The Boston Globe

2020 vs. 2021: These charts show the similarities in Massachusetts’ COVID-19 surges

COVID-19 cases are climbing in lockstep with last December’s numbers, while hospitalizations — another key pandemic measure — are down from this time last year, though not as much as experts had hoped.

5,007 confirmed cases and 27 deaths. See today’s COVID-19 data from Mass.

Paul Revere family artifacts were found in the walls of a Canton home. They’re being auctioned off this weekend

A recent home renovation in Canton unearthed several objects that belonged to the family of Paul Revere, and a local auction house is selling them to the highest bidder.

Dan Shaughnessy

The Bills game was truly a Bill Belichick special, and other thoughts

The Hoodie has reclaimed his title as Greatest Ever, and he’s on a collision course to face Tom Brady in February’s Super Bowl.

Bill Belichick and the Patriots are 9-4 and in first place in the AFC East.

Chad Finn | Unconventional Review

Taking stock of the Patriots at the bye week: Five players who have impressed, and where this might be headed

The best-case scenario has come true so far for the AFC-leading Patriots, and it’s been a blast to watch.

State tells Mass. hospitals to slash certain non-essential procedures by half, cites loss of 500 beds due to staff shortages

The Baker administration on Friday issued guidance to hospitals in Massachusetts to reduce “certain non-essential, elective services and procedures” by 50 percent starting Dec. 15, citing the loss of some 500 medical and ICU beds in the statewide healthcare system.

COVID-19: THE LATEST

National Guard helping US states and hospitals overwhelmed by COVID-19

A downtown full of delivery warehouses? ‘Dark stores’ are coming to Boston

A wave of quick-delivery startups are moving into empty storefronts in downtown Boston, offering convenience but raising concerns about the vitality of city streets.

What’s next for the Suffolk DA’s office?

Due to Rollins’s slow-rolling confirmation, the process of vetting candidates to replace her as DA has been underway for months.

Monkees legend Michael Nesmith dies at 78

Newton school principals receive racist messages over student discussions of Rittenhouse and Arbery cases

The Supreme Court is seen on the first day of the new term, in Washington, Oct. 4, 2021 photo.

Supreme Court allows challenge to Texas abortion law but leaves ban in effect

The outcome is at best only a partial victory for abortion providers. The judge who already has once blocked the law almost certainly will be asked to do so again. Then that decision will be reviewed by an appeals court.

An Airbus SE A321-211 aircraft, operated by Delta Air Lines Inc., flies into San Diego International Airport (SAN) in San Diego, California, U.S., on Monday, April 27, 2020.

Delta flight diverted after drunken passenger assaults flight attendant, hurts air marshal, TSA says

A drunken passenger on a Delta Air Lines flight Thursday night assaulted a flight attendant and hurt a federal air marshal who intervened, according to police and the Transportation Security Administration.

Customers stand in line to check out at a market in San Francisco, California.

Housing, cars, food: With inflation surging, how much more does everything cost?

The Consumer Price Index jumped 6.8 percent in November. Here's what that means for your wallet.

Opinion

Student Oreo Washington, 8, inspects plants in a hydroponics room at the Jean Charles Academy in Lynn on Dec. 9.

MARCELA GARCÍA

A new bilingual school in Lynn emerges as an alternative to public education

Jean Charles Academy has a dual-language model and a curriculum and pedagogy that centers the experiences and assets of Black and Latino students.

Tourists observe the lava flow from the Cumbre Vieja volcano on Spain's La Palma island.

IDEAS | Boštjan Videmšek and Matjaž Krivic

Here come the catastrophe tourists

Suffolk District Attorney Rachael Rollins in her office.

The thorny cases that Rachael Rollins inherits

Trump’s new media group: Buyer beware

Trash pickup along East Fourth St., South Boston.

IDEAS | LILY POLLANS

Dear Mayor Wu, let’s stop burning Boston’s trash

Mya Pol is a advocate for those with disabilities and a fourth-year student at UMass Amherst.

