MCAS scores appear stuck in income gap

Scores for low-income students have crept up in the last five years, but the divide between haves and have-nots has stubbornly defied efforts to narrow it, officials said.

Carolina Rendon (right) waited with her 1-year-old daughter, Natalie Trevino, at the Eastwood Health Clinic in Houston. The uninsured in Texas rely on a web of county hospitals and a patchwork of community clinics, like Eastwood, financed by a mix of county property taxes, private philanthropy, and government grants for most of their care.

Deep health care divide in Rick Perry’s Texas

The Lone Star State has the highest rate of uninsured residents in the nation. This has created a yawning gap between rich and poor for even basic treatment.

For Bay State, lessons in Pa.’s casino experience

The financial success of Pennsylvania’s casinos was built on the ambitious scope of the effort and the profitability of the industry, but also on a foundation of cronyism and back-room deals.

Bus 19

On the long road up, the past is close behind

How hard should it be to move past a criminal life into an honest one? Step off Bus 19, and drop in on the Boston Workers Alliance, and you quickly get a sense of how very hard it is.

Medical makeover

With fresh cuts expected in Medicaid and Medicare, Kate Walsh's job as the CEO of Boston Medical Center is likely to become more difficult.

Foxborough, MA 9/18/11 New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady throws a pass against San Diego Chargers during 3rd quarter action at Gillette Stadium on Sunday September 18, 2011. (Matthew J. Lee/Globe staff) slug: 19patscharger section: sports reporter:

PATRIOTS AT BILLS | 1 p.m. | Channel 4

Patriots offense comparable to ’07

As exhilarating as it was to watch that ’07 Patriots team at times, statistically at least, this year’s team is off to an even better start.

Metro

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Clark University focuses on Congo violence

Some 400 participants came to Clark University yesterday to bolster momentum for a national campaign to reduce the brutal violence plaguing mineral-rich east Congo.

Business

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INNOVATION ECONOMY

The Prodigy infant car seat is the first with a diagnostic display to guide proper installation.

Three-year incubation results in a smart car seat

A Woonsocket, R.I., company, Summer Infant Inc., wanted to develop a car seat that would be foolproof for a novice to install properly.

Sports

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Yankees 9, Red Sox 1

David Ortiz, who has eight RBIs this month, heads to the dugout after grounding out with two men on to end the seventh.

Lester pulled in third as Sox lose

The stagger to ignominy by the Red Sox continued with a 9-1 loss against the Yankees. The Sox now lead the Rays by 1 1/2 games in the wild-card race.

Arts

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The BSO opens its new season on Friday.

Who will pick up the baton?

As the Boston Symphony Orchestra sets out on its search for the next music director, questions have been swirling about the process and what the public can expect.

Travel

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travel

Hong Kong's 'symphony of lights' laser show illuminate skyscrapers along the harbor.

A taste of everything

Aboard the Ocean Princess, Southeast Asia’s ports of call boast ancient histories and modern tourist economies.

Opinion

“By now, only ideologues and political propagandists insist that all reputable scientists agree on the human responsibility for climate change.”

Jeff Jacoby 

Ideas

“Could it be true, Pinker wondered, that humans had actually become less violent with time, as opposed to more? And if so, how had we done it?”

Leon Neyfakh,   on Steven Pinker’s new book about violence in history