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TRENDING:

After decades of study, state officials link drinking water contamination with elevated rates of childhood cancer in Wilmington

The state Department of Public Health on Wednesday released a report that “strongly suggested” a link between elevated rates of childhood cancer in Wilmington in the 1990s and prenatal exposure to contaminated water during that time.

State lets Boston and Worcester schools delay return to full-time classroom instruction

The waivers were among 64 approved since Tuesday. The decisions were welcomed by administrators and teachers unions, but some parents and elected officials cried foul as they saw yet another delay imposed on the children.
1,865 confirmed cases, 54 deaths, and 62,563 vaccinations reported in Mass. 441 cases of the British coronavirus variant detected in Mass.

AstraZeneca updates efficacy reports for COVID-19 vaccine after results are questioned

Duxbury football coach fired over team’s use of anti-Semitic terms in recent game

Dave Maimaron, who took over as head coach in 2005, did not coach in Duxbury's most recent game after Holocaust-related terms were used by his players on March 12.
Read Duxbury’s letter about the firing of football coach Dave Maimaron, ongoing investigation into anti-Semitic terms

Bucks 121, Celtics 119
Jaylen Brown (left) had 14 points in the first quarter for the Celtics.
Celtics’ rally not enough in loss to Bucks, and other observations
Boston lost for the fifth time in the last six games.

Gary Washburn: Today’s a day where Danny Ainge must act to better Celtics

Weather | Dave Epstein
Students study on Boston Common in the warm spring weather. Suzanne Kreiter/Globe Staff
A touch of early summer over the next few days
We're not done with the unusual warmth. It’s going to feel like early-summer Thursday as temperatures will reach the lower 70s in Boston, Worcester, and away from the immediate shore.

A dusting of snow coated a makeshift memorial at King Soopers supermarket in Boulder, Colo., on Wednesday,
KEVIN CULLEN

If 20 children killed in an elementary school didn’t change things, why would 10 dead adults in a supermarket?

The massacre at the King Soopers in Boulder is just more evidence of a gun culture soaked in blood and immune to change.
Baker supports federal assault weapons ban, would advocate Mass.-style gun laws to national GOP Cruz accuses Democrats of playing ‘political theater’ for proposing gun safety measures ‘every time there’s a shooting’ Boulder victims: A police officer, grocery workers, the son of refugees
YVONNE ABRAHAM

The deadly price of ‘freedom’

TD Garden president Amy Latimer expects 2,191 hockey fans to show up for Thursday's Bruins game.
With fans returning, ticketing and seating at Boston sports arenas is like ‘a jigsaw puzzle’
TD Garden reopens to fans Thursday, followed soon by Fenway and Gillette, and it all requires complicated logistics and the introduction of many safety protocols.

Bruce Cassidy says things moving in right direction as Bruins practice Wednesday night

Acting Mayor Kim Janey was sworn in on a family Bible held by her 6-year granddaughter Rosie while Chief Justice Kimberly Budd administered the oath at Boston City Hall on Wednesday. Budd is the first Black woman to serve as the chief justice of the state's Supreme Judicial Court. Janey is the first Black Bostonian and the first woman to serve as the city's mayor.
See photos of Kim Janey’s historic swearing-in ceremony
During the event, Kim Janey basked in the pride of her loved ones while promising to bring an urgency to her new job. As acting mayor she’ll face a number of challenges, some that existed long before the COVID-19 pandemic and some that have cropped up in the past year.

Kim Janey is sworn in as acting mayor of Boston

Marty Walsh sworn in as US Secretary of Labor next to his partner, Lorrie Higgins.
New labor secretary Walsh talks inequality, racism, and union power in first interview
Some 18 million people are unemployed. The Labor Department has been criticized for doing few workplace safety inspections during the pandemic. And income inequality and race-based disparities continue to worsen. New labor secretary Marty Walsh has his work cut out for him.

Mass. coronavirus at a glance |
Vaccinations
Daily doses:
Weekly doses:
1st dose received:
Fully vaccinated:
% of doses used:
7-day trend/avg.:
Cases and deaths
Cases
.
Deaths
.
Other resources:
SOURCE: Mass. Dept. of Public Health
Justin Herron was honored as a Good Samaritan this week by the Tempe police.

Patriots’ Justin Herron intervenes to stop sexual assault in Arizona park

Herron and a Phoenix resident broke up an attack on a 71-year-old woman and detained the suspect.
A group of migrants followed an official through a neighborhood to an intake area after turning themselves in upon crossing the US-Mexico border early Wednesday in Roma, Texas.

