagle-A-Bagel), you're kept up! up! up! by a $200/day coke habit. Although his addiction reportedly decimated his profits from the sale of his company, he used some of the remaining funds to......