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2culture

Chicken on Bread in Sauce in a Skillet

Good morning. Remember when you weren’t that good at this business of preparing food for yourself, your family, your friends? It might have been when you were just a kid and didn’t know much more than how to heat a bagel in the toaster oven or to prepare an extra-dark glass of Ovaltine. It might have been when you got out of college and realized there wasn’t anyone around to cook for you and your job sure wasn’t paying you enough to eat takeout burritos and Chinese food every night. It might have been when you got married, or had a child, when you ended a relationship or lost a spouse. It might have been at the start of the pandemic lockdowns. It might have been three months ago. Whatever brought you into the kitchen, though, you are there now, with us, confident, or getting there. It’s a treat to bring you recipes. Today, for instance, behold Christian Reynoso’s new recipe for buttery skillet chicken and brioche (above), a one-pan comfort of a meal. It’s excellent — salt-and-peppered chicken thighs roasted on top of thick slices of pillowy bread, toasted and golden in some spots, soft and anointed by chicken fat in others. A simple, savory pan sauce ties it all together: butter, miso and shallots brightened with lemon juice. Top with chopped dill, and serve with some roasted green beans.

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5science

COVID in Mass.: New Year's surge arrives

The impact on infections and hospitalizations won’t be known for at least another week, when Massachusetts releases numbers for early 2024. But, while some on the front lines say they are seeing more infections now than at this time last year, most say hospitalizations have still not reached last year’s levels. As a highly infectious new COVID variant races across the country, the vast majority of workers returned to the office this week in the same state in which they attended holiday parties, traveled through busy airports, and dined with friends and loved ones over the holiday break: blissfully maskless and un-boosted. (According to the latest state numbers, just 18 percent of state residents had received the updated COVID vaccine as of late December). Advertisement In Rhode Island, Dr. Leonard Mermel, medical director of epidemiology and infection control at Lifespan, which runs hospitals across the state, says the number of weekly positive tests for respiratory viruses has already surpassed January 2023 levels. “I think generally people have let their guard down,” he said. “So we have suboptimal uptake of vaccines that will reduce the risk of getting infected and severity of infection. There’s probably more social gathering indoors without any sort of respiratory protection than previously.” In Worcester, Dr. Robert Klugman, medical director of Employee Health Services at UMass Memorial Medical Center, said emergency room visits and hospitalizations for COVID have tripled over the last three weeks. But they remain below what they were last year at this time. Meanwhile, the number of employees who have called in sick has also nearly tripled – “numbers we haven’t seen for several years.” Klugman notes that health care workers skew young and healthy, which means few of them are likely to end up hospitalized. That same youth may make them less likely to take precautions that would have prevented them from testing positive and having to miss work in the first place. Advertisement “Omicron was bad,” he said “This is worse. We’ve had, some days, 40 to 50 people calling in with COVID. We haven’t seen numbers like this since ‘21.” Dr. Larry Madoff, medical director for the bureau of infectious disease and laboratory sciences at the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, said COVID and flu infections rose at “very brisk levels” over the last week. “Anecdotally, all of my colleagues are very busy,” he said. But he said a surge is “not unusual this time of year.” Last year, hospitalizations peaked the week after Christmas with close to 24 percent of emergency room admissions related to acute respiratory illnesses, including flu and COVID. That was down from 2022, when close to 30 percent of ER admissions were caused by acute respiratory disease. “Historically, influenza-like illness has peaked post-Christmas. In the last couple years, COVID rates [have been] similar, which may mean they are settling down into the seasonal patterns we see with other viruses,” he says. Coming into the holiday break this year, the week ending Dec. 23 — the most recent week for which state data are available — the number of emergency room visits for respiratory infections was substantially lower — 16.7 percent. “It’s lower because we have more vaccine and infection derived immunity,” said Dr. Cassandra M. Pierre, an infectious disease physician and the associate hospital epidemiologist at Boston Medical Center. “Even though we had a fair amount of immunity last year, we have even more now. So that’s one factor we have that plays in our favor.” Advertisement Still, this year’s COVID surge may just be getting started. “I am not a forecaster, but I think we have yet to see our peak,” she said. “And my thought is that we’ll see high levels of transmission, at least until the end of January is my guess.” If you’re feeling a little less casual than your maskless colleagues, or the public at large, here are some things you can do to protect yourself: Get the latest booster “Even though we are kind of in the midst of respiratory virus season, it is really not too late,” said BMC’s Pierre. “Protect yourself, because we still have a few more weeks of this intense rise ahead of us.” Test at the first sign of symptoms. And, if you are at high risk, consult a doctor about medication. “COVID vaccinations are disappointingly low – it will protect you against severe disease,” said Madoff of the state public health department. “But therapeutics are also being underutilized for both flu and COVID. People at higher risk should get treated with antivirals as quickly as possible.” Mask more frequently Since the JN.1 variant is more contagious, it takes fewer virus particles and less time for someone to become infected, said Klugman. High-ceiling spaces, like supermarkets, are safer than bars or bistros, because they have room for a greater volume of air, which allows it to circulate and lessens your chance of inhaling infectious particles. Advertisement The same is true of offices. Klugman notes that, in offices, coworkers are breathing the same air, and are at risk of infecting one another. Masks, particularly in cramped spaces, are a good idea, he said. Minimize large indoor gatherings Mermel suggests minimizing large indoor social gatherings as much as possible as we move into peak season. But there are ways to minimize the risks. In addition to masking, vaccinating and testing, finding ways to ensure air circulation can reduce the risk of transmission. Most hospitals, he notes, have strict guidelines regarding airflow, with the capacity to ensure air exchange so that viral particles can be quickly removed. At home, opening windows can make a difference. Test more Klugman says the incubation period for COVID has fallen in recent years, and anyone infected on New Year’s Eve, is likely to see the first symptoms in 48 to 72 hours. Mermel said it usually takes three to four days. Both note that plenty of people exposed to COVID might not see any symptoms at all – and should test if they are concerned about exposure and worried about getting others sick. Matthew Fox, a professor in the departments of epidemiology and global health at Boston University, notes it can take anywhere from a few days to, in rare cases, as long as three weeks. Most will see symptoms within the first week. Adam Piore can be reached at adam.piore@globe.com.

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2culture

South Koreas City of Books

The book city’s mission — to “actively support culture and arts based on books” — can be seen in buildings all over town. Photopia, a serene purple structure curved like an ocean wave, serves as a photography production and processing studio. One publishing company, Dulnyouk, has its headquarters in a towering, geometric structure that resembles the kind of cumbersome transport vehicle found in “Star Wars.” Quaint cafes, where visitors can sip their drinks while reading, dot Paju’s street corners. Everything is designed to preserve and spread a love for books. At the core of Paju Book City is where Lee works, the Asia Publication Culture and Information Center, a five-story complex that includes an education facility, events hall and exhibition space, and that serves as a social and professional nucleus for local publishers. The center draws almost 10,000 visitors a year. On the building’s first floor is the Forest of Wisdom, a central library with tens of thousands of books on display and tens of thousands more in storage, according to Lee. Floor-to-ceiling bookshelves, some more than 25 feet tall, line the walls. Though visitors are not allowed to check out books — fiction and nonfiction, reference texts, picture books and other works — they are welcome to browse the shelves and read in common areas. The seemingly boundless collection means guests include families with children, young couples on dates and groups of older people on social outings. The center includes a hotel for anyone who wants to spend the night.

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3entertainment

Maine Cabin Masters Super Sweet Holiday Special: How to watch for free

It’s the holiday season and the Cabin Masters are in the spirit in a special holiday episode of “Maine Cabin Masters” airing on Monday, December 4 on the Magnolia Network. Season 10 will air a new episode at 9 p.m. EST on the Magnolia Network. Viewers looking to stream “Maine Cabin Masters” can do so by using Philo, FuboTV and DirecTV Stream. All three streaming services offer free trials for new users. Kennebec Cabin Company is the home of the popular cabin renovation show, located in Manchester, Maine. According to a description of the show from FuboTV, there’s no shortage of work for Maine-based builder Chase Morrill, whose specialty is renovating rustic cabins and camps all over the Pine Tree State. Working alongside his sister, brother-in-law and best friend, Morrill contracts with clients to save and transform rundown cabins buried deep in Maine’s remote woods. From century-old cottages to lakeside retreats in need of some major repairs, Chase and his team give these dilapidated properties the revivals they have needed for decades. In the holiday special, It’s the holiday season and the Cabin Masters are in the spirit. Ryan and Ashley plot a stealthy, secret gift for Chase, while the guys team up with a nonprofit and put their woodworking skills to the test to create gifts for a local toy drive. Here is a look at a sneak peek of the new season from Magnolia Network’s YouTube Channel: How can I watch “Maine Cabin Masters” without cable? Season 10 will air a new episode at 9 p.m. EST on the Magnolia Network. Viewers looking to stream “Maine Cabin Masters” can do so by using Philo, FuboTV and DirecTV Stream. All three streaming services offer free trials for new users. What is Philo? Philo is an over-the-top internet live TV streaming service that offers 60+ entertainment and lifestyle channels for the budget-friendly price of $25/month. What is FuboTV? FuboTV is an over-the-top internet live TV streaming service that offers more than 100 channels, such as sports, news, entertainment and local channels. What is DirecTV Stream? The streaming platform offers a plethora of content including streaming the best of live and On Demand, starting with more than 75 live TV channels.

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1crime

Calif. man embezzled over $1M from Mass. employer, going to prison

A California man is going to prison over a year after he pled guilty to embezzling over $1.2 million from his Massachusetts employer for almost two decades, Acting United States Attorney Joshua Levy’s office announced Thursday. Darrell Pike, 57, of Hesperia, Calif., was sentenced to three months in prison followed by three years of supervised release, with the first nine months consisting of home confinement, Levy’s office said in a statement. In addition, U.S. District Court Judge Myong Joun ordered Pike to pay restitution and forfeiture of $1,232,001. Read more: Taunton woman bribed RMV test examiner for a license going to prison Pike worked as the general manager of a subsidiary, based in Ontario, Calif., of a supply and service company located in Wilmington. Between 2005 and 2021, Pike turned in fraudulent invoices to the company on behalf of a fake temporary staffing company called Consumer Information Systems, Levy’s office said. He added approving initials of company personnel to the invoices without his employer’s knowledge or consent, Levy’s office added. Through these invoices, Pike caused the company to pay approximately $1,271,206 to Consumer Information Systems, which were then deposited into a bank account he controlled. In October 2022, Pike pleaded guilty to one count of mail fraud.

8c78bcc7499f8354be5b344892aa9ab7

3entertainment

Lavender Darcangelo continues to shine

LEOMINSTER – Lavender Darcangelo and her dad Wil arrived at the WGBH Boston Public Library studio in October for her segment on “Boston Public Radio” with Jim Braudeand Margery Eagon and, as they made their way in, their joy was palpable. It was the second time the 28-year-old singing talent and her dad were invited to be guests on the popular midday talk show and the two were still talking excitedly about the giant billboard of Lavender they spotted on the Mass Pike when they were driving into the city. A shows producer then came out to greet them and said he would find a spot for them to warm up their vocal cords. While they had been guests before at the WGBH studio, this was their first time at the library studio. Lavender, who is blind and autistic, said “it smells good in here” as she took in the aromas coming from the Newsfeed Cafe. Wil Darcangelo sported a Hawaiian shirt with a design that craftily incorporated the face of his husband, Jamie Darcangelo, who wasn’t able to join them this time. Wil and Lavender sat and listened to the show while chatting with two women in the audience before being ushered off to warm up before their guest spot during the one o’clock hour. The Oct. 20 episode featured a number of guests including the dynamic father and daughter duo, who chatted with the hosts and sang two songs. They talked to Braude and Eagan about Lavender’s America’s Got Talent experience, which wrapped up in September. “She captured the heart of America…she captured me and Margery’s hearts and our listeners,” Braude said of Lavender, with Eagan adding “what an incredible triumph.” Lavender, who said the hosts are “awesome” and “so fun,” talked to them about forgetting song lyrics just before her final AGT performance, joking that “the irony was that I wasn’t even nervous. And she spoke about becoming close to her fellow AGT contestants, “the nicest people,” and proudly bragged about her “perfect pitch.” “Even though AGT had its overwhelming moments for me, the show was very good about protecting my well-being,” she said. “I’m glad that adventure is over now though and I’m looking forward to all that this next chapter brings. It’s so fun seeing my dreams come true!” Although she didn’t come out on top at the end of the AGT run, the Leominster resident had a phenomenal journey on the show and made some incredible industry connections because of it. During the AGT live final performances show on Sept. 26, Lavender sang “Only Love Can Hurt Like This” with award winning songwriter Diane Warren, who wrote the song, accompanying her on the piano. “It’s kind of amazing that both local and mainstream media have been so captivated by this whole story, and by Lavender as an individual,” Wil said of the attention his daughter has received because of AGT. “It makes it all the more meaningful to us that we are reaching people.” Lavender once again sang Warren’s song during Braude and Eagan’s show with her dad by her side. Wil watched his daughter adoringly as she nailed another performance and rubbed his arms as he got goosebumps. Then the two sang a harmonious duet, an original song they wrote together called “Will I Ever?” “Lavender was inspired to write it following the death of two Tribe kids six weeks apart from one another,” Wil said of what inspired the song, referencing the Tribe Music Mentorship Project afterschool music empowerment program he ran at Fitchburg High School from 2010 to 2018, where he and Lavender met. “The first, Gillian Lambert from cystic fibrosis, and then Chris Brinkley, six weeks later in a house fire,” Wil said of the heartbreak of losing two of his students. “It was so devastating to the Tribe, and we were so grateful that Lavender was inspired to write such a beautiful song in tribute to them.” They recorded the song with Lavender’s vocals for the Tribe’s album, “Strange Among the Different,” a project that involved 250 people ranging in age from eight to 76, and Lavender will re-record it for her own album that she’s working on, “Mosaic.” “So far it is the only full song Lavender has ever written but she has ideas for others,” Wil said. Braude said of all the guests they have had on their show, Lavender’s appearances have been his “favorite segments” and added that he wished he “could do it over and over again.” “So spectacular,” he said at the end of Lavender and Wil’s spot. It’s been a whirlwind since Lavender wrapped up America’s Got Talent. She and Wil had just gotten back from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland not too long before the Boston radio show taping, where Lavender spoke at the Yass Educational Foundation Gala about her idea for a nontraditional school that she plans to open one day. “Cleveland was a revelation, to be honest,” Wil said recently. “As overdramatic as that might sound, the minute Lavender began hearing some of the panelists speaking about different and more compassionate, inclusive ways of approaching education, she was immediately moved to tears. She was so taken aback by the notion that her ideas are not weird at all, but just what people have been asking for. “Even more than music, her desire to create a school she would have and will thrive in is foremost on the list of her life goals,” he said. “She dreamed of it without knowing there would be any support for it, or a pathway toward it actually existing. AGT has not only provided that pathway, but it has also exposed her to all of the wonderful minds who know exactly how to bring it about for her. We plan to have a summit in the spring to begin the planning of her dream.” Wil talked about their experience in Ohio to Braude and Eagan and said that he was diagnosed with ADHD in his 30s. He said their Cleveland trip was eye opening and that he is thrilled with “how far we’ve come with neurodiversity. “I’m really encouraged with how the world is now,” he said. Lavender performed on stage at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in Boston for the RFK Community Alliance annual gala on Nov. 9 and in December, the family will head to Las Vegas to begin rehearsals for her appearances at the Luxor AGT show early next year. In addition, Lavender continues to work on “Mosaic,” her debut solo album. She has said that the wide variety of songs and styles that will be included in the album aim to honor and raise awareness of the diversity within the autism and disability community. Warren loved Lavender’s AGT performance of her song so much that she suggested another of her songs for Lavender to include on “Mosaic” and invited Lavender to rehearse with her in her Hollywood studio after AGT wrapped. As of press time nearly $14,000 has been raised to help with the costs of recording Lavender’s album through a GoFundMe that Wil set up. Lavender recently appeared on a special episode of the long running Fitchburg Access Television show “Barbara & You.” The Oct. 21 show was taped at Fitchburg State University with a live audience and during it, Mayor Stephen DiNatale presented Lavender with a key to the city. “’Barbara & You’ was wonderful,” Wil said. “We have a long history with her show. I wrote and recorded her current theme song and have been on the show many times both with and without Lavender for various things over the years. To have the experience of recording it with a live studio audience about our adventure was an honor.” Lavender said she enjoyed being a guest on the show and said that “Barbara was so nice to me.” “I was complimented that she was even a little nervous before the show started, like I’m a celebrity or something!” she said. “I’m feeling like the future has so many more possibilities now than even my imagination could think of. I’m so excited!.”

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7weather

Massachusetts weather: What is the forecast for New Years Eve?

It’s the weekend, and the weather will be decent for most of it! Temperatures will be mild for mid-December in the 40s and 50s. We’ll see increasing clouds ahead of our next storm that will bring the biggest impacts on Monday. A cold front will drop in today. We’ll see sun blended with some clouds through the day, but stay dry. Our temperatures will be mild and above average. A great day to get outside or join in on the 250th Anniversary of the Boston Tea Party! We’ll have abundant cloud cover from start to finish on Sunday. Despite that, temperatures will be more mild as highs reach the 50s. This is ahead of our next storm. Most of Sunday is dry before showers arrive in the afternoon and stay scattered through the evening. We’ll be watching an area of low pressure south that will interact with a front in the Midwest. The biggest impacts will be felt on Monday. Similar to last weekend, the main concerns will be heavy rain and high wind. Below is a look at the wind gust potential and rainfall forecast near you. High temperatures will be in the upper 50s/near 60 Monday. Temperatures fall into the 40s for most of next week. A few showers are expected Tuesday. Winter officially begins Thursday night! Weekend weather shout-out to the 3rd graders at George Keverian School in Everett! I visited their school this week, and we talked everything from fog to tornadoes and forecasting. They asked a lot of great questions and even shared what they knew about weather with their own song! -Meteorologist Melanie Black

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4politics

Trump transformed the Supreme Court. Now the justices could decide his political and legal future.

Gypsy Rose Blanchard, the Missouri woman who persuaded an online boyfriend to kill her mother after she had forced her to pretend for years that she was suffering from leukemia, muscular dystrophy and other serious illnesses, was released Thursday, Dec. 28 from prison on parole. Blanchard was released early in the day from the Chillicothe Correctional Center, said Karen Pojmann, a spokesperson for the Missouri Department of Corrections. Blanchard was granted parole after serving 85% of her original sentence, Pojmann said. Blanchard’s case sparked national tabloid interest after reports emerged that her mother, Clauddine “Dee Dee” Blanchard, who was slain in 2015, had essentially kept her daughter prisoner, forcing her to use a wheelchair and feeding tube. It turned out that Gypsy Blanchard, now 32, was perfectly healthy, not developmentally delayed as her friends had always believed. Her mother had Munchausen syndrome by proxy, a psychological disorder in which parents or caregivers seek sympathy through the exaggerated or made-up illnesses of their children, said her trial attorney, Michael Stanfield. “People were constantly telling Dee Dee what a wonderful mother she was, and Dee Dee was getting all of this attention,” he said. Through the ruse, the mother and daughter met country star Miranda Lambert and received charitable donations, a trip to Disney World and even a home near Springfield from Habitat for Humanity. Stanfield said Gypsy Blanchard’s mother was able to dupe doctors by telling them her daughter’s medical records had been lost in Hurricane Katrina. If they asked too many questions, she just found a new physician, shaving the girl’s head to back up her story. Among the unnecessary procedures Gypsy Blanchard underwent was the removal of her salivary glands. Her mother convinced doctors it was necessary by using topical anesthetic to cause drooling. Gypsy Blanchard, who had little schooling or contact with anyone but her mother, also was misled, especially when she was younger, Stanfield said. “The doctors seem to confirm everything that you’re being told. The outside world is telling you that your mother is a wonderful, loving, caring person. What other idea can you have?” Stanfield said. But then the abuse became more physical, Stanfield said. Gypsy testified that her mother beat her and chained her to a bed. Slowly, Gypsy also was beginning to understand that she wasn’t as sick as her mom said. “I wanted to be free of her hold on me,” Gypsy testified at the 2018 trial of her former boyfriend, Nicholas Godejohn of Big Bend, Wisconsin, who is serving a life sentence in the killing. She went on to add: “I talked him into it.” When she took the stand at his trial, prosecutors already had cut her a deal because of the abuse she had endured. In exchange for pleading guilty in 2016 to second-degree murder, she was sentenced to 10 years in prison. The first-degree murder charge she initially faced would have meant a life term. “Nick was so in love with her and so obsessed with her that he would do anything,” Godejohn’s trial attorney Dewayne Perry argued in court, saying his client has autism and was manipulated. Prosecutors, however, argued that he was motivated by sex and a desire to be with Gypsy Blanchard, whom he met on a Christian dating website. According to the probable cause statement, Gypsy Blanchard supplied the knife and hid in a bathroom while Godejohn repeatedly stabbed her mother. The two ultimately made their way by bus to Wisconsin, where they were arrested. She has been incarcerated since then at a state women’s prison in Chillicothe. “Things are not always as they appear,” said Greene County Sheriff Jim Arnott as the strange revelations began to emerge. Even Gypsy’s age was a lie. Her mother had said she was younger to make it easier to perpetuate the fraud, and got away with it because Gypsy was so small: just 4 feet, 11 inches (150 centimeters) tall. Law enforcement was initially so confused that the original court documents listed three different ages for her, with the youngest being 19. She was 23. Greene County Prosecutor Dan Patterson described it as “one of the most extraordinary and unusual cases we have seen.” Stanfield recalled that the first time he met Gypsy, she got out of breath walking the 75 yards (69 meters) from the elevator to the room where he talked to her. He described her as malnourished and physically frail. “I can honestly say I’ve rarely had a client who looks exceedingly better after doing a fairly long prison sentence,” Stanfield said. “Prison is generally not a place where you become happy and healthy. And I say that because, to me, that’s kind of the evidence to the rest of the world as to just how bad what Gypsy was going through really was.” Gypsy Blanchard later said it wasn’t until her arrest that she realized how healthy she was. But it took time. Eventually, she got married while behind bars to Ryan Scott Anderson, now 37, of Saint Charles, Louisiana. The bizarre case was the subject of the 2017 HBO documentary “Mommy Dead and Dearest,” the 2019 Hulu miniseries “The Act” and an upcoming Lifetime docuseries “The Prison Confession of Gypsy Rose Blanchard.” Daytime television psychologist “Dr. Phil” McGraw interviewed her from prison. The novel “Darling Rose Gold” draws upon the story for its premise and Blanchard’s own account, “Released: Conversations on the Eve of Freedom” is set for publication next month. Amid the media storm, corrections department spokeswoman Karen Pojmann said no in-person coverage of her release on Thursday would be allowed “in the interest of protecting safety, security and privacy.”

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6sports

Bruins make roster moves after Saturdays OT loss

Perhaps as a precursor to activating Charlie McAvoy and Pavel Zacha, the Bruins sent defenseman Ian Mitchell and forward Jesper Boqvist to Providence of the AHL on Sunday morning. Boqvist was called up before Thursday’s game at New Jersey. He was a healthy scratch for that game and then played just 4 minutes, 47 seconds against the Islanders before sitting again on Saturday. BET ANYTHING GET $250 BONUS ESPN BET CLAIM OFFER MASS 21+ and present in MA, NJ, PA, VA, MD, WV, TN, LA, KS, KY, CO, AZ, IL, IA, IN, OH, MI. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-Gambler. Mitchell, who has played 12 games for the Bruins this season, hasn’t played since Thursday while Parker Wotherspoon dressed for each of the last two games. Before Saturday’s game, Jim Montgomery said he was hopeful McAvoy and Zacha would both be ready to return this week. Both were eligible to come off of injured reserve on Saturday.

882fbb143d67b72e939c620623c061fc

5science

Brain Study Suggests Traumatic Memories Are Processed as Present Experience

At the root of post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, is a memory that cannot be controlled. It may intrude on everyday activity, thrusting a person into the middle of a horrifying event, or surface as night terrors or flashbacks. Decades of treatment of military veterans and sexual assault survivors have left little doubt that traumatic memories function differently from other memories. A group of researchers at Yale University and the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai set out to find empirical evidence of those differences. The team conducted brain scans of 28 people with PTSD while they listened to recorded narrations of their own memories. Some of the recorded memories were neutral, some were simply “sad,” and some were traumatic. The brain scans found clear differences, the researchers reported in a paper published on Thursday in the journal Nature Neuroscience. The people listening to the sad memories, which often involved the death of a family member, showed consistently high engagement of the hippocampus, part of the brain that organizes and contextualizes memories.

7424a27823795d758ee561a8d2d561c3

4politics

Migrants Sleep in the Snow in Desperate Wait for ID Cards

As snow swirled down after midnight on Tuesday, about three dozen migrants, including two families with children, huddled on the sidewalk under thin blankets outside a city office in Brooklyn. They had temporarily left their homeless shelters to spend the night camping in the 20-degree wind chill for a chance at a prize whose significance was not quite clear: a New York City-issued identification card called IDNYC. Some said they had been told by shelter workers that the card was a necessary step on the road to legal employment. One woman who was six months pregnant said she had heard she needed the card to get seen at a public hospital. As winter settles in, the situation faced by the 68,000 migrants in city shelters has grown more precarious and left many eager to find their way to self-sufficiency but confused about the many rules that govern the steps to get there.

0b5481bbcb17adf62a2f5188885e3e69

6sports

Patriots have new kicker on standby as Chad Ryland struggles (report)

FOXBOROUGH — After missing 35-yard field goals in back-to-back losses, Chad Ryland’s job security is in jeopardy. The Patriots worked out five kickers on Tuesday, and according to ESPN’s Mike Reiss, Bill Belichick told one of them to hang around Foxborough. “Kicker intel: Matt McCrane stayed in town after being 1 of 5 to work out for the Patriots Tuesday, and was on standby pending another workout(s) Wednesday (possibly Matthew Wright, who was released from Falcons practice squad Tuesday),” Reiss tweeted. “So possibility of 2nd kicker still in play.” $200 INSTANT BONUS DRAFTKINGS MASS CLAIM OFFER BET $5, GET $200 BONUS BET FANDUEL MASS CLAIM OFFER BET $50, GET $250 BONUS CAESARS MASS CLAIM OFFER $1,000 FIRST-BET BONUS BETMGM MASS CLAIM OFFER MA only. 21+. Gambling Problem? If you or a loved one is experiencing problems with gambling, please call 1-800-327-5050 or visit gamblinghelplinema.org for 24/7 support. LiveChat with a GameSense Advisor at GameSenseMA.com or call 1-800-GAM-1234 MA Gambling Helpline. MA only. 21+. Gambling Problem? If you or a loved one is experiencing problems with gambling, please call 1-800-327-5050 or visit gamblinghelplinema.org for 24/7 support. LiveChat with a GameSense Advisor at GameSenseMA.com or call 1-800-GAM-1234 MA Gambling Helpline. McCrane has been on five NFL rosters and spent time in the XFL. His only NFL kicks came in 2018, when he went 8-for-12 on field goals and 9-for-9 on extra points with three different teams. Wright, the second kicker Reiss noted as a possibility, has more NFL kicks on his resume, going 40-for-46 with a long of 59 yards with the Chiefs last season. Belichick was tightlipped about his kicking situation in his Wednesday morning press conference, but on WEEI’s Greg Hill Show Monday, he offered a blunt assessment Ryland’s play. “Chad’s a very talented player, but this is two weeks in a row we’ve basically missed extra points,” Belichick said. “So it’s not good enough.” With the most recent miss, Ryland fell to 12-of-18 (66.7%) on the season. There’s nothing he can do about it, but the rookie’s totals look even worse compared to Nick Folk 21-of-22 (95.5%), who remains nearly automatic in Tennessee.

84930722b5eda9cab3fc9579944f407e

2culture

Moulin Rouge! is nothing to shout about

Was there a crying need for a stage version of Baz Luhrmann’s over-the-top 2001 film? In any case, the stage musical, which premiered in Boston six years ago, decidedly bears Luhrmann’s imprint. That is not praise. But skillfully executed bombast is still bombast. There’s no disguising the fact that the inane “Moulin Rouge!,” while chock-full of sound and fury, ultimately signifies, well, not much. The cast of “Moulin Rouge! The Musical” labors feverishly on the stage of the Citizens Bank Opera House, as if determined to earn that exclamation point. Under the hectic direction of Alex Timbers, virtually every scene in this clangorous but empty spectacle is italicized. Nearly every moment is dialed up to 11. Advertisement No cliché — about Paris, the bohemian life, artists, aristocrats, musical theater, passion, freedom, power, loyalty, and of course love, all-consuming love, let’s keep singing about love — is left unturned. No opening for overheated melodrama is left unexploited. “Moulin Rouge!” revolves around a romance in fin de siècle Paris between nightclub chanteuse Satine (Gabrielle McClinton) — whom we first see high above the stage, on a swing, in a blue spangled costume — and penniless American composer-lyricist Christian (Christian Douglas). Does that set-up remind you of the vastly superior “Cabaret”? Yeah, me too. The Satine-Christian romance proves to be a dangerous one. Facing a financial crisis, Moulin Rouge impresario Harold Zidler (Robert Petkoff) has entered into a deal with the villainous Duke of Monroth (Andrew Brewer). As part of that deal, the duke takes control not just of the Moulin Rouge, but, in his mind at least, of Satine. As far as he’s concerned, she belongs to him — and the duke is a lethal fellow when crossed. The possibility that he will find out about the love affair between Satine and Christian escalates when Christian — having been befriended by a pair of bohemians, Toulouse-Lautrec (Nick Rashad Burroughs) and Santiago (Danny Burgos) — writes a musical whose plot closely parallels his love affair with Satine, complete with the deception of a duke-like character. Advertisement Further complicating the equation is the very large secret that Satine is keeping from both Christian and the duke. John Logan, author of “Red,” a very fine play about artist Mark Rothko, wrote the overly ornate book for “Moulin Rouge! The Musical,” based on the screenplay written by Luhrmann and Craig Pearce. Sample dialogue: Satine: “Christian, I can’t go back to the streets.” Christian: “Then come with me to the stars.” Christian Douglas and Gabrielle McClinton in "Moulin Rouge! The Musical." Matthew Murphy for MurphyMade The arrival in Boston of the touring production is a reminder that it was the premiere of “Moulin Rouge!” that reopened the Emerson Colonial Theatre in 2018, after that storied venue had undergone several years of renovations. Then it was on to Broadway. In September 2021, “Moulin Rouge!” won 10 Tony Awards, including best musical. An important asterisk is attached to those Tonys, however, because “Moulin Rouge!” was competing in categories sorely depleted by the pandemic. Its score consists of pop songs or fragments of pop songs that are shoehorned into the narrative whether they make sense or not: Elton John’s “Your Song,” which gets quite a workout; Lorde’s “Royals”; Beyoncé’s “Single Ladies (Put a Ring On It)”; the Rolling Stones’ “You Can’t Always Get What You Want”; Jule Styne and Leo Robin’s “Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend,” and many more. Advertisement McClinton and Douglas are passable actors, with impressive vocal chops, and they have a decent amount of chemistry. One of the principal pleasures of “Moulin Rouge!” is Sarah Bowden’s scene-stealing turn as Nini, one of the club’s dancers. It is she who warns Satine about the duke’s viciousness. Key scenes occur in Satine’s dressing room, which is framed by a giant, heart-shaped window (the scenic design is by Derek McLane). The choreography by Sonya Tayeh is mostly a plus, as is the lavishly eye-catching attire by costume designer Catherine Zuber. The energetic orchestra is led by music director/keyboardist Andrew Graham. In both film and stage form, “Moulin Rouge!” has passionate devotees. It’s one of those polarizing, love-it-or-hate-it works. From their enthusiasm at Wednesday night’s performance at the Opera House, it was pretty clear what camp the audience was in. Hey, you like what you like. But I couldn’t help thinking about the truth of Lord Illingworth’s remark, in Oscar Wilde’s “A Woman of No Importance,” that “Nothing succeeds like excess.” MOULIN ROUGE! THE MUSICAL Directed by Alex Timbers. Choreography by Sonya Tayeh. Book by John Logan. Based on a film written by Baz Luhrmann and Craig Pearce. Presented by Broadway In Boston. At Citizens Bank Opera House, through Feb. 4. Tickets start at $50. BroadwayInBoston.com Don Aucoin can be reached at donald.aucoin@globe.com. Follow him @GlobeAucoin.

