Leeland Eisenberg has been named as the man who took staffers hostage yesterday at Hillary Clinton's campaign headquarters in Rochester, NH. He was already a man on the edge when he took the hostages. According to an AP report, his wife was divorcing him, and he was "due in court with her for a domestic violence hearing." He had a record for drunk driving and domestic violence, and he was involved in an odd incident......

Michele McPhee, police beat reporter for the Herald, has been hiding a few secrets. For all of her tough talk about crime on the streets, she has a passion for fashion. Unfortunately, she has a strange way of letting that passion show. Word is out on the Web that McPhee has a theory for why fashion designers like skinny models. She said on her WTKK show, "And who do homosexual men like? Little boys." McPhee......

Pope Benedict XVI may have flirted with Boston and batted his eyelashes a little, but he dumped us for New York and DC when he comes to visit the United States in April. At first, we thought maybe the alleged exploits of Father David Ajemian somehow got back to Pope Benedict XVI, and he decided he'd finally had it up to here with Boston. No amount of pleading from Cardinal Sean O'Malley was going to......

Comics Come Home Saturday, November 10, 7:30 pm Agganis Arena, Boston University Tickets The 13th annual Comics Come Home event, which raises money for the Cam Neely Foundation for Cancer Care, is happening this weekend. Of course, Denis Leary is hosting, and Mike Birbiglia, the ubiquitous Lenny Clarke, Artie Lange, Jim Norton, Robert Kelly, Joe Yannetty, and Pete Correale will perform. Birbiglia is a favorite in the -Ist-a-Verse and has talked to Gothamist and SFist.......

Boston city councilors Stephen Murphy and John Connolly aren't the only ones who have to learn how to get along. City councilor Chuck Turner, he of the stunning goatee, will also need to learn how to get along with Northeastern University, or vice versa depending which side you're on. Before the city council elections, Turner was angry with the school for not treating the neighborhood he represents with enough respect. He didn't mince words on......

As expected, Mayor Menino is following up after toxicology results showed that late firefighters Paul Cahill and Warren Payne had alcohol and drugs in their bodies. He's put together a three-person panel to review the fire department's policies. The panel consists of "a national fire-code specialist, a doctor who specializes in substance abuse treatment, and the former head of the Massachusetts Port Authority." That in itself is no big surprise, but Bostonist couldn't help noticing......

--The 7-year-old allegedly kidnapped and killed by her 20-year-old first cousin has been identified as Joanna Mullin of Weymouth. The cousin, Ryan Bois, has been described by various sources as addicted to drugs and homeless. But no one thought he would be capable of killing a child. His own mother said, "The drugs and the drinking just ruined him." Bois allegedly took Mullin from her grandmother's house, and police found a ladder leaning against the......

--Yesterday in Boston, a federal judge declared the government must pay $101 million to Joseph Salvati, Peter Limone, and the families of Louis Greco and Henry Tameleo for a wrongful conviction with a Goodfellas-worthy storyline. Here's the gist of the story. Someone killed Edward "Teddy" Deegan in 1965. Joseph "The Animal" Barboza said these four men did it – to protect an FBI informant, Vincent "Jimmy" Flemmi. So Barboza lied – and the FBI knew......

From the tallest skyscraper in the City of Brotherly Love to Canadian tourism copywriting brilliance, here's what you should know from our -ist cities: This week, Phillyist took a gleeful listen to the White Stripes' exciting new release, watched in awe as their new tallest skyscraper was finally completed, found a cheaper way to get to Gothamist, invented a tasty new dessert, and brought back their Craigslist Round-Up feature with a bang. Bostonist watches......

--Forbes announced that former Massachusetts governor and presidential aspirant Mitt Romney placed fourth in their "creepiest candidate" poll. We can understand why – and it has nothing to do with Mormonism or big sticks. It's simply the fact that the man has not aged for several decades. Of course he's creepy – he's hiding a portrait in the attic! --Romney's new "crazy eyes" ad certainly won't help him get off the creepy list. Earlier in......

