Published June 14, 2011

The Bruins came out firing in last night’s must-win Game 6 at the TD Garden, scoring four goals in just over four minutes to put the game out of reach. Tim Thomas, Brad Marchand and the B’s forced a final Game 7 tomorrow night in Vancouver. One game, for all of hockey’s marbles.

Though perceived as the early front-runner, former Mass. Gov. Mitt Romney largely avoided criticism at last night’s first GOP presidential debate in New Hampshire. The seven Republican candidates mostly stuck to criticizing President Obama instead of each other.

A Boston police officer was shot this morning while responding to a domestic disturbance in Dorchester. A man and a woman were also wounded in the confrontation.

The Archdiocese of Boston says four inactive priests have been defrocked over allegations of child sexual abuse from decades ago. Cardinal Sean O’Malley announced the removal of the priests yesterday.

It is the first full day of deliberations today for the federal jury weighing corruption charges against former House Speaker Sal DiMasi and two others. We’ll have ongoing updates of any news from the trial here at wbur.org.

What we’re following: We’ll continue to report on the Haverhill budget rejected by the City Council, the Longy School of Music merger and the state pension fund’s allegations that it was overcharged by the Bank of New York Mellon Corp.

Published June 10, 2011

About 4,000 state managers will be getting a raise, thanks to Gov. Deval Patrick. Critics say the wage hike is inappropriate in this time of shrinking state coffers, but the Patrick administration maintains they are necessary to retain good managers.

A bill that would bar non-profit health insurers from paying their boards might also affect charitable organizations. Other major non-profits that pay their board members would have to seek state approval to continue payments, the Globe reports.

As officials assess the damage last week’s tornadoes caused, residents of central and western Massachusetts are busy putting their lives back together. Brimfield Police Chief Charles Kuss warned residents to watch out for scammers looking to take advantage of tornado victims. On the other side of the coin, the tornadoes did bring many communities closer together.

The mother who died protecting her daughter from a tornado last week was buried in West Springfield yesterday. Angelica Guerrero died after putting her youngest daughter in the bathtub and laying over her to protect her from storm.

More severe weather wracked the state yesterday. This time, it was severe thunderstorms. UniversalHub has some great pictures of lightning hitting Boston.

A Connecticut woman was the third American to receive a full face transplant after doctors at Brigham and Women’s Hospital completed the procedure last month. Charla Nash was mauled by a friend’s pet chimpanzee in February 2009.

When the Bruins and Canucks lineup for the faceoff tonight in Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final, the B’s should have a little confidence, despite being on the road. That’s mostly due to the man between the pipes who has doubled as the Hoover Dam of goalies, holding back a deluge of Vancouver shots: Tim Thomas.

What we’re following: We’ll continue to report on the closing arguments in the DiMasi trial, Mitt Romney skipping the Iowa straw poll and the landmark Mayflower II boat, which survived being struck by lightning last night.

Published June 9, 2011

Backed by the stellar goaltending of Tim Thomas, the Boston Bruins came back to Boston, held serve and won — no, destroyed — Roberto Luongo and the Vancouver Canucks 4-0 in Game 4 of the Stanley Cup finals Wednesday.

The series is now tied at two and headed back to Vancouver, where a fan-packed Rogers Stadium erupted with cheers when — after Rich Peverley scored his second goal of the evening — Canucks coach Alain Vigneault waved the white flag for Luongo and removed him from the game.

Bruins center Rich Peverley celebrates his first-period goal against the Vancouver Canucks Wednesday. (AP)

The Canucks tried to take their cue from their coach and get in the “blue paint” and disrupt Thomas’ aggressiveness. They had no chance, as Thomas was his feisty self and his teammates would have none of it. The Canucks had two power plays in the first period, which the Bruins killed off with more spectacular goaltending, while the Bruins had a good advantage in puck possession, but only seven shots. But one of those shots was on a Peverley breakaway and thus the beginning of the end for Luongo and the fight-less hockey team from the Great Northwest.

It has been Bruins hockey since their return to Boston, as they have fought and clawed and broken down the Canucks, outscoring them 12-1 in two games at the Garden.
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Published June 9, 2011

“It’s spring,” the weather alleged. “I swear.”

Most Bostonians will find that hard to believe today, with temperatures expected to climb into the high 90s, or even to triple-digits.

Legislators on Beacon Hill are eying a compromise gambling bill that would allow for slots at the state’s racetracks and three resort-style casinos, according to the Herald. The bill would be close to the plan Gov. Deval Patrick favored last year.

Testimony ended yesterday in the corruption trial of former House Speaker Sal DiMasi and two co-defendants. The lawyers are now battling over how Judge Mark Wolf should instruct the jury before they begin their deliberations.

Boston College filed a motion in U.S. District Court hoping to stop British authorities from seizing documents related to an oral history project that features confidential interviews with members of Northern Ireland’s Provisional Irish Republican Army.

As Attorney General Martha Coakley is investigating for-profit colleges for deceptive recruiting and financing practices, the state is considering regulating the industry.

Even after tornadoes rip through town, life goes on. The seniors at Monson High School graduated last night, a week after much of their town was destroyed.

