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Mass. reports 2,781 new confirmed coronavirus cases, 98 new deaths

The state also said 74,595 people were estimated to have active cases of the potentially deadly virus.
The latest COVID-19 numbers from Massachusetts

Congressman Stephen Lynch tests positive for COVID-19
Lynch tested positive for COVID-19 after a staff member in the congressman?s Boston office tested positive earlier in the week, a spokesperson for the South Boston Democrat said in a statement.

FBI: Pipe bombs at RNC, DNC were planted night before riot

Two pipe bombs left at the offices of the Republican and Democratic national committees, discovered just before thousands of pro-Trump rioters stormed the US Capitol, were actually placed the night before, federal officials said Friday.
Police tighten Congress security in era of rising threats

Republican ties to extremist groups under scrutiny

Nearly 150 House Republicans supported former President Donald Trump?s baseless claims that the election had been stolen from him. A handful of Republican members of the House reportedly had deeper ties to extremist groups who pushed violent ideas and conspiracy theories.

?I think it?s time?: William Gross talks retirement, politics, George Floyd
Police Commissioner William Gross won't be running for mayor. So what's next for him?

Coronavirus at a glance |
Massachusetts
Cases
Today
14-day trend
Deaths
Today
14-day trend
Mass. vaccinations
1st doses administered:
2nd doses administered:
United States
Cases
Deaths
Other resources:
SOURCES: Mass. Dept. of Public Health, CDC, Johns Hopkins University

Biden warns of growing cost of delay on $1.9T economic aid plan

President Biden warned Friday of a steep and growing ?cost of inaction? on his $1.9 trillion COVID relief plan as the White House searched for ?creative? ways to win public support for a package that is getting a cold shoulder from Senate Republicans.

Red Sox and partners unveil details of plans for development around Fenway Park
The ambitious project calls for 2.1 million square feet of office, housing, and retail space.

John Chaney, legendary men?s basketball coach at Temple, dies at 89
Chaney, one of the nation's leading Black coaches, took Temple to 17 NCAA Tournament appearances over 24 seasons.

Wife charged with murdering husband, ending years of verbal and physical combat between the Marshfield couple, authorities say

Christine Ricci, 46, was set to be arraigned in Plymouth District Court on Friday. But she collapsed in the courtroom and was taken out on ambulance for treatment by first responders before the proceedings, several media outlets reported.

Opinion

EDITORIAL

What?s taking so long to cancel Boston?s special election?

The City Council?s machinations threaten to upend a simple imperative in the COVID-19 era.
Kimberly Atkins

With Biden in office, when will Breyer retire?
IDEAS | KELLY HORAN

Karilyn Crockett, Boston?s chief of equity, on the city?s racial reckoning
Renée Graham

A prophecy about white domestic terrorism foretold ? and ignored
IDEAS | STEVE NADIS

Q&A: The end of Cult 45?

Project Takeout: Get takeout. Save restaurants you love.
Ordering dinner will help small local businesses survive the pandemic. But that?s just the start.

3 restaurants we supported this week How to help local spots without spending money Learn more about Project Takeout

Save the date. No, save this date. Actually, save this one.
Amid pandemic postponements, wedding planning is going on for a really long time.

Dinner with Cupid
Blind date: ?I probably overshared about family and exes?
Will these two daters make a connection that stretches past their ?old-lady? bedtimes?

Love Letters: Is a first date ever fun?

Pandemic takes heavy toll on Latino-owned businesses in R.I.
The Hispanic Chamber of Commerce estimates 30 percent of the state?s Latino-owned businesses have closed since the outbreak began.

Bruins are hopeful that David Pastrnak can return Saturday
Pastrnak has skated all week in practice, and coach Bruce Cassidy said "my guess is he?s got a good chance" to play vs. Washington.

