Some major-league punkings went down today. One of them included a gag from the Weekly Dig, which proclaimed in its Daily Dig that Radiohead would be doing a free benefit for the Oxfam Cafe. They even threw in a must-see video promo. The UMass-Boston Mass Media website also offered a cutout Mr. T mask that would help you look cool and properly pity the April Fool. The Harvard Lampoon April Fool's was okay, if a......

--Nancy Pelosi is coming into town on April 4 to speak at the inauguration of former US Rep Marty Meehan as he becomes chancellor of UMass-Lowell. [Boston Globe] --More people than the state expected chose state-subsidized insurance with the new Massachusetts health care plan, and now the state is wondering how to pay for it all. [Boston Globe] --Voters in Natick declared overwhelmingly that they want to keep the name "Redmen" for their school......

--BPD News was still down the last time we checked. We feel adrift. But we saw a few entries on Wicked Local … --Police arrested individuals involved in a "cutting party" in Sudbury on Tuesday. Norman Miller of the MetroWest Daily News described the incident as "booze-fueled." The cutting also enters a gray legal area because the cutting may have been consensual. The lawyer said that Sarah Handy, 23, cut Meagan Hauff, 21, both of......

--The man shot yesterday on Harvard Street in Dorchester was leaving a funeral when he was hit. The man, 17, is in critical condition. According to the Globe, the funeral was for Charles Bunch, who died on October 14, possibly as a result of gang activity. Michele McPhee's sources ID'd the victim as David Johnson. She also noted that Johnson and the person who shot him were both wearing memorial buttons for Charles Bunch. --On......

Election Commissioner Geraldine Cuddyer faces an expensive election to eliminate one candidate before the next City Council elections. The Election Commission is required by law to hold a primary election to winnow the field when the number of candidates is more than double the available seats. There are currently nine names to appear on the ballot for four available at-large City Council seats, the nine needs to become eight by the city's election law. Cuddyer......

Since McGrory took over the Metro Editor post at the Globe, we've only got Alex Beam's column to look forward to for our dose of ridiculous controversy on Wednesdays. Today we took the hook and got excited that he'd be giving us the scoop about Boston University rebranding as Boston's University. With the controversy, and imminent no confidence vote, at UMass Boston we thought he had some juice to share. We were wrong about the......

Last week UMass-Amherst faculty and librarians got together and took a vote. 214 stood, one remained sitting. The resounding message was that the faculty of the flagship campus in the university system was none too pleased with the recently released plan by system president Jack Wilson. The hometown team, UMass-Boston faculty, had scheduled their at bat against Wilson and the Trustees for today – but that vote has been postponed. The Globe reports that after......

Gail Mazur, Robert Pinsky, Lloyd Schwartz, and Rosanna Warren will be reading at the ICA on the HarborWalk at 6:30 pm tomorrow, Thursday, May 3. Free first-come, first-serve tickets will be available an hour before the reading. The ICA and UMass Boston are celebrating Emily Dickinson - the ultimate Massachusetts literary institution - tomorrow night. The ICA is installing a visual display of Dickinson's 695 (As if the Sea should part), and four poets will......

Public Radio Talent Quest is live and taking submissions and your vote. Public Radio Exchange (PRX) and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting have teamed up and are giving away $70,000 and a shot at creating your very own radio show. The contest opened on Monday and is taking entries from radio wannabes. They host the entries and feed them to the team of judges. Oh, wait, did we say team? We meant everyone who visits......