So much for a new day on immigration. President Biden grapples with children at the border

Once again, thousands of unaccompanied minors have come to the border, entangling the new Biden administration in a familiar debate over the nation’s broken immigration system.
Analysis: Southern border is Biden’s first political crisis as president ― whether he wants to admit it or not
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo spoke on Wednesday.

Cuomo’s family members were allegedly given special access to coronavirus testing

Governor Andrew Cuomo’s administration arranged special access to government-run coronavirus testing for members of his family and other influential people as the pandemic swept into New York last year, according to two people with direct knowledge of the matter.

appreciation | ty burr
George Segal (pictured in Los Angeles in 1997) died Tuesday at 87. Yes, the actor played banjo, too.
George Segal: a point man for his times
The actor, who died Tuesday, at 87, helped transform stardom in the ‘60s and ‘70s.

A boat navigated in front of a cargo ship on Wednesday after it became wedged across Egypt’s Suez Canal and blocked all traffic in the vital waterway.
Suez Canal blocked after giant container ship gets stuck
A vessel stretching more than 1,300 feet ran aground in the Suez Canal, leaving more than 100 ships blocked at each end of one of the world’s most vital shipping lanes.

Moncef Slaoui, the former head of GlaxoSmithKline's vaccine division.
Ex-Operation Warp Speed head to take leave of absence from professional roles following sexual harassment allegations
This includes Slaoui's post at Cambridge-based Centessa Pharmaceuticals where he was named chief scientific officer and adviser last month.

The Senate confirmed Rachel Levine to be assistant secretary of health on Wednesday.
A first: US Senate confirms transgender doctor for key post
Voting mostly along party lines, the Senate on Wednesday confirmed Rachel Levine to be the nation’s assistant secretary of health. She is the first openly transgender federal official to win Senate confirmation.

This 2017 picture shows North Korea's intercontinental ballistic missile being lauched at an undisclosed place in North Korea.
South Korea says North Korea fires 2 missiles into sea
South Korea said North Korea fired two unidentified projectiles into its eastern waters on Thursday as it revives its testing activity to expand its military capabilities and pressure the Biden administration while nuclear negotiations remain stalled.

Tim Peel has been an NHL official since 1999.
NHL fires referee who was caught saying he wanted to call a penalty on the Predators
Referee Tim Peel was heard on the television broadcast of Tuesday's Detroit-Nashville game.

Opinion

Mayoral candidate and City Councilor Andrea Campbell attended a rally against a rent increases at Grant Manor in Boston on March 13.
Joan Vennochi

A new day in Boston, and a new fight against racism

Is Boston ready to make history by electing a mayor of color whose agenda is a push for the kind of deep, systemic change needed to address the roots of racism?
Pre-K teacher Kristen Hovey reads to students at the Children's Village at the Mill in Lowell.
IDEAS | KELLY HORAN

Good listening boosts kids’ literacy? We’re all ears.

A 15-year-old participating in Moderna’s teen COVID-19 vaccine trial receives a shot in Houston on Feb. 5.
Zoe Campbell

Why I’m participating in Moderna’s teen COVID-19 vaccine trial
JEFF JACOBY

Does the GOP have a problem with the vaccine?
A Soviet poster from 1918 that urged women to work on cooperative farms.
IDEAS | Marcel Fafchamps

Was the Soviet Union an idea ahead of its time?

Announcing: The Emancipator

A collaboration between BU's Center for Antiracist Research and The Boston Globe's Opinion team.
Learn more Sign up for the newsletter, 'Unbound'

Recommended reads

Claudia Thompson of Malden is getting ready for the end of the coronavirus pandemic restrictions. After drinking a lot of tea during the shutdown, she has started whitening her teeth.
‘I’m not ready for prime time.’ Appearance anxiety is mounting as we emerge from our bubbles
Teeth are being whitened. Personal trainers are being retained. Wrinkles are being Botoxed. With the vaccine rollout accelerating, many people feel the race is on to prepare themselves for social life.

‘Surprise, here’s a pandemic’: For the second time, their birthdays fall during COVID

Sure, things are looking up — the weather’s improving, businesses are reopening, and more people are getting vaccinated by the day — but for the second straight year, many birthdays passed with hardly a hint of fanfare.
Globe Magazine

How a college dropout in New Hampshire found a Shakespeare secret all the PhDs missed

Dennis McCarthy, a self-taught scholar working from his dinner table, is challenging decades of scholarship on the origins of the Bard’s greatest work.

