The Boston Globe

Allegedly beaten and abused in an Oxford ‘house of horrors,’ former foster children file suit against state social workers

The former foster children are suing the Blouins, Susan Blouin’s sometime boyfriend, DCF, and 17 current and former state social workers, supervisors, and investigators, alleging they knew or should have known that the children were in danger.

MBTA limits subway speed to 25 miles per hour systemwide after DPU safety findings on Red Line
The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority is putting a 25 mile per hour maximum speed restriction in place across its Red, Orange, Green, and Blue Lines starting Thursday night, the agency announced around 10 p.m.

The MBTA is scheduling spring bus service that it knows it can’t deliver

Boston activist Monica Cannon-Grant and husband indicted on more federal charges

Federal prosecutors brought new charges on Thursday, a year after Cannon-Grant and her husband were indicted on charges that they defrauded donors who gave to their nonprofit, Violence in Boston; illegally collected pandemic unemployment benefits; and lied on a mortgage application.

Catholic school in Newton will close at end of academic year; its 23-acre property sold

An all-girls Catholic school in Newton for grades 7 through 12 will close after the academic year and its 23-acre property will be sold, officials said, and a parochial school in Fall River is also shutting its doors.

Robert Blake, actor acquitted in wife’s killing, dies at 89

Former Brookline town employee arrested for alleged misuse of public funds

Lasell University student charged with stealing $500,000 from employer; allegedly bought Tesla, trip to Hawaii with funds

The exterior of Wllimansett Center East in Chicopee, one of four Western Massachusetts nursing homes slated to close in the spring.

‘This is outrageous’: Advocates urge state to take control of four nursing homes slated to close

Some residents of four nursing homes in Western Massachusetts are being threatened with homelessness if they don't leave quickly, advocates say.

‘A defining issue of our time’: Massachusetts’ first-ever climate chief is bringing an all-of-government approach to climate change
Melissa Hoffer started her role earlier this year with a mandate that essentially boils down to remaking the way that state government functions — from one in which climate change is siloed into limited spaces, to one in which it informs every corner.

OILERS 3, BRUINS 2

Oilers play spoilers as Bruins suffer rare breakdown in third period
The Bruins became the last team this year to suffer a regulation loss when leading after one period (28-1-1), and are now 35-1-2 when leading after two periods.

After the Bruins’ Jake DeBrusk was belted to the ice, his father wanted to fight the perpetrator

Connor McDavid, he of the NHL-best 54 goals and 124 points, landed just one shot on net Thursday in more than 21 minutes of ice time. His team still left Boston with a rare regulation win over the Bruins.

KEVIN PAUL DUPONT | ON HOCKEY

Oilers offer Bruins a reminder of how tough NHL nights can be, and perhaps a preview of those to come

The Bruins perfectly executed Job No. 1, taking the puck and game and wizardry out of the hands of Connor McDavid, but in doing so perhaps lost their offensive spark. Food for thought given the tests that remain.

The Bourne Bridge rises above the Cape Cod Canal. President Biden's budget plan, released Thursday, includes $350 million to replace the Bourne and Sagamore bridges. The bridges were intended to stand for just 50 years

Biden budget includes some funding for Cape Cod bridges — but a long path awaits in Congress

President Biden included long-awaited funding to replace two aging Cape Cod bridges in his $6.8 trillion budget. But as the president confronts a Republican-dominated House of Representatives, that funding isn't guaranteed.

Biden proposes budget plan that would cut deficits by $2.9 trillion over the next decade 7 key takeaways from President Biden’s $6.9 trillion new budget plan

Ben Affleck (front) and Matt Damon appear in a scene from “Good Will Hunting.” An apartment in the building where Damon’s character lived is available to rent.

Good Will (Apartment) Hunting: Unit in triple-decker where Damon’s character lived costs $4,500 a month

The rent for the second floor unit in the three-decker at 190 W 6th St. — made famous by the iconic Boston film — is likely a bit steeper than what the fictional MIT janitor could afford.

Movie starring Matt Damon and Casey Affleck to film at Bova’s Bakery in the North End

New England Patriot Devin McCourty cuts Governor Maura Healey's hair. They attended the annual Saving by Shaving event to support Boston Children's Hospital.

Maura Healey has sides of her head buzzed to raise money for Boston Children’s Hospital

“[Healey] is brave letting a bald guy cut her hair,” quipped New England Patriots player Devin McCourty.

Mayim Bialik and Justin Bolsen on the set of "Jeopardy!"

