Senate reaches tentative payroll tax agreement
Senate leaders reached a tentative agreement tonight on legislation to extend Social Security payroll tax cuts and jobless benefits for two months.
Mass. to receive up to $50m for early education efforts
The state’s efforts to overhaul its early education system received a boost today from the Obama administration’s Race to the Top program.
Boston Capital
Syron’s reputation at odds with charges
It’s hard to picture former Freddie Mac CEO Dick Syron as the bad guy, even if that is the role cast for him in today’s SEC lawsuit.
Freddie, Fannie execs charged over role in mortgage crisis
Former Freddie Mac CEO Richard Syron, who once headed the Federal Reserve in Boston, is among six executives facing civil charges over their roles in the housing meltdown.
matthew j. lee/globe staff
Exclusive Sunday Preview | Globe Magazine
Boston’s best new restaurants of 2011
Best of the New: Retro burgers, a giant grocery store, and a life-changing cookie are just a few reasons why 2011 was a great year in dining.
Gingrich’s stimulus support benefited his consulting clients
After bashing the stimulus package, Newt Gingrich reversed course and supported $27 billion for electronic medical records, which would benefit clients of his consulting firm.
Movie Review
Charlize Theron sheds her weightier roles in ‘Young Adult’
Diablo Cody wrote this pungent, piquant movie about a sputtering young-adult novelist who tries to win back a married ex-boyfriend.
“This one strikes at the heart. It’s one of the most dreaded fears of parents.”
Rich Robison, on allegations of abuse by a teacher’s aide
Inside The Boston Globe
Columnists
Metro
Teacher’s aide arraigned on charges of lewd behavior, while principal is suspended
As new details emerged in court yesterday about a teacher aide’s alleged inappropriate contact with with an autistic student, the Boston School Department suspended a principal who failed to report a prior allegation against the aide, after an internal review determined she did not follow protocols. Jessica Bolt, the principal of King K-8 School who has worked for the School Department for more than 33 years, will be suspended for two weeks without pay, Superintendent Carol R. Johnson said last night.
Business
Chinese turn to Boston for job-training techniques
Visitors from Beijing Polytechnic learned about the YMCA job training program that teaches computer and administrative skills to low-income job seekers.
Politics
House passes $1t budget bill
In a rare moment of bipartisanship, the US House of Representatives passed a $1 trillion-plus catchall budget bill and averted a government shutdown.
Nation & World
Mike McQueary believes he saw Jerry Sandusky molest boy
In court today, the Penn State assistant said he believes he saw Sandusky sexually molesting a boy in 2002, but cannot say he is 100 percent sure it was intercourse.
Sports
Mike Milbury charged with assault on child
Police said the former Bruins coach and current TV analyst allegedly assaulted a child during a youth hockey game in Brookline.
Movies
Movie Review
Tom Cruise’s latest ‘Mission,’ should you choose to accept it
Cruise ramps up the intensity in “Ghost Protocol.”
Arts
Stages
David Drake’s ‘Very Tawny Christmas!’ celebrates the season in Provincetown
Drake’s Tawny Heatherton now has her own Christmas show in Provincetown, on Dec. 23 at the Crown & Anchor, called “A Very Tawny Christmas!’’
Opinion
“The conflict is real, the people are real, and the grievances are real on both sides: Israel’s unquestionable right to security, and Palestinians’ right to self-rule.”
John E. Sununu
Ideas
The ability to coordinate among the different senses seems to be something the brain learns; we’re not born being able to do it.
Courtney Humphries