fb-pixel Skip to main content
The Boston Globe
TRENDING:

Congress seals agreement on $900 billion COVID relief bill

The agreement, announced by congressional leaders, would establish a temporary $300 per week supplemental jobless benefit and a $600 direct stimulus payment to most Americans, along with a new round of subsidies for hard-hit businesses and money for schools, health care providers, and renters facing eviction.
Here?s what?s in the new stimulus package White House secures ?three martini lunch? tax deduction in draft of coronavirus relief package

Mass. COVID-19 numbers continue to climb as Moderna vaccine added to state pandemic arsenal

Due to arrive just days before Christmas, the Moderna vaccine comes as Governor Charlie Baker and Boston Mayor Martin J. Walsh renew calls for residents to avoid large, holiday gatherings to avoid opportunities for the often-deadly virus to spread.

Mass. reports 4,162 new confirmed coronavirus cases, 60 new deaths Sunday

The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Massachusetts rose by 4,162 Sunday, bringing the state?s total to 311,090, state public health officials said.

Front-line essential workers and adults 75 and older should be next to get vaccines, CDC panel says

The recommendations, which come two days after regulators authorized a second coronavirus vaccine, will guide state authorities in deciding who should have priority to receive limited doses of vaccines made by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna.
THE LATEST COVID-19 NEWS

US has administered 556,208 vaccine shots in first week

The coronavirus vaccine could be the greatest accomplishment of his administration. So where is Trump?

The rollout of coronavirus vaccines within a year of the pandemic?s emergence with the help of his administration?s Operation Warp Speed arguably could be Trump?s greatest accomplishment. But he's been largely absent from efforts to promote it.

DOLPHINS 22, PATRIOTS 12
Disappointed Bill Belichick says, ?we didn?t deserve to win? after Patriots are eliminated from playoff contention
The Patriots will not make the playoffs for the first time since 2008, when Tom Brady was sidelined almost the entire season.

Two big breaks went Patriots? way ? and it still wasn?t enough to win

Jim McBride
Cam Newton sounds like a man who wants to remain with Patriots
Newton spoke about improving, as he often has, and learning the system.

Tara Sullivan: The Patriots have officially been dethroned, and it?s a changing of the guard in the AFC East

The pandemic crushed businesses on Boston's Water Street ? with a rippling effect
Because of what's happened to businesses on one city block, financial destruction now runs from a delivery driver in Chelsea to a paper mill in upstate New York to a family in Honduras, every failing link weakening the next in line.

Behind the Shield | Inside the Boston Police Department
An off-duty officer crashed into a disabled grandmother. A year later, she?s still fighting City Hall
?Whatever the police does to you, you cannot do anything,? said Anne-Marie Castor. ?They treat me worse than a dog.?

Opinion

EDITORIAL

More reasons why the Iowa caucuses shouldn?t start the primary season

After the 2020 fiasco, it?s more clear than ever that Democrats need to rearrange their nominating calendar.
IDEAS | STEPHANIE FAIRYINGTON

A lesson in queer parenting that?s good for any family
Renée Loth

The problem with protest
EDITORIAL

Boston is setting an example on fair housing. Will other communities follow?
IDEAS | JOSH BERNOFF

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

buccaneers 31, falcons 27
Sound familiar? Tom Brady engineers big second-half comeback to defeat Matt Ryan, Falcons
Brady finished with 390 yards passing, and Antonio Brown caught his first touchdown in a Buccaneers uniform.

With sale of Legal Sea Foods, another Boston institution changes hands
It may be hard to imagine the famed restaurants without Roger Berkowitz, but he?ll still be selling Legal chowder.

In its toughest year, Christmas in the City shares gifts and joy with families facing homelessness
It is hard to imagine a more difficult year for the family that created the event and a more difficult environment in which to pull it off. ?We all need the magic of Christmas in the City more than ever."

New science reevaluates risks of indoor dining
Although few clusters have officially been traced to restaurants, research suggests inside eating is not necessarily a safe environment.

More than 1.3 million Georgians have voted in Senate runoffs, rivaling general election turnout
More than 1.3 million Georgians have voted in two Senate runoffs taking place next month ? a number that rivals the turnout at this point in the November election and points to intense enthusiasm in a pair of races that will determine control of Congress.

ON HOCKEY
When NHL resumes, it will have new divisions but old rivalries
With this season's realignment, one possible Stanley Cup scenario has Toronto taking on its nemesis, the Bruins.

Driver arrested after striking RI State Police cruiser
Officials said Alfredo Falcon-Benitez failed field sobriety tests after striking a cruiser that was stopped in the breakdown lane of Interstate 95 in Warwick. R.I.

Carbon monoxide leak sparks evacuation of 27 units downtown
Twenty-seven units in a downtown Boston apartment building were evacuated early Sunday morning after high levels of carbon monoxide were detected.

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

As COVID-19 surges, swabbers carry on ? and on ? and on ?

After more than nine months of COVID testing, an army of health care workers on the other side of those nasal swabs soldiers on.

State officials plan to ban lobster fishing for several months a year to help endangered right whales
The proposed restrictions, which could be devastating for hundreds of fixed-gear fishermen, would prevent commercial lobstermen from setting their traps between February and May, and potentially longer if whales remain offshore.

