Foreclosures in Massachusetts are up. [Boston Business Journal] Public pension funds are down. [WBZ] Unemployment is up. [Boston Globe] City Hall is still hiring despite Mayor Mumbles proclaiming a job freeze last month. [Boston Herald] There's talk of raising taxes on gasoline instead of increasing tolls. [WBZ-TV] Until then, find the best routes to avoid tolls. [Boston Herald] Pieces of meat have been mysteriously appearing in Framingham Common for the past 5 weeks. [MetroWest......

The economic news from New York has been as brutal and relentless as the Giants' pass rush in the Super Bowl. Once again, New England is scrambling and taking too many hits. The Wall Street meltdown forced the Commonwealth to revise and reduce its revenue estimates for the upcoming year, leaving Gov. Deval Patrick with a roughly 1.4 billion dollar budget deficit. His plan (in full PDF glory here--Globe summary here) will fire about......

Image by katken from photos tagged "Bostonist" on Flickr. Taxachusetts' Governor Patrick doesn't want to raise 'em, but he can't rule it out. [Boston Globe] Local gymnastic (and boxing) hottie Alicia Sacramone had a tough day at the Olympics, but she will advance to the finals in at least one event. [Boston Globe] The body of a missing Beverly teen may have been found in a nearby pond. Initial reports do not suspect foul......

--A doctor and a nurse at Gloucester High School would like to give contraceptives confidentially to students, but Addison Gilbert Hospital refused, so the doctor and the nurse have quit in protest. They should do something, as the high school has had 17 teen pregnancies this year. [Boston Herald, WBZ] --Former Red Sox pitcher Geremi Gonzalez, who pitched for many, many MLB teams and was recently pitching in Japan, was struck by a bolt......

--Boston 911 operators are under scrutiny again because a call taker's error led to a delay in the arrival of police as a 76-year-old man was being beaten. [Boston Globe] --Smokers aren't too happy about the Senate's approval of a $1 rise in cigarette taxes. [Boston Herald] --Speaking of tax increases, Brookline voters approved a tax override. [Boston Globe] --In the "brass balls" department, the mayor of Newton, David Cohen, wants a pay raise.......

A state senator from Milton has unveiled a plan to apply a gradual tax to plastic bags, starting at 2 cents and then rising to 15 cents. Those who already use canvas totes or paper won't need to pay. If you're a Whole Foods or Trader Joe's type, you probably don't use them at all. We've been down this road before with the city council. Reasons for taxing the bags include the fact that they......

This afternoon, the Globe reported that Cambridge ice-cream store Toscanini's is back in business. After the state seized the store for nonpayment of taxes, the owners raised enough money online to give to the state and reopen. The amount of money was staggering--$31,406 as of tonight on the site www.savetoscis.com. Owners Gus and Mimi Rancatore turned over the money, so they can open up and start paying off the rest of it. In an e-mail......

Gus Rancatore, owner of Toscanini's, which was seized by Massachusetts for nonpayment of taxes, is launching an effort to save the beloved ice-cream store, and he's taking his efforts to the media. A website has been started to help raise money for Toscanini's. As we learned from the Cambridge Chronicle, Rancatore owes a considerable amount in unpaid taxes, and the company must provide a down payment before re-opening. If you want to contribute to the......

Boy, this one had "thrilling comeback" written all over it, didn't it? After the Red Sox pulled Tuesday night's game out of the grave, they spotted Tampa Bay a 6-0 lead yesterday afternoon. (Oh, inconsistent, Daisuke...what's to be done with you?) The Sox then started chipping away as they've done so many times. Jason Varitek's 2-run homer in the seventh chased starter Andy Sonnanstine to the clubhouse, then Crisp walked and Lugo followed with an......

