The more we hear about Leeland Eisenberg, the disturbed man who took hostages at Hillary Clinton's campaign quarters in Rochester, NH, the more amazing it is that a) he wasn't already in jail and b) that he wasn't able to get help sooner. In an interview with the AP, Eisenberg said he wished the police had killed him. He also told the AP how he came up with the idea: "I'd see things on TV......

Leeland Eisenberg has been named as the man who took staffers hostage yesterday at Hillary Clinton's campaign headquarters in Rochester, NH. He was already a man on the edge when he took the hostages. According to an AP report, his wife was divorcing him, and he was "due in court with her for a domestic violence hearing." He had a record for drunk driving and domestic violence, and he was involved in an odd incident......

A man has taken took people at the headquarters for Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign hostage in Rochester, New Hampshire, and he wants wanted to speak to Hillary Clinton. [WBZ, MSNBC] Clinton is was not in New Hampshire. Here is the latest from the thread, with earlier information after the jump: 6:15 pm: IT IS OVER. A young man just ran out of the campaign office. The man who took the hostages followed him. He pulled......

Billy Joel said "Only The Good Die Young," but let's just say he has no idea what he's talking about, and only the really good die at the ripe old ages of, say, 69. So goes the news for Friday, November 30th, as Evel Knievel - a legendary stuntman who's fame hasn't been succeeded by generations to follow. One can only wonder with the speed of technology and special effects if masters of amazement......

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......

Our neighbor, New Hampshire, is indulging in primary one-upmanship by moving its presidential primary up to January 8 to beat Michigan's January 15 date. For Boston, this means an endless parade of presidential candidates on television, a lot sooner than we're used to now that the states are trying to get a slice of the money the primaries will bring. The early primaries force the candidates to put the pedal to the medal and automatically......

The Globe published a long piece about the mystery still surrounding Army specialist Ciara Durkin's death in Afghanistan in late September. Durkin, who was from Quincy, was shot in the head, although the Army called it a "non-combat-related incident." Her family is not satisfied with that explanation, and the Globe report provides evidence that someone on the base may have had it out for Durkin. In one event, Durkin wrote an e-mail saying, "Ok. so......

Father David Ajemian, who was arrested in New York City last week for stalking Conan O'Brien, is back in town after making bail. Once home, he promptly went missing, only to be found a few hours later. So if you thought you saw Conan O'Brien's priest-stalker around the South End, you probably did. The BPD issued a report telling people to be on the lookout (BOLO in BPD parlance) for Father Ajemian. The report notes......

The story about a Boston priest getting arrested for stalking Conan O'Brien keeps getting weirder, if that's possible. Reverend David Ajemian, 46, who attended Milton and Harvard and who was a local priest, was nabbed trying to get into an O'Brien taping. The Smoking Gun has documents that show Ajemian may be even stranger than previously thought. Letters indicate that Ajemian was mad at John McEnroe as well, and he claimed that McEnroe assaulted them......

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......

Update: Someone from 1190 KEX News Radio in Portland, OR, just let us know that, while Sam Adams, Mayoral Candidate, isn't using a domain that would annoy Sam Adams, Beer, this very second, his current website "will likely be moved" to www.samadamsformayor.com. And if he wins, his domain will be www.mayorsamadams.com. You could not buy this kind of publicity. The makers of Sam Adams are irritated because another person who happens to be named Sam......

This post has been reprinted courtesy ofBrock Keeling at SFist. Yes, this is Bostonist, but, if you want to send help to Southern California, this is a place to start. As of now, six people have died and more than 500,000 people are in "mass migration" over the mind-numbingly destructive wildfires happening all throughout Southern California. It is, for lack of a better word, heartbreaking. All of it. (Map of San Diego fires) But......

We're taking a brief jaunt south to Providence for this jawdropping Oddblotter entry. A woman didn't ingest her Dunkies coffee fast enough at a drive-thru, and she took it out on another woman in the drive-thru line. Laura Defazzio, 27, received her order, but she didn't drive off right away. Denise DeMedeiros, 36, honked the horn--a reasonable decision given the circumstances. Defazzio responded that she was going to take as much time as she bloody......

And embattled Idaho Senator Larry Craig, he of the "cruisy toilet," is surprised that former Massachusetts governor and presidential aspirant Mitt Romney dropped him like a hot potato? A really, really hot potato you'd like to meet in a Minneapolis toilet stall? Anyway, Craig, who is trying to withdraw his guilty plea to the misdemeanor after allegedly trying to pick up an undercover cop in a Minneapolis restroom, went on NBC and gave Romney two......

This is one reason why Tasergate is such big news. Alas, the saga continues.......

Aye Caramba! Just in time for what promises to the most caliente Labor Day weekend in Boston history: if you mix up a mojito, do not rim the glass with flavored salt. No joke. The FDA says that the Stirrings, Inc., makers of Rimmer® Brand Mojito Cocktail Garnish have voluntarily recalled their green, minty salt-sugar mix nationwide because it has the potential to be contaminated with Salmonella. Rimmer® is sold everywhere in the U.S.,......

