Results tagged “newsmass”

Here's the top Oddblotter story of the year--just in time for Christmas! You've already seen some impressive tales, but the winning Oddblotter story of the year is a real head-scratcher.

4. Feel It Calling in the Air Tonight. A Phil Collins fan in the South End was really feeling the music. He could feel it, "calling in the air," so to speak, and he played it loud. Even worse, his neighbors told the BPD that it was "like this every night." He was arrested because he wasn't going to turn down that Phil Collins without a fight. Even though weirder crimes exist in this countdown, the original Oddblotter post prompted a lively conversation about whether or not Phil Collins is the "worst thing to happen to modern society."

Bostonist is looking back on the year in weird, silly, or just plain creative crimes. Yesterday, you met some pugnacious bowlers, but you haven't seen anything until you meet a certain postal employee, overeager college students, and an exceptionally creative gravedigger.

Bostonist is looking back on the year in weird, silly, or just plain creative crimes. We'll be counting down the top 10 over the next few days so you can find out just how wild it gets around here. Today's list includes produce, assault-inducing donuts, and Big Lebowski references galore.

Those responsible for giving two students skin-shocks--one 77 times and another 29 times--at the request of a prank caller at the Judge Rotenberg Education Center (JRC) in August have been fired. The AP reports that seven people are out, including a video surveillance worker.

--Former Massachusetts Speaker of the House and radio host Tom Finneran cries. Conveniently, a camera is there. [Boston Herald]

Two people received skin-shock treatments at the Judge Rotenberg Education Center (JRC) in Canton after a former student made a prank phone call requesting the treatments. The incidents happened in August but are being reported now.

Ahhh … BPD News is back. However, somebody hit "Publish" a few times, and the "Daily Incidents for Wednesday, December 12" appears several times.

Bostonist just underwent a minor facelift that makes it easier to search the site, and you can adjust the home page to show even more stories. You will see tags along the bottom of each story. Instead of searching the site or going to a broad category, like "News: Mass," you can click on a tag and see all the stories associated with the tag. This feature is perfect for searches on what's going on...

Some Bostonists found out about this the hard way--by actually being on the green line and having our drivers announce "last stop Government Center"--but the Green Line is closed between Park Street and Kenmore Square this morning after two trolleys collided at Boylston. One trolley rear-ended a stopped trolley, and one car derailed, according to the Globe. Not only were legions (including some Bostonists) made late for work, but the Globe reports nine people complained...

We're so happy BPD News is back. How could we resist an item titled "GEORGE FOREMAN WOULD NOT BE HAPPY"? Well, Tuesday night in Jamaica Plain, a fight broke out between neighbors regarding "excessive noise." The person generating the "excessive noise" didn't like hearing about the noise and did something about it: According to the victim, a heated discussion ensued during which the suspect threw a grill at the victim. Victim tells officers that 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 following falls more in the "Don't Panic" category instead of the "Blotter" category. If you stuck a TV set on top of a light pole at the corner of Main Street and Bishop Allen in Cambridge this morning, the Cambridge Police Department would like to have a word with you. You caused quite the freak-out. [Cambridge Chronicle] --The Christmas tree at the State House is covered blue light-emitting diodes," which conserve energy. However, the...

--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...

--Representative Ed "Biz" Markey is going to Bali--in Second Life. Way to be hip to the Internets, but does that avatar look like him? Discuss. [Boston Globe] --Boston got dumped by CNN. A debate that was supposed to be in Boston next week has been knocked off the schedule because of the early caucus dates this year. And we were hoping for a look at Wolf Blitzer. [Boston Globe] --The jury in the trial of...

--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...

--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...

--The Blotter usually focuses on how people get to jail, but not what happens to people when they get there. The Globe has launched a series about an outbreak of prison suicides, and the authors conclude that the suicides may be the result of "careless errors and dangerous decisions by correction officials and staff at UMass Correctional Health." Why is it important to think about what happens to criminals' mental health in prison? Because most...

--Another snowstorm is on its way and is expected to have its greatest impact tonight. [WCVB] --Speaking of snow, Bostonist has the temperature and weather-condition icons at the top left of the home page. If you click on that icon, you'll get all the latest weather news. --People got cold in order to protest the heat of global warming during yesterday's Polar Bear Plunge in Concord. [AP/Globe] --Patriots owner Robert Kraft is partnering with...