Earlier this week Cardinal Sean O'Malley invited Pope Benedict XVI to Boston during his planned 2008 visit to the United States. The Pope has planned a trip to visit the United Nations in New York and O'Malley suggests that a short trip up from the NYC in the pope-mobile might be in order. The Globe quotes O'Malley as saying "Given everything Boston has been through, having the Holy Father come, I think, would be a......

Six men, including two men from Boston, have been indicted for prostituting teenage girls. The charges include "conspiracy to transport minors across state lines for prostitution." These people placed ads in the paper or kidnapped teenagers off the street and put them to work. And these alleged scumbags fancied themselves pimps and gave themselves big pimpin' names, such as "Young Stallion," "Syncere," "Ruby Black," "Young Indian," and "Breeze." The last guy, from Portland, Maine, is......

The brackets are here. Get it, and hide it from your boss! On second thought, your boss probably has one, too. The No. 1 seeds are Florida, North Carolina, Kansas, and Ohio State. Boston College is a seventh seed and will play against 10th seeded Texas Tech. At least they know what they'll be getting into with coach/professional nutter Bobby Knight. The Patriots buying frenzy continues, and they may have acquired a player who will......

And you thought the library stacks were quiet! Well, just because people are quiet doesn't mean they aren't up to something. Last Friday, a 59-year-old Marshfield man was caught gazing upon child porn on his computer – while the library was jam-packed with kids. It was his own laptop, but he was allegedly using the library's wireless for evil. Just a few days ago, WCVB reported on bad things happening within the Boston Public Library.......

Nothing really seems to change on the T because most of the people riding it are ordinary schlubs like us. We "write to the top," and our letters escape into the void of transportation bureaucracy. Until now. Paul Levy, President and Chief Executive Officer of Beth Israel Deaconness Medical Center, posted a letter to Universal Hub about a Green Line Ride From Hell. The entire letter is available at Universal Hub, but, in short, Levy......

A man set a woman on fire in Springfield. The AP reports, "A man doused a woman with flammable liquid then set her ablaze, burning her over 90 percent of her body and injuring himself after the two had an argument, authorities said Monday." The woman had taken out a restraining order against the man. She's in critical condition. All he got was burns on his hands. An even bleaker story unfolded last night......

Ah, fall. Fall marks the start of so many delightful traditions - leaf-peeping, the NFL season, heavy beer, jerks tossing pumpkins off overpasses and onto cars … If you've been keeping up with the regional crime reports, there's been a veritable plague of killer gourds. After weeks of tormenting motorists, the people who made up the Highway Pumpkin Posse have received their just desserts - and it ain't a slice of pumpkin pie. The police......

In a world where there's nothing to do but watch movies. In a city full of theaters, museums, and libraries. One moviegoer who can be in three places at once. Friday 10/06 Jesus Camp Ted Haggard, megapastor of Colorado Springs' New Life megachurch, has megacondemned this unflinching documentary (horror movie, for Cantabrigians), possibly because pentecostalism could freak out potential megachurchgoers, or possibly because Ted Haggard is in it and he comes off as megacreepy. Opening......

Celebrate Ben Franklin's 300th birthday with the Bikini Bandits and Phillyist! (NSFW). Speaking of Mr. Franklin, send in a picture of Ben (or Ed Rendell) with a red tongue and win a free t-shirt. And they might have the next YearlyKos in Philly. You know who's going to be upset about those Bikini Bandits? The Houston school system. Houstonist also reports on some redevelopment shenanigans over a landmark theater. LAist's sex advice column on......

The Herald delights in the rhyming headline, the punny headline, and, above all, the hyperbolic headline. Fair enough - therein lies the Herald's charm. But today the tabloid was really unfair with the way its headline teased us. We saw this entry in the paper's ongoing series on welfare: "Welfare abuse runs rampant: Recipient admits: ‘Everybody lies’" We thought, "Really? How rampant? What percentage of welfare recipients are cheating the state?" It turns out the......

