--The BPD arrested two people in the South End for Unlawful Possession of a Firearm. The gun wouldn't have been discovered if it hadn't accidentally gone off in the bathroom. The Herald reported that the woman who was arrested was the mother of Dontel Jeffers, the child who died at the hands of his foster mother, who was recently sentenced for the crime. Laurel Sweet writes, "Crystal Claiborn [Jeffers' mother] claimed that while aiming the......

--Handheld red laser beams can be a lot of fun, but a guy from Medford with a laser beam caused a ruckus on Saturday night when he pointed his beam at a State Police helicopter. The State Police swiftly summoned themselves, the Coast Guard, the Medford Police Department, and the Somerville Police Department to find the person. The feds are investigating. --The man who is accused of being the "Green Line Groper" has pled not......

--The Blotter usually focuses on how people get to jail, but not what happens to people when they get there. The Globe has launched a series about an outbreak of prison suicides, and the authors conclude that the suicides may be the result of "careless errors and dangerous decisions by correction officials and staff at UMass Correctional Health." Why is it important to think about what happens to criminals' mental health in prison? Because most......

--Someone made a scary discovery in the Harvard Medical School's new research building. Here's the Herald: According to Fire Capt. Pat Nichols, firefighters were called to the scene because a jar of possibly toxic chemicals was found near the body. The man’s head was also wrapped in a plastic bag, he said. The Crimson has identified the individual as a Harvard sophomore, John B. Edwards of Wellesley. --A woman's body was found in a minivan......

-Some Blotter days are longer than others … --After two teenagers were shot this morning as kids were going to school in Dorchester, police officers swarmed on the neighborhood in search of a suspect who they thought was hiding out in a triple decker on Hendry Street. Globe reporters said the BPD was at the triple decker for two hours before deciding it was empty and that the shooter took off. The victims' wounds are......

Scratch this subject off the list of what Senator Edward Kennedy will talk about in his memoirs--the love child the National Enquirer accused him of having with a Massachusetts woman. In 2006, the Enquirer claimed that Kennedy fathered a child with Caroline Bilodeau-Allen in 1984 and that a cover-up ensued. Bilodeau-Allen filed a lawsuit in Boston claiming that is completely false and that she and her 22-year-old son, who is also a plaintiff, have suffered......

--The Mattapan teenager who was shot in the jaw yesterday has not been named but was a student and basketball player at Charlestown High. Also yesterday, a man was stabbed last night on Cambridge Street, and he is in the hospital with life-threatening injuries. --An armed robbery happened at the Au Bon Pain at Harvard Square the night of November 19. Matt Dunning Erin Smith at the Cambridge Chronicle reports that three masked robbers "tied......

In Los Angeles, LAist most definitely celebrated Thanksgiving like no other. After all, one has to keep up all the energy to keep on walking the line at the Writers Strike and fighting the unfortunate return of the wildfires in Malibu, which single handedly destroyed over fifty homes within the first 24 hours. National outlets may be covering the fires, but CNN also found it is easier to buy a gun than fruit and......

-- Police shot and killed a corrections officer last night. Marquis Barker, 38, an officer at Nashua Street Jail, was gunned down after stealing a police cruiser and leading officers on a chase through Dorchester and Mattapan. Police responding to calls found Barker out of control outside his Dorchester home, wielding what appeared to be a handgun. Barker begged police to shoot and kill him before escaping in the police cruiser. After crashing the cruiser......

--The BPD is starting yet another crime-stopping program that is sure to raise eyebrows. In this case, police will search bedrooms of teenagers suspected of having guns without a warrant. Regarding the alarming "without a warrant" part, the BPD plans to ask the parent for permission first. The rationale for this is that some parents may know their kids have guns, but they don't know what to do about it. Commish Ed Davis and DA......

