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Mass. coronavirus at a glance
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Last updated: . NOTE: Mass DPH releases data Monday-Friday starting July 2021. Mass. population of 6,892,503 is used to calculate vaccination percentages. SOURCE: Mass. Dept. of Public Health
Kevin Lowther, also known as Big Lux, is a violinist, veteran, and BLM advocate.
A Beautiful Resistance | Jeneé Osterheldt

From bell hooks to Virgil Abloh to your local creatives, the arts contribute to radical change

Activism requires organizers, policy, and protest. But first, there is imagination.
Follow @abeautifulresistance on Instagram See more from A Beautiful Resistance
Opinion
Richard Sackler, the former president of Purdue Pharma, appears in a 2015 deposition video.
EDITORIAL

Throwing out the $4.5 billion settlement with Purdue Pharma is the right call

Victims of addiction should be able to sue the Sackler family, whose company helped fuel the opioid crisis.
A man picking is reflected in a puddle as he reaches down to pick up a used needle on Nov. 1 at the intersection of Mass. Avenue and Melnea Cass Boulevard.
Brendan Little

Truth and reconciliation at Mass. and Cass
In America, sheep have long been prized for their wool. Their meat? Not so much.
IDEAS | IKER SAITUA

The long history of Americans’ sheepishness about lamb
If corporate greed is Senator Elizabeth Warren’s one-size-fits-all explanation for why prices go up, how does she explain why they go down?
JEFF JACOBY

Elizabeth Warren’s one-trick inflation pony
RENÉE GRAHAM

2022 has got to be better than 2021, right?
A resident walked through floodwater left behind by Hurricane Ida, the fifth strongest hurricane to make landfall in the United States, in LaPlace, Louisiana. on Aug. 30.

In a record-breaking year of weather, signs of a changed world

The year 2021 was, for many people, the year in which climate change jumped from the part of our brains reserved for future-think — for worries not yet realized — and landed squarely in the now.
Rhode Island State Representative Patricia L. Morgan during the swearing in ceremonies at Veterans Memorial Auditorium in January 2021.

R.I. representative slammed for tweeting she lost ‘a black friend’ to critical race theory

“I had a black friend,” former House minority leader Patricia Morgan wrote. “I liked her and I think she liked me, too. But now she is hostile and unpleasant. I am sure I didn’t do anything to her, except be white.”
Mass General Brigham offices in Somerville.

New report says Mass General Brigham’s expansion plans won’t raise costs

The new analysis contradicts a tough assessment issued last month by Attorney General Maura Healey.

More recent stories

Police: Gunman in Denver who killed 5 targeted some victims

A gunman who went on a shooting rampage in several locations around the Denver area, killing five people and wounding two, targeted his victims based on previous personal and business dealings, authorities said.

Three juveniles arrested for allegedly beating man, 66, at MBTA station

A group of six to seven juveniles, ranging in age from 14 to 16, were “engaging in harassing and intimidating behavior,” including pointing Nerf toy guns at several passengers, MBTA Transit Police said in a statement.

Police seek man involved in dispute over mask policy at Roxbury store

Police say the man allegedly vandalized a convenience store over its mask policy, and pepper sprayed the store owner when confronted.

Rhode Island photographer and videographer David Zapatka is on quest to photograph all 800 lighthouses still in use in the nation. He displays two photographs, one of Plum Beach Lighthouse in R.I. (top) and the other of Duxbury Pier Light, nicknamed the "Bug Light," in Plymouth, Mass.
Rhode Island photographer races to capture the fading lighthouse lights
David Zapatka has photographed 182 of the nation’s 800 active lighthouses at night, but it’s a race against time: The Coast Guard is shutting down lighthouses and climate change is destroying them.

The best photos of 2021 from Boston Globe photographers.
The 24 best photos of the year by Boston Globe photographers
Staff photographers share how and why they captured some of the most memorable images of 2021.

The 12 most popular Globe Magazine stories of the year

Lisa Dana has been superintendent of Danvers public schools for 17 years.
Embattled Danvers school superintendent takes medical leave of absence
Since a Globe report in November, there have been repeated calls for Lisa Dana to resign over her handling of alleged misconduct by the boys' hockey team.

THE GREAT DIVIDE ⟶

See the latest from our education team focused on race, class, and opportunity in schools.

RHODE ISLAND ⟶

See the latest from Globe Rhode Island.

NEWTON ⟶

See the Globe’s expanded Newton coverage in partnership with Boston University.