Freshman at Brown wins $100,000 in ‘Jeopardy!’ high school reunion tournament

What is the Eiffel Tower? A landmark Justin Bolsen won’t soon forget, that’s what.

Opinion

Dominion Voting Systems’ defamation lawsuit has revealed how little weight factuality carries at Fox.

The GOP’s two wings: Reality-based vs. bamboozled

The split presents a huge dilemma for the conservative party as the 2024 campaign cycle commences.

MARCELA GARCÍA

Is Mexico a lawless place?

Heather Hopp-Bruce

The missing puzzle piece

IDEAS | STEPHEN KINZER

The incalculable moral cost of proxy wars

IDEAS | JASON MIKLIAN

Crazy rich autocracies: What are they doing better than democracies?

Thumbnail for Health Equity Tour of Hayti in Durham, North Carolina.

The Emancipator

Health Equity Tour: Durham’s Hayti Neighborhood

Once one of the most vibrant Black business districts in America, Durham’s Hayti neighborhood was dismantled by urban renewal efforts. Despite challenges, its residents haven’t given up on the promise that Hayti represents.

High Med. Low

Select a county:

Special reports

photo illustration of David Sabatini. photo by Jonathan Wiggs /Globe Staff

Spotlight Report: Fate and the fallen star

Boston, MA—12/14/2022 - Commuters wait for the T to arrive at Ruggles Station. (Jessica Rinaldi/Globe Staff)

Boston doesn’t work if the T doesn’t work

Members of the 2001 Patriots team that won the franchise’s first title.

Darkness on the edge of the Patriots dynasty

More recent News

Criminal charges for Trump are likely, N.Y. prosecutors signal
The Manhattan district attorney’s office recently signaled to Donald Trump’s lawyers that he could face criminal charges for his role in the payment of hush money to a porn star, according to four people with knowledge of the matter.

Apology letter found after US citizens killed in Mexico
A letter claiming to be from the Mexican drug cartel blamed for abducting four Americans and killing two of them condemned the violence and said the gang turned over to authorities its own members who were responsible.

Bowdoin College appoints its first woman president
Safa Zaki, a psychologist who now serves as dean of the faculty at Williams College in Williamstown, Mass., will assume her new role on July 1, Bowdoin said in a statement Thursday.

‘It’s a significant risk.’ Weeks into term, Diana DiZoglio’s move to audit Legislature marks a political gambit.
“This is exactly one of the reasons why she wanted to run," said Doug Rubin, who advised state Auditor Diana DiZoglio during her campaign. "For her, this is very personal."

2,703 confirmed cases and 61 deaths in a week. See the latest COVID-19 data from Mass.
Here’s a look at the latest coronavirus numbers in Massachusetts, including case numbers, deaths, demographics, and more.

NH lodge apologizes after accidentally destroying box of English students’ passports

The Kancamagus Lodge in Lincoln apologized for accidentally destroying dozens of passports that belonged to a school group traveling from the UK to ski in the White Mountains.

Boston Globe Spotlight Team

Send The Boston Globe a confidential news tip
Do you have a tip about something that needs to be investigated? Do you have documents or data we should dig into? We want to hear from you.

Recommended reads

Josh Stein outside his home in Newton, which he bought with Katherine Pocius in 2019.

‘Stalemate’: Sellers aren’t selling, and buyers aren’t buying. Rising interest rates are locking up Boston’s housing market.

The rapid rise in interest rates over the last year has forced homeowners who were entertaining a possible move to reconsider, meaning fewer homes are coming on the market.

Tell us: How has the housing market impacted your living situation in recent years?

White supremacist propaganda activity surged in New England in 2022
New Hampshire saw the largest increase by percentage in hateful messages delivered through fliers, banners, and graffiti, according to a new assessment by the Anti-Defamation League.

She survived Boston Marathon bombing. Now, with help from Peloton’s Jess Sims, she’ll be back at the Hopkinton start.
Last year, Michele Blackburn returned to the marathon to watch Peloton instructor Jess Sims run in her honor. Next month, Blackburn is running the long road from Hopkinton to Boston.

BMC’s head of spine surgery identified as recipient of alleged kickbacks

Tony Tannoury, who was once disciplined for leaving a patient on the operating table, allegedly received free medical devices for operations he performed on patients overseas.

video

Culture & Lifestyle

Bill Janovitz (above) conducted more than 130 interviews, including Eric Clapton and Randy Newman, for his biography of Leon Russell.

Bill Janovitz goes deep to tell the story of Leon Russell, a rock showman teetering on a tightrope

"The Monkees" TV series turned a group of actors into a hit-making band in the 1960s.

