Just because you spent all weekend high on Cadbury eggs doesn’t mean the world stopped moving. We round up the notable stories you missed.

Saturday
House Speaker Sal DiMasi made casino supporters an offer they couldn’t refuse as the battle over the legislation heated up.

DiMasi gave the lawmakers coveted committee posts, some of which include $7,500 stipends, in late February as lobbying over casinos began to intensify. Those lawmakers, after previously supporting casinos or voting to legalize slot machines, came out against Patrick’s bill in Thursday’s decisive vote.

It’s called “playing politics.” And Sal DiMasi is good at it.

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Just because you spent all weekend feeling jet-lagged by the time change doesn’t mean the world stopped moving. We round up the notable stories you missed.

Saturday
Oh Samantha Power. Before she resigned from Barack Obama’s campaign for her comments about Hillary Clinton’s monstrosity, she was digging the candidate into a hole about his Iraq policy.

“You can’t make a commitment in March of 2008 about what circumstances are going to be like in January 2009,” said Power. . . . “He will, of course, not rely upon some plan that he has crafted as a presidential candidate or a US senator. He will rely upon an operational plan that he pulls together in consultation with people on the ground.”

Obama insists he will stick to his pledge to bring the troops home.

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Just because you spent all weekend waiting for Randy Moss to re-sign doesn’t mean the world stopped moving. We round up the notable stories you missed.

Saturday
It was all about the Leap Year babies on Friday. Dwello “Dewey” DePippo, who is 96-years-old but celebrated his 24th birthday, told some newborn leap babies how to make it to his ripe old age.

“I’ve never been drunk - not in my whole life,” said DePippo, who lives in Methuen.

“I lived this long because I haven’t been a bad boy, if you get my drift,” DePippo said. “And I’ve been good to people, and people have been good to me.”

Keep it in your pants, don’t get sloppy, and don’t be a jerk. Advice we can all live by.

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Just because you spent all weekend betting on an upset in your Oscar pool doesn’t mean the world stopped moving. We round up the notable stories you missed.

Saturday
Holy crap, they found Whitey!

Well, no, not really. After James “Whitey” Bulger was featured on Aktenzeichen XY . . . ungelost last week, someone called to report he knew the couple in the much-hyped FBI clip from Italy.

The man and woman were his German parents.

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Just because you spent all weekend watching Spring Training coverage doesn’t mean the world stopped moving. We round up the notable stories you missed.

Saturday
MBTA conspiracy theorists, rejoice. Suddenly chatty MBTA General Manager Dan Grabauskas admits the agency cut bus and subway trips to save money without telling riders.

“We were not telling the truth to our customers before when we were not delivering the service that was scheduled,” Grabasukas said in an interview. “But we began to remedy that when I came on two years ago, and I know we’ve improved service.”

Yeah. By adjusting the train schedules to reflect how crappy the service is. Thanks, Dan.

We’ve noticed that a lot of our friends have been popping cold medicine like jellybeans this winter. It’s not just our unwashed companions who are suffering—Boston is in the midst of a bona fide flu epidemic. If you’ll excuse us for a moment, we’re going to disinfect our desks and buy a vat of Purell.

Is everyone going to run out and buy a beagle because Uno won the Westminster Dog Show? Short answer: Only if he gets a great endorsement deal like the Taco Bell Chihuahua.

Dear lawsuit-happy Rams fans,

GET OVER IT.

Sincerely,
Boston Daily

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Just because you spent all weekend watching the bizarre changes in weather doesn’t mean the world stopped moving. We round up the notable stories you missed.

Saturday
Something about the picture of Gov. Deval Patrick on the cover of Saturday’s Herald makes us want to visit Florida. The short sleeves, the pastel colors, and the old-school poker hat all remind us of our grandparents. Though our elders would not be as easily convinced to switch sides in a debate as the more than a dozen lawmakers who now support the governor’s casino plan who initially opposed it.