Spring fever is real. And it’s a mess

With the clocks moved forward an hour and daylight stretching past 12 hours, the annual phenomenon has arrived in full, fidgety force.

Chart: How much money will each Mass. town receive from the American Rescue Plan?

Massachusetts is set to receive more than $2 billion in direct aid. Where is that money going?

metro

Students study on Boston Common in the warm spring weather. Suzanne Kreiter/Globe Staff
Weather | Dave Epstein

A touch of early summer over the next few days

We're not done with the unusual warmth. It’s going to feel like early-summer Thursday as temperatures will reach the lower 70s in Boston, Worcester, and away from the immediate shore.

Baker supports federal assault weapons ban, would advocate Mass.-style gun laws to national GOP

After decades of study, state officials link drinking water contamination with elevated rates of childhood cancer in Wilmington

Sports

Mexico's Jose Esquivel, left, heads the ball challenged by United States' Djordje Mihailovic during Wednesday's action.

Mexico beats U.S. 1-0 in men’s Olympic soccer qualifying showdown

Uriel Antuna's 45th-minute goal lifted Mexico past the U.S.
Bucks 121, Celtics 119

Celtics’ rally not enough in loss to Bucks, and other observations

Bruce Cassidy says things moving in right direction as Bruins practice Wednesday night

business

Chrissy Teigen.

Chrissy Teigen deletes Twitter account, citing negativity

‘People shouldn’t be afraid of the word white privilege’: New labor secretary talks inequality, racism, and union power in first interview

AstraZeneca updates efficacy reports for COVID-19 vaccine after results are questioned

politics

President Joe Biden.

Biden to hold first news conference amid growing challenges

Biden taps Harris to lead response to border challenges
Analysis

The situation on the southern border is Biden’s first political crisis as president ― whether he wants to admit it or not

Living Arts

Gloria Steinem in her New York apartment

For her 87th birthday, Gloria Steinem opens her apartment to visitors, online
MOVIES

George Segal: a point man for his times
MURRAY WHYTE

At the MFA, new galleries bring visitors eye to eye with ancient Egypt

education

Boston schools will return to full-time in-person instruction for all K-8 students by April 26, and K-8 students in Worcester will return by May 3, according to letters sent by Riley.

State lets Boston and Worcester schools delay return to full-time classroom instruction

Watch live: Acting Boston mayor Kim Janey is sworn in

Government data show race, region disparities in school reopening

rhode island

A view over the Rhode Island State House
RI POLITICS

Will livestreaming of public meetings continue after the pandemic?
RI EDUCATION

URI says it does not support professor’s statements that ‘espouse anti-transgender perspectives’

RI HEALTH

Kitchen at Eleanor Slater Hospital shut down after fire marshal inspection finds unsafe conditions

Newton

video

Comfort Zone

COMFORT ZONE
Lily King's latest novel is "Writers & Lovers"
Lily King’s ‘Writers & Lovers’ will be adapted for film and directed by Toni Collette
The Mass.-native's best-selling novel, about an aspiring writer, is set in Boston

ART AUCTION
Before the auction begins, visitors will be able to attend free preview parties.
MassArt’s annual auction, virtual this year, supports student scholarships
Holding live and silent auctions virtually means no space constraints and the potential for much wider reach.

Gloria Steinem in her New York apartment
For her 87th birthday, Gloria Steinem opens her apartment to visitors, online
The virtual tour lets you see where the feminist icon has lived since 1966.

ARTS
Julie Weitz’s “Golem v. Golem” photo installation graces the façade of Beacon Hill's Vilna Shul Jewish center.
In Beacon Hill, the Golem rises as ‘a protector of all people’ for Passover
Julie Weitz’s “Golem v. Golem” photo installation graces the façade of Beacon Hill's Vilna Shul Jewish center.

The documentary follows the work of break dancer, skateboarder, and artist Bill Shannon over two decades.
‘Crutch’ star went straight from walking to moonwalking
The documentary follows the work of break dancer, skateboarder, and artist Bill Shannon over two decades.

Special Projects

The Globe launches Project Takeout, an effort to help restaurants make it to the other side of this pandemic.
PROJECT TAKEOUT | DEVRA FIRST

Project takeout: Get takeout. Save restaurants you love.

