--Governor Deval Patrick scored a book deal worth $1.35 million for his autobiography. [Boston Globe, background: Bostonist] --A frightening time in Chicopee yesterday. A gasoline tanker truck exploded after rolling over, killing the driver and "sending a fireball 60 feet in the air." The accident began when the tanker driver tried to avoid an accident in front of him. The driver worked for the same company that owned the truck in the Everett tanker......

-- Update on the stabbing in Revere. Police have identified the suspect. 23 year-old Cory Roche, of Lynn, allegedly stabbed his mother to death in her home yesterday. Police responding to the incident shot Roche in the torso after he allegedly refused to drop a knife. Roche has a long criminal history and probably suffers from mental illness, according to court papers. A 2004 mental evaluation noted that he claims to hear voices. No motive......

-- An early Valentine's Day celebration turned violent this morning when a 41 year-old Roxbury man allegedly assaulted his date in her Dorchester home with an aluminum pan. The pair had been celebrating the holiday with cocktails before they got into an argument. She was washing dishes when the argument escalated to blows. The suspect struck the victim repeatedly with the pan before police arrived. He stands charged with assault with a dangerous weapon. [BPDNews]......

--The State Supreme Judicial Court just overturned the conviction of a Methuen ex-police officer accused of raping a woman in 2000. The case hinged on whether or not lawyers could prove the woman was "too intoxicated to consent, not that she was merely high and drunk." However, the SJC felt that the trial judge didn't give proper instructions to the jurors. The ex-officer will get a new trial. [Boston Globe] --In a similar case,......

The Globe reported that the Metro was shrinking, and Joe Keohane at Boston Daily noted that the Globe got details wrong. Then the Metro trumped that little blunder by reporting that the Globe was planning "hundreds" of layoffs and would raise the price of the paper to 75 cents. The Globe told the Herald that's not so. Meanwhile, the Herald stands by, endlessly amused, not the least because the Globe and the Metro are......

Yesterday, Bostonist spread the word that the daily paper the Metro is going through a tough time, a fairly standard story as far as journalism is concerned. While comparing the Globe and the Herald's takes on the Metro shakeup, which included staff dismissals and the publisher's resignation, Bostonist noticed a change in tone between the articles. Boston Daily's Joe Keohane worked his sources at the Metro and found that the Globe may have gotten parts......

Guess the Metro really is in trouble. Without a buyout from the Examiner, they are cutting staff positions, including a sports editor, and the publisher has resigned. People make fun of the Metro, but it's a part of any commuters' daily life. Most people get their news first from the Metro and some even become buddies with their morning vendors. The New York Times Company, which owns the Globe, has a 49 percent stake in......

--A new bill that limits--but doesn't ban--skin-shock treatments at the Judge Rotenberg Center was under discussion yesterday at the State House. The bill would "allow shocks to stop students from hurting themselves or others, but would prohibit shocks for more "minor" acts such as swearing, shouting, or failing to complete a task." And maybe employees could be a little more questioning instead of serving shocks whenever anyone calls up and asks for one. [Boston......

When it comes to the battle of Boston's daily papers, we didn't think that the Metro was in trouble. Sure, the daily papers aren't meaty, but they help while wile away the time on a subway ride. Boston NOW has also had some problems with getting the little things right, such as an unfortunate boo-boo on its front page after the New Hampshire primaries. But the Metro's parent company wants to sell Metro Boston. That......

LAist listed a top ten list of sorts: things they hope not to see in Los Angeles in 2008. (one example, pictured above). Shanghaiist was surprised to learn that "godless," "atheist," and "commie" China is soon going to be the world's largest supplier of Bibles! Torontoist picked some of their favorite photos of 2007. Londonist was relieved to hear the fire at the Royal Marsden hospital didn't harm any of the patients even though......

Benefits for Jeanne Sheehy December 6--Tonight!: B.O.D., Willie T & Dr. X, Doug McDonald Band, Roger Fisk, Country Doctors, Wide Iris, The Delusions, The Outlets. Show starts at 8:45 pm. December 21: Jonny Pape, Auto Interiors, Joyce & Chick of Scarce, Downbeat 5, AdFrank, The Pills, The Shods. Show starts at 9:05 pm. December 28: Jules Verdone, The Douglas Fir, Baker, Francine, The Gravel Pit. Show starts at 9:10 pm. December 29: Keys to the......

The next time the MBTA shuts down due to a trash fire, riders might get some advance warning of a problem through the brand-spanking-new MBTA alert text messaging service. The Metro is reporting that a pilot program will start this week. After the widely rejected "innovation" of T Radio, it seems that the MBTA brass has gotten the message and is rolling out something that is useful for its customers. Alerts will be sent out......

Boston Magazine had an exclusive in which they busted Boston Herald employees stealing dailies The Metro and Boston NOW from newspaper stands. While the Herald thinks its being all sneaky and undermining (though they are denying Boston Magazine's report), they obviously haven't realized that the free dailies have a fertile quality. They multiply, breeding all day long, piling up on the MBTA train seats, stuffing the canvas bags of commuters, and, by the end of......

This was a rough week, as we were faced with some hard calls regarding our shows, the World Series, and TiVo limitations. TiVo did not deliver America's Next Top Model, so this week's discussion is somewhat abbreviated. --Beauty and the Geek: The geeks have a fantasy handed to them on a platter--turning their beauties into super-heroines for the Comic-Con convention in San Diego. The geeks are dizzy with the possibilities, especially Northeastern Jen's partner, William.......

