-- Benjamin L. Makinen stabbed a stranger to death yesterday in Worcester, according to police. The 23-year-old Worcester man, whom his attorneys claim suffers from mental illness, walked into a triple decker, knocked on a second floor door and allegedly stabbed Shelleigh Wilcox to death before calling 911 to turn himself in. [Worcester Telegram Gazette] -- The Herald is leading the charge to capture Massachusetts's most wanted sex offenders. [Herald] -- Woburn, already the by-word......

-- Two men were found shot last night in Dorchester, one fatally. The dead man was found slumped over a steering wheel; the other victim was found outside the car, with a gunshot wound to the head that sent him to Boston Medical Center, where he remains in critical condition. Both victims were in their 40s. [BPDNews, Globe] -- In an unrelated incident, police found two men, also in their 40s, suffering from multiple gunshot......

-- The Alleged Criminal Formerly Known as Clark Rockefeller was denied bail today in Suffolk Superior Court. The German national had previously been offered a $50 million cash bond. [Herald] -- Somerville police nabbed two suspects, one a minor, yesterday for last week's daylight shooting at Foss Park. [Somerville Journal] -- An argument with tenants sent an Allston maintenance man into a rage yesterday afternoon, according to police. The 31-year-old man was arrested for breaking......

Aceituna is a Spanish word for olive, and considering the use of olives and olive oil in Mediterranean cuisine, it's a perfect name for Aceituna Cafe in Kendall Square. The restaurant features Lebanese and Mediterranean food hot and fast. The menu at Aceituna Cafe has lots of options, mostly under $10, ranging from pita roll-ups to heartier entrees with meat, rice and salad. The real deals, though, are in the vegetarian plate and the......

-- A 23-year-old man was shot in broad daylight yesterday on Mystic Ave. in Somerville. He suffered non-life-threatening injuries, and no arrests have been made. [Somerville Journal] -- John Hinds, a 66-year-old Cambridge man who was convicted in 2000 of killing two relatives, lost again at trial. His previous conviction had been overturned by the Supreme Judicial Court. [Globe] -- A man was held up delivering Chinese food last night in Jamaica Plain. The assailant's......

When children behave badly, tainted candy is still available in Chinatown markets. [Boston Herald] Starbucks employees help rescue a kidnapped woman. No mention if she had to buy a coffee first. [Cambridge Chronicle] Thieves are no longer deterred by objects bolted down; bleachers in two MA towns have recently been stolen. [Boston Globe] Football players and other athletes are donating their brains to science. One day researchers may determine if any of them could......

-- Boston police arrested a 30-year-old Dorchester man yesterday for the afternoon shooting of a man in the South End. The victim suffered life-threatening injuries. [BPDNews] -- A New Hampshire man was beaten to a bloody pulp by alleged friends in Somerville, authorities say. [Somerville Journal] -- A pair of teenage robbers pulled off a nighttime robbery at a gas station using a stun gun, according to police. One teen, a 19-year-old from Somerville, has......

-- A naked man was arrested on two counts of breaking and entering and two counts of indecent exposure after two alleged South End break-ins Saturday morning. According to police, "when asked if it was his birthday, the suspect stated, 'No.'" [BPDNews] -- A kidnapping in Dorchester was reported early Monday morning and quickly solved with the help of K-9 units, according to authorities. [BPDNews] -- A Dorchester man was linked to the 2006 murder......

Massachusetts forced everyone to have health insurance. Now it takes longer to see a doctor, and there are fewer practices accepting new patients. Ah, success. [Boston Globe] Microsoft opened a new research facility in Cambridge. Perhaps they'll eventually get "Obama" into Word's spell-check. [Mass High Tech] The Department of Homeland Security has nixed MBTA plans to expand chemical attack sensors because the existing system is effective enough for them. [Boston Globe] As usual, people......

-- A 25-year-old man man was shot dead yesterday afternoon on King St. in Dorchester, the victim of multiple gunshot wounds, according to Boston police. The victim has not been identified and no arrests have been made. [BPDNews] -- Whitey Bulger's hit man says he would have popped Whitey, had he known that the mob boss was also an FBI informant. John Martorano, who has been convicted of 20 gangland killings, gave candid testimony yesterday......