Ordering dinner will help small local businesses survive the pandemic. But that’s just the start.
See the full project

On the Street

A man repacked the food he got from a food pantry on Broadway in Chelsea. Chelsea has been one of the places in Greater Boston hardest hit by the pandemic.

In tackling the pandemic, Chelsea finds new strength
A mural on the side of the Mayor Bill Carpenter Garage in Brockton.

Brockton offers a gateway to a new generation
Evening light sets upon stores and restaurants on Hancock Street in Quincy Center.

This time, Quincy Center’s revival looks legit

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

More

Jeneé Osterheldt
A Beautiful Resistance
Black joy, Black lives, as celebrated by culture columnist Jeneé Osterheldt.

Boston Globe launches ‘Fresh Start’ initiative: People can apply to have past coverage about them reviewed
Similar to “right to forget” programs that have cropped up across the country, the undertaking is meant to address the lasting impact that stories about past embarrassments, mistakes, or minor crimes, forever online, can have on a person’s life.

Globe Spotlight Investigation
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.

Opinion, ideas, and commentary

Pre-K teacher Kristen Hovey reads to students at the Children's Village at the Mill in Lowell.
IDEAS | KELLY HORAN

Good listening boosts kids’ literacy? We’re all ears.

A Soviet poster from 1918 that urged women to work on cooperative farms.
IDEAS | Marcel Fafchamps

Was the Soviet Union an idea ahead of its time?
Boston City Council President Kim Janey will soon become Boston's acting mayor.
Kim Janey

Hello, Boston — it’s a new day for the city
Boston mayor Marty Walsh in 2017.
Martin J. Walsh

Goodbye and thank you, Boston
A police cruiser parked outside the Boulder Police Department was covered with bouquets in tribute to an officer, who was one of the victims of a mass shooting at a King Soopers grocery store in Boulder, Colo. on Monday.
EDITORIAL

A new window for gun reform
IDEAS | LINDA RODRIGUEZ MCROBBIE

Just what is the BettyLab cooking up for girls?

STAT

Road ahead illo
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.

Ahoskie Mayor Weyling White, left, and Hertford County Magistrate Deborah Morrison, right, pose for a portrait on railroad tracks that divide the predominantly White and predominantly Black parts of town in Ahoskie, N.C., Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2020. (Photo © Landon Bost 2020)
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.

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - FEBRUARY 12: People walk through the snow and sleet in Manhattan on February 12, 2019 in New York City. New York City, in a winter that has been light on snow this season, is expected to receive two inches of snow before the storm moves later this evening. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
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.

Boston, MA -- 06/04/2020 -- Yoldana Desir displays a photograph of her late sister, Marie Deus, who died of Covid-19, after contracting it as a food service worker at Brigham and Women's Hospital, in Boston, Massachusetts. (Kayana Szymczak for STAT)
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
An illustration of William Shakespeare peeking through writing quills.
On the cover

How a college dropout in New Hampshire found a Shakespeare secret all the PhDs missed
Stacey Kokaram, the clinic manager for a vaccination site at the Reggie Lewis center, checks on the booths where the shots are given.
Globe Magazine

Inside the effort to build trust in COVID vaccines
Jennifer and Manuel on their Zoom blind date.
Dinner with Cupid

Blind date: ‘I told him to ignore any weird snoring cause my dog was sleeping’
Saxophonist Tim Hall gives a free online performance on Sunday.
Your Week Ahead

Five things to do online, March 22-28

sports

Giovanni "Gio" Taboh, a 17-year-old Natick High junior, died on March 6, when the Jeep Wrangler he was in collided with a Toyota Corolla on I-93 in Canton and rolled over.

Natick and Milton reschedule football game to allow community to mourn ‘Gio’ Taboh

Wednesday’s Red Sox spring training report: Nate Eovaldi shuts down Orioles

Today’s a day where Danny Ainge must act to better Celtics

metro

Acting Mayor Kim Janey was sworn in on a family Bible held by her 6-year granddaughter Rosie while Chief Justice Kimberly Budd administered the oath at Boston City Hall on Wednesday. Budd is the first Black woman to serve as the chief justice of the state's Supreme Judicial Court. Janey is the first Black Bostonian and the first woman to serve as the city's mayor.

See photos of Kim Janey’s historic swearing-in ceremony

Will livestreaming of public meetings continue after the pandemic?