Can Boston become a ?winter city??
Here?s how a ?winter placemaking? plan could help communities and businesses get through the dark season ahead.

metro

In its toughest year, Christmas in the City shares gifts and joy with families facing homelessness
It is hard to imagine a more difficult year for the family that created the event and a more difficult environment in which to pull it off. ?We all need the magic of Christmas in the City more than ever."

Boston could see more snow, but little accumulation, on Sunday

Cohasset police investigate residential break-in

Sports

When NHL resumes, it will have new divisions but old rivalries
With this season's realignment, one possible Stanley Cup scenario has Toronto taking on its nemesis, the Bruins.

High school notebook

Local athletic directors now well-schooled in pandemic management

Jin Young Ko wins LPGA?s season-ending CME Group Championship

business

Congress seals agreement on $900 billion COVID relief bill
The agreement, announced by congressional leaders, would establish a temporary $300 per week supplemental jobless benefit and a $600 direct stimulus payment to most Americans, along with a new round of subsidies for hard-hit businesses and money for schools, health care providers, and renters facing eviction.

Here?s what?s in the new $900 billion stimulus package

More EU nations ban travel from UK, fearing virus variant

politics

Congress grasps for $900 billion stimulus deal as Fed dispute poses final hurdle
Congressional leaders hope to jam both spending packages through Congress and onto President Trump?s desk by the time funding lapses at midnight on Sunday.

Trump discussed naming campaign lawyer as special counsel

Providence City Councilor resigns from leadership over transgender remarks

lifestyle

COMFORT ZONE
Recording artist Wendy Eisenberg gains inspiration and insight through quarantine
After months of uncertainty and pain, Eisenberg offers new ways to think about what?s possible and how to live ethically.

HOLIDAYS

9 light displays for oohs and aahs by automobile

How is he so sure about me?

arts

COMFORT ZONE
Typically drawing massive crowds, the Allston-Brighton Winter Market has gone digital
Vendors are outlined on the market?s main site with links that redirect to their independent shops ? so 100 percent of proceeds go directly to the creators.

TELEVISION

?Suits? fits the need for a diverting pandemic binge

Watch: Kristen Wiig performs holiday ?SNL? monologue, reprises fan-favorite characters

rhode island

EDUCATION
What Rhode Island college and university leaders learned from COVID-19
To have a successful fall semester, schools worked together to battle positivity rates, misinformation, and skepticism.

CORONAVIRUS

Raimondo: Economic ?pause? lifted, but social gatherings should be limited - even on Christmas
RHODE MAP

A month-by-month look at COVID-19 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

HOLIDAYS

9 light displays for oohs and aahs by automobile

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

4 ways to safely celebrate the winter solstice

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

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

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
Scot Lehigh

Beware of authoritarianism and conspiratorialism, twin threats to our democracy
EDITORIAL

The system worked ? this time
Mark Erlich

Gig workers deserve employment protections
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

Alabama, Clemson, Ohio State, Notre Dame selected as CFP semifinalists

The Patriots have officially been dethroned, and it?s a changing of the guard in the AFC East

Two big breaks went the Patriots? way ? and it still wasn?t enough to beat the Dolphins

metro

Mass. COVID-19 numbers continue to climb as Moderna vaccine added to state pandemic arsenal

In its toughest year, Christmas in the City shares gifts and joy with families facing homelessness

Boston could see more snow, but little accumulation, on Sunday

Nation

Mass. reports 4,162 new confirmed coronavirus cases, 60 new deaths Sunday

Front-line essential workers and adults 75 and older should be next to get vaccines, CDC panel says

Lawmakers eye swift action on stimulus deal Sunday after resolving major impasse

World

Greece wants him in prison. Instead, he?s in the EU Parliament

US will close last two consulates in Russia

UK imposes harsher lockdown on London, citing new version of virus

politics

Trump discussed naming campaign lawyer as special counsel

Providence City Councilor resigns from leadership over transgender remarks

Pompeo says Russia was behind cyberattack on US

business

Congress seals agreement on $900 billion COVID relief bill

Here?s what?s in the new $900 billion stimulus package

More EU nations ban travel from UK, fearing virus variant

lifestyle

Recording artist Wendy Eisenberg gains inspiration and insight through quarantine

9 light displays for oohs and aahs by automobile

How is he so sure about me?

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

Philip Johnson?s glass-house mystique could use a shattering

Holding on to a rare autographed baseball

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

?Suits? fits the need for a diverting pandemic binge

Watch: Kristen Wiig performs holiday ?SNL? monologue, reprises fan-favorite characters

?SNL? brings in new Joe Biden, and Mike Pence gets a COVID-19 shot in opening sketch

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

This virtual ?Christmas Revels? is a virtual triumph

Six bright spots in dance this year

These theaters innovated amid a dramatic change of scene

globe local

Will the ?great conjunction? of Jupiter and Saturn even be viewable for us in New England?

Is this the beginning of the end for space savers?

Welcome Home offers curbside pickup for gently used housewares

Obituaries

Jean Graetz, white supporter of civil rights in Alabama, Dies at 90

Ralph K. Winter Jr., a top conservative judicial mind, dies at 85

Takashi Oka, journalist who interpreted Japan for US, dies at 96