Boston Herald

Herald photographer Mark Garfinkel reports that a couple of readers contacted him about a photo he took at a five-alarm fire on Prince Street in Cambridge last week: One thought the flames looked like Mother Teresa, the other thought they looked like the devil. Judge for yourself.

Tprussman was on the scene this afternoon as a Boston hazmat crew removed that "anthrax" package from the Herald.

Anthrax scare prompts Boston Herald evacuation; employees return to work after police crews determine white powder inside an envelope marked "Anthrax" was not anthrax.

Same thing happening at other newspapers.

Both saw daily circulation drops of 10% for the past six months when compared to the same period last year, the Boston Business Journal reports.

Edward Mason writes in the Herald...

A staggering $3.2 billion IOU to pay off health and other benefits lavished on city worker unions has come due in Boston as the city grapples with a budget crisis that’s raising fears of massive layoffs and service cuts and even tax hikes for Hub residents and businesses.

...the best part for those of us without unionized government jobs...

Joe Dwinell at the Herald reads a lot of depressing news and says if he has to, you should, too:

... Too many good people die and it's too easy to turn the page. How can you? ...

Dan Kennedy bought a copy of the new, smaller Herald today at 3 pm, only to find it had no story on last night's Red Sox playoff victory.

What other news will the Herald no longer report in a timely manner, now that its printing press is 90 miles further from Boston?

Today's the last day for the presses at Herald Square as the paper moves its print operations to Chicopee. Fitzgerald of the Herald says goodbye:

... It's going to be strange walking past the ancient and abandoned printing presses tomorrow. I'm optimistic the Herald will be around for a while. But it won't be the same without the presses and the cast of characters who somehow made them run.

Alicia, a librarian, reports why she made a point this morning of putting the Herald back cover face up on the shelf in serials.

The Boston Business Journal reports somebody this morning damaged the conveyor system that moves newspapers from the printing presses to waiting delivery trucks. The incident comes about two weeks before the paper is due to shut the presses and move printing to Chicopee.

The Journal also reports that you'll be able to instantly identify the new Chicopee Herald because the pages will be smaller.

Ron Borges moves to the Herald after a whole month at WEEI.com.

Jay Fitzgerald reports fellow business reporter Scott Van Vorhis has left the paper to freelance fulltime:

... His depature is a huge loss, but the Herald will bounce back as usual. Well, sort of. ...

If you're the Herald, it's a juicy sex scandal involving a Globe reporter (albeit one that allegedly happened before her time at the Globe).

Howie must be working on another book about the Bulgers, or maybe he spent too much time at Fenway with Castig and Obie last night, because based on the amount of time he put into today's CHB-like column about loser Patriots fans, he clearly is too busy to do any actual reporting for the Herald. Or maybe, he just needs a hug.

Here's why I enjoy living in a two-newspaper town.

Globe: At City Hall, a good use for all that wind

Herald: Wind turbine plan spins out of control

Maybe it's just sour grapes that his paper didn't get this month's Interview of the Century, or maybe he's really disgusted at what passes for journalism on Morrissey Boulevard these days, but whatever the reason, Herald Square doyen Jules Crittenden lays into the Globe's interview with the Suspect Formerly Known as Clark Rockefeller today with the sort of joyous vituperation not normally seen on media outlets this side of the Atlantic:

... Scribbler Maria Cramer is immediately tongue-tied as "Clark Rockefeller" dodges her clever opening "Who are you?" question. Globies allow ambulance chaser Stephen Hrones to tell them to be quiet. Also, remarkably, the bowtied bumkissers can't tell a German accent from a Brahmin one, despite having followed the Boston Herald's trail up the Alps to Gerhartsreiter's schnitzel-schnauzing roots. Apparently the Globe is having trouble finding good blueblood help these days. ...

And then he really gets started.

