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FDA clears Cambridge-based Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use

Federal regulators Friday night cleared Moderna?s powerful new COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use, helping Massachusetts and other states offset the first bump in the national vaccination rollout: a cut in the number of vaccines made by Pfizer that states will receive this month.
Tracker: The latest on COVID-19 vaccine front-runners

Not long ago, Moderna had plenty of doubters

A year ago, Moderna was not on anyone?s ?Most Likely to Succeed? list. Then came the COVID-19 pandemic.

Leaked Boston police body camera videos show officers shoving, pepper-spraying protesters
Boston police and the Suffolk district attorney?s office are investigating, and a sergeant has been placed on administrative leave, after leaked body camera video emerged Friday that shows police shoving and pepper spraying demonstrators as protests turned violent the weekend after George Floyd?s death in May, officials said.

An unprepared NYPD badly mishandled Floyd protests, watchdog says
THE LATEST COVID-19 NEWS

Mayor Walsh and more than 50 mayors and town managers plead with Legislature for small-business aid

NETS 113, CELTICS 89
Observations after Nets put on quite an exhibition in blowout of Celtics
Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving look like they will be a formidable duo after Brooklyn toyed with Boston in the preseason finale.

New clues emerge about the message in a bottle hidden inside a wall of Back Bay building for 126 years
New details have been uncovered about an old rye whiskey bottle that was hidden away in a secret nook of a Back Bay building for more than a century.

?Do you know Doug Johnson??: The story behind a Globe advertisement looking for a long-lost friend
Whatever happened to the handsome man, the one who looked like Clark Kent, whom Wayne Stork befriended in the summer of 1962? It had been decades since the 83-year-old drifted back to that time in his life. But like so many people during these strange times, he began reflecting on life, loss, and what could have been.

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.
Rachelle G. Cohen

DeLeo looks to exit as the sheeple graze toward Mariano
Mark Erlich

Gig workers deserve employment protections
Scot Lehigh

Beware of authoritarianism and conspiratorialism, twin threats to our democracy
Kimberly Atkins

The year of fear and the fragility of the white, male myth

Congress averts shutdown; fight continues over pandemic aid
Congress swiftly passed a two-day stopgap spending bill Friday night, averting a partial government shutdown and buying time for frustratingly slow endgame negotiations on an almost $1 trillion COVID-19 economic relief package.

Hacked government networks will need to be burned ?down to the ground?
It?s going to take months to kick elite hackers widely believed to be Russian out of the US government networks they have been quietly rifling through since as far back as March in Washington?s worst cyberespionage failure on record.

Baker seeks relief for employers on unemployment insurance taxes
Governor Charlie Baker wants to spare employers a $1.3 billion increase in unemployment insurance taxes over the next two years and instead sell bonds to shore up the fund used to pay jobless benefits.

ADRIAN WALKER
?We can?t just have another back-room deal,? says Russell Holmes, a longshot candidate for Mass. House speaker
Holmes has almost no chance of winning. In a way, that?s exactly his point.

Kevin Paul Dupont | On Second Thought
If Cleveland can say goodbye to the name ?Indians,? why can?t we say goodbye to Fenway Park?
If the Red Sox announced this weekend that a new ballpark in the Back Bay was on the way, say, for the 2025 season, would we be wrecked?

?Vulgar, hateful and racist? comments directed at Acton-Boxborough school committee members during Zoom meeting, officials say

Acton police have been asked by the town?s Board of Selectmen to launch a hate crime investigation into the ?bad actors? who joined a public Zoom meeting Thursday and sent racist messages to some members of the Acton-Boxborough School Committee.
Best of the Arts 2020

Movies
Here are 10 excellent movies (and 25 runners-up) from a not-so-excellent year
In a year in which friends and family were reduced to squares in a Zoom grid, these films illustrated what it will feel like when we put our lives back together in the same room once more.

Music
In a year divided by before and after, pop music became whatever you wanted it to be
The lockdown that hit this spring transformed pop from a communal experience to something infinitely personal.

Television

With clever comedies and transporting dramas, TV offered some great escapes
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

Different cities, different rules: A regional rollback that?s all over the map

The hodgepodge of local rules and restrictions is frustrating to business owners, confusing to residents, and might not do enough to contain a virus that?s spreading at a rapid clip.

House Speaker Robert A. DeLeo discloses he?s in talks for job at Northeastern, setting off succession campaign
Robert A. DeLeo filed his long awaited ethics disclosure Friday, potentially marking the beginning of the end of his tenure as the longest-serving House speaker in Massachusetts history.

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.

metro

MIT disciplines professor over Jeffrey Epstein donations, but will allow him to continue teaching
Calling Seth Lloyd's decision to accept donations from convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein ?poor judgment,? MIT on Friday announced that it will limit his pay and his involvement in undergraduate advising for five years.

