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Will Boston’s proof-of-vaccination order work without a verification system?

In Mayor Michelle Wu’s next move to get more Bostonians vaccinated, she’s calling on local servers, bartenders, gym owners, and concert venue staff to prohibit the unvaccinated from entering their establishments.
Baker deploys National Guard to help stressed hospitals and advises residents to wear masks indoors

EMT's arrived on Atkinson Street near the intersection known as Mass. and Cass in Boston in September.
Crime reports paint a picture of violence radiating through Mass. and Cass
Mass. and Cass has been the scene of a disturbing level of violence, with six killings, more than a dozen rapes and attempted rapes, numerous assaults and stabbings, and two dozen unattended deaths in the past year.

Harvard professor found guilty of lying about financial ties to Chinese university

Charles Lieber showed no emotion as the jury announced its verdict after deliberating for 2 hours and 45 minutes following five days of testimony in federal court in Boston.

Chuck Hunt and his wife Jane Swift in 2001. Library Tag 08172001 Metro
Chuck Hunt, state’s first ‘first husband,’ dies at 67
Chuck Hunt, who made history as the state’s first “first husband” when his wife, Jane Swift, became acting governor, died Tuesday in hospice care in his Williamstown home, on land that had been in his family for more than a century.

Mass. coronavirus at a glance
Vaccinations
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Trend:
1+ dose received:
Fully vaccinated:
Cases and deaths
Total cases:
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Total deaths:
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Other resources:
Last updated: . NOTE: Mass DPH releases data Monday-Friday starting July 2021. Mass. population of 6,892,503 is used to calculate vaccination percentages. SOURCE: Mass. Dept. of Public Health
People and police officers gathered along Route 107 in Saugus where a body was found in a marsh Tuesday afternoon.

Body found in Saugus marsh is that of missing Woburn woman, officials say

Sherell Pringle, 40, was reported missing hours after she was last seen with her boyfriend, authorities said. Her cellphone was found in a sewer drain in Lynn Monday.
Shaun Jenkins is seen with his attorney Lisa M. Kavanaugh, director of the Innocence Project.
ADRIAN WALKER

Shaun Jenkins won a new trial on his murder conviction. That trial shouldn’t happen

Shaun Jenkins was released from prison last fall after serving 19 years for a murder he maintains he did not commit, the killing of his cousin, Stephen Jenkins.
City Clerk Samantha Burnett is seen in a recording of the East Providence City Council Meeting on March 3, 2020, in East Providence, R.I.

East Providence councilman says ex-clerk went on ‘irrational, slanderous tirade’ against him

The former city clerk, Samantha Burnett, who is running for City Council herself, countered Councilman Bob Rodericks’s comments with another post on her campaign’s Facebook page.
Opinion
Joe Manchin updates reporters at the Capitol, in Washington, on Sept. 30, 2021.
EDITORIAL

Debunking Manchin’s anti-Build Back Better myths

The bill would help everyone from families with children to coal miners to car manufacturers and small businesses.
A voter submits their ballot on the first day of early voting in the New York City primary election on June 12, 2021.
JEFF JACOBY

Voting is for citizens
Honduras's president-elect, Xiomara Castro.
IDEAS | STEPHEN KINZER

The politics of immigration makes the US sing a new tune in Central America
Crowds fill Copley Square during the First Night celebration in Boston, Dec. 31, 2016.
RENÉE GRAHAM

COVID-19 is surging. Cancel First Night Boston.
California Governor Gavin Newsom has broached a gun-control initiative that borrows strategy from Texas' recent controversial abortion ban.
Laurence H. Tribe, Jonathan M. Metzl, and David Hogg

Democrats should apply Supreme Court’s abortion decision to firearms
Choreographer Ebony Williams has created moves for Beyoncé, Doja Cat, Alicia Keys, "In The Heights," and more.
A Beautiful Resistance | Jeneé Osterheldt

Finding freedom in the rhythm of dance

Black choreographers and dancers use movement to move us forward. They use dance to tell stories, evoke memories, and unite us.
Follow @abeautifulresistance on Instagram Explore more from A Beautiful Resistance

More recent stories

Santa Claus and Mrs. Claus ride on top of a Boston Fire truck to deliver presents to patients at the Shriners Hospitals for Children on Tuesday. The Clauses were accompanied by a group of local firefighters who volunteer to help burn victims and their families.
Santa, Mrs. Claus visit Shriners Hospital for Children — from atop a Boston fire truck ladder
The little hands and faces began pressing against the glass windows on the sixth-floor burn unit at the first sound of the firetruck on Tuesday afternoon.