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6sports

Where to buy tickets to AAC Championships: Tulane vs. SMU

Bill Belichick is taking care of one of his longest-tenured players. The Patriots have adjusted Lawrence Guy’s contract, according to ESPN’s Field Yates. Heading into the final week of the season where young players like Keion White, Jeremiah Pharms, and Sam Roberts may command a longer look, Belichick made sure Guy would hit a playing time incentive regardless of Sunday’s snap counts. BET ANYTHING GET $250 BONUS ESPN BET CLAIM OFFER MASS 21+ and present in MA, NJ, PA, VA, MD, WV, TN, LA, KS, KY, CO, AZ, IL, IA, IN, OH, MI. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-Gambler. ”Guy has an incentive worth $500K for playing 45% of the snaps this season; he is currently at 45.57%,” Yates tweeted. “The team removed the incentive and instead converted it into a bonus, guaranteeing Guy that money and preventing a scenario where he missed out on the money by just a few snaps.” In his seventh year with the Patriots, the 33-year-old defensive tackle has suited up for all 16 games thus far. Since arriving in 2017, Guy has only missed five games; he’s been remarkably durable at one of the game’s most taxing positions. Coming into the season, Guy had two years left on his deal but not guaranteed money remaining, which led to a minicamp holdout. When he showed up for training camp a month later, Guy was mum on his contract status but pledged to be ready to work. “I’m here. Big smile on my face,” Guy said in July. “I’m going to do whatever I can for the organization and work as hard as I can.” It looks like that hard work paid off, quite literally.

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1crime

BPD report says officer driving Mayor Wu contributed to June crash

The captain’s report diverged from an earlier department finding that concluded Smith had nothing to do with causing the crash. However, Captain Leighton B. Facey recommended in his report that no disciplinary action be taken against the officer, Keyanna Smith, since she was operating “with due care,” following department protocols, and the fact that this was “the first Department of Motor Vehicle accident in which the officer’s actions resulted or contributed to” a crash. A Boston police captain determined that a police officer who crashed their car while driving Mayor Michelle Wu in Roslindale earlier this year “did contribute” to the crash by running a red light. Advertisement Boston25 first reported the news. The station obtained the report through a public records request. The Globe has since verified the report. The crash occurred in June near the intersection of Hyde Park Avenue and Blakemore Street. A video showed the unmarked Ford Mustang police car had flashing blue emergency lights when it was T-boned by an oncoming black Honda CR-V traveling in the opposite direction. Photos from the crash show a mangled front end of the Honda and damage to the Mustang’s front driver’s side wheel well. The police car was not heading to an emergency, and the crash prompted questions about why the car had activated its emergency lights and sirens. According to Wu’s office, the mayor was on her way to the Copley Library for a Cabinet meeting. At the time, a Wu spokesperson said the BPD’s dignitary protection unit exercises “discretion on when to use lights and sirens, and must follow protocols on how to do so safely.” On Thursday, Wu was asked whether the crash showed the need to change police procedures. The mayor said she deferred to BPD “on what their policy should be.” Advertisement “I’m just thankful that everyone is safe,” Wu told reporters. Police Sergeant Detective Cary Chin, who investigated the wreck, said in his report that Smith brought her car to a stop at the red light in the intersection before “proceeding to cross the outbound lanes of Hyde Park Avenue.” The crash was captured by multiple video surveillance systems, according to police reports. The police car had its lights and siren on, prompting at least two cars to stop. The Honda CR-V, however, did not, colliding with the Mustang in the intersection, according to Chin’s report. The driver of the Honda, Yosmery Peña, told the Globe earlier this year she didn’t see the police car because vehicles in the right lane were blocking her view, nor did she hear any sirens. Her 1-year-old baby was in the car at the time. “I thought, ‘[Good heavens!] That car shouldn’t have crossed,’” she told the Globe in June. “It was traumatizing for me; I was so scared and nervous for my baby, who started crying immediately.” Chin concluded that Smith’s actions did not cause the crash, saying the officer was acting “in a responsible manner while operating her assigned unit department motor vehicle and obeying the traffic laws.” His report said that Smith was driving the car in accordance with department rules and procedures. “I find that there is no need for counseling or further investigation regarding this motor vehicle crash,” wrote Chin. However, Facey, the police captain, stated in his report: “I respectfully report that after reviewing the attached reports, I do not fully agree with the finding of Sergeant Detective Cary Chin ... in this investigation.” Advertisement Wu, who told police she was reviewing documents on her phone at the time of the crash, rode in an ambulance with Peña and her child to Boston Children’s Hospital. Peña at first was reluctant to go to the hospital, according to police reports. In the summer, Peña said the police report “makes it look like I was at fault for the crash.” “The report is very convenient to their side,” she said. In the aftermath of the crash, Peña got a repair estimate for her CR-V of $8,800, which she was told her insurance company would cover after she paid a deductible of $1,000. Danny McDonald can be reached at daniel.mcdonald@globe.com. Follow him @Danny__McDonald.

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0business

India Is Chasing Chinas Economy. But Something Is Holding It Back.

India’s economy is booming. Stock prices are through the roof, among the best performing in the world. The government’s investment in airports, bridges and roads, and clean-energy infrastructure is visible almost everywhere. India’s total output, or gross domestic product, is expected to increase 6 percent this year — faster than the United States or China. But there’s a hitch: Investment by Indian companies is not keeping pace. The money that companies put into the future of their businesses, for things like new machines and factories, is stagnant. As a fraction of India’s economy, it is shrinking. And while money is flying into India’s stock markets, long-term investment from overseas has been declining. Green and red lights are flashing at the same time. At some point soon, the government will need to reduce its extraordinary spending, which could weigh on the economy if private sector money doesn’t pick up.

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1crime

Man Cleared of Murder After More Than 48 Years in Prison

An Oklahoma man who in 1975 was convicted of murder in a liquor store robbery was exonerated in court on Tuesday after he had spent more than 48 years in prison, the authorities said. It was thought to be the longest time served by a wrongfully convicted inmate in the United States, according to the National Registry of Exonerations, which tracks the length of sentences for wrongful convictions. The man, Glynn Simmons, 70, was declared innocent in a ruling by Judge Amy Palumbo of Oklahoma County District Court. Mr. Simmons was released on bond in July after Judge Palumbo agreed during a status hearing to vacate the judgment and sentence at the request of Vicki Zemp Behenna, the Oklahoma County district attorney who had been reviewing his case. Ms. Behenna, whose office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Wednesday, found that important evidence in Mr. Simmons’s case had not been turned over to his defense lawyers.

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4politics

Defense Secretary Kept White House in the Dark About His Hospitalization

It took the Pentagon three and a half days to inform the White House that Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III had been hospitalized on New Year’s Day following complications from an elective procedure, two U.S. officials said Saturday. The extraordinary breach of protocol — Mr. Austin is in charge of the country’s 1.4 million active-duty military at a time when the wars in Gaza and Ukraine have dominated the American national security landscape — has baffled officials across the government, including at the Pentagon. Senior defense officials say Mr. Austin did not inform them until Thursday that he had been admitted to the intensive care unit at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Md. The Pentagon then informed the White House. The Pentagon’s belated notification, first reported by Politico, confounded White House officials, one Biden administration official said. A spokeswoman for the National Security Council declined to comment on Saturday.

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4politics

What Went Wrong for Ron DeSantis in 2023

Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida woke up in Iowa with a familiar political headache. The man he is chasing in the polls, Donald J. Trump, had just been disqualified from the ballot in Colorado in yet another legal assault that Mr. Trump leveraged to cast himself as a victim. And so Mr. DeSantis trod carefully the next morning outside Des Moines when he called Mr. Trump a “high-risk” choice, alluding to “all the other issues” — 91 felony counts, four indictments, the Colorado ruling — facing the former president. “I don’t think it’s fair,” Mr. DeSantis said. “But it’s reality.” He was talking about Mr. Trump’s predicament. But he could just as easily have been talking about his own. Boxed in by a base enamored with Mr. Trump that has instinctively rallied to the former president’s defense, Mr. DeSantis has struggled for months to match the hype that followed his landslide 2022 re-election. Now, with the first votes in the Iowa caucuses only weeks away on Jan. 15, Mr. DeSantis has slipped in some polls into third place, behind Nikki Haley, and has had to downsize his once-grand national ambitions to the simple hopes that a strong showing in a single state — Iowa — could vault him back into contention. For a candidate who talks at length about his own disinterest in “managing America’s decline,” people around Mr. DeSantis are increasingly talking about managing his.

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0business

Completely different world: Watertown man works to bring ferry service to Charles River

BOSTON — Imagine trading the honking and the stopping and starting of a stressful commute for a relaxing ride down the Charles River. It might be a great way to start the day. That’s the vision of a Watertown man who wants to launch regular ferry service from his hometown to downtown Boston. “It’s just such a completely different world getting back and forth on the water,” said Drew Rollert, a software engineer who launched Wada Hoppah in his spare time. Wada Hoppah is a water hopper with a Boston accent. “The vision is to create a comfortable, relaxing, and reliable way to get from Watertown to Boston and back, either to commute, to go see a Sox game or to go dine.” Rollert’s company would feature environmentally friendly electric boats that can navigate the Charles’ shallow waters. They’ll also include features not available on the T. “When you get on it, you’ll have your own seat. There’ll be a table and you can put a laptop, a phone or Starbucks on it. And then plug in the heated seats. A bathroom, you can use a bathroom during your commute!” There is some precedent for boat service on the Charles. Photos from the Watertown Free Library show companies that took passengers out on the Charles back in the mid-20th century. Rollert’s main motivation is to get cars off the road. He says “the old adage is 90% of most cars only have one person in them.” He knows the ferry isn’t a panacea for Boston’s traffic woes but believes it’s a piece of a larger puzzle. “I would hope that we could be like the Lynn Ferry, the Hull Ferry, that says hey, you know what, they may run north and south, we’re going east to west and we’re just adding on to the options.” The target fare is in the range of $25 which Rollert says is less than taking an Uber. He hopes they might be able to get some governmental agencies to subsidize the service. The Department of Conservation and Recreation manages the Charles River. Officials there tell Boston 25 News commercial operations on the river require a permit. They say they’ve been in touch with Rollert and are waiting to get his completed application. Rollert had hoped to get service going this fall but now says that next spring is more likely. This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available. Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts. Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW ©2023 Cox Media Group

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4politics

Lawmakers pushing for MBTA Commuter Rail electrification by 2035

In her third State of the State address, Gov. Kathy Hochul will propose a first-of-its-kind statewide consortium that would bring together public and private resources to put New York at the forefront of the artificial intelligence landscape. Under the plan, Ms. Hochul would direct $275 million in state funds toward the building of a center to be jointly used by six of the state’s research institutions, including the State University of New York and the City University of New York. Columbia University, Cornell University, New York University and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute would each contribute $25 million to the project, known as “Empire A.I.” Additional private funding has been secured through the Simons Foundation and from the billionaire Thomas Secunda, who helped found Bloomberg L.P. The initiative’s futuristic focus stands out from many of the governor’s other proposals, which are aimed at combating problems like medical debt, literacy and maternal mortality.

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1crime

Bags of fake Adderall, Xanax pills laced with fentanyl and meth seized in bust

A total of 35 pounds of pills disguised as Adderall and Xanax tablets that actually contained fentanyl and methamphetamine were seized from a makeshift Whitman drug laboratory during a state police bust in late December, according to state police. Andrew Billings, 39, of Plymouth, was arrested during the bust on Dec. 21, 2023. He was arraigned at Plymouth District Court on charges of trafficking methamphetamine and fentanyl, along with the unlawful manufacture of a Class B drug. After months of investigating, the department said officers were able to link Billings to a property on Essex Street and executed a search warrant on that late December Thursday. Troopers found thousands of counterfeit prescription pills, large amounts of white powder, a pharmaceutical grade pill press and other drug paraphernalia at the property, state police said. There were six pounds of fake Adderall tablets that tested to be fentanyl taken from the scene, and 27 pounds of fake Xanax pills and loose powder that was tested to be methamphetamine, police said. A search warrant was also executed on Billings’ SUV, which found 145 grams of blue oxycodone pills, the department said. The Essex Street building had to be condemned after investigators secured the scene and evidence — during the bust, the property was “so badly contaminated with strewn drug material that troopers evacuated the address,” state police said. Inspectors from the United States Postal Service, Homeland Security Investigations, the five agencies within the W.E.B. Major Crimes and Drug Task Force, detectives from Plymouth, Whitman and State Police and other organizations assisted the Norfolk SPDU in the investigation.

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3entertainment

Mass. State Lottery winner: $1 million ticket sold at Everett market and deli

One lucky lottery player just upped their fortune by seven digits after winning a $1 million prize from a ticket they bought at a market and deli in Massachusetts. Someone spent $5 to buy a “HIT $500″ scratch ticket from Kipo’s Market & Deli in Everett and won the $1 million prize. The award, which was claimed Friday, amounts to $650,000 before taxes, according to the Massachusetts State Lottery’s website. The odds of winning $1 million, the highest prize that can be won playing “HIT $500,” are one in 3.78 million. The winner of the $1 million prize was not the only lucky lottery player in the commonwealth this week. On Thursday, another $1 million ticket was sold at a package store in Cheshire. A Market Basket grocery store and a package store in Massachusetts each sold $1 million and $100,000 lottery awards, which were won or claimed on Wednesday. On Tuesday, a $4 million prize and two $1 million awards were claimed in the state. The State Lottery publishes a list online every day of all the winning lottery tickets worth at least $600 sold or claimed in Massachusetts. There were 604 total tickets worth at least $600 sold or claimed Friday, including 15 in Springfield, 17 in Worcester and 61 in Boston.

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4politics

House approves impeachment inquiry into President Biden as Republicans rally behind investigation

There was a time, Rosalynn Carter once confessed, when she dreaded going back to Plains, her tiny Georgia hometown. Actually, she was furious about it. She was enjoying her life as a young sailor’s wife, relishing the freedom and sense of adventure that came from being so far from home. But then, her husband, Jimmy, decided without consulting her that he was quitting the U.S. Navy and moving them back to Plains to take over his family’s peanut business. “I had been self-sufficient and independent from my mother and Jimmy’s mother,” Mrs. Carter, who died on Sunday at the age of 96, recalled several years ago in an interview. “And I knew that if I went home, I was going to have to come back to them.” The anger faded. Eventually, she said, no matter where she was in the world, she was always eager to get home to Plains. But that long-ago conflict turned out to be pivotal: Her husband, who would go on to become the nation’s 39th president, realized she was not just along for the ride. They were partners.

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0business

U.S. Regulators Propose New Online Privacy Safeguards for Children

The Federal Trade Commission on Wednesday proposed sweeping changes to bolster the key federal rule that has protected children’s privacy online, in one of the most significant attempts by the U.S. government to strengthen consumer privacy in more than a decade. The changes are intended to fortify the rules underlying the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998, a law that restricts the online tracking of youngsters by services like social media apps, video game platforms, toy retailers and digital advertising networks. Regulators said the moves would “shift the burden” of online safety from parents to apps and other digital services while curbing how platforms may use and monetize children’s data. The proposed changes would require certain online services to turn off targeted advertising by default for children under 13. They would prohibit the online services from using personal details like a child’s cellphone number to induce youngsters to stay on their platforms longer. That means online services would no longer be able to use personal data to bombard young children with push notifications. The proposed updates would also strengthen security requirements for online services that collect children’s data as well as limit the length of time online services could keep that information. And they would limit the collection of student data by learning apps and other educational-tech providers, by allowing schools to consent to the collection of children’s personal details only for educational purposes, not commercial purposes.

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4politics

NYU Langone Fired Him for His Posts on the Mideast War. Hes Suing.

A prominent doctor is suing NYU Langone Health after he was fired as director of its cancer center over his social media postings about the Israel-Hamas war. The lawsuit could propel NYU Langone — a major New York hospital — into the center of a national debate over how much power private institutions have to fire employees over their online postings. Laws protecting employees from being fired for what they say or do outside of the office vary widely by state. In New York, the law is somewhat unclear, lawyers say. But as tensions and protests escalate over the violence in the Middle East, the issue of what sort of speech is protected or acceptable has roiled American businesses and campuses. The wrongful termination lawsuit was brought by Dr. Benjamin Neel, a cancer biologist whose laboratory at NYU Langone conducts research on breast cancer, ovarian cancer and treatments for leukemia. Before he was fired, Dr. Neel had reposted a variety of anti-Hamas political cartoons, including two with offensive caricatures of Arab people, and messages on the social media platform X, like one that appeared to question the extent of the death toll in Gaza from Israel’s relentless bombing campaign. He is far from the first person to lose his job over his public reactions to Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack on Israel, or Israel’s subsequent airstrikes and invasion of Gaza. Journalists have lost jobs, and law students have had job offers rescinded. Palestine Legal, an advocacy group, says it has received over 80 requests since Oct. 7 for help over people’s firings. Multiple doctors have also lost their jobs or been suspended for statements about the war. At Johns Hopkins Hospital, a pediatric cardiologist was placed on leave after being accused of calling Palestinians “bloodthirsty morally depraved animals” in online postings, according to a news report. He later wrote his colleagues an apology for what he said were “regrettable, hurtful messages,” according to a local news report. An emergency room doctor at Lenox Hill Hospital, on the Upper East Side, was fired after being accused of posting “Zionist settlers getting a taste of their own medicine” following the Oct. 7 attacks. The doctor declined to comment. Dr. Neel is one of two doctors whom NYU Langone has removed for online postings since the war began last month. The first, Dr. Zaki Masoud, a trainee at NYU Langone’s hospital in Mineola, Long Island, was “removed from service,” according to the hospital, after he was accused of posting a message on Instagram in defense of the Hamas attack. An online petition calling on the hospital to reverse course and reinstate Dr. Masoud has garnered 89,000 signatures. He could not be reached for comment. Dr. Neel’s lawsuit, filed last week in State Supreme Court in Manhattan, claims that NYU Langone feared a backlash after firing Dr. Masoud and so decided to fire Dr. Neel as well — in an “ill-considered plan to feign the appearance of even-handedness.” Dr. Neel claims that an executive vice president at the hospital told Dr. Neel that his online posts were “making it hard” to justify firing others, like Dr. Masoud. “Dr. Neel was offered up as a sacrificial lamb,” the suit claims. Most of the social media posts at issue were reposts of political cartoons, according to the lawsuit. One of the cartoons takes aim at western defenders of Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack on Israel. The cartoon shows a protest in which demonstrators are holding aloft signs justifying torture and rape. Another cartoon questions whether negotiating a two-state solution is viable with Hamas in power. Dr. Neel also shared a post questioning the accuracy of a list of approximately 7,000 people that the Hamas-run Health ministry in Gaza said had been killed during Israel’s bombing campaign. Dr. Neel continues to be a tenured professor at NYU Langone Health and to oversee a laboratory, but he was terminated from his job as director of the hospital’s Perlmutter Cancer Center — resulting in his hospital pay being slashed by about two-thirds, his lawyer, Milton Williams, said. Dr. Neel’s research has focused on the communication between healthy cells and “how this is disrupted in cancer,” his lawyer said. As director of the cancer center, he oversaw more than 1,000 employees, according to his lawyer. The lawsuit claims that Dr. Neel was told his social media posts were deemed to be an “intentional breach” of NYU Langone’s Code of Conduct and Social Media Policy and that he failed to meet “the standards expected of a physician in a leadership role” and had hurt the hospital’s reputation. “Several times since last month, we reminded all employees of our high standards, as well as our Code of Conduct and Social Media Policy,” NYU Langone said in a statement responding to the lawsuit. “Nonetheless, Dr. Ben Neel, as a leader at our institution, disregarded these standards in a series of public social media posts and later locked his Twitter/X account. NYU Langone stands by our decision and looks forward to defending it in court.” Dr. Neel’s lawsuit claims that support for Israel is a component of his Jewish identity. NYU Langone’s decision to punish him for his online posts amounts to religious discrimination, the lawsuit claims. In addition to accusing NYU Langone of discrimination, the lawsuit also claims that New York law protects workers from being fired for social media outside of work hours — a debatable proposition. A few states, such as Connecticut, have restricted the ability of employers to fire employees for their opinions or speech. New York’s protections for workers are more limited, but one safeguard is a law that prohibits employers from firing people for “legal recreational activities.” The law, which began as a bill intended to protect cigarette smokers from being fired for tobacco use, ended up providing broader protection. The law cites a few examples of legal recreational activities: sports, hobbies, exercise, reading, watching television. But recreation is “highly subjective,” said an appellate lawyer, Joseph Pace, who has written about the issue, and New York courts have said little about online activities. “At the moment, it’s an open question whether blogging and tweeting will be deemed protected ‘recreational activity,’” Mr. Pace wrote in an email. The lawsuit could put NYU Langone under the microscope in the widening debate. Dr. Neel’s court filings include several emails that expressed pro-Israel opinions sent among top NYU Langone officials denigrating other universities across the country for how they responded to protests and student demands related to the war. In one email, a top hospital official wrote something insulting about the president of Harvard. In another email, Dr. Robert Grossman, the longtime chief executive of the hospital, called Stanford a piece of excrement and said that the University of Pennsylvania was “similarly feculent.” Dr. Grossman — who is such a significant figure at the hospital that New York University’s medical school is named after him — also seemed to suggest that N.Y.U. students who protested against Israel should face punishment. “They should take away their scholarships,” Dr. Grossman wrote in a message to Dr. Neel in October. Dr. Neel’s lawyer, Mr. Williams, said that his client’s online postings were “tepid” compared to views some hospital leaders shared in their emails to one another. “Grossman was suggesting they take away scholarships, when all Ben was doing was challenging those who celebrate the deaths of innocent Israeli citizens,” he said. In a statement, NYU Langone said Dr. Neel’s decision to share those emails was just him “lashing out for being held accountable.” “The emails referenced in the suit were among colleagues and Dr. Neel is now making them public in an effort to pressure NYU Langone,” the statement said.

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5science

How Astronomers Are Saving Astronomy From Satellites For Now

In December 2020, astronomers documented a burst of highly energetic light in one of the most distant galaxies ever observed. But less than a year later, the paper’s claims lay in limbo. Other scientists said it had merely been a passing satellite. “I was a bit sad that the gamma ray burst turned out to be just an artificial satellite,” said Krzysztof Kamiński, an astronomer at the Astronomical Observatory Institute in Poland who said he matched the position, time and brightness of the discovery to an orbiting spacecraft. Linhua Jiang, an astronomer at Peking University in Beijing who led the original finding, said his team stood by their work, adding that the probability of a satellite passing directly in front of the distant galaxy at exactly the right moment was minuscule at best. The dispute likely will not be the last time that scientists argue over whether a passing satellite is being mistaken for an astronomical discovery.

0d53d3d5754b8564575a37d9dce8f72b

2culture

The Envy Office: Can Instagrammable Design Lure Young Workers Back?

Inside the “blueberry muffin” conference room, the walls are, naturally, painted blue. Not just any blue — it’s the calming color you might find a baby’s bedroom, what the paint can refers to as “sea to shining sea.” Anchoring the room is a table, red and oblong, adorned with fake succulents in purple pots. Nearby is the “fruity” conference room, with “razzle dazzle” red walls and vintage chairs upholstered in yellow pineapple printed cloth. Down the hallway is “maple waffle,” the room where the company holds its more serious meetings with investors. There, the walls are a subdued shade of brown. This is the office of the cereal brand Magic Spoon, which was introduced in 2019 and, starting last year, called its roughly 50 employees back to in-person work, at least two days a week. At Magic Spoon’s SoHo space, which was designed right around the company’s return-to-office push, the conference rooms are meant to feel like cereal boxes. “One of our core company values is, ‘Be a Froot Loop in a world of Cheerios,’” said Greg Sewitz, a Magic Spoon co-founder. “We wanted the office to underline that.”

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7weather

Storm to miss most of New England, but we wont escape a bitterly cold weekend

Boston police arrested one person Sunday afternoon after four people were stabbed at a DoubleTree hotel in Dorchester, according to police. The victims were taken to a hospital and are still being evaluated, but their wounds are believed to be non-life-threatening, a Boston police spokesperson said. Read more: Man found stabbed on Gove Street in Boston dies at hospital Officers found the victims at the hotel after they were called to 240 Mount Vernon St. for a report of a stabbing a little after 4:20 p.m. Sunday, police said. They also took a suspect into custody, but it is unclear if that person has been charged in connection with the stabbing. Everyone involved was an adult, police said. Authorities have not identified the suspect or the victims. Read more: Boston police identify teen found stabbed to death in alley as Angel Vega No further information about the stabbing has been released. Hilton Hotels, which owns and operates DoubleTree hotels, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Sunday. There have been at least two fatal stabbings in Boston in the last few weeks. On Dec. 11, 18-year-old Dorchester resident Angel Vega was found stabbed to death in an alleyway in Roslindale. On Friday, a man who has not yet been identified died of stab wounds after being found by police in East Boston.

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4politics

Editorial: Basic incomes basic question who will pay?

There were an estimated 249 million cases of malaria around the globe last year, the World Health Organization said on Thursday, significantly more than before the Covid-19 pandemic and an increase of five million over 2021. Malaria remains a top killer of children. Those new cases were concentrated in just five countries: Pakistan, Nigeria, Uganda, Ethiopia and Papua-New Guinea. Climate change was a direct contributor in three of them, said Dr. Daniel Ngamije, who directs the W.H.O. malaria program. In July 2022, massive flooding left more than a third of Pakistan underwater and displaced 33 million people. An explosion of mosquitoes soon followed. The country reported 3.1 million confirmed cases of malaria that year, compared with 275,000 the year before, with a fivefold increase in the rate of transmission. “With the very heavy monsoons we expected these consequences, but not up to this magnitude,” said Dr. Muhammad Mukhtar, director of Pakistan’s national malaria control program.

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1crime

2 of 7 victims in Lynn shooting now dead, DA says

WE’VE SEEN ACROSS OUR REGION. ONE AMBULANCE WE HAVE PROBABLY SIX VICTIMS DOWN HERE. THE 911 CALLS COMING IN AROUND 220 THIS MORNING. BLACK SUV CAME UP, FIRED ROUNDS, TOOK OFF A SHOOTING ON ESSEX STREET WHERE PEOPLE WERE CELEBRATING. A FRIEND HEADING OFF TO COLLEGE. NOW, THIS STUFF IS UNFORTUNATE. I DIDN’T EXPECT IT TO HAPPEN. I NEVER THOUGHT I WOULD GET THAT CALL. HIS BROTHER SAYING ABRAHAM DIAZ IS ONE OF THE SEVEN PEOPLE SHOT. THE 25 YEAR OLD DIDN’T SURVIVE. HE’LL GO TO THINGS LIKE THIS TO SHOW SUPPORT AND LOVE AND THAT’S WHAT THAT’S WHAT HE’S ALL ABOUT. THE SIX OTHERS WERE RUSHED TO THE HOSPITAL. TWO IN CRITICAL CONDITION. THERE’S MULTIPLE PEOPLE THAT WE KNOW PERSONALLY THAT WE HANG OUT WITH AND LAUGH WITH THAT ARE RIGHT NOW IN THE HOSPITAL FIGHTING FOR THEIR LIVES. NOW INVESTIGATORS ARE WORKING TO TRACK DOWN WHOEVER PULLED THE TRIGGER, SAYING VIOLENCE LIKE THIS ISN’T UNIQUE TO. LYNN. IT’S NOT ONLY A PROBLEM IN OUR COMMUNITY, BUT IT’S BEEN A PROBLEM IN MANY URBAN COMMUNITIES LAST WEEKEND IN BOSTON, TWO LARGE BRAWLS INVOLVING TEENS AND KIDS AND A SHOOTING AT THE CARIBBEAN FESTIVAL THAT LEFT EIGHT HURT ENDED WITH 17 PEOPLE ARRESTED, 14 OF WHOM ARE MINORS. NOW, AS LYNN POLICE INVESTIGATE, SOME WHO LIVE HERE ARE QUESTIONING HOW SAFE ARE OUR COMMUNITIES. I HAVE A TWO AND A HALF YEAR OLD BROTHER. I’M STARTING TO THINK LIKE AS A IS THIS A GOOD PLACE TO RAISE HIM HERE? YOU KNOW, IT’S GETTING A LITTLE VIOLENT. LYNN POLICE SAY THEY BELIEVE THIS SHOOTING WAS TARGETED. THEY SAY IT’LL TAKE THE WORK OF POLICE AS WELL AS THE HELP OF THE COMMUNITY TO SOLVE THI Advertisement 2 of 7 victims in Lynn shooting now dead, district attorney says Share Copy Link Copy Another man is dead in connection with a shooting that happened early Saturday morning in Lynn, Massachusetts.Authorities announced Sunday that 21-year-old Jandriel Heredia, of Revere, died of the injuries he suffered in the Essex Street shooting that had already claimed the life of 25-year-old Abraham Diaz.The shooting, which injured a total of seven people, was first reported to Lynn police at about 2:20 a.m. Saturday.The Essex County District Attorney's Office said that as of Sunday night, there is no new information as to the condition of the five other shooting victims. "This is a terrible act of violence," Essex County District Attorney Paul Tucker said. "We do not believe this was a random act of violence."Tucker said shots were fired from a vehicle."They were having some type of a social gathering," the district attorney said. "This violence was put upon them in a terrible way.""The people who did this are not in custody, and we want to make sure we do get them into custody," Tucker added. "I just can't believe it happened," said Brian Diaz, brother of Abraham Diaz. "I'm still trying to process it.""My brother was a good kid," Brian Diaz added. "He was just like me, giving back to kids, looking out for kids, and ... just wanted to make sure everyone was all right."Brian said Abraham was from Lynn. He said his brother was with a group celebrating a friend who was heading off to college. "This is absolutely outrageous to have this level of violence happen on our streets and in our neighborhood," Lynn Mayor Jared Nicholson said at a news conference on Saturday morning. "It's horrifying.""What everyone experienced in this street and neighborhood, shouldn't happen," Nicholson said.Several multi-unit residential homes were located in the area of the shooting. "We believe this incident was a targeted attack," Lynn police Chief Christopher Reddy said. "We are committed to holding those accountable responsible for this senseless act of violence."On Sunday, Tucker and Reddy said that a man was fatally shot on Lincoln Street shortly after 11 p.m. Saturday. Authorities said that based on their initial investigation, the shooting is not believed to be a random act of violence.Anyone with any information about the shootings is asked to contact Lynn police at 781-595-2000 or by texting a tip to 847411 (TIP411).The shootings were being investigated by the Essex County District Attorney’s Office State Police Detective Unit and detectives from the Lynn Police Department. Previous coverage:

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4politics

Land taken from Boston homeowners in 1970s now being used to ease housing crisis

Decades after plans to build a new highway through Roxbury and Jamaica Plain resulted in the destruction of hundreds of homes, three developers are on their way to adding more than 1,400 affordable homes to the neighborhood. At 250 Centre St., 110 new mixed-income apartments were recently completed, the most recent milestone 15 years in the making. Hundreds more will be added over the next few years.