If you're wandering Harvard Square tonight or this weekend, look for a pink truck doling out free ice cream. Ciao Bella, a new gelato brand that Oprah has dubbed as one of her "favorite things," is taking a get-to-know-you tour across the country, giving out 100,000 free scoops along the way. They'll be stopping in Boston this weekend, where the "Ciao Bella Swirl", their signature neon-colored vehicle, will be serving flavors like blood orange sorbet,......

"The Pirates Of Blood River" Brattle Theatre, 40 Brattle St, Cambridge Sept. 19, 9:30 p.m., $9.50 More information Avast, ye land-lubbers! It be International Talk Like A Pirate Day, the day when people on the internet talk like this (or this). After getting your "Jolly Roger" on, it's time to take Harvard Square by storm. Arrrh! Many regard The Pirates Of Blood River as the quintessential pirate movie. The pirate captain is played by Christopher......

-- A 17-year-old boy was shot dead last night on Parker St. in Jamaica Plain. The shooting happened around 9:13 p.m. and was detected by police in the area, who spotted a man fleeing the scene. Minutes later, on Notre Dame St. in Roxbury, police arrested a 19-year-old Dorchester man, whom they suspect as being the fugitive. The man was charged on marijuana possession and guns charges but does not yet face charges in connection......

-- A road rage altercation ended in bloodshed in a Union Square parking lot when a 35-year-old Jamaica Plain man was stabbed by an unknown assailant who escaped the scene. The victim suffered non-life-threatening injuries. [Somerville Journal] -- A 28-year-old woman was assaulted on Sacramento Street near Porter Square as she jogged down the stairs of a pedestrian underpass. [Somerville Journal] -- Boston police nabbed a pair of male alleged common nightwalkers during a vice......

-- A 35-year-old man was shot this morning near Dorchester High, putting the school into lock down. The man's wounds were non-life-threatening, and no arrests have been made. [Herald] -- The bandits who stole the century old metal trim from the Longfellow Bridge have been caught, police say. The metal, 2,300 feet of it, had been removed from the bridge during renovations and stored in a Stoneham warehouse, where it was stolen. Authorities discovered the......

-- Charles Cherry, the 66-year-old Roxbury man who was arrested in connection with Friday's murder of a 56-year-old neighbor is a disabled man who suffers from a neurological disorder that keeps him from walking unaided. Police, who originally believed that he had stabbed Elvia McField to death, now say that he shot her with a high-powered rifle after a dispute in his apartment over money. Cherry pleaded not guilty to the charge. [Herald] -- The......

Well, now you know how to get around and where to drink. How about where to get some cheap grub? There's lots of great food in this city, it just takes some exploring to find it. Want some pizza? Try Pizzeria Regina, one of the cornerstones of the North End since 1926. Order a Formaggio Bianco pizza and ask the waitress for some extra garlic olive oil. For Sicilian-style slices, visit Pinocchio's Pizza in......

-- Boston police have DNA evidence linking three sexual assaults that have taken place in Charlestown since August 2007. In each case, the victim had been kidnapped after accepting a ride from the suspect, who drove her to Charlestown and assaulted her, according to police. [BPDNews] -- Manuel Spencer of Cambridge pleaded guilty in August of manslaughter in connection with the 2004 killing of a 25-year-old Lynn man in the parking lot of the former......

-- A high-caliber shooting near Donnelly field left a pair of Cambridge houses riddled by bullets. A pedestrian, who remains at large, fired a .45 caliber pistol at a moving car, according to police. [Cambridge Chronicle] -- A man suspected of shooting a teen in the knee in Union Square last Wednesday was collared by Somerville cops on Friday. The 21-year-old, whom police accuse of shooting the teen after a confrontation at a party, was......

