Word is out that there's a plague of rats in the city. Not that it's anything new. Rats fall in and out of vogue in Boston media all the time. Around this time last year, the Globe did a story on a rat invasion in the Back Bay. For the record, the Back Bay did not handle it well. In the latest story, David Abel at the Globe reports that rat complaints are up: "In......

A survey was released saying that Bostonians aren't very good about washing their hands after blowing their nose or taking out the garbage. Now, we've seen some shameful displays of hygiene (or the lack thereof) on the T during cold season, but we've assumed that these noseblowers aren't representative of Boston in general. Boston ranked 21st out of 25 cities when it came to hand-washing frequency, with only St. Louis, Philadelphia, Portland (OR), and Denver......

--Meet Dirus Gaines, a man with an iron constitution. Mr. Gaines' seemingly lifeless body was found by the railroad tracks on Wednesday afternoon in Framingham. Gaines exhibited all the signs of being dead – no movement, eyes rolled back in head, odd position of body. Then, Gaines "suddenly" awakened and displayed his beverage of choice, a bottle of blackberry brandy. And here's the best part – Gaines is awfully lively when he's not completely pickled:......

--Police have released a sketch of the man they believe to be responsible for the two attacks on women on the Esplanade and one attack in South Boston. Again, here is a description: "A black man, 28 to 32 years old, 5 feet 10 inches tall, about 220 pounds with a muscular build and a shaved head. The man was wearing a sleeveless T-shirt and dark-colored jeans." We're also posting the police sketch. Police have......

What with Paris Hilton's release earlier this week and the upcoming celebration of American Independence (sorry, Londonist!), we've been thinking a lot about freedom. Freedom to vote, freedom to choose, and most importantly, freedom to blog. Here are a few things we're happy we've been free to blog about this week. Being the nation's capital, DCist felt especially proud to let freedom ring this week by exposing the really important issues, like how sad they......

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......

Six men, including two men from Boston, have been indicted for prostituting teenage girls. The charges include "conspiracy to transport minors across state lines for prostitution." These people placed ads in the paper or kidnapped teenagers off the street and put them to work. And these alleged scumbags fancied themselves pimps and gave themselves big pimpin' names, such as "Young Stallion," "Syncere," "Ruby Black," "Young Indian," and "Breeze." The last guy, from Portland, Maine, is......

Boston just got its own food scare thanks to tabloid TV show Inside Edition. They brought their "Rat Patrol" into several restaurants, including the Quincy Market McCormick & Schmick's, Ruth's Chris, China Pearl, and other establishments. After having to sit through some crap about Anna Nicole's momma, we discovered that Inside Edition really does have a dedicated "Rat Patrol" of five people standing around and looking tough while they sniff out rats under the cover......

"Enough is enough. I am bitterly disappointed, as I'm sure all Yankee fans are, by the lack of performance by our team," said Yankee owner George Steinbrenner. But in the same statement, he reaffirmed his faith in manager Joe Torre and GM Brian Cashman to right the ship. With rumors of a deathwatch swirling in the Bronx, it will be real interesting (and, from Boston's perspective, joyous) to check the Boss' pulse after the next......

If you hear a howling on the wind, it probably isn't coming from the nearby fraternity house. It's breeding season for coyotes, and they're hungry, which means that Fido and Mittens and all your little furry friends have something else to worry about besides tainted pet food. Coyotes have killed a terrier and injured a Lab in Newton. If you find yourself and your pet surrounded by coyotes, a representative from Fisheries and Wildlife says,......

In the grand American tradition of public humiliation which Nathaniel Hawthorne so lovingly depicted in The Scarlet Letter, Boston residents will soon get "Hester Prynned" – not because they've been fooling around but because they aren't paying their trash bills. The city is going to list the names and addresses of those who don't pay their trash bills on the city website. That smells like a privacy violation, but nasty garbage piling up smells pretty......

