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.

Published June 6, 2011

Still literally picking up the pieces, residents of the tornado-ravaged town of Monson are trying to get their lives back to some form of normalcy. It’s easy to forget that there were actual people who lost absolutely everything in the storms Wednesday, unless you read this report by WBUR’s Bianca Vazquez Toness.

Mayor Tom Menino said city authorities are working to “fine tune” Boston’s disaster readiness, after last week’s tornadoes shocked the western part of the state.

An MIT professor who has been nominated three times by President Obama to serve on the Federal Reserve’s board of governors will ask the White House to withdraw his nomination. Peter Diamond, who won the Nobel prize in economics last year, has faced Republican opposition to his confirmation.

Sal DiMasi’s team of lawyers will begin to mount its defense today in the former House Speaker’s corruption trial. It’s unclear if DiMasi plans to testify on his own behalf.

As the Nuclear Regulatory Commission weighs whether to re-license the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Plant in Plymouth, some local residents are voicing their opposition to the plan.

Goalie Tim Thomas and captain Zdeno Chara will look to atone for mistakes that cost the Bruins the game on Saturday when the team faces off in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Finals against the Canucks tonight. After dropping two games in Vancouver, the team will look for Boston fans to pick them up at home. Police are ready for a rowdy showing.

What we’re following: We’ll continue to report on the funeral for a Massachusetts state trooper who died from injuries sustained on the job years ago, redistricting hearings in Quincy and the charter school teachers who are debating dissolving their union.