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TRENDING:

For Wu, Cassellius departure is a challenge and an opportunity

The departure of Brenda Cassellius as superintendent of Boston Public Schools comes as Mayor Michelle Wu hunts for a new commissioner of the police department, leaving her administration to hire two of the city’s most important leaders simultaneously.
A timeline of key events in Superintendent Cassellius’ time at BPS
THE GREAT DIVIDE

Boston Public Schools Superintendent Brenda Cassellius announces departure

Cassellius’ future had been the topic of widespread speculation since former mayor Martin Walsh departed for the Biden administration a year ago.
Beijing Winter Olympics

Why American-born — and now Olympic gold medalist — Eileen Gu is competing for China
Ailing Eileen Gu was born in San Francisco but is representing Team China at the 2022 Winter Games.

Leslie Jones free to post Olympics after 3rd-party error resolved Today's Olympics schedule Complete Olympics coverage

Vermont’s Ryan Cochran-Siegle wins silver in Olympic men’s super-G

The 29-year-old from Starksboro, Vt., finished 0.04 seconds behind Austrian Matthias Mayer, who successfully defended the gold medal he won in PyeongChang four years ago.

American star Nathan Chen sets world record in short program at Olympics

Nathan Chen shattered the world record during his short program at the Beijing Olympics, scoring 113.97 points to beat the previous mark of longtime rival Yuzuru Hanyu and put himself in position to win his long-sought gold medal.

COVID spurred bike lane construction. Will the Boston area keep up the momentum?

As bike lanes proliferate, there’s been backlash from some business owners and drivers who say that the changes, made for a minority of commuters, have been too sweeping and swift.
COVID-19: THE LATEST

Worcester lifts citywide mask mandate

Missing personal care attendant payments strain an already taxed workforce
Thousands of personal care attendants in Mass. saw delays in getting paid, highlighting the difficulties that this vital but vulnerable labor segment faces.

Top Biden science adviser Eric Lander resigns following rebuke over treatment of staff

President Biden’s top science adviser Dr. Eric Lander resigned Monday, hours after the White House confirmed that an internal investigation found credible evidence that he mistreated his staff. Lander was previously the president and founding director of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard.
KEVIN CULLEN

You get more allies with honey than vinegar

The rabble that regularly assembles outside Mayor Wu’s house in Roslindale, exercising their First Amendment right to be obnoxious, has done nothing to advance their argument that they should not be fired for refusing to be vaccinated against COVID.

About that friend request from a name you don’t quite recognize . . .

The state’s highest court ruled Monday that a Snapchat story recorded by a Boston police officer who friended a suspect using a pseudonym — and then used the clip to charge him in an illegal gun case — did not violate the privacy rights of the man who posted the video.

Is Tom Brady leaving the door open for a possible return? ‘You never say never,’ he said on his podcast

Brady said he felt “very good” about his decision, but also added he isn’t sure how he’ll feel about things “six months from now.”
Opinion
EDITORIAL

After Cassellius, BPS needs rapid improvement

It’s vital the next superintendent be someone in whom Mayor Wu is willing to place her trust and stand beside when times get tough — as they inevitably will.
Paul Farmer, Sheila Davis, and Ophelia Dahl

The white nationalist threat to antiracist medicine in Boston

Joan Vennochi

Corey Lewandowski was fired by Trump. Now, he’s advising Geoff Diehl’s campaign.

MARCELA GARCÍA

A butterfly sanctuary and the real-life implications of the far right’s web of lies

Colette A.M. Phillips

What Whoopi Goldberg misunderstood about racism and the Holocaust

Mass. coronavirus at a glance | on
Total
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Doses Administered
Boosters Administered
 
Fully Vaccinated:
Percent of population:
Cases and deaths
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Total cases:
Total deaths:
Other resources:
NOTE: Mass DPH releases data Monday-Friday. Fully vaccinated means Mass. residents with 2 doses of Moderna/Pfizer vaccine or a dose of J&J. Boosters include Pfizer or Moderna. Mass. population of 6,892,503 is used to calculate vaccination percentages. SOURCE: Mass. Dept. of Public Health
Project Takeout

3 places we supported this week

Want to order from local, independent restaurants? Here are some suggestions from Globe staff.
Browse a map of reader-recommended takeout spots Explore the full project

More recent stories

How to watch the Oscar nominations 2022: date, time, and streaming
Predicting this year’s Oscar nominations feels a bit like groping your way through a cave in the dark, as opposed to the usual brightly illuminated path lined with winners of precursor awards.

After two decades at HUD, the Rev. Miniard Culpepper retires
The Rev. Miniard Culpepper, senior pastor at Pleasant Hill Missionary Baptist Church in Dorchester, is retiring as a regional counsel HUD.

