BEAN COUNTER: VOLUME 14, ISSUE 11

A Cambridge couple won a meal with the first family as part of a “Dinner with Barack” donation drive. Though the event went fairly well, analysts are still pondering the economic significance of the Obama’s skipping out on the check. EVEN

This upcoming Sunday marks the annual St. Patrick’s Day parade in South Boston. Officials are billing it as “fun for the whole family,” though they are urging prospective participants to “really consider the families we’re talking about here.” PLUS 1

A group of Jamaica Plain residents are blocking efforts to build a planned housing project for the sick and homeless operated by the Pine Street Inn, arguing that the project will “totally attract, like, the sick, not to mention the homeless!” MINUS 5

Senators John Kerry and Olympia Snowe are pushing to direct more federal funding to fishing industry sciences. Without a re-appropriation of funds, they say, the U.S. could fall behind other nations in the competitive fields of “grizzled facial hair” and “deadliest catching.” PLUS 1

Sources indicate that Catherine Grieg, girlfriend to accused mobster “Whitey” Bulger, is considering pleading guilty to charges that she helped Bulger escape capture. The devastated Grieg takes some solace from the knowledge the inevitable Lifetime Original movie inspired by her story is going to be hilarious. PLUS 1

New Hampshire’s House voted last week to decriminalize small amounts of marijuana possessed by adults. Proponents of the bill see marijuana as a safe medicinal treatment for those afflicted by “living in New Hampshire.” PLUS 2

THIS WEEK’S TOTAL: EVEN

LAST WEEK’S TOTAL: MINUS 4