--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......

--Heating oil, which is already insanely expensive, costs less if you pay cash. Not that it will make you feel any better. [The Big Guy] --A Google map of foreclosures in Boston. [Boston Real Estate Blog] --Remembering what happened five years ago during the horrible fire at the Station nightclub in Rhode Island. [Platinum Elite] --Where to eat if you are living or working in Longwood. [Menu Pages] --Mega Man sighting! [Sushiesque] --Did you say......

--Hug a social worker today. If you've ever wondered why the Department of Social Services couldn't stop an act of violence from happening, read this eye-opening article on just how hard it is to be a social worker. According to the piece, "between one-third and three-quarters of all social workers nationwide have been threatened, physically assaulted, or had their property damaged." [Boston Globe] --A Bridgewater State College student and his girlfriend, a student at......

What does one get a missing mobster on the anniversary of his vanishing? A Hallmark card? One that says, "Thanks for leaving"? Today is the 13th anniversary of mobster Whitey Bulger's disappearance, a reminder that old white guys everywhere should be careful while vacationing in Italy. Since Bulger has vanished and is supposedly living the high life somewhere in Europe, police have kept their eyes peeled for men who might resemble him. Unfortunately, a lot......

Already feeling the pressure of holiday family time? Leave the house. Run away. Tonight's events will help add some spice to your Santa. Music --Holiday stress? Family freaking out on you? Swap "Jingle Bells" for "Raw Power" with The Scrooges--a band that dresses in Santa suits and covers the Stooges. They'll be at Great Scott tonight at 9:00. 1222 Commonwealth Ave, Allston. Theater --The New Repertory Theater is showing David Sedaris' Santaland Diaries, which......

Ethan Gilsdorf and Ted Weesner, Jr. Friday, December 14, 7:00 pm Willoughby and Baltic Art Space 195 G Elm Street, Somerville (T: Davis Square) Free Ethan Gilsdorf's official site Listings for readings may be slim while everyone is busy for the holidays, but it's quality that matters. Two recipients of fellowships from the Somerville Arts Council will be sharing their latest projects for free tomorrow night. Journalist/poet Ethan Gilsdorf and novelist Ted Weesner, Jr., are......

--When word got out that Mayor Menino wanted to bring in a petting zoo to revitalize Downtown Crossing, we thought it was a joke. But it turns out that the barnyard animals are at the crossing on weekends outside Filene's Basement. Animal activists are underwhelmed, and how can looking at sad, cold animals inspire people to shop? [Boston Herald] --Wondering what all the screaming was about early yesterday evening at Downtown Crossing? It didn't......

It might be a stretch to claim that all the children at Sunday's Boston Comic Con were present to support their parents, but there was one incontrovertible example. Two toddlers, swaddled in the costumes of Superman and the Flash, raced through the Back Bay Events Center in strollers, pushed by their parents. "I think he's going to win," said the mother, pointing at the one dressed as Superman. "He's really the fastest." The convention was......

The Globe headline read "Fans Erupt in Joy After Sox Comeback." The subhead read, "Police Arrest 12 After Victory." The Herald said that the arrest number was actually 26, and they came away from the scene with a few stories of aggressive police and skittish horses. It would appear that fans and police were able to coexist somewhat, although Bostonist has no idea why the BPD wouldn't let them take a few harmless pictures of......

--In a shooting last night on Talbot Street, one woman died and a man is in serious condition at Brigham and Women's. According to reports, three people, including one woman, approached the victims before the shooting started. The woman, who has not yet been identified, is Boston's 56th homicide this year. --The family of the late Liquarry Jefferson, the 8-year-old shot by his own 7-year-old cousin earlier this year, is back in the spotlight. His......

--A level 3 sex offender with some serious impulse-control issues got busted in Cambridge District Court yesterday. According to the Herald, he went to the ladies' restroom, exposed himself, and masturbated in front of women in the restroom. Police arrested 48-year-old Malcolm Maker, who apparently really wanted to get caught. Far as we can tell, he had no other reason for being at the courthouse. He was already on the radar for incidents at Mohegan......

BulgerMania seems to have broken out in Italy because police are seeing Whitey Bulger and his girlfriend everywhere. Even if you don't look like Whitey Bulger but happen to be an old white guy, do not go to Italy. The FBI posted an image and video of a distinguished-looking white couple strolling through Italy. And, what do you know, distinguished-looking white guys who don't even look like Bulger are getting hassled. Earlier this month, poor......

…maybe because he is your average elderly tourist! Back when the FBI was posting pictures of an old white guy on its website because they thought it was Whitey Bulger, Bostonist wrote, "The particular pair in the photo look like any other upper-class retired couple looking for a European wine-tasting. If it isn't Whitey Bulger, then the retired couple mistaken for Bulger and Grieg are in for quite a surprise." And guess what? An old......

NESN asks the question, "Will the poetry in the field spark romance in the stands?" Perhaps - but the first episode of Sox Appeal suggests that if you really want to woo someone, you're better off doing it without the distractions of a baseball game. Garrett Lucash, a retired figure skater who will apparently do anything to banish the stereotype of the male figure skater, meets with three different women. He tries to strike......

The Phoenix posted the tenth annual Muzzle Awards. The listing, compiled by Media Nation blogger Dan Kennedy, showcases the offenses against free speech by local individuals and organizations. An apropos way to celebrate liberty for the Fourth of July. He gets the Muzzle this year by stifling the free speech of former Iranian President Mohammad Khatami by refusing to provide state-police protection to the visiting former head of state. Boston Police stepped up to provide......