The Boston Police Department is gearing up for the start of the controversial “Safe Homes” program. The program will allow officers to search private homes for weapons without a warrant, if given permission. While civil liberties groups are still nervous, the police department hopes a snappy logo and casually-dressed officers will convince the community it’s a good idea.

A friendly looking logo - a drawing of a house surrounded by the sun - adorns the brochure police have drafted to explain and promote the initiative, “Safe Homes.” Photos of officers playing baseball with children and chatting with teenagers dot the pamphlet.

Who knew stopping crime took only a game of baseball and compromising a child’s privacy?

Irony is dead. Convicted felon Tom Finneran has given up the lobbying firm he’d hoped to start to represent the State Police Association of Massachusetts, but he will remain on the air at WRKO. It almost makes you think the whole thing was a ploy to get himself some free advertising for his struggling talk show.

In this politically correct world, it’s not surprising that there is a kerfuffle over the Natick Redmen. But what is surprising is that there is a whole organization dedicated to eliminating stereotypes and racism in sports mascots.

Pete Sanfacon - founder of the Framingham-based New England Anti-Mascot Coalition, which advocates against the use racial stereotypes in sports mascots and nicknames - said that Natick’s pride should not come at the expense of Native Americans who find the name offensive.

In the grand scheme of life, is this really that important?

Also, Saturday was Truck Day. Did anyone see Curt Schilling’s robot arm being loaded onto the truck? Because that’s probably the only way he’s going to be able to play. (more…)

Just because you spent all weekend being smug about the Patriots’ chances doesn’t mean the world stopped moving. We round up the notable stories you missed.

Saturday
The Globe knows something you don’t know. It took two reporters what must have been endless hours of digging to bring this story to the masses. We, quite frankly, are shocked by the news.

Did you know a lot of T stations leak? And that the Charlie Card machines are unreliable?

As we slid across the slippery tile at North Station in a futile bid to get on an overcrowded train on Friday, we noticed it was pretty wet. We were also delighted to find not one, but three, charges from the MBTA pending in our bank account after buying our monthly pass on Thursday night.

What really has us worried is the fact that soft-rock station 92.9 WBOS has become a station that caters to the 25-34-year old demographic by playing music like “Nirvana, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Green Day, Pearl Jam, the Dave Matthews Band, and many more.” So. . . children of the late 70’s and early 80’s now warrant their own oldies station? If you need us, we’ll be looking into nursing homes.

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Just because you spent all weekend preparing for your Super Bowl party doesn’t mean the world stopped moving. We round up the notable stories you missed.

Saturday
“Oh for the love of God.” That’s what we said when we opened up our copies of the Globe and the Herald on Saturday morning. Instead of taking our advice about ignoring New York, both papers have gotten in on the Giants hatred. The Globe meekly steps out with a twee “I *heart* New York” headline with the heart crossed out, while the Herald put Tom Brady’s handsome face on a milk carton.

The paper of record is shocked to find that Bostonians don’t react kindly to a guy dressed in an Eli Manning jersey and Giants hat, and the tabloid is troubled by the continued absence of the Patriots QB. In Belichick we trust. It will all be fine. Everybody just calm down. (more…)

Just because you spent all weekend celebrating civil rights doesn’t mean the world stopped moving. We round up the notable stories you missed.

Saturday
Our papers delight in the news that Amtrak and its employees reached a tentative agreement that will prevent a strike at the end of the month. Had employees walked off the job, it would have snarled travel on highways, buses and the subway. Guess Dan Grabauskas can enjoy his vacation now.

It wasn’t all good transportation news on Saturday. Heavy vehicles were banned from the lanes closest to the Red Line on the Longfellow Bridge after DCR inspectors found rust and decay on that part of the bridge. Officials say it won’t fail in some terrible catastrophe, but if the left lanes start sinking we should start to worry.

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Just because you spent all weekend celebrating 17-0 doesn’t mean the world stopped moving. We round up the notable stories you missed.

Saturday
Things aren’t looking so great in Michigan for our buddy Mitt Romney. When the campaign stops in the state you hope to win are described as “anemic,” we can’t help but get a little pessimistic.

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