Hey, hey we’re the bands TV invented

Sharmarke Yusuf (left) and Regan Sims in "K-I-S-S-I-N-G," a co-production of the Front Porch Arts Collective and the Huntington running through April 2 at the Wimberly Theatre, Calderwood Pavilion, Boston Center for the Arts..

Things to do around Boston this weekend and beyond

Daisy May Cooper in the HBO series "Rain Dogs."

In HBO’s ‘Rain Dogs,’ desperate times and desperate measures make for a superb series

Special Projects

Two Weeks in America

Two Weeks in America

We sent a dozen journalists on the road across this complex country. They found it’s better than you think.

Back to Boston

Welcome Back to Boston

Consider this our love letter to the city, a celebration of all it has to offer visitors and locals alike.

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

The changing face of Greater Boston neighborhoods.

Jeneé Osterheldt

A Beautiful Resistance

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

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Opinion, ideas, and commentary

Elder Sharon Hammond prays during a vigil for a group of Americans recently kidnapped in Mexico, at Word of God Ministries in Scranton, S.C., on March 8.

MARCELA GARCÍA

Is Mexico a lawless place?

One missing puzzle piece unites a group of strangers, a secret community of enthusiasts who frequent the games corner of the thrift store. We leave notes for one another hidden in the boxes.

Heather Hopp-Bruce

The missing puzzle piece

Ukrainian soldiers manned a checkpoint in Donetsk with a donated American .50-caliber machine gun in May. Since the Russian invasion, the Biden administration has approved hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of private arms sales to Ukraine and sped up the approval time for deals that get weapons to the front lines.

IDEAS | STEPHEN KINZER

The incalculable moral cost of proxy wars

People gather with Israeli flags during a protest against the government's judicial overhaul bill near the Knesset in Jerusalem on Feb. 20, ahead of the first reading of legislation to change the way judges are picked, which they say threatens democracy.

In Israel, the rule of law teeters on the brink

Amanda Darrow, director of youth, family, and education programs at the Utah Pride Center, posed with books that have been the subject of complaints from parents in Salt Lake City.

The culture war targets libraries

The Central Business District and the Chinatown in Singapore, which has an autocratic government and is known for its cleanliness and low rates of crime.

IDEAS | JASON MIKLIAN

Crazy rich autocracies: What are they doing better than democracies?

Metro

MBTA limits subway speed to 25 miles per hour systemwide after DPU safety findings on Red Line

The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority is putting a 25 mile per hour maximum speed restriction in place across its Red, Orange, Green, and Blue Lines starting Thursday night, the agency announced around 10 p.m.

Bowdoin College appoints its first woman president

Safa Zaki, a psychologist who now serves as dean of the faculty at Williams College in Williamstown, Mass., will assume her new role on July 1, Bowdoin said in a statement Thursday.

Robert Blake, actor acquitted in wife’s killing, dies at 89

Once hailed as among the finest actors of his generation, Mr. Blake became better known as the center of a real-life murder trial.

National Guard deployed to staff N.H. men’s prison

According to the Department of Corrections, the vacancy rate for all corrections officers is about 34 percent, but vacancies at the entry level are much higher. The deployment “is a situation of last resort,” the governor said.

Sports

Connor McDavid, he of the NHL-best 54 goals and 124 points, landed just one shot on net Thursday in more than 21 minutes of ice time. His team still left Boston with a rare regulation win over the Bruins.

KEVIN PAUL DUPONT | ON HOCKEY

Oilers offer Bruins a reminder of how tough NHL nights can be, and perhaps a preview of those to come

The Bruins perfectly executed Job No. 1, taking the puck and game and wizardry out of the hands of Connor McDavid, but in doing so perhaps lost their offensive spark. Food for thought given the tests that remain.

Cathedral’s Jasmine Day-Cox, (No. 3) dishes off a diving pass to shield it from Mashpee's Stella Stecei (left) during the first half of the Panthers' 75-54 victory over Mashpee in a Division 4 quarterfinal on Thursday night.

MIAA tournament roundup

Top-seeded Cathedral girls’ basketball rolls into Division 4 semifinals with triumph over No. 8 Mashpee

Sophomore guard Hijjah Allen-Paisley led the Panthers (18-5) with 13 points while Sabina Kaba, Yedidya Lubunga, and Jasmine Day-Cox added 12 points apiece in the 75-54 victory over the No. 8 Falcons.

Freshman Izzy Cusack (No. 26) leads the celebration conga line after scoring a goal in a 3-0 victory over Algonquin on Thursday night at the Canton Ice Palace.