Recommended reads

Thai-style fresh summer rolls at Mahaniyom in Brookline are stuffed with lots of goodness, including sweet pork sausage, bean sprouts, cucumber, and tofu.
DEVRA FIRST

In another challenging year for Boston restaurants, these were standouts

Despite another tough year, there is still much to celebrate on the local food scene: restaurateurs, chefs, and entrepreneurs created moments, experiences, spaces, and dishes that truly shine. Here were some of our favorites.

A plow truck in Milton in 2015.
Some Mass. towns facing snowplow driver shortage; officials warn of potential delays to road clearing
The shortage is prompting local officials to warn of possible delays in clearing roads in the event of a big storm.

Spotlight team report
Dr. Elizabeth Nabel, then president of Brigham Health, brought a Boston delegation in April 2018 to celebrate the opening of the Boao Evergrande International Hospital in China, constructed in a new medical tourism hub.
How Brigham Health helped create a Chinese hospital for elites — and almost nobody came
In a deal worth millions with Chinese developer Evergrande, a Harvard teaching hospital risked its reputation on what would become a near-empty shell.

A couple paused to take in the lights in the park across from the Boston Harbor Garage on New Year's Eve in 2020.
Where to safely celebrate New Year’s Eve outdoors in Massachusetts
For those feeling comfortable enough to venture out this New Year's Eve, outdoor events are still happening in and around the city.

video

Culture & Lifestyle

The Main Stage cast at Improv Asylum will be performing three New Year's Eve shows.

Six local New Year’s Eve comedy shows to help you get the last laugh on 2021
Shane MacGowan and Victoria Mary Clarke at their Dublin home. The former Pogues frontman, who turned 64 on Christmas, has been slowed significantly by a series of health issues.

Speaking of Shane MacGowan, and for him: ‘I think he’s getting his mojo back. But it’s been a painful process.’
A scene from “My Dad Is a Sausage,” one of the films to be shown at Belmont World Film’s 19th annual Family Festival.

At this family film festival, see the world through kids’ eyes
Getting fresh air is one way to stay sane during quarantine.

Found yourself in quarantine? We asked public health experts for suggestions on how to spend the time

Special Projects

An older lobsterman passed by Tanner Lazaro as he hauled up his traps in his boat, Used N Abused, on Aug. 24. During the summer Tanner hauled his own traps on whatever days his mentor Frankie Thompson or another lobsterman didn't need his help.

The lobster trap

The plentiful catch that brought wealth to fishing families is at risk, as climate change warms the Gulf of Maine. A way of life is on the line, but lobstermen can't, or won't, imagine another.

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.

Opinion, ideas, and commentary

A lot of little things in the Constitution would be returned to a grammar school student, circled in red.
IDEAS | BARBARA WALLRAFF

May I have a word: Copyediting the Constitution
Massachusetts State Police takes photographs of a heavily-damaged unmarked state police cruiser that was struck by another car on March 16, 2016. Thomas Clardy, a Massachusetts State Police trooper, died of injuries from the crash. The other driver was found to have THC in his blood at the time he lost control of his vehicle.
EDITORIAL

Toking and driving just isn’t cool
Even if said in a casual way, "Good to see you!" invites a deeper bond.
IDEAS | KALLE OSKARI MATTILA

Good to see you!
Carlo Ratti

Mayor Wu’s moonshot: The Boston Climate Challenge
OPINION

Words of the Year
"I didn’t have a plan. I didn’t know how I’d pull it off." The author runs along a dilapidated street in Maracaibo.
IDEAS | ANTONIO MATHEUS

The lunacy of the long distance runner

Metro

Coronavirus Live Updates

US breaks daily coronavirus case record

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

Rhode Island photographer races to capture the fading lighthouse lights

David Zapatka has photographed 182 of the nation’s 800 active lighthouses at night, but it’s a race against time: The Coast Guard is shutting down lighthouses and climate change is destroying them.

Harry Reid dies at 82. A master Senate technician, he was key to passing health care expansion

A combative former boxer-turned-lawyer, Harry Reid of Nevada led Senate Democrats during the George W. Bush and Barack Obama years and was widely acknowledged as one of the toughest dealmakers in Congress. “I would rather dance than fight,” he said, “but I know how to fight.”

Pro Football Hall of Fame coach and broadcasting icon John Madden dies at age 85

John Madden won 103 regular-season games and a Super Bowl as head coach of the Oakland Raiders, and then became an award-winning broadcaster and inspiration for one of the best-selling video game series of all time.