Norfolk DA probing signature fraud on business-backed ballot measures including Uber/Lyft referendum

The office is investigating the possibility of fraud in the collection of signatures for four business-backed ballot questions, including two being pushed by Uber and Lyft to allow their drivers to be classified as independent contractors.

Daniela Torres an employee at the Wellesley Toy Shop cleans some store front windows.
‘We have stock’: Smaller stores aim for last-minute shoppers
After a wearying nearly two years of the pandemic, independent retailers are cautiously hoping their holiday seasons will be bright, despite the challenges this year ranging from supply chain snags to shortages of hot holiday items.

Man arraigned for murder of estranged wife in Chelsea

Mario Alberto Mira Lopera, 48, was ordered held without bail Tuesday at his arraignment via Zoom from his hospital bed at Massachusetts General Hospital, where he was taken following the Dec. 11 stabbing death of 47-year-old Paula Andrea Ortiz Ramirez, the Suffolk district attorney's office said.

A rare Steller’s sea eagle was spotted along the Taunton River. It's the first documented sighting of the species — which is native to Asia — in Massachusetts.
‘We’ve never had one here’: A rare Steller’s sea eagle, native to Asia, has been hanging out around the Taunton River
The baffling arrival of the eagle marked a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for birders to try to catch a glimpse of the large eagle, which is thousands of miles from home.

sports media
NESN will no longer be carried on DISH TV.
DISH TV drops NESN from programming roster after failed negotiations
“We have offered multiple solutions to keep NESN on DISH TV while providing the best value to all our customers,” the company said in a blunt statement.

Best of the holidays

People under the holiday lights on Boston Common.

9 places around Boston where you can get into the holiday spirit (for free)

Every holiday season comes with a gamut of things to do and gifts to buy, and it can take a toll on the old wallet. That got us thinking about some activities in and around the city where you can revel in the holiday spirit for free.
Boston is dressed in its wintery best. Here’s where to see Christmas trees, menorahs, and other decorations 20 family-friendly events to put you in the holiday spirit
Globe Santa

When bad becomes worse, Globe Santa is there to help

Globe Santa will deliver gifts to more than 17,000 others across Greater Boston, just as he’s done since 1956.

LEARN MORE ABOUT GLOBE SANTA

 Read the latest stories Make a donation. Make a difference.

Recommended reads

PERSPECTIVE

We’re all feeling fine. We really are. Except we’re not.

Despite false optimism on social media, novelist Chris Bohjalian writes, many of us continue to struggle as the pandemic barrels toward its two-year anniversary. But being open with yourself and others can help.

On Sept. 26, an ascending escalator full of people at Back Bay Station hurtled downward for around 10 seconds, throwing people to the ground and causing at least a dozen to pile on top of each other at the bottom, a video of the incident obtained by the Globe through a public records request shows.
This video shows people tumbling down a malfunctioning MBTA escalator. It wasn’t the first time that happened.
After the September incident at Back Bay Station, a Globe review of court documents and news archives found three nearly identical incidents since the mid-1990s, and a fourth alleged in a lawsuit, in which ascending MBTA escalators have suddenly stopped and accelerated backward, injuring dozens of people.

Two lines were set up for COVID testing and COVID vaccination at Tufts Medical Center Boston last week.
Where (and how) to get a COVID-19 test in Mass.
With COVID-19 cases surging and holiday travel in full swing, it seems as if everyone is on the hunt for COVID tests. Here’s how to get one.

Travelers at San Francisco International Airport San Francisco, Calif., on Nov. 24.
Traveling for the holidays? Here’s a guide to restrictions and recommendations amid COVID-19
For anyone with holiday travel plans, here’s a primer on domestic and international travel guidelines, and a few recommendations from public health experts on how to keep yourself and your family members safe.

video

Culture & Lifestyle

"The Virgin and Child with a Flower on a grassy Bench."

