The Boston Globe

House passes bill banning certain semi-automatic guns
The House passed legislation Friday to revive a ban on certain semi-automatic guns, the first vote of its kind in years and a direct response to the firearms often used in the crush of mass shootings ripping through communities nationwide.

Homeland Security watchdog halted plan to recover Secret Service texts, records show

The Department of Homeland Security's chief watchdog scrapped its investigative team's effort to collect agency phones to try to recover deleted Secret Service texts this year, according to four people with knowledge of the decision and internal records reviewed by The Washington Post.

In rush to the finish, Mass. lawmakers face a unexpected hurdle in 1986 tax cap law

Governor Charlie Baker’s announcement that the state is poised to trigger a 1980s-era tax cap law that, by his estimates, could require sending more than $2.9 billion back to taxpayers has upended Beacon Hill’s already chaotic finish to formal sessions.

Boston officials see improvement in COVID-19 numbers, but urge continued vigilance

Boston health officials said Friday they have seen encouraging trends in recent weeks in COVID-19 metrics, but they urged people to keep taking steps to protect themselves and those around them.

Federal transit regulators order ‘safety standdown’ at MBTA citing repeated runaway train incidents

Brewers 4, Red Sox 1

Scoring opportunities squandered as Red Sox stumble in late innings in loss against the Brewers

A Puffin lands on a rock on Eastern Egg Rock in Maine.

A bellwether of climate change, puffins are struggling to survive in a warming Gulf of Maine

“There are real red flags — warning signs — right now for these puffins,” said Donald Lyons, director of conservation science at the National Audubon Society’s Seabird Institute in Bremen, Maine.

Demand for mental health care rising in Asian American communities as more speak openly of struggles
The pandemic and the wave of anti-Asian violence that followed have sparked a broader conversation about mental health, as has a growing number of high-profile Asian Americans disclosing their own challenges, Boston service providers say.

This billionaire has quietly driven Boston’s biotech industry for decades
He set in motion a series of events that created the company Moderna — and committed to being its first investor. But he still regularly rides his bike to work, and he “never viewed science as a way to make money."

Kate Price remembers something terrible

An authority on child sex trafficking, she spent decades trying to understand whether the unthinkable happened to her, too.

Read the story Watch the video Event: Join Kate Price and Janelle Nanos for a conversation about this project

An in-camera double-exposure photograph of Kate Price overlaid with the woods of a Pennsylvania rest area, where she remembers being taken as a child.

Are you a purist who thinks kayaks should only be paddle powered? You may want to think again...

‘Paddling is for suckers.’ Kayaking has gone electric.

Thanks to the Old Town Autopilot kayak, we can all stop pretending to love paddling.

Franchy Cordero's three-error night was a lowlight of the past week for the slumping Red Sox.

Dan Shaughnessy

Red Sox fans should be aware that this might not be a bridge year, and other thoughts

The Mookie Betts salary dump was the warning shot that these Red Sox are more about the illusion of contention than winning.

The last days of J.D. Martinez with the Red Sox?

Joe Galli is a 60-year-old empty nester living alone in a four-bedroom Colonial in Shrewsbury. “I want to downsize but it doesn’t make economic sense,” he said.

In a market badly out of kilter, many older residents are stuck in their homes

Many empty nesters, retired or downshifting, are living in houses that are too big for them.

Opinion

A woman puts her head down during a moment of silence during a vigil honoring those killed in the attack on an Independence Day parade in the Chicago suburb, at the Highland Park City Hall Lawn in Highland Park, Ill., Wednesday, July 13, 2022.

Deborah Ramirez, Sen. Michael Barrett, Rep. David Linsky, Jacqueline Bohatch, and Anna Olsson

Massachusetts should require gun liability insurance

Mandatory gun liability insurance increases the chance that people who should not have firearms do not obtain them for two main reasons.

As the finish line nears, a few tasks remain for Beacon Hill

Bring them their flowers now, while they’re living

IDEAS | TOM JOUDREY

The afterlife of corpses

MARCELA GARCÍA

Puerto Rico, Bad Bunny, and the island’s future

Centering critical voices, debates, and evidence-based opinion to reframe the national conversation on racial equity and hasten a more racially just society.

globe 150 magazine cover

150 years of The Boston Globe

Scenes from a century and a half, as covered by the Boston Globe.

More recent stories

Baker signs abortion rights expansion bill into law
A month after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, the law marked Massachusetts policymakers’ most substantial effort at transmuting residents’ fury over the court ending the constitutional right to an abortion into new protections here.

Mass. climate legislation in limbo as Baker files amendments

Governor Baker sent the Massachusetts Legislature several amendments on a new climate bill on Friday afternoon, leaving the future of the legislation uncertain.

Mass. environmental justice advisory council convenes after years of anticipation

Steamship Authority pulls ferry from service after crack found; some trips delayed, canceled
Workers found the crack above the water line on the aft side of the M/V Gay Head after a small amount of water was found in the ferry’s steering gear void, the Steamship Authority said in a statement.

