-- Boston police arrested a woman for setting the fire that killed two young girls, Acia Johnson, 14, and her 3-year-old sister, Sophia, in South Boston last month. Nicole Chuminski, 25, will be arraigned Monday on two counts of murder and one count of arson. Chuminski was reportedly the girlfriend of the victims' mother, and the alleged arson may have been the outcome of a vicious spat. [Globe; Herald] -- The truck driver whose careering......

--Carl Stanley McGee, the Patrick aide who was cleared of charges that he sexually assaulted a teen boy in Florida, is back at work, but the governor isn't taking his donations. [Boston Herald] --Find out which restaurants are open after the water main/natural gas mess downtown. [Boston Globe/fidoboston] --Stop the presses! Someone in New England is showing off a "MILF" license plate. [Barstool Sports] --Are wild turkeys gracing South Boston with their presence? [Platinum......

-- A stabbing this afternoon in Jamaica Plain has left one person hospitalized and another in custody, authorities say. The incident may have been the result of a domestic dispute. [Globe] -- Two men were found shot this morning in the McCormick Housing Development in South Boston. The victims, 18 and 23 years old, were taken to Boston Medical Center where they are suspected to survive. Authorities have not suggested any motives in the shootings,......

New Music Now Thursday, April 17 and Friday, April 18 Institute of Contemporary Art South Boston Tickets and more information. John Zorn is famous and weird enough that, when he was awarded the MacArthur "genius" grant, The Colbert Report made a joke. Sort of "my kid can paint modern art," except with saxophone reeds and adults. Zorn's music is challenging, to be sure, but anybody looking for wall-to-wall noise might be disappointed by his newer......

-- Richard "Pops" Picardi, Sr., a 76 year old cab dispatcher, was arrested Friday for dealing drugs from his Chelsea workplace. The Revere man was noted by police for his advanced age and his prosthetic leg. He faces charges that he sold the painkillers OxyContin, Roxicet and Percocet to undercover police agents over a period of about a month. [Herald; Globe] -- Authorities say the South Boston fire that killed Acia Johnson, 14, and Sophia......

Local newspapers have provided more background about 14-year-old Acia Johnson and her 3-year-old sister, Sophia, who perished in a house fire in South Boston over the weekend. Investigators have discovered that the girls' mother, Anna Reisopoulos, fought with an acquaintance at a wedding beforehand, and they suspect arson. They are already interviewing a suspect. Acia's twin brother, according to the Herald, heard someone banging on the door and a woman's screaming before the fire started.......

Update: The Herald has just released a story saying that the fire may have been arson. Laurel Sweet writes, "Sometime prior to the 3:18 a.m. tragedy, the girls’ mother had a fight with another woman, who allegedly threatened the family, sources said." Early this morning, a fire broke out in a home on 6th Street in South Boston. A 14-year-old girl and a 3-year-old were trapped inside on the top floor and died. WCVB reports......

Michael Patrick MacDonald Talking with Joe Keohane Friday, March 14--tomorrow Commonwealth Museum 220 Morrissey Blvd., Dorchester 7:30 pm, free Michael Patrick MacDonald doesn't just talk it, he's lived it. He grew up in South Boston and watched members of his family fall under the weight of poverty and violence, an experience he recorded in his first book, All Souls. His follow-up, Easter Rising, also revolves around MacDonald's life in Boston, but in this book he......

-- Breaking: Police have arrested a suspect in the March 6 double stabbing at the Roxbury Crossing Orange Line station. MBTA police apprehended an 18 year-old Roxbury man on the platform of the Jackson Square station this afternoon. Authorities say the arrest follows five days of close cooperation between Transit, Boston, and State Police. -- It was a painful case for two alleged South Boston drug runners. Last night, a Boston Neighborhood Drug Unit raided......

-- Police arrested the Dorchester man responsible for the February 27th lunch brawl at West Roxbury High School. Edwin Reyes, 39, surrendered to police yesterday. Police say that Reyes led a posse of four adults, including his two brothers and an unidentified woman, to assault a West Roxbury student who had allegedly beat up Reyes's son. Reyes stands accused of punching a West Roxbury student and driving his car into a school police officer while......

Boston's King of Boogie-Woogie With his long hair and white beard, Preacher Jack may look like a wild-eyed holy man descended from a lonely mountaintop. He's actually a living piece of boogie-woogie/rockabilly history who grew up and resides on the North Shore. Pounding the keys for fifty years, he may not keep a weekly residence at Frank's Steak House anymore, but Preacher Jack comes down to Cambridge & Boston every couple weeks to spread......

Short Cartoons You saw the nominees for the Live Action Short Film Academy Award last night; come back to the ICA for the contenders in the animated category. Formats include traditional 2D animation, CGI, and claymation. Check out the John Lennon interview film "I Met the Walrus." Institute of Contemporary Art, 100 Northern Avenue, South Boston, 7:00pm. $7/$9. Recover Heal a broken heart with laughter. Ben Karlin has assembled a collection of raucous breakup......

Books --Charles Bock's Beautiful Children isn't as delicate as it sounds. A couple reels after their child vanishes in the Las Vegas desert--only it's so, so much more than that, and it's received a flood of attention. The Globe thought Bock threw too much into his debut, but everyone seems to agree that he's ambitious. Brookline Booksmith, 7:00 pm, free. Speaking of free, he's letting you download the book without dropping a single dime.......