--The DA's office announced earlier this week that it will expand its "Gun Court," which speeds up prosecution of gun-related crimes. Only cases from Dorchester, Roxbury, the South End, and parts of downtown were accelerated to gun court, but now cases from South Boston, East Boston, and Charlestown will go there as well. The DA's office press release touted its success rate: "Gun Court prosecutors have secured convictions in 85.1% of the viable cases handled......

--A young man was shot and killed yesterday afternoon in Roxbury. David Jones, 17, of Boston was shot several times on Bartlett Street. This is the 61st murder of the year. The Herald reports that Jones may have been friends with a gang member who was murdered in February of this year. The police don't think it was random. His family told the Globe that he was "trying to turn his life around." WBZ noted......

Oldies station WODS (103.3 FM) is already playing holiday music. Laurel Sweet at the Herald wrote, "Admit it: You love it." No, we do not love it! At least it's easy to turn the FM dial away from the Trans-Siberan Orchestra's "What Is Christmas?" But what about the sudden appearance of Starbucks holiday cups? And what about Rachael Ray's uber-perky Dunkies ad? Amy at Boston Daily is already feeling irritated by Ray's self-proclaimed "million pounds"......

--A Worcester doctor found himself in an awkward position when he was caught soliciting a hooker who turned out to be a cop. Dr. Peter Rice said he was "gathering information" for his research, which sounds like the lamest excuse ever. As outlandish as it sounds, we looked it up, and Dr. Rice really does study infectious diseases at UMass Memorial. We are also endlessly amused that the entire incident took place on--ahem--Tainter Street. As......

The story about a Boston priest getting arrested for stalking Conan O'Brien keeps getting weirder, if that's possible. Reverend David Ajemian, 46, who attended Milton and Harvard and who was a local priest, was nabbed trying to get into an O'Brien taping. The Smoking Gun has documents that show Ajemian may be even stranger than previously thought. Letters indicate that Ajemian was mad at John McEnroe as well, and he claimed that McEnroe assaulted them......

--Don't eat the yellow pills: "Mixing cough syrup, Vicodin or Lipitor with cat litter is the new advice on getting rid of unused medications. Preferably used cat litter." [WCVB] --Another BPD (pardon us, ex-BPD) officer has pled guilty to protecting shipments of cocaine. Unfortunately for him, the people shipping the cocaine were undercover FBI. [Boston Globe] --A boiler explosion in Salem sends three people to the hospital. [WCVB] --A huge sinkhole in the middle of......

Exiled (Fong juk) Brattle Theatre, Harvard Square, Cambridge Monday-Thursday Showtimes and tickets Hong Kong action flicks aren't known for their subtlety, and Johnny To's 2006 Exiled (Fong juk) is no exception. It's a gangster movie told like a western, and the plot only gets you from one shootout to the next. The film opens with a showdown. Wo (Nick Cheung) has returned from an exile imposed by gangster Boss Fay (Simon Yam), who believes that......

--It seemed as if the World Series put a cork in local gun incidents or the media (Bostonist included) was too busy with the Sox to notice. Now the cork is out of the bottle. The 45-year-old owner of Stalex Pizza in Dorchester was shot in the head this morning when he tried to go after an 18-year-old who robbed his shop. The man is in critical condition. The BPD announced that officers moved fast......

They rode before us on Duck Boats and flat-bed trucks, with microphones and punk bands, flags and signs. Some came with camcorders, others with disposable cameras. Your 2007 World Champion Boston Red Sox lineup consisted of a group of men united under a team name and cause, but let's face it: we had one really eclectic bunch of characters. Tuesday's Rolling Rally celebration gave the fans quick opportunities to see just how different the guys......

--A gun battle erupted in Dorchester yesterday afternoon. A teenager was wounded, and a No. 23 bus got shot up. The teen, Walter West, was celebrating his 16th birthday. His gift was that his wounds are non-life-threatening, and no one on the bus got hurt. The BPD told the Herald that the gunfire was "likely related to a feud between gangs on Morse and Lucerne streets." --The city has announced another new plan to cut......