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6sports

Longmeadow wrestling escapes Westfield with narrow victory, 42-39

WESTFIELD – The Westfield High School wrestling team finally met its match. In an emotionally-charged matchup, Longmeadow escaped Westfield with a narrow 42-39 victory. Although it was the first league loss of the season for the Bombers, they still managed to clinch a share of the Valley Wheel league title. Ludlow won the league title a year ago.

a553f0096e54fccc246c1092d3116ec9

6sports

Connecticut Sun release 2024 schedule, opponent for TD Garden game

On Monday, the Connecticut Sun announced their 40-game 2024 schedule, which includes the first-ever WNBA regular season game to be played in Boston against the Los Angeles Sparks on Aug. 20 at 7 p.m. at TD Garden. The Sun open their season on May 14 versus the Indiana Fever at Mohegan Sun Arena, with tip-off scheduled for 8 p.m. They conclude the season at home against the Chicago Sky on Sept. 19 at 7 p.m. Connecticut is coming off a franchise record 27 wins and an appearance in the WNBA semifinals, where it lost to the New York Liberty. The Sun have reached the WNBA semifinals each of the past five seasons. First-year head coach Stephanie White was named 2023 Coach of the Year, forward Alyssa Thomas finished second in the MVP voting, and 2022 Sixth Player of the Year Brionna Jones is set to return after undergoing Achilles surgery in June. The Sun will play their first-ever game in an NBA stadium in Boston on Aug. 20. “TD Garden executives were so excited about it,” team president Jen Rizzotti told MassLive on Thursday. “It just felt like at that point – once we had support from them and the Celtics – it was like, let’s move forward and find a way to make this happen. “We felt like this is a great market for us. People care about basketball here, we feel like we’re New England’s WNBA team, so why not expand?” Connecticut forward Brionna Jones couldn’t agree more. “To play in a place that has such a great tradition of success,” Jones said. “Showing the WNBA to young girls from this area, creating a fanbase, not just from Connecticut, but WNBA fans.” After All-Star weekend on July 19-20, the Sun won’t return to the court until Aug. 16 due to the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics. Notable dates on the schedule include home games against the Liberty on June 8 at 1 p.m. and July 10 at 11 a.m. There’s also a matchup against the two-time defending WNBA Champion Las Vegas Aces on Sept. 6 at 7:30 p.m. The Sun will also play in five qualifying games for the Commissioner’s Cup (in-season tournament) from June 2-10, a decrease from 10 last season. The championship will be held on June 25, and $500,000 in prize money will be distributed.

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3entertainment

Captain America Star Chris Evans Marries Girlfriend Alba Baptista In An Intimate Ceremony

Boston: Marvel superhero and Captain America actor, Chris Evans, has reportedly tied the knot with his girlfriend, Alba Baptista, in a private wedding ceremony. The 42-year-old actor and his 26-year-old Portuguese actress partner kept their special day under wraps, with the wedding allegedly followed by a close-knit celebration which included Evans’ Marvel co-stars, Robert Downey Jr. and Chris Hemsworth. A source confirmed the nuptials to Page Six and revealed that the wedding was organized at the duo’s Boston home with only the closest family members and friends in attendance. To preserve the privacy of the event, guests were reportedly asked to sign non-disclosure agreements and to surrender their phones, though official confirmation from the happy couple has yet to appear. Chris Evans’ wedding leaked pics

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1crime

Judge dismisses lawsuit over Holdens noncompliance with housing supply law

A judge has dismissed a lawsuit against the town of Holden over its decision not to comply with a state law meant to increase the housing supply in communities served by the MBTA. The lawsuit, filed in August by the Central Massachusetts Housing Alliance and two local residents, claimed that by not following the 2021 MBTA Communities Act, Holden was exacerbating the regional housing shortage. However, last week, Judge Daniel Wrenn wrote in a decision that the plaintiffs had failed to demonstrate the harm Holden’s noncompliance had caused. “The complaint makes clear that CMHA and (Westborough resident Lydiana) Morales are overburdened by a lack of affordable housing in Massachusetts,” Wrenn wrote in his decision. “But the complaint contains no allegations connecting the town’s failure to comply with (the law) to any harm or injury specific to CMHA and Morales. Rather, CMHA and Morales allege a general, indirect harm that they, like many other individuals and organizations across Massachusetts, suffer from the lack of affordable housing in the state.” The MBTA Communities Act requires cities and towns served by the transit agency have at least one zoning district “of reasonable size” where multi-family housing is allowed within a half-mile of a commuter rail, subway or bus station or ferry terminal. While Holden does not contain any transit stations, it borders Worcester, which does, so it is still subject to the law. The 177 municipalities affected by the law were required to submit an action plan to the state in January. Holden failed to do so. Town officials have since said they will not follow the law, leaving them ineligible for certain state funding opportunities. Town Manager Peter Lukes said in a statement Monday that the town has not yet decided whether it will follow the law. “We have received dozens of calls from municipal leaders and concerned residents from across the state regarding participation in the MBTA Communities program,” he said. “We have not been able to respond due to the pending litigation, but now that it is resolved at this stage, Holden is prepared to advise other municipalities of our stand and share our legal rationale behind these decisions. In the lawsuit, which named the town, its Board of Selectmen, and Lukes as defendants, CMHA alleged that Holden’s noncompliance led to strained resources at the organization, impairing its ability to follow its mission. Morales said in the lawsuit that she and her child left their Worcester apartment in October 2022 because she could not afford the rent, and moved into a shelter in Westborough. She had been unable to find affordable housing since then, and said Holden’s decision not to allow more housing to be built made her search harder. Holden homeowner Jennifer Lish, the other plaintiff in the lawsuit, said that the town’s decision not to comply hurt her and other residents because they would lose out on the benefits of programs which the town would no longer be able to access. Read more: Opposing groups with same name cause confusion in Newton housing debate Since the filing of the lawsuit, the state has increased the penalties for communities which do not follow the law, adding a variety of new grant programs to the list which those communities will be ineligible for. Wrenn wrote in his decision that Morales had experienced only a general harm, and that Holden was only one of many towns where she would consider living. While Lish is a Holden resident, Wrenn wrote that her concerns that residents of the town would miss out on “grant eligibility, increased housing infrastructure, a larger and more diverse population and a greater tax base” were similarly a general harm, not a specific injury to Lish. Lukes called the dismissal “a huge win” for Holden. “The CMHA sent out press releases to every media outlet in the state over a week prior to the town receiving notice that the action was even filed in the court. It appeared that the entire purpose of this frivolous lawsuit was to intimidate and embarrass Holden through the CMHA’s false narrative,” he said. “We were clearly not intimidated and frankly the only people who should be embarrassed are the ones who brought this inappropriate legal action and wasted everyone’s time.” Lawyers for Civil Rights, which was representing CMHA in the lawsuit, said in a statement that they expect to appeal Wrenn’s decision. “We are disappointed with the judge’s decision to dismiss the case on purely procedural grounds,” they said. “In the meantime, as the case proceeds, Holden is still required to comply with the law.”

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3entertainment

Review: Boston's Long Wait for THE BAND'S VISIT Rewarded With Great Production

More than three years after its national tour – set to play Boston’s Citizens Bank Opera House in March 2020 – was shut down by the pandemic, “The Band’s Visit” is finally onstage in Boston in the form of a flawless co-production by the Huntington and SpeakEasy Stage, at the Huntington Theatre through December 17. Based on the 2007 Israeli film of the same name, “The Band’s Visit” premiered off-Broadway at the Atlantic Theater Company in December 2016 before opening at Broadway’s Ethel Barrymore Theatre in November of the following year. With music and lyrics by David Yazbek and book by Itamar Moses, the show, based on a screenplay by Eran Kolirin, went on to win 10 Tony Awards in 2018, including Best Musical, Best Book of a Musical, and Best Original Score, as well as a Daytime Emmy Award and the 2019 Grammy for Best Musical Theater Album. In Moses’ moving book, about a border crossing mix-up that strands the Alexandria Ceremonial Police Orchestra in a remote Israeli village with no bus until the next day, “The Band’s Visit,” set in the Negev Desert in 1996, offers a captivating and wistful look at what unfolds when the residents of the small community take in the Egyptian travelers and find their lives intertwining. Adroitly directed by Paul Daigneault, founding artistic director at SpeakEasy Stage, the production features a gifted cast anchored by Brian Thomas Abraham as the reserved Colonel Tewfiq Zakaria, whose quiet, commanding presence masks a wounded soul, and Jennifer Apple, who played Anna on the show’s first national tour, as the complex café owner Dina, who is both charming and fierce. Tewfiq and Dina are very different people but the connection they make during their brief encounter is very real. This is demonstrated throughout by David Yazbek’s magnificent score, which weaves wondrously through the show like the finest gossamer. Indeed, there are several songs in the 90-minute one-act musical that will likely live forever in the hearts and minds of its audiences. Chief among these is the exquisitely evocative “Omar Sharif,” in which Dina, her heart beginning to tug toward Tewfiq, shares memories of the way she once romanticized Egyptian culture. Complementing Abraham and Apple are a first-rate company of actors, among whom are several local favorites including Marianna Bassham as Iris, a new mother likely afflicted with severe postpartum depression; Robert Saoud as Iris’s widowed father, Avrum; Jared Troilo as her loyal, loving husband, Itzik; Josephine Moshiri Elwood as a village wallflower, Julia; Jessi Garlick as the tremulous Papi; and Fady Demian as Papi’s friend, the more confident Zelger. Others more than delivering on this show’s promise include Kareem Elsamadicy as the socially awkward trumpeter who turns to Chet Baker’s seminal recording of “My Funny Valentine” each and every time he is called upon to introduce himself to a woman. Emily Qualmann is terrific, too, as Zelger’s girlfriend, the you’d-better-not-get-in-her-way Anna. And Noah Kieserman, achingly effective as the silent Telephone Guy, comes alive with hope and promise when the payphone finally rings for him, breaking through his single-minded focus to take center stage for the plaintive ballad “Answer Me,” which has other ensemble members chiming in with their own private wishes and dreams. This production also features a very talented nine-member band of musicians, under the direction of José Delgado, and well done, culturally representative choreography by Daniel Pelzig, which even includes some very entertaining roller-rink footwork to Cher’s “Believe.” Miranda Kau Giurleo’s well-turned-out costumes capture the characters and the period, while Wilson Chin and Jimmy Stubbs’ cleverly multi-purpose scenic design is shown off to full advantage by Aja M. Jackson’s mood-setting lighting design. And while this is a story about Egyptians and Israelis getting along with each other, that often-charged topic is handled with great care here. The scent of apprehensiveness is definitely in the air at the outset, but no sides are taken and sensitivity and human kindness win the day. Indeed, the statement “It wasn’t very important,” describing the story at both the beginning and the end, is a droll reminder that this is not a show about world events. It’s about the need to belong, to matter, and, if we are lucky, to be loved for who we are. Photo caption: Jennifer Apple and Brian Thomas Abraham in a scene from “The Band’s Visit,” a co-production of the Huntington and SpeakEasy Stage Company. Photo by T. Charles Erickson.

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2culture

Religion Notes: Dec. 14, 2023

Thrift shop Springfield - The thrift shop at St. Gregory Armenian Church, 135 Goodwin St., in the Indian Orchard section, is open Saturdays from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. For more information, go online to saintgregoryarmenianchurch.org. Church events Sunderland – First Congregational Church of Sunderland, 91 S. Main St., Serendipity Shop is open on Saturdays, from 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. with items for sale at bargain prices. Weekly Sunday church service is offered at 11 a.m. in-person or on Zoom. Email scc1717@wordpress.com or visit the church on Facebook for more information. Upcoming church events Agawam - Agawam Congregational Church members and friends are collecting warm, winter mittens, gloves, scarves, and hats, either knitted, crocheted, or purchased, to be hung on a “Mitten Tree” in the Narthex of the church. Collected items of sizes for children and adults will be donated to local, area charities which can distribute the items to those in need. Already, boxes and bags of new items, others crafted with care and concern, are overflowing all around, the Tree. The Mitten Tree is just one of the December missions of the church’s Missionary Committee. For more information, contact the church at 413-786-7111 or office@agawamcong.com. On Sunday, Dec. 17, at 9:30 a.m., the Alice Moore Golden Bell Choir will begin ringing some favorite Christmas carols before the 10 a.m. church service. The Dutch handbells were a gift of longtime, former church member Alice Moore who had been a very active member of the church before her passing. The bells are rung only several special times during the course of a year. The pink Advent candle of Joy will be lit during the church service. All are invited to the special Advent Sunday. On Sunday, Dec. 24, Agawam Congregational Church will hold its Christmas Eve service at 10 p.m. with special lighting of the Sanctuary. All are invited to attend. The church is located at 745 Main St. Polish food sale Holyoke – Our Lady of the Cross Parish will be selling frozen pierogi, golumbki and kapusta on Saturday Dec. 16 from 2 to 4 p.m. The food sale will take place in the vestibule of the church. Cabbage, apple and potato/cheese pierogi will be on sale for $10 a dozen. Quarts of kapusta will be available for $5 and golumbki will be sold for $3.50 each. Call the parish office at 413-532-5661 for more information. The church is located on Holy Cross Ave. Frozen Polish food sale Springfield – There will be a frozen Polish food sale (pierogi, golabki, kapusta) at Immaculate Conception Church Hall, 25 Parker St. in the Indian Orchard section on Saturday, Dec. 16 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Also call Jane Wurszt at 413-543-2835 to arrange a different time. All are welcome to come and purchase. Choral music concert Granville – Novi Cantori of Greater Springfield presents “There’s Still My Joy,” choral music to inspire hope in the dark of winter on Dec. 17, 2 p.m. at Granville Federated Church, 16 Granby Road in Granville. Admission is by freewill offering. SJCC briefing Springfield – The Springfield Jewish Community center will present a briefing by scholar-in-residence Richard Friedman on Monday, Dec. 18 at 6 p.m. “The Jewish Community’s Challenges: A Briefing for the Springfield Community” will be the topic of Friedman’s talk, which will take place at 6 p.m. in the auditorium at the JCC, located at 1160 Dickinson St. Access is from the entrance off Converse Street, under the green awning. The event is free, but registration is required, through the website at springfieldjcc.org or by calling 413-739-4715. Christmas Eve services Springfield - Foster Memorial Church will have worship services on Christmas Eve, Dec. 24, at 10 a.m. and 7 p.m. The morning service will include a special play, and childcare will be provided. The evening service will focus on lessons and carols. They will end this service with the lighting of candles and singing “Silent Night.” Both services are for all ages, and everyone is welcome. The church is located 1791 Wilbraham Road, in the Sixteen Acres section. Christmas Eve service Easthampton – Easthampton Congregational Church, 112 Main St will hold it Christmas Eve Candlelight Service at 5:30 p.m., Dec. 24. All are welcome. Upcoming church trips Springfield - St. Catherine of Siena presents a bus trip to see the Cher Show at the Bushnell on March 10, with brunch at Mill on the River. Call Betty for details, 413-896-8801. Sunday services Agawam - Agawam Congregational Church, 745 Main St., invites the community to Sunday morning services at 10 a.m. On the first Sunday of every month communion is served with bread and grape juice or with individually packaged wafer and grape juice. Following all Sunday services, there is a Friendship gathering in the church hall. Coffee, tea, and water are served along with various goodies and packaged treats. Juice is, also, available, especially, for children in attendance. Children can, also, visit the “Mural Room” where many animals are painted floor to ceiling on an entire wall. The church is handicapped accessible with a large parking lot. If anyone may need a ride or assistance, contact the church at 413-786-7111 or email office@agawamcong.com. Additional adoration times Agawam – St. John the Evangelist Church, 833 Main St. will offer weekly adoration ceremonies on Wednesdays between noon and 5:30 p.m. The Holy Mass takes place at 6 p.m. Lawn signs are available for Agawam residents announcing the Year of the Eucharist. Contact the parish office to obtain one, 413-786-8105, ext. 101. Free weekly Veterans lunch Holyoke – Community Roots Neighborhood Services offers a free hot lunch for Veterans and their adult immediate family (Parents or spouse). The lunches are every Thursday at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, 485 Appleton St. Questions? Email Gina Nelson at crnsholyoke@gmail.com.

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4politics

War or No War, Many Older Ukrainians Want to Stay Put

They sit in ones and twos in half-destroyed homes. They shelter in musty basements marked in chalk with “people underground” — a message to whichever troops happen to be fighting that day. They venture out to visit cemeteries and reminisce about any time other than now. Ukraine’s elderly are often the only people who remain along the country’s hundreds of miles of front line. Some waited their entire lives to enjoy their twilight years, only to have been left in a purgatory of loneliness. Homes built with their own hands are now crumbling walls and blown-out windows, with framed photographs of loved ones living far away. Some people have already buried their children, and their only wish is to stay close so they can be buried next to them. But it does not always work out that way. “I’ve lived through two wars,” said Iraida Kurylo, 83, whose hands shook as she recalled her mother screaming when her father was killed in World War II.

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2culture

See Billerica couples gloriously over-the-top holiday display

In fact, Ed was still hospitalized when Cindy’s father, James Senior, lost his battle with Alzheimer’s disease at his Pepperell home in February 2022. This past summer, Ed had just returned to work following further foot surgery when the couple’s 36-year-old daughter, Courtnie, died unexpectedly. The date, Aug. 30, was Cindy’s birthday. Their difficulties began in December 2021, when Ed was hospitalized for COVID-19 just weeks after switching on that season’s massive display. During the four-month ordeal, he received last rites twice while on a ventilator battling raging fevers, two bouts of pneumonia, collapsed lungs, complications from diabetic ketoacidosis, and blood clots requiring the amputation of half his right foot. BILLERICA — Given their recent hardships, anyone would understand if Ed and Cindy Lossman decided to take a break from the months-long task of decorating their Billerica home for the holidays in their gloriously over-the-top trademark style. Advertisement Despite the couple’s unabated grief, they never considered dimming the lights on the tradition that has become a local legend. Instead, this year’s presentation is dedicated in memory of Courtnie, whom they call their “angel above.” “I’m not taking Christmas away, on top of everything else,” Cindy insisted. “Not from my grandchildren or from anyone.” For the 29th year, Lights at the Lossmans is shimmering at 26 Biscayne Drive in Billerica through Dec. 31. The spectacle — which began innocently enough with outdoor blow molds of Mickey and Minnie Mouse — now takes four months to organize with endless twinkling lights, light-up Santas, elves, gingerbread men, angels, snowmen, trees, wreaths, snowflakes, candy canes, brightly wrapped presents, various Christmas villages, and garland galore. And that’s just inside. The festive signs and lights at the Lossmans' Christmas display. Josh Reynolds for The Boston Globe The winter wonderland continues on the front and side lawns with reindeer pulling Santa’s sled, an army of toy soldiers lining the steps, an animated Ferris wheel, and a scene from “A Christmas Story” depicting a boy with his tongue frozen to a pole. The only understated aspect of the dazzling array is a pair of white wicker seats on the front porch where the Lossmans enjoy watching visitors react with glee or become stunned into silence. Advertisement “I absolutely love the kids, but I also love the adults who act like kids,” said Cindy, noting that a parade of party buses and vans from senior housing communities visit almost nightly. Yet the real magic takes place just outside the display, where a donation box has discreetly united visitors in the true spirit of the holidays for the past decade. At first, however, Cindy said she was hesitant to incorporate even an optional fund-raising component into the free event. “Christmas is supposed to be fun. So many people can hardly afford gifts, and I didn’t want anyone to feel bad or think they had to donate,” she said. But after adding a large quantity of decorations from a Tewksbury family who had concluded their own decorating ritual, unsolicited donations began appearing. “I’d wake up and a pile of canned goods would be on the front steps,” Ed said. “People just assumed we were collecting for the food pantry.” The interior of the Lossmans' home is just as decked out as the outside. Josh Reynolds for The Boston Globe The Lossmans improved on the idea, using their annual festivities to raise spirits, funds, and awareness for local residents and causes. Past beneficiaries include Nathan Casella, a Billerica boy fighting Stage 4 Hodgkin’s lymphoma; Reece Zink, born with a rare genetic condition; the family of Tim Oliveri, a lifelong Billerica resident who succumbed to pancreatic cancer at age 48; and the Longo family of Chelmsford when Mike, a father of three young children, relapsed into Stage 4 non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Advertisement This year, the Lossmans’ labor of love is dedicated to the Marcus family of Saugus, for whom $42,282 has been raised to date from more than 500 donors toward a $100,000 goal on GoFundMe. After being diagnosed with melanoma in 2016, Larry Marcus endured multiple remissions and recurrences before succumbing to brain cancer on Nov. 27. His wife, Suzanne, is a stay-at-home mom for their 6-year-old son, Cameron, and 3-year-old twin daughters, Charlie and Sky. Suzanne Marcus said she is “speechless” that a couple who learned of her family’s heartbreak through their shared friend, Melissa Geraci of Tewksbury, is demonstrating such uncommon compassion and generosity. “I wish this wasn’t happening and I didn’t need the help, but it’s comforting to know there’s a community behind you and that people really do care,” Marcus said. “I’m humbled and very appreciative. I can’t wait to meet [the Lossmans] and give them the biggest hug of my life.” Geraci, who organized the GoFundMe campaign benefiting the Marcus family, became the beneficiary of last year’s fund-raising efforts at Lights at the Lossmans when Cindy discovered her family’s GoFundMe online. That campaign raised more than $10,200 after Geraci’s paid leave through her teaching job ran out while caring for her twin sons, Matthew and Andrew, who each weighed 2 pounds when born 15 weeks early on Oct. 28, 2022. Advertisement “Because of the GoFundMe and the Lossmans, I was able to focus on my babies with less financial stress,” said Geraci, noting her wish to pay their kindness forward. “The fact that Cindy and Ed have their own tragedies, but are still helping other people, speaks a lot to who they are.” Lauren Connolly and her daughter Paige, 4, viewed one of the many Christmas displays at the Lossmans’ home in Billerica. Josh Reynolds for The Boston Globe The Lossmans, who experienced the power of good will firsthand when a friend launched a GoFundMe on their behalf during Ed’s hospitalization, said they are firmly committed to the circle of giving while delighting visitors with continuous improvements. “I’ve still got stuff coming in the mail that you don’t know about, hon,” Cindy told Ed. He looked down and shook his head slowly while telling a visitor, “I don’t look at the checkbook. I don’t want to know.” “Just like I don’t look at the electric bill,” Cindy replied. “I guess we’re in it for the long haul,” Ed said with an exaggerated sigh. “I couldn’t afford the moving trucks.” The Lights at the Lossmans Christmas display also raises funds to help local families in need. Josh Reynolds for The Boston Globe For more information about Lights at the Lossmans, including display hours, Santa’s schedule of visits, weather-related cancellations, and photos, visit lightsatthelossmans.com, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, or YouTube. Cindy Cantrell may be reached at cindycantrell20@gmail.com.

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3entertainment

How to watch part 1 of the reunion episode of Southern Charm, stream for free (S9)

The newest episode of “Southern Charm” will premiere on Thursday, Jan. 11 at 8 p.m. ET. on Bravo. Viewers without cable looking to stream the new episode can watch it online using DirecTV Stream, Sling, and fuboTV. DirecTV and fuboTV both offer free trials. “Southern Charm” reveals a world of exclusivity, money and scandal dating back through generations of families in Charleston, S.C. The docuseries follows several Charleston singles as they pursue their personal and professional lives while trying to preserve their family names, because just one social faux pas can taint a family’s name for generations,” fuboTV wrote. “Members of the notoriously closed society unlock the gates of their centuries-old homes for a real-life look at how modern-day Southern aristocracy lives. Viewers get a peek at a social scene which is bound by tradition and ostentation unlike any other culture in America, through a group of the city’s most charismatic gentlemen and their Southern-belle equals.” In part 1 of the reunion episode of season 9, “The charmers sit down for a reunion after a tumultuous season; Austen and JT see each other for the first time since their face off; Shep finds himself in the hot seat; Taylor and Olivia delve into the root of their broken relationship.” How can I watch the newest episode of ‘Southern Charm’? Viewers looking to stream can do so by using FuboTV, Sling or DirecTV Stream. Both FuboTV and DirecTV offer free trials when you sign up and Sling offers 50% off your first month. What is FuboTV? FuboTV is an over-the-top internet live TV streaming service that offers more than 100 channels, such as sports, news, entertainment and local channels. What is DirecTV? The streaming platform offers a plethora of content including streaming the best of live and On Demand, starting with more than 75 live TV channels. DirecTV also offers a free trial for any package you sign up.

0954e2cbab6b83613a826c6ebadb4c68

7weather

A Rare and Punishing Cold Shuts Schools Across the South

Because of severe cold weather, schools across a wide swath of the South — from Texas and Tennessee to Alabama and Arkansas — were closed on Tuesday, affecting about one million children in a region known for its mild winters. The Houston, Dallas and Fort Worth school districts, serving a total of over 400,000 students, were shuttered, as were schools serving hundreds of thousands of students in and around Atlanta. Several Southern school systems said they would remain closed on Wednesday as well, including the Memphis-Shelby County School district in Tennessee, that state’s largest, with 106,000 students. Temperatures in Memphis dipped into the single digits Tuesday morning. “I think the decision to close schools is wise when you consider overall safety of kiddos who have to wait outside for transportation, or even just parents driving to school,” said Alli Echlin, 41, mother of a second grader at Libertas, a charter school in Memphis.

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2culture

Opinion | Who Was the Real Shaved Woman of Chartres?

In August 1944, in a city near Paris, Robert Capa took a photograph of a woman cradling a baby in the middle of a jeering crowd, her head shaved and her forehead marked with a swastika. The woman, Simone Touseau, would become infamous — first as a symbol of the brutality of post-occupation France and later, through painstaking scholarship, as an example of the Nazi sympathies among some of the French during World War II. A novel released in France this summer has reinvented her once again, this time as a woman scorned. It’s a reinvention that is a disservice to the complicated truth about Ms. Touseau and her and other Frenchwomen’s deliberate collaboration with the Nazis. Women collaborated out of cowardice, self-interest and a whole range of ideological fervor. A reality we should contemplate frankly if we’re to have a proper accounting of the history of the war in France. The photograph, “The Shaved Woman of Chartres,” with the young Ms. Touseau at its center, was understood for a long time as a document of the brutal purges that took place during the liberation of France at the end of World War II. Extrajudicial punishments were carried out all over the country, including shaving the heads of women suspected of sleeping with the enemy.

c48196b6533eef9a48c8af275bd0428e

0business

Westmass to manage nonprofit that fixes blighted properties in Springfield

SPRINGFIELD – Westmass Area Development Corp. will take over work of a small nonprofit under a partnership designed to boost economic growth in the city. The two organizations joined with Springfield officials Wednesday to announce that the struggling DevelopSpringfield organization will become a subsidiary of Westmass, which owns and operates industrial parks in the region and the Ludlow Mills mixed-use development project. The announcement comes at a time when Springfield is looking to develop key properties, including the 17.5-acre Vibra Hospital property on State Street, a prime commercial property, Mayor Domenic J. Sarno said. “This continues to expand our economic development horizons,” he said. DevelopSpringfield was created in 2008 to take on the worst cases of blighted buildings in the city. The group bought the River Inn, a hotbed of drug deals and prostitution on State Street, and turned it into a Pride station. In another project, it converted an aging church and vacant lot on Carew Street into a Baystate Health dialysis center. The city knows developers can’t tackle projects that are financial losers, which is where DevelopSpringfield came in. The agency would acquire and prepare problem properties for redevelopment and sell them to businesses, returning them to the tax rolls, Sarno said. The organization owns the Springfield Innovation Center, where the announcement took place, and the historic Merrick Phelps House at 83 Maple St., which was an eyesore converted into offices. Westmass plans to put the Merrick Phelps House on the market. The building is being rented, as are a row of garages and a carriage house in the back, said Jeff Daley, president and chief executive officer of Westmass. The house was built in 1841 for Solymon Merrick, inventor of the monkey wrench. Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno speaks at a press conference to announce the WestMass Area Development Corp.will now be running DevelopSpringfield. Jeff Daley, President and CEO Of Westmass Area Development Corp.,is on the left. (Don Treeger / The Republican) 12/27/2023The Republican The Springfield Innovation Center, on Bridge Street, serves as a business incubator and has one tenant. Westmass has experience managing similar buildings. It plans to make improvements to the building and seek new tenants, Daley said. “It is a neat complex but it needs some maintenance and attention,” he said. With no full-time staff, DevelopSpringfield has hired Westmass and other consultants when it needed help, said Nicolas A. Fyntrilakis, its chairman. When Fyntrilakis approached Westmass about taking over management of DevelopSpringfield, Daley said he and his staff determined they have the capability of doing the work. Officials see benefits in Westmass expanding into the region’s largest city, the main economic driver in Western Massachusetts. Jeff Daley, President and CEO Of Westmass Area Development Corp., speaks at a press conference to announce WestMass will now be running DevelopSpringfield. (Don Treeger / The Republican) 12/27/2023The Republican Tim Sheehan, chief development officer for the city, said he thinks Westmass will bring “a new vision to DevelopSpringfield and will enhance the work DevelopSpringfield has already accomplished by bringing forward new ideas, a talented development staff and a commitment to focusing on the development opportunities that are unique to Springfield as the largest city in Western Mass.”