A drawing sold for $30 at a Concord estate sale. It is believed to be an original Dürer worth $50 million
Nicole Kidman, as Lucille Ball, and Javier Bardem, as Desi Arnaz, in "Being the Ricardos."
MOVIE REVIEW | ★★★

‘Being the Ricardos’ brings love, marriage, and feminine mystique to the big screen
Quiche With Mushrooms, Bacon, and Gruyère
Cooking | Magazine

Recipes: A make-ahead New Year’s brunch menu featuring quiche
Echo Kirke-Sofer dances the role of Clarice in one of the show's two casts this year.
DANCE

Tony Williams’s ‘Urban Nutcracker’ is still fresh, still fun

Special Projects

An older lobsterman passed by Tanner Lazaro as he hauled up his traps in his boat, Used N Abused, on Aug. 24. During the summer Tanner hauled his own traps on whatever days his mentor Frankie Thompson or another lobsterman didn't need his help.

The lobster trap

The plentiful catch that brought wealth to fishing families is at risk, as climate change warms the Gulf of Maine. A way of life is on the line, but lobstermen can't, or won't, imagine another.

The 2021 Top Places to Work in Massachusetts

Is your employer among the 150 companies to make the list?
Jeneé Osterheldt

A Beautiful Resistance

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

‘On the Street’: The changing face of Greater Boston neighborhoods

The changing face of Greater Boston neighborhoods.

Opinion, ideas, and commentary

Meryl Streep in "Don't Look Up."
Michael E. Mann

Global destruction isn’t funny, but when it comes to the climate crisis, it might have to be
IDEAS | JOE BLAIR

All I want for Christmas, under a sunset sky
Laura Levis died outside CHA Somerville Hospital in 2016.
Peter DeMarco

For Laura’s Law to succeed, DPH must heed our advice
Marine One, with President Joe Biden aboard, departs the White House in Washington, on Friday, Dec. 17, 2021.
Joan Vennochi

Besides Manchin, who killed Build Back Better? Biden and the Democrats
Boston Mayor Michelle Wu holds a press conference in City Hal to discuss the city’s response to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic on Dec. 21.
EDITORIAL

City’s vaccine mandate a path back to normal
IDEAS | ABDALLAH FAYYAD

Editing the Constitution

Metro

Coronavirus Live Updates

Biden to send millions of free COVID-19 tests, dispatch military to hospitals as Omicron surges

The latest news and guidance on the state of the COVID-19 pandemic in New England and beyond.
SUNDAY'S CHILD

Siblings hope to join a family together

Sunday’s Child is a weekly column featuring a child or children currently in foster care awaiting adoption.

Santa, Mrs. Claus visit Shriners Hospital for Children — from atop a Boston fire truck ladder

The little hands and faces began pressing against the glass windows on the sixth-floor burn unit at the first sound of the firetruck on Tuesday afternoon.
Framingham

Framingham mayor-elect names new city finance, operating officers

Framingham Mayor-elect Charlie Sisitsky has announced appointments for the city’s chief financial and operating officers in his incoming administration.

Sports

Shim Suk-hee.

South Korean Olympic champion suspended over text messages

Two-time Olympic short-track champion Shim Suk-hee has been suspended for two months over her text messages that authorities say “marred the dignity of athletes,” a decision that could bar her from attending the Beijing Winter Olympics.
The Patriots signed Garrett Gilbert to the practice squad after training camp.
nfl

Last week, he was on the Patriots’ practice squad. Tuesday night, he started for Washington

“I think it’s next, next, next man up,” Gilbert said Friday, hours after he was signed.
Jalen Hurts (right) scored two TDs to set the season franchise record for rushing touchdowns by a quarterback with 10.
NFL: Eagles 27, Washington 17

Jalen Hurts has three TDs, Eagles come back to beat Washington

In his first game back from an ankle injury, Hurts scored on a pair of 1-yard QB sneaks.
TUESDAY'S BOYS' BASKETBALL ROUNDUP

No. 4 Andover boys’ basketball rises to occasion, knocks off No. 3 Central Catholic
NFL: Rams 20, Seahawks 10

Cooper Kupp’s two TD catches carry Rams past Seahawks
NBA

NBA has ‘no plans’ to pause season, commissioner Adam Silver says

Business

‘We have stock’: Smaller stores aim for last-minute shoppers

After a wearying nearly two years of the pandemic, independent retailers are cautiously hoping their holiday seasons will be bright, despite the challenges this year ranging from supply chain snags to shortages of hot holiday items.

