The Commonwealth's Speaker of the House Sal DiMasi has long been seen as the biggest obstacle in the way of Governor Deval Patrick's plan to build three luxury casinos in the Bay State. DiMasi lived up to that reputation yesterday by delivering a blistering attack against the governor's projections for how many jobs the initiative would create. A Globe piece made clear on Sunday that Patrick's numbers are lazy at best, and exceedingly misleading......

Governor Deval Patrick pitched his casino proposal yesterday at the State House. In his full speech, the text of which is available here, Patrick painted a "softening revenue picture." Enter the casinos, which he believes can bring in new jobs and a steady revenue stream. Patrick's speech was largely reassuring and addressed the major counterarguments--that casinos would be demeaning and tacky and that the maintenance costs would wipe out the new revenue. He said they......

Just when we got our hopes up that Mayor Thomas Menino had forgotten about his plans to move City Hall to South Boston, he declared yesterday that the move is still very much on his mind. Jay Fitzgerald reported that Menino spoke at a Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce breakfast yesterday, and he said that he'd like to sell the current City Hall space at Government Center and then use the money to move.......

The last word that should be used to describe Boston is "cheap," but housing prices compared to New York City's are a steal. The cellist for the Magnetic Fields, Sam Davol, has moved his family up to a new pad in Boston's Chinatown above Jumbo Seafood Restaurant. Of course, "cheap" is relative. The New York Times did a piece on how Davol and his spouse decided a move to Boston would allow them to quit......

Some stories just sound like terrible jokes. But this one is all too real. WBZ reports that a priest from Boston got arrested last Friday for stalking Conan O'Brien. Pardon us for using the words "priest" and "hell" in the same post, but, seriously, what the hell? You couldn't make that up. And the Archdiocese of Boston took its own sweet time to release the news. They waited until today to announce that Reverend David......

Boston City Council: The four winners in the at-large race were incumbents Michael Flaherty, Stephen Murphy, Sam Yoon, and new arrival John Connolly. Incumbent Felix Arroyo didn't make the cut. Now Murphy and Connolly will need to figure out how to live with each other after Connolly's anonymous mailers, which accused Murphy of always looking for other jobs. Michael Pahre at Brighton Centered reports that Mark Ciommo defeated Greg Glennon for the District 9 slot......

If you walk through Cambridge, you would think that everyone is running for office based on the number of signs on residential streets. Finally, the day has arrived to vote for the city council and the school committee. There are nine open seats on the council, eight incumbents are running again, and several newbies want their jobs. The Cambridge Chronicle has a well-done list of profiles for each candidate. The big story of the election......

Did we ever get a wake-up call. Boston.com, the website for the Boston Globe has metamorphosed overnight. A little box on the right-hand side of the home page asks, "Notice anything different?" In case you didn't notice, the Globe has thrown in a letter to readers and an FAQ. The letter also mentioned what's coming--a "Things to Do" section. How that is different from the "Sidekick," the little insert that already explains things to do,......

--A man and his mother were shot while riding in a car yesterday in Dorchester. The Globe reports that Darnell Ricks Jr., 20, was hit in the arm, and his mother "appeared to have been grazed in the face by a bullet." Police have a detailed description of the alleged perps: "They were looking for three black males who appeared to be in their late teens and about 5 feet 8 inches tall. One wore......

--An 18-year-old screamed racist comments at BPD officers working Tuesday's Red Sox Rally. And then he tried to get out of it by saying he was a cousin of a State Representative. The BPD wasn't impressed. According to Michele McPhee, Peter Kouroujian was busted for drinking underage when he took out his anger on police: As police tried to remove Kouroujian, he allegedly screeched, “Hey, you (expletive). Why don’t you do some real police......

After much debate over whether or not the blue-and-yellow DIY furniture behemoth that is IKEA would be good for Somerville, IKEA has received permits to start building at Assembly Square. George Hassett at the Somerville News reports that construction will begin next summer, 10 years after IKEA first started making noise about moving in. That doesn't mean everyone's issues with the IKEA have been resolved. Somerville residents still want dibs on the jobs the IKEA......

We don't watch Wheel of Fortune any more - once they started spotting people five letters in the bonus round, the thrilling intellectual pursuit seemed to be missing. But we remember from childhood the portion of the show where the winning contestant got to pick out their winnings; the disembodied head floated in the upper-left corner of the screen, smiling and beaming as the camera panned all the marvelous prizes up for grabs. Which is......

The local college news has been depressing. One Globe editorial in particular sent Bostonist into a funk. While brainiacs with ordinary parents get denied at Harvard, the dumb but well-connected just waltz their way in, proving that the college admissions process is a skunky business. But Tufts offered a ray of light this week with the announcement that it will help students pay off their college loans if they take a job in public service.......

The story of the drugs and alcohol found in the toxicology results for the bodies of firefighters Warren Payne and Paul Cahill has three threads--the freedom of the press, public safety, and the memory of the firefighters themselves. As noted earlier, all news outlets except WHDH reported yesterday and today about the toxicology results. WHDH couldn't report because Suffolk Superior Court Judge Merita Hopkins silenced them at the request of the firefighters' union. WHDH appealed,......