URI says it does not support professor’s statements that ‘espouse anti-transgender perspectives’

Nation

President Joe Biden.

Biden to hold first news conference amid growing challenges

Arizona town calls state of emergency over migrant arrivals

So much for a new day on immigration. President Biden grapples with children at the border

World

This 2017 picture shows North Korea's intercontinental ballistic missile being lauched at an undisclosed place in North Korea.

South Korea says North Korea fires 2 missiles into sea

After 4th vote in 2 years, Israelis wonder: When will the political morass end?

US, Europe, NATO close ranks to counter ‘aggressive’ China

politics

President Joe Biden.

Democrats vow vote on gun bills; Biden says ‘we have to act’

Cruz accuses Democrats of playing ‘political theater’ for proposing gun safety measures ‘every time there’s a shooting’

Democrats refuse to back nominees until Biden taps more Asian Americans

business

Baker administration hires McKinsey to study work post-pandemic

Pandemic prompts region’s travel tech firms to pivot

Ex-Operation Warp Speed head to take leave of absence from professional roles following sexual harassment allegations

lifestyle

The top of the Flyer Express Quad at Jay.

Jay Peak, a mountain with soul

Solve real-life problems at the Museum of Science, get married in a hot-air balloon, and read about women explorers

Help! Lufthansa canceled our tickets but kept our money

marijuana

Five White House staffers have been fired because of their past use of drugs, including marijuana.

Five will exit White House over past use of marijuana

Marijuana-infused ice cream is coming to a dispensary near you, just in time for summer

A green wave? Mexico’s marijuana market may be middling

opinion

Mayoral candidate and City Councilor Andrea Campbell attended a rally against a rent increases at Grant Manor in Boston on March 13.

A new day in Boston, and a new fight against racism

America’s gun control argument

Good listening boosts kids’ literacy? We’re all ears.

food & dining

Asia Mei, owner of Moonshine 152 in South Boston.

Boston has a long tradition of Asian women chefs and restaurateurs. Here are eight standout businesses to support

Recipe: A juicy braised chicken with crispy skin is a festive Seder dish or a mid-week Passover dinner

From Bundt to bunnies

travel

A rendering of the pool bar at the Omni Boston Hotel at the Seaport.

Arriving this summer in the Seaport: an Omni hotel with an outdoor pool deck, a posh sports bar, and loft-like rooms

Jay Peak, a mountain with soul

Solve real-life problems at the Museum of Science, get married in a hot-air balloon, and read about women explorers

Books

Lily King's latest novel is "Writers & Lovers"

Lily King’s ‘Writers & Lovers’ will be adapted for film and directed by Toni Collette

From Bowie to Beyoncé, Berklee authors look at musicians as models of innovation

Recalling a medium’s first ladies in ‘When Women Invented Television’

Movies

George Segal (pictured in Los Angeles in 1997) died Tuesday at 87. Yes, the actor played banjo, too.

George Segal: a point man for his times

‘The Human Voice’: an Almodóvar marvel, short on length, long on everything else

Together again, still not getting along, in ‘Godzilla vs. Kong’

Television

Although Alan Arkin, left, will not return for the final season of "The Kominsky Method," Michael Douglas will have several familiar faces around him.

Arkin’s gone, but ‘Kominsky Method’ still has a lot going for it

Wit and heart are well represented in ‘Call My Agent!’

With vast streaming libraries, what’s old is new again

music

Lauren Weintraub moved from Sudbury to Nashville to pursue a career as a singer-songwriter.

Sudbury singer-songwriter Lauren Weintraub on her Nashville dreams and the ‘random thing’ that got everyone’s attention

Strike up the band! Live music will return to Tanglewood this summer

The era of genius worship must end with James Levine

Theater/Dance

Jonathan Katz

‘Dr. Katz’ returns for some comedic therapy on Zoom

‘Crutch’ star went straight from walking to moonwalking

‘The Conjurors’ Club’ is not quite magical enough

globe local

Should Massachusetts school districts eliminate February vacation?

Spring rains jumpstart breeding season for spotted salamanders

Police are called when customers misbehave

Obituaries

Mr. Segal was nominated for an Oscar for "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?''

George Segal, durable veteran of drama and TV comedy, dies at 87

Charley Hill, art detective who found ‘The Scream’ and studied the Gardner heist, dies at 73

George Bass, archaeologist of the ocean floor, dies at 88