Sports

Will Doherty and Cam McGettrick scored a pair of goals apiece to lead Marshfield in the opening round of the MHL Pat Serio Cup at Loring Arena.
TUESDAY'S Hockey ROUNDUP

A little later than planned, Austin Prep boys’ hockey is off to a flying start this season

The Cougars had a delayed start, but bounced back with back-to-back wins to capture the Christie Serino Christmas Classic after beating St. Mary's and Malden Catholic.
Needham's Alina Ouligian (left) and Foxborough's Camryn Collins scrap for a loose ball in Tuesday night's nonleague matchup.
Tuesday's Basketball Roundup

Foxborough girls’ basketball survives Needham rally after defensive refocus

Foxborough coach Lisa Downs reinforced a focus on help defense, and her team ultimately closed out the road win.
The Lakers' LeBron James had 32 points, 11 rebounds, and 11 assists.
NBA: Lakers 132, Rockets 123

LeBron James and Russell Westbrook notch triple-doubles as Lakers end losing skid at five

It was James's third triple-double and Westbrook's seventh this season.
College Basketball

No. 1 Baylor wins 18th in row, cracks 100 points in beating Northwestern State

Pro Football Hall of Fame coach and broadcasting icon John Madden dies at age 85
HIGH SCHOOL WRESTLING

Sidney and James Tildsley are competing for major wresting titles — and brotherly bragging rights

Business

China’s COVID rules led fugitive to surrender after three years

A Chinese man sought by the police for three years turned himself in after being unable to withstand the restrictions on life amid the government’s Covid-19 curbs.

Three planes to fly potatoes to ease Japan french fries shortage

US freight forwarder Flexport Inc. will help fly three planes loaded with potatoes to Japan, where a shortage of spuds has caused McDonald’s in the country to ration french fries.

New report says Mass General Brigham’s expansion plans won’t raise costs

Moderna sheds $98 billion in value as stock slumps 50% from peak

STAT

Dr. Monica McLemore, Associate Professor in the Family Health Care Nursing Department at UCSF, stands for a portrait at the Frank H. Ogawa Plaza on Friday, September 10th, 2021 in Oakland, Calif.
‘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.

Covid winter illustration
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.

Funeral goers sing during a service for Daisy Pace at New Bethel Missionary Baptist Church in January 2021.
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.

Boston, MA -- 05/12/21 -- Dr. Matthew Carty examines patient Jerry Majethic at Brigham and Women's Faulkner Hospital on May 12, 2021, in Boston, Massachusetts. (Kayana Szymczak for STAT)
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
Dave Barry looks back at the newsmakers of 2021.
GLOBE MAGAZINE

Dave Barry’s 2021 Year in Review: A variant of 2020, so to speak
Jonathan Way plays with two coyotes he helped raise at the Stone Zoo in Stoneham in 2004.
GLOBE MAGAZINE

This scientist bottle-fed and bayed with coyotes. Was he sidelined for loving them too much?
MISS CONDUCT

Advice: Life isn’t getting back to normal. This is what can you do about it
PERSPECTIVE

We’re all feeling fine. We really are. Except we’re not.

metro

RIPTA CEO Scott Avedisian speaks at a news conference in November 2021.

ACLU demands answers about RIPTA data breach

As COVID rates soar among students and staff, Massachusetts schools brace for chaotic January — and lots of testing

It was once called a ‘useless job.’ Now, lieutenant governor may be the hottest race in Massachusetts politics

sports

Colts quarterback Carson Wentz, who is on the COVID list, could return to play Sunday.

NFL cuts isolation time for players who test positive to five days

Kyrie Irving, Kevin Durant come off COVID-19 protocol for Brooklyn Nets

Here’s what Jerod Mayo had to say about the Patriots’ slow-starting defense

business

Travelers line up at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago, Ill., Tuesday, Dec. 28, 2021. Holiday weekend flight cancellations continued into Monday at Chicago's airports, as weather and COVID-19 staffing shortages combined to cancel dozens of flights.

More than 1,000 flights canceled Tuesday as Omicron, weather take toll on air travel

Apple aims to prevent defections to Meta with rare $180,000 bonuses for top talent

US companies say shortened isolation will ease staffing woes, but health concerns linger

politics

Harry Reid delivered a speech in Las Vegas in 2006.

Leaders mourn former Senate majority leader Harry Reid

Harry Reid dies at 82. A master Senate technician, he was key to passing health care expansion

No charges for former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo from allegations by two women, DA says

Nation

A line outside a New York City Health and Hospitals Covid-19 testing site in the Lower East Side neighborhood of New York, US, on Monday, Dec. 20, 2021.