54f120924051b37c55bb932f42269e7d

1crime

Suspicious death near NH high school ruled homicide, victim IDed

Violence that included sexual atrocities committed during the Hamas-led attacks on Oct. 7 in Israel amounts to war crimes and may also be crimes against humanity, two United Nations human rights experts said on Monday, following months of frustrated accusations from Israel and women’s groups that the U.N. was ignoring the rape and sexual mutilation of women during the Oct. 7 invasion. Alice Jill Edwards, a special rapporteur on torture, and Morris Tidball-Binz, a special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, said the growing evidence of sexual violence in the day’s wide range of “brutal attacks” was “particularly harrowing,” noting allegations of sexual assault, gang rape, mutilation and gunshots to the genital areas. In a statement, they called for “full accountability for the multitude of alleged crimes,” and urged all parties to agree to a cease-fire, abide by international law, and investigate any crimes alleged to have occurred during the fighting. “These acts constitute gross violations of international law, amounting to war crimes which, given the number of victims and the extensive premeditation and planning of the attacks, may also qualify as crimes against humanity,” they said. “There are no circumstances that justify their perpetration.” Israeli officials say about 1,200 people were killed and more than 240 taken hostage on Oct. 7. Investigators with Israel’s top national police unit, Lahav 433, have been gathering evidence of cases of sexual violence but have not specified a number. Hamas has denied the accusations of sexual violence. Reacting to the experts’ statement on Monday, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the U.S. ambassador to the U.N., said on social media: “Harrowing. Hamas’ horrific acts of sexual violence must be immediately and unequivocally condemned.” Accounts of sexual violence on Oct. 7 were shared in a presentation at U.N. headquarters in New York in early December. “Silence is complicity,” said Sheryl Sandberg, the former Meta executive, who helped organize the presentation. Hundreds of protesters outside accused the United Nations of holding a double standard on sexual violence, which the U.N. has acknowledged in many other conflicts. Some chanted: “Me too, unless you’re a Jew.” The New York Times published a two-month investigation in late December, finding that the attacks against women were part of a pattern of gender-based violence on Oct. 7. The Times identified at least seven locations where Israeli women and girls appeared to have been sexually assaulted or mutilated. Reporters interviewed witnesses who described seeing women raped and killed along a highway, reviewed photographs that showed a woman’s corpse with dozens of nails driven into her thighs and groin, and spoke with volunteer medics and Israeli soldiers who came across at least 24 bodies of women and girls in at least six houses, some mutilated, some tied up, and many naked and alone.

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4politics

How Texas Kept the Lights On in the Recent Deep Freeze

The widely anticipated third season of the HBO anthology series “The White Lotus” now has a few more famous faces tied to the upcoming project — set to begin filming shortly. In a release on Friday, Warner Bros. Discovery announced that actors Parker Posey, Leslie Bibb, Jason Isaacs, Michelle Monaghan, Dom Hetrakul and Tayme Thapthimthong are confirmed cast members for the third installment of the Emmy-winning comedy-drama about the adventures and misadventures of guests and staff at luxury “White Lotus” resorts around the world. The six additions join returning cast member Natasha Rothwell — who played masseuse “Belinda” in the series’ first season set in Hawaii — as the show embarks on a new resort located in Thailand, according Warner Bros. Discovery. Filming will begin in the Southeast Asian nation in February, with production taking place in and around such notable destinations as Koh Samui, Phuket and Bangkok, Warner Bros. Discovery added, noting that HBO has partnered with the Tourism Authority of Thailand to support filming and promotion of the new season. “The White Lotus” debuted in July 2021 and received 20 total Emmy nominations across 13 categories with 10 wins for its first season. It has been nominated for an additional 23 Emmy’s for its second season, which took place in Sicily, Warner Bros. Discovery said. The show was created and has been written, directed and executive produced by Mike White.

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0business

Dazed Cannabis sparks fond memories of Magic Lantern club it replaces on Rt. 20

MONSON — Owners of the new Dazed Cannabis haven’t stripped their location — once the Magic Lantern club — of its history. That flashing neon sign luring travelers with “erotic dancers lounge” and “topless” remains in the newly-opened cannabis retailer at 399 Boston Road West.

89d52dfca4617fc1071eace1749e3988

3entertainment

ESPN BET promo code MASS: $250 bonus for Patriots-Broncos

Sports Betting Dime provides exclusive sports betting content to MassLive.com, including real-time odds, picks, analysis and sportsbook offers to help sports fans get in on the action. Please wager responsibly. The Patriots will visit the Denver Broncos on Christmas Eve, and the ESPN BET promo code MASS will unlock $250 in bonus bets for this Sunday Night Football matchup. BET ANYTHING GET $250 BONUS ESPN BET CLAIM OFFER MASS 21+ and present in MA, NJ, PA, VA, MD, WV, TN, LA, KS, KY, CO, AZ, IL, IA, IN, OH, MI. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-Gambler. While New England’s postseason hopes have been long dashed, this is a critical game for the Denver Broncos and the rest of the AFC postseason picture. The Broncos are coming off a disappointing blowout loss in Detroit last weekend, and if they wish to keep their hopes alive, they need a win in the worst way tonight. No matter how you wish to bet Patriots-Broncos, the ESPN BET promo code MASS will get you $250 in bonus bets for Sunday Night Football. So, if you’re looking to back Russell Wilson to throw 2+ touchdown passes, Courtland Sutton to record an anytime touchdown or are just looking to play the point spread or over/under, this is a great way to do it. ESPN BET promo code MASS: $250 bonus for Patriots-Broncos ESPN BET promo code MASS figures to be a popular Christmas Eve play in both Colorado and Massachusetts tonight, but with families gathered around celebrating holidays everywhere, this bonus figures to get plenty of play in all 17 markets in which it is live. That said, the offer is available in the following states: New Jersey, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, Tennessee, Louisiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Colorado, Arizona, Iowa, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and Ohio. Get started by clicking here Click the sign up button and enter ESPN BET promo code MASS. Using options like PayPal, Skrill, online banking and more, make a first deposit. Make any wager on Patriots-Broncos and receive $250 in bonus bets. How to use the ESPN BET promo code this weekend While players will want to check out the Sunday Night Football matchup, these bonus bets are valid for seven days and can be used on Christmas Day games like Eagles-Giants and 49ers-Ravens. In terms of how to make a wager on the Patriots-Broncos game, let’s take a look at the total. Quite frankly, it’s hard to imagine the Patriots making a ton of offensive noise in a tough environment against a Broncos defense that has performed admirably at home this season. Oddsmakers feel that way, too, given the total is set at just 35.5 points. While the Patriots went over the total in a game with just 30.5 points set against the Steelers a few weeks back, we don’t think lightning will strike twice. Bank on this one to stay under the total after using the ESPN BET promo code. Get the latest sports betting news, advice and promos sent straight to your inbox. Enter your email here: Think you know Patriots football? Play the MassLive.com Prop Bet Showdown for a chance to win prizes! If you or a loved one has questions and needs to talk to a professional about gambling, call the Massachusetts Problem Gambling Helpline at 1-800-327-5050 or visit gamblinghelplinema.org to speak with a trained specialist to receive support. Specialists are available 24/7. Services are available in multiple languages and are free and confidential.

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6sports

Howie Carr: Massachusetts has a worse record than Bill Belichick

As miserable a season as the New England Patriots have endured, do you realize that the Commonwealth of Massachusetts has been doing even worse? The difference is, tomorrow the Patsies can fire their bust-out coach, lock down the second or third pick in the NFL draft and begin the long rebuilding process. Where does the state of Massachusetts go for a make-over? Even Harvard University is in better shape, if only because those modern-day Know Nothings are sitting on a $50-billion endowment that they can use to continue their relentless dumbing down of the entire school, from top to bottom, into a cesspool of Third World identity politics. This week the state Department of Revenue (DOR) quietly announced that revenue projections in November had fallen short — for the sixth month in a row. The hackerama hasn’t reached its numbers since the new fiscal year started July 1. In total, six monthly shortfalls in a row — even Bill Belichick in his twilight went 1-5 in the first half-dozen games this lost season. Don’t worry though — it’s only “benchmarks” that the state is missing. So far this fiscal year, $769 million in “benchmarks” have vanished. That’s “only” 4.1 percent. The problem is that, unlike the feds, the state doesn’t have a printing press in the basement of the State House to churn out more funny money to cover the deficits. In fact, the state constitution contains a benchmark saying that the budget must be balanced every year. Belichick, in his mumbling post-game excuses for the mounting losses, has nothing on the Alibi Ikes of the DOR. In their most recent the-dog-ate-my-homework explanation for November, the DOR said the shortfall “was mostly attributable to a decrease in estate tax, a category that tends to fluctuate.” Are the payroll patriots now saying that the number of deaths “fluctuates?” I guess that’s good news — didn’t the death rate always used to be 100 percent? Perhaps, though, estate tax collections are dropping because as home-owning Massachusetts taxpayers age, they’re realizing that if they die here, their children are going to inherit a lot less money because of the onerous levy. If you want to “fluctuate” your inheritance tax down to nothing, you can just move across the border into New Hampshire. But guess what — most states don’t have an inheritance tax. Even California. Speaking of California, U-Haul last week came out with its annual listings of which states Americans are moving into and out of. We’re number two! We’re number two — in net loss of people fleeing their previous residences. It’s tough to top the Golden State and that gang of what somebody called the “malevolent morons” in charge in Sacramento. All NFL teams have a “physically unable to perform list.” Likewise, the states have a “fiscally unable to perform list” — those people who are voting with their feet. According to some statistics, Massachusetts has shed 122,000 law-abiding tax-paying American citizens in the past three years. The Globe was recently cheered, however, by a different number. They claimed that over the last year, despite the overall loss of productive citizens, the state’s numbers have been buoyed by 19,000 new arrivals — “primarily due to the rebound in foreign population.” In other words, illegal aliens. Which means that the native working classes in Massachusetts are being replaced by foreign non-working classes — now known as “migrants.” Why do you suppose the leisure classes from what Democrat John Silber used to call “the tropical climes” want to flop here? It’s certainly not the wonderful climate. But let’s consider some other numbers. Since the Panic of 2020, the state’s overall labor force has declined by 65,000. Since August, net, no new jobs have been created in Massachusetts. No jobs! That’s like a dog whistle for all these loafers from south of the border. Why are they moving here? Because they heard there was no work. Everything free in America. The problem for those who can’t flee is who’s leaving — Americans in the 25- to 44-year-old age group. Nowadays it’s easier than ever to buy fentanyl or to become infected with a previously eradicated communicable disease like tuberculosis. But finding a licensed plumber or even a checkout-counter supermarket clerk — that’s more difficult than ever. The woke one-party state of Massachusetts has ever fewer job-seekers, and ever more shoplifters and hit-and-run drivers. Better hope for some more of that global warming this winter. A lot of the blue-collar guys who traditionally plowed the driveways and parking lots in New England have been departing for greener pastures, which is almost anywhere, if you’re not on welfare. “Oh yeah?” the moonbats say. “If everybody’s leaving Massachusetts, why is the traffic so bad?” Maybe it’s because the MBTA is in a state of collapse. It’s been a while since rapid transit was… rapid. Or even “transit,” for that matter. Plus, on top of all the other free stuff offered to undocumented Democrats, now the Registry hands them drivers’ licenses. That way they can drive their unregistered, uninspected, uninsured Kendra Lara-mobiles to the welfare offices for more handouts. Remember how, after the Panic, all the Registry offices were understaffed? You had to schedule an appointment weeks in advance for the simplest of tasks, like getting a learner’s permit for your kid. The malevolent morons of Beacon Hill could not have cared less about your RMV travails. But once the illegals started demanding service now — ahora! — the hacks went on a hiring spree. They even opened Saturdays in some “gateway cities.” Then there’s the so-called millionaires’ tax. The moonbats assert that the exodus of the well-to-do is exaggerated, because who wants to give up the “cultural amenities” of Massachusetts. Where are these cultural amenities exactly? The public schools, once the best in the nation, are terrible. How “livable” is Boston, really? In the Internet age, what is available in Boston that you can’t get anywhere else? And in free America, you don’t have to put up with the taxes and crime and grime and broken infrastructure, not to mention the insufferably smug entitled racism and quotas that infect every institution from Harvard Square to City Hall? When I was a kid, Massachusetts had 14 Congressmen. Now we have nine. Obviously, you and I aren’t the only people who think the Commonwealth is failing. Bill Parcells used to say, you are what your record says you are. Bill Belichick used to believe that too. Now not so much. At least the Krafts can fire Bill Belichick tomorrow for what he’s done to their team. Who can we fire for what they’ve done to our state?

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3entertainment

Santa, Jennifer Hudson help light Boston's official Christmas tree

A great year for movies, as 2023 was, means a lot to look forward to as awards season begins. Things get started tonight with the Golden Globes ceremony, and later this week it’s on to nominations for the Screen Actors Guild and Producers Guild of America Awards. The big one — the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences — will announce its nominations for the 96th Oscars on Jan. 23. To get you ready, we’ve put together a guide to the movies, directors and performances that The Times’s critics think the Academy should recognize this year. And although the Globes have a mixed record of predicting which movies will win Oscars, tonight’s ceremony is a good excuse to look back on some of the year’s best films. The contenders The competition for the best picture Oscar is so fierce this year that Kyle Buchanan, The Times’s awards season columnist, decided to discuss 13 possible nominees rather than his usual 10. “Oppenheimer,” a three-hour biopic about the father of the atomic bomb directed by Christopher Nolan, tops Kyle’s list. Pitted against it, and favored by the Times critics Manohla Dargis and Alissa Wilkinson, is another historical epic: “Killers of the Flower Moon,” Martin Scorsese’s study of a murderous campaign targeting members of the Osage Nation in 1920s Oklahoma. Manohla and Alissa are also rooting for Todd Haynes’s “May December,” a tale of two eerily synced women and the anguished man they manipulate. All three films are up for Golden Globes.

f368605c98e9b4eb1fb7cc207e7552e0

3entertainment

Days of Our Lives' actor Bill Hayes dead at 98

Jennifer Lawrence has been known for her various off-the-cuff comments in interviews and live appearances, and the 2024 Golden Globes was no exception. The 33-year-old actress was nominated for Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Motion Picture (Musical or Comedy) for her role in “No Hard Feelings” at the award show that aired Sunday, Jan. 7. In a video posted to X, Lawrence appears to mouth the words “If I don’t win, I’m leaving,” while her named was called alongside other nominees in the category. Lawrence’s competition included Emma Stone in “Poor Things,” Fantasia Barrino in the “The Color Purple,” Natalie Portman in “May December,” Alma Pöysti in “Fallen Leaves” and Margot Robbie for in “Barbie.” Stone would go on to take home the award. Read More: Celebrities hit the red carpet for the 2024 Golden Globe Awards Despite her sarcastic comment, Lawrence did not leave after losing to Stone and even expressed her excitement for her colleague. Another video posted to X showed the actress throwing her arms in the air, leaping out of her seat and clapping in enjoyment. The actress’ stunt appeared to have been another classic example of her comedic theatrics. Several X users commented on the video, saying Lawrence should keep up the antics. “She should do more comedy, she is super funny to me,” one person said. Another added, “She’s better entertainment than the host.” Click here for a full list of winners from the 2024 Golden Globes.

06c4e0258a38bbc086a59cb152db4df3

3entertainment

How to watch the new episode of The Amazing Race, stream for free

A new episode of “The Amazing Race” kicks off Wednesday, Dec. 13 at 9:30 p.m. on CBS. Fans can also watch the season 35 on streaming platforms like FuboTV and DirecTV Stream. Both platforms offer a free trial for new users who are interested in signing up for an account. The show is an adventure reality game in which teams of two people race around the world in competition with 11 other teams. In the new episode of season 35, “the final three teams travel to Seattle, where they must complete three challenges in a scramble leg; the team that successfully completes the challenges and arrives first wins the $1 million prize.” How do I watch the show if I don’t have cable TV? Viewers can stream the new season on FuboTV and DirecTV Stream. Both platforms offer a free trial for new users. What is FuboTV? FuboTV is an over-the-top internet live TV streaming service that offers more than 100 channels, such as sports, news, entertainment and local channels. What is DirecTV Stream? The streaming platform offers a plethora of content including streaming the best of live and On Demand, starting with more than 75 live TV channels. DirecTV also offers a free trial for any package you sign up.

3bf9bf42f8e7e01447b8697a67cfb11b

7weather

Dozens dash into chilly water for L Street Brownies polar plunge

A New Year's Day tradition that dates back more than a century is still going strong in South Boston.The dozens who took part in this year's L Street Brownies polar plunge braved some chilly conditions on Monday at M Street Beach.Many who dashed into the ocean this year have made the plunge and annual event, and some continue to do it as a tribute to loved ones they have lost."My father Lenny started jumping in the water in his 80s and then when he couldn't do it anymore by himself, we had to go and pick him up. After that, we just kept doing it," said Allston resident Deedee Kelleher. "We were going to stop, and then we all felt guilty one night and said: 'Alright, we've got to do it anyway.'"The L Street Brownies are the oldest “polar bear” club in America and promote health, fun and friendship. Their home base at the Curley Community Center in South Boston is near Carson Beach.The polar plunge raises money for various charities. A New Year's Day tradition that dates back more than a century is still going strong in South Boston. The dozens who took part in this year's L Street Brownies polar plunge braved some chilly conditions on Monday at M Street Beach. Advertisement Many who dashed into the ocean this year have made the plunge and annual event, and some continue to do it as a tribute to loved ones they have lost. "My father Lenny started jumping in the water in his 80s and then when he couldn't do it anymore by himself, we had to go and pick him up. After that, we just kept doing it," said Allston resident Deedee Kelleher. "We were going to stop, and then we all felt guilty one night and said: 'Alright, we've got to do it anyway.'" The L Street Brownies are the oldest “polar bear” club in America and promote health, fun and friendship. Their home base at the Curley Community Center in South Boston is near Carson Beach. The polar plunge raises money for various charities.

4de7f0f9143aaa70993e0e5f318234ac

1crime

Florida man arrested, arsenal of weapons seized after RI shooting, high-speed chase

A Florida man is facing over 100 charges after a shooting and high-speed chase in East Providence, Rhode Island, on Friday afternoon. According to WJAR, 43-year-old Joshua D. Pavao, of Kissimmee, Florida, is charged with 106 counts of possessing a large capacity feeding device, two counts of license or permit required for carrying a pistol, discharge of a firearm from a motor vehicle, firing in a compact area, eluding an officer with a motor vehicle in a high-speed pursuit, duty to stop for an accident resulting in injury, duty to stop for an accident with occupied vehicle, vandalism and obstructing an officer in the execution of duty. Police did not say when Pavao will make his initial court appearance. It was not immediately clear if he had an attorney. East Providence police said they initially received a 911 call around 2:20 p.m. Friday for a report of shots fired at a house on Estrell Drive in the Riverside section of the city. When they arrived, police found at least one shot had shattered the rear window of a vehicle at the residence. Get New England news, weather forecasts and entertainment stories to your inbox. Sign up for NECN newsletters. Pavao's vehicle, a black Nissan Armada SUV, was seen fleeing toward Willett Avenue and Pawtucket Avenue. A police detective tried to stop the vehicle near Silver Spring Avenue and Dodge Street, but Pavao refused to stop. Police said a long gun magazine was either discarded or fell from the SUV as it traveled north on Pawtucket Avenue before striking another vehicle at the intersection of Waterman Avenue. Around 2:35 p.m., Pavao ran a red light at the intersection of Taunton Avenue and crashed into three vehicles. He then got out of the vehicle and fled on foot. He was taken into custody by police a short distance away in the parking lot behind Davenport's Restaurant. Courtesy: WJAR Multiple loaded long gun magazines were ejected from Pavao's vehicle in the collision and were found scattered across the road. Police said they found thousands of rounds of ammunition in three duffle bags in Pavao's vehicle, along with a significant number of loose rounds. A suspicious backpack was found a short time later off Boyd Avenue, containing three loaded Glock handguns, a pellet-style rifle and a bulletproof vest. “I am extremely proud of the men and woman of the East Providence Police and Fire Departments for their swift action during yesterday's emergency incident," Mayor Bob DaSilva said in a statement. "Thanks to their training and professionalism, the members of the East Providence Police Department were quickly able to apprehend the suspect and locate the guns and ammunition without any threat to our community. I commend them on their actions during Friday's incident." I want to commend the members of the East Providence Police, East Providence Fire Department & Public Safety Communications Dispatchers for handling a very dangerous and volatile situation that spanned across the city with numerous incident scenes. — Mayor Bob DaSilva (@mayorbobdasilva) December 1, 2023 Police said they did not fire any shots during the chase. "This was an extremely volatile situation involving a dangerous and unpredictable suspect who put so many of our residents and police officers in harm's way," Police Chief Christopher Francesconi said in a statement. "My officers and dispatchers handled this very serious situation with great professionalism and restraint." During the pursuit, two officers were involved in a crash, with a police cruiser crashing into a house at Dover Avenue and Gardiner Street. The home sustained minor damage and one officer was taken to the hospital with minor injuries. No injuries were reported in the crash at the intersection of Waterman Avenue, according to police. East Providence police said their investigation remains "very active" as they try to understand the motives and intentions of the suspect.

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7weather

Mass. weather: Heres when you should look out for snow squalls Sunday

If you plan on traveling in Massachusetts Sunday afternoon or evening, you’ll want to be on the lookout for snow squalls. According to National Weather Service forecaster Kevin Kadima, snow squalls are similar to the fast-moving, intense scattered thunderstorms we sometimes experience in the summer. “They’re typically snow showers that just cover a small area, but within the area, it can be snowing pretty hard,” he said. Throughout the afternoon and evening, Bay Staters may see light to moderate snow showers with intermittent squalls of heavy snow, Kadima said. “They move through pretty quickly, so any given location probably won’t see it last for more than 15, 20 minutes,” he said. The snow is expected to hit Western Massachusetts between noon and 1 p.m., before moving on to Central Massachusetts around 3 p.m., Kadima said. Eastern Massachusetts residents should look out for the squalls between 4 and 6 p.m. [1/2] A cold front is on the horizon, bringing scattered rain/snow showers. Be alert to the potential for heavier snow squalls this afternoon. These swift-moving squalls last less than an hour, creating sudden white-out conditions & icy roads within minutes #MAwx #RIwx #CTwx pic.twitter.com/Wboodcgj30 — NWS Boston (@NWSBoston) January 14, 2024 Areas near the coast where the high today is expected to reach 40 degrees may see the precipitation start out as rain before turning to snow, Kadima said. This is most likely to happen in southeastern Massachusetts south of I-95. “If any areas in southeast Massachusetts do get those squalls, they might start out as rain, but they would likely change to snow as the intensity ramped up,” he said. According to the National Weather Service, you may get a snow squall alert on your phone as it passes through your area. If you are driving when this happens, the weather services advises that you slow down, turn on your lights and pull over. “Despite minor snow accumulations, snow squalls can lead to brief yet severe disruptions in travel, historically associated with deadly traffic accidents,” the weather service wrote on social media. “The combination of gusty winds, falling temperatures, and reduced visibility creates dangerous conditions for motorists.” The National Weather Service advises that drivers pull over during snow squalls.NOAA As for snow accumulation, Kadima said, some areas of the state won’t get any, while others may get 1 to 2 inches. The higher elevations in the Berkshires and the Worcester Hills have the greatest chance of receiving significant snowfall. Highs across the state Sunday are expected to reach the mid to upper 30s, but the cold front bringing in the squalls will leave temperatures significantly lower, according to the weather service. It could also cause strong westerly winds with gusts up to 45 mph. The skies should clear across the state by the late evening, and lows overnight are expected to be in the mid teens to low 20s, according to the weather service. Highs on Martin Luther King Jr. Day are predicted to be in the upper 20s and low 30s amid sunny skies. Lows overnight Monday are expected to dip into the low 20s and upper teens, according to the weather service. Then, on Tuesday, upper edge of a storm is predicted to touch Massachusetts, bringing a few inches of snow.

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6sports

UMass mens basketball falls to Towson on the road

Granby boys basketball jumped out in front early against Hopkins Academy and never looked back as the Rams defeated the Golden Hawks, 65-45 on Saturday at the Pioneer Valley Tip-Off at the Mullins Center.

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4politics

North Korea launches suspected intermediate-range ballistic missile that can reach distant U.S. bases

World News North Korea launches suspected intermediate-range ballistic missile that can reach distant U.S. bases The Joint Chiefs of Staff called the launch a provocation that poses a serious threat to peace on the Korean Peninsula. A TV screen shows a file image of North Korea's missile launch during a news program at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, Sunday, Jan. 14, 2024. North Korea fired a ballistic missile toward the sea on Sunday, its neighbors said, in its first missile launch this year, as the North is expected to further raise regional animosities in an election year for its rivals South Korea and the United States. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon) SEOUL, South Korea (A.P.) — North Korea fired a suspected intermediate-range ballistic missile into the sea on Sunday, South Korea’s military said, two months after the North claimed to have tested engines for a new harder-to-detect missile capable of striking distant U.S. targets in the region. The launch was the North’s first this year. Experts say North Korea could ramp up its provocative missile tests as a way to influence the results of South Korea’s parliamentary elections in April and the U.S. presidential election in November. South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement that it detected the launch of a ballistic missile of an intermediate-range class from the North’s capital region on Sunday afternoon. It said the missile flew about 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) before landing in the waters between the Korean Peninsula and Japan. Advertisement: The Joint Chiefs of Staff called the launch a provocation that poses a serious threat to peace on the Korean Peninsula. It said South Korea’s military will maintain its readiness to overwhelmingly respond to any provocations by North Korea. The South Korean assessment suggests North Korea could have launched a new intermediate-range ballistic missile, whose solid-fuel engine it said it had tested in mid-November. The missile is mainly designed to hit U.S. military bases in the U.S. Pacific territory of Guam, which is about 3,400 kilometers (2,110 miles) from Pyongyang, the North’s capital. With a range adjustment, the missile can also be used to attack closer targets — the U.S. military installations in Japan’s Okinawa island, according to Chang Young-keun, a missile expert at the Korea Research Institute for National Strategy in Seoul. Built-in solid propellants make missile launches harder to detect than liquid-fueled missiles, which must be fueled before launch and cannot last long. North Korea has a growing arsenal of solid-fuel short-range missiles targeting South Korea, but its existing Hwasong-12 intermediate-range missile is powered by liquid-fuel engines. Japan’s Defense Ministry said its analysis showed the missile traveled at least 500 kilometers (300 miles) at the maximum altitude of 50 kilometers (30 miles), data that suggests North Korea may have fired a short-range and not an intermediate-range missile. Advertisement: Japan and South Korea said they closely exchanged information about the launch with the United States, but they didn’t immediately explain the discrepancy in data. The last time North Korea performed a missile launch that was publicly announced was Dec. 18, when it test-fired its Hwasong-18 solid-fueled intercontinental ballistic missile, the North’s most advanced weapon. The Hwasong-18 is the country’s only known solid-fuel ICBM and it’s designed to strike the mainland U.S. On Jan. 5, North Korea fired a barrage of artillery shells near the disputed western sea boundary with South Korea, prompting South Korea to conduct similar firing exercises in the same area. South Korea accused North Korea of continuing similar artillery barrage in the area for the next two days. The site is where the navies of the two Koreas have fought three bloody sea battles since 1999, and attacks blamed on North Korea killed 50 South Koreans in 2010. In recent days, North Korea has also been escalating its warlike, inflammatory rhetoric against its foes ahead of an election year in South Korea, and the U.S. Leader Kim Jong Un, during visits last week to munitions factories, called South Korea “our principal enemy” and threatened to annihilate it if provoked. Advertisement: Experts say Kim likely wants to see South Korean liberals win the election and pursue rapprochement with North Korea, and for former U.S. President Donald Trump to be elected again. They say Kim may believe he could win U.S. concessions like sanctions relief if Trump returns to the White House. Negotiations over North Korea’s advancing nuclear arsenal have been dormant since the Kim-Trump diplomacy broke down in 2019. Kim has since focused on enlarging his nuclear and missile arsenals in what foreign analysts think is an effort to boost his leverage. In recent months, North Korea has also been expanding its military and other cooperation with Russia. The U.S. government said it has evidence that missiles provided by North Korea to Russia had been used in the war in Ukraine. In a joint statement last week, the U.S., South Korea and their partners said the missile transfer supports Russia’s war of aggression and provides North Korea with valuable technical and military insights. North Korea and Russia announced Sunday that North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui will visit Russia from Monday to Wednesday at the invitation of her Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov. “Pyongyang’s show of force should be of concern beyond Seoul, as its military cooperation with Moscow adds to the violence in Ukraine, and because it may be more willing to challenge the U.S. and its allies while global attention is fixed on the Middle East,” said Leif-Eric Easley, a professor at Ewha University in Seoul. Advertisement: Associated Press writer Mari Yamaguchi in Tokyo contributed to this report.

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0business

Mass. AG Campbell reaches $1.8M settlement with student loan servicer Nelnet Inc.

Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea J. Campbell’s office has reached a $1.8 million settlement with one of the nation’s largest student loan servicers for failing to alert borrowers about affordable repayment options. The settlement with Nelnet Inc. comes months after millions of borrowers nationwide resumed their student loan payments and amid heightened state and federal scrutiny of those companies’ ability to help those borrowers navigate an often confusing bureaucracy. “Student loan servicers play a crucial role in ensuring that borrowers can access more affordable loan payments,” Campbell said in a statement obtained by MassLive. “As we continue to address issues of affordability, we will prioritize student loan debt and hold service providers accountable when they fail to fulfill their notification and information obligations to Massachusetts borrowers.” The settlement resolves allegations that the company, one of four major student-loan servicing firms, didn’t adequately communicate with borrowers about renewing income-driven repayment plans that provide access to affordable payments, Campbell’s office said in its statement. In 2019-2020, 56% of the Bay State’s college graduates had some kind of student loan debt, carrying an average of $33,457 — the eighth-highest tally nationwide, according to data compiled by The Institute for College Access & Success, a Washington D.C.-based advocacy group. All told, about a third of Bay State college graduates, or 31%, were carrying nonfederal debt, which is often costlier and carries fewer consumer protections, according to the advocacy group’s data. About 14% of those carried private student loans, with an average debt of $42,748 among those borrowers, the data show. In its statement, Campbell’s office said loan-servicing firms such as Nelnet are responsible for helping borrowers access more-affordable payments through those income-driven repayment plans. Under such plans, payments are based on a borrower’s income and family size, rather than their loan balance. The plans also “offer the possibility of valuable interest benefits and loan forgiveness after the borrower makes qualifying payments for a certain number of years,” according to Campbell’s office. Campbell’s office said it found that, between 2013 and 2017, Nelnet failed to comply with the battery of regulations governing its communications with borrowers, violating state consumer protection law. The settlement requires the company to pay that $1.8 million to the state; to comply with federal regulations on income-driven repayment plans, and to implement practices that make it easier for borrowers to access that option, Campbell’s office said in its statement. The settlement comes amid a time of heightened scrutiny of the major loan-servicing firms as millions of borrowers struggle to make their payments and navigate an often confusing bureaucracy. Last month, a cadre of Democratic lawmakers in the U.S. Senate again grilled loan servicers on what they’re doing to ease a “painful transition” for millions of Americans. Among the headaches: Miscalculated bills, difficulty reaching servicers, and long wait times when they do, Democratic U.S. Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey, of Massachusetts, wrote in a battery of letters to the Big Four servicers. Markey and Warren were joined on the letters to servicers MOHELA, EdFinancial, Nelnet, and Maximus, by fellow Democratic U.S. Sens. Richard Blumenthal, of Connecticut, and Chris Van Hollen, of Maryland. The latest volley of correspondence came more than two months after the lawmakers initially wrote to the loan companies, saying they were “deeply worried” about their ability to meet borrowers’ demand for services as payments resumed. In a statement, the lawmakers pointed to a recent report by the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau detailing “a flurry of problems and errors with borrowers reporting long hold times, incorrect information about payment amounts and due dates, inaccurate payment histories, and issues accessing loan cancellation programs.” In a letter to the servicing companies EdFinancial and Nelnet, the lawmakers took the firms to task for their “failure to provide robust answers [that] leave us unable to understand the challenges borrowers face as they return to repayment,” MassLive previously reported. In response to the lawmakers’ questions last fall, EdFinancial Services CEO William Anthony “Tony” Hollin previously said the company had been “working very closely” with the federal government to prepare for payments to resume. “Collectively we have done our best to project the inbound call volumes, staffing needs, back-office processing volumes and other components that will allow our borrowers to receive assistance and customer service they deserve despite of the unprecedented nature of the lengthy repayment pause,” Hollin wrote in a sprawling, 11-page missive responding to the lawmakers’ specific queries about the companies’ readiness. On Thursday, Campbell’s office said that borrowers who are struggling make their payments can take advantage of the new SAVE income-driven repayment plan. This chart can help those borrowers estimate their SAVE payments. Borrowers can also visit this website maintained by Campbell’s office to learn more about repayment and debt relief options, “including the U.S. Department of Education’s upcoming payment count adjustment for IDR plans and Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF),” Campbell’s office said. With that adjustment “borrowers with loans owned by the U.S. Department of Education will receive credit toward PSLF and IDR forgiveness for past repayment periods, even if they were not in a qualifying repayment plan,” Campbell’s office continued, adding that “borrowers with privately owned federal loans must apply to consolidate into the Direct Loan Program by April 30, 2024 to receive the payment count adjustment.”

b3d7f907ad20fc2c0c0a400dcd7e46e6

0business

WG&E predicts rates will eventually increase as state phases out natural gas

WESTFIELD — Massachusetts is transitioning too quickly to an electric-powered future, which will cause an increase in electric rates, according to Western Gas & Electric General Manager Tom Flaherty. “Coming from a company that supplies natural gas, it’s a little quick to get rid of a stable, cost-effective, cost-efficient heating fuel,” he said. Flaherty was responding to two state clean energy initiatives: Department of Public Utilities Order 20-80, which requires natural gas companies to consider non-gas initiatives before building new gas infrastructure, and the Clean Heat Standard, a proposal to require energy suppliers shift away from using fossil fuels to supply heat, in exchange for credits. WG&E emailed the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection a response to a draft Clean Heat Standard framework on Dec. 21, in which they described the state’s decarbonization plan as “an electrification-only approach.”

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4politics

As Biden lambastes Trump for Jan. 6 Capitol riot, Mass. Dems have their say

President Joe Biden warned Friday that Donald Trump’s efforts to retake the White House in 2024 pose a grave threat to the country, the day before the third anniversary of the violent riot at the U.S. Capitol by then-President Trump’s supporters aiming to keep him in power. Speaking near Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, where George Washington and the Continental Army spent a bleak winter nearly 250 years ago, Biden said that Jan. 6 2021, marked a moment where “we nearly lost America — lost it all.” He said the presidential race — a likely rematch with Trump, who is the far and away GOP frontrunner — is “all about” whether American democracy will survive. The speech, the president’s first political event of the election year, was intended to clarify the expected choice for voters this fall. Biden, who reentered political life because he felt he was best capable of defeating Trump in 2020, believes focusing on defending democracy to be central for persuading voters to reject Trump once again. “We all know who Donald Trump is,” Biden said. “The question we have to answer is who are we?” Biden, laid out Trump’s role in the Capitol attack, as a mob of the Republican’s supporters overran the building while lawmakers were counting Electoral College votes that certified Democrat Biden’s win. More than 100 police officers were bloodied, beaten and attacked by the rioters who overwhelmed authorities to break into the building. Hundreds of people were charged, including many from Massachusetts, in connection with the violence. “What’s Trump done? He’s called these insurrectionists ‘patriots,’” Biden said, “and he promised to pardon them if he returns to office.” He excoriated Trump for “glorifying” rather than condemning political violence At least nine people who were at the Capitol that day died during or after the rioting, including several officers who died of suicide, a woman who was shot and killed by police as she tried to break into the House chamber, and three other Trump supporters who authorities said suffered medical emergencies. Biden said that by “trying to rewrite the facts of Jan. 6, Trump is trying to steal history the same way he tried to steal the election.” Trump, who faces 91 criminal charges stemming from his efforts to overturn his loss to Biden and three other felony cases, argues that Biden and top Democrats are themselves seeking to undermine democracy by using the legal system to thwart the campaign of his chief rival. “Donald Trump’s campaign is about him,” Biden said, saying it was Trump’s aim to get retribution on his political enemies. “Not America. Not you. Donald Trump’s campaign is obsessed with the past, not the future.” He added: “There’s no confusion about who Trump is or what he intends to do.” ‘We should listen before it’s too late’ In a statement, U.S. Rep. James P. McGovern, D-2nd District, called the attack on the Capitol “a day of violence and rage.” But it was “not just an attack on the United States Capitol building. It was a coordinated attack on democracy, led by Donald Trump and MAGA Republicans in Congress who wanted to certify that the former president had won—even though he had lost,” the Massachusetts Democrat continued. “Since that day, over 1,000 people have been arrested in all 50 states on charges that include viciously beating police officers, causing millions of dollars in damage, and engaging in a seditious conspiracy to overthrow the government,” McGovern said. “The history of the world is filled with democracies that have come and gone. Let’s stop pretending it can’t happen here. Donald Trump has made crystal clear that he idolizes authoritarians like Kim Jong Un, Vladimir Putin, and Xi Jinping. He said he wants to be a dictator ‘on day one,’” McGovern continued. “He now calls his political rivals ‘vermin’—echoing the language of Mussolini and Hitler. He openly advocates for white supremacy, claiming that immigrants ‘poison the blood’ of our country. It all has one logical endpoint: violence. Trump has told us who he is and what he is going to do. We should listen before it’s too late.” In a post to X, formerly Twitter, U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton, D-6th District, a former Marine, said that American democracy “doesn’t exist on its own. It has always relied on brave, patriotic, truth-telling volunteers to fight for its preservation and success. “We all need to do our patriotic duty -- to sideline extremism and protect our most sacred institutions from the wrath of Trump,” he said. Our democracy doesn't exist on its own. It has always relied on brave, patriotic, truth-telling volunteers to fight for its preservation and success. We all need to do our patriotic duty -- to sideline extremism and protect our most sacred institutions from the wrath of Trump. https://t.co/q3Ma8yBWpE — Seth Moulton (@sethmoulton) January 5, 2024 House Democratic Whip Katherine Clark, D-5th District, reshared a post by former U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., who said that “January 6th reminds us that our democratic institutions are only as strong as the courage and commitment of those entrusted with their care.” And while it’s been three years since “Trump abused his position to stoke the flames of violence at the United States Capitol, our outrage and resolve to never let it happen again has not diminished,” Massachusetts Democratic Party Chairperson Steve Kerrigan said in a statement. Trump “acted like a dictator when he encouraged his supporters to interfere with the peaceful transfer of power,” Kerrigan continued. “His actions on January 6, 2021 were disgraceful and undoubtedly criminal, as our justice system will now decide. As the campaigns switch into high gear, we hope this sad day in our history will serve as a reminder of Donald Trump’s disregard for our Constitution and the rule of law.” Biden’s nod to U.S. history Before his remarks, Biden, joined by his wife Jill, participated in a wreath laying ceremony at Valley Forge National Arch, which honors the troops who camped there from December 1777 to June 1778. He also toured the home that served as Washington’s headquarters. Biden invoked Washington’s decision to resign his commission as the leader of the Continental Army after American independence was won — and the painting commemorating that moment that resides in the Capitol Rotunda — to cast Trump as unworthy of Washington’s legacy. “He could have held onto that power as long as he wanted,” Biden said of Washington. “But that wasn’t the America he and the American troops of Valley Forge had fought for. In America, our leaders don’t hold on to power relentlessly. Our leaders return power to the people – willingly.” Although the chaos of Jan. 6 came down on members of both political parties, it is being remembered in a largely polarized fashion now, like other aspects of political life in a divided country. In the days after the attack, 52% of U.S. adults said Trump bore a lot of responsibility for Jan. 6, according to the Pew Research Center. By early 2022, that had declined to 43%. The number of Americans who said Trump bore no responsibility increased from 24% in 2021 to 32% in 2022. A Washington Post-University of Maryland poll released this week found that about 7 in 10 Republicans say too much is being made of the attack. Just 18% of GOP supporters say that protesters who entered the Capitol were “mostly violent,” down from 26% in 2021, while 77% of Democrats and 54% of independents say the protesters were mostly violent, essentially unchanged from 2021. Biden said that “politics, fear, money” have led many Republicans to abandon their criticism of Trump after the Jan. 6 attack. “These MAGA voices who know the truth about Trump and Jan. 6th have abandoned the truth and abandoned democracy,” Biden said. “They’ve made their choice. Now the rest of us – Democrats, Independents, mainstream Republicans – we have to make our choice. I know mine. And I believe I know America’s.” Biden has frequently invoked the dangers of Jan. 6 since his 2021 inauguration on the same Capitol steps where police officers were struggling to battle back rioters just two weeks earlier. On the first anniversary of the Jan. 6 attack, Biden had stood in the Capitol’s Statuary Hall, a historic spot where the House of Representatives used to meet before the Civil War. On Jan. 6, rioters filled the area, some looking for lawmakers who had run for cover. “They weren’t looking to uphold the will of the people,” Biden said of the rioters. “They were looking to deny the will of the people.” On the second anniversary, Biden presented the nation’s second highest civilian award to 12 people who were involved in defending the Capitol during the attack. Friday’s appearance included supporters and young people motivated by the attack to get involved in politics, campaign advisers said.

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7weather

Some areas of northern New England got up to a foot of snow overnight

Most of Greater Boston saw heavy rain and strong winds overnight. But in parts of northern New England, it was a serious snow event. The highest snowfall totals in the region were in Vermont, which saw as much as a foot in some areas. Happy Monday!🤠 We picked up over 10 inches of snow at mid mountain overnight - not a bad way to start the week! pic.twitter.com/2XuF7tHXiB — Sugarbush, Vermont (@Sugarbush_VT) November 27, 2023 Here's a look at snowfall totals across New England, according to the National Weather Service. Get Boston local news, weather forecasts, lifestyle and entertainment stories to your inbox. Sign up for NBC Boston’s newsletters. Maine Madrid: 5.3" Rangeley: 4.7" Dallas: 2.3" Sinclair: 2" Castle Hill: 1.6" Caribou: 1.5" North Brighton: 1" New Hampshire Mount Washington: 8" Littleton: 4.5" Carroll: 2.5" Pittsburg: 2" Lyme: 1.5" Jefferson: 1.3" Whitefield: 1" Lancaster: 1" Vermont Hyde Park: 12" Duxbury: 9.5" North Calais: 9.5" East Warren: 9.5" Stannard: 9" Cabot: 9" Waterbury Center: 8" Smugglers Notch: 8" Worcester: 7.5" East Barre: 7.3" Sutton: 6.5" Stowe: 6.5" South Ludlow: 5.8" Topsham: 5.5" North Waitsfield: 5" Morrisville: 5" Landgrove: 5" Waterbury: 4.8" West Hartford: 4.3" Montpelier: 4.2" West Norwich: 4" Orleans: 3.8" West Burke: 3.5" Countryside Estates: 2.8" Manchester: 2.7" West Arlington: 1.5" South Essex Center: 1"

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4politics

One holiday season party not to miss: the 250th anniversary of the Boston Tea Party

Linda Laban Special to the Telegram & Gazette Sam Adams does not look happy. He starts yelling at a rather nicely attired gentlemen, who it appears the red-faced Adams really does not like. A great debate ensues as various people stand and orate, and some plain just stand and yell. The annual reenactment of the meeting on Dec. 16, 1773, at the Old South Meeting House in Boston’s Downtown Crossing is a heated affair, indeed. This was the meeting that preceded the humorously named but infamous act known as the Boston Tea Party, often cited as the event that kicked the Revolutionary War into action. Well, at least nudged it. It would be another 15 months before the first battle ensued in earnest. Shutdown by the pandemic, 2022 saw the first such reenactment since 2019, and it returned somewhat changed. In this day and age, it is acknowledged before many such performances play out that we stand on another’s land, “Occupied lands belonging to the Massachusetts, the Nipmuc, and the Wampanoag,” it is solemnly noted at the Old South Meeting House before the “performance” begins. 'Here ye sons of liberty, speak tonight' It is the Crown’s latest tax, on tea no less, that currently stirs up the colonists' growing rancor — the ire against the Crown’s list of taxes is long by now, and many duties had been successfully repealed. But not the tea tax, which would bail out the once-mighty but now failing London-based East India Company. For weeks the fate of three East India Company schooners — the Beaver, the Eleanor and the Dartmouth, all moored and guarded on Griffin Wharf — has been discussed, the Crown and the governor of Massachusetts demanding they be unloaded, the merchants of Boston refusing to allow such a thing. You can imagine it was a cold, frosty night that Dec. 16 in 1773. Not many people would be out and about in Boston. Apart from those gathering for that meeting at the Old South Meeting House, whose wooden pews are packed with impassioned or worried faces. Much mumbling and grumbling ensues until the meeting is called to order by some bewigged fellow seated high up in a galleried perch, for all to see and heed. “Here ye sons of liberty, speak tonight,” commands the moderator. 'Petty tyrants are in this town' Besides Sam Adams, also present and equally incensed is Henry Knox, a member of the Boston Grenadier Corps militia; Judge Samuel P. Savage of Weston, a merchant who would go on to become a member of the Massachusetts Board of War; and James Otis Jr., a loyalist by birth but now a revered figure of dissent following his speeches on constitutional rights. (Otis, his quick mind eventually dissolved into mental illness, does not live to see much of the republic he is shaping.) Ebenezer Macintosh, a shoemaker who fought in the British army at Fort Ticonderoga in 1758 is here, protesting taxes once again. Josiah Quincy is here and seems to have a cool head among many who do not. James Lovell, a Boston Latin schoolteacher, who had spoken publicly and at length against the Boston Massacre two years earlier, is here, as is his close friend Dr. Joseph Warren. In less than two years, within days of the Battle of Bunker Hill in June 1775, Lovell is arrested and imprisoned by the Crown; Warren is dead on the battlefield. Phillis Wheatley is here and speaks. Although well known at the time for her poetry both in the colonies and in England, it is doubtful a woman, let alone a Black person, emancipated just a few months earlier, had a voice. Susannah Copley, whose father, Richard Clarke, worked for the despised East India Company, speaks. Even Susannah, a white woman from a wealthy family and the wife of noted painter John Singleton Copley, would not have had a voice in 1773. The addition of women and also an enslaved man, and even having audience members speak in opposite gender roles — one man is Abigail Adams, a girl is James Otis. Jr. — plays with historical fact for inclusivity. One thing that has changed little: the political divide: When a Tory suggests the Patriots are criminals, he is soon shot down, but only by big boos. “Remove the Dartmouth,” someone is suggesting. Though who knows to where, and what of the other two ships? “Petty tyrants are in this town,” yells someone who probably means the Crown’s men — very probably. “Taxes should to go to the colonies, not the Crown,” bellows someone. “Treason!” yells a loyalist in disgust. “Taxation without representation is tyranny,” shouts a colonist, most eloquently. It may or not have been James Otis Jr., who is credited widely as saying the pertinent sentence, simply because he wrote so many such rousing epithets. Cries of “Huzzah!” are matched by much stamping of feet — oh, it’s an impassioned lot here tonight. There can be no agreement in this room on this fateful night. As tempers rise, several men — first and foremost among them is Sam Adams — suddenly storm out and leave in a huff. Soon there will be shouts outside — something is going on. Men are heading to Griffin Wharf! A night to remember In 1773, Griffin Wharf would have been nearer to the Old South Meeting House. This once-bustling center of commerce was lost to landfill during the city’s expansion through the 19th century. In the 1920s, a plaque was erected at Congress and Purchase streets noting its significance as the place where the Boston Tea Party took place. Back in 1773, with the meeting adjourned, the actions of that historic night then shifted to the harbor. For the reenactment, the Boston Tea Party Ships & Museum, located on the Congress Street Bridge, not far from where Griffin’s Wharf once stood, is a good stand-in. Replicas of the Beaver, Dartmouth and Eleanor are moored at the museum. Some have tea chests in their cargo holds. Now, tea was not the mass-produced cheap commodity as it is today. It was expensive and three ships laden with tea amounted to quite a treasure chest. Dumping that lot in the harbor was an unthinkable act then — now, what they did seems rather humorous and hardly treasonous. But it was an attack on personal property — the property of a Crown ally, too. Though dumping anything in the precious harbor waters is not to be encouraged, the Tea Party Museum joins the reenactment with a ceremonious tea dumping into the water each year. On Sept. 27, the very day the ships laden with tea set sail from England for Boston in 1773, the East India Company — which still exists — held a press conference in London marking the 250th anniversary with a new cargo of tea, which was sent to Boston and will be dumped this Dec. 16. This year, the drum and fife parade from the Old South Meeting House to the museum resumes. But the actual act in 1773 would have been quite different. For one thing, due to the seriousness of the crime against private property— the East India Company’s tea cargo — there would have been no such fanfare. Even Sam Adams and his motley crew sought to hide their identity and dressed up as Mohawk Indians. But where on a minute’s notice did Adams find such costumes? The local open-all-night Halloween costume store? Perhaps Adams planned this well in advance and the protagonists had their disguises stashed, ready for their antics. It is indeed a night to remember and what a thrill to be sitting in the very places where the debate took place, watching Sam Adams and his angry supporters storm off — we know where they are going: off to the harbor to make mischief with some tea! For more information on all events and for tickets, go to revolutionaryspaces.org. Tea Time! As if to give those Brits a bit of a last laugh, the holiday season in Boston is afternoon tea season. At these hotels, it’s an occasion to dress up and tip a pinky while sipping exquisite teas and nibbling darling little bits and bobs. A cozy overnight stay is a delicious option, too. At Four Seasons Hotel One Dalton Street, which is tucked in a quiet corner of Back Bay near Symphony Hall, afternoon tea is served every weekend in the chic Trifecta lounge. The cake stand brims with colorful cakes and pretty savories, and a choice of fine teas is served in bright floral designed fine china tea pots — cunning devices these: the cup is underneath the pot! Afternoon tea includes a glass of Mumm Champagne to begin with and a liqueur paired to the tea flavors, say Earl Grey with Grand Marnier (rooms from $850 per night. fourseasons.com/onedalton). Overlooking the harbor, afternoon tea at the Rowes Wharf Sea Grille, inside the Boston Harbor Hotel, pairs a variety of tea sandwiches and pastries with a selection of teas, including herbal South African rooibos, Japanese jasmine, or Chinese oolong. The hotel’s signature tea cocktails may be added to afternoon tea service: Tropical Garden shakes up oolong tea with vodka and Grand Marnier; the Green Tea Sparkler tops off green tea, peach liqueur and peach puree with Prosecco (rooms from $533 per night; bostonharborhotel.com). The Newbury serves seasonal tea in its second-floor salon underneath Murano glass chandeliers, made for the original Ritz-Carlton that opened the building in 1927. Tea includes a glass of bubbly for those who desire it, and hot cocoa for children. The super-cute fine china tea set is especially designed for the hotel and coopts the Make Way for the Ducklings story into its design. Along with small savories and sweets, excellent scones are served with jams and thick cream. Year-round, guests at the beguiling boutique hotel may take tea in their rooms. Call the fireplace butler to lay a fire in the original wood-burning hearth (rooms from $600 per night; thenewburyboston.com). Could anything be cozier?

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4politics

Opinion | Why I Cant Stop Writing About Oct. 7

Everything that was true before Oct. 7 became more so after it. Hate crimes against Jews, which had nearly quintupled in the previous 10 years, also quintupled from Oct. 7 to Dec. 7 compared to the same period in 2022. Subtext became text: “Gas the Jews” was the chant heard from protesters at the Sydney Opera House, “From the river to the sea” from the quads of once-great American universities. The same students who had been carefully instructed in the nuances of microaggressions suddenly went very macro when it came to making Jews feel despised. The same progressives who erupted in righteous rage during #MeToo became somnambulant in the face of abundant evidence that Israeli women had been mutilated, gang-raped and murdered by Hamas. The same humanitarians who cried foul over migrant “kids in cages” at the southern U.S. border didn’t seem particularly bothered that Israeli kids were being held in tunnels, or that posters with their names and faces were routinely torn down on New York street corners. All this is likely to get worse: A Harvard-Harris poll conducted this month finds that 44 percent of Americans ages 25 to 34, and a whopping 67 percent of those ages 18 to 24, agree with the proposition that “Jews as a class are oppressors.” By contrast, only 9 percent of Americans over 65 feel that way. The same generation that received the most instruction in the virtues of tolerance is now the most antisemitic in recent memory. Where does all this hatred come from? If your answer is Israel, then, to borrow a line I once heard from Leon Wieseltier, you aren’t explaining antisemitism; you’re replicating it. No self-respecting liberal would argue that Islamophobia is understandable because Muslims perpetrated the attacks of Sept. 11 and other atrocities. But somehow the types of excuses that are unthinkable when it comes to some minorities become “essential context” when it comes to Jews. As it is, the single-minded loathing of Israel is another expression of antisemitism. Turkey flies F-16s in bombing runs against Kurds — while relying on U.S. security guarantees backed up by nuclear weapons — and progressives shrug. But after Israel experienced the equivalent of more than a dozen Sept. 11s on a single day, some progressives instantly cheered it as an act of justified “resistance.” This side of the left, perhaps larger in cultural influence than it is in number, has the moral credibility of David Duke. Much of the right, with its dog-whistling obsession with “replacement theory” and its conspiracy theories about nefarious “globalists,” is no better. The fact that each side is in denial about its bigotry makes it that much more pernicious and pervasive. When progressives think the most despicable name in the world is Benjamin Netanyahu and the far right thinks it’s George Soros, we have a problem.

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3entertainment

Mass. State Lottery winner: Market Basket sells $100,000 ticket Wednesday

A Market Basket grocery store and a package store in Massachusetts each sold $1 million and $100,000 lottery prizes, which were won or claimed on Wednesday. The $1 million prize was from the lottery’s crossword scratch ticket game called “$5,000,000 100X Cashword.” The game costs $20 to play and was released last February. The winning ticket was sold at a liquor store called Hynes Liquors, located in Lynn. The $100,000 lottery prize was won for the “Mass Cash” drawing. The winning numbers for the drawing were 3, 4, 19, 20 and 29, and the winning ticket was sold in Billerica at a Market Basket grocery store. “Mass Cash” drawings occur daily at 9 p.m. and tickets to play are $1. A player must choose five numbers between 1 and 35, and there are three available prizes to win. If all five numbers match the numbers drawn, the “Mass Cash” player wins $100,000. If they match four numbers, the prize is $250, and if they match three, the prize is $10. Overall, there were at least 678 lottery prizes worth $600 or more won or claimed in Massachusetts on Wednesday, including 13 in Springfield and 32 in Worcester. The Massachusetts State Lottery releases a full list of all the winning tickets each day. The list only includes winning tickets worth more than $600.

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2culture

Can Divorce Be Affordable? Yes, but Only if Spouses Want It to Be.

Vanessa McGrady, a writer in California who was married for three years and who became a parent during that time, said that she “realized there were some insurmountable issues” with her former husband and chose to use the document service We the People for her divorce. “It was not contentious, and it was easier because we didn’t have assets together,” she said. “We had no I.R.A.s. It was my condo and I was making the payments.” She recommends having a lawyer review a document divorce to ensure that it is done correctly. The process took a year and cost less than $2,000 because she had hashed out issues with her ex before their divorce proceedings, she said. Ms. McGrady, 55, was glad to have saved thousands of dollars for her own retirement or for her daughter’s future needs. “I don’t know anyone who’s had as simple and easy a divorce as we did, even though it was frustrating and sad at times,” she said. “Before you go down the rabbit hole of rage and revenge, think where you want your money to go.” Caitlin Steele, who lives in Seattle, used a mediation service from a start-up called Wevorce, which cost $750 when she got divorced in 2017. At the time, Ms. Steele, a senior design manager at Atlassian, a software company, had little disposable income and no children. She had witnessed a friend experience the emotional and financial fallout of an embattled divorce that cost him hundreds of thousands of dollars and limited access to his child for six years. She had been married for 10 years when, she said, “the wheels started to fall off.” She filed for divorce, which was finalized six months later. Her husband was making $180,000 to her $90,000 a year, which in San Francisco left her, at the age of 38, sharing a two-bedroom apartment with a roommate.

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6sports

Paul Pierce: Lakers hung In-Season Tournament banner to spite Celtics

Paul Pierce faced the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA Finals twice as a member of the Boston Celtics, winning the Larry O’Brien Trophy in 2008 before losing to LA in 2010. So he knows what it takes to not only get to the Finals, but to win it all. So when the Lakers lifted a banner to the Crypto.com Arena rafters for their In-Season Tournament championship, Pierce took issue with it. “They did that to spite the Celtics, bro,” Pierce told ex-Celtics teammate Kevin Garnett on SHOWTIME Basketball’s “Ticket and The Truth.” “I’m telling you because we got 17. So that counts toward the 17? 17.5?” BET ANYTHING GET $250 BONUS ESPN BET CLAIM OFFER MASS 21+ and present in MA, NJ, PA, VA, MD, WV, TN, LA, KS, KY, CO, AZ, IL, IA, IN, OH, MI. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-Gambler. Pierce suggested the Lakers should have received a plaque rather than raise a banner. “Just put it in the locker room,” Pierce said. It’s been a tough road for the Lakers since their victory in the inaugural tournament. They sit ninth in the Western Conference and are 3-7 in their last 10 games. The Lakers and the Celtics are tied for most NBA titles with 17. Boston has come close — reaching the NBA Finals in 2021 under first-year coach Ime Udoka — but has yet to win Banner 18. Going into Sunday’s game against the San Antonio Spurs, the Celtics sit atop the Eastern Conference standings with a 25-6 record and built a roster in the offseason that will certainly keep them competitive as they hope to make a lengthy playoff run. As for the Lakers? The In-Season Tournament banner might end up being their bright spot of 2023-24.

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4politics

WATCH LIVE: House panel holds final impeachment hearing for DHS Secretary Mayorkas

“From the beginning, it was clear that the government wanted to isolate Aleksei, especially ahead of the election,” Mr. Zhdanov said, referring to the coming presidential race in Russia that President Vladimir V. Putin is widely expected to win. There has been no immediate response from the Kremlin to Mr. Navalny’s transfer. Throughout his absence from the public eye, the Russian government had been dismissive about his whereabouts. Dmitri S. Peskov, Mr. Putin’s spokesman, said on Dec. 14 that the Kremlin had “neither the possibility, nor rights or desire to trace the fate of convicts,” referring to Mr. Navalny. Over the last decade, Mr. Navalny has been the only Russian opposition politician who posed a serious challenge to Mr. Putin’s monopoly over the country’s political landscape. He built a robust political organization with offices across the country and drew thousands to his anti-Kremlin rallies. Over the last few years, the Russian government went to great lengths to dismantle the infrastructure he had created. Many of his allies had to flee Russia or were arrested. Mr. Navalny’s new penal colony, officially known as IK-3 Polar Wolf, is in the settlement of Kharp and is among the harshest and remotest prisons in Russia. Inmates endure long, dark, cold winters as well as clouds of mosquitoes in the summer. The penal colony is a successor to a Gulag labor camp, established there for prison workers building a railway across the Russian Arctic, ordered by Stalin, but never finished in full. Mr. Navalny’s previous prison, in the town of Melekhovo, was only about 160 miles east of Moscow, meaning that his lawyers could drive there in a matter of hours. In contrast, the new prison is some 1,200 miles from the capital. A train to Kharp, called the Polar Arrow, departs Moscow every second day and takes 44 hours to reach the town.

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1crime

US brings charges against four Russian soldiers accused of war crimes against an American in Ukraine

CNN — Four Russian soldiers have been charged with war crimes against an American who was living in Ukraine during the Russian invasion, according to court documents unsealed in federal court in Virginia. The case against Russian soldiers marks the first time the US government has used a decades-old law aimed to prosecute those who commit war crimes against American citizens. According to the indictment, the Russian soldiers violently abducted the American from his home in the Ukrainian village of Mylove. The soldiers allegedly beat and tortured the American in a Russian military compound, where he was held for 10 days in April 2022. After abducting him, the Russian soldiers allegedly stripped the American naked, tied his hands behind his back and beat him with their fists, feet and the stocks of their guns. While he was being illegally held by the Russian soldiers, the American was allegedly tortured by the four defendants and other unnamed co-defendants during at least two interrogation sessions. They stripped him naked, severely beat him and photographed him, according to the indictment. This is a breaking news story and will be updated.

