--A parking rage incident turned so ugly in Chelsea early this morning that a man was shot in the stomach. The Chelsea police chief said the whole mess started solely because one parked car was "touching" another parked car. And this is what happens when people with anger-management issues have guns. [Boston Globe] --In a drug-related shooting, an innocent 68-year-old man was shot in the back in Roxbury after trying to defend his apartment building......

--This is borderline blotter and definitely dumbass. A South Boston high school set up a shooting range for its students. The shooting range is for Junior ROTC students and is in the basement at Monument High School. According to the Herald, "A school employee notified the Herald about the practice after seeing two teenagers firing weapons at targets without supervision or warning signs in a locked classroom in early December." Weren't school officials trying to......

--Handheld red laser beams can be a lot of fun, but a guy from Medford with a laser beam caused a ruckus on Saturday night when he pointed his beam at a State Police helicopter. The State Police swiftly summoned themselves, the Coast Guard, the Medford Police Department, and the Somerville Police Department to find the person. The feds are investigating. --The man who is accused of being the "Green Line Groper" has pled not......

Benefits for Jeanne Sheehy December 6--Tonight!: B.O.D., Willie T & Dr. X, Doug McDonald Band, Roger Fisk, Country Doctors, Wide Iris, The Delusions, The Outlets. Show starts at 8:45 pm. December 21: Jonny Pape, Auto Interiors, Joyce & Chick of Scarce, Downbeat 5, AdFrank, The Pills, The Shods. Show starts at 9:05 pm. December 28: Jules Verdone, The Douglas Fir, Baker, Francine, The Gravel Pit. Show starts at 9:10 pm. December 29: Keys to the......

Here’s a novel idea: if a music scene wants to prove its relevancy through an award show, why doesn’t that scene put in some effort? Boston’s ties to regional, up-and-coming, and national talent were on clear display Saturday evening at the Orpheum Theatre, as the 2007 Boston Music Awards honored many a bold-faced musical name. Metal poster boys Killswitch Engage took home Act of the Year accolades, while critical darlings Lori McKenna and Martin Sexton......

Bostonist just left the 2007 Boston Music Awards, and while we'll have ruminations on the awards ceremony for your Sunday reading pleasure, you can find below the crop of winners from the 20th anniversary ceremony, presented here in chronological order: Outstanding Funk/Jam Band of the Year: Westbound Train Outstanding Blues/Soul Act of the Year: Eli "Paperboy" Reed & the True Loves Outstanding DJ/Dance Act of the Year: DJ BC Outstanding Rock Band of the Year:......

--Someone made a scary discovery in the Harvard Medical School's new research building. Here's the Herald: According to Fire Capt. Pat Nichols, firefighters were called to the scene because a jar of possibly toxic chemicals was found near the body. The man’s head was also wrapped in a plastic bag, he said. The Crimson has identified the individual as a Harvard sophomore, John B. Edwards of Wellesley. --A woman's body was found in a minivan......

The wife of Marquis Barker, the corrections officer who stole a police cruiser and was shot by police Wednesday, wants to know what happened. She said to reporters, "Eighteen years in law enforcement, and this is what he gets? Shot in the head?… Taser the man. Handcuff him, and put him down on the ground. Get him to a medical facility." Evidence discussed so far indicates that Barker's behavior that night is baffling. He had......

--The BPD is starting yet another crime-stopping program that is sure to raise eyebrows. In this case, police will search bedrooms of teenagers suspected of having guns without a warrant. Regarding the alarming "without a warrant" part, the BPD plans to ask the parent for permission first. The rationale for this is that some parents may know their kids have guns, but they don't know what to do about it. Commish Ed Davis and DA......

--The DA's office announced earlier this week that it will expand its "Gun Court," which speeds up prosecution of gun-related crimes. Only cases from Dorchester, Roxbury, the South End, and parts of downtown were accelerated to gun court, but now cases from South Boston, East Boston, and Charlestown will go there as well. The DA's office press release touted its success rate: "Gun Court prosecutors have secured convictions in 85.1% of the viable cases handled......

