One of the better deals for parking in Boston just got a little worse. The garage underneath the Boston Common is raising its rates effective March 1, the Herald reports. Evening and weekend rates will rise to $11. The weekday rate will go up to $27. Then again, the rates remain much better than your other options. Many garages in the city charge $6 after 20 minutes, so $27 for a weekday rate isn't awful,......

The First No Pants 2K8 Saturday, January 12 3:00 pm Alewife Station Details on the Pants-Free Par-Tay Ride the T pantsless! Following the lead of other cities, a bold Boston man, Adam Sablich, has organized No Pants 2K8 for this city. Founded by the group Improv Everywhere, No Pants 2K8 is exactly what you think. You get on the train, and you take off your pants. Your pants, people, not what's underneath. Here's the details......

City Councilor President Maureen Feeney ("MoFee") has suggested hosting a gigantic town meeting at the South Boston Convention Center in the spring, the Globe reports. The mayor is not feeling the idea because of the teeming hordes that are likely to descend up on the convention center to speak their minds and he has to listen to kvetching all the time, anyway. But the mere presence of teeming hordes is the point. All too......

The space-saver war continues. Yesterday, Donovan Slack followed up on the city's attempts to get a few residents of South Boston to stop saving parking spaces after a snowstorm, even though they can keep the space for 48 hours. Apparently a few protesters feel that tradition trumps the law: But sending a special crew to South Boston angered some in the neighborhood. They interpreted the move as another offensive in the years-long battle between City......

--John Edwards, the Harvard sophomore whose body was found yesterday at Harvard Medical School, committed suicide. People who knew him, such as a professor and his roommate are mystified. Eva Wolchover lists Edwards' many accomplishments. He was a top science student (and that's saying something around here), a stem cell researcher, and a guitar player. A Facebook group named "In Memory of John Edwards" has already been established. --Michele McPhee reports that a State Trooper......

--In a Tremont Street parking garage early this morning, some alleged thugs from Worcester started a fight and proceeded to beat on their opponents with belts. Usually, when the BPD writes of a perp reaching for something in the ol' waistband, you know they're bracing for a gun. But these guys really were using their waistbands as weapons. In more ordinary crime, someone got shot in Roxbury overnight. --In Spencer, police found the body of......

This week is officially Bike Week. Regular commuters, part time enthusiasts, friends, and allies of bikers will be donning their helmets (please put on your helmet) and taking to the streets to celebrate a great form of human powered transportation. While many events take place from Boston to NoHo we're focusing our attention on those happening close to home. Free biker appreciation breakfasts and group rides have been organized. Check out the full listing at......

The airport has beautified the central parking garage, Terminal B, and Terminal C with "Rainbow Cove Red" and "Rainbow Cove Green." Artist Christopher Janney assembled the eight-story-tall installation, which features appropriately colorful glass walls and "natural sounds from different parts of New England." Lots of natural sounds as a matter of fact. As Cate McQuaid puts it, "The Terminal C tower also chirps, whistles, and bleats…. The score cycles through eight beds of underlying sound,......