A Beautiful Resistance | Jeneé Osterheldt

Disability should not mean invisibility

Mya Pol, a student disability activist, is fighting for equity and joy for disabled folks. Living with chronic pain, she has learned to navigate her way to feeling good. Access should not be a barrier to being joyful.

See more from A Beautiful Resistance

More recent stories

Mayor Wu announces new electric vehicle plan in effort to reduce vehicle emissions

On Friday, Mayor Wu announced plans to accelerate the adoption of electric vehicles and other low-emission transportation modes in the city of Boston.

Bob Dole remembered as ‘giant of our time and of all time’

Bob Dole, who died Sunday at age 98, was wounded during World War II, served nearly 36 years in Congress, and was GOP Senate leader for more than a decade.

House committee subpoenas six more people linked to Jan. 6 rally before Capitol insurrection

Those who were issued subpoenas Friday included Robert “Bobby” Peede Jr., a former director of the White House advance team, and Max Miller, a former Trump White House aide.

Amherst’s Emily Dickinson Museum receives hundreds of set pieces from ‘Dickinson’

Soon, fans of the TV series "Dickinson" can see the set, costume, and prop pieces from the show at the Emily Dickinson Museum in Amherst.

Mass General Brigham reports profitable year, despite COVID challenges

Revenue grew to $15.7 billion for the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, up from about $14 billion in 2020.

LOVE LETTERS

How can I meet someone on the dance floor?

The letter writer loves to dance — and meet other dancers. But is that still a thing?

Best of the holidays

People under the holiday lights on Boston Common.

9 places around Boston where you can get into the holiday spirit (for free)

Every holiday season comes with a gamut of things to do and gifts to buy, and it can take a toll on the old wallet. That got us thinking about some activities in and around the city where you can revel in the holiday spirit for free.

Boston is dressed in its wintery best. Here’s where to see Christmas trees, menorahs, and other decorations 20 family-friendly events to put you in the holiday spirit

Globe Santa

When a grandparent needs to parent, life’s struggles intensify

Please consider supporting the campaign, during this time of unprecedented need, by donating by phone, mail or online at globesanta.org.

LEARN MORE ABOUT GLOBE SANTA

Read the latest stories Make a donation. Make a difference.

Recommended reads

The 60 best albums of the year

From Robert Plant and Alison Krauss to J. Cole, Jon Batiste to Oliva Rodrigo, Miguel Zenón to The War on Drugs, these were our favorites.

KEVIN CULLEN

When it comes to radicals, it takes one to know one

The majority of people who opposed Rollins’s confirmation as US attorney think it’s perfectly acceptable to subvert the Constitution, push for more guns in a culture plagued by mass shootings, and treat public health as if it’s an existential threat to personal liberty.

Boston police and prosecutors hid evidence in a murder case. 18 years later, a man may go free

Shaun Jenkins’s temporary release from prison follows several cases that were recently overturned due to law enforcement misconduct.

Details on Mayor Wu’s plan to use Roundhouse hotel to house and treat people at Mass. and Cass get a thumbs down from some community members

A key element of Mayor Michelle Wu’s plans to alleviate the humanitarian crisis at Mass. and Cass hit some turbulence this week, with critics saying her proposal to turn a defunct hotel near the epicenter of the city’s opioid crisis is ill-advised.

video

Culture & Lifestyle

Siobhan Miller performs in 2019's "A Christmas Celtic Sojourn" at Cutler Majestic Theatre. The show is back live this year.

‘A Christmas Celtic Sojourn’ returns to Cutler Majestic Theatre

Jeremy Strong as Kendall Roy in "Succession," which wraps up its third season Sunday.

MATTHEW GILBERT

Why the best show on television should wrap it up

From left: Shannon DeVido, Gregg Mozgala, and Portland Thomas in "Teenage Dick."