MIAA girls' hockey: Canton 3, Algonquin 0

Freshmen Izzy Cusack and Christina Curran help fourth-seeded Canton girls’ hockey avenge loss to Algonquin, advance to Division 2 semifinals

After watching the Bulldogs' wrenching overtime loss to Algonquin in last year's D2 state title game, the freshmen tallied a goal piece in a 3-0 quarterfinal win.

After the Bruins’ Jake DeBrusk was belted to the ice, his father wanted to fight the perpetrator

OILERS 3, BRUINS 2

Oilers play spoilers as Bruins suffer rare breakdown in third period

Suns’ Kevin Durant out three weeks with ankle sprain as playoffs loom

Business

Innovation economy

Here are nine key issues in the AI debate

At a TEDxBoston event this week, dozens of speakers offered opinions on how to use, and monitor, artificial intelligence as it becomes more powerful.

GE sees growth in aerospace profit margins after breakup

GE Aerospace, which today primarily makes and services jet engines, should also see revenue growth at a mid- to high-single-digit rate and generate free cash flow ‘’in line with net income’' over the same period, chief executive Larry Culp said in a statement.

Russian missile barrage slams into Ukrainian cities; 6 dead

Mobile sports gambling goes live at 10 a.m. Friday in Massachusetts. Here’s everything you need to know.

magazine

Clockwise from top left: A photograph from the Todd Webb in Africa exhibition; Jamez McCorkle in "Omar"; Simone Leigh’s Cupboard IX; a scene from Justin Peck's ballet "Everywhere We Go"; and The Great Mystery by Kent Monkman.

30 of the best dance, theater, book, art, and classical music events in New England this spring

James Tellin and John O’Reilly in a 2017 photograph by Seth David Rubin.

In the ’60s, a gay couple made their Worcester home into a refuge of art and community

My husband tells me I need to budget better and not buy coffees. Meanwhile, he’s buying a fancy car and bike.

Hot and Sour Stir-Fried Cabbage

Recipes: Three alternatives to boiled cabbage for Saint Patrick’s Day

metro

Monica Cannon-Grant left the federal courthouse after an appearance there last March.

Boston activist Monica Cannon-Grant and husband indicted on more federal charges

‘This is outrageous’: Advocates urge state to take control of four nursing homes slated to close

Allegedly beaten and abused in an Oxford ‘house of horrors,’ former foster children file suit against state social workers

sports

The two missed free throws against the Cavaliers were the most painful example of Grant Williams's slump.

Grant Williams’s minutes are down and his shooting is off, but his confidence remains high

Chad Ramey an unlikely leader in his debut at the suspended Players Championship, golf’s fickle test

Patrick Ewing fired as men’s basketball coach at Georgetown

business

General Motors is offering buyouts to most of its US salaried workforce and some global executives in an effort to trim costs as it makes the transition to electric vehicles.

GM offers buyouts to most US salaried workers to trim costs

Senate confirms Daniel Werfel as IRS commissioner

UMass biotech to lay off 25 workers

politics

President Biden.

Biden budget vs. House GOP: Values on display in debt fight

Criminal charges for Trump are likely, N.Y. prosecutors signal

Cloistered at Walter Reed, Fetterman runs his Senate operation from afar

Nation

The Tanaga Volcano near Adak, Alaska, on May 23, 2021.

Earthquakes at two Alaska volcanoes could signal eruption

Ex-GOP Ohio speaker, lobbyist guilty in $60M bribery scheme

New Hampshire Senate rejects codifying abortion rights

World

Armed police officers near the scene of a shooting in Hamburg, Germany on Thursday March 9, 2023 after one or more people opened fire in a church.

Several people killed in shooting at Jehovah’s Witness hall in Germany

Russian missile barrage slams into Ukrainian cities; 6 dead

3 wounded in Tel Aviv shooting, hours after West Bank raid

opinion

Claude Monet’s “Houses of Parliament, Sunlight Effect (Le Parlement effet de soleil),” 1903. A study in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences argued that Monet and his contemporary, Joseph Mallord William (J.M.W.) Turner, were chronicling the worsening effects of air pollution on London and Paris during the Industrial Revolution.

The dirty truth: Pollution makes the world its canvas

Freedom to pay for pricey cancer care closes gap between healthy and ill

Abortion foes twist criminal laws in push for fetal personhood

lifestyle

Mayim Bialik and Justin Bolsen on the set of "Jeopardy!"

