A heated battle between immigrant advocates and Tea Party supporters erupted yesterday in Chelsea High School's auditorium, as activists gathered to protest the controversial Secure Communities, a federal program that uses data from local law enforcement agencies to track down illegal immigrants.

Two days ago, as every resident of Massachusetts was daydreaming of what to do if he or she won the Mega Millions (I too was guilty of that), Governor Deval Patrick held an intense marathon of media availability. He gave 15-minute interviews to 19 reporters from all over Mass., including two from Hispanic media outlets, three Brazilians, and one Haitian.