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0business

Lehrhaus Jewish tavern in Somerville is a celebration of Jewish life

A Jewish tavern in Somerville was the only Massachusetts eatery to make Esquire magazine’s list of best new restaurants of 2023. But given the uniquely delicious and culture-filled experience this restaurant delivers, its appearance on the list is no surprise. Lehrhaus opened on Washington Street in March 2023 with a full menu of certified dishes. But the tavern — whose name means “house of learning” in German — is also meant to be just that, its cofounder, Rabbi Charlie Schwartz, said. “Everything we do here is a celebration of Jewish life and the Jewish experience,” he said. Lehrhaus’ diverse and meaningful menu Created by chefs Alex Artinian and Noah Clickstein, the restaurant’s dishes are all linked to stories of Judaism and the Jewish diaspora, Schwartz said. Its menu is designed to look like Talmudic texts and includes commentary and stories about the dishes. “Oftentimes in North America, when we think about Jewish food, we tend to think about deli or Israeli food,” Schwartz said. “Our menu goes one step further, bringing in stories from different Jewish communities around the world.” Read more: Gourmet cookie shop with over 40 flavors opens first Mass. location Lehrhaus does serve deli classics, such as its beet reuben, Schwartz said. But it also offers dishes from Jewish communities that aren’t as well known, such as its Ethiopian-inspired red lentil stew. The restaurant’s cocktail menu also pays tribute to Jewish communities around the world. For instance, Schwartz said, the restaurant offers a “Yemeni espresso martini” made with hawaij, a Yemeni warming spice, which honors one of the oldest communities created during the Jewish diaspora. Schwartz said the restaurant’s fish and chips, mac-and-cheese kugel and beet pastrami reuben have been among its most popular dishes. “We take beets and cure them and smoke them and spice them and slice them thin,” he said. “It’s really just an incredible sandwich.” Lehrhaus Jewish tavern and house of learning in Somerville makes a beet reuben sandwich.Lehrhaus Read more: A Chipotle with a drive-thru is opening in Marlborough But on Saturdays, Lehrhaus has a completely different menu. Going in, the founders knew that they couldn’t cook on the Jewish Sabbath, which runs from Friday to Saturday, Schwartz said. So, they came up with the idea of doing a burger bar, which would take no meal prep the day before. Schwartz said the restaurant has many gluten-free and vegan options, especially on its burger bar menu. That menu also includes egg creams, floats and soda, which you can get with or without booze. What it’s like to hang out at Lehrhaus Lehrhaus also pays homage to Jewish culture through its decor. Schwartz said the restaurant has a gallery of notable Jewish people and scenes from history, as well as a 3,000-book library containing everything from Jewish religious texts to graphic novels. But perhaps the pièce de résistance is the restaurant’s murals of composer Leonard Bernstein and historian and philosopher Hannah Arendt, which are featured in its bathrooms. Lehrhaus is a Jewish tavern and house of learning in Somerville.Lehrhaus Read more: These Mass. restaurants are offering igloo dining this winter season Lehrhaus regularly hosts a wide range of classes on Jewish culture and history, covering topics such as Jewish songs, poetry and dream healing. But Schwartz said the restaurant is a great hangout spot for anyone. Its patrons come for its excellent food and drinks and warm, inviting atmosphere as much as anything else, he said. “You don’t have to be French to go to a French restaurant. You don’t have to be Irish to go to an Irish pub. You don’t have to be Jewish to come to our tavern,” Schwartz said. Lehrhaus’ hours are 4:30 to 9:30 p.m. on Sundays and 4:30 to 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday. The burger bar is open Saturdays from 7 to 10 p.m.

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3entertainment

Winter House episode 8: How to watch on Bravo for free Dec. 12

Things heat up in Steamboat when Kory’s unofficial girlfriend, Sam, comes for a visit and is immediately threatened by a yachtie’s friendship with her man in a new episode of “Winter House” airing on Tuesday, December 12 on Bravo. The new episode will air on Bravo at 9 p.m. EST. Viewers looking to stream the reality TV series can do so by using FuboTV and DirecTV. Both fuboTV and DirecTV offer free trials for new users. FuboTV’s description of the show reads that “Winter House,” features stars from reality shows including “Summer House,” “Southern Charm,” “Vanderpump Rules,” “Summer House: Martha’s Vineyard,” “Family Karma” and the “Below Deck” franchise, as well as new cast members, who vacation in various wintery locations for two weeks. The drama heats up as romances and friendships are tested. The cross-over series will also feature friends who will join the cast members as they take on skiing, snowboarding, dog sledding, ice fishing, winter biking, snow tubing, sleigh rides, and more cold weather activities. In episode 8, things heat up in Steamboat when Kory’s unofficial girlfriend, Sam, comes for a visit and is immediately threatened by a yachtie’s friendship with her man; Tom’s return to the house can’t come soon enough for Alex. Here is a look at season 3 from Bravo’s YouTube Channel: How can I watch the newest episode of “Winter House” without cable? The new episode will air on Bravo at 9 p.m. EST. Viewers looking to stream the reality TV series can do so by using FuboTV and DirecTV. Both fuboTV and DirecTV offer free trials for new users. What is FuboTV? FuboTV is an over-the-top internet live TV streaming service that offers more than 100 channels, such as sports, news, entertainment and local channels. What is DirecTV? The streaming platform offers a plethora of content including streaming the best of live and On Demand, starting with more than 75 live TV channels. DirecTV also offers a free trial for any package you sign up.

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4politics

Judge Blocks Iowas Ban on School Library Books That Depict Sex Acts

A federal judge in Iowa temporarily blocked on Friday the enforcement of a law backed by Republicans that banned books describing sex acts from public school libraries. In granting the preliminary injunction, Judge Stephen Locher said that the law “makes no attempt to target such books in any reasonable way.” “Instead, it requires the wholesale removal of every book containing a description or visual depiction of a ‘sex act,’ regardless of context,” the judge wrote. “The underlying message is that there is no redeeming value to any such book even if it is a work of history, self-help guide, award-winning novel or other piece of serious literature. In effect, the Legislature has imposed a puritanical ‘pall of orthodoxy’ over school libraries.” The publisher Penguin Random House and the best-selling authors John Green and Jodi Picoult were among the plaintiffs who challenged the measure on free-speech grounds.

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4politics

Private Gun Ownership in Israel Spikes After Hamas Attacks

BOSTON (WHDH) - The U.S. Attorney’s office is now seeking charges against 28 people in connection with a brothel bust in the Boston area. In November, three people accused of operating “sophisticated high-end brothels” in parts of Massachusetts and eastern Virginia were taken into custody following a federal investigation, authorities said. Officials believe the network had clients who included “elected officials, high tech and pharmaceutical executives, doctors, military officers, government contractors that possess security clearances, professors, attorneys, scientists and accountants, among others.” “Pick a profession – they’re probably represented in this case,” Acting United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy said during a news conference in November. Arrested in November were: Han Lee, 41, of Cambridge, Mass., Junmyung Lee, 30, of Dedham, Mass., and James Lee, 68, of Torrance, Calif. Investigators allege the defendants rented high-end apartments in the Boston area to be used as brothels. They also say there will be accountability for the buyers who fuel the commercial sex industry. (Copyright (c) 2023 Sunbeam Television. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

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4politics

Opinion | The Anti-Democratic Quest to Save Democracy From Trump

Let’s consider a counterfactual. In the autumn of 2016, with American liberalism reeling from the election of Donald Trump, a shattered Hillary Clinton embraces the effort to pin all the blame on Vladimir Putin. She barnstorms the country arguing that the election was fundamentally illegitimate because of foreign interference. She endorses every attempt to prove that Russian disinformation warped the result. She touts conspiracy theories that supposedly prove that voting machines in Wisconsin were successfully hacked. She argues that her opponent should not be allowed to take office, that he’s a possible Manchurian candidate, a Russian cat’s paw. And she urges Democrats in Congress and Vice President Joe Biden to refuse to certify the election — suggesting that it could somehow be rerun or even that patriotic legislators could use their constitutional authority to make her, the popular-vote winner, president instead. Her crusade summons up a mass movement — youthful, multiracial and left wing. On Jan. 6, 2017, a crowd descends on the National Mall to demand that “Trump the traitor” be denied the White House. Clinton stirs them up with an angry speech, and protesters attack and overwhelm the Capitol Police and surge into the Capitol, where one is shot by a police officer and the rest mill around for a while and finally disperse. The election is still certified, and Trump becomes president two weeks later. But he is ineffective and unpopular, and it looks as though Clinton, who is still denying his legitimacy, will be the Democratic nominee again. At which point right-wing legal advocacy groups announce an effort to have her removed from primary ballots, following the guidance of originalist scholars who argue that under the 14th Amendment, she has betrayed her senatorial oath by fomenting insurrection and is ineligible to hold political office.

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4politics

One of Trumps Oldest Tactics in Business and Politics: Im Rubber. Youre Glue.

Days before the Iowa caucuses, former President Donald J. Trump is appearing twice in court this week — on Tuesday in Washington and Thursday in New York. He was not required to attend either hearing. But advisers say he believes the court appearances dramatize what is fast becoming a central theme of his campaign: that President Biden — who is describing the likely Republican nominee as a peril to the country — is the true threat to American democracy. Mr. Trump’s claim is the most outlandish and baseless version of a tactic he has used throughout his life in business and politics. Whenever he is accused of something — no matter what that something is — he responds by accusing his opponent of that exact thing. The idea is less to argue that Mr. Trump is clean than to suggest that everyone else is dirty. It is an impulse more than a strategy. But in Mr. Trump’s campaigns, that impulse has sometimes aligned with his political interests. By this way of thinking, the more cynical voters become, the more likely they are to throw their hands in the air, declare, “They’re all the same” and start comparing the two candidates on issues the campaign sees as favorable to Mr. Trump, like the economy and immigration.

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1crime

Up to 138 packages stolen from Boston apartment building's mailroom

ERIKA NO ONE WANTS THEIR PACKAGE IS STOLEN, ESPECIALLY THIS TIME OF YEAR. THIS HAPPENED AT THE JAY VIEW APARTMENT BUILDING HERE IN ROXBURY. INVESTIGATORS HAVE SURVEILLANCE VIDEO WHICH SHOWS THE THIEVES STEALING AS MANY AS 138 PACKAGES. IT’S THAT TIME OF YEAR WHEN LOADS OF PACKAGES ARE DELIVERED FOR THE HOLIDAY SEASON AND PACKAGE THEFTS BECOME A MAJOR CONCERN AT THIS BUSY APARTMENT BUILDING IN ROXBURY BOSTON POLICE SAY UP TO 140 PACKAGES WERE STOLEN LAST NIGHT. IT IS FRUSTRATING BEING A STUDENT, GETTING A PACKAGE MISSING IS VERY FRUSTRATING. POLICE SAY THE BUILDINGS CONCERN WAS DISCOVERED. ALL 138 PACKAGES DELIVERED YESTERDAY WERE MISSING. THIS MORNING. VIDEO SURVEILLANCE SHOWS AROUND SIX LAST NIGHT. A MAN BREAKING INTO THE ROOM WHERE PACKAGES ARE KEPT. TWO OTHER MEN FOLLOW AND THEY’RE SEEN REMOVING PACKAGES. I JUST NEED TO ENTER THAT THIS SPECIFIC CODE RESIDENTS TELL US THE BUILDING USES AN APP TO NOTIFY THEM WHEN PACKAGES ARE DELIVERED. TENANTS GET A CUSTOMIZED CODE TO ACCESS THE ROOM. THE POLICE REPORT SAYS THAT SYSTEM WAS DOWN YESTERDAY, BUT ONE OF THE SUSPECTS ON SURVEILLANCE APPEARS TO OPEN THE CONTROL PANEL AND GET IN. I HAD A PACKAGE DELIVERED ABOUT TWO WEEKS AGO. JANE VARGHESE SAYS SHE RECENTLY HAD A PACKAGE STOLEN AND FILED A COMPLAINT WITH POLICE. IT WAS SO FRUSTRATING BECAUSE IT WAS A GIFT AND, YOU KNOW, IT WAS MEANT FOR SOMEONE ELSE. SHE HOPES THE BUILDING WILL TAKE EXTRA PRECAUTIONS TO MAKE SURE PACKAGES ARE SECURED. AND I KNOW A LOT OF PEOPLE LIVE IN THE BUILDING, BUT THEY NEED TO DO THEIR JOBS A LITTLE BETTER NOW, WE DID REACH OUT TO THE MANAGEMENT COMPANY AND OWNERS OF THIS PROPERTY, THE JEFFERSON APARTMENT GROUP. WE DID NOT RECEIVE A Advertisement Up to 138 packages stolen from Boston apartment building's mailroom Share Copy Link Copy Boston police are investigating after receiving a report that up to 138 packages from various delivery services were stolen from an apartment building. The lead concierge for the building at 75 St. Alphonsus St. in Roxbury met officers at the building after 9:30 a.m. Wednesday, according to a police report. She said that tenants were informed the day before of an issue with the mail system that would prevent the retrieval of packages, but several residents told her they could reach the packages area through an unlocked door, only to find the space empty.According to the report, the concierge informed her manager and then called the police.Surveillance footage described in the police report shows a man opening the control panel for the mail storage facility and then accessing the room. The report also indicates the building used a package storage system from California-based Luxer One. "In the video footage, that male and two others can be seen entering and retrieving packages," the report states. "Due to this door now being opened, other tenants could be seen taking packages from the storage unit."The suspect who was seen interacting with the iPad is described in the report as being of Indian descent and about 5 feet 7 inches tall. He was wearing a purple T-shirt, gray and black striped shorts and sandals. Additionally, the report describes the other men as being of Indian descent, and both wore glasses. One had a black puffer jacket, blue T-shirt and black shorts with white stripes. The other wore a black T-shirt with black pants. Various delivery services deposited the 138 packages into the storage room on Tuesday, but none were present as of Wednesday morning, the report states. Tenants who have missing packages were advised to follow police reports. NewsCenter 5 reached out to the building ownership and management company for comment but they have not provided a comment on the situation.

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0business

Single family residence in Cohasset sells for $2.9 million

Bad — but not surprising — news if you live in Massachusetts: the Bay State has been ranked one of the worst states to drive in the U.S., according to a new study from WalletHub, the personal finance company. The study compared every U.S. state against four key dimensions: cost of ownership and maintenance, traffic and infrastructure, safety and access to vehicles and maintenance, according to WalletHub. Those dimensions were evaluated through 31 key metrics, some of which were average gas prices, the number of icy days and car theft rate, according to WalletHub. Each metric was rated on a 100-point scale, with 100 being a perfect score. WalletHub said it determines each state’s weighted average across all metrics to calculate its score. The scores are ranked from best to worst driving state. Massachusetts was ranked 45th and had an overall score of 51, according to WalletHub. Massachusetts also ranked poorly in cost of ownership and maintenance, as well as traffic and infrastructure, placing 46th and 49th respectively. But when it came to safety and access to vehicles and maintenance, the Commonwealth rose to the top slots at 4th and 8th place respectively, WalletHub found. The other New England states didn’t do too hot, either, according to WalletHub. Maine came in 32nd with a score of 56.08 Connecticut came in 33rd with a score of 56.05 New Hampshire came in 39th with a score of 52.64 Vermont came in 42nd with a score of 51.71 Rhode Island came in 43rd with a score of 51.52 Iowa was ranked the best state in which to drive with an overall score of 65.8, while Hawaii fell last as the worst with a score of 44.8, WalletHub also found.

80b2cbc2ee66803b7fdec75c4ec7d169

3entertainment

How to watch On Patrol: Live new episodes for free Dec. 8-9 on Reelz

The Reelz series “On Patrol: Live” continues with new episodes on Friday, Dec. 8 and Saturday, Dec. 9 at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT both evenings, going for three hours apiece. Those without cable can catch the latest installments of “On Patrol: Live” for free through either Philo or DirecTV Stream, each of which offer a free trial to new users. According to the show’s IMDb description it “follows the everyday lives of police officers on patrol from diverse departments across America,” and is hosted by Dan Abrams, Sean “Sticks” Larkin and Curtis Wilson. The series premiered in July 2022, according to a trailer for the series, in which Larkin explains the series take “an unfiltered look at what police officers do,” with Wilson adding “anything can happen, when it’s live.” Reelz added that police departments featured on the show represent every region of the country from the North to the South and from the East Coast to the West Coast and everywhere in between including rural, urban and suburban areas. How can I watch “On Patrol: Live″ on Reelz without cable? You can watch the series through Reelz on Philo or on DirecTV Stream, each of which offer a free trial for new users. What is Philo? Philo is an over-the-top internet live TV streaming service that offers 60+ entertainment and lifestyle channels, like AMC, BET, MTV, Comedy Central and more, for the budget-friendly price of $25/month. What is DirecTV Stream? The streaming platform offers a plethora of content including streaming the best of live and On Demand, starting with more than 75 live TV channels.

9520fe9bbd18bebbf3e8e75757c9e8a9

1crime

Man arrested, after pointing loaded ghost gun at Springfield officer

Boston EMS says one person was taken to the hospital after a reported stabbing on Court Street early Christmas morning. The incident happened just down the street from Boston City Hall and the Government Center MBTA station.Police officers responded to the area just after 2 a.m. for a report of a stabbing. The victim was treated and transported to a nearby hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, police said. Police also responded to the area of Tremont and Stuart Streets, but the nature of that incident was not immediately clear. Boston EMS says one person was taken to the hospital after a reported stabbing on Court Street early Christmas morning. The incident happened just down the street from Boston City Hall and the Government Center MBTA station. Advertisement Police officers responded to the area just after 2 a.m. for a report of a stabbing. The victim was treated and transported to a nearby hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, police said. Police also responded to the area of Tremont and Stuart Streets, but the nature of that incident was not immediately clear.

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5science

Vision 2040: Transportation is a vital component in towns future

SOUTHWICK — During the two-year process of drafting the town’s Master Plan, called Vision 2040, to help guide the decisions elected and appointed town officials make to chart a successful future for the town, the Master Plan Advisory Committee made two strategy recommendations to improve transportation throughout town. To develop the strategies it eventually recommended, the committee first looked at current conditions, trends, and issues and opportunities to identify deficiencies in the transportation system. The town has a mix of rural, suburban and commercial uses within its boundaries. Most commercial uses are located on Route 202 and along Route 57 to the east of Route 202. Southwick’s road network consists of 90 miles of roadways of which Southwick is responsible for maintaining 82% or 73.7 miles, according to the plan.

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3entertainment

Singer Mary Lambert treads the national and local stage

Twelve years after her rapid rise to fame, “Same Love” singer Mary Lambert finally got her opportunity to share her love and talents with the Western Massachusetts community at Northampton’s First Night. Lambert, who has lived in Western Massachusetts for a decade, attended First Night as a guest nearly 10 years ago and was enthralled by the connection between the artists and the music-loving community. The magnitude of the event – First Night Northampton is the largest New Year’s Eve event in Massachusetts – and size of the crowds, along with the jubilant energy that was present throughout the day, made Lambert want to return to the event as a performer. “I saw Winterpills at one of the churches, and it was so magical, so beautiful, and I loved the sense of community and how massive it was,” Lambert said. “Just to see people of all ages out and about, and supporting music and supporting artists, it’s just a special thing. I remember watching them and thinking ‘it would be so fun to play First Night’ and it hasn’t worked out any other time so I’m really excited that I finally got to do it.” Lambert, who has released three albums and three EPs, was born and raised in Seattle, Washington. She began writing lyrics and poetry when she was young as a way to comfort herself and escape from reality. “If I’m being honest about the truth of my life, the first half was real dark,” Lambert said. “And my songwriting afforded me the ability to live this vibrant life I have now. Songwriting, at the beginning of my life, was a form of survival, was a way to heal and process things that were happening in real time. As a 7 year old, writing a song on my little Casio keyboard while I’m hearing violence in the house, comforting myself and soothing myself. I learned the power of art can change your life, can change your perspective about a situation, can make you feel safe, can make you feel a sense of home.” As a spoken word performer, Lambert became part of Seattle’s poetry scene as a teenager. It was there that she was discovered by Ben Haggerty, a Seattle native who is known by his stage name, Macklemore. Lambert and Macklemore collaborated on “Same Love,” a song that promotes gay marriage and embraces homosexuality in America. It quickly became a hit and a gay anthem, and Lambert’s voice in the chorus became a staple on radio waves. The lyrics, “I can’t change, even if I tried, even if I wanted to. My love, my love, my love, she keeps me warm,” have been a part of many queer weddings through the years, including a live mega-wedding that saw 33 couples become married at the 2014 Grammys. “There was a period of time where I was not comfortable saying, ‘Oh, [”Same Love”] has been impactful’ or ‘I’ve been a part of something super impactful’ and I felt that maybe it was egotistical to say something like that,” Lambert said. “But I now recognize that there are songs throughout my life that have changed how I feel about myself or the rest of the world so it is not beyond me to think maybe that song had that kind of impact for other people. And I remember listening to it for the first time and thinking, ‘This is a really incredible song.’ It was really exciting that we made it but I think what made it so profound and so powerful was what people did with it.” When Lambert and Macklemore performed together, Lambert was the only queer person in the spotlight on stage. She said that, although it was scary to be in that position, every time she performed “Same Love,” there was another metaphorical bandaid put over the mental and emotional wounds of her childhood. She cherished the ability to be a beacon of hope and light for queer children who did not have a support system. “I think about kids who are growing up in Southern states or places where they don’t have affirming community or families that respect their identity and love them unconditionally,” Lambert said. “When I think about that, I think ‘That’s the power of music. That’s what’s so special about [”Same Love”] is that we made something that helped people feel seen. That’s so special.’ I feel really lucky that I got to do that.” Singer Mary Lambert mixes song, poetry and emotional confirmations at the Chevy Court on Day 3 at the New York State Fair Friday, August 24, 2023. N. Scott Trimble | strimble@syracuse.com Throughout her music career, Lambert has focused on sharing important aspects of her identity with the world. Her unapologetic attitude toward being herself has manifested itself fully in hit songs “Body Love,” “Secrets,” and “She Keeps Me Warm,” the latter of which took the chorus of “Same Love.” In each song, Lambert openly shares a critical yet often scrutinized part of herself, whether it be her body, her bipolar disorder, or her queerness. When the music video for “She Keeps Me Warm” was released, Lambert told a friend that she was scared of what people in the comments would say. The friend tried to comfort Lambert, saying the world has become an increasingly accepting place for queer people and that she would receive much more love than hate. But Lambert wasn’t concerned about comments on her queerness; she was worried about fat-shaming comments. It was then that she knew she had to advocate for the plus-size community, too. Since then, Lambert has ensured that her pride in her body is front and center of everything she does. She cherishes her body and feels it is her duty to encourage others to be unashamed of themselves, no matter their size. “It is my job on this earth, I feel, to be a shame wash,” Lambert said. “Let’s get rid of the shame. It’s not helping anyone and it’s hurting all of us.” Her most direct involvement with the fat community is her “Everybody Is A Babe” workshop, which took her years of research and hard work to put together. The workshop originated as a four-week course that met twice a week and taught techniques that promoted self-love and appreciation for one’s body. The workshop is now also being offered with VIP coaching as well as a self-paced course. Lambert has always wanted to help other fat people love themselves, but knew that if she were going to provide direct support, she had to do it perfectly since body image issues are incredibly sensitive topics. “It’s important to me to be deliberate and intentional, so as I’m working with people and talking to them about their relationships to their bodies, I better not f–k it up, I better get it right,” Lambert said. “So I spent about two years researching, ‘How do we get to this point, how do we get to this place where people are valuing thinness at all costs and are engaging in really risky behaviors and killing themselves in order to be thin under the guise of health?’ That research was super informative and super helpful and changed my relationship with my body as I learned more things, like how there were so many other approaches to living life other than always being on a diet or always being anxious about your body.” Since 2019, Lambert and her spouse, Dr. Wyatt Paige Hermansen, who uses they/them pronouns, have been recording episodes for their podcast, “The Manic Episodes.” Their podcast, which has over 100 episodes, deals with challenging issues that are sometimes personal, like their queerness or their mental health – both Lambert and Hermansen have bipolar disorder – and other times are hot-button topics, like the ongoing Israel-Palestine conflict. When talking about their podcast, Lambert and Hermansen could not stop gushing over each other. “I feel like every time we record I’m getting really smart by talking to you,” Lambert said to Hermansen. “Wyatt is the most brilliant person I’ve ever met. The way that they think, and the way they absorb information, and their perspectives on situations are things that I’m really inspired by.” “In our relationship, it’s been so neat because it’s time for us to not just record it for the benefit of other people, but it’s a concentrated amount of time that we get to spend together, really focusing on connecting,” Hermansen said. “I just try to make it the kind of thing, and I think Mary feels the same way, that when i was struggling with this stuff and they weren’t very many people talking about it, whether it be mental health or figuring out your gender identity, or relationships and the issues queer people face in relationships, what kind of podcast I would’ve wanted to listen to. It’s just an incredibly special thing to do.” Lambert’s most recent album, “Grief Creature,” came out in 2019 and was the first album that she produced single-handedly. Lambert is currently working on another album that she is producing on her own and will feature her songs and poetry.

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7weather

Temperatures warm up leading up to the weekend, but a storm is on the way

Thursday is chilly, with a low Thursday morning at 21 for Boston. We're in for a warming trend each afternoon leading up to the weekend. Highs Thursday will reach the mid and upper 30s. Friday's highs Saturday and Sunday promise temperatures in the 50s, possibly even hitting the low 60s. Those low 60s are expected on Sunday before the effects of our next weather system roll in. Sunday evening marks the arrival of wind and rain. Winds will pick up with gusts ranging from 30 to 40 miles per hour on Sunday, persisting into Monday. Get Boston local news, weather forecasts, lifestyle and entertainment stories to your inbox. Sign up for NBC Boston’s newsletters. The heaviest rain is forecasted for Monday morning. Presently, it appears that most areas will receive between 1 to 2 inches of rain, with a few localized spots possibly getting more. The rain is expected to continue into Monday afternoon. Looking ahead, Tuesday and Wednesday are projected to be dry and mild in terms of temperatures, with lows in the low to mid 30s and highs in the upper 40s.

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3entertainment

Lego Masters episode 10: How to watch on FOX for free Dec. 7

The newest episode of “Lego Masters,” airing on Thursday, December 7, will count down the top 100 moments from four seasons of “LEGO Masters” on FOX. The newest episode of season 4 will air at 9 p.m. EST and will be broadcast on FOX. Viewers looking to stream the premiere can do so by using FuboTV and DirecTV Stream. Both streaming services offer free trials. According to a description of the show by FOX, in “Lego Masters,” teams of two LEGO® enthusiasts go head-to-head, with infinite possibilities and an unlimited supply of LEGO® bricks. “Throughout the competition, host Will Arnett and expert judges encourage the amateur builders, introduce incredible challenges and put the creations to the test,” according to FOX. The competing pairs who impress the judges the most progress to the next round. In the finale, the top teams face off for a cash prize, the ultimate LEGO trophy and the grand title of LEGO® MASTERS. In episode 10, they’ll be counting down the top 100 moments from four seasons of “LEGO Masters.” Here is a look at season 4 from FOX’s YouTube channel: How can I watch “Lego Masters” without cable? The newest episode of season 4 will air at 9 p.m. EST and will be broadcast on FOX. Viewers looking to stream the premiere can do so by using FuboTV and DirecTV Stream. Both streaming services offer free trials. What is DirecTV Stream? The streaming platform offers a plethora of content including streaming the best of live and On Demand, starting with more than 75 live TV channels. What is FuboTV? FuboTV is an over-the-top internet live TV streaming service that offers more than 100 channels, like sports, news, entertainment and local channels. It offers DVR storage space, and is designed for people who want to cut the cord, but don’t want to miss out on their favorite live TV and sports.

9f8ac63f4ccc2065a6185d1af317beab

3entertainment

Author readings around Boston through Jan. 27

(” Legacy: A Black Physician Reckons with Racism in Medicine ”) will be in conversation with Renée Graham at 6 p.m. at the Brattle Theatre . (Tickets are $10 for admission only, $34 for admission and a copy of the book.)

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4politics

Opinion | Why MAGA Wants to Betray Ukraine

Whatever anti-Ukraine voices like Elon Musk may pretend, it’s not about the money. Right-wing hard-liners, both in Congress and outside, claim to be upset about the amount we’re spending supporting Ukraine. But if they really cared about the financial burden of aid, they’d make the minimal effort required to get the numbers right. No, aid to Ukraine isn’t undermining the future of Social Security or making it impossible to secure our border or consuming 40 percent of America’s G.D.P. How much are we actually spending supporting Ukraine? In the 18 months after the Russian invasion, U.S. aid totaled $77 billion. That may sound like a lot. It is a lot compared with the tiny sums we usually allocate to foreign aid. But total federal outlays are currently running at more than $6 trillion a year, or more than $9 trillion every 18 months, so Ukraine aid accounts for less than 1 percent of federal spending (and less than 0.3 percent of G.D.P.). The military portion of that spending is equal to less than 5 percent of America’s defense budget. Incidentally, the United States is by no means bearing the burden of aiding Ukraine alone. In the past, Donald Trump and others have complained that European nations aren’t spending enough on their own defense. But when it comes to Ukraine, European countries and institutions collectively have made substantially larger aid commitments than we have. Notably, most of Europe, including France, Germany and Britain, has promised aid that is higher as a percentage of G.D.P. than the U.S. commitment. But back to the costs of aiding Ukraine: Given how small a budget item that aid is, claims that aid to Ukraine somehow makes it impossible to do other necessary things, such as securing the border, are nonsense. MAGA types aren’t known for getting their numbers right or, for that matter, caring whether they get their numbers right, but I doubt that even they really believe that the monetary costs of helping Ukraine are insupportable. And the benefits of aiding a beleaguered democracy are huge. Remember, before the war, Russia was widely viewed as a major military power, which a majority of Americans saw as a critical threat (and whose nonwoke military some Republicans exalted). That power has now been humbled.