Freshman at Brown wins $100,000 in ‘Jeopardy!’ high school reunion tournament

A new cafe in Peabody is the cat’s pajamas

What went wrong this time around?

food & dining

A plate from The Chicken and Rice Guys.

D.C. standout Del Mar will open downtown; Hue brings colorful nightlife to the old Storyville space

It’s a new season for Season to Taste

North End restaurant owners add a new claim to outdoor dining lawsuit: anti-Italian discrimination

travel

Ice prepares to greet admirers at the Kitty Cat Cafe in Peabody. He was recently adopted and will soon be in a permanent home.

Coffee, tea, or cats? A new cafe in Peabody caters to feline fanatics.

The Newport Car Museum is ‘not only a car museum . . . it’s an art museum’

A Costa Rican getaway turns into a 17-hour road trip to Texas

Arts

A visitor to the Museum of Fine Arts takes in David Drake’s “Storage jar, 1858” at the exhibition “Hear Me Now: The Black Potters of Old Edgefield, South Carolina."

At the MFA, enslaved Black potters’ work brings lives into the light

Abstraction is women’s work, too, at Addison Gallery of American Art

The politics of play at Northeastern University’s Gallery 360

Books

Nancy Hopkins and her colleagues challenged a culture of male dominance at MIT in the 1990s — and won. Kate Zernike’s ‘The Exceptions’ tells us how.

Sabrina Orah Mark seeks the place where old and new collide

An eccentric matriarch takes in the family black sheep in Cathleen Schine’s tender ‘Kunstlers in Paradise’

Movies

FILE - Robert Blake speaks in April 1977 in Los Angeles, about the American Medical Association's violence ratings and his television series "Baretta." Blake, the Emmy award-winning performer who went from acclaim for his acting to notoriety when he was tried and acquitted of murdering his wife, died Thursday, March 9, 2023, at age 89. A statement released on behalf of his niece, Noreen Austin, said Blake died from heart disease, surrounded by family at home in Los Angeles. (AP Photo)

Robert Blake, actor acquitted in wife’s killing, dies at 89

Good Will (Apartment) Hunting: Unit in triple-decker where Damon’s character lived costs $4,500 a month

Basketball comedy ‘Champions’ misses the shot

Television

FILE - Robert Blake speaks in April 1977 in Los Angeles, about the American Medical Association's violence ratings and his television series "Baretta." Blake, the Emmy award-winning performer who went from acclaim for his acting to notoriety when he was tried and acquitted of murdering his wife, died Thursday, March 9, 2023, at age 89. A statement released on behalf of his niece, Noreen Austin, said Blake died from heart disease, surrounded by family at home in Los Angeles. (AP Photo)

Robert Blake, actor acquitted in wife’s killing, dies at 89

Freshman at Brown wins $100,000 in ‘Jeopardy!’ high school reunion tournament

Hey, hey we’re the bands TV invented

music

Bill Janovitz (above) conducted more than 130 interviews, including Eric Clapton and Randy Newman, for his biography of Leon Russell.

Bill Janovitz goes deep to tell the story of Leon Russell, a rock showman teetering on a tightrope

In demand and on the move, Ambrose Akinmusire’s explorations lead to Boston and beyond

Talking Head Jerry Harrison’s enthusiasm for ‘Remain in Light’ is undimmed

Theater/Dance

Fortune Feimster is performing four shows at the Chevalier and Wilbur theaters March 16-18.

For comedian Fortune Feimster, ‘live, laugh, love’ is a way of life

Comedian Sam Morril on elevating his game and teaming up with Julian Edelman

A free spirit soars beyond convention in ART’s ‘The Wife of Willesden’

globe local

Cohasset residents will decide at their May 1 Town Meeting whether to renovate the original Town Hall and replace the annex (right) built in the 1980s.

Cohasset Town Meeting will consider $22m Town Hall project

Wrentham finalizes Vision of Tomorrow master plan

With new ownership comes new beginnings for Bay State Banner

Obituaries

FILE - Robert Blake speaks in April 1977 in Los Angeles, about the American Medical Association's violence ratings and his television series "Baretta." Blake, the Emmy award-winning performer who went from acclaim for his acting to notoriety when he was tried and acquitted of murdering his wife, died Thursday, March 9, 2023, at age 89. A statement released on behalf of his niece, Noreen Austin, said Blake died from heart disease, surrounded by family at home in Los Angeles. (AP Photo)

Robert Blake, actor acquitted in wife’s killing, dies at 89

Italian woman who ‘got back’ stolen WWII birthday cake dies

Ian Falconer, artist who created Olivia the pig, dies at 63