Image tagged Bostonist by shoothead Get your Free Vicente Lebron t-shirt before they release him! [Somerville Blog] Coolidge Corner Arcade owner Earle Leeder has died. [Brookline TAB] What do John McCain, Paris Hilton, and Britney Spears have in common? Plenty, it turns out! [Jezebel] Watertown councilor Marilyn Devaney will get probation and apologize for her beauty store assault and battery charges. [Wicked Local Cambridge] Boston Magazine releases its "Best of Boston 2008" five months......

1913 MARRIAGE LAW REPEALED At noon today, Governor Patrick made official the repeal of the 1913 law that bars out of state couples from marrying in the Commonwealth. Originally drafted in response to interracial marriage, proponents of the law claimed that the issue was one of states' rights and that a repeal would be a way for liberal Massachusetts to export gay marriage to the rest of the country. Whether we will become the "Las......

The House of Representatives has voted 118-35 to strike down the state's 1913 law that prevents people from getting married here if they couldn't legally get married in their home state. Originally passed as a way of preventing uppity interracial couples from coming here for a quickie wedding, it looked like one of those quaint and ridiculous "no putting squirrels down your pants for the purpose of gambling" laws. Until it became relevant again, when......

Karla Brooks Baehr is the new deputy education commissioner. [Herald] Zoos are fighting over who owns baby Knute--and who gets his revenue. [Guardian] We may repeal a law preventing out-of-staters from getting married here. [Globe] Midnight's Children is the best Booker book. [Independent] Cicada jewelry is creeping us out. [WBZTV] Kids under 8 must now be in car or booster seats in cars... or else. Traffic accidents are the #1 cause of death for......

Manny sat out today's game with an icy hamstring. [Red Sox] Marriage is not necessarily any awesomer for gay people than it is for straight ones. [New York Times] The Patricks march in the Pride Parade. (Stay tuned for our parade gallery!) [WBZTV] The MBTA caught on fire. Again. Maybe it should be news if a week passes without something going up in flames? [WBZTV] New Hampshire man who rubbed elbows with Thomas Edison......

--Headline on WBZ: "Storm Fails to Break December Storm Record." While we don't want to be too hard on our local weatherheads, shouldn't that really read "Weatherheads Fail to Predict Size of Storm"? [WBZ] --Civil unions will be legal in New Hampshire as of midnight tonight. Yes! Ceremonies will be "subdued" because New Hampshire isn't exactly the Ramrod crowd. [Boston Globe] --Even though the NFL eventually let their rivals air the Patriots-Giants game Saturday,......

As any Massachusetts resident well knows, former governor and Republican presidential aspirant Mitt Romney can transform himself overnight. One minute, he's the moderate governor of a liberal state. The next, he's a staunch conservative who claims that he somehow tamed the residents of that state. In the second and last installment of the Year in Mitt Mashups, we'll look at the various disguises Romney wears: An Osmond Mitt Romney has never shied away from being......

--When word got out that Mayor Menino wanted to bring in a petting zoo to revitalize Downtown Crossing, we thought it was a joke. But it turns out that the barnyard animals are at the crossing on weekends outside Filene's Basement. Animal activists are underwhelmed, and how can looking at sad, cold animals inspire people to shop? [Boston Herald] --Wondering what all the screaming was about early yesterday evening at Downtown Crossing? It didn't......

Former Massachusetts governor and current presidential aspirant Mitt Romney is probably off somewhere kicking himself right now. One of his biggest supporters, Senator Larry Craig, a Republican from Idaho, allegedly engaged in "lewd conduct in a men's room" at the Minneapolis airport. We'll let you use your own imagination - just see our past post about individuals who are "Lewd at Logan." On paper, Craig was an ideal match for Romney in the nonsexual sense.......

--Lowe's Home Improvement stores have been getting a heap of negative publicity. First, their banner on the Boston Globe website's home page obscured the big news that legislators voted down the gay marriage ban. (See Adam and Spatch's appropriate sarcasm regarding these obtrusive Internet ads.) But it gets worse. The Lowe's brass is probably cringing at the news that a shootout erupted at the Danvers Lowe's last night. Imagine, you're at Lowe's, you're picking up......

Protestors on Beacon Hill voiced their opposition to a great many things today—gay marriage, a proposed (and soon defeated) ballot question on gay marriage, Nazism, and even specific sexual positions:......

Lawmakers voted down the proposal to add a measure to ban gay marriage on the 2008 ballot. The vote was 45 for adding the ban to the ballot and 151 against. WBZ has also posted the roll call vote so you can find out who to send a thank-you card. Or a nastygram, depending on the case. Now that Pride has wrapped up, it couldn't have happened at a better time. A whole lot......

From the "You Do Know There's an Election Today, Right?" department: Tomorrow is the election for the person who replace former State Senate President Robert Travaglini, affectionately known around here as "T-Vag." Anyone who lives in the First Suffolk and Middlesex District (parts of Boston, Cambridge, Revere, and Winthrop) will be interested. So let's get started. The men who want to replace T-Vag in the hearts and minds of Democrats are Dan Rizzo and Anthony......

All across the Ist-A-Verse (or at least the American parts thereof), writers and editors are in the midst of enjoying their three-day weekend. But after the week we've all had, we feel like the break is not only needed, but deserved. Just look at everything we've been doing! Gothamist headed into the Memorial Day weekend with a number of tasks accomplished. They worried about Long Islanders giving New Yorkers a bad name. They tried......

Former (we say that with relief!) Massachusetts governor and presidential aspirant Mitt Romney has been making quite a few enemies this week. Let's find out who is on his sh*t list now: --The entire state of Massachusetts. Romney's latest commercial never utters the word "Massachusetts," but it isn't exactly flattering to the people who elected him. The commercial claims, "In the toughest place, Mitt Romney's done the toughest things." Oh, yeah? If his argument is......