We were so excited to have former Providence mayor/convict Buddy Cianci's larger-than-life personality in town as he transitioned into society with a gig at a local boutique hotel. But, today, Cianci started another job at a Providence condo complex instead. It makes sense since it is closer to his home turf, but news articles also note the possibility that The Man thought Cianci's hotel job - and the ensuing publicity - was a bit too......

--In Framingham on Tuesday night, a robber used Devil Dogs as part of his strategy when stealing from the Stop & Shop. Emanuel Goffigan got into line and "began waving" a pack of Devil Dogs. Then, when the cashier opened the drawer of her cash machine, he pounced on it, got the money, and ran. We're not exactly sure where the Devil Dogs fit because he could have jumped on the drawer at any time,......

Providence's corrupt mayor, a brazen statement backed up by a federal court ruling, has been released from prison in New Jersey and is now currently in a Boston halfway house. Media were camped out around the building awaiting his arrival. He thwarted most of the cameras by slipping in the back door. It appears that a Providence TV station managed to secure some cameraphone shots of his arrival. It was reported last week that he'd......

In Rhode Island you can't get married as a same sex couple. You can't get divorced as a same sex couple either. Well, at least not yet. According to the Providence Journal, the Rhode Island State Supreme Court has agreed to hear arguments and give an answer to the question: "May the Family Court properly recognize, for the purpose of entertaining a divorce petition, the marriage of two persons of the same sex who......

Every day for the last week month it seems we've read something in the papers about the Mashpee Wampanoags and their move to set up a casino. Will it be in Middleborough? New Bedford? Palmer? Some other Massachusetts town? It's not clear where they're going to open up just yet, but two things are certain: 1. the Mashpee Wampanoags receive their official federal recognition this week and 2. We'll hear the word "bingosino" a lot......

At first it seemed like it was just a ploy for sweeps. Deemed the first big snow storm of the season initial reports had upwards of eight inches falling on Boston. Local TV news stations have fired up the severe weather graphics, pulled in their storm teams, and gone to almost all weather all the time. The National Weather Service even issued a winter storm warning for the next 24 hours:... Winter Storm Warning......

Another young person has been killed, this time at Lincoln-Sudbury High. One student stabbed another to death in a school bathroom early yesterday morning. Some of those who are supposed to watch over the students are in trouble, too. Two former Boston school employees were charged Thursday for beating on their middle-school students when they took them to Rhode Island. Supposedly, they were on an Outward Bound kind of trip. Way to go, fellas. You......

The Massachusetts midterms were downright sane compared to what happened in the rest of the nation. There was voter deception in Virginia. A poll worker strangled a voter in Kentucky (you'd think it would have been the opposite). Computer glitches slowed down voting across the nation. South Carolina's governor wasn't able to vote for himself. Britney Spears divorced K-Fed, which may have been a cultural sign that "The Man" was about to get stuck.......

A free concert put on every Thusday Night in the summer by the Springfield Business Imporovement District starts at 7:30 pm, and runs till late. The event first happened in 1999 and has been a huge success since, drawing 4,000 to 6,000 people for each Thursday night, and has become a big draw for bikers and music lovers from NY, Conn., Eastern Mass., Rhode Island, and Vermont, in addition to Western Mass. locals. With......

While perusing this week's issue of the Boston Phoenix we came across an ad for Old School Prom on the back page. It featured a young woman in yellow strapless prom dress, updo, and attitude-full look holding a massive mirror with the words "Now who's the fairest of them all?" written on it (as if to appeal to all the 'ugly duckings' out there who want to set the record straight). The details were......

Seth McFarlane, creator of Family Guy and voice of Griffins - Stewey, Brian (the dog), and patriarch Peter as well as Quagmire, spoke at Harvard's Class Day yesterday. Today the Exercises of Commencement clog most of Cambridge and hoard the sheriff of Middlesex County. There's a choice of what to watch: Larry Summers' final charge to graduates at the helm of Harvard University, Jim Lehrer of News Hour on PBS, or the Family Guy. Academics......

The Herald ran an article today reporting that according to a study by the insurance agency GMAC (which is totally going to be Bostonist's new rap name), Massachusetts drivers rank second worst among the contiguous 48 states and D.C. in knowledge of traffic laws, while Oregon's are at the top (Rhode Island is at the bottom). However, Mass. has the lowest rate of fatal traffic accidents. The Herald, citing an unnamed state highway official,......

For years, Spike's Junkyard Dogs has been serving up some of the best hot dogs and grilled chicken sandwiches in Allston (and apparently in many locations in Rhode Island, too). Bostonist is excited to share that recently, David Drake's "highly successful" fast food business (named after his bulldog, Spike), has opened another location on the corner of Mass Ave and Boylston (also, soon to come to Davis Square), in the space that used to house......

Oh, Bostonist does love cat-hoarding. OK, not really - we think it's cruel and repellent, but the fact that it is a pathology that actually exists amuses us in a sick way (as does the fact that people in New York are managing to take their pet dogs on airplanes by claiming they are "emotional support dogs" and the owners would bug out if they had to be dogless for even a few hours; but......

There is only so long that we’re going to be able to hold out before the entire list of the week’s picks will be outdoor venues. Well, that’ll probably never happen until they dome the roof at Paradise and we can rock under the stars. We are, however, ecstatic about the warmer temperatures and the daylight which stretches until late – it helps us gear up for the night’s show. After a weekend of......