--Early this morning, a 22-year-old man was found shot in the head on Bowdoin Street. He was pronounced dead at the scene. --Last night, the Codman Square Safe Street Team heard shots fired at Dunlap and Washington. They soon found the alleged shooter, Oscar Mohamed, 19, of Jamaica Plain. Mohamed had shot two men. Both sustained non-life-threatening injuries. One of them didn't waste any time and took a cab to the hospital before emergency reinforcements......

After all the "enough is enough" blah-dee-blah from the city brass, people on the ground who have to deal with Boston crime every day are doing something about it. Pop Warner football coach Myron Stovell, who was shot in the leg this weekend by a teenage hothead with a gun, didn't let his injury stop him from attending a community meeting on the subject. The meeting included parents and children who were on Stovell's Boston......

--Because some teenage bonehead with an anger-management problem and a gun shot popular Pop Warner coach Myron Stovell in the leg, Boston Pop Warner games will be getting a police detail. Way to ruin the fun for everyone. The alleged shooter is currently being held without bail. He is not being identified because he is a juvenile. The press release from the DA's office confirms that the shooter got angry after Stovell accidentally hit the......

--Since Red Sox fans have a reason to party this year, Mayor Thomas Menino is already stepping in to settle them down. He met with bar and restaurant owners to discuss when to cut off the sloppy drunks. He also said he doesn't want any live cameras in bars. No live cameras? What would a nationally televised game be without a cutaway to the fans who couldn't afford tickets but who still want to celebrate?......

--Now we have a possible motive regarding the beat-down rained upon Massachusetts resident Carlos Ortez when he was leaving a New York bar. The cause wasn't a fight over the Red Sox or the Yankees--it may have been the other big reason for barroom brawls--a woman. --Late-breaking news: This afternoon, one person got shot in the leg during an apparent drive-by in Roxbury. Police say witnesses saw a white car leaving the scene. --The BPD......

--ShotSpotter, the BPD's new gunshot-detection system rounded up a gun-toting suspect Sunday night. Congratulations (we guess) to Justin Searcy, 17, of Mattapan, for being one of the first to be arrested thanks to ShotSpotter. --The driver of the car that crashed into a tree on Blue Hill Avenue was arraigned today in his hospital bed. 21-year-old Rohan Blackwood, of Dorchester, was charged with two counts of motor vehicle homicide and DUI. --Revere police arrested a......

We thought it was weird when a former Nader advisor filed suit against Bill Belichick for Videotapegate. But Paul Flannery at the Boston Magazine blog came across what may be the weirdest lawsuit of all time. Jonathan Lee Riches is a convicted felon who likes to file lawsuits. Flannery writes that Riches filed 36 of them in September. In the Pats-related suit, according to the Smoking Gun, Richman hand-writes, "Defendants cheated in the 2005 Superbowl......

--Now, this didn't happen in Boston, but, as the Sports Redux mentioned earlier, a Massachusetts man and Red Sox fan was attacked by two men in New York. The men had asked him if he was loyal to the Red Sox. Carlos Ortez, 25, of Quincy, is now in the intensive care unit at Westchester Medical Center with multiple facial fractures. He was in New York to work on a construction project for a Manhattan......

--Hmmmm … a loud party in Allston/Brighton ends with 6 arrested. It couldn't have involved college students, could it? Officers spotted some partygoers toting cans of Natural Ice Beer. Police arrested two people for "Keeping a Disorderly House" and four people for underage drinking. All are guilty of bad taste in beer. --Brookline police are searching for a sexual assault suspect who attacked a woman in her home on Naples Road early Sunday morning. The......

--Police are searching for a man who stabbed two people at Park Street Station after the Red Sox Rally at 11:45 on Monday night. According to MBTA police, the stabber just lost his temper after bumping into the victims and "exchanging words." Surveillance video depicts another man and a woman who were somehow involved in the fight but took off. All three escaped, and the stabber jumped on the tracks and ran out using an......