A vibrant shot of the fireworks over Scituate Harbor by Chris Devers. Check out his shot of the launch as well.......

Needham 4th of July parade, photo by Pappatom Fireworks lit up the skies of Greater Boston last night. From our perch on the Mass. Ave. bridge, we saw four fireworks displays, including the grandest of them all, the Boston Pops extravaganza. (The other three appeared to be in Newton, Somerville(?), and South Boston.) Contributors to the Bostonist photo pool have captured the festivities for those of you who were homebound or out-of-town. Shooting from......

Fireworks photo tagged Bostonist by Aero Racer E on Flickr Here are some more most-awesome modes of non-traditional celebration of an American tradition. Did that make sense? Probably not. Regardless: Fire It Up (Not the Grill) The state pretends it limits fireworks for our "safety," but maybe they just don't want us to have any fun. Massachusetts has some of the country's most restrictive fireworks code. Pennsylvania is the closest state with lax laws,......

We freely admit it, we just love sandcastlematt. Today's great shot of the Somerville Independence Day fireworks is another example of his always fun and vibrant photos.......

--"Operation Barber Shop" went into action on the day of the Red Sox's home opener, busting a Commonwealth-wide gambling ring after 15 months of investigation by local, state, and federal authorities. They raided 14 locations, arresting 36 people and collecting 33 laptops. [Boston Globe, Boston Herald] --A local man confessed to having been inside a Dorchester recording studio when four people were shot and killed there in 2005. He was sentenced 13 years for......

--First Night pictures are up! What you see above from Flickr user post406 is only a taste of the pictures you can find that are tagged "Bostonist" on Flickr. Thanks for adding your photos! --The L Street Brownies take a dip in the harbor. A really cool dip. [Boston Globe] --The state's minimum wage goes up to 8 bucks an hour today. [Boston Globe] --As the minimum wage went up, so went the tolls.......

Kind of a slow week on Series of Tubes (why it's a bit late) for the end of year, but we've got the goods. --Finally, someone else articulates why Celtic Woman is so weird. [Margalit] --Dan Kennedy had to talk about the whole Jamie Lynn Spears pregnancy to his own teenage daughter. Awkward. He writes, "I wish her to be gone from Zoey 101." [Media Nation/Guardian UK] --When the Patriots beat the Giants and got......