With L'Affaire Sharpton, L'Affaire Duck Hunt, and L'Affaire Hair, former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney is building quite a national reputation. It may not be the reputation he wants, but we think it might be time to start a weekly roundup of Mitt's exploits as he runs for president. --Romney claims that he's found religion – of sorts – when it comes to abortion. Even though he was pro-choice, and everyone knows he's pro-choice, and his......

Massachusetts lawmakers are putting off the inevitable ugly battle over whether or not to put a gay marriage ban on the ballot. Lawmakers approved putting the ban on the ballot once, but they have to approve it a second time. The ballot ban has become a political hot potato. And no matter how long they wait - this time until June 14 - it's still going to be hot. We oppose adding the ban to......

We can't make fun of Senate President Robert Travaglini, lovingly known as "T-Vag," anymore. T-Vag (not to be confused with "T-Weed" of I Love New York fame) has announced that he's leaving that he is leaving the guv'mint for a higher-paying job. $90,000 dollars a year wasn't enough for him, so he's moving on to bigger and better things. The Globe says T-Vag will launch "a lobbying company that would help clients navigate the political......

Sunday. Usually, a quiet, contemplative day in the Blogosphere. But not here in the Ist-a-Verse. Nonono! Just look below and see all of the wild and crazy stuff our staffs are up to. In Austin, bands are beginning to confirm for SXSW and the rumor mill is up and running. Good thing, too, because we all know how much Austinites love live performances. Austin also found itself in the national spotlight, with Longhorn Legend......

The Legislature passed the proposed amendment to ban on gay marriage on the 2008 ballot. Even though 134 legislators don't want the ban on the ballot, all it takes is 50 legislators to move the amendment forward, and 62 legislators voted "yes." This is a setback, not just for those who deserve the right to marry whomever they want but also for Deval Patrick, who took a strong stand against the amendment, using tough......

The Supreme Judicial Court gave Mitt Romney and his conservative cohorts a mild smacking today when the justices ruled that they cannot force legislators to vote on whether or not a proposal to ban gay marriage should be on the 2008 ballot. This ruling is the latest in a set of complex legal wranglings, which Bostonist has explained here and here, that started when the Legislature recessed before voting on the proposed ballot measure. Romney......

Outside the State House during the Constitutional Convention, which may or may not vote on a proposed amendment to ban gay marriage Afternoon of November 9, 2006 Update: (37-5) x (dude+lady) - (heart+heart+heart)/0 + 6,000,000,000 + 9000/(51+2) - 38 + heart + heart = tabled till January......

Hot on the heels of his feature film debut in Jesus Camp (Bostonist's most enthusiastic movie pick in October), megapreacher Ted Haggard faces allegations of methamphetamine use and indiscretions with a male prostitute. Haggard was (until last night) president of the National Association of Evangelicals and senior pastor of New Life Church in Colorado Springs, where you can rent a "prayer closet" for $25 per night and apparently give new meaning to the phrase for......

This has been a rough week for your -ist pals, though you wouldn't know it from the great posts all over the network. Plagued with server problems, our tech team (led by the great Neil Epstein) toiled around the clock to solve the glitches as they arose. Seriously, we've said, typed, and thought the phrase "server problems" more in the past week than we have for the last 35 years combined. Why not say it......

Yesterday was supposed to be the big day for the proposed constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage. The Supreme Judicial Court had just ruled that the proposed amendment was legally kosher, the constitutional convention was slated to begin, and Senate President Travaglini had said he would make sure the amendment got a vote and wasn't postponed indefinitely by parliamentary maneuvers. (To get on the ballot, the amendment must be approved by two consecutive sittings......

The Supreme Judicial Court ruled yesterday that a proposed constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage is not unconstitutional. The Globe described this as "a major victory" for bigots opponents of same-sex marriage, but honestly, any other outcome would have been something of a shock. The case turned on a provision of the state constitution that prevents amendments designed to reverse an earlier judicial decision. The argument against the current proposed amendment was that, since it......

Bostonist has said a lot in the past about gay marriage, and we thought we were done beating that particular dead horse. Unfortunately, with things going badly in Iraq and corruption taking center stage in Washington, the President has gone and revived the issue, once again holding up Massachusetts as the activist-judge inhabited Gomorrah that Bostonist always dreamed of inhabiting. But this time, Bostonist will resist the urge to blather on in our unabashedly partisan......

With each passing day of torrential rains, Bostonist was becoming more and more convinced that God was visiting Her wrath on Massachusetts for the whole gay marriage thing. Then we finally got around to looking at the newspaper and learned that Maine and New Hampshire, along with Massachusetts, had declared states of emergency, and we realized that if this is divine wrath, it was provoked by something else. That said, we sure are tired of......

While waiting in the bathroom line at the Diesel, Bostonist caught zombie overlord Alli Auldridge putting up a poster for Zombie March 2006. When cornered, Ms. Auldridge revealed her plans: on Saturday, April 29th, the local undead will walk from Davis Square to Harvard Square in search of a decent brain to eat. How long do you expect Zombie March 2006 to last? Are we talking about traditional, slowly-lurching Dawn of the Dead zombies,......

As Bostonist's non-lawyer friends stumble into work today and read the paper, they keep e-mailing us and asking, "Bostonist, you law-talking person, how is it that the Supreme Judicial Court can rule that a ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional generally, but OK when applied to out-of-state couples?" Allow us to explain. This case involves a challenge to an old law that says no one from out-of-state can get married here if they would be......