Japanese officials beg public to drink more milk as glut worsens

“We’d like the population to cooperate in drinking an extra cup of milk than you’d normally do and make use of milk products when cooking,” Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said at a news conference on Tuesday that marked the end of a parliamentary session.
TALKING POINTS

Custodians at Harvard agree to 15.25% pay raise

Will Boston’s proof-of-vaccination order work without a verification system?

STAT

Dr. Monica McLemore, Associate Professor in the Family Health Care Nursing Department at UCSF, stands for a portrait at the Frank H. Ogawa Plaza on Friday, September 10th, 2021 in Oakland, Calif.
‘Health equity tourists’: How white scholars are colonizing research on health disparities
A STAT investigation shows that researchers with little or no background or training in health equity research are rushing in to scoop up grants and publish papers.

Covid winter illustration
Winter is coming, again: What to expect from Covid-19 as the season looms
STAT spoke with infectious disease experts and others about what to expect from Covid-19 as the seasons change.

Funeral goers sing during a service for Daisy Pace at New Bethel Missionary Baptist Church in January 2021.
DISTANCED: Pandemic stories of Black life in the rural South
Photographer Bethany Mollenkof spent six months documenting the impact of Covid-19 on residents of rural Black communities in the South.

Boston, MA -- 05/12/21 -- Dr. Matthew Carty examines patient Jerry Majethic at Brigham and Women's Faulkner Hospital on May 12, 2021, in Boston, Massachusetts. (Kayana Szymczak for STAT)
Groundbreaking arm amputation surgery makes a ‘phantom’ hand seem real
The procedure aims to restore proprioception, the ability to sense where our limbs are in space and how fast and forcefully they’re moving.

magazine
Immunlologist Kizzmekia Corbett and Boston's new mayor, Michelle Wu, on the cover of the Globe Magazine's 2021 Bostonians of the Year issue.
2021

Meet this year's Bostonians of the Year
Devin McCourty and Ruben DaSilva.
PERSPECTIVE

Devin McCourty and Tito SantosSilva on ending gang violence now

MISS CONDUCT

I'm heading to QAnon country for Christmas. How do I stay cool?

Salted Peanut and Caramel Tart.
Cooking

3 holiday tarts made with dough that doesn't need to be rolled

metro

Members of Boston’s Local 589, which represents 6,000 transit employees, donated $2,000 worth of toys for children and families in need in the Greater Boston area.

MBTA Transit Union employees donate $2,000 worth of toys to children in need

East Providence councilman says ex-clerk went on ‘irrational, slanderous tirade’ against him

Harvard professor found guilty of lying about financial ties to Chinese university

sports

DeMarr Langford, seen shooting against Notre Dame in early December, is averaging 12.1 points per game to lead Boston College in scoring.

Wednesday’s Boston College men’s basketball game at Wake Forest canceled with Eagles in virus protocols

Bills place vaccine critic Cole Beasley on reserve/COVID-19 list; Chiefs add Tyreek Hill, others to growing coronavirus problem

COVID-19 sports updates: Bills’ Cole Beasley lands on COVID-IR ahead of Patriots game

business

Senator Richard Blumenthal, a Connecticut Democrat, sent a letter to Google and Bing asking the companies to fully remove the suicide site from their search results, something neither search engine was willing to do.

Lawmakers urge tech companies to ‘mitigate harm’ of suicide website

Hospitals pushed to financial ruin as nurses quit en masse

Super-luxury home sales surge across America

politics

Attorney General Merrick Garland spoke during an event at the US Department of Justice in Washington on Dec. 15, 2021.

DOJ says inmates on home confinement can stay out of prison

Representative Scott Perry denies Jan. 6 panel’s request for interview

Biden to send millions of free COVID-19 tests, dispatch military to hospitals as experts worry about time already lost

Nation

A health worker conducts a PCR test at the St Vincent's Bondi Beach COVID-19 drive through testing clinic on December 22, 2021 in Sydney, as the number of COVID-19 cases keeps on the rise across the New South Wales state ahead of the Christmas festivities.