Not every day can be that exciting in the sports world. Today will be pretty good: the Sox open a series in Baltimore, the Patriots play their first exhibition game, and Gillette Stadium is preparing for the Sunday arrival of David Beckham. Yesterday...nothing. Well, there was a little excitement. New Celtics Eddie House and Scot Pollard faced the media, and Bostonist already likes Pollard. "Getting Kevin Garnett here was a big deal, but with us......

Usually we're bringing you the Mitt Watch on this little corner of the internet. Today we're watching Mitt in his new ad for Mitt Watch. We're still too many months away before actual voting in the 2008 election cycle begins to start putting any faith in poll numbers. Political ads generally tend to bore us, but since it's time to start planning the Fourth of July BBQ patriotism may have taken over – for 24......

-- If ever there was a night the Red Sox would want to play Toronto, Tuesday was it. The Blue Jays, who have become an AL East Achilles Heel of sorts for the Sox, had lost six straight heading into the game at the Rodgers Center. Josh Beckett was set to go for his seventh win of the season. Manager Terry Francona was on the cusp of his 300th win leading Boston. Almost seemed too......

This week we'd like to congratulate the -ist network's Mother Hen, Gothamist's Jen Chung, who found herself a recipient of Wired Magazine's Wired Rave Award. If that doesn't sound terribly exciting, keep in mind another recipient was J.K. Rowling. Yep, that's right, the -ist network and Harry Potter now have something in common. Go us. Austinist has a chat with the ever-fashionable Golden Girl Rue McClanahan, and managed to catch some local fashionistas making......

On this day a mere 131 years ago, Alexander Graham Bell received the patent for the telephone and Ma Bell was on her way to being born. Bell submitted his patent for the telephone at 11:30 a.m. February 14, only hours after Elisha Gray submitted a caveat for the device – but Gray didn't convert his caveat into a full blown application for patent, so the patent office granted the patent to Bell. It's a......

The old saying goes that nothing is certain except death and taxes. You should add Fung Wah buses to that list. A Fung Wah bus was understandably overwhelmed by today's nasty weather. Mac Daniel reports that a Fung Wah bus hit a guardrail this morning on the Pike by the Allston-Brighton tolls. Another Fung Wah bus came by to retrieve the freezing passengers. For once, it seemed that Fung Wah could probably blame an accident......

Boffo Box Office, with a lecture from burlesque historian David Kruh, a screening of Lady of Burlesque and a performance from the Boston Babydolls Burlesque Troupe, will start at Coolidge Corner Theater tomorrow night at 7:00 pm. Tickets are $12. Boffo Box Office at Coolidge Corner Theater kicks off a month packed with burlesque events. Tomorrow night, historian David Kruh will talk about the Old Howard theater, which used to be Boston's home of burlesque......

Anytime we hear about diplomats we always think about those episodes of Law & Order where they get away with crimes or that extra special perk they've got that allows them to park illegally outside of the UN without getting parking tickets or towed. Members of the International Committee of the Red Cross are often issued diplomatic visas and passports from their home countries. Boston City Councilors are not. Councilor Michael Ross has been banking......

Plenty of fascinating news this week for our oft-neglected New England neighbors: Vermont: The poor folks in Vermont will miss out on the wonders of the new iPhone because the iPhone will use Cingular, and Vermont doesn't have Cingular networks. They won't be the only ones: "The iPhone service won't be available in all or large portions of Alaska, Colorado, the Dakotas, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, upstate New York,......

The only things certain in life are death, taxes, and problems with Fung Wah buses. Mac Daniel reports that the latest Fung Wah problem involved two tires coming right off the bus as it headed down the Turnpike. But here's the real howler - the bus passed its state inspection on November 29. Surely, whoever inspected that bus was smoking something absolutely magnificent. How on earth can someone whose line of business it is......

When the MBTA rolls the first trains at the start of service on Monday morning it will be on a Sunday schedule for the holiday and the 2007 fare increase will be in full effect. There's still a lot of confusion as to how the changes will effect riders and we're going to attempt to run down the most significant changes below. CharlieTicket and Cash: Both these methods will cost the most. $1.50 for a......