Politics makes strange schoolfellows in the Huntington’s ‘Teenage Dick’

A still from the film "All the Lonely People," a documentary about the impact of social isolation. Shown here is a statue in Liverpool of Eleanor Rigby, the fictional subject of a 1966 Beatles song.

‘All the Lonely People’ documents worldwide isolation and its cures

Special Projects

The 2021 Top Places to Work in Massachusetts

Is your employer among the 150 companies to make the list?

Jeneé Osterheldt

A Beautiful Resistance

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

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

The changing face of Greater Boston neighborhoods.

In Harm’s Way

Vehicle rammings against protesters are on the rise, but the justice system often sides with drivers

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Opinion, ideas, and commentary

Misia Winowski (center left) holds her 14-year-old daughter Madolyne close during a candlelight vigil, Dec. 3, along Washington Street in downtown Oxford, Mich. A 15-year-old sophomore opened fire at his Michigan high school on Nov. 30, killing four students.

Kimberley Atkins Stohr

Call domestic terrorism what it is, and prosecute it that way

Are reforms coming to the Supreme Court?

IDEAS | DAVID A. LAX AND JAMES K. SEBENIUS

How to save Major League Baseball from itself

Mary Ann D'Urso

The Grocery Stories: What are you so mad about?

Workers disassemble a Christmas tree outside Fox News headquarters, in New York, on Wednesday. Police say a man is facing charges including arson for setting fire to the 50-foot artificial tree outside of the News Corp. building that houses Fox News, The Wall Street Journal, and the New York Post early Wednesday, police said.

This year, the war on Christmas is over arson, ammo, and guns

Tourists observe the lava flow from the Cumbre Vieja volcano on Spain's La Palma island.

IDEAS | Boštjan Videmšek and Matjaž Krivic

Here come the catastrophe tourists

Metro

Coronavirus Live Updates

National Guard helping US states and hospitals overwhelmed by COVID-19

The latest news and guidance on the state of the COVID-19 pandemic in New England and beyond.

Middlebury College goes remote, cancels in-person events due to rise in COVID-19 cases

“Rising student cases that require isolation, ongoing transmission, and the few days remaining in the semester warrant the change to remote instruction,” the school said.

Saugus correctional officer who died from Covid-19 mourned at candlelight vigil

Anthony J. Pasquarello, a 15-year veteran of the department, died Thursday, Essex County Sheriff Kevin Coppinger said. Pasquarello was not vaccinated and his family hopes their loss will help others to get vaccinated, Coppinger said.

All aboard for holiday fun at the Wenham Museum

Toy trains rumble around familiar landscapes, past small-scale local landmarks, and through tunnels to the amazement of Wenham Museum visitors of all ages.

Sports

Patriots safety Rodney Harrison (right) was unable to pry the football off David Tyree's helmet.

Nine things we learned from Episode 4 of the Tom Brady documentary, ‘Man in the Arena’

Brady was joined by Randy Moss and Michael Strahan in looking back at the 2007 season.

Members of the Revere High football team stepped up to assist the North Shore Philharmonic Orchestra's food drive Sunday.

Pitch perfect: Revere football players lend a hand with North Shore Philharmonic Orchestra’s food drive

At the annual “Sounds of Christmas” performance at St. Anthony’s Church, 26 members of the Patriots helped load trucks and deliver contributions to the Revere Food Pantry.

Giovanni Savarese and the Timbers defeated NYCFC in the quarterfinals of the MLS is Back tournament in the bubble in Florida last season.

In MLS Cup championship, Portland coach’s history with NYCFC dates back to Cosmos days

Giovanni Savarese's Timbers hold a 4-1-0 all-time advantage over NYCFC, but the teams play Saturday in the playoffs for the first time.

Super Bowl champion receiver Demaryius Thomas, who was with Patriots in 2019, dies at 33

Bill Belichick has never been shy about unconventional strategy when it comes to winning

Women’s college basketball notebook

Clash between Holy Cross and UNH women’s basketball teams provided an emotional reunion for coaches

Business

Shares of Burlington software firm plunge after CEO resigns

Everbridge chief executive David Meredith said he is departing at the end of January.