8:00 PM - We're coming to you live! Not from Bostonist HQ, which is in the danger zone of potential postgame revelry, but from our outpost in Central MA (Worcesterist?) where we've been each week to watch the Pats game. The Pats, by the way, just beat Washington 845-7. Mike Vrabel caught eleven touchdown passes. FoxSports is showing Bill Buckner one last time, just in case there was one person left in town who didn't......

While most colleges live and die by US News & World Report, the Washington Monthly is offering competition with what's really important--how much the students help the community when they get their diplomas. Here are the three criteria from the Monthly: The first is social mobility: does the school do a good job recruiting and graduating poorer students? The second is research: is the school supporting the scientific and humanistic study that is key to......

MUSCLES Jokers Of The Scene @ Hearthrob Middlesex Lounge 315 Massachusetts Ave. Cambridge, MA 9pm - 1am 21+ / $5 MySpace: Muscles MySpace: Jokers Of The Scene MySpace: Hearthrob The UK-based Modular Records is fast becoming one of Britain's most important electronic music exports on a global level. Now, Klaxons are one of the biggest indie bands to carry the dance party torch, uniting it with the rock venue atmosphere and audience. Stepping up......

--Early this morning, a 22-year-old man was found shot in the head on Bowdoin Street. He was pronounced dead at the scene. --Last night, the Codman Square Safe Street Team heard shots fired at Dunlap and Washington. They soon found the alleged shooter, Oscar Mohamed, 19, of Jamaica Plain. Mohamed had shot two men. Both sustained non-life-threatening injuries. One of them didn't waste any time and took a cab to the hospital before emergency reinforcements......

BulgerMania seems to have broken out in Italy because police are seeing Whitey Bulger and his girlfriend everywhere. Even if you don't look like Whitey Bulger but happen to be an old white guy, do not go to Italy. The FBI posted an image and video of a distinguished-looking white couple strolling through Italy. And, what do you know, distinguished-looking white guys who don't even look like Bulger are getting hassled. Earlier this month, poor......

--An alleged drunk driver decided to turn the JFK library parking lot into her own personal fun zone on Wednesday. Christine Selby of Wareham got cuffed and sent out for a psychological evaluation. --The body of an unidentified man in his 60s was found in a Roxbury apartment yesterday. The BPD says the man may have been stabbed. The body was discovered when neighbors complained about a smell. --A man was found wounded on Thane......

Boston Comedy Festival Semi-Finals Friday, October 12, 8:30 p.m. @ Nick's Comedy Stop (100 Warrenton), $15 [Tickets] Boston Comedy Festival Finals (with Lewis Black! woo!) Saturday, October 13, 8:15 p.m., Cutler Majestic Theatre, $45-$65 [Tickets] Look out, kids, the big guns are here--it’s the Boston Comedy Festival semi-finals! And wouldn’t you know, it’s an all-boys’ club (because women aren’t funny, except when they are). Besides a penis, something that everyone on stage shared was......

--The BPD has announced that an "errant shot" hit Steven Odom, 13, in the head in front of his own home. Odom was killed in Dorchester on Thursday night. Commish Davis says that police already have leads. But that's not going to help the family. Gangs and gunfights in this city are a huge problem, and it's incidents like these, where an innocent kid dies, that makes it seem as if the police and the......

J. Cannibal's Feast of Flesh With a screening of The Evil Dead, Black Cat Burlesque, and music by Bad Ash Saturday, September 29, midnight, $10 Coolidge Corner Theatre, Brookline It's never too early to start thinking about Halloween. This weekend, undertaker and impresario J. Cannibal - also known as local poet Janaka Stucky - is presiding over some midnight macabre mayhem at the Coolidge Corner Theatre with his "Feast of Flesh." Feast of Flesh has......