IKEA is already here, in Stoughton, but the blue-and-yellow behemoth might be moving even closer. The Somerville News reports that the Swedish store with the make-it-yourself furniture has applied to start construction in Assembly Square. The arrival of the store could mean good news (new jobs!) and bad news (ugly traffic). IKEA tries to be soothing, well-organized, and clever, but the long lines at IKEA and technical furniture difficulties tend to put individuals in a......

There was very little else for Londonist to be concerned with when the threat of a Tube strike became a very unpleasant reality. The inconvenience was extreme: there aren't many alternatives to the Tube in London despite the best efforts of the Londonist team to get everyone from A to B. Brighter news came in the form of the first ever female Yeoman Warder, or Beefeater as the position is more commonly known, and......

Howie Carr, Herald columnist and talking head, might be raking in even more money once he goes to radio station WTKK when his WRKO contract ends. If Carr goes to WTKK, he might make $7 million smackers over five years if he meets ratings targets. Of course, he has to solve his legal brawl with WRKO first. But is he worth it? Joe Keohane notes the repetitive nature of Howie Carr's columns, which are the......

The city is still reeling from the deaths of firefighters Paul Cahill and Warren Payne in West Roxbury on Wednesday night. Residents expressed their thanks to Cahill, Payne, and the other injured firefighters by bringing flowers and cards to the West Roxbury fire station. Cahill and Payne were, by all accounts, men who were devoted to their jobs. Cahill discovered his life's passion when he became a firefighter at age 40. Payne had EMT......

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,......

Pat Purcell, publisher of the Herald, has sold the Herald building and its land in the South End to a development group of which he is a part. Obviously the money-making potential of the paper pales in comparison to high-rent apartments and office space. The Globe labels Purcell's move as an "effort to transform Herald assets into cash and to streamline the tabloid's operations." If we translate that phrase, it might mean that Purcell is......

Will the real Fake Steve Jobs please stand up? Yes, he will. And he'll do it in Boston. The New York Times outed the blogger who's been blogging as a Steve Jobs iMpersonator (can we trademark that?) for over a year. His real name Daniel Lyons a Medford resident. He's been impersonating the Apple chief and lampooning his persona on the blog fakesteve.blogspot.com. In the last year it's gotten the attention of the tech elite......

We at the Gothamist network would like to express our heartfelt wishes to the people of Minnesota in the days after their tragic bridge collapse. We're not trying to discount the severity of the accident by making note of it in opposition to our usual -Ist lightheartedness - we just wanted to take a moment and recognize those affected last week. After the Minneapolis bridge collapse, Bostonist did some research and found that Massachusetts bridges......

Harold Madison Jr., also known as Mr. Butch, died Thursday morning after his scooter crashed into a pole in Newton Square. Madison was pronounced dead at Brigham and Women's Hospital a short time after the accident occurred, according to Regeneration Tattoo, the Allston tattoo and record shop whose staff has long looked out for and after Mr. Butch. Known throughout Boston circles as "the King of Kenmore Square" for more than three decades, Mr. Butch......

-- A man was walking home on Normandy Street in Dorchester late Thursday morning when a young black male, one of a group of three, reportedly walked up to him and asked to see his iPod. When the victim declined the opportunity to show off his piece of gadgetry, one of the men drew a gun and placed it against the victim's temple and told another to take the iPod. They then walked away. Police......

Thank you for your responses to our last call for writers! We're hoping you'll see some Foodie Debuts soon. As we have looked through the submissions, we realize that we have another slot on our Bostonist Blogger Wish List – a public transportation blogger. We'd ask Mac Daniel, but he's taken. If you read "Starts & Stops," if you cut open your CharlieCard to see what was inside, if you have a cute CharlieCard mitten,......

--Sean Stevens and Peter Berdvosky can breathe a sigh of relief now that they are officially off the blotter with a slap on the wrist. The artists who were hired by the Cartoon Network and Interference, Inc., to hang the Mooninites throughout Boston will do community service. Instead of offering the public another '70s hair comedy routine, the two had more substantial things to say this time around. The Herald quoted Stevens as saying, "I......

A BPD officer has been arrested on drug-related charges. The officer, Jose Ortiz, has been on the force since 1986 and worked in the Back Bay and the South End. Details on the arrest were murky at first, but Ed Davis' opinion on Ortiz was clear. His statement is chock-full of irate zingers, such as "Ortiz disgraced his badge and dishonored his brother and sister officers" and "Good cops don’t like bad cops." And, if......

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......

Have you always wanted to wear a fedora with a "PRESS" card tucked on the side? Well, Bostonist is growing! We're adding to our staff, and we're looking for people who can't wait to spread the latest news of our city across the Internet. Here's the personalities we're after: —You are a diehard foodie who goes out several times a week. You salivate at the prospect of a new restaurant opening, you have a......

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales has a lot to worry about. His former chief of staff testified that Gonzales played a part in firing federal prosecutors because they leaned too hard on Republicans and weren't sufficiently supportive of President George W. Bush. We thought we lived in a democracy, not a kingdom where you have to lick the boots of the emperor to keep your job. But that's another matter entirely. While all this scandal was......