Iron Mountain to acquire Bay Area IT company for $725 million

The Boston-based data storage and management firm is buying ITRenew, a major player in the recycling of data-center equipment and other hardware.

State tells Mass. hospitals to slash certain non-essential procedures by half, cites loss of 500 beds due to staff shortages

Newton company’s rink brings ice hockey to backyards across North America

STAT

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Subscribe to STAT Plus

‘Health equity tourists’: How white scholars are colonizing research on health disparities

A STAT investigation shows that researchers with little or no background or training in health equity research are rushing in to scoop up grants and publish papers.

Winter is coming, again: What to expect from Covid-19 as the season looms

STAT spoke with infectious disease experts and others about what to expect from Covid-19 as the seasons change.

DISTANCED: Pandemic stories of Black life in the rural South

Photographer Bethany Mollenkof spent six months documenting the impact of Covid-19 on residents of rural Black communities in the South.

Groundbreaking arm amputation surgery makes a ‘phantom’ hand seem real

The procedure aims to restore proprioception, the ability to sense where our limbs are in space and how fast and forcefully they’re moving.

magazine

Akamai employee Jason Main, who was deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan four times during 26 years in the Navy, was able to access free counseling through work.

Top Places to Work

How some top companies make mental health a priority

Top Places to Work

Free vacations, commuting costs, and 5 more enviable work perks

Top Places to Work

There was a time when we thought work would return to normal. It won’t

Even Robert's Rules can't keep order in our family. We've tried

metro

FILE - smoke rises from chimneys of the Turow power plant located by the Turow lignite coal mine near the town of Bogatynia, Poland, Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2019. Britain says the “end of coal is in sight” after 18 countries including Poland, Vietnam and Chile committed for the first time to phase out and not build or invest in new coal power. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek, file)

Into the Red: Climate and the fight for our lives

What’s next for the Suffolk DA’s office?

5,007 confirmed cases and 27 deaths. See today’s COVID-19 data from Mass.

sports

Bill Belichick and the Patriots are 9-4 and in first place in the AFC East.

Taking stock of the Patriots at the bye week: Five players who have impressed, and where this might be headed

If the Bruins want to stay in the playoff picture, here’s what they need to do

The Bills game was truly a Bill Belichick special, and other thoughts

business

Puseletso Lesofi prepared to sequence COVID-19 Omicron samples at the Ndlovu Research Center in Elandsdoorn, South Africa, on Wednesday.

Early US Omicron cases caused mild illness in vaccinated people, CDC says

Mass General Brigham reports profitable year, despite COVID challenges

Biden halts federal aid to new fossil fuel projects overseas

politics

The Supreme Court is seen on the first day of the new term, in Washington, Oct. 4, 2021 photo.

Supreme Court allows challenge to Texas abortion law but leaves ban in effect

Pentagon considering COVID-19 booster mandate for troops

Bob Dole remembered as ‘giant of our time and of all time’

Nation

Leanna Arcila, 7, was licked by Watson, a therapy dog with the Pawtucket police department, as she received her COVID-19 vaccination from Dr. Eugenio Fernandez at Nathanael Greene Elementary School in Pawtucket, R.I., on Dec. 7, 2021.

National Guard helping US states and hospitals overwhelmed by COVID-19

Middlebury College goes remote, cancels in-person events due to rise in COVID-19 cases

Supreme Court allows challenge to Texas abortion law but leaves ban in effect

World

A protester held up a placard in defence of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, amongst the Christmas shoppers on Oxford Street in London on Friday. The US government won an appeal against a London court ruling that had blocked the extradition of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange from Britain.

UK court rules Assange can be extradited to US

Nobel-winning journalists denounce war talk and online ‘toxic sludge’

Rights group calls for ICC probe into Myanmar crackdown

opinion

Are reforms coming to the Supreme Court?

