Image of Derby Dames in action by ajwphoto56 from photos tagged "Bostonist" on Flickr. We don't know much about the nude airplane passenger that was restrained by members of the Revolution, except that he's from Hudson and was on the high school football team. Oh, and he's previously been arrested on alcohol-related charges. [Boston Herald] Ten soccer fans were injured by lightning in Dorchester while standing under a tree. All were clothed. [Boston Herald]......

Belle Isle Seafood 1267 Saratoga St. East Boston $16.99 Perched next to the bridge to Winthrop, at the very edge of East Boston, Belle Isle Seafood has a strong claim on the title of best lobster roll in the city. The first thing anybody mentions about the place is that it's a shack. In fact, the word "shack" hardly does it justice. It's more like an outpost. The building is directly on the water,......

Early research suggests that lung cancer rates increase the closer you get to Logan. Asthma and heart disease rates are also higher than the Massachusetts average in many communities near the airport, including Chelsea, Everett, Lynn, Revere, Everett, Hull, and Quincy. Massport executives indicate that they are using cleaner-burning buses in the area. A full state health investigation should be completed next year.......

Star Simpson, the 20-year-old MIT student who was arrested last September for wearing a sweatshirt adorned with an LED panel to Logan Airport, will not receive jail time. East Boston District Judge Paul Mahoney dismissed the charge of possession of a hoax device, a felony, and assigned Simpson to pre-trial probation for the charge of disorderly conduct, reports the Herald. Simpson was arrested when airport authorities thought her sweatshirt was a bomb, and the case......

--Boston is a city that plays fast and loose with traffic laws, but the city needs money, so that's about to stop. The City Council is considering increasing fines for jaywalking and actually enforcing the rules. [WCVB] --After Caddygate and Drapegate and the casino mess, Governor Deval Patrick probably thought the media was going easy on his nemesis, House Speaker Sal DiMasi. But the free ride might be over. [Boston Globe, Boston Herald] --Norman......

--Were you affected by the water main burst and the subsequent natural gas problems? There's an emergency center open at City Hall. [WBZ] --Do you still have some champagne left in your Globe Buyout Bottle? Pour another one for Carol Beggy, who worked on the "Names" column. [Boston Phoenix Media Log] --A woman from West Roxbury allegedly encountered sorority hazing from hell at Hofstra University, which is in New York. [WCVB] --Harvard professor Walter......

--Logan Airport is going greener by buying renewable energy credits, right in time for Earth Day. [Boston Globe] --When newsmakers become news: Local news stations are aiming their schadenfreude squarely at WHDH, whose GM, Randi Goldklank, got arrested for disorderly conduct at Logan Airport over the weekend. The police report indicates that Goldklank was, for lack of a better term, allegedly shitfaced. [WCVB, WBZ, Boston Herald] --Here's why you smelled a lot of pot......

With all the cancellations of American Airlines flights at Logan Airport thanks to MD-80 wiring issues, it makes good sense to check online before you drive to Logan to catch a flight. But you might not want to go to the Logan Airport website to do it. WBZ reports, "There was no indication of a problem on the Massport web site, and the American Airlines phone lines were busy and they could not get......

--Breaking: A judge decided not to dismiss the case of Star Simpson, the MIT student who wore a lite-brite T-shirt into Logan Airport, causing a ruckus. Her trial will be in May. [AP/Boston Globe] --The number of high-school dropouts in Massachusetts went up this year, from 9,900 students to 11,500 students. And the tune of "Beauty School Dropout" rings in our heads. [WCVB] --Oh, that $2 bag fee for curbside American Airlines check-in service......

An Italian flight crew had to make an emergency landing at Logan recently because a "foul odor" overcame them on the plane. Everyone wound up being all right, but airport officials were worried about toxins and other possible nefarious goings-on. Now we know that the foul odor was relatively harmless, at least in small quantities. The Herald reports that the aforementioned odor was actually four pallets of onions. Really stinky ones, apparently. But the real......

--Logan Airport is getting wind turbines. And we look to opponents of Cape Wind to ask, "So, what's your issue with wind power again?" [Boston Globe] --Governor Deval Patrick is putting his weight behind a bill that will protect transgendered people. [Boston Globe] --Brigham & Women's will be the first hospital in the United States to perform partial face transplants. [Boston Globe] --Anyone hear a sizzle? Live wires fell on an MBTA bus today......

--Note to European officials: Next time you think you've got Whitey Bulger on your hands, make sure it's really him. Two people from Germany just announced that they're the people in the video circulated the FBI, which has led to the frequent hassling of innocent tourists. [Boston Globe] --A Green Line train with 70 passengers derailed at Reservoir last night. Of course, all you could hear if you were waiting for a Green Line......

In a city packed with top colleges and brilliant thinkers, the word "nerd" is bound to strike a nerve. "Nerd" and "Geek" are commonly considered insults, but many Bostonians have shrugged off the label and are either enjoying success or are on their way to success in scholarly pursuits. So-called nerds live here in a fairly safe haven. But sometimes, nerd contempt bubbles up. Witness the anger against MIT student Star Simpson, who walked into......

--The Patrick administration is working on stopping the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe's attempt to get approval for a casino through the federal government. The administration would prefer that the tribe bid for one of the three casino licenses Patrick hopes to auction off. [Boston Herald] --A plane on its way to Paris from New York City had to make an emergency landing at Logan Airport after a passenger attempted to attack a flight attendant. [Boston......

Star Simpson, the MIT student whose light-up T-shirt caused a panic when she wore it to Logan Airport, appeared in court today. She asked for the charges to be dropped because the shirt was a form of free speech and that she had worn it days before without it causing a problem. Here's the update from the AP/WBZ: Thomas Dwyer Jr., a lawyer for Simpson, said his client didn't think her shirt would scare anyone.......

