--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,......

--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 State House is pretty on the outside and a festering mess on the inside. Senate President Therese Murray thinks private donations might help. [Boston Globe] --Remember Marilyn Devaney, the Watertown town councilor who is facing charges of attacking a beauty-supply clerk with a curling iron box? She got voted out, but a recount is under way, and the story is far from over. Even if you don't know who Marilyn Devaney is, we......

There might have been a couple nosebleed seats in the balcony left at last night's very well attended Michael Showalter and Michael Ian Black's Somerville Theater show, but, for those of you who missed it, you really missed a treat. As evidenced by various available YouTube clips, Black and Showalter are extremely funny on their own, but together they brought humor to an entirely new level. The two have been comedy collaborators for 20......

Michael Ian Black With Michael Showalter Thursday, November 29, 7:30pm Somerville Theatre 55 Davis Square, Somerville (T: Davis Square) Get tickets Listen to the Interview Here: Unless you've been living under a rock for the last 20 years, then you've seen the work of comedian/writer/actor/director Michael Ian Black. Let's rattle off just a few of his accomplishments: co-creator of "The State," "Viva Variety," and "Stella." You've seen him co-star in NBC's "Ed," as well as......

--The Commish Ed Davis - DA Dan Conley back-and-forth continues. Davis put out a three-page letter explaining why the State Police shouldn't be working on MBTA or transit-related homicides. The State Police doesn't appear to give a crap whether they are working on those homicides or not. But the transit police chief has taken Conley's side and said they would like state police on those cases. Of course, the time it took Conley to develop......

Today we flipped on the radio for a bit of a dose of news. First thing we hear is about breastfeeding. The issue of the day was the Massachusetts Department of Public Health's approval of the "gift basket" with infant formula distributed to mothers in state maternity wards. Pro-breastfeeding groups had pushed for a ban on the distribution of free infant formula – before the Govnah stepped in and according to the Boston Globe "......

The season finale has just aired for your favorite TV show. NBC hasn't run Must See TV on Thursdays for a decade. The sun is shining and temperatures will be perfect for showing up jacketless to the next performance. Something to do every night this week – and rock it out for free with the pop tunes from WBOS' EarthFest line up on Saturday, starting at noon. All this and we're tivo-ing the Sox/Yanks games......

. . . OK, that part about the steel cage match isn't true . . . yet. But Secretary of State William Galvin, whose heart never really seemed in the race, is now officially out of contention for the governor's job, which will be open in 2006 assuming Mitt Romney decides to make a run for the White House (and who knows, really? Yesterday, after all, he weighed in on a matter of pressing concern......

Adding another holiday (um, Evacuation Day?) to the calendar, the State Legislature is on the way to approving a day off for sales tax in the Commonwealth again this year. Last year, consumers went wild, spending $400 million on the one sales-tax-free day in August. The proposed bill was set to win approval and would have established this year's tax free day on August 13, but it has been amended to include August 14, the......

Tobacco and breast-milk: two great tastes that go great together. Actually Bostonist just wanted a reason to put "butt" and "boob" in a headline; it’s Friday after all. Two recent stories have grabbed our attention. The first comes from the Globe yesterday, reporting on two smoking tenants in Southie whose eviction due to their collective two-pack-a-day habit was upheld by the Boston Housing Court. The State House will entertain breasts as a topic of......

Remember those "No Late Fees Ever" commercials that Blockbuster ran continuously a few months ago? Bostonist does and would always ask itself, "How does that work? Why would anyone ever return a DVD then?" Well, Bostonist wasn't the only one confused. The New Jersey Attorney General has claimed that Blockbuster has gone against the state's consumer protection laws with this new "no late fee" policy, which recently began on January 1. Peter Harvey claims that......