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TRENDING:

White House aides talked Trump out of last-minute demand for stimulus checks as big as $2,000

White House aides intervened Thursday to prevent President Trump from issuing a statement calling for substantially larger stimulus payments for millions of Americans, according to two people granted anonymity to share details of the private exchange.
Stimulus talks could spill into weekend as lawmakers scramble to complete deal
THE LATEST COVID-19 NEWS

Some states say Pfizer vaccine allotments cut for next week

FDA advisory panel votes to recommend Moderna vaccine for emergency use

The vote followed an all-day review of clinical data and public concern over everything from side effects to fair distribution. The second vaccine against COVID-19 could start shipping as soon as this weekend.

Ronald Mariano appears to have votes to succeed DeLeo as speaker of House, supporters say
Ronald Mariano, a Quincy Democrat who has served for years as House Speaker Robert A. DeLeo?s top deputy, appears to have consolidated enough support to succeed DeLeo, should DeLeo step aside soon.

AG Healey reaches $10 million settlement with Lawrence home health care provider in fraud case

Attorney General Maura Healey?s office has reached a $10 million settlement with a Lawrence-based home health care firm that allegedly sent false claims to MassHealth, officials said Thursday.

LOVE LETTERS
People just want to hook up ? even in a pandemic
Help a reader who doesn't trust dating (and hookups) during a pandemic.

Billy Baker
Is this the beginning of the end for space savers?
For the first time in decades, an elected official in Boston is pushing to ban space savers.

Opinion

IDEAS | JOSH BERNOFF

Social media broke America. Here?s how to fix it.

Taking a page from an earlier era of radio and television.
Scot Lehigh

Beware of authoritarianism and conspiratorialism, twin threats to our democracy
RENÉE GRAHAM

Say their names: Another deadly year for Black trans women
Kimberly Atkins

The year of fear and the fragility of the white, male myth
Rachelle G. Cohen

DeLeo looks to exit as the sheeple graze toward Mariano

KEVIN CULLEN
A son of New Orleans became The Man in Dorchester
If you asked Bruce Seals what kept him in a place so different than his beloved New Orleans, he?d give you a two-word answer: the kids.

Once a friend, Joe Biden calls Lindsey Graham ?a personal disappointment? for not recognizing election win
When Stephen Colbert asked on Thursday whether he could patch up his once close friendship with Sen. Lindsey Graham, President-elect Joe Biden expression turned somber.

With Trump silent, reprisals for hacks may fall to Biden

All fingers are pointing to Russia as the source of the worst-ever hack of US government agencies. But President Donald Trump, long wary of blaming Moscow for cyberattacks, has so far been silent.
Hack against US is ?grave threat,? cybersecurity agency says

Sacklers deny personal responsibility for opioid epidemic in House hearing

Members of Congress on Thursday hurled withering comments and furious questions at two members of the billionaire Sackler family that owns Purdue Pharma, the maker of OxyContin, seeking to use a rare public appearance to extract admissions of personal responsibility for the deadly opioid epidemic as well as details about $10 billion that records show the family withdrew from the company.

Despite blizzard, Patriots remain focused on playoff task at hand
Cam Newton was mesmerized by the storm, but he knows Sunday's game against the Dolphins has bigger implications.

Holy Cross rower Grace Rett had a wish. In her death, family and teammates are making it come true
Grace Rett always wanted to build a gym at Our Lady of the Valley Regional School, her alma mater. If all goes according to plan, crews will break ground on the G.R.A.C.E. Center in April with the first events scheduled for the fall of 2021.

Holiday gift guides

These thoughtful, last-minute gifts arrive in an instant, no mailing required

7 local authors on unwrapping the perfect books

The best new cookbooks for holiday giving

A Boston-centric gift guide for music lovers
A Beautiful Resistance
Jeneé Osterheldt

To be Black, Bostonian, and proud

Boston's Black history is often hidden, but a quarter of the city's population is Black. That's nearly double the percentage of the Black population of the US.
The Questions, featuring Justin Levy See more from ?A Beautiful Resistance? Follow on Instagram

Recommended Reads

Pent-up demand for coronavirus vaccine crashes Mass General Brigham?s system

A notice from Mass General Brigham before 11 p.m. to its nearly 80,000 employees said the health care giant was experiencing ?technical difficulties? with its online signup system.

Eventually, getting the COVID-19 vaccine could be required for many
Private businesses, schools, and perhaps even states and localities could possibly require the shots for those who don?t qualify for religious or medical exemptions. Legal precedent ? including a landmark Massachusetts case ? suggests those mandates would be on solid ground in court.

Mysterious message in a bottle found 126 years later hidden inside wall of Back Bay building
A Boston resident found a handwritten note from 1894 tucked inside an old whiskey bottle. Now everyone is trying to figure out what it means.

metro

Which Mass. schools are closed or teaching remotely on Friday?
Many school districts plan to keep schools closed on Friday, either for traditional snow days or remote learning.