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4politics

Ukrainian shelling kills 14 Russian civilians, officials say, a day after Russia launched largest aerial assault of war

CNN — At least 14 people, including two children, were killed in Ukrainian shelling on the Russian city of Belgorod on Saturday, according to Russia’s emergencies ministry. The deaths on Saturday were the result of a “massive” attack on downtown Belgorod, according to Russian state news agency TASS, quoting the Russian emergencies ministry. Saturday’s shelling comes after Russia launched overnight Thursday into Friday its biggest air attack on Ukraine since the start of its full-scale invasion, resulting in at least 39 deaths and more than 150 injuries. Ukrainian attacks on Russian regions near the border have continued almost daily for over a year, sometimes resulting in civilian casualties, but if confirmed this is one of the single deadliest incidents. Russian President Vladimir Putin has been briefed about the attack in Belgorod, the Kremlin said, ordering a health ministry team and emergencies ministry rescuers to be sent to the city to help those affected. About 40 civilian facilities have been damaged in the city due to the shelling, which caused 10 fires which have since been extinguished. Russian authorities said Belgorod was also shelled Friday night with one civilian killed, the region’s governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said. Four others, including a child, were injured, he added. On Saturday, a child also died as a result of Ukrainian shelling in Russia’s Bryansk region, the region’s Governor Aleksandr Bogomaz said. Russia’s defense ministry said it destroyed 32 Ukrainian UAVs flying over the Russian regions of Bryansk, Oryol, Mursk, and Moscow, according to a Telegram post by the defense ministry Saturday. Ukraine has not publicly commented on the incidents and rarely claims responsibility for attacks on its neighbor. Rescuers comb through Kyiv rubble The toll from the Russian strikes on Ukraine – which saw an unprecedented number of drones and missiles fired at targets across the country – meanwhile continued to mount. Schools, a maternity hospital, shopping arcades and blocks of flats were among the buildings hit in Friday’s barrage, prompting widespread international condemnation. The toll in the capital Kyiv rose to at least 16, after the bodies of more civilians were recovered from the rubble of a warehouse, Mayor Vitaliy Klitschko said Saturday. All the deaths in Kyiv occurred at the warehouse. “The attack on the capital city on December 29 was the largest in terms of civilian casualties” since the start of the full-scale invasion, he said. “Rescuers are working and will continue to clear the rubble until tomorrow,” Klitschko said. “January 1 will be declared a Day of Mourning in Kyiv.” During the wave of strikes, Poland’s military authorities claimed that an “unidentified airbourne object” briefly entered its airspace. Russia said it would not give any any explanation “until concrete evidence is presented.” NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg wrote on X that NATO remained vigilant over the incident. CNN’s Victoria Butenko, Svitlana Vlasova and Christian Edwards contributed to this report.

e0968fca289b398d2784fa4a5214b60c

4politics

Wellesley president asked to say Israel criticism isnt antisemitism; she refused

Wellesley’s president pushed back this week on a letter signed by some faculty members calling on the college’s administration to issue a statement that criticism of the nation of Israel is not the same as antisemitism. In a letter to the Wellesley community, President Paula A. Johnson affirmed that anti-Israel and anti-zionist speech can create a hostile environment for students.

8c14a2296468d29c40334cc6801a5552

1crime

Opinion | Silence Is Violence but Not When It Comes to Israeli Rape Victims

On Sunday, CNN’s Dana Bash asked Representative Pramila Jayapal why so many progressive women have been silent about the extensive reports of widespread rape and sexual assault carried out by Hamas against Israeli women during the massacres of Oct. 7. What followed was a master class in evasion, both-sidesism and changing the subject from the chairwoman of the Congressional Progressive Caucus. “I’ve condemned what Hamas has done,” Jayapal allowed, briefly, before moving immediately to condemn Israel. Bash persisted: “I was just asking about the women, and you turned it back to Israel. I’m asking about Hamas.” “I’ve already answered your question, Dana,” Jayapal replied, adding that while rape was “horrific,” it “happens in war situations. Terrorist organizations like Hamas obviously are using these as tools. However, I think we have to be balanced about bringing in the outrages against Palestinians.”

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1crime

3 hurt in house fire in Wales; officials looking for cause

WALES — State police and local fire officials are investigating a blaze on Strafford Holland Road in Wales that injured two residents and their neighbor this morning. At 8 a.m., the Wales Fire Department responded to 88 Stafford Holland Road, where firefighters were met by heavy, wind-driven fire at the front of the home. The two-alarm fire was extinguished at about 11 a.m., fire officials said. Two senior adults escaped the fire, one with the assistance of a neighbor, according to Wales Fire Chief John Croke, who issued a statement through the state’s Department of Fire Services. Emergency responders took the residents, both with serious injuries, to UMass Memorial Medical Center in Worcester. The neighbor was treated, as well, with less serious injuries. “We don’t know yet how this fire started,” said Croke. The chief took the opportunity to remind residents about the importance of having working smoke and carbon monoxide alarms installed on all levels of a home or business. The fire’s origin is being investigated by the Wales Fire Department and state police attached to the State Fire Marshal’s Office.

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4politics

WATCH LIVE: President Biden pushes for banning hidden junk fees to save Americans money

Log in to comment on videos and join in on the fun.

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6sports

Avalanche coach thinks Bruins defenseman is underrated

BOSTON — As he got set to lead his team against the Bruins for the second time in 10 days, Avalanche coach Jared Bednar singled out defenseman Charlie McAvoy as a big part of the reason Boston has remained one of the top teams in the NHL despite considerable offseason roster turnover. The Bruins and Avalanche play at 7 p.m. at TD Garden. BetMGM BET $5, GET $158! BONUS BETS CLAIM OFFER Promo code: MASS158 STATES: MA, KY, AZ, CO, IA, IL, IN, KS, LA, MD, MI, NJ, NY, OH, PA, TN, VA. Visit BetMGM.com for Terms and Conditions. 21 years of age or older to wager. MA Only. New Customer Offer. All promotions are subject to qualification and eligibility requirements. Rewards issued as non-withdrawable bonus bets. Bonus bets expire 7 days from issuance. In Partnership with MGM Springfield. Play it smart from the start with GameSense. GameSenseMA.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-327-5050 or visit gamblinghelplinema.org. “He’s very important as a No. 1 for them because he does everything,” Bednar said. “He can play any style of game you want. He’s a great puck mover. He can jump up in the play and help them offensively. He’s a heavy defender and has physicality and bite to his game. “Power play, penalty kill, you name it, he’s the guy they lean on to get the job done. He has got it done on a very good team every year,” Bednar said. “He’s certainly a guy I look at and say this is one of the top defenders in the league.” With six goals and 23 assists in 35 games, if he stays healthy, McAvoy is on pace to reach career highs in goals, assists and points. But he’s still well behind the NHL leaders among defensemen including Cale Makar, Bednar’s No. 1 blue-liner. “I would say (McAvoy) is underrated,” Bednar said. “Numbers aren’t the be-all, end-all. He’s an adequate to very good point producer and offensive player and he mixes in some things he’s exceptional at on the defensive end.”

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1crime

He Killed His Molester as a Teenager. Should He Be Spared Deportation?

Immigration courts routinely deport people who have worked in the United States for years and have committed no offense worse than a traffic infraction. Among them are parents forced to leave their families behind and beloved community members with successful businesses. Even the several million young immigrants known as “Dreamers,” who were brought to the United States illegally as small children and often have stellar records of achievement, still have no certain path to permanent residency. And as record numbers of migrants cross the Southern border, a major political vulnerability for President Biden going into next year’s election, lawmakers in Washington are discussing proposals to increase deportations and make it harder to win asylum. “There are millions of people around the world who desperately want to come here legally to contribute something of great value, people with extraordinary abilities, and they can’t do it because they’re waiting in a yearslong backlog,” said David J. Bier, associate director of immigration studies at the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank in Washington. Mr. Flores “forfeited his right to decide where he wants to live for the rest of his life,” added Mr. Bier, “when he took matters into his own hands.” The people with the best chance of avoiding deportation typically have no criminal record, a history of contributing to the community and a strong case that their deportation would cause an exceptionally high level of hardship for their American relatives, said Eliza Klein, who recently retired as an immigration judge in Chicago.

8ca2969a07495298b4f3f183d6896f50

3entertainment

How to watch On Patrol: Live new episodes for free Jan. 12-13 on Reelz

The Reelz series “On Patrol: Live” continues with new episodes on Friday, Jan. 12 and Saturday, Jan. 13 at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT both evenings, going for three hours apiece. Those without cable can catch the latest installments of “On Patrol: Live” for free through either Philo or DirecTV Stream, each of which offer a free trial to new users. According to the show’s IMDb description it “follows the everyday lives of police officers on patrol from diverse departments across America,” and is hosted by Dan Abrams, Sean “Sticks” Larkin and Curtis Wilson. The series premiered in July 2022, according to a trailer for the series, in which Larkin explains the series take “an unfiltered look at what police officers do,” with Wilson adding “anything can happen, when it’s live.” Reelz added that police departments featured on the show represent every region of the country from the North to the South and from the East Coast to the West Coast and everywhere in between including rural, urban and suburban areas. How can I watch “On Patrol: Live″ on Reelz without cable? You can watch the series through Reelz on Philo or on DirecTV Stream, each of which offer a free trial for new users. What is Philo? Philo is an over-the-top internet live TV streaming service that offers 60+ entertainment and lifestyle channels, like AMC, BET, MTV, Comedy Central and more, for the budget-friendly price of $25/month. What is DirecTV Stream? The streaming platform offers a plethora of content including streaming the best of live and On Demand, starting with more than 75 live TV channels.

c67ac90dffb211a4e6147ba50741ad3a

3entertainment

I ate the Olive Garden Chocolate Lasagna so you dont have to

Olive Garden is selling something that it is marketing as “Chocolate Lasagna.” It’s just a slice of chocolate layer cake. There, I just saved you about 10 bucks and 1,000 calories. You can stop reading now if you want. I won’t blame you. The only people I expect to read further are my mom and that one person out here who loves Olive Garden and is looking for an email to send complaints to. Olive Garden Chocolate Lasagna “Chocolate Lasagna” is a crime against two languages. It’s just a slice of chocolate layer cake with chocolate mousse that’s topped with ganache and has a layer of crushed wafers at the bottom. It’s as much a “Chocolate Lasagna” as a cannoli can be a “Chocolate Chip Burrito.” This dereliction of dessert decency is like if Chick-fil-A started marketing their sandwiches as “Southern Chicken Parm Sliders.” Yes, I’d 100% eat it. But I’d do so with an indignant scowl trying to make up for how much of a sucker I am. With that said, the “Chocolate Lasagna” does taste pretty good, which shouldn’t be surprising since it’s, you know, cake. So, congrats, Olive Garden. You’ve pulled off the world’s weirdest low-stakes mass-marketing skullduggery. It’s like if someone tried to sell me a pre-owned hot tub on Craigslist, but instead I got a really nice new couch. Yes, I’ve technically been bamboozled and/or hornswoggled. But this is probably a better outcome for me. The Lasagna Classico and "Chocolate Lasagna" from Olive Garden. (Nick O'Malley, MassLive)Nick O'Malley, MassLive What does it taste like? For the sake of conducting ethical lasagna science, I decided to get both the “Chocolate Lasagna” and the “Lasagna Classico.” To be clear, I got the lunch-sized portion of the real lasagna. I didn’t want to go full Garfield the cat at this Olive Garden on a Wednesday afternoon. The “Chocolate Lasagna” All jokes aside, this is a pretty good cake. It’s rich, but not overly heavy. It’s chocolatey, but not too sweet. The crushed wafers at the bottom were definitely the most interesting part, adding some really nice texture and flavor. I feel like if they leaned into that and the ganache more, they could have had a more unique dessert that was more deserving of the “lasagna” monicker. But then again, they also could have tried to use chocolate pasta. So let’s be glad they didn’t get too ambitious over here. The three layers of cake are delightfully dense. So it’s nice to see Olive Garden offset that with chocolate mousse as the filling. Throwing buttercream in there would have been a bit much. Overall, this dessert is a chilled mesa of chocolate that is really satisfying in the way it lets you cut through the layers with your fork. It pops with dark, chocolatey flavor and only gets better with the added chocolate sauce and whipped cream. Lasagna Classico Well, this is technically lasagna. Most of the lasagna’s bulk consists of layers of pasta, then ricotta, then a little sauce, then repeat. There’s not much actual melted cheese inside the body of the lasagna which is disappointing. It checks all the boxes you look for. But it is a bit dry and boring on the inside. The more generous sauce on the top does most of the heavy lifting in terms of flavor. This isn’t how I’d make lasagna. But I also don’t design the menu for the Olive Garden lunch rush. So I’m not really in a position to speak. So is it any good? In terms of it being a delicious thing to eat? Yes, this is a solid dessert at a fast-casual chain restaurant. In terms of marketing? It’s as rich in lies as it is in chocolate. The final word I look at Olive Garden the same way I do cranberries. I’m quite vocal in my general distaste of them, but I also understand they have their place. I have a beef with Massachusetts’ most famous bog-fruit because I have to deal with cranberry sauce haunting the dinner table every Thanksgiving. I bristle at Olive Garden because my mom’s side of the family is Italian and refuses to associate with whatever it is they’re doing over there. If I went to Italy and tried to pass this dessert as “Chocolate Lasagna,” I’d be chased away by every nonna with a rolling pin within a half-mile. Still, I’d absolutely tear into a basket of Olive Garden breadsticks. I have zero pride when it comes to me and carbs. --- “I ate it so you don’t have to” is a regular food column looking at off-beat eats, both good and bad. It runs every other Thursday-ish at noon-ish. You can send any praise/food suggestions to nomalley@masslive.com. Please send all criticisms and complaints about restaurant chains doing weird things to Italian food to dcifarelli@masslive.com. You can check out the rest of the series here.

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5science

Effort to produce a blight-resistant American chestnut fails, but local efforts continue

GRANVILLE – While The American Chestnut Foundation recently announced an effort to produce a transgenic blight-resistant American chestnut was a failure, two orchards in Granville continue on the quest to restore the tree once known as the “redwood of the east” for its massive size. “Is it a setback? Yes, but we’re not sure yet how much of a setback it is,” said John Meiklejohn, who is a volunteer orchard manager in Granville at one of the 37 research orchards established by the Massachusetts-Rhode Island Chapter of The American Chestnut Foundation.

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1crime

Logan Clegg, accused of murder

A former second-grade teacher from Milford appeared in federal court in Worcester on Monday, where he pleaded guilty to possessing child sex abuse videos, acting United States Attorney Joshua Levy’s office said. Vincent Kiejzo, 36, pleaded guilty today to one count of possession of child pornography, Levy’s office said in a statement. Read more: Sutton magician Scott Jameson pleads guilty to child porn charges A search of Kiejzo’s home in September 2020 resulted in the findings of a USB drive connected to Kiejzo’s bedroom television, Levy’s office said. The USB drive contained links to websites with videos depicting children being sexually exploited, along with over 6,000 images of child sex abuse, including pictures involving infants. The charging statute provides for a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, five years and up to a lifetime of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000. Kiejzo was arrested and charged that same month before he was indicted by a federal grand jury in October 2020. U.S. Senior District Court Judge Timothy Hillman scheduled Kiejzo’s sentencing for April 4, 2024.

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7weather

Tornadic damage confirmed in North Attleboro, parts of Rhode Island and Connecticut after Wednesday storm - Boston News, Weather, Sports

NORTH ATTLEBORO, MASS. (WHDH) - Damage left in the wake of a storm that blew through southern New England on Wednesday was “tornadic” in nature, according to officials who are now working to determine the extent of the event. The National Weather Service’s Boston office said a survey team confirmed damage in Killingly, Conn., Foster, Glocester, and Lincoln RI, and North Attleboro in Massachusetts was the result of a tornado. “Team is still determining if it was a continuous path or separate touchdowns, a final EF-rating, path length & width,” the NWS Boston Twitter account stated Thursday afternoon. The determination came less than 24 hours after a Tornado Warning was issued for parts of Rhode Island and Bristol County. A warning also into effect for neighboring Norfolk and Plymouth counties before expiring at 6:30 p.m. 130 PM Damage Survey Update | Survey team confirmed damage that took place in Killingly CT, Foster RI, Glocester RI, Lincoln RI & North Attleboro MA was tornadic. Team is still determining if it was a continuous path or separate touchdowns, a final EF-rating, path length & width. — NWS Boston (@NWSBoston) September 14, 2023 This is a developing story; stay with 7NEWS on-air and online for the latest updates. (Copyright (c) 2023 Sunbeam Television. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

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6sports

Patriots vs Giants prediction: Odds, game and player props

After missing his first game of the season, Clippers star Kawhi Leonard could return from his absence. Leonard is listed as questionable on the injury report with left hip contusion, which forced him to miss the Clippers’ game against the Thunder on Thursday. Moussa Diabate (left hip impingement) and Mason Plumlee (left MCL sprain) are both out as well for the Clippers. The Celtics face the Clippers in Los Angeles at 3:30 p.m. Saturday. The C’s are shorthanded themselves for Saturday’s game as they have three rotation players listed, including Jayson Tatum (questionable) and Kristaps Porzingis (out). BET ANYTHING GET $250 BONUS ESPN BET CLAIM OFFER MASS 21+ and present in MA, NJ, PA, VA, MD, WV, TN, LA, KS, KY, CO, AZ, IL, IA, IN, OH, MI. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-Gambler. The Clippers have been on a recent hot streak as they were just on a nine-game winning streak before their loss to the Thunder. They’re 17-11 on the season and have climbed out of a slow start to the year. They made headlines when they traded for James Harden from the 76ers at the beginning of the season. Harden has impressed, averaging 17.4 points, 4.8 rebounds and 7.7 assists in his 23 games in Los Angeles. The Clippers have plenty of marquee names, whether it’s Leonard, Harden, Paul George or Russell Westbrook. The Celtics will also see old friend Daniel Theis, who signed with the Clippers as a free agent. Theis wasn’t getting minutes in Indiana, so he was able to negotiate a buyout. The Clippers needed front court help with Plumlee out in the long-term, which is why they went out and signed Theis. The big man has averaged 6.9 points and 3.9 rebounds in his 17 games for the Clippers thus far.

a6d2a7f4632ddfe0d90c428300d81351

5science

TikToks Influence on Young Voters Is No Simple Matter - The New York Times

We’re in a season of hand-wringing and scapegoating over social media, especially TikTok, with many Americans and politicians missing that two things can be true at once: Social media can have an outsized and sometimes pernicious influence on society, and lawmakers can unfairly use it as an excuse to deflect legitimate criticisms. Young people are overwhelmingly unhappy about U.S. policy on the war in Gaza? Must be because they get their “perspective on the world on TikTok” — at least according to Senator John Fetterman, a Democrat who holds a strong pro-Israel stance. This attitude is shared across the aisle. “It would not be surprising that the Chinese-owned TikTok is pushing pro-Hamas content,” Senator Marsha Blackburn said. Another Republican senator, Josh Hawley, called TikTok a “purveyor of virulent antisemitic lies.” Consumers are unhappy with the economy? Surely, that’s TikTok again, with some experts arguing that dismal consumer sentiment is a mere “vibecession” — feelings fueled by negativity on social media rather than by the actual effects of inflation, housing costs and more. Some blame online phenomena such as the viral TikTok “Silent Depression” videos that compare the economy today to that of the 1930s — falsely asserting things were easier then. It’s no secret that social media can spread misleading and even harmful content, given that its business model depends on increasing engagement, thus often amplifying inflammatory content (which is highly engaging!) with little to no guardrails for veracity. And, yes, TikTok, whose parent company is headquartered in Beijing and which is increasingly dominating global information flows, should generate additional concern. As far back as 2012, research published in Nature by Facebook scientists showed how companies can easily and stealthily alter real-life behavior, such as election turnout.

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2culture

Top schools in Massachusetts see large disparities in reading

Madison von Mering, a driven 16-year-old who loves field hockey and sailing, is not a strong reader. As a young child, she was never correctly taught how to sound out unfamiliar words. WINCHESTER — At school, she panics if she has to read aloud. She’s a conscientious student and keeps her grades up, but it isn’t easy; at times she has such trouble synthesizing the novels she reads in English class, she Googles plot summaries to remind herself of what happened. Even in math, word problems are thickets. “Even still, a lot of words, I just guess on how they’re pronounced,” she said. Advertisement Madison lives in Winchester, a wealthy Boston suburb known for having some of the best public schools in Massachusetts. Yet almost one in three of its students in grades 3 to 8 last spring did not meet the state’s bar for proficiency in reading, a foundational life skill and crucial marker of academic progress. Madison von Mering, 16, at her home in Winchester. She says she was never correctly taught how to sound out words as a young child in the Winchester Public Schools, one of many wealthy, highly regarded school districts that use a reading curriculum deemed low quality by experts and the state. Suzanne Kreiter/Globe Staff It’s about the same across Boston’s toniest suburbs. Parents plunk down $1 million for a modest home because they believe it comes with a spectacular education. The Metco program sends thousands of Black and Latino children from Boston to highly regarded schools in districts including Newton, Lexington, and Lincoln. Still, a disturbing proportion of children in these elite districts — 35 percent — failed to meet expectations on last spring’s English Language Arts MCAS exam, according to a Globe analysis of test results for grades 3-8 in the 50 wealthiest communities in Massachusetts. Some of those students couldn’t sound out the questions being asked of them on the exam; others struggled to understand provided passages. Although the kids who are lagging come from all backgrounds, they are disproportionately Black or Latino, live in a low-income household, are not native English speakers, or have a disability. Advertisement Income differences create a stark divide: The Globe analysis, reviewed with statistical rigor by Clémence Idoux, an education researcher with MIT Blueprint Labs, found that more than half of low-income children in grades 3-8 in the 50 wealthiest communities did not meet that proficiency standard in 2017-19, compared with 26 percent of non-low-income kids. This year, post-pandemic, almost two-thirds of low-income students fell below it. Race and ethnicity also tell. About 45 percent of Latino children in grades 3-8 and 60 percent of their Black classmates in these vaunted school districts fell short of the state’s proficiency benchmark in 2017-19, the Globe analysis found, compared with 28 percent of white students. And for those with disabilities, the numbers are simply devastating: More than two of every three children missed the proficiency benchmark. And that was before the pandemic, which has driven scores down further. These children make up a relatively small proportion of students in wealthy districts, so school leaders can more easily overlook their lagging performance. That’s why the Globe studied the reading scores of marginalized groups across dozens of wealthy communities: to allow a statistically meaningful measure of how children in different racial and socioeconomic cohorts are faring in districts where they should thrive. Though experts agree the MCAS is far from the perfect measure of students’ reading skills, it’s the best available statewide proxy for assessing literacy. The achievement gaps in rich school districts are, in some cases, actually wider than in the rest of the state, even though their disadvantaged students do somewhat better than their peers in other districts, the Globe found. That leads to this question: How can a town take pride in its schools when so many of the most vulnerable are left behind? These are, after all, communities where resources abound, where there is no financial excuse for such a failure. Advertisement “They are actually in a position to close these gaps better than anybody is, but they don’t do it,” said Darci Burns, executive director of HILL for Literacy, which trains teachers in best practices in reading instruction. “It begs the question: Why isn’t your instruction yielding better results for those students?” Kids struggle with reading for many reasons that schools can’t prevent — they might have a language-based learning disability like dyslexia, or they might not have had exposure to rich vocabulary or broad general knowledge at home. But schools can offer the best available reading instruction. And, as measured by the state’s own guidelines, many wealthy districts don’t. A Globe review of state data and a statewide survey of school districts found that the state’s wealthiest communities are more likely to use reading curriculums that the state Education Department calls “low-quality.” Sixty-two percent of the richest 50 communities, ranked by household income, used these flawed curriculums last year, the Globe found, compared with 46 percent statewide. Massachusetts, unlike 25 other states, doesn’t require districts to use evidence-based reading instruction, built around decades of brain science about how kids learn to read. Structured literacy, as this approach is often called, teaches kids to consistently use phonics rules to sound out unknown words, and it incorporates lessons that build kids’ general knowledge to help them unlock meaning. Advertisement Wealthy districts are more likely to use so-called balanced literacy curriculums, which strive to cultivate love of reading but sometimes fall short on teaching basic literacy skills and on ensuring that struggling readers build their knowledge base. A wide body of research has found structured literacy methods are most effective at preventing reading failure. In December, state Education Commissioner Jeffrey Riley called on the Legislature to consider requiring districts to adopt them. Some children learn to read easily, and for them any curriculum would probably work fine. This is especially the case in communities where children tend to have highly educated parents, access to top-notch preschools, and lots of intellectual stimulation at home. For kids who have a harder time with reading, though, there’s a divide: Well-off, well-educated parents have a greater capacity to teach their kids themselves, send them to private schools, or hire a reading tutor. Parents with less money, time, and education, meanwhile, can’t so easily give their kids a boost, and their children fall further behind. Lots of children struggle with reading in Winchester, “but there’s no sense of urgency,” said Meredith Rowe, a Winchester mother and Harvard education professor who studies early literacy. “One of the reasons for the lack of urgency is that parents — including parents like myself — are just hiring tutors, so it isn’t like we have terrible MCAS scores.” Advertisement Schools also have to look hard at other factors contributing to achievement gaps, including the toxic effects of racism in the classroom, parents, academics, and advocates said. But how reading is taught matters. School boards everywhere “need to be screaming about this,” said Steven Ehrenberg, a Brookline School Committee member. “Literacy instruction that’s not aligned with evidence does such trauma, and hard-to-mitigate damage, to kids.” Sarah Gannon has regrets. She was a reading specialist in Winchester eight years ago, when Madison von Mering was in second grade. Gannon worked with her in a small group of struggling readers, reading the same book aloud together multiple times. When a child got stuck on an unfamiliar word, she followed her training, prompting the child to look at the picture, the word’s first letter, and think about what made sense to figure it out. That’s how Gannon’s top-tier teacher preparation program taught her to guide struggling readers. Now, as co-director of Crafting Minds, an organization that trains teachers in evidence-based reading instruction, Gannon knows she should have prompted her students to break the word into parts and pronounce each sound using phonics rules to activate the parts of their brains needed for reading. “I was inadvertently teaching them what poor readers do,” Gannon said. Most wealthy school districts incorporate some phonics into their reading lessons. The problem is that teachers, relying on inadequate training and subpar literacy curriculums, sometimes also encourage guessing from picture and context clues, parents and educators said. Guessing is easier at first, so some struggling readers never develop the foundational skills they need to become good readers. This is especially true for kids with dyslexia, a language-based learning disability affecting 5 to 20 percent of people that typically requires high doses of specialized phonics instruction. “When people say, ‘We’re moving to Winchester,’ I say, ‘Well, I hope your kid’s already reading,’” said one mother who asked that her name be withheld for fear of retaliation from the school district. In Winchester, and in many wealthy communities, teachers often use a curriculum on the state’s low-quality list that prescribes a “workshop” approach to teaching reading — short lessons interspersed with long periods of kids reading alone, with partners, or in small groups with educators. First graders talked about their books at Lincoln Elementary School in Winchester. Jessica Rinaldi/Globe Staff Kids who can’t read well, however, benefit more from direct, teacher-led instruction, studies show. They need more practice learning the mechanics of written English, and they’re not able to learn by reading books on their own yet. Classmates who can read leave them in the dust. For kids who struggle, independent reading is not just wasted time, it can be agonizingly discouraging. Since 2021, a group of Winchester parents has urged the district to adopt an evidence-based reading curriculum to help even the playing field. One parent told the School Committee that reading problems had driven their child to the brink of suicide. A high schooler with dyslexia described feeling “like a failure.” Jennifer Elineema, an assistant superintendent, said the petitioners represented a small, vocal group. The district offers multiple materials for teachers to use. What matters most, she said, is fostering a love of reading and responding to kids’ individual needs. Teachers know best which programs their students need, she said — the district shouldn’t dictate. “I know that would make people feel better to say, ‘This is the program and everybody’s doing this in every classroom,’” Elineema said. “But that wouldn’t actually help the students.” Of course, she said, achievement gaps between low-income kids and their peers are “appalling.” But family wealth, she said, predicts literacy success everywhere. Her district assigns more staff to schools with the most disadvantaged children, but without longer school days and years, she said, educators cannot overcome the effects of disparities in students’ home lives. Some teachers in Winchester quietly disagree. Three teachers who asked not to be identified, fearing repercussions, said the district can and should do better. One said she procured structured literacy materials for her students, hoping their success would persuade the district to change. “You end up with all these kids falling through the cracks that wouldn’t need to be if we covered all the bases,” she said. Nadine Gaab, a Harvard professor of education who cofounded the widely used EarlyBird Education platform to catch potential reading problems in young children, has dedicated her career to keeping beginning readers from falling through the cracks. So she was shocked when it nearly happened to her own kids in Cambridge, where her older two children struggled in a balanced literacy classroom. They came home guessing or skipping hard words, saying they learned those techniques in school, she said. Gaab banned those practices and hired a tutor. (Cambridge has since shifted to structured literacy methods.) She moved her family to Newton just before the pandemic, aware that schools there were also employing balanced literacy techniques. She decided to take no chances with her third child. She signed him up for half-hour tutoring sessions each week at $35 apiece. By first grade, he was reading far above grade-level. Nadine Gaab is a Harvard education professor and literacy researcher who cofounded the EarlyBird Education literacy screening platform in use in schools across Massachusetts. Jonathan Wiggs/Globe Staff “He wasn’t born an exceptional reader,” Gaab said. “He just got really good reading instruction one-on-one for a whole year.” There is no way to know how many suburban families hire reading tutors, but more than a dozen tutors in the Greater Boston area said they were slammed with high demand, even at rates of $75 to $120 an hour. In interviews, the tutors sounded a common theme: Too many schools are not providing structured literacy instruction. Many clients, they said, are kids with dyslexia, but others, they say, are “curriculum casualties.” “I’m so booked up — I have a waiting list, it’s insane,” said Elizabeth Hickey, a Boston tutor with clients in Weston and Newton public schools. She said many have been promoted to the next grade over and over without mastering basic skills, and they struggle to keep up. Often, kids are deflated when they get to her, she said. Sometimes they arrive with a dyslexia diagnosis Hickey believes is inaccurate — they just haven’t been taught how to sound out words. “I blame the system. It’s not their fault.” Parents, after all, are just trying to do what’s best for their kids. In 2022, Matt Hawkes and his wife were worried about their son, then a fifth grader. Once confident and bubbly, he’d grown down on himself and didn’t want to go to school or read at home. He was already having trouble with reading before the pandemic — but remote learning, the family’s move from Wellesley to Concord, and a dyslexia diagnosis made his needs urgent. So they hired a tutor who specializes in evidence-based literacy for kids with dyslexia. The tutor also works with their daughter, now a second-grader, who does not have dyslexia but worried her parents last year when she, too, balked at reading at home. The tutor visits their house weekly to teach each child for an hour. Hawkes, who works in real estate investment, and his wife, who is in management consulting, don’t mind paying $760 a month for her services. Last year, they sometimes paid double that amount because their kids needed twice-a-week tutoring. But to Hawkes, the results have been worth it. His kids are confident in both reading and writing now. “It would be nice if my kids could get the help they need through the school,” Hawkes said. “But I’m also not sure, depending on how many kids need the extra help, how realistic that would be.” He knows the school has many struggling kids: A teacher even asked for their tutor’s contact information to share with other families. But Hawkes’s tutor said in an interview she was incensed the public school wouldn’t just provide that instruction itself. “I’m doing nothing they shouldn’t already be doing,” said the tutor, who asked not to be named because she also works for a school that bars employees from speaking to the media. Concord’s superintendent declined requests for comment. The options look very different to parents like Lady Garcia, a housekeeper from Colombia who lives in Newton and has two daughters, in second and fifth grade, who are still learning English. Lady Garcia embraced her younger daughter, Sophia, while her older daughter, Valentina, sat nearby in their Newton home. Both girls struggle with reading and are receiving extra help at their school. Erin Clark/Globe Staff Lady Garcia and her daughters played a reading game together at their Newton home. Erin Clark/Globe Staff Both are far behind in reading. They receive extra help in small groups in school and during the summer, which Garcia appreciates, but she isn’t sure it’s enough. At their apartment one summer evening, the pajama-clad girls, their hair bath-damp, curled up with Garcia on their couch to read. Sophia, the younger one, went first, glancing at the book’s pictures and making up the story: “The bunny have a hat on his head.” Her sister, Valentina, now in her third year in the Newton schools, confidently read the English portions of the bilingual board book: “I love my Daddy because...”, breezing through short clauses like “He keeps me safe and warm.” But books at grade-level are hard for her. On her report card last June, she got a 2 out of 4 in literacy foundational skills — making progress, but not meeting the standard — and a 2 in reading comprehension. Garcia moved to Newton from Waltham for the schools, and she trusts them to help her daughters. Garcia is unsure what else to do about her girls’ reading troubles. She sees the families she cooks and launders for — their kids are always reading. But trying to get her daughters to read is “impossible,” Garcia said in Spanish. Garcia can’t afford the gymnastics lessons her girls’ Newton classmates attend, and she doesn’t have money for a private reading tutor, either. The thought of hiring one hadn’t crossed her mind until a reporter asked about it. “I will ask [the school] if they can do it,” Garcia said. But who feels comfortable asking the school for intensive extra help? And who gets what they need? Heather Konar can see how, by putting a burden on parents to find a patch, weak instruction can lead to disparities in reading. If Konar, a Lexington mother and communications professional, hadn’t had the confidence and know-how to advocate for her son, Alex could have been another child of color unable to read well in a renowned school district. In Lexington, 70 percent of Black students and about the same share of students with disabilities in grades 3 to 8 did not meet the proficiency benchmark on last spring’s English Language Arts MCAS, compared to 24 percent of all students. Alex, 10, read at bedtime with his mother, Heather Konar, at their home in Lexington. Next to him is his younger sister, Katie. Suzanne Kreiter/Globe Staff When Konar raised concerns in 2020 about Alex struggling with reading at home and his family history of dyslexia, Konar felt a teacher minimized the dyslexia concern. The school placed him in Reading Recovery, a literacy intervention program. Konar, who overheard the sessions while working remotely, said the instructor prompted her son when he got stuck to consider things like a word’s beginning and ending, what word could make sense, and the picture. Konar thought the program helped boost Alex’s confidence, but it also seemed to be teaching him to become a better guesser rather than a better reader. She didn’t realize it then, but researchers have highlighted that Reading Recovery doesn’t adequately employ phonics; a major federally funded study found the program had a negative impact by the time participants hit the third or fourth grade. (Reading Recovery said that study had methodological problems and cited other research showing its program works.) Lexington Public Schools did not respond to requests for comment, but Superintendent Julie Hackett previously told the Globe the district was “committed to providing each student what they need to be successful.” The district has worked in collaboration with families to develop an early literacy and dyslexia website, and it has since May used a new state-approved early literacy screener, officials there said. Rather than waiting and trusting the program, Konar sought a private evaluation, which turned up a dyslexia diagnosis. The school then offered Orton-Gillingham, a phonics-intensive, research-backed method often used to help kids with dyslexia. Now, Konar said, Alex reads exceptionally well and loves books, often sneaking one under the covers with a flashlight at bedtime. For parents who lack the confidence, bandwidth, or knowledge to advocate, Konar said, “maybe that’s your kid who they’re just letting it ride, waiting for them to fall behind before they really start to intervene.” Marika Hamilton sees it this way: Suburban districts ought to put the needs of kids who are falling behind at the center of their teaching, instead of at the margins. Hamilton is the director of the Metco program in Lincoln, which educates about 85 mostly Black and Latino students from Boston enrolled in the voluntary integration program. In the fall of 2022, 55 percent of Lincoln’s Metco elementary students weren’t meeting benchmark expectations in reading, district data showed. The School Committee discussed the numbers, but as Hamilton saw it then, nothing much seemed to come of the conversation. She knew some Metco parents were upset. One mother said she had raised concerns about her child’s reading troubles for over a year before her child got adequate help. The mother, who spoke on condition of anonymity, wonders whether Lincoln was the best choice. Lincoln Metco director Marika Hamilton spoke after a performance by the district's step dance team during a Juneteenth celebration. Vincent Alban For The Boston Globe “For me to send my children to this school district and for them not to be getting the education I thought they were — what is the point?” she said. “They’re bused around and they’re tired.” Hamilton and an elementary school principal decided to hire a tutor to provide evidence-based reading instruction after school to a group of Metco students. The tutor made headway with many kids, but to get to the root of the problem, Hamilton said, the district has to scrutinize what’s happening in classrooms. Better instruction for Black and Latino students, said Hamilton, a Metco alum, goes far beyond curriculum. She remembers feeling the sting of isolation in the mostly white Framingham school she attended growing up. Now, her job affords her an insider’s view of school dynamics. To her, some white teachers struggle to build strong bonds with their Black and Latino students, and sometimes when students’ frustrations with reading, or embarrassment about being behind, come out as misbehavior, they get more discipline than extra help. “Now they’re losing out even more,” Hamilton said, “because they’re outside the classroom wandering or at the principal’s office.” Lincoln’s new superintendent, Parry Graham, agreed schools need to do “deeper work,” including considering teachers’ expectations for all their students and getting extra help to kids who need it. He said schools also have to consider systemic biases and find ways to build on students’ strengths rather than harping on their potential deficits. Graham is now, at the school committee’s behest, evaluating curriculums based on how well they serve all students. He said the district would change its curriculums if needed, but that’s just “one piece of a larger puzzle.” Gaab, the Harvard researcher and Newton parent, had heard that the city was planning to purchase a new literacy curriculum and was eager to learn which one. When she finally got the news from a district staffer in April 2022, Gaab was floored: A curriculum committee had recommended that Newton buy the latest edition of a balanced literacy curriculum the state had deemed “low-quality.” “You must be kidding me,” Gaab recalled thinking. All three of her kids were reading fine by then. But Gaab decided to push back. She worked with a group of parents that met with district leaders to present data on the value of structured literacy, and to tell their children’s stories of struggling with inadequate reading help. The School Committee, which would have to approve the more than $2 million expenditure, already had reservations. Paul Levy, a Newton School Committee member and former chief executive of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, said he was troubled by the parents’ assertions and wanted a more careful selection process. The school system’s vaunted reputation, Levy said, meant the winning publisher could use Newton’s endorsement as marketing. “We had a real obligation to do a real thorough job,” Levy said. The district decided to try out the initial choice alongside three other options aligned with reading research. The district’s curriculum committee visited other school districts, including Randolph, which had seen substantial progress among its students after shifting to a structured literacy approach. After a few months, the district surveyed teachers, students, and parents and, based on those responses, decided to move forward with EL Education, the same curriculum Randolph uses. Newton teachers liked that the new materials featured lively, fun, and interesting content delving into real-world topics like birds and human rights as well as fiction, school leaders said. EL also gave teachers ways to help all students, no matter their reading level, work with complex, grade-level texts that challenged them. This year, the district is putting the new curriculum into practice, with high hopes that it will boost their long-stagnant reading scores for vulnerable students. About two-thirds of Newton’s Black students and low-income students in grades 3-8 did not meet expectations on the 2023 English Language Arts MCAS, and more than half of Latino students fell below the bar. “What we know is that something needs to change,” said Renee McCall, Newton’s assistant superintendent for teaching and learning. “Our kids deserve this now.” The Great Divide team explores educational inequality in Boston and statewide. Sign up to receive our newsletter, and send ideas and tips to thegreatdivide@globe.com. Naomi Martin can be reached at naomi.martin@globe.com. Mandy McLaren can be reached at mandy.mclaren@globe.com. Follow her @mandy_mclaren.

