And this news from Boston, the site of the Democratic National Convention: the state-appointed arbitrator yesterday awarded Boston’s police union a raise of 14.5 percent over four years. The raise is a compromise between the amount union leaders were demanding and the best offer from Mayor Thomas Menino. Members of the patrolmen’s association still plan to picket outside parties Menino is holding on Sunday night for delegates to the Democratic Convention and at other convention events. Union president Thomas Nee says the protests are justified given that the union was “railroaded” into arbitration because of the convention.