Have you noticed how dubious incidents often have some sort of unmarked white van involved? For some reason, a white van has become the embodiment of shady and scary. The British in particular are leery of white vans and their drivers, and a site exists that tries to produce improved PR for white vans. A 10-year-old member of the Kennedy clan, Saoirse Rosin Hill,* was walking back from playing tennis (these are the Kennedys, remember?)......

Update: Andrew Tarsy, the New England regional director of the ADL who was fired for recognizing the Armenian genocide, has been rehired. The action of the citizens of Watertown has had a tremendous ripple effect. After releasing a statement refusing to recognize the Armenian genocide and firing its New England director, the national director of the Anti-Defamation League, Abraham Foxman, released a statement today in which he recognizes the Armenian genocide. Here is what he......

Only a few days ago, Andrew Tarsy, the regional director of the Anti-Defamation League, backer of the "No Place for Hate" program, tried to defend the ADL's stance on the Armenian Genocide at the Watertown City Council meeting. The ADL refused to recognize the genocide, Watertown residents - including a large Armenian population - was furious, and Watertown kicked the ADL out of its borders. Then, presumably influenced by Watertown's decision to remove hate from......

Starbucks, schmarbucks. Dunkin' Donuts thinks it can rule the world. It's rolled out corny commercials with the likes of Naomi Campbell and Rachael Ray leaving skidmarks on a floor. The next step in world domination starts this month, when our beloved Dunkin' Donuts begins selling packaged Dunkin' coffee across the United States at Wal-Mart, Kroger, and other stores. This is excellent news for anyone who no longer lives in New England yet who still feels......

A man slipped past screeners at the Charlotte-Douglas International Airport around 8 o'clock this morning and has not been seen since. The Transportation Security Administration says that the concourse was shut down and about 15 planes were searched, but not before 12 flights had already taken off. These flights will be searched once they land. Wherever they're going. Did they land yet? Whatever. That's just great. Can I have my lighter back now? (MSNBC)......

Come on now. It's been six months since the BPD chased down some LED signs depicting the Mooninites and still we're subject to ridicule. A tipster on the Bostonist Contribute page alerted us to the Jalopink posting that there is an eerily similar rust spot to the Aqua Teen Hunger Force character of Meatwad appearing on a 1973 Datsun 610. As the intro lyrics go: "Meatwad make the money, see. Meatwad get the honeys,......

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 usually mind our own when it comes to goings-on in our neighboring states, unless it involves tax-evading, bunker-building survivalists or the recovery of large quantities of pot. But French president Nicolas Sarkozy, who is vacationing on Lake Winnipesaukee in New Hampshire, yelled at an American photographer who was taking pictures of him Sunday afternoon. What did Sarkozy expect? Peace and quiet on his rural vacation? That is not how the American media rolls. Lindsay......

According to the Associated Press, Gov. Deval Patrick called for a review of local bridge inspection records today. It turns out that Massachusetts has 27 steel truss bridges similar in design to the one that collapsed in Minnesota, but none is considered in danger of collapsing. WBZ news posted a Mass Mass Highway Dept. spreadsheet which lists 23 bridge rehab/replacement projects that are in design, under construction or recently completed. Gov. Patrick says he plans......

We Bostonians are experts on tunnel crappiness. The horrible collapse in Minnesota got us wondering about the safety of bridges across our proud, crumbly nation. According to the U.S. Department of Transportation 2006 report to Congress, Status of the Nation’s Highways, Bridges, and Transit: Conditions and Performance: In 2006, 1,135, or 8.67%, of Minnesota's total inventory of 13,008 bridges were categorized as Structurally Deficient [SD]*. For comparison: In Massachusetts: 5,059 bridges were inventoried; 586......

Jay Garrity, the Romney aide who allegedly impersonated police officers and who allegedly hassled a New York Times reporter, has resigned from the Romney campaign. The Herald reported that the overenthusiastic Garrity made fake badges and liked to use them. According to the Herald, Garrity and other members of Team Romney may have used the badge to avoid paying a toll. Meanwhile, the Romney campaign is putting as much distance between itself and Garrity as......

Last night, the vision of Mitt Romney in cornrows danced in our heads. This morning, the thought of Mitt Romney morphing with Chevy Chase replaced the cornrows. The Globe has been doing this seemingly endless series on Mitt Romney's life, so that Romney's mug has been staring out at us from the front page. You'd think that, since Mitt Romney was the state's governor recently, we'd be likely to remember his defining characteristics. But......

UPDATE: From the AP: "US Department of Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said Thursday his agency will seek to "terminate" the deportation case against the wife of a Massachusetts soldier missing in Iraq so she can stay in the country and apply for permanent resident status." Unless we're mistaken, that sounds like Yaderlin Jimenez will be able to get her green card. Yesterday, word spread all over the Web that Yaderlin Jimenez, wife of missing......

The US government is considering deporting the wife of Alex Jimenez, the soldier from Lawrence who has been missing in Iraq since May 12. Jimenez is a citizen of the United States. His wife, Yaderlin, is not. She came here illegally from the Dominican Republic, and they married. She was in the process of getting a green card, but, according to WBZ, an immigration judge stopped the process when Alex Jimenez went missing. Her lawyer......