--Someone made a big mistake on Sunday by letting a sexual assault suspect go to the hospital without supervision. Police recaptured Edwardo Aponte of Dorchester this morning, but the incident makes us wonder what the BPD supervisor on duty was thinking. On Sunday, Aponte said he was sick, went to New England Medical Center in an ambulance, and walked out. Isn't that the oldest trick in the book? Even the characters of Comedy Central's Halfway......

Going to Logan Airport, even before the Star Simpson Incident, typically inspires a sense of dread. If one person mentions that they have to pick up a parent/boyfriend/girlfriend/SI at the airport, anyone else involved in the conversation immediately offers condolences. Airport meetings involve robbery via high parking prices, hassling with State Police if you linger at the curb, or guns if you're a slightly spacey MIT student. Trips to Logan might get easier with a......

--Remember the old line from Crocodile Dundee when Mick (Paul Hogan) is threatened by a tough guy with a switchblade? And then Mick whips out a much larger knife and declares, "That's not a knife! [brandishes knife] Now that's a knife!" Well, imagine that scene in Framingham. With guns and way scarier. A store clerk in Framingham went all Crocodile Dundee on an aspiring robber by trumping the robber with a bigger gun. A guy......

Revenge of the Book Eaters will take place on Wednesday, September 26th, at the Berklee Performance Center. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. For ticket info, visit 826 Boston's website. This fall, the latest branch of 826 National, the series of fantasy stores/writing centers created by author Dave Eggers and Nínive Calegari, will open in Egleston Square. Students will be able to explore the wonders of cryptozoology at the Greater Boston Bigfoot Research Institute, and then......

--There are times when a police officer must stifle laughter. And yesterday had to be one of those times when police investigated an alarm that had gone off in a Dorchester house. The incident caused quite a stir, as the owner told police there were guns in the house. When a SWAT team forced its way in, they discovered 41-year-old Laura Buchman - in the clothes dryer. She must have smelled spring fresh. She's been......

Even though the number of shootings in the city have dropped, the number of stabbings has gone up 10 percent. Maria Cramer at the Globe reports that gangs are sending word that knives are preferable to guns because there's less punishment if someone is caught with one. Of course, plenty of guns are out there. The BPD found a hidden AK-47 with a full banana clip last night. The good news about this stat is......

A benefit screening of Roller Boogie for the Boston Derby Dames will be Friday, September 14, at midnight, at the Coolidge Corner Theatre. The Boston Derby Dames don't mess around. When the Boston Derby Dames want to kick off their second season, they really don't mess around. They break out the big guns - Linda Blair. Linda Blair, the headspinning projectile vomiter and child star sweetheart of The Exorcist, did a rollerskating romance flick in......

--Cookie Monster would be very, very sad. An employee of the Bon Appetit restaurant inside Lesley University lost his mind on Saturday morning and told his boss exactly how he felt. Jose Arevalo's boss told him to plate some cookies. He didn't feel like plating any damn cookies, so he said he "wasn't listening to her because she was a woman," shoved her, squeezed her neck, and threw her into the door of the walk-in......

Three people were shot yesterday afternoon in Dorchester on Morse Street. One of them was shot in the chest, and the other two have "non-life-threatening" injuries. Police commissioner Ed Davis referred to a "gang motivation" behind the shooting and that the incident might be tied to guns that the police seized on Wednesday night. The Herald interviewed people in the neighborhood who were more specific, and they said it had something to do with a......

Forget the sharpened pencils, the fresh pink erasers, and the latest and greatest calculator. The kiddies are preparing for school in a whole new way – with bulletproof backpacks. The Herald ran a story about two safety-conscious daddies from Danvers who invented a bulletproof backpack. The backpack is for sale online, and Mike Pelonzi, one of the dads, told the Herald today that "The response has been phenomenal." How does it work? The backpack includes......

--Saturday night is supposed to be a time of fun and relaxation, but some people just don't get it. Last night, at a party on Bowdoin Street, someone fired a gun, and two people were injured. It could have been worse. One of the bullets entered another house, almost striking two boys inside. --Speaking of Monster Parties that at least didn't leave anyone shot, the BPD ran into not one, but two, mobile parties last......