Bostonist was mildly amused as we learned details a few weeks back of the window washer arrested for killing a seagull. Truly, the story was so rich: The window washer, Christopher Guay, claimed the bird was attacking him and he acted in self-defense, but shocked (shocked!) office workers who snitched called the MSPCA said Guay was the aggressor. But just to make matters more complicated, Guay isn't a horrible cat-hoarder with a long record of......

Bostonist had our eyes on the altar this morning as we awaited the late breaking news from Italy. It wasn’t Torino but that sovereignty tucked away in Rome we like to call the Vatican. While the paper reported today that there was an impending list, and our very own Archbishop might be in the top ten, we heard it on the radio and found the release online. The Vatican announced today that Archbishop Sean, as......

Whew! Bostonist was worried for a minute that gay marriage and related issues might stay out of the headlines for too long, but the good folks at the Catholic Church seldom let us down. The bishops of Massachusetts's four archdioceses have announced their plan to seek an exemption for Catholic Charities from the state rule (in .pdf form) forbidding licensed adoption agencies from discriminating on the basis of sexual orientation. As you might have guessed,......

At the end of 2005, a rough year for the Archdiocese of Boston, Bostonist was alarmed to hear that our favorite Catholic trophy and tchotchke retailer, the Matthew F. Sheehan Company, will be closing its store in Downtown Crossing. The windows are papered over with "Going out of business in our 100th year" signs and their full array of rosaries, statues, medals, books, vestments, incense, and crucifixes marked down to 50% off. The rumor we'd......

Globe Columnist Brian McGrory is often critical of Romney and his administration. That is, critical when he’s not waxing poetic about his childhood summer cottage or praising to Francona. Today’s column by McGrory applauds Mitt for cutting through the red tape and offering to host 2,500 Katrina-displaced persons. Romney acted much quicker than Menino who was still drafting plans to host evacuees at the Boston Convention Center. Today’s column had an obligatory dig on......

After the Lobel v. Get Fuzzy controversy the Boston Globe wised up and ran the Doonesbury cartoon featuring the reference to Karl Rove as ‘Turd Blossom’ without edits last week. The affectionate reference to Bush’s number one advisor was not poetic license taken by author G.B. Trudeau, it’s been reported (in Time Magazine back in '01) that among the many nicknames Bush gives to his friends, colleagues, and media that Karl Rove has gained ‘Turd’......

Bostonist loves political showmanship. Really, we adore it. Because actual leadership disputes are all about budgets and negotiations and the careful balancing of interests, and that stuff is BOOOOOORING. But clever turns of phrase and chicken suits are fun, and without them, our vibrant democracy would be nothing more than Canada without the smart policy. That said, we are pretty underwhelmed by mayoral hopeful Maura Hennigan's decision to speak in Latin when challenging mayor Tom......

When you think of liberal marijuana culture in the United States, what comes to mind? San Francisco and the rest of Northern California, undoubtedly. Maybe Seattle, Portland (Oregon), or in our region, hippy Vermont. But no. You may be surprised to learn that, according to a new study, our fine city (metro area, actually) has the highest rate of youth and adult marijuana use in the country. While nationally 5 percent of people smoke pot,......

If you have a pulse and have lived in the Boston area for any significant period of time, it's hard to miss the fact that things are changing. As the powers-that-be taut "New Boston" initiatives, revitalization efforts have been focused on our urban centers with the effect of -- whether intentionally or not -- accelerating gentrification in once neglected neighborhoods like Roxbury, Charlestown, or Dorchester. Perhaps one of the most effected has been Somerville --......

With the death of Pope John Paul II last week Bostonist brought up some questions that still plague the Catholic Archdiocese of Boston. Of course we weren’t alone. Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests or "SNAP" is staging a protest of the mass offered in honor of the Pope by Cardinal Bernard Law in Rome. Cardinal Law left his position as head of the Boston Archdiocese because he reassigned priests and swept allegations of......