AG Healey reaches $10 million settlement with Lawrence home health care provider in fraud case

Boston police recruits help shovel out Hyde Park neighborhood

Sports

Raiders lose QB Derek Carr, fall in overtime to Chargers, Justin Herbert
Los Angeles snapped a nine-game losing streak against its AFC West counterparts.

Giants coordinator Jason Garrett sidelined by COVID-19
sports log

Following trial run last season, NBA decides to keep coach?s challenge in place

business

Alex Azar to stay on job after wife tests positive for COVID-19
Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar?s wife, Jennifer, has tested positive for the coronavirus, but he will continue going to work and spoke maskless at a pair of events a day before her case was confirmed.

Pandemic is starting to hit North American meat plants again

Massachusetts dethroned from energy efficiency top spot

politics

Trump stays on sidelines as vaccine injections begin
President Donald Trump?s administration helped deliver vaccinations against the coronavirus earlier than even some in his administration thought possible, but the president has been largely absent from the effort to sell the American public on what aides hope will be a key part of his legacy.

With Trump silent, reprisals for hacks may fall to Biden

Pelosi, McConnell to get vaccine, urge members to do same

lifestyle

LOVE LETTERS
People just want to hook up ? even in a pandemic
Help a reader who doesn't trust dating (and hookups) during a pandemic.

Your guide to Boston?s holiday takeout feasts

A pastry chef from Tehran opens a tiny Cambridge bakery near Fresh Pond

arts

BOOKS
Caught between Boston and Quincy in ?The Last American Aristocrat?
David S. Brown shows that the great-grandson of John Adams was a fascinating figure because of whom he was born to but also because of when he was born.

BOOKS

Celebrating Nora Barnacle in ?Nora: A Love Story of Nora and James Joyce?

What?s happening in the arts world

rhode island

CORONAVIRUS
Should Rhode Island cities with the highest COVID-19 rates get the vaccine early?
The push to protect at-risk communities may be hampered by mistrust and misinformation, officials say.

CORONAVIRUS

Rhode Island getting far less COVID-19 vaccine doses than expected next week
RHODE MAP

Snow day! Help us pick the best places to sled in Rhode Island

Newton

Special Projects

A beautiful resistance | JENEÉ OSTERHELDT

Black queer lives are Black lives that matter, too

Adding any other marginalized identity to Blackness is another layer of oppression to fight. Black queer people living their truths is a beautiful resistance.
See more from 'A Beautiful Resistance' Follow on Instagram

On the Street

In tackling the pandemic, Chelsea finds new strength

Brockton offers a gateway to a new generation

This time, Quincy Center?s revival looks legit

Revere was going through a revival before COVID-19. Can it stay on track?

See more from our business series ?On the Street?: The changing face of Greater Boston neighborhoods

More

2020 Bostonians of the Year: The Front Line
They stood up to fight the twin pandemics of COVID-19 and racial injustice. Meet the people leading us through a harrowing year.

Last Words: Is death the great equalizer?
Quite the contrary, a Spotlight investigation shows. Death exposes in high relief the layers of inequities, in race and income, care and opportunity, that shape life down to its final hours. It is a truth the pandemic has only underscored ? one hard to see, because it is so much easier to look away.

I knew getting prostate cancer at 48 would change me. I had no idea how much
For the past year, Mark Shanahan has been working on Mr. 80 Percent, a six-episode podcast miniseries about his experience with prostate cancer. It?s a deeply personal, sometimes harrowing, often funny story about a disease that affects millions of men. The heroes are his doctors and family, who put up with some appalling behavior. You?ll hear from both.

Comfort Zone

COMFORT ZONE

These thoughtful, last-minute gifts arrive in an instant, no mailing required

And many benefit local businesses, to boot.

It?ll still be a (matzo) ball

You can still go to this Jewish singles event ? virtually.
COMFORT ZONE

This time, Ken Burns is the subject of a documentary

Rhode Island filmmaker Dante Bellini turned the camera on the New England documentarian for ?Ken Burns: Here & There,? now airing nationally on PBS.

For this artist, the local supermarket is stocked with dating metaphors

Brooke Stewart found inspiration at the Market Basket deli counter.
COMFORT ZONE

8 thoughtful gifts to help comfort and heal

These candles, blankets, and gift sets meet the stressful realities of 2020.
CHRISTOPHER MUTHER

The ghosts of Bradlees, Spag?s, and Whalom Park have returned from the great beyond, in T-shirt form

A local company is reviving defunct department store and amusement park logos on stylish tees.

Opinion, ideas, and commentary

EDITORIAL

The system worked ? this time
IDEAS | TOM JOUDREY

Gaudy Christmas lights are just what 2020 demands
Joan Vennochi

What?s more sexist than the coverage of Melania Trump?
Steven Hassan

A cult expert?s advice for celebrating with politically divided family over the holidays
IDEAS | DAVID SHRIBMAN

Presidents shouldn?t have blanket pardon power

IDEAS | DAVID SCHARFENBERG

Massachusetts? public schools are highly segregated. It?s time we treated that like the crisis it is

STAT

The Road Ahead: Charting the pandemic over the next 12 months ? and beyond
In this project, STAT describes 30 key moments, possible turning points that could steer the pandemic onto a different course or barometers for how the virus is reshaping our lives.