Home cooking has been good for the Bruins. Led by brick wall/goalie Tim Thomas, the team beat the Canucks 4-0 to even the Stanley Cup finals series at two games apiece. The finals now come down to a best-of-three series, and Vancouver has home-ice advantage.

What we’re following: We’ll continue to report on layoffs at Boston Apparel in Taunton, the funeral for the mother who died shielding her daughter from last week’s tornadoes and the move that would see Cambridge paying same-sex married couples to defray what local officials called a discriminatory federal tax.

Published June 8, 2011

The state’s troubled Probation Department is under fire again. Former probation commissioner John J. O’Brien, who resigned on New Year’s Eve amidst allegations of corruption, may have awarded a multimillion dollar state contract based on “favoritism, fraud, or improper influence,” according to the Globe.

Boston police are concerned about an uptick in shootings and murders in the city. There were eight murders and 51 shootings in the first four months of the year, but last month alone saw four homicides and 28 shootings. We’ve been mapping all of the Boston homicides this year.

The tornadoes that tore through the western and central parts of the state created millions of dollars in damage. Reporter Anne Mostue visited the devastating scenes.

You know how you look up directions on Google Maps and it’ll tell you how long it takes to get from your house to the movies on the T? And then how your bus is late and you miss the beginning of “Bridesmaids?” Now, you won’t have to miss a second of hilarity because Boston is one of four U.S. cities in which Google Maps has integrated real-time transit data into its Google Maps. (Via UniversalHub)

Ahead of the New Hampshire primary, we’re taking a long look at the state’s politics. WBUR’s Fred Thys reports on the changing political leanings in the small town of Mont Vernon, N.H.

The Bruins look to even up the Stanley Cup finals at two games apiece with a win tonight the TD Garden. Both teams will come out firing after Monday’s illegal hit on Bruins forward Nathan Horton knocked him out of the series.

What we’re following: We’ll continue to report on the huge fire at a Rhode Island mill, the DeCordova Museum’s support of Chinese dissident artist Ai Weiwei and the closing arguments in the DiMasi trial.

Published June 7, 2011

[googlemap title=”Location of evacuated buildings” url=”http://maps.google.com/maps?q=MIT+building+W70&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-a&ie=UTF8&hl=en&hq=&hnear=New+House,+Cambridge,+Middlesex,+Massachusetts&z=16″ width=”630″ height=”350″]

Update 2:44 p.m.: Officials have determined that the “suspicious materials” were harmless and that the buildings are safe to reenter, according to a statement on the MIT Emergency notifications website.

Officials have investigated and determined there was no threat to campus safety. An object that had the appearance and characteristics of a pipe bomb turned out, on further examination, to be a collection of harmless materials.

Update 12:11 p.m.: MIT just updated its alert:

MIT Police, Cambridge Police, Cambridge Fire, the Massachusetts State Police, and the Cambridge Bomb Squad are still on the scene at New House. The situation is ongoing. Please continue to stay away from the Amherst Alley area.

Update 11:51 a.m.: Cambridge police disabled some of the hazardous materials using a high pressure water cannon at around 9:50 a.m. Some time later, “Cambridge Bomb Techs reentered the building and determined the need for a second disruption,” according to a police statement.

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Multiple law enforcement agencies are investigating a possible bomb in an MIT building, according to the school.

From an MIT emergency alert:

MIT Police, Cambridge Police, Cambridge Fire, the Massachusetts State Police, and the Cambridge Bomb Squad are investigating possibly hazardous materials in Building W70. The building has been evacuated. Police have cordoned off Amherst Alley and ask everyone to stay away from the area.

As a precaution, another bulding, W71, was also evacuated.

Boston Police report the hazardous materials are possibly a pipe bomb and say they’ve joined the investigation. Just before 11:30 a.m. BPD tweeted:

Bomb Squad and K9 units responding to MIT in Cambridge to assist with possible pipe bomb found on premises.

Published June 7, 2011

The Department of Homeland Security says it will overrule Gov. Deval Patrick on his decision to opt out of the controversial immigration program Secure Communities. Patrick had said that the state wouldn’t participate in the program, which shares fingerprints among law enforcement and immigration agencies.

In a surprise move, the defense team in former House Speaker Sal DiMasi’s corruption trial said yesterday that it would wrap up its case tomorrow, less than a week after presenting its first witness. The government took about a month to present its case.

Since last week’s tornadoes devastated the area, volunteers have been flooding central and western Massachusetts to help with clean up. The Red Cross has been so inundated with volunteers that it asked people to stop coming out while they continue to get organized.

The rough housing market may also be hurting rentals. A new Harvard study says that rental vacancy rates have been falling, pushing up rents.

Well, Boston hockey fans, Merry Christmas. In your team’s first home Stanley Cup finals game in 21 years, the Bruins erupted to rout the Canucks 8-1. Goalie Tim Thomas was an absolute brick wall and the team got energy bursts from the likes of Mark Recchi and Michael Ryder.

Bruins forward Nathan Horton was felled by a brutal, illegal hit in the first period and had to be carted off on a stretcher. The team rallied around their fallen teammate to win their first game of the best-of-seven series.

What we’re following: We’ll continue to report on tornado damage assessment, political wrangling over Secure Communities and the opening of a commuter rail station on Talbot Avenue in Dorchester.