You'd think, in times like these, a newspaper would do everything it could to keep a home subscriber. Apparently not:

... I've had daily conversations with both the Herald and PCF [the local distributor] who have both promised to elevate my complaint. PCF even offered to drop off my paper later on in the day, which they have done 3 out of the past 9 days. Yesterday they sent someone out to deliver it but I didn't receive it until almost 5pm. Today I didn't receive it all, despite 2 calls from PCF claiming that I would. ...

Earlier:
Cutting back on the Globe.

Adam Reilly has the details on Tony Massarotti jumping from the Herald to the Globe, where he'll become "the face and voice of boston.com sports." He also reports on Gordon Edes' replacement.

Dan Kennedy: Massarotti is a leading reason to read the Herald, so this is a huge, huge loss. Also shows Globe is taking weei.com seriously as a threat, he says.

Earlier:
WEEI to pose threat to Boston Dirt Dogs.

Adam Reilly compares the Globe and Herald coverage of our own little Zelig, to see who had the most scoops.

The Herald digs deep and uncovers Blue Mass. Group's nasty little secret: It's run by - you are sitting down, I hope - people who want to elect Democrats:

The Blue Mass Group bloggers have never tried to hide their lefty allegiances, but their latest stunt puts to rest any misconception that the site is anything other than an activist network.

And what is that stunt? Hiring people to throw tomatoes at John McCain? Posting diatribes about Mitt Romney? No, far, far worse: They've organized a, gasp, fundraising concert for Barack Obama. Those activist scoundrels, good thing we have Dave Wedge to clear up any misconceptions.

And so news finally reaches Joe Fitzgerald of the battle between the West Roxbury Loons of Decency and the Boston Phoenix, five months after the whole thing was all over the blogs and West Roxbury papers. Of course, the Herald's short on space these days, which forces Fitzgerald to economize on words and omit the names of the woman the column is about and the paper she's complaining about.

I wonder if one of the younger members of the Herald staff could show Joe how to use this InterWebs thing, because it's really useful for checking stuff like election results, which would let him avoid the embarrassment of saying self-appointed Defender of Public Morality Bob Joyce gave state Sen. Marian Walsh "a real scare" in 2004, when, in fact, she beat him 2-1.

Via Dan Kennedy, who apparently still reads Fitzgerald so we don't have to.

Bonus: One of the woman's complaints was that she had to shield her son's eyes from a giant Abercrombie & Fitch poster at Faneuil Hall showing "a barechested young man with hardly any pants on." Guess that means she won't be letting him look at Fitzgerald's column online:

Not only has WEEI hired away two Herald sports writers to try to turn its Web site into the major go-to site for New England sports info, but it's advertising for some serious Web/systems help, Mats Tolander reports:

... I like weei.com's Director of Product Development:

You recognize Emacs is the one true editor (though I suppose vi will do in a pinch; anything but Frontpage). ...

I'm kind of glad Herald reporter O'Ryan Grylls Johnson didn't actually find that great white off Martha's Vineyard, because you know he would've tried to capture it and you know the thing would've eaten him and his boatmates because they wouldn't have a spare oxygen tank to kill it with and the Herald really can't afford to lose any more reporters.

But speaking as a recovering reporter who once went into the deepest woods of Weston with a moose hunter in search of a moose that had been hit by a car the day before, I applaud the Herald's new wildlife beat. When will the Herald be sending reporters up to the White Mountains to go mano-a-pawo with a bear?

We look for the beast outside Bartlett

Or to the Berkshires to go mano-a-talono with a bald eagle?

We look for the beast up a pine tree

I'd pay for video of that.

The Boston Herald reports:

For the third time in a little over a year, residents of a Peabody apartment complex were forced to flee as their flame-plagued complex caught fire again.

A three-alarm blaze broke out on the roof of a building at the Highlands at Dearborn yesterday after a lightning bolt struck.

Herald editor camped out at the Entwistle trial complains because when deliberations were over for the day, he had to drive home during the hailstorm:

Try sitting in a cramped court all day then driving away into traffic and some summer fury. This assignment ain't no picnic. ...