Yesterday, a newborn baby was found dead in a garbage truck in Milford. A garbage person discovered the body, and now police are trying to find the parents. It can't be said enough that this tragedy could have been avoided. Massachusetts has a Safe Haven Law that "allows a parent to legally surrender newborn infants 7 days old or younger at a hospital, police station or manned fire station without facing criminal prosecution." Bostonist has......

Breaking the law, breaking the law We -ist folks love us some crime, and no misdemeanor is too petty for a post on any of our sites. This week, join us for a rogues' gallery of miscreants major, minor, and alleged. Gothamist gets us started with "Law & Order", muppet style. Oh, you know what isn't a crime? Taking pictures on the MTA. So, why are cops stopping photographers? In other Gotham crime, a......

With all the social networking sites out there it’s just so hard. Did we remember to check myspace and friendster for bulletins? Is our Hey Lets Go group up to date? What’s going on on Upcoming.org – is there a hot new group we’re missing? We’re not going to stop checking all those sites, but we’re going to add to our list. Tourfilter.com popped up on the radar early this month and we’re digging on......

Tired of hilarity, cool time-lapse views, and Red Sox related videos we’re bringing you this rather informative clip about solar energy today. Menino just released the city’s budget for the next year, it’s higher than last year and not surprisingly there are some critics of what is included and excluded. Bostonist is just curious about the solar powered garbage cans (at $4,200 a pop they’ve got to be cool). We hope that they’ll be safe......

When we heard the MBTA was going to bring Charlie and all his accompanying fancy kiosks and turnstiles to our morning destination stop of South Station, we thought..."eh." In defense, this less-than-enthusiastic response to the T's announcement of actual(?) service improvement was based solely on past experiences with 1) Porter Square stop's escalators and 2) South Station's "bomb containing" garbage cans, the lids of which are always sitting neatly on the nearby ground. "Ah,......

Here at Bostonist headquarters, the staff may not agree on whether Valentine's Day is legit or whether it is just the creation of a card company to create a profit, (mostly due to the relationship status of the individual), but we do love music and have compiled some suggestions for you and yours on this special day. Find below a few suggestions from our staff for your evening of love, like, or lust. Josh......

Tom Brady’s week can be summed up best with a reference to eclectic director Quentin Tarantino’s latest film(s), the Kill Bills. In the movie Kill Bill Vol. 1, David Carradine’s character “Bill” finds his former cohort and lover, Uma Thurman’s character, Beatrice Kiddo (a.k.a., the Black Mamba, the most deadly woman in the world) in a small Midwestern town on the eve of her wedding. Beatrice, who has obviously left her former life as an......

Someone please enlighten the masses and tell them - Why the hell are teams still pitching to David Ortiz? Are they HIGH?!? Bostonist is so *not* complaining but it makes no sense! With a most triumphant display of power Tuesday night, El Gran Papi is approaching an almost God-like mastery of the people pitching to him. The Red Sox faithful might as well start calling him "Ortizus Christ" because, well, his will is law. Last......

With the a Boston Film Festival going on this week Bostonist is on the lookout for anything that might give respite from the usual summertime fare at one of the local megaplexes. There are only so many indie films one can see at the Kendall, Coolidge or Harvard theaters without longing for the more comfortable seats at the Loews Boston Common. On Sunday night Bostonist attended a screening for "Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang", a murder......

Today is Bastille Day, marking the day in 1789 when French people stormed a prison known for arbitrary imprisonment on the king's orders, to show their support for the creation of a constitutional, rather than absolute, monarchy. (Trading in one sort of monarchy for another seems like a half measure these days, but it was rather something at the time.) Shortly thereafter, in August, the new French government would proclaim the Declaration of the Rights......

The lamps, trashcans, cones, and chairs went back out this morning to mark parking spaces dug out of the snow this morning…but according to Meninio tomorrow will be the last day. A couple of weeks ago Mayor Meninio said that he’s only giving Bostonians 48 hours after a snow emergency to mark their spots in our decade old tradition. The Globe reported this weekend that he gracefully extended this limitation to four days, he said......