Two biotechs sign leases at Waltham development off Route 128
Seqirus and ElevateBio BaseCamp will join software company Pegasystems at 225 Wyman St. this spring.

Data find ‘no support for patterns of racial disparity’ in traffic stops, state says

A 10-month study of traffic stops in Massachusetts found no evidence of racial disparity in which drivers police pulled over but determined that non-white drivers were more likely to be subjected to searches and had a higher chance of receiving a criminal citation than white drivers, according to a new report.

Biden taps new director for EPA in New England

After more than a year without a permanent director of the Environmental Protection Agency in New England, President Biden on Monday appointed David Cash, former commissioner of the state Department of Environmental Protection, as regional administrator.

Police investigate more hateful graffiti at Danvers school

Police and school authorities are investigating the vandalism, which comes after a swastika was found in a Danvers High School bathroom in December and homophobic graffiti was discovered at a softball field on Pickering Street that same month.

Recommended reads

Coyotes are seemingly everywhere these days. And there aren’t many hunters standing in their way.

In 1996, voters outlawed the traps that were the chief method of coyote control. Now, with the population burgeoning in Massachusetts, hunters are asking for new tools.

In less than a decade, nearly every state has outlawed ‘revenge porn.’ So why hasn’t Massachusetts?
Nonconsensual pornography, or “revenge porn,” has proliferated with smart devices and social media, sparking legislators in 48 states to make it illegal. Governor Charlie Baker is prodding lawmakers here to finally act.

‘I still refuse to call a milkshake a frappe’: Newcomers share what baffles them about Boston
How is it that a place so progressive also houses rotaries that spin in endless circles of doom? How can a bastion of logic like MIT be in a region that has highways that go in two different directions — at the same time? Bostonians are used to these contradictions. Now it’s the interlopers’ turn to weigh in.

For years, Harmony Montgomery’s mother rang the alarm about her missing daughter. Few listened.
“I just can’t sit by the phone and hope,” says Crystal Sorey, whose daughter has been missing since 2019. “Not as a mother.”

video

Culture & Lifestyle

Singer-songwriter Lauren Hashian is living her middle school dream

13 offbeat ways to celebrate Valentine’s Day — no date required

HASTY PUDDING

Warmest welcome for Jennifer Garner, Hasty Pudding’s Woman of the Year, on frigid parade day

BOOK REVIEW

A cold that bites in Sarah Manguso’s ‘Very Cold People’

Special Projects

Into the Red: How the Globe will cover climate change

To report on the most pressing issue of our time, the Globe’s climate team is expanding and rethinking its coverage.

Under the wheel

This is the story of Anthony Pledger and his mother, of Anthony’s lives and deaths, of Anthony and me.
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

Silvana Gómez

Affirmative action doesn’t give people like me an unfair advantage

Ilya Somin

Court should reject the flawed diversity theory

Viet Andy Nguyen

Ditching legacy admissions is first step in ending disparities

EDITORIAL

Facing primary challenge, Galvin steps up on public records

EDITORIAL

After violence of Jan. 6, Congress must fix the antiquated way presidential votes are counted

IDEAS | DAVID SCHARFENBERG

Republicans are making it harder to vote. How much will it matter?

Metro

Coronavirus Live Updates

Worcester lifts citywide mask mandate

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

Data find ‘no support for patterns of racial disparity’ in traffic stops, state says

A 10-month study of traffic stops in Massachusetts found no evidence of racial disparity in which drivers police pulled over but determined that non-white drivers were more likely to be subjected to searches and had a higher chance of receiving a criminal citation than white drivers, according to a new report.
RI POLITICS

R.I. redistricting bill receives criticism from both sides of the aisle

The Republican Party blasts it for “obvious examples of gerrymandering” while progressives decry what the legislation would do to the district committee members who endorse candidates.

For Wu, Cassellius departure is a challenge and an opportunity

The departure of Brenda Cassellius as superintendent of Boston Public Schools comes as Mayor Michelle Wu hunts for a new commissioner of the police department, leaving her administration to hire two of the city’s most important leaders simultaneously.

Sports

31 million Americans to bet on Super Bowl, gambling group estimates

The American Gaming Association forecasted that over $7.6 billion will be wagered on pro football's championship game set for Sunday.

Why American-born — and now Olympic gold medalist — Eileen Gu is competing for China

Ailing Eileen Gu was born in San Francisco but is representing Team China at the 2022 Winter Games.

Canada surges to 4-2 win over US in Olympic women’s hockey

Barring a major upset, the two global hockey powers are expected to meet once more in the gold-medal final next week.

American star Nathan Chen sets world record in short program at Olympics

32 Olympic athletes in isolation after positive COVID tests

Vermont’s Ryan Cochran-Siegle wins silver in Olympic men’s super-G

Business

Germany argues over vaccine mandate for health workers

Parliament in December approved the legislation that will require staff at hospitals and nursing homes to get immunized against the coronavirus, with the main center-right opposition Union bloc among those supporting it.