Mass. Senate votes to expand abortion access, rejects governor?s amendments

One person injured when awning collapses in Medford Square

Sports

Celtics looked unprepared and disorganized in loss to Nets
Boston looked befuddled and confused on offense and didn?t appear to read the scouting report on defense.

Nets 113, Celtics 89

Observations after Nets put on quite an exhibition in blowout of Celtics

NHL, players reach tentative deal for 56-game season beginning Jan. 13

business

Hacked government networks will need to be burned ?down to the ground?
It?s going to take months to kick elite hackers widely believed to be Russian out of the US government networks they have been quietly rifling through since as far back as March in Washington?s worst cyberespionage failure on record.

Vaccine Tracker

Tracker: The latest on COVID-19 vaccine front-runners

Not long ago, Moderna had plenty of doubters

politics

Pro-Trump shakeups continue at VOA?s parent agency
The head of US-funded international broadcasting is pressing ahead with his shakeup of the Voice of America and sister outlets by naming new leaders for two of its main networks and moving to defund one of the federal government?s top democracy promotion initiatives.

Barr says CIA ?stayed in its lane? in examining Russian election interference

US clears second COVID-19 vaccine, adding Moderna shots to the fight against a worsening pandemic

lifestyle

9 light displays for oohs and aahs by automobile
These festive drive-through destinations serve up holiday magic the safe way.

How is he so sure about me?
IN THE FAMILY WAY

Stressed about your kids? screen time? Don?t be.

arts

TELEVISION
?L.A. Law,? ?Night Court? sequels reportedly in the works
Deadline is reporting that ABC is developing a sequel to ?L.A. Law? that will star Blair Underwood, and a sequel to ?Night Court? is in the works at NBC, with John Larroquette set to star.

A director confronts ?glaring statistics? in her museum?s collection

4 ways to safely celebrate the winter solstice

rhode island

CORONAVIRUS
Raimondo: Economic ?pause? lifted, but social gatherings should be limited - even on Christmas
That means that restaurants will be allowed to expand their capacity for indoor dining and gyms can reopen next week, but Raimondo stressed that the state isn?t ready to revert back to its pre-Thanksgiving reopening plan.

RHODE MAP

A month-by-month look at COVID-19 in Rhode Island
CORONAVIRUS

Should Rhode Island cities with the highest COVID-19 rates get the vaccine early?

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

9 light displays for oohs and aahs by automobile

These festive drive-through destinations serve up holiday magic the safe way.

4 ways to safely celebrate the winter solstice

A few ideas for marking the shortest day of the year.

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

Though the virtual concert can?t compare to experiencing a Holiday Pops show live in Symphony Hall, its mere existence is something to applaud in a season when so many traditions have been disrupted.
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.

Opinion, ideas, and commentary

RENÉE GRAHAM

Say their names: Another deadly year for Black trans women
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 | JOSH BERNOFF

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

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

Amid MaxPreps criticism, MIAA considers new in-house power ratings proposal

Celtics coach Brad Stevens knows Nets belong among best in the East

This Patriots-Dolphins game a new experience for veteran broadcaster Ian Eagle

metro

Leaked Boston police body camera videos show officers shoving, pepper-spraying protesters

MIT disciplines professor over Jeffrey Epstein donations, but will allow him to continue teaching

Mass. Senate votes to expand abortion access, rejects governor?s amendments

Nation

Homeland Security?s latest target: Vaccine scams

United helps to contact passengers after possible COVID-related death on flight

Congress averts shutdown; fight continues over pandemic aid

World

Australia describes couple?s death as ?terrorism incident?

Putin denies involvement in poisoning of Navalny

French President Macron tests positive for COVID-19

politics

Barr says CIA ?stayed in its lane? in examining Russian election interference

US clears second COVID-19 vaccine, adding Moderna shots to the fight against a worsening pandemic

Crucial Georgia Senate runoffs are shaped by economic pain

business

Hacked government networks will need to be burned ?down to the ground?

Tracker: The latest on COVID-19 vaccine front-runners

Not long ago, Moderna had plenty of doubters

lifestyle

9 light displays for oohs and aahs by automobile

How is he so sure about me?

Stressed about your kids? screen time? Don?t be.

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

The climate challenges and opportunities ahead

Postcards from the pandemic

DeLeo looks to exit as the sheeple graze toward Mariano

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

Stressed about your kids? screen time? Don?t be.

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

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

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

Here are 10 excellent movies (and 25 runners-up) from a not-so-excellent year

This time, Ken Burns is the subject of a documentary

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

Television

?L.A. Law,? ?Night Court? sequels reportedly in the works

With clever comedies and transporting dramas, TV offered some great escapes

Matthew Gilbert?s 10 best shows of 2020

music

In a year divided by before and after, pop music became whatever you wanted it to be

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

Theater/Dance

Six bright spots in dance this year

These theaters innovated amid a dramatic change of scene

In an abbreviated year, women playwrights and directors shone brightest

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