-- More details have emerged in today's apparent murder on Mission Hill. The victim, who has not been identified by police, is a woman in her 20s, and some officials say that she was shot to death. Her body was discovered this morning around 7:00am. The Globe reports that neighbors in the Parker Hill Apartments building heard gunshots early this morning, but no official word on the cause of death has been issued. Homicide investigators......

--Leading off with a happy story: officers in East Boston responded to a car where a woman was in labor. After her water broke in their presence, the police helped deliver the baby, put the baby in a blanket, checked that the baby was breathing properly, and then made sure the family arrived safely at Mass General Hospital. Somebody deserves a raise. [BPD News] --Authorities are investigating a string of robberies targeting illegal immigrants......

--Revere police arrived to a crime scene today at 3:15 p.m. They reported a fatal stabbing and a non-fatal shooting. There aren't many details available at this point, but a source tells the Herald that the victim was attacked by her son. [Boston Herald] --A Brookline teen was charged with drunken driving after hitting a 21-year-old pedestrian on Comm Ave between Exeter and Fairfield in the Back Bay at 2:30 a.m. on Saturday. He......

--Someone kept the President's Day spirit going a little too long, allegedly robbing a Bridgewater bank yesterday while wearing an Abraham Lincoln mask. Police have apprehended a suspect who they think actually robbed the same bank once before (though not donning the Honest Abe facade for that caper.) [Boston Globe] --A Haverhill woman was convicted of drug trafficking and given 15 years after she was tied to 51 kilograms of cocaine, with a street......

-- A man was shot to death waiting for his food at a Jamaican restaurant in Dorchester last night. Police have not identified the 24 year-old victim, the eighth Boston homicide and the fourth in three nights. His death punctuates an spree of violence in Dorchester unprecedented in recent memory. [Boston Herald] -- The Dorchester killing prompted a swift reaction from Boston Police. A massive warrant sweep netted 67 alleged criminals, several firearms and a......

--George Costanza has been robbing banks in the area. Maybe he's short on cash for Festivus gifts? --Mom saves daughter before being shot herself. --Some public works employees in Brookline's water division might not have a Merry Christmas: they're being subpoenaed by the FBI. --Boston lawyer charged with defrauding his own firm. If they're willing to screw over their own, imagine how much worse the rest of us have it! --Murder charges filed against accused......

--We're not sure if this qualifies as Blotter or accident. Whatever it is, it's terrible. Police in Lawrence are trying to find out if a woman was killed by a snow plow. WBZ reports that two people found a body by the side of Route 114 on Sunday. The snow plow theory emerged because the body was near plowed snow. Police haven't found witnesses. --Gia Nagy, the 17-year-old arrested as an accessory in the murder......

--Police arrested another person who was allegedly involved in the murder of Revere police officer Daniel Talbot in September. WBZ reports that 17-year-old Gia Nagy was charged with being an Accessory to Murder After the Fact. --The Brookline TAB announced that the Brookline PD will hold a community meeting about the rise of sexual assaults in the area on Thursday, December 20, at 7:30 pm, at the station on 350 Washington. The meeting will be......

The 2008 Golden Globe nominees were announced yesterday, and to nobody's surprise, they skewed heavily toward the period drama Atonement. Charlie Wilson's War, No Country for Old Men, American Gangster, and Sweeney Todd all emerged with at least 4 noms each. Local fave Casey Affleck was nominated for his (non-Jesse James) title role in The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, and though Gone Baby Gone didn't get a nod in the......

--Yesterday evening, a woman was caught driving in East Boston Memorial Park--on a pedestrian path. The BPD Blotter writer, obviously thrilled to be back on the job after the recent technical difficulties, adds, "As the name of the path suggests, it is designed and designated for pedestrian traffic only." Yes, she was allegedly drunk. And in a Big Lebowski move, she showed officers a Liquor ID card when asked for license and registration. She was......

--The BPD arrested two people in the South End for Unlawful Possession of a Firearm. The gun wouldn't have been discovered if it hadn't accidentally gone off in the bathroom. The Herald reported that the woman who was arrested was the mother of Dontel Jeffers, the child who died at the hands of his foster mother, who was recently sentenced for the crime. Laurel Sweet writes, "Crystal Claiborn [Jeffers' mother] claimed that while aiming the......

The Holiday season is in full swing in NYC, with holiday lights in Brooklyn, a giant snow globe in Bryant Park and Chanukah specials for ham. One citizen decided to go vigilante on annoying car alarms, a murder suspect used a fake Asian accent on the stand and a video of a man being beaten up by teenage girls on a subway shocked the city. And we interviewed soon-to-be-leaving-Gawker editor Choire Sicha, who said,......

--The banner brawl continues. The Highway Department decided that the banners declaring support for the troops that hang over the roadways pose a potential road hazard. That decision poses a potential PR nightmare, and Governor Deval Patrick has put it on hold. [Boston Globe] --Corinne Stephen, 26, was sentenced to 8 to 12 years for the involuntary manslaughter of her foster child, 4-year-old Dontel Jeffers. [DA's Office, background] --A longshoreman fessed up to putting......

--The Legislature is going to consider banning spanking tomorrow. That's spanking of children, not "please, sir, may I have another" frat-spanking or whatever role-playing you do with your significant other. [WCVB] --A man's SUV became stuck on train tracks in Beverly last night just as a commuter train was heading toward him. He escaped in the nick of time. His SUV got creamed. [Photo-WCVB] --The Roman Catholic Archdiocese plans to close at least two schools......