?This work must be in an institution.? Amanda Gorman portrait gifted to Harvard
Ghanaian artist Raphael Adjetey Adjei Mayne painted the piece in just five days.

dan shaughnessy
We?re a year away from the wildest Hall of Fame election ever, and other thoughts
A PED connection is not expected to hurt David Ortiz on the way to Cooperstown as it has with other players on the ballot.

Combustion of oily rags caused 3-alarm fire at Lexington home, officials say
Two Lexington police officers were treated for smoke inhalation after rescuing a family and their pets from a burning LexingtonCQ home early Friday, according to police officials.

Sometimes mistaken for cats, fishers are not for cuddling
A fisher is a large member of the weasel family, but with its dark brown fur and long tail, it can be easily mistaken for a house cat.

Recommended Reads

As new variants of the virus spread, a race is on to vaccinate the public to protect against potentially more dangerous strains

?We?re absolutely racing to get prevalence down as quickly as we can, because we never know what the next mutation might be,? said Dr. Paul Biddinger, medical director for emergency preparedness at Massachusetts General Brigham.

TY BURR
A dozen or so great moments in screen overacting
These stars have put ham on the menu and made it the main course.

Following abrupt retirement announcement, William Gross says he has no plans to run for office
?It?s time to take care of my family, my health, and my friends,? Gross said. He also downplayed the abrupt nature of his retirement, saying he always planned to step down as police commissioner when Mayor Marty Walsh left office.

metro

Sekou Smith, award-winning NBA reporter and analyst, dies at 48
Mr. Smith?s bold clothing choices matched his reporting style: authentic, fair and unafraid, said Michael Lee, a sports reporter for The Washington Post who met Mr. Smith almost 22 years ago. While he was tough on teams, they knew it was always merited, Lee said.

Corky Lee, known for photographing Asian America, dies at 73

Pauline Anna Strom, composer of enduring electronic sounds, dies at 74

Sports

Zdeno Chara on how it will feel to play Bruins Saturday night: ?I love them as my brothers?
But, Chara added, "We have to do our jobs."

bruins notebook

Bruins are hopeful that David Pastrnak can return Saturday
chad finn

What has to happen for the Red Sox to be good this year?

business

Here?s why people are talking about GameStop, Robinhood, and a Mass. resident called ?Roaring Kitty?
Keith Gill is a 34-year-old former employee of MassMutual who, on the Internet chat site Reddit and through YouTube videos, has been pounding the table on behalf of the beleaguered video game retailer since 2019.

Biden warns of growing cost of delay on $1.9T economic aid plan

GameStop soars, and Wall Street bends under the pressure

politics

Police tighten security for Congress in era of rising threats
Representative Cori Bush tweeted Friday that she was moving her office away from that of fellow freshman Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene ?for my team?s safety.? Bush wrote that a maskless Greene and her staff ?berated me in a hallway.?

FBI: Pipe bombs at RNC, DNC were planted night before riot

Republican ties to extremist groups under scrutiny

lifestyle

Is a first date ever fun?
Help this writer understand first dates.

Want to get kids outside this winter? Try selling them on animal tracking
IN THE FAMILY WAY

Pandemic socializing means pods, smaller groups, and sometimes exclusion. Here?s how to help your child (and maybe even yourself)

arts

NAMES
Min Jin Lee?s ?Free Food for Millionaires? in development at Netflix
The Amherst College writer-in-residence even wrote the pilot script adapting her 2007 debut novel.

?This work must be in an institution.? Amanda Gorman portrait gifted to Harvard

19 mysteries and thrillers to lose yourself in this winter

rhode island

CORONAVIRUS
Pandemic takes heavy toll on Latino-owned businesses in R.I.
The Hispanic Chamber of Commerce estimates 30 percent of the state?s Latino-owned businesses have closed since the outbreak began.