Biden to send millions of free COVID-19 tests, dispatch military to hospitals as Omicron surges

South Africa’s case drop may show Omicron peak has passed

As COVID fueled the drug crisis, Native Americans hit worst

World

People lined up to be tested for the coronavirus in Xi'an, in China's northern Shaanxi province on Dec. 21, 2021, after the detection of more than 40 new cases raised concerns of wider transmission ahead of a busy travel season.

One person caught the coronavirus. China locked down 200,000 of their neighbors.

Plans move forward for 2022 pope, Russian patriarch meeting

Germany moves to scrap ban on ‘advertising’ abortions

opinion

All I want for Christmas, under a sunset sky

City’s vaccine mandate a path back to normal

As some rethink Supreme Court, 9 is not so magic a number

lifestyle

Salt + Shimmer Artistry serving boards crafted with designs made with resin that evoke a ripple of waves washing ashore.

Serving boards with touches of shimmer and the sea

Creamy Tomato Basil Sauce that’s as healthy as it is delicious

Cheese spreads for the season . . . and beyond

food & dining

Salt + Shimmer Artistry serving boards crafted with designs made with resin that evoke a ripple of waves washing ashore.

Serving boards with touches of shimmer and the sea

Creamy Tomato Basil Sauce that’s as healthy as it is delicious

Cheese spreads for the season . . . and beyond

travel

People pause to look at Norwegian Cruise Line's ship, Norwegian Breakaway, on the Hudson River, in New York, on May 8, 2013.

On cruise ships, Omicron puts safety protocols to the test

Uber charged me for a ride I never took. Can I get a refund?

Our stealth reviews of Boston’s new and newly-renovated hotels finds some hits — and a miss

Arts

A nighttime view of the "Ledelle Moe: When" at Mass MoCA.

7 museum moments that stick

At Mass MoCA, ceramic art proves its power

Jorge R. Pombo’s ‘Variations on Sargent’s Daughters’ is a dark and dizzying portrait of the times

Books

Louise Penny's "The Madness of Crowds"

Escapist reads for long winter nights

Barack Obama shares his favorite books of 2021

Reconsidering opera in ‘The Impossible Art: Adventures in Opera’

Movies

Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss in "The Matrix Resurrections."

‘The Matrix Resurrections’: Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss return for a fourth franchise go-around

Denzel Washington is magnificent in Joel Coen’s ‘The Tragedy of Macbeth’

Before there was a ‘Kingsman,’ there was ‘The King’s Man’

Television

Nicole Kidman (left) and Samara Weaving in a scene from Hulu's "Nine Perfect Strangers."

‘Nine Perfect Strangers’ was imperfect but entertaining

Sam Waterston to reprise his role as Jack McCoy in revival of ‘Law & Order’

Netflix’s ‘Maid’ shines a light on struggles of low-wage workers

music

Composer Yaz Lancaster, whose piece "our streets" received its world premiere from A Far Cry on Saturday.

A Far Cry makes space for complex grief with ‘Flames to Ashes’

On Christmas Eve, Eric Jackson plans a cool Yule while Oedipus unwraps some radio rarities

Billy Conway, celebrated Boston drummer of Treat Her Right and Morphine, dies at 65

Theater/Dance

YDE (left) and Idina Menzel in "WILD: A Musical Becoming." The musical had been scheduled to run until Jan. 2, but a COVID outbreak among cast and crew forced American Repertory Theater to cancel its remaining shows.

‘WILD,’ ‘Slutcracker’ canceled as COVID outbreak takes hold

Tony Williams’s ‘Urban Nutcracker’ is still fresh, still fun

An awe-inspiring ‘Nutcracker’ offers surprise after surprise

globe local

Framingham Mayor-elect Charlie Sisitsky.

Framingham mayor-elect names new city finance, operating officers

Harvard professor found guilty of lying about financial ties to Chinese university

Departing Somerville Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone’s farewell address switched to online

Obituaries

Chuck Hunt and his wife Jane Swift in 2001. Library Tag 08172001 Metro

Chuck Hunt, state’s first ‘first husband,’ dies at 67

Shirley McBay, who created a template for addressing racial inequities in education, dies at 86

Dr. bell hooks, groundbreaking feminist thinker, dies at 69