New England Sun-Times

  Introducing A Bill Ideas for bills come from many sources: constituents, the President, lobbyists, or congressional staff. Any Senator or Representative may introduce a bill. After a bill has been written or "drafted," the member introduces it by formally presenting it to the House or Senate clerk when Congress is in session. In the House, the bill is placed in the "hopper" at the desk of the Clerk; the sponsor of the bill may or may not make a special statement about the bill when it is introduced. In the Senate, the bill may be presented to the Clerk, or the Senator may make a formal statement from the Senate floor to introduce it. Once a bill is introduced, it is given a number: H.R. _________ (for the House of Representatives) if introduced in the House and S. _________ (for the Senate) if introduced in the Senate. Bill numbers start with H.R. 1 and S. 1 at the beginning of each new Congress and continue in numerical order until the Congr...

  Boston Police (Photo credit ROBYN BECK/AFP/Getty Images) BOSTON (AP) — Police say a woman had her toe bitten off at a New Year’s Eve party in Boston. Officers responded to a city hospital at about 5 a.m. Wednesday for a report of an apparent assault in which the victim’s little toe on her left foot was bitten off. The victim told police she made a sexual advance to another woman at the party in the city’s Dorchester neighborhood at about 3 a.m., which upset the other woman’s boyfriend and led to a fight. Police tell The Boston Globe the party’s host then asked the victim to leave, which led to another fight outside in which the host allegedly bit off the guest’s toe. At about 5 a.m. Wednesday, officers received a call from Boston Medical Center reporting an assault and battery. The victim, whose name was not released, was attending a friend’s party when a fight broke out around 3 a.m., said Nicole Grant, Boston police spokeswoman. The fight ...