--The Greater Boston Food Bank needs your help. [Boston Globe, Greater Boston Food Bank] --Welcome back members of the 181st infantry regiment! [WCVB] --The JFK library received $2 million dollars to expand from the Irish government, as part of Bertie Ahern's visit. [Boston Herald] --Gas service in the North End and Financial District has been restored after the water main mess. [Boston Globe] --Some Harvard students decorated Dunster House with dead meat. Aren't Harvard......

Unfortunately the world of vegan gourmet dining is a small one, with most restaurants concentrated in the Veg-friendly cities of New York, San Francisco, and Portland. While visiting San Francisco, Veggiest was able to dine at Millennium, which is consistently rated among the very best veg restaurants in the country. Everything about the experience was impeccable, the decor, staff, wine, and of course FOOD, were all top-notch. We dined on avocado and endive salad,......

Deval Patrick has been making news lately with the State of the Commonwealth and his public support of presidential candidate Barack Obama. But what of Massachusetts' other top dog, Speaker of the House Sal DiMasi? Bostonist read Paul McMorrow's lengthy Boston Magazine profile of the Speaker of the House and found the article too interesting not to sum up. McMorrow shows how DiMasi's success has been the result of good instincts, understated intelligence, a quick......

Another break-in happened at Romney Headquarters early this morning in the North End. At first blush, it could have been political. The two men arrested by the BPD were from Cambridge, which doesn't exactly show Mitt Romney the love. The pair pled not guilty. According to the DA's Office, they were caught driving from the parking lot after a security guard said he saw them trying to steal computer equipment. When police "removed" them from......

--Dr. Judah Folkman, who found a new way of fighting cancer by cutting off blood supply to tumors, died yesterday. [Boston Globe] --After one meeting ended unsuccessfully, the Cambridge City Council decided that Denise Simmons would be mayor. [Cambridge Chronicle] --The judge in a Florida case involving former FBI agent/Friend-of-Whitey-Bulger John J. Connolly has recused herself. [Boston Herald] --Coyote ugly: An injured coyote was spotted and rounded up last night in the North End.......

If you thought yesterday's snowstorm was rough, try thinking about the wave of molasses that poured through the North End on January 15, 1919. The molasses flood happened when a shoddily built tank burst at the seams, sending waves of molasses through the North End, knocking down homes and crushing people. The tank held molasses that would later be distilled into industrial alcohol for use in World War I. Twenty-one people died, and many people......

Victor Thompson of New Hampshire is a bigger Pats fan than you are. Sure, he's never actually been to a game in Foxboro, but he'd like to. But that doesn't matter. Maybe you watch all the games on TV, maybe you own a Wes Welker replica jersey, maybe you've even trekked down to Gillette (or even Schaeffer) Stadium, but you haven't done what Victor's doing: getting a Tom Brady helmet tattooed on his head. The......

In Boston, a commemorative plaque is mounted on every other building, tree and rock... and we're proud of it, b'gum'! We just checked the historic museum gift shops and the coast is clear of tourists, stoners and field-trippers until February vacation. Here are a few gift ideas for the history buff (or the ignorant). The people at Historic New England do not mess around. We're getting misty about their spectacular historic photos of Boston. Their......

Now that absinthe is legally available for sale in the US, the green fairy has landed on cocktail menus in Boston. Bostonist went to a couple local bars recently to try out the storied liquor of artists and poets. First, we tried out a more-or-less classic absinthe preparation at Kingston Station. It’s an interactive cocktail, and very pretty—you pour a bottle of spring water over a sugar cube sitting on top of a slotted......

Street-cleaning day is dreadful on so many levels because it is all too easy to forget to move one's car. And then there are the annoying repetitive announcements that are boomed into homes: "You will be tagged and towed, you will be tagged and towed." But Boston has announced that they will start a program that sends e-mail reminders to residents when they need to move their cars. Matt Viser of the Globe reports, The......

This week, Phillyist saw the waters of a landmark fountain run red for a Showtime marketing stunt, the Phils pull ahead, and some serious nostalgia. They also got a chance to review an awesome tribute album, reminded folks to see the King and appreciated their beautiful skyline. Chicagoist knows what it's like to like the Cubs. But naming your kid Wrigley Fields? At least they can breathe a little easier now that Grossman's out and......

Those angry manholes are at it again, and unfortunately for all of us, they're stepping up their game. This Bostonist was walking home this afternoon and noticed some black smoke coming out of a manhole on Hanover Street. The North End is a pretty crazy place, so Bostonist didn't think much of it and continued on our way. We should know better than to trust a manhole, any manhole. The smoke kept coming and......

--The production team for Bachelor No. 2 got kicked out of St. Leonard's Church in the North End. They had planned to shoot a scene inside the church, but the church's priest, Rev. Antonio Nardoianni, got wind that the crew had redecorated Umberto Galleria and named it "Cheezus Crust." Apparently Nardoianni missed the hidden commandment "Thou Shalt Have a Sense of Humor." But the location scouts probably should have put two and two together and......

You may not have noticed since they've been largely under the radar, but the Boston Film Festival starts this weekend at the AMC Loews Boston Common, and they have some good movies. The Boston Film Festival website has the full schedule, and Bostonist has pulled out some highlights: Lars and the Real Girl, Saturday, September 15, 7:30-9:30 Have you ever wondered what might happen if a fella bought a blow-up doll and actually fell in......