--More on the man who was shot to death early Sunday morning on New Whitney Street. The Globe reports that he was 22-year-old Shawndel Mitchell. Mitchell was a dancer and a Harry Potter fan. He attended the Boston Arts Academy and was taking courses to be an EMT. The Metro spoke with friends who called him a "superstar." He is Boston's 53rd homicide victim this year. --Early this morning, two people died and four people......

Who will be the next Boston Rob? Who cracked us up as much as "Mr. Boston" did when he wooed Tiffany "New York" Patterson? A new season of reality television has started, and Massachusetts residents are on many of the shows, so we'll take a tour of how they're doing each week. --Kid Nation: A child from Upton is participating in Kid Nation, the reality show that has stirred up all manner of controversy regarding......

Chicagoist is gearing up for this weekend's annual Air & Water Show along the lakefront. In what's becoming an annual tradition around there, staff member Todd McClamroch even got to fly with one of the participants. Chicagoist's decidedly opinionated readership was also appalled that one of their staffers found a popular local brewpub to be a great place to bring a kid. They also think that an unlikely activist for immigration rights should just take......

The archive of today's NewsroomNOW video is now available on the Web. Well, the first six minutes or so is available in the archive version (we're not sure if there's more that we're missing). The editorial meeting for the BostonNOW free daily tab has been open to the public and available on the Web since the paper's launch. They've touted it as an innovative way to connect with their readers and potential blogging contributors. This......

Londonist are starting to think their city is getting just a little bit too expensive, when even Christian Slater can't afford to go out there. And there's no escaping, as local singer Lily Allen discovered when she was barred entry to the US. The British mapping agency caused further bad karma, by blocking a 3-D representation of London in Google Earth. But the smiles returned to Londonist's faces as they interviewed Baroness von Reichardt,......

Pat Purcell, publisher of the Herald, has sold the Herald building and its land in the South End to a development group of which he is a part. Obviously the money-making potential of the paper pales in comparison to high-rent apartments and office space. The Globe labels Purcell's move as an "effort to transform Herald assets into cash and to streamline the tabloid's operations." If we translate that phrase, it might mean that Purcell is......

--As if carnies didn't have a shady enough reputation, a carnival in Hyannis hired a convicted sex offender. Good job with the background checks, folks. The guy is 24 years old and has 52 outstanding warrants. With all that, how did he have time for the carnival? --More on the teenager shot on the train – like the stabbings at Back Bay, we're wondering why police weren't able to catch the perps. Even if people......

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......

Sure, former Massachusetts governor and aspiring Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney tries to talk tough about boosting the military and creating a "double Gitmo," but people tend to get hung up on his pretty face. A satire in the Metro by Elliott Kalan spoofed the interest people have in his looks by saying, "Currently, each major party has a handsome man in the running: Democrat John Edwards and Republican Mitt Romney. The handsome bloc......

This time, it's personal. Sean Linehan, the son of brand-new City Council member Bill Linehan, has told police he was the victim of random violence. He said that, after a late-night meal at Teriyaki House following his dad's victory party, he "accidentally walked into a brawl on the sidewalk." He was stabbed in the upper back, which "pierced his lung and broke a rib." And his father is starting his City Council term royally pissed......

Spring is when we get busy here in the Ist-A-Verse. Very busy. But, after staying bundled-up indoors all winter, it's nice for us to be out, about, and collecting things to write about for you. Here's a glimpse at what's been keeping your favorite citybloggers busily away from home and out of bed. For LAist, strong winds attacked LA on the same day the Feds raided the Crips. Not to fear, though: the Japanese version......

We don't know about where you are, but it seems like spring can't decide whether or not to happen. Some days are warm, some days are cold, and sometimes you aren't sure which. Baseball may have started up (and soccer/football winding down) but it still seems cold out there. Unless it's not. Anyways, onto the -ists. Austinist happily anticipated fall's Austin City Limits, even though they're not fully recovered from South By Southwest. In......

Not all technology startups are out for big money. Tourfilter began as an idea to develop a tool so the founder, Chris Marstall, so he wouldn't miss his favorite bands when they were in town. Unlike some of the other sites like Pollstar or Tourb.us, Tourfilter doesn't track bands from their tour calendars but off of the venues in a specific area. Bostonist has been on board from early on, it's almost a year......

The Boston Globe's shrinking continues. Twenty-four people have accepted buyouts at the paper, including two of their go-to aces, Pulitzer-prize winners Eileen McNamara and Stephen Kurkjian. Although buyouts are voluntary (sort of) and better than a layoff, it still isn't good news. The New York Observer writes that more people applied for a buyout than the Globe expected, which suggests that people think they need to get out while the getting's good. Given that information,......

While we're waiting to see BU and BC face off in the Beanpot next Monday night, we gotta make do with what we have - the Bruins and the Celtics. Aw, that's not fair. The Bruins won one against the Washington Capitals last night in a shootout. It was the night of a thousand shootouts across the NHL (actually, five shootouts), and the Bruins enjoyed one of the victories. And who scored the winning goal?......

Between fake terrorist alerts and scandals big and small, this just might be the Best Best of the -ists ever. We're exhausted just thinking about it. First up, SFist, who saw their little 'ole site be the center of what was a nice little scandal (even getting their editor on TV) only to find their scandal dwarfed by the even bigger scandal caused by their Mayor boffing one of his aides' wife. We're not......