From a small N.C. town to big-city hospitals, how software infuses racism into U.S. health care
The racial bias can produce huge differences in assessing patients? need for special care to manage conditions such as hypertension, diabetes, or depression, a STAT investigation found.

Covid-19?s wintry mix: Dry indoor air helps the virus spread
The worry is not just that people might mingle more closely inside, but that the air they breathe will make the virus more dangerous.

In the Covid-19 death of a hospital food worker, a microcosm of the pandemic
The hospital's first employee to die of Covid-19 was a kitchen worker named Marie Deus ? and her illness sparked a question. Why weren't bedside clinicians getting sick at the highest rates?

magazine
Cover Story

2020 Bostonians of the Year: The Front Line
Bostonians of the Year

Ashish Jha: Speaking out for science and for public health in the pandemic
Connections

The pandemic has a school nurse missing her 'frequent fliers'

Your Week Ahead

Things to do online and in person, Dec. 14-27

sports

Hockey East commissioner Steve Metcalf is building the season from scratch

MIAA field hockey committee discusses COVID-19 modifications for Fall 2 season

Bill Belichick?s recent chat with Sean McVay went very differently than their Super Bowl talk

metro

Harold Budd, composer of spaciousness and calm, dies at 84

Which Mass. schools are closed or teaching remotely on Friday?

AG Healey reaches $10 million settlement with Lawrence home health care provider in fraud case

Nation

Some states say Pfizer vaccine allotments cut for next week

Pelosi, McConnell to get vaccine, urge members to do same

Hack against US is ?grave threat,? cybersecurity agency says

World

French President Macron tests positive for COVID-19

Russia?s COVID-19 vaccine rollout draws wary, mixed response

German Coronavirus Cases Jump by Most Since Start of Pandemic

politics

With Trump silent, reprisals for hacks may fall to Biden

Pelosi, McConnell to get vaccine, urge members to do same

Hack against US is ?grave threat,? cybersecurity agency says

business

Alex Azar to stay on job after wife tests positive for COVID-19

Pandemic is starting to hit North American meat plants again

Massachusetts dethroned from energy efficiency top spot

lifestyle

People just want to hook up ? even in a pandemic

Your guide to Boston?s holiday takeout feasts

A pastry chef from Tehran opens a tiny Cambridge bakery near Fresh Pond

marijuana

Two new commissioners tapped for Massachusetts marijuana agency

Chief of staff to ex-mayor of Fall River pleads guilty to extortion, bribery charges

Marijuana found concealed in shampoo bottle at Logan Airport Friday

opinion

Social media broke America. Here?s how to fix it.

Beware of authoritarianism and conspiratorialism, twin threats to our democracy

Say their names: Another deadly year for Black trans women

food & dining

Restaurants aren?t failing. They are being failed.

5 savory thank-yous for all the cooks tied to the kitchen this year

Recipe: Homemade grainy, nutty digestive biscuits, similar to Graham crackers, make a fine gift

travel

Author and cult expert talks Fiji, diving, and future grand plans

In the race to lure back travelers, vacations in nature are winning

The gift of travel, cycling adventures in Maine, and a new desert getaway

Books

Caught between Boston and Quincy in ?The Last American Aristocrat?

Celebrating Nora Barnacle in ?Nora: A Love Story of Nora and James Joyce?

Robin Wall Kimmerer on reading for ?the richness of the gifts around you?

Movies

This time, Ken Burns is the subject of a documentary

?Greenland?: When a comet hits, stay close to Gerard Butler ? and far from Tampa

Here?s every major Boston location that appears in the new hit movie ?Ava?

Television

A royally funny sendup of ?The Crown?

Shondaland?s Netflix series, ?Bridgerton,? offers romance and escapism, delivered on Christmas

Bryan Cranston: from TV jester to dramatic powerhouse

music

With sleigh bells jingling, the Pops puts on a holiday show in your home instead of theirs

The local recordings that helped us through 2020

Classical musicians, don?t play the finale on these COVID-era changes

Theater/Dance

Boston Ballet?s ?The Gift? is a welcome one

Here, the rich theatrical tradition of Jamaica is all the talk

In ?Fosse/Verdon,? a welcome spotlight on a Broadway legend

globe local

Is this the beginning of the end for space savers?

Welcome Home offers curbside pickup for gently used housewares

Newton South soccer player follows in family?s footsteps

Obituaries

Harold Budd, composer of spaciousness and calm, dies at 84

Lidia Menapace, who fought fascists and sexists, dies at 96

Carol Sutton, a stage and screen actress devoted to New Orleans, dies at 76