Bostonist loves a night out, especially when she can save the receipt and write it off on her taxes, so attending Blogtoberfest at Match was like a dream come true. We'd been hearing about the luxe lounge since 2005, but, until last Thursday, hadn't found a good excuse to strap on our high heels and do some drinking. The hook for this trendy hotspot lies in the selection of specialty martinis and gourmet miniburgers that......

While Bostonist preferred the first gubenatorial debate in which Independent Christy Mihos and Republican Kerry Healey practically got into a knock-down, drag-out catfight, last night's debate at Faneuil Hall followed a more classic debate model, in which the candidates sent out messages that worked on an explicit and a subliminal level. Explicitly, the politicians appeared to focus on the needs of the people. Subliminally, Republican Kerry Healey's reputation as an animatronic aristocrat was sealed.......

You may read in the papers that the Massachusetts Secretary of State William Galvin expects low turnout for the Democratic primary on September 19, but damn it, Bostonist is still excited. We've told you before about the three democratic candidates for governor, but did you know there's a whole raft of other nominations up for grabs in both parties? Oh yes indeed! Although the Republicans have but one candidate for governor, the ever-predictable Kerry Healey,......

LAist has so much fun this week! They go to E3, where they overhear the timeless remark "Man, this is where nerdy girls get laid." Is that a promise? They also give us this week's best CDs and make us realize that LA is the best place to use Zillow. Ah, Houstonist. They're biking to work, that is, if they can figure out how to get there. That's right, Mapquest says "Houston had the......

Bostonist casually mentioned on Friday that taxes wouldn't be due until midnight today. Now, we feel obliged to mention that you shouldn't go crazy throwing everything together at the last minute and waiting on line at one of the post offices that stays open late. Because, seriously, it doesn't matter. File tomorrow. File Thursday. The IRS just doesn't care that much (really - we've filed late before we have a friend who filed late before,......

So we have a weekend full of holidays, Jewish, Christian, and secular, and many in our fair city will be traveling to other states to see family, or welcoming out-of-state friends into town. Invariably, Massachusetts-related questions will arise. Let us provide some basic info: 1. That revolutionary new universal healthcare plan everyone's been hearing about all over the country, the one that is supposed to solve all our problems by placing responsibility on individuals......

OK, not really. In another one of those completely unsurprising developments that Bostonist feels obliged to mention, Lieutenant Governor Kerry Healey has officially announced what everyone already knew: She will be running for Governor. Although the Herald calls her an underdog, her speech yesterday made pretty clear that she is just the kind of moderate Republican this Commonwealth can't get enough of: Fiscally conservative and moderate on social issues. Her speech was long and, in......

Boy oh boy, AG Reilly's campaign for governor gets each day. First, there was the whole brouhaha over his calls to Worcester County DA John Conte to keep the wraps on details of a fatal car crash involving the daughters of one of Reilly's friends. Then Reilly surprised everyone yesterday by jilting Chris Gabrieli and Worcester Mayor Tim Murray and choosing Dorchester State Rep. Marie St. Fleur as his running mate. This morning, Bostonist learns......

Oh, where to start with this wonderful story? Rhode Island native Richard Hatch, he of "Survivor" fame and nationwide villainy, was convicted in Federal Court in Providence today of tax evasion, having not paid taxes on his Survivor winnings or subsequent earnings eked from his star turn. Following the verdict, Hatch was, as the Globe Monopolistically put it, "taken straight to jail." The judge ordered Hatch held pending sentencing because, not surprisingly, he was deemed......

Living in the cradle of the Revolutionary War that is Boston, we are often called upon to take note of important historical dates. Usually, we do this by taking a day off from work, which we frequently accompany with heavy drinking. This weekend, however, in honor of the 232nd anniversary of the Boston Tea Party, it's all history and no holidays or boozing it up: On Sunday at 5:30 p.m., the Old South Meeting......