Someone burgled the local headquarters of former Massachusetts governor and presidential aspirant Mitt Romney. The headquarters are in the North End on Commercial Street. Someone might want to check on the portrait Romney's hiding in the attic. Perhaps a clue was at the North End headquarters? Anyway, according to the Globe, the current assumption is that it's not Watergate Redux. A campaign spokesman said that the burglars were into the usual stuff - computers......

--Not every day is a crimefighting day, at least not in Methuen last week. A sergeant for the Methuen PD was on duty - while watching the Patriots play a preseason game on TV. One could argue that it was fine if nothing was happening, but other officers joined him, and only two officers were left on duty. They must have been rookies. The scene could have come right out of Super Troopers - the......

--Yesterday, a guy in the North End gave police a 30-inch-long baby boa constrictor inside a Crown Royal bag. We're not sure if toting a snake in a Crown Royal bag is animal cruelty or public disturbance or what. It's definitely weird and kind of cool. The unnamed man said he "found it on the street." The bag was also wet, and the Herald didn't know why. One can only guess. The optimistic answer would......

The North End hosted the Fisherman's Feast this past weekend in honor of Madonna del Soccorso di Sciacca. This year's event, Boston's oldest continuous Italian festival (97 years and counting!), featured the usual suspects: tons of tourists, tons of ducks, various carnival games, and food. So much food. But let us not lose sight of the reason we were all there, to honor the Patroness Saint From the top, The Saint covered in her offerings,......

It's feast season in the North End and Flickr user Buelow shows us a unique perspective on the festivities.......

With out of town guests visiting the cradle of the Revolution over the Fourth of July holiday, Bostonist made the pilgrimage down the red bricked freedom trail. In the North End near the Old North Church the fountain at the Paul Revere Mall was dormant. Dormant and disgusting. Full of nasty greenish stagnant water that sat in the pool without any flow whatsoever. It seemed an inviting pool for West Nile and EEE carrying mosquitoes......

We've been sitting on this one a little bit because, well, nobody's perfect. But it was pretty funny that someone misspelled Governor Deval Patrick's name on a large construction sign in the North End. His name isn't that hard to spell. RDA Construction, which is working on a waterfront project, misspelled the governor's name on the sign. And they'll fix it. Perhaps someone just got finished watching a movie starring some famous Duvall's, such as......

After the terrible fire that destroyed an apartment complex in the North End, the Fenway suffered a three-alarm fire early this morning. Compared to the North End six-alarm incident, that seems minor, but two people died in the Fenway blaze. NStar was in the area because the neighborhood had no power, and they spotted the problem. No word yet on the cause of the fire. In weird, creepy blotter news, a Malden neighborhood was evacuated......

Didn't we just run a post about the molasses flood that struck the North End? And a post on the water main that burst in the neighborhood? What is it about the North End that attracts not just isolated incidents but grand, sweeping moments of destruction? In the North End, you don't just have a fire that strikes an apartment or two. You get a tremendous six-alarm blaze that destroys an entire complex. Last night,......

Stephen Puleo will be reading from Dark Tide: The Great Molasses Flood of 1919 on Thursday afternoon at 2:30 pm. He'll be in the English lounge of Wheatley Hall on the U-Mass-Boston campus. Forget what you know about molasses - molasses is fast, as North End residents discovered on January 15, 1919. The story isn't told as often as it should be - a tank full of 2.3 million gallons of molasses fell and burst......

People who double-park can be a royal pain, especially if they're dropping off a passenger who is taking a little too long to get out of the car. But double-parking is not grounds for vehicular homicide! The BPD reports on a 60-year-old guy who, fed up with a woman who double-parked in front of him to let out a passenger, lost his mind, honked his horn, and then took it to the limit: The victim......

We really aren't sure where this came from. It seems like the stereotypes portrayed below have been applied to areas around St. Louis, Florida, Memphis, Detroit, among other US geographic locations. It came to us via email, un-attributed to the author (email us, we'll give you credit), and humorously rang true for some of the locations integrated into the list. Suggestions for the South Boston Barbie (both original model and Fort Point edition), Cantabrigian Barbie,......

A new café reminiscent of one of those you'd find tucked away off a small stone street in Barecelona’s Zona Antigua, artistic, unique, relaxed, has just opened. The afro-cuban music in the background is at a volume that allows easy conversation; as a gallery, the walls are covered with vibrant art. It has recently opened in the North End, architecturally, the most European neighborhood. “Flamepoeira” serves first-rate espresso drinks, delicious Euro/Asian-flavored dishes, and wonderful desserts.......

While many argue about the discrimination in this city, this ideology is also affecting the vermin in the city sewers as well. As many shocked restaurant patrons came to find out last Thursday, rats do not add to the ambience when inhaling a filet mignon on Newbury Street. Louis J. Antonellis, a local labor union guy for Electrical Workers Local 103, decided he had had enough with the Capital Grille after fighting with them for......

In a world where there's nothing to do but watch movies. In a city full of theaters, museums, and libraries. One moviegoer who can be in three places at once. Friday 7/14 They Came Back (Les Revenants) The dead return by the thousands, but they're the French dead: their hunger is existential. (American and Italian zombies, with traditional brain-eating values, will return next weekend.) Museum of Fine Arts, Remis Auditorium 6 pm, $10 They Came......

While the world readies for the final match of the FIFA World Cup, Boston gets ready to watch it. The French and Italians will match up on Sunday afternoon – and everyone has an opinion on where the best place to watch the game will be. Mayor Menino has sanctioned a World Cup Party of sorts on City Hall Plaza this Sunday. A big screen broadcast of the match will have capacity to hold up......