‘They’re like artworks of mine’: Hunt Slonem collects estates that inspire his work
This prolific painter collects estates, and last summer, he bought a 68,000 square-foot castle in Great Barrington. Slonem's audacious homes have influenced his art.

gary washburn

A lesson to be taken from the Kyler Murray contract situation
The Cardinals inserted — and rescinded — a clause in his contract that he study football on his own time, but it just doesn't work that way; athletes have lives, too.

LOVE LETTERS

I need to get over a crush on an old friend
A “nostalgia crush” is popping up out of nowhere.

Recommended reads

From top left to bottom right: Kevin Fenness, Kayla Caulfield, Andrea Lyman, and Damian Vasquez Kuliunas.

Lights, camera, extras: Meet the locals answering Hollywood’s call

They don’t have any dialogue, and they blend into the background with roles as spectators, patrons, and passersby — but what would movies be without them?

‘You can’t go up to Mark Wahlberg’: The do’s and don’ts of being a movie extra

CONNECTIONS

As a single mom in my 40s, sometimes all I see in the mirror is the wear and tear
But the eightysomething matriarch of my local community pool makes me see I’ve been a lot harder on myself than I deserve.

Teen’s killing on a Dorchester street brings calls for action
Chris Sanders was in the living room of his home on Ellington Street in Dorchester on Wednesday evening when he heard gunshots. He stepped outside and looked toward adjacent Erie Street — and spotted a teenager collapsed in the street.

It’s unlikely that you’ll catch monkeypox on the T: Answering questions about the virus
The World Health Organization has declared the outbreak a public health emergency. We spoke to experts to find out who’s most at risk, where to get tested, and what else the public needs to know.

video

Culture & Lifestyle

Great Barrington, MA--6/20/2022 - An exterior view of Hunt Slonem’s Great Barrington estate. (Jessica Rinaldi/Globe Staff)

‘They’re like artworks of mine’: Hunt Slonem collects estates that inspire his work

Will Smith at the 2022 Academy Awards after winning the best actor Oscar for his role in "King Richard."

Will Smith apologizes to Chris Rock on Instagram, breaks silence since Oscars slap

Celisse performs at the sixth annual Love Rocks NYC benefit concert.

At the Newport Jazz Festival, 10 exciting boundary-stretchers

Rachael Warren (center left) as Beatrice and Tia James (center right) as Benedick in "Much Ado About Nothing."

In ‘Much Ado About Nothing’ on Boston Common, wiles of a summer night

Special Projects

Back to Boston

Welcome Back to Boston

Consider this our love letter to the city, a celebration of all it has to offer visitors and locals alike.

Top Spots to Live in Greater Boston in 2022

A guide to 36 Greater Boston communities where demand — and prices — are surging.

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.

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Opinion, ideas, and commentary

An athlete completes an exercise during a FHSAA Girls Weightlifting Championship in New Port Richey, Fla.

Who needs Title IX now?

Daisy Edgar-Jones in West Hollywood, Calif., on June 7.

Why ‘it’ matters

Members of the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the US Capitol look out from the dais during a July 12 hearing.

Lawmakers shouldn’t wait for history to judge Trump

Javari Toney, 15, enjoys jumping on his pogo stick by his home on Dorchester Ave. on July 6th, after a weekend of multiple shootings in the city.

Eugene F. Rivers III

Boston Black leadership has a problem

WORCESTER , MA - 12/29/2021 Christine Little, Registered Nurse and Nurse Education Safety Specialist, cracks open the door to request more supplies while helping to put in a dialysis line for a patient in the COVID-19 Intensive Care Unit at UMass Memorial Medical Center. As COVID-19 cases spike and the pandemic ravages on, hospitals are faced once again with a shortage of ICU beds.

Nurses are in short supply. The Legislature can do something about it.

IDEAS | Sheldon Himelfarb and Phil Howard

Global information wars are a threat to the planet. This is how we could broker peace.

Metro

FBI: Falmouth man threatened Arizona election official

James W. Clark, 38, of Falmouth made an initial court appearance in Boston to answer to a three-count indictment that charges him with threatening to explode a bomb in Democratic Secretary of State Katie Hobbs' "personal space" if she did not resign.

Another first for Constitution and Eagle tall ships — female commanders

The US Coast Guard Eagle, considered America’s tall ship, is docked behind the USS Constitution this weekend at the Charlestown Navy Yard, with the public welcome for free tours.

Steamship Authority pulls ferry from service after crack found; some trips delayed, canceled

Workers found the crack above the water line on the aft side of the M/V Gay Head after a small amount of water was found in the ferry’s steering gear void, the Steamship Authority said in a statement.

In rush to the finish, Mass. lawmakers face a unexpected hurdle in 1986 tax cap law

Governor Charlie Baker’s announcement that the state is poised to trigger a 1980s-era tax cap law that, by his estimates, could require sending more than $2.9 billion back to taxpayers has upended Beacon Hill’s already chaotic finish to formal sessions.

Sports

Red Sox designated hitter J.D. Martinez is the team's most likely trade candidate.

Peter Abraham | On Baseball

Expect a changed roster when Red Sox return from 7-day road trip

This is a team that has lost 12 of its last 15 games and isn’t really a contender.

Luis Castillo, 29, garnered a haul of four prospects for the Cincinnati Reds as they traded him to the Seattle Mariners on Friday night.