Dancing Hipsters Probably most famous for dating producing transatlantic hipster heartthrob MIA, Diplo made his name DJing. He's a dance music polymath who introduced the world to Brazilian Funk Carioca and Baltimore Club while inspiring a legion of white guys in skinny jeans to invest in Serato Scratch Live. He spins in Allston tonight. Great Scott, 1222 Comm. Ave, Allston. 9:00 pm. $15. Music --Darkbuster's Hometown Throwup continues with Hub City Stompers, The Allstonians,......

Art Somerville's Nave Gallery has brought us thoughtful installations before, but their new "Ghost Town" sounds positively compelling. Artists imagine our earth in a process of transformation, with cities growing and shrinking, populations moving, people interacting with nature, and everything cycling both naturally and unnaturally toward growth, decay, and chaos. Might sound like a bunch of hippie nonsense, but we think it makes for some appealing art. "Ghost Town" runs through March 21 at......

A pair of blotter items reveals that the crack cocaine in Somerville is not making residents any smarter. -- Three Somerville men were arrested when they were found in a blue van on Kingman Road trying to make crack. According to police, the men were discovered surrounded by drug paraphernalia and in possession of cocaine and baking soda. The men were reportedly trying to cook their own crack using a metal can. Bostonist doesn't condone......

--A brawler went crackers at 10 City Square in Charlestown--yes, that's Olives, owned by celebrity chef Todd English. This perp gave employees a hard time by "starting fights with several patrons and urinating in the bar area." People pee in public all the time, but at Olives? Did he not like the squab and chanterelle mushroom risotto with corn foam? Alleged disrespectful foodie urination wasn't enough for this guy, and he perp grew increasingly bold.......

--A 9-year-old was injured in a hit-and-run in Dorchester overnight. [WBZ] --The BPD put out an alert regarding a man who attempted to kidnap a girl in South Boston on Tuesday. The man attempted to get her into his car, but she ran away. He is described as "a white male, in his late 30’s, with black and gray hair, an oval face, a dime-sized mole under his right eye, long nose and deep voice."......

--A former Marshfield High School student who was arrested in 2004 for planning a Columbine-like attack was convicted of conspiracy to commit murder and could face 20 years in prison. He was, however, acquitted on a deadly weapons charge and on "promotion of anarchy." [Boston Globe] --It's not a good sign when police find someone else's Social Security Card in your pocket. A man was arrested yesterday in South Boston with that dubious credential......

The World as a Stage Institute of Contemporary Art Feb 1 - April 27 The centerpiece of the new exhibition at the Institute of Contemporary Art is an enormous set of crescent-shaped bleachers that curve around the gallery space like outstretched arms. They are pressed board and synthetic fiber and would resemble gym bleachers if basketball were played in the round and gyms were designed by Gene Roddenberry. Rita McBride's Arena (1997) establishes the dual......

--If we can't make an event out of a Super Bowl victory, then we'll make one out of Super Tuesday. Get answers to your burning questions, watch McLovin learn to vote, experience the rock-star presence of Barack Obama, and find out where to party. [All links Bostonist] --One of presidential candidate Mitt Romney's fund-raisers, James Sims, has stepped down from his post as a national finance co-chair. It seems that he had trouble paying......

--A suspect was arrested in the shooting death of a man in a Lawrence restaurant last night. The suspect took a cab to the crime scene, committed the murder, and then took the same cab home, making it pretty easy for police to find him. [WCVB] --The BPD is asking women to be cautious after two women accepted rides and were eventually assaulted in Charlestown. Police feel the incidents are linked. [WHDH] --A man accused......

Music --Haven't you always wanted to go to an event called HARVAPALOOZA? Well, now you can. Local band The Franklin Kite bring a special combination of musical prowess and astrophysics knowledge to Tommy Doyle's, where they'll play alongside Maya and The Trolleys to commemorate the palooza that is Harvard. Or something like that? Anyway, the show starts at 9 and it's totally free. A dance party will follow, so put your best foot forward. Hopefully......

The fight over the mayor's pet project of moving City Hall to South Boston is about to fire up again. Mayor Menino has been dreaming of escaping the concrete confines of the current City Hall and its depressing plaza. Hence, the City Council is putting up a fight by launching an exploratory committee. (That's how American politicians do things--they don't get into a fistfight. They form opposing committees.) Menino would like to give the whole......

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,......

Apologies for the lateness of this one. --New skinny font at T stops. And someone who works for the MBTA didn't look up the street names before sending the sign text to the printer. Gah! [b0st0n LiveJournal--with pictures] --The South End Is Over chimes in on the Globe's recent piece on gentrification and sends a crystal-clear message to anyone who bitches about the homeless in the South End: "As I have mentioned on this blog......

Update to the Update: Green C is back to normal. (12:30 pm) Update: Just received a T alert about a problem on the Green C Line: "Subway Green "C" Line - is being diverted due to weather related problem - tree fallen on overhead at Fairbanks/Beacon street. A Shuttle bus will run in both directions between Coolidge Corner and Cleveland Circle." Drivers are already spinning out on the roads this morning, and pedestrians are walking......

The problems at the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner haven't gone away with the departure of Mark Flomenbaum. In December, someone at the office picked up the wrong body from a Brockton hospital. While the incident didn't go quite as far as the wrong body winding up in someone else's grave, the employee was clearly confused. Luckily, someone at the South Boston office realized they had the wrong person and returned the body to......

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......

--This is borderline blotter and definitely dumbass. A South Boston high school set up a shooting range for its students. The shooting range is for Junior ROTC students and is in the basement at Monument High School. According to the Herald, "A school employee notified the Herald about the practice after seeing two teenagers firing weapons at targets without supervision or warning signs in a locked classroom in early December." Weren't school officials trying to......