136c78e7c4d6cde66348310b85bedc73

6sports

Field hockey all-scholastics and league All-Stars

Kerin Birch (Walpole) Susannah Brown (Monomoy) Rita Calahane (Newburyport) Emily Carney (Franklin) Mackenzie Clarke (Belmont) Katie Colleran (Walpole) Mary Collins (Foxboro) Raena Crandall (Franklin) Aislin Devaney (Watertown) Bella DiFiore (Andover) Molly Driscoll (Watertown) Jill DuVarney (Acton-Boxboro) Rachel Egan (Watertown) Kerri Finneran (Central Catholic) Molly Hillier (Winchester) Kelly Holmes (King Philip) Drew Hussar (Dover-Sherborn) Avery Johnsen (Falmouth) Myles Lakin (Reading) Shea Larkee (Norwood) Ava Meehan (Bishop Feehan) Rose Memmolo (Andover) Kathryn Murphy (Bishop Feehan) Caelie Patrick (Manchester-Essex) Camille Perlov (Hopkinton) Khloe Schultz (Sandwich) Megan Smith (Case) Natalie Wall (Reading) HONORABLE MENTION Karissa Albin (Somerset Berkley) Abbie Allen (Ipswich) Mara Boldy (King Philip) Maddie Chase (Danvers) Katie Conway (Newburyport) Ella Costa (Gloucester) Erin Cottam (Oliver Ames) Kacey Curran (Durfee) Alexa Garthee (Barnstable) Grace Haskell (Dartmouth) Cat Holtz (Acton-Boxboro) Ellie Innes (Lincoln-Sudbury) Abby Johnson (Walpole) Quinn Jordan (Sandwich) Julia Lambert (Concord-Carlisle) Lindsay Rogers (Norwood) Lily Schmalz (Needham) Haylen Wilson (Hingham) KERIN BIRCH WALPOLE Making her third appearance in the Div. 1 state final, the two-time Boston Herald All-Scholastic was a major reason the Porkers captured their first championship since 2016. Birch scored 21 points and served a critical role at center back, earning Bay State Conference MVP honors. She’s headed to Bryant for field hockey next year. SUSANNAH BROWN MONOMOY The Sharks made the Div. 4 Final Four each of the three years Brown started, and the senior (21 goals, nine assists) registered a point in all but three games en route to Monomoy’s first state final appearance. Brown has 10 varsity letters across five sports, is president of two clubs, is a two-year MIAA student ambassador, a three-year peer tutor and peer leader. She’s set to play field hockey and lacrosse at Johnson and Wales while studying digital marketing. RITA CAHALANE NEWBURYPORT Cahalane ended a four-year varsity career with a bang, earning Cape Ann League MVP honors and helping the Clippers reach their first Div. 3 state final. The midfielder was a CAL First Team All-Star. She was a MSFHCA Best of 60 selection. She’s also a state champion in lacrosse,a High Honor Roll student, and a member of the National Honors Society and Best Buddies. Cahalane is undecided on her college plans. EMILY CARNEY FRANKLIN The junior enjoyed a breakout year with 29 goals and 19 assists, starring in the middle of a well-balanced title contender. Carney proved to be one of the best all-around players in the state on the way to a Hockomock League All-Star selection and a Div. 1 Final Four trip. She and the Panthers will have a great shot at their first state title next year before she heads to play at Fairfield. MACKENZIE CLARKE BELMONT Just a sophomore, Clarke turned heads with 21 goals and 22 assists. She earned a second Middlesex League All-Star and an All-District nod, as well as a MSFHCA Rising Sophomore selection. Belmont’s two-time team MVP already has 52 career points and hopes to play collegiate field hockey. She volunteers for Best Buddies, plays lacrosse and plays for the Northeast Elite club. KATIE COLLERAN WALPOLE The vaunted Porkers’ defense allowed just nine goals through 23 games and Colleran was at the center of it. A starter through each run to the last three Div. 1 state finals, the senior earned a Bay State Conference All-Star selection and her first state title. Colleran is an AP Scholar Award recipient, an Honor Roll student, a member of the National Honors Society and a three-sport athlete. MARY COLLINS FOXBORO Collins erupted for 35 goals and 22 assists, closing out her career with 160 points and two All-Scholastic selections. The two-time Hockomock League MVP followed her league Underclassmen of the Year Award in 2021 with three league all-star nods. A National Honors Society and Spanish National Honors Society member, Collins will play at Stonehill while studying early childhood education. RAENA CRANDALL FRANKLIN A junior, Crandall registered eight hat tricks on the way to 33 goals and 50 points. The Hockomock League All-Star was critical toward Franklin’s Div. 1 Final Four run, following up invitations to play in the Under Armour Select Games and the Nexus Regional Selection camp. She is a two-sport athlete, has over 300 hours of volunteering for the Lionsheart Community Service Organization, and hopes to play field hockey in college. AISLIN DEVANEY WATERTOWN Devaney anchored a Watertown defense that set a national record with 41 consecutive shutouts before securing its third straight Div. 3 state title. The senior earned Middlesex League All-Star and All-District honors, as well as a MSFHCA Best of 60 selection. She finished with 57 points, adding to success in ice hockey (league all-star) and the classroom (High Honor Roll student). She heads to Union College for field hockey. BELLA DIFIORE ANDOVER One of Andover’s biggest game-changers en route to a third straight Div. 1 state finals trip, DiFiore finished her junior campaign with 17 goals and 15 assists. Her 67 career points has her in range to crack 100 next year. Elite speed contributes toward success in ice hockey and lacrosse as well, and she is a High Honor Roll student. MOLLY DRISCOLL WATERTOWN Driscoll finished her four-year varsity career without a single loss as Watertown’s most decorated scorer, posting 60 goals and 20 assists to finish with program-bests in goals (150) and points (218). The two-time All-Scholastic earned four Middlesex League All-Star and All-District selections, and is a league all-star in ice hockey and lacrosse. She is a High Honor Roll student with a 3.98 GPA. After a post-grad year, she’ll play field hockey for Boston University. JILL DUVARNEY ACTON-BOXBORO By leading the Revolution in goals (28) and assists (17) for a second straight year, DuVarney was unanimously voted Dual County League Player of the Year and was selected to the DCL All-Conference team. The junior was a key leader for Acton-Boxboro in reaching the Div. 1 state quarterfinals and is committed to American University. RACHEL EGAN WATERTOWN A third-year varsity starter, Egan enjoyed a breakout year and contributed toward another unbeaten Raiders season with 24 goals and 15 assists. The junior was named a Middlesex League All-Star and All-District selection while surpassing 60 career points. She’s a High Honors student with a 4.27 GPA while also running indoor and outdoor track. Egan is committed to play at Holy Cross. KERRI FINNERAN CENTRAL CATHOLIC Finneran’s 100th career point nearly willed the Raiders to the Div. 1 state semifinals, but her junior season ended in the quarterfinals with a school-record 34 goals and 14 assists. The midfielder’s impressive hits helped her earn Merrimack Valley Conference co-MVP honors, adding to standout seasons in basketball and lacrosse. Finneran is an Honor Roll student. MOLLY HILLIER WINCHESTER Recording the school’s second-best save percentage ever (.8906) didn’t come easy, as Hillier was often tasked in goal with big workloads amid a run to the Div. 1 second round. Her stellar performances earned her Middlesex League All-Star and All-Conference nods, as well as a spot in the MSFHCA Best of 60. Also an ice hockey captain, Hillier is a member of the National Honors Society and Spanish National Honors Society. She will enter the pre-med track in college. KELLY HOLMES KING PHILIP Much of the Warriors’ offense was orchestrated by Holmes, seen in the 37 assists she racked up. The senior wrapped her career with 105 points (68 assists), earning three Hockomock League All-Star selections. She’s also an All-Scholastic in ice hockey, plays lacrosse and is headed to Saint Anselm next year. DREW HUSSAR DOVER-SHERBORN A two-way force, Hussar’s presence was felt all over the field as part of a second straight trip to the Div. 3 state semifinals. She earned the Tri-Valley League Small MVP award, posting six goals and 10 assists. The senior three-sport athlete is a two-time TVL All-Star, a National Honors Society member, and won a trio of underclassmen academic awards. She will play field hockey at MIT. AVERY JOHNSEN FALMOUTH Johnsen drove Falmouth’s offense, resulting in the program’s first 100-point career. The senior forward, a four-year starter, earned the Cape and Islands League MVP award, adding to four league all-star selections. Johnsen is a High Honor Roll student, and a member of the National Honors Society, National Math Honors Society and National Art Honors Society. She is also an All-Scholastic in ice hockey. She will play field hockey at Appalachian State and study dentistry. MYLES LAKIN READING Lakin was one of the most formidable goalies in the state with 17 shutouts in 23 games, and came up huge in the program’s first Div. 2 state championship. A two-time Middlesex League All-Star and All-Conference player, Lakin is also a Joanne Paquette Award winner and High Honor Roll student. The senior will head to WPI. SHEA LARKEE NORWOOD Coming off a missed season due to injury, Larkee shattered the school’s single-season scoring record with 45 goals and 20 assists. The junior won Tri-Valley League MVP honors in leading the Mustangs to their first Div. 2 state final. Larkee is a NFHCA All-Region First Team selection and a two-time TVL All-Star. She is a member of the National Honors Society and serves as class secretary. AVA MEEHAN BISHOP FEEHAN A four-year starter through the Shamrocks’ transformation from a young program into a contender, Meehan earned three straight Catholic Central League MVP honors. The repeat Boston Herald All-Scholastic will have a chance to keep contending by heading to reigning national champion North Carolina. She’s a four-year Honor Roll student, Spanish National Honors Society member and a member of Patriot Field Hockey Club. ROSE MEMMOLO ANDOVER Memmolo was a defensive fixture for Andover in reaching its third straight Div. 1 state final, and the senior earned Merrimack Valley Conference co-MVP honors. The two-time champion posted seven defensive saves to go with six goals and 12 assists. She’s a two-time MVC All-Conference pick, a MSFHCA Best of 60 selection, Joanne Paquette Academic All-Star and National Honors Society member. Memmolo also stars in ice hockey. KATHRYN MURPHY BISHOP FEEHAN Murphy was a key catalyst in turning the Shamrocks from a one-win team to a title contender, solidifying the midfield as a four-year starter. The senior notched six goals and 11 assists, earning a second Catholic Central League All-Star selection and a MSFHCA Best of 60 nod. A member of Patriot Field Hockey Club, Murphy will play at the University of New Hampshire. CAELIE PATRICK MANCHESTER-ESSEX A 16-goal, 15-assist season not only led the Hornets in points for Patrick’s fourth time, but the two-time All-Scholastic midfielder also won Cape Ann League Baker Player of the Year honors. Manchester-Essex has reached the Div. 4 Final Four three straight times largely due to the four-time CAL First Team All-Star, and she was selected for the MSFHCA Best of 60. She’s headed to Providence College for field hockey and to study psychology. CAMILLE PERLOV HOPKINTON The Hillers’ rise over the last few seasons is largely attributed to Perlov, whose 27 goals and 11 assists put her over 100 career points. The senior midfielder followed a Tri-Valley League MVP season last year with a second TVL All-Star nod and a MSFHCA Best of 60 selection. She’s been a High Honor Roll student since her freshman year. A three-sport athlete, she coaches youth field hockey. Perlov will play at Fairfield. KHLOE SCHULTZ SANDWICH Already a three-year starter, Schultz finished her sophomore season as the South Shore League MVP with 28 goals and 17 assists. Her feats have earned all-star nods from the SSL and Cape and Islands League, helping Sandwich reach the Final Four this year and consecutive state finals trips. The center midfielder is also an ice hockey star and High Honors student. MEGAN SMITH CASE Smith broke the school’s record for goals in a season with 44, and added 13 assists en route to a second straight South Coast Conference MVP award. The four-time all-star finished her high school career with a program-best 108 goals, and was a MSFHCA Best of 60 selection. She ranks third in her class as an Honor Roll student and two-sport athlete. Smith will play field hockey and study finance at Bryant. NATALIE WALL READING A defensive force, Wall closed out her career by earning Middlesex League Liberty MVP honors and guiding the Rockets to their first Div. 2 state title. She was named all-conference for a second straight year and was an all-star for a third. The MSFHCA Best of 60 selection is a three-sport athlete, a High Honor Roll student and a National Honors Society member. She looks to pursue dentistry after graduating. LEAGUE ALL-STARS BAY STATE CONFERENCE Olivia Alper, Lily Schmalz, Megan Ledbury (Needham); Kaitlyn Uller, Kayla Bohlin, Sophia Weene (Wellesley); Cara Facey, Maddie Hunt (Milton); Caitlyn Naughton, Kerin Birch, Izzy Adams, Elena Govoni, Katie Colleran (Walpole); Alison Curron, Callie Burchill (Braintree); Molly Newbold (Brookline); Emerson Hebert-Maccaro, Olicia Norchi (Natick); Izzy Lubbe-Lynch, Macy Goodwin (Newton North); Anna DeBonis (Framingham) CAPE AND ISLANDS ATLANTIC: Alexa Garthee, Ally McEneaney, Penny Baroni, Chloe Egan (Barnstable); Susannah Brown, Emily Layton, Emery Cappallo, Sam Clarke (Monomoy); Avery Johnson, Makenna Metcalf, Jane Hostetter, Gabrielle Ferriera, Isabella Hawkins (Falmouth); Jenna Richard, Alaina Manuel, Megan McDowell, Charleigh Hicks (Dennis-Yarmouth); Cate Miltimore (Nauset) MVP: Avery Johnson LIGHTHOUSE: Caroline Allen, Suz Peraner, Shelbi Harimon, Maddie Lombardi, Mayson Lower, Caroline Collette (Nantucket); Shea Ryan, Maeve Shortt, Kaylee Anthony (St. John Paul); Sofia Balsas Fuentes, Reese McCracken, Charlotte Scott, Elaina Cacchiotti (Martha’s Vineyard); Molly Reino, Eva Wood, Samantha Orcutt (Sturgis) MVP: Caroline Allen CAPE ANN LEAGUE Ayantu Porter (Amesbury); Ella Tucker (Essex Tech); Abbie Allen (Ipswich); Gia Marotta, Taylor Valiton (Lynnfield); Caelie Patrick, Ella Chafe, Abby Kent (Manchester-Essex); Rita Cahalane, Ciara Geraghty, Katie Conway, Delaney Woekel (Newburyport); Alyssa Mutti (North Reading); Cat Colvin, Katherine Flaherty (Pentucket) PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Rita Cahalane CATHOLIC CONFERENCE Shannon MacLeod, Kaitie Ryan, Emily Coughlin (Notre Dame Hingham); Morgan Belyea, Antonia DiZoglio (Malden Catholic); Olivia Ruggieri, Kasey Lanagan (Ursuline) DUAL COUNTY LEAGUE ALL-CONFERENCE: Anna Leverone, Ellie Innes (Lincoln-Sudbury); Catherine Holtz, Jill Duvarney (Acton-Boxboro); Bridget Delduchetto, Coco Curran, Cortney Leung (Weston); Allison Hovsepian (Waltham); Avery Swenson, Hadley Swenson (Concord-Carlisle); Allison Lombardo (Westford); Madison DiPerna, Maya Billings (Bedford); Talia Macchi (Wayland) THORPE: Caroline McBride, Emily Chen, Shannon Patrick (Acton-Boxboro); Julia Lambert, Kate Francini, Crista Celi (Concord-Carlisle); Liv Bigelow, Katie Drummons (Lincoln-Sudbury); Autumn Humphrey, Emily Lux (Westford); Jane Temaglio (Newton South) FOLEY: Molly Ross, Libby Galton, Celia Lawlor (Weston); Kayla MacKenzie, Juliana Fry (Waltham); Emma Zocco (Wayland); Ava Derderian (Bedford) MVP: Jill Duvarney, Cortney Leung HOCKOMOCK LEAGUE Siobhan Landers, Siany Ortez Amaya (Attleboro); Haley Wernig, Raena Crandall, Emily Carney, Sophia Cuneo (Franklin); Kelly Holmes, Mara Boldy, Nikki McDonald (King Philip); Lola Varricchione, Emma Redding (Mansfield); Samantha Fazo (Milford); Kennedy MacEachern (Taunton); Laura Valkanas, Carolyn Schiavo, Maggie McCready, Izzy Cusack (Canton); Val Beigel, Mary Collins, Ella Campbell, Cam Collins (Foxboro); Emily Burnham, Kelsey Thompson (North Attleboro); Erin Cottam, Eva Connolly (Oliver Ames); Morgan Groppi (Stoughton) MVP: Mary Collins MAYFLOWER ATHLETIC CONFERENCE Avery Avila, Makayla Grace, Isabella Babb, Colleen Smith, Jada Thurston (Westport); May Munro, Kylee Mulvey, Tessa Luke (Southeastern); Ava Brogioli, Jaydn Morrell, Sophia Sheehy (Wareham) MVP: Avery Avila MERRIMACK VALLEY CONFERENCE Bella DiFiore, Casey Michael, Lucy MacLean, Maddie DiGiorgio, Mia Batchelder, Rose Memmolo (Andover); Kerri Finneran, Bella Angluin, Rianna Lembo, Sophia Creegan (Central Catholic); Ava Balan, Jenna Nigro, Kate Harrison (Chelmsford); Brenna Corcoran (Haverhill); Drea Defreitas (Lowell); Alex Tardugno, Chloe Pickett (Methuen); Eliana Kaplan, Julianna Taylor (North Andover); Avery Della Piana, Katerina Schille (Tewksbury) Player of the Year: Kerri Finneran, Rose Memmolo MIDDLESEX LEAGUE LIBERTY: Myles Lakin, Autumn Mathews, Ava Goodwin, Natalie Wall, Caroline Gallegios, Kendall Graves, Libby Quinn (Reading); Mackenzie Clarke, Lola Rocci, Tess Desantis, Carly Gaziano (Belmont); Molly Hiller, Julia Legere, Madelyn Rabinovich, Sam Gal (Winchester); Lola Capapey, Sophie Glavine (Lexington); Libby Corsetti, Piper Guiney (Arlington); Lilianna Santos (Woburn). MVP: Natalie Wall FREEDOM: Molly Driscoll, Aislin Devaney, Rachel Egan, Adrianna Williams, Regan Driscoll, Katelyn O’Connor, Caroline Andrade (Watertown); Grace Tobias, Olivia Scally, Bridget Scully, Lucija Romanowski (Stoneham); Alyssa Stack, Abigail Hassell, Alexis Melvin, Kiera Warford (Wilmington); Mia Lauder, Nora, McDowell, Renee LeComte (Burlington); Juliana Spaulding, Erin Leary (Wakefield) MVP: Molly Driscoll NORTHEASTERN CONFERENCE ALL-CONFERENCE: Liz Wilder (Beverly); Maddie Chase, Megan McGinnity, Malana Moy, Bobbi Serino (Danvers); Abby Lowthers, Ella Costa (Gloucester); Daniella White (Peabody); Nora Duval, Sophie Doumas (Masconomet); Jessica Bremberg (Saugus); Lucy Brown S, Maisie Russo (Swampscott) ALL-STARS: Lily Shea (Beverly); Abby Sher, Molly Emery, Gabby Griffin-Fetsch (Danvers); Lily Pregent, Ariana Scola (Gloucester); Clara Donovan (Marblehead); Angelina Zepaj, Savannah Stevens (Masconomet); Meghan Collins (Peabody); Grace Fiore (Saugus); Sawyer Groothuis, Coco Clopton (Swampscott) PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Maddie Chase PATRIOT LEAGUE KEENAN: Siena Brackett, Ryan Hallisey, Haylen Wilson, Lauren Armstrong, Lily Samoska (Hingham); Caitlin Ganley, Alex Bliss, Hannah Selig, Alannah Waters, Brooke Hohmann (Silver Lake); Meagan Condon, Julia O’Brien, Mary Tracey (Marshfield); Megan Petrarca, Stella Kirkpatrick, Annalise Lopes (Plymouth North); Paige Cosgrove (Whitman-Hanson) MVP: Siena Brackett FISHER: Ava von Freymann, Molly Gould, Beth Maccune, Grace Dunning, Katie von Freymann (Scituate); McKenzie Foley, Katie Radzik, Kate Baldinelli, Maren Hines (Hanover); Charlotte Hansen, Colleen Clancy, Avery Bridgett, Caitlin Hussey (Duxbury); Olivia Skeiber, Katey Sullivan, Abby Graham (Pembroke); Adyson Klaassen (Plymouth South) MVP: McKenzie Foley SOUTH COAST CONFERENCE Cynthia Morales, Ally Arruda (Apponequet); Caraline Corvi, Rowan Whitaker (Dighton-Rehoboth); Carlie Francis (Fairhaven); Megan Smith, Skylar Demoranville, Brooke Perron (Case); Reilly Patraiko, Tessa Winslow (Old Rochester); Katie Eklund (Seekonk); Addie Finlaw, Karissa Albin, Karis Botelho, Ryan Crook (Somerset Berkley); Abby Matta (West Bridgewater) MVP: Megan Smith SOUTHEAST CONFERENCE Grace Haskell, Samantha Souza, Kaelyn Zuber, Aubrey Carberry, Lily Melo (Dartmouth); Kacey Curran, Ellia Delisle, Emily Curran, Toni Freitas, Paitlynn Botelho (Durfee); Emily DaCosta, Sophia Perry (New Bedford); Emily Keefe, Delaney Moreau (Bridgewater-Raynham); Issys Price, Casey Hoyt (Brockton) MVP: Grace Haskell TRI-VALLEY LEAGUE Ayla Hallock (Ashland); Mallory Berkeley, Cassidy Leger (Bellingham); Mary Stronach (Dedham); Drew Hussar, Avery Bent, Alia El Hilali (Dover-Sherborn); Julia Galipeau (Holliston); Camille Perlov, Lauren Strechay, Sanidi Waduthanthri (Hopkinton); Mikayla Malmquist (Medfield); Shea Larkee, Lindsay Rogers, Ava O’Neil, Emily Spadorcia (Norwood); Katie Krumsiek, Ava Kelly, Moira Kenneally (Westwood); Elizabeth Kenney, Maggie Monaghan (Medway) MVP: Shea Larkee, Drew Hussar