But before they went back up, whoever writes the blotter wasn't getting a little sick of having to do so many test posts. Commenter Middleman gave us a heads up that something was brewing over at BPDNews.com. Somebody on the BPD end is getting frustrated: "TEST BY IRATE ACCOUNT MANAGER." Middleman responds, "HILARIOUSNESS IS ALWAYS A GOOD IDEA." --Good news. The Green Line Groper has been arrested. The Herald reports that the 60-year-old suspect...

--Fires ran rampant yesterday. A mother and her son were injured last night in a fire in Somerville. One firefighter was treated and released at the hospital. [Boston Globe] --Another fire broke out in Haverhill last night, and people were injured jumping out of the windows. No one died in the blaze, but 24 people have lost their homes. [Boston Globe, Boston Herald] --The state Supreme Judicial Court is letting Heidi Erickson, who kept...

The guy who drove the tanker truck that exploded in Everett is officially Blotter material. Not only did Chad LaFrance have some driving trouble on his record, but he admitted to issuing a bomb threat in 1997. The Globe quoted what he wrote on a package at a UPS store where he used to work: "Tick. Tick.Tick. The time is running out. UPS Sucks. Danger. Explosive illegal bombs enclosed. Watch handling." His aunt called it...

--BPD News was still down the last time we checked. We feel adrift. But we saw a few entries on Wicked Local … --Police arrested individuals involved in a "cutting party" in Sudbury on Tuesday. Norman Miller of the MetroWest Daily News described the incident as "booze-fueled." The cutting also enters a gray legal area because the cutting may have been consensual. The lawyer said that Sarah Handy, 23, cut Meagan Hauff, 21, both of...

--Only one woman at MIT this year was granted tenure. Uh, you've come a long way, baby? [Boston Globe] --In better news for gender equality, Massachusetts ranks fifth when it comes to the number of women in powerful state government positions. Women make up almost half of Governor Deval Patrick's leadership team. [Boston Herald] --Seven people were injured in a house fire in Brockton yesterday afternoon, including former Brockton city councilor George Papas. [The Enterprise]...

Boston Mayor Thomas Menino said he's on Brockton's side when it comes to where the World Boxing Council should put a statue of Rocky Marciano--and it worked. The World Boxing Council (WBC) announced that it will erect a statue of Marciano in Marciano's hometown of Brockton after initially announcing it would be in Boston--much to Brockton's chagrin. The Globe reported that Mayor Menino and Brockton mayor James E. Harrington got in touch with WBC president...

Somebody's in trouble. The trucker who took a turn too fast in Everett and caused the tanker explosion and fire that left 60 people homeless at last count had a lead foot. Casey Ross at the Herald writes: Chad LaFrance, 30, of Dover, N.H., has three speeding violations between 2000 and 2002 in New Hampshire, with one citation for going 83 mph in a 55-mph zone in 2001, according to a spokeswoman for N.H....

--An 18-month-old baby girl from East Somerville was kidnapped, allegedly by her own aunt. WBZ reports that Somerville police found the baby today. Four people were arrested in the kidnapping of Hayden Augustin-Laurent, and one of them was her aunt, Ketia Valmont. Two detectives were hurt because one of those arrested went after them with a baseball bat. Auditi Guha at the Somerville Journal reports that the kidnapping may have resulted from a fight over...

--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...

Early this morning, a gas-tank truck driver took a turn too fast in Everett, and his truck tipped over at the Route 16/Route 99 rotary, prompting an explosion and fire. 200 people were evacuated, 40 cars were destroyed, and at least 3 homes caught fire. No one has been reported hurt so far. That's the key phrase--"so far." The latest TV news reports indicate it is still a mess. WBZ has raw footage of...

--Framingham Police had to deal with a perp so drunk and unruly on Sunday that they had to hold his head still when they snapped him for his mugshot. According to the MetroWest Daily News, Sandro Romero's wild night started when police happened upon Romero's friends, who were trying to take him home. Even though they got him home, the officer involved got called back due to reports of a "screaming man." While being booked,...