Update: The Glock-toter will be arraigned this morning in East Boston District Court. The DA's Office said his case was "admittedly banal" compared to all the other cases going on. The Transportation Security Administration is patting Logan Airport flyers on the back for not having weapons on them when they go through airport security. The TSA announced that the number of problem items collected by staff has dropped by nearly 60 percent, the Globe reports.......

Someone allegedly fired a model rocket at an AirWisconsin plane that was landing at Logan Airport yesterday. According to Danielle Capalbo at the Globe: The pilot of AirWisconsin flight 180A saw what appeared to be a spark or firework in front of the plane around 12:26 p.m., after the jet had descended to 500 feet and was preparing to land, said FAA spokeswoman Holly Baker. The rocket seems to have come from Belle Isle Marsh,......

The Blotter and the Bite Size are merged today, given that everyone seems to be on break. Thank you for reading this if you're here! --Merry Christmas to the Del Valle family. Powers Fasteners has agreed to pay 6 million to the family of Milena Del Valle, the woman who died after a portion of the Big Dig fell on her as she and her husband were on the way to Logan Airport. [Boston......

--Police have arrested a man for attacking a woman as the left the Brookline Village T stop early yesterday morning. The victim identified 23-year-old Samuel Prado as her attacker. The Herald reports that a State Police dispatcher made a connection when Prado was caught "acting aggressively" at Logan Airport. --A woman and her two children were found dead yesterday in Springfield. According to the Herald, Juan Mejia, 32, of Springfield, the dead woman's husband, was......

--King Downing, the ACLU coordinator for the Campaign Against Racial Profiling, won his case against the Massachusetts Port Authority and the State Police. He sued because he felt that he was illegally detained at Logan Airport in 2003, and a jury agreed with him. [Boston Herald, WCVB] --City officials in Everett plan to develop an emergency plan to improve response to disasters following last week's tanker explosion. [WBZ] --The Boston Society of Film Critics gathered......

Remember that scene in Airplane! when the guy who can craft a pterodactyl or a brooch out of a piece of paper pulls the plug and makes the air-traffic-control tower go dark? The gag was funny in the movie, but it wasn't funny at all when a similar episode happened at Logan yesterday. An aviation worker cut the wrong cable and put out communications at the airport for two hours. Joe Dwinnell at the Herald......

-- The Mashpee Wampanoag celebrated federal recognition yesterday. "We are not celebrating Thanksgiving," said Shawn Hendricks, president of the tribal council. "It's not one of the better holidays for us. Columbus Day, that's not our top holiday, either." -- The sprinkler law is full of holes. Only 22 Boston bars have installed sprinkler systems. The rest remain as flammable as before. -- Pot advocates gathered 105,000 signatures, enough to get a decriminalization initiative on......

This rounds up the best of local blogs. Now that we're doing "Bite Size News," "Series of Tubes" will repeat those links, too. --Matt O'Malley, who has run for city councilor himself, analyzes the votes in the Boston City Council election and finds out what may have gone wrong for Felix Arroyo and right for John Connolly. [O'Malley on the Web] --Brace yourselves! Bobby Brown will perform at the Boston Music Awards on December 1.......

--Casting Meryl Streep as our beloved Julia Child? Appetizing or nauseating? One writer's tummy churns at the thought. [MenuPages] --Cab drivers are organizing in preparation for a battle with the mayor over whether or not they have the right to refuse fares that might be dangerous. [Boston Herald] --Attention, Logan Airport passengers: Continental Airlines is moving to Terminal A from Terminal C on November 11. And the white zone is for immediate loading and unloading......

A flight crew from DC to Boston became sick from possible carbon monoxide poisoning. The source of the problem may not have been the plane the crew was flying on. WBZ reports that "the crew was working on a different flight earlier in the day and had complained about a smell on that jet." Rampant speculation of gastrointestinal distress fired up at the thought of a funny smell. Wonkette offered a "he who smelt it,......

Be prepared to take a long lunch break tomorrow. Mayor Menino has announced that Red Sox celebration festivities will begin tomorrow at noon. Bostonist watched the WBZ webcast of Mayor Menino giving the details. The players will be riding in duck boats in a repeat of 2004's "rolling rally." Menino said that the parade will follow the same route as it did in 2004. Here's an image of last year's route from the Globe.......

Harvard isn't the only school suffering from a No-Fun Mandate. Dean Wormer's twin brother--oops, MIT Chancellor Philip Clay--told those wacky MIT kids that he's not gonna put up with any more hacks (known as pranks in the MIT world). This announcement won't go over well with students who think that MIT wasn't sufficiently supportive of student Star Simpson after she wore her "Socket to Me" sweatshirt to Logan Airport. Clay didn't mention Simpson (and what......

--On Saturday, some alleged whack-job trying to get a piece of Star Simpson glory told an AirTran employee at Logan Airport, "I'm with al-Qaeda. I'm with them and I'm here to blow up things." Hardy har. Those words earned 27-year-old Ermiyas Asfaw, from DC, a one-way trip to jail. Attention, world: You may be able to do whatever you want in other cities, but Boston is sensitive. We may not agree with their hypersensitivity, but......

MIT has gotten a bad rap in the press lately after sodium that may have come from the school burned volunteers cleaning up the Charles. It only got worse when MIT student Star Simpson spaced out, forgot to take off a sweatshirt with a circuit board on it, and freaked out Logan Airport staff. Right after Simpson was arrested and hauled to court, the MIT brass put out a statement calling Simpson's actions "reckless." That......

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......