Call domestic terrorism what it is, and prosecute it that way

How to save Major League Baseball from itself

lifestyle

Dresses from the Apple TV+ show "Dickinson" that were donated to the Emily Dickinson Museum in Amherst.

Amherst’s Emily Dickinson Museum receives hundreds of set pieces from ‘Dickinson’

Five must-read New England authors for every child’s bookshelf

Page-turning delights, brand new books for kids of every age this holiday season

food & dining

The Pour House is planning to reopen under new management in 2022.

Pour House to reopen in Boston’s Back Bay early next year

Micro-brewery opens in former US Rubber Company mill complex

Cambridge’s Loyal Nine bids farewell; Nash Bar plans a mid-January debut

travel

Gurney’s Newport Resort & Marina’s Stay and Skate package includes unlimited skating with skate rentals.

A stay-and-skate package in Newport, a museum of miniatures in Tucson, and a dash cam to go

New England ski resorts with throwback charm and (relatively) retro prices

White Elephant, a Nantucket mainstay, opened a sister hotel in Palm Beach. We had to meet her

Arts

Dresses from the Apple TV+ show "Dickinson" that were donated to the Emily Dickinson Museum in Amherst.

Amherst’s Emily Dickinson Museum receives hundreds of set pieces from ‘Dickinson’

ICA announces name, details of US exhibition at Venice Biennale: ‘Simone Leigh: GRITTIN’

Painter Katherine Bradford and weaver Diedrick Brackens pair up in exhibition at Harvard’s Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts

Books

Jamie Hogan's new book "Skywatcher" focuses on light pollution and the beauty of the night sky.

A new work from a Maine-based illustrator Jamie Hogan and Ralph Culver’s first full-length collection

Author readings for Dec. 12-18

Local bestsellers for the week ending Dec. 5

Movies

A still from the film "All the Lonely People," a documentary about the impact of social isolation. Shown here is a statue in Liverpool of Eleanor Rigby, the fictional subject of a 1966 Beatles song.

‘All the Lonely People’ documents worldwide isolation and its cures

Doc Talk: The forms that an escape from reality can take

‘Being the Ricardos’ brings love, marriage, and feminine mystique to the big screen

Television

Andrew Scott (pictured in 2019) will play Tom Ripley in the eight-episode first season.

The grift that keeps on grifting: Series based on Patricia Highsmith’s ‘Ripley’ novels heading to Showtime

Why the best show on television should wrap it up

‘Jeopardy!’ stays with hosts Mayim Bialik, Ken Jennings for the season

music

From left: Mike Mills, Michael Stipe, Bill Berry, and Peter Buck of R.E.M., shown in 1994.

R.E.M., Coltrane, Buena Vista Social Club, and more: 10 of the best reissues, box sets, and archival releases of 2021

The sounds of 617: Local music aficionados choose their favorites of the year

The 60 best albums of the year

Theater/Dance

From left: Shannon DeVido, Gregg Mozgala, and Portland Thomas in "Teenage Dick."

Politics makes strange schoolfellows in the Huntington’s ‘Teenage Dick’

A tradition continues, uproariously, with Ryan Landry’s ‘A Grinchley Christmas Carol’

Matthew Aucoin’s adventures in opera

globe local

Wenham Museum train curator Rob Flanagan (left) and railroad volunteer Walt Meibaum pose with one of the seasonal train layouts.

All aboard for holiday fun at the Wenham Museum

Should the state impose a tax on high-sugar drinks?

A car drives into a swimming pool in Norwood

Obituaries

Al Unser was congratulated by his mother after winning the 54th running of the Indianapolis 500 auto race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Indianapolis, Ind. May 30, 1970.

Al Unser, one of four-time Indy 500 winners club, dies at 82

Lina Wertmüller, Italian director of provocative films, dies at 93

Justo Gallego, who built a cathedral brick by brick, dies at 96