Inflation and COVID dampen the spirits of employers

Stories you may have missed from the world of business.

Labor Department encourages more flexibility on unemployment overpayments

Two biotechs sign leases at Waltham development off Route 128

STAT

‘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.

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.

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.

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
CONNECTIONS

After my son died, a victim of the opioid epidemic, my heart broke beyond repair

Dinner with Cupid

Blind date: ‘We both aren’t the kind of people to binge-watch TV’

On the cover

Those COVID tracking charts start here, with Biobot sewage analysis that knows we’re sick before we do

nantucket

She was a self-taught astronomer with a radical idea: The stars belong to all

metro

After two decades at HUD, the Rev. Miniard Culpepper retires

A timeline of key events in Superintendent Cassellius’ time at BPS

Robin Herman, ‘perfect role model’ for female sports journalists, dies at 70

sports

Leslie Jones free to post Olympics after 3rd-party error resolved

Is Tom Brady leaving the door open for a possible return? ‘You never say never,’ he said on his podcast

Police identified Saints star Alvin Kamara as felony suspect a day before he played in Pro Bowl

business

Missing personal care attendant payments strain an already taxed workforce

New GM of Seaport Hotel sees sunnier times ahead for city’s pandemic-battered hospitality industry

Spotify chief: Censoring Joe Rogan isn’t ‘the answer’

politics

Top Biden science adviser Eric Lander resigns following rebuke over treatment of staff

Biden threatens: No gas pipeline if Russia invades Ukraine

Temple professor files to reinstate claims for damages against FBI

Nation

Worcester lifts citywide mask mandate

With proposed legislation, Uganda tries to mandate vaccines

Germany argues over vaccine mandate for health workers

World

With proposed legislation, Uganda tries to mandate vaccines

Germany argues over vaccine mandate for health workers

Water supplies from glaciers may peak sooner than anticipated

opinion

Affirmative action doesn’t give people like me an unfair advantage

Goal is for both right whales and fishing industry to thrive

Tom Brady walked off into the sunset, under a cloud or two

lifestyle

31 million Americans to bet on Super Bowl, gambling group estimates

With new Frontier flight to Cancun, Rhode Island’s ‘international’ airport will soon live up to the name

Singer-songwriter Lauren Hashian is living her middle school dream

food & dining

A seasoned chef opens South Boston’s Lenox Sophia; Dorchester’s Anh Hong gets a second chance

3 places we supported this week

These are the best — and worst — sugar cereals

travel

With new Frontier flight to Cancun, Rhode Island’s ‘international’ airport will soon live up to the name

Counting on ‘endemic’: The travel industry readies for a potentially new phase

Maine celebrates winter, Newport enjoys the spotlight, and Arches slows the flow of tourists

Arts

Sculptor Courtney Mattison conjures the sea and its discontents at New Bedford Whaling Museum

In Jamaica Plain, a cannabis dispensary and museum pre-rolled into one

Textile paintings at Nearby Gallery invite viewers to probe, peer inside

Books

A cold that bites in Sarah Manguso’s ‘Very Cold People’

Nobel laureate Olga Tokarczuk’s new novel, ‘The Books of Jacob,’ awes in size and scope

Chuck Klosterman: reading a little bit of everything, all of nothing

Movies

Composer John Williams turns 90 on Tuesday, the same day Oscar nominations are announced

There’s no Korean Disney princess. So a Harvard student created her own.

A host of reasons to follow the Oscars

Television

‘The Afterparty’ is a playful whodunit, but Sam Richardson’s appeal is no mystery

3 jaw-dropping moments from last night’s episode of ‘Euphoria’

This week’s TV: A new prince in ‘Bel-Air,’ a con artist’s caper, and a creepy mystery

music

Singer-songwriter Lauren Hashian is living her middle school dream

The Who to play TD Garden in May

At BSO, a Czech conductor’s bold return

Theater/Dance

‘An Octoroon’ offers a challenging, heart-stirring look at the past and present

Rachel Bertone named new leader of Reagle Music Theatre

Boston-based tap dance company Subject:Matter makes ‘Songbook’ sing

globe local

Melnea Cass, ‘First Lady of Roxbury,’ gave Boston her all

Salem State University campus police officers equipped with body cameras

Gas-powered leaf blowers are noisy and bad for the environment. Boston will soon consider what to do about them.

Obituaries

Robin Herman, ‘perfect role model’ for female sports journalists, dies at 70

George Crumb, eclectic composer who searched for sounds, dies at 92

Dr. Herbert Benson, who documented and promoted meditation’s health benefits, dies at 86