-- The second Dorchester murder in 48 hours found a man stabbed to death yesterday afternoon in front of a home on Geneva Ave. [BPDNews] -- A man was shot last night on Algonquin St. in Dorchester. He remains in critical condition at Boston Medical Center. [BPDNews] -- A man on Gayhead St. in Jamaica Plain was pummeled with a tire iron by thugs who had been breaking into his car, according to police. [BPDNews]......

Sululabelle's shot of the Cambridge Carnival left us filling in the narrative blanks. Was the truck's driver asking for directions? Flirting? And what about the dancer? Bemused? Annoyed? A great slice of city life.......

Henchmen Improv Boston, 40 Prospect Street, Cambridge 8pm, $16 / $10 seniors and students [Tickets] Since July, Improv Boston has presented Henchmen each Friday. It's an improv comedy series focusing on the little guy in the evil villain food chain. From Tarantino to Batman to Bond, this improv series has spanned criminal and crime-fighting genres. The series finishes this Friday in outer space with tributes to Star Trek and Star Wars. Bostonist had the opportunity......

-- A car chase and gun battle ended yesterday evening in Cambridge when a man toting a .45-caliber handgun slipped out of his bullet-perforated car and into the waiting arms of police. The man was allegedly involved in a series of shootings that twisted through the streets of East Cambridge, stretching down Pine St. and up Main St. to Bishop Allen Dr. Three different crime scenes were established, and authorities believe that somebody fired upon......

-- Two, possibly three people were shot last night on Hendry St. in Dorchester. All three victims were hospitalized, and few details were made available by police. [Globe] -- A 17-year-old Cambridge boy was shot yesterday afternoon in a daytime drive-by shooting. The boy had been riding his bike near Donnelly Field in East Cambridge when he was shot by two men in a dark colored car, police say. [Cambridge Chronicle] -- The T is......

-- An independent panel released a report today that accuses the Boston Police Department of shoddy police work, when it comes to policing itself. The panel ruled that five police misconduct cases out of 19 that it reviewed had been mishandled. Witnesses had been intimidated or ignored and leaps of logic had been used to clear cops in those cases, which the panel recommends be reexamined. The panel was formed after a 2004 incident in......

Problems with getting real "local" food in Boston: a) Most people with jobs can't get to the local farmer's market before it closes at 5pm or 6pm b) Whole Foods is expensive and doesn't have 100% local stuff, and sometimes you can't tell which is which c) Other "mystery" delivery methods which aim to support local and/or organic, such as Community Supported Agriculture programs and grocery delivery services like Boston Organics, don't let you choose......

-- Boston police have charged three in the May killing of a South Boston man. Edward Holloman, 19, of Lynn, and Edward Mendez, 34, of Jamaica Plain were both charged with murder. Darren Hemingway, 19, of Brighton, was charged as an accessory after the fact. The men are accused of killing 27-year-old Curtis Ashford after getting into a fight on 8th Street last May. [BPDNews] -- A melee spilled out of the Middle East rock......

-- Bostonist would like the words "Roxbury" and "Dorchester" to go on hiatus from the Blotter headlines for a few weeks. A quadruple shooting in Roxbury left four teenagers, two boys and two girls, hospitalized last night with non-life-threatening injuries. The children, aged 15 and 16, were shot by a fleet footed gunman while they sat on a stoop on Wardman Road, blocks from the Jamaica Plain border, and within a short walk of the......

When Bostonist arrived at the Hendrick's-sponsored Beantown Bartender Battle last night, we found a table piled with gleaming cocktail shakers, cans of Barritt's ginger beer, copious bottles of gin, Pimm's No. 1, and our favorite saints, Germain and Elizabeth. And that was the tip of the iceberg.......

-- Rodlyn Petitbois, the 25-year-old Lynn man accused of kidnapping his children and girlfriend after murdering a woman was denied bail in his trial on murder and assault and battery charges. [Herald] -- A 40-year-old Hyde Park man stands accused of beating and robbing an 84-year-old victim. Police say that Bernard Nolen helped the victim into his apartment, where he choked the older man until he passed out. Nolen left the apartment with $100 and......