Who would have thought former Massachusetts governors Mitt Romney and Michael Dukakis would have anything in common beside the name of the state they once led? Unfortunately for Romney, he is now being dogged by accusations that a decision he made led to the murder of innocent people. In an incident that echoes when Dukakis approved a furlough for prisoner Willie Horton, who assaulted a couple in Maryland while he was out, Romney appointed Kathe......

A Girl in Every Port (1928) and The Canary Murder Case (1929) Harvard Film Archive, Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts, 24 Quincy Street, Cambridge Sunday, 7:00pm More information Come for the haircut. Silent film's iconic flapper, actress, writer, and theorist Louise Brooks is the subject of a double feature tomorrow night at the Harvard Film Archive. Brooks is best known for playing a pair of prostitutes in the daring New Objectivity movies of German......

We would like to take a moment to thank this week's advertisers on Bostonist. Go Eight, a Hanukkah party on December 8th at TT The Bears. Homes for Working Families, because who hasn't been squeezed out of the housing market? Sony Card, because you'll get a free MP3 player if you apply. The Widow, the new book from Carla Neggers about a seven year-old murder off the coast of Maine. Busted Tees, where you get......

-- Police shot and killed a corrections officer last night. Marquis Barker, 38, an officer at Nashua Street Jail, was gunned down after stealing a police cruiser and leading officers on a chase through Dorchester and Mattapan. Police responding to calls found Barker out of control outside his Dorchester home, wielding what appeared to be a handgun. Barker begged police to shoot and kill him before escaping in the police cruiser. After crashing the cruiser......

--A young man was shot and killed yesterday afternoon in Roxbury. David Jones, 17, of Boston was shot several times on Bartlett Street. This is the 61st murder of the year. The Herald reports that Jones may have been friends with a gang member who was murdered in February of this year. The police don't think it was random. His family told the Globe that he was "trying to turn his life around." WBZ noted......

--Police Commissioner Edward Davis has reacted to the information that corruption in the Boston Police Department might have extended beyond former officer Roberto Pulido and his sketchy crew. He even put a video on YouTube declaring that he will investigate the allegations. He said, "I will continue to press for the strictest sanctions against police corruption so that the excellent police work that I see every day from our officers will not be tarnished."......

--Shooting broke out in the parking lot of Dorchester's Holy Tabernacle Church on Washington Street last night--during a packed worship session. An unidentified person was shot in the shoulder. --Emmanuel Greene, 22, of Dorchester, was not happy when he picked up his Chinese food at Chung Wah on Bowdoin Street last night. A Safe Street Team spotted him kicking a door because some kind of mixup happened with his order. Greene said that he didn't......

Update: The disorderly conduct charge against Hillel Neuer has been dropped. Remember that guy who freaked out the employees at the Stone Hearth Pizza after a 78-year-old man was beaten to death in Needham? Turns out that he was a perfectly normal guy who just happened to be changing his clothes in the bathroom. Franci R. Ellement at the Globe writes that Hillel Neuer is a human-rights activist who is the executive director of UN......

--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......

"That's not the way we drew it up," said Colorado manager Clint Hurdle. "Obviously we have to change our game plan," added Todd Helton. "You can't make any mistakes," chimed in shellshocked starting pitcher Jeff Francis. If you're Colorado, what else can you say? The team that charged through September and most of October, and held Arizona to eight total runs in their mockery of an NLCS, looked like they hadn't played baseball in eight......

--What at least one tv station thought was a gasoline heist (hey, it's expensive) turned out to be the result of a mistaken delivery. WHDH reported that employees saw someone in a Lukoil truck and uniform delivering gas last night to the Lukoil on Bennington Street. Upon further inspection, they found that the individual had allegedly absconded with $19,000 worth of gas. Police started making calls and found that "Further investigation revealed that the gas......

--Miguel Perez, 22, was shot around 1:00 am while standing in the rain outside the bar Gigi's Palace. Brian Ballou at the Globe writes that the owner of the bar didn't let Perez in because he thought Perez was "trouble" and may have been involved with a shooting that happened inside the bar two weeks ago. The owner, Andy Barros, can't be blamed for not wanting trouble--his cousin died outside Gigi's Palace last year, and......

As it gets closer to Halloween for LAist, a contributer recollects her tale of staring down the serial killer, Richard Ramirez, otherwise known as the Night Stalker. Must think happy thoughts -- okay, free organic chocolate chip cookies for Los Angeles -- now that's a happy thought. Other happy Los Angeles thoughts include an interview with Jack Kehler of The Big Lebowski (he was the Dude's landlord), a beautiful and magical photographic moment in Venice......

A 13-year-old boy was shot and killed last night in front of his own home on Evans Street in Dorchester. Steven Odom was returning from basketball around 8:00 pm when he was shot in the head by unknown assailants. Boston's gunshot detection system, which was tested earlier this week, picked up four gunshots. The Herald reported that three men may have been involved. As of right now, the killers are at large, and the cause......

--After his picture was splashed all over the TV and Internets, the guy who allegedly stabbed two people at Park Street Station after the Red Sox Rally Monday night has been arraigned on two counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon causing serious bodily injury. Christopher Casey, 22, of Dorchester, was rounded up by T police last night. Bail was set at $25,000. --How about this for a reversal? You'd think law enforcement......

--Hmmmm … a loud party in Allston/Brighton ends with 6 arrested. It couldn't have involved college students, could it? Officers spotted some partygoers toting cans of Natural Ice Beer. Police arrested two people for "Keeping a Disorderly House" and four people for underage drinking. All are guilty of bad taste in beer. --Brookline police are searching for a sexual assault suspect who attacked a woman in her home on Naples Road early Sunday morning. The......