US breaks daily coronavirus case record

Asia keeps Omicron at bay, but a surge may be inevitable

China’s COVID rules led fugitive to surrender after three years

World

Social distancing signs on precautions against the coronavirus are displayed in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, Dec. 29, 2021.

Asia keeps Omicron at bay, but a surge may be inevitable

China’s COVID rules led fugitive to surrender after three years

Three planes to fly potatoes to ease Japan french fries shortage

opinion

Massachusetts State Police takes photographs of a heavily-damaged unmarked state police cruiser that was struck by another car on March 16, 2016. Thomas Clardy, a Massachusetts State Police trooper, died of injuries from the crash. The other driver was found to have THC in his blood at the time he lost control of his vehicle.

Toking and driving just isn’t cool

The most neglected story of 2021? Immigration.

Sorry, but I don’t hate ‘Emily in Paris’

lifestyle

School bus.

Parents hoped this school year might be ‘normal.’ It hasn’t turned out that way.

New Year’s Eve restaurants where you can dine in or order takeout to keep you full until the new year

Get spicy with Ricky’s Hot Stuff

food & dining

Hot sauces by Ricky’s Hot Stuff.

Get spicy with Ricky’s Hot Stuff

With On The Rocks cocktails, all you need is ice

‘If you’re looking for weird things, then shop here’

travel

Guests enjoyed the oceanside view from the front porch of the Chatham Bars Inn.

Chatham Bars Inn ranked among the world’s best hotels by Condé Nast Traveler

New Year’s at the Mystic museum, curling at the Liberty Hotel, and a test lab in the palm of your hand

Jenna Rubaii seeks out parks and the unexpected when traveling

Arts

One of the video monitors looking outward from Fountain Street Gallery, displaying a work of video art by Hogan Seidel that was on view earlier this year.

In SoWa Art + Design District, video gallery brings art to the sidewalk 24/7

‘Imagine Van Gogh’ doesn’t leave much to the imagination

Adria Arch, known for airborne sculptures, grounds herself with ‘The Visitors’

Books

Novelist Mameve Medwed photographed in the third floor study of her Cambridge home. Medwed, whose seven witty novels included “Mail” and “How Elizabeth Barrett Browning Saved My Life,” died Sunday, Dec. 26, 2021.

Mameve Medwed, novelist with an ‘irrepressible sense of humor,’ dies at 79

Away in a manger in ‘The First Christmas’

She reads about politics — and everything else

Movies

A scene from “My Dad Is a Sausage,” one of the films to be shown at Belmont World Film’s 19th annual Family Festival.

At this family film festival, see the world through kids’ eyes

Movies set in the ’70s: Getting beyond disco and double knits

A Boston woman posted to TikTok offering to swap homes with a stranger like the movie ‘The Holiday.’ She leaves for England next week

Television

Rebecca Breeds in "Clarice."

The bad and the ugly from 2021 TV

Fans thank Issa Rae, ‘Insecure’ for its portrayal of growth — and its representation of Black women

10 New Year’s Eve-themed sitcom episodes to ring in 2022

music

Shane MacGowan and Victoria Mary Clarke at their Dublin home. The former Pogues frontman, who turned 64 on Christmas, has been slowed significantly by a series of health issues.

Speaking of Shane MacGowan, and for him: ‘I think he’s getting his mojo back. But it’s been a painful process.’

6 New Year’s Eve performances from Boston-bred artists

It didn’t take a lot for drummer Billy Conway to make a big impression

Theater/Dance

Gregg Mozgala and Shannon DeVido in the Huntington's "Teenage Dick."

‘Teenage Dick’ closes early at the Huntington due to COVID cases

Six local New Year’s Eve comedy shows to help you get the last laugh on 2021

On New Year’s Eve, a cautious return to comedy

globe local

A leatherback sea turtle ice sculpture was being created outside the New England Aquarium Wednesday. It was designed by Don Chapelle of Brilliant Ice Sculpture. Suzanne Kreiter/Globe staff

First Night Boston 2022 back after virtual programming

Mameve Medwed, Cambridge novelist and writing teacher, dies at 79

Desmond Tutu left his mark on New England

Obituaries

Mr. Reid of Nevada was one of the longest serving Senate majority leaders.

Harry Reid dies at 82. A master Senate technician, he was key to passing health care expansion

Pro Football Hall of Fame coach and broadcasting icon John Madden dies at age 85

Mameve Medwed, novelist with an ‘irrepressible sense of humor,’ dies at 79