RI EDUCATION

R.I. legislative leaders want to make Rhode Island Promise permanent
RI SPORTS

Brown University Athletics Director Jack Hayes steps down after a decade

Newton

Special Projects

A beautiful resistance | JENEÉ OSTERHELDT

With every sip, a labor of love

In Vermont, a winemaker is cultivating a legacy that pays homage to the Black folk who built this country and is celebrating life and the future of farming.
See more from 'A Beautiful Resistance' Follow on Instagram

On the Street

In tackling the pandemic, Chelsea finds new strength

Brockton offers a gateway to a new generation

This time, Quincy Center?s revival looks legit

Revere was going through a revival before COVID-19. Can it stay on track?

See more from our business series ?On the Street?: The changing face of Greater Boston neighborhoods

More

Boston Globe launches ?Fresh Start? initiative: People can apply to have past coverage about them reviewed
Similar to ?right to forget? programs that have cropped up across the country, the undertaking is meant to address the lasting impact that stories about past embarrassments, mistakes, or minor crimes, forever online, can have on a person?s life.

Last Words: Is death the great equalizer?
Quite the contrary, a Spotlight investigation shows. Death exposes in high relief the layers of inequities, in race and income, care and opportunity, that shape life down to its final hours. It is a truth the pandemic has only underscored ? one hard to see, because it is so much easier to look away.

I knew getting prostate cancer at 48 would change me. I had no idea how much
For the past year, Mark Shanahan has been working on Mr. 80 Percent, a six-episode podcast miniseries about his experience with prostate cancer. It?s a deeply personal, sometimes harrowing, often funny story about a disease that affects millions of men. The heroes are his doctors and family, who put up with some appalling behavior. You?ll hear from both.

Comfort Zone

Want to get kids outside this winter? Try selling them on animal tracking

Youngsters can get started with these tips from an expert.

?This work must be in an institution.? Amanda Gorman portrait gifted to Harvard

Ghanaian artist Raphael Adjetey Adjei Mayne painted the piece in just five days.
IN THE FAMILY WAY

Pandemic socializing means pods, smaller groups, and sometimes exclusion. Here?s how to help your child (and maybe even yourself)

Dealing with a pandemic is bad enough; questioning your social worth doesn?t make it any better. How to cope? We talked to three experts for ideas.

?Moved to Act? at the Multicultural Arts Center gathers images of protest

Protests of all types are the subject of a photography show in Cambridge.

19 mysteries and thrillers to lose yourself in this winter

Nothing takes the mind away from the twists and turns of reality like the twists and turns of a good mystery novel.
COMFORT ZONE

Three walks with poets through their favorite landscapes

They are worth visiting now, and worth revisiting later to watch the change of seasons.

Opinion, ideas, and commentary

Joan Wickersham

Waiting and waiting
Scot Lehigh

Arm yourself against conspiracy theories

EDITORIAL

Biden must not miss the urgency of the moment on criminal justice reform
Renée Loth

Federal executions ? cruel and too usual
Rachelle G. Cohen

A pillow becomes the stuff of nightmares
IDEAS | VERONIQUE GREENWOOD

A viral mystery: Does one infection prevent another?

STAT

The Road Ahead: Charting the pandemic over the next 12 months ? and beyond
In this project, STAT describes 30 key moments, possible turning points that could steer the pandemic onto a different course or barometers for how the virus is reshaping our lives.

From a small N.C. town to big-city hospitals, how software infuses racism into U.S. health care
The racial bias can produce huge differences in assessing patients? need for special care to manage conditions such as hypertension, diabetes, or depression, a STAT investigation found.

Covid-19?s wintry mix: Dry indoor air helps the virus spread
The worry is not just that people might mingle more closely inside, but that the air they breathe will make the virus more dangerous.

In the Covid-19 death of a hospital food worker, a microcosm of the pandemic
The hospital's first employee to die of Covid-19 was a kitchen worker named Marie Deus ? and her illness sparked a question. Why weren't bedside clinicians getting sick at the highest rates?

magazine
The Pandemic

Helping health care workers: The Emotional PPE Project covers what masks don't

On the Cover

Music's first responder: How Yo-Yo Ma consoled a reeling nation
Perspective

Is reconciliation in a divided America possible? Look to Northern Ireland to see what could happen.

Cooking

Recipes: Italian flatbread, focaccia, and pizza dough

sports

GM Nick Caserio says Texans have ?zero interest? in trading Deshaun Watson

Here are the MIAA?s key modifications for the Fall II season

John Chaney, legendary men?s basketball coach at Temple, dies at 89

metro

Combustion of oily rags caused 3-alarm fire at Lexington home, officials say

Wouldn?t you rather get vaccinated by your own doctor? Alas, most doctors can?t get doses.

Pandemic takes heavy toll on Latino-owned businesses in R.I.

Nation

Joseph Sonnabend, pioneering AIDS physician, dies at 88

The latest COVID-19 numbers from Massachusetts

Mass. reports 2,781 new confirmed coronavirus cases, 98 new deaths

World

Tanzania?s leader denies COVID. Now countrymen push back

Top Pakistani court upholds reversal of conviction in Daniel Pearl killing

?Declaration of war?: Protesters in Poland vow to fight abortion ban

politics

Parents of Sandy Hook victims denounce Marjorie Taylor Greene?s role in Congress and on the education and labor committee

Republicans condemned Trump. Now they?re seeking his help.

Former Obama aide to be tapped as Iran envoy, angering a highly polarized community of experts

business

Red Sox and partners unveil details of plans for development around Fenway Park

Warren sends letter to SEC over GameStop-Reddit-Robinhood saga, calling for regulation

The ?Roaring Kitty? Rally: How a Massachusetts Reddit user and his friends roiled the markets

lifestyle

In honor of Black History Month, a selection of events

Japanese sandwiches come to Central Square; Bianchi?s stages a comeback in Revere

Filling a hole in the banh mi-verse

marijuana

Northampton drops controversial fees on marijuana companies

Marijuana trade group drops lawsuit against state after backlash

2 years after legalizing cannabis, has Canada kept its promises?

opinion

Boston infectious disease specialists: How to make the vaccination rollout a success

What?s taking so long to cancel Boston?s special election?

Karilyn Crockett, Boston?s chief of equity, on the city?s racial reckoning

food & dining

Japanese sandwiches come to Central Square; Bianchi?s stages a comeback in Revere

Filling a hole in the banh mi-verse

3 restaurants we supported this week

travel

When travel resumes, politics is ?absolutely? likely to affect where people want to go and where they?ll feel welcome

On Chinese food around the world, a love of snacks, and the wonder of planes

?Things will never be as they were before.? An expert offers 12 COVID-era air travel trends and predictions

Books

19 mysteries and thrillers to lose yourself in this winter

Finding oneself in ?Surviving the White Gaze?

Every book is arguably a journey, but as the pandemic grinds on, those that are explicitly about journeys hold special appeal

Movies

A dozen or so great moments in screen overacting

Doc Talk: Escher aesthetics, extremist extrication, homelessness in Hungary

A long night?s journey in ?Malcolm & Marie?

Television

Min Jin Lee?s ?Free Food for Millionaires? in development at Netflix

I didn?t love ?Dickinson? ? until I did

Netflix releases big numbers for ?Bridgerton?

music

Online concerts replace the BSO season that might have been

Louie Phipps is about to release his debut album, with help from some first-class musicians. He?s 9.

Boston Lyric Opera drops a fully animated ?Fall of the House of Usher? production

Theater/Dance

Actor Denis O?Hare on ?King Lear,? Trump, and the one role he never wants to play again

Boston Ballet revisits Yakobson gems and previews new work for spring

We, the jury: How courtroom dramas have primed us for Trump?s impeachment trial

globe local

How this Gloucester restaurant transformed into a haven for homeless people

Will the decline in public school enrollment be reversed after the pandemic?

Doing a good deed for an 80-year-old woman

Obituaries

Sekou Smith, award-winning NBA reporter and analyst, dies at 48

Corky Lee, known for photographing Asian America, dies at 73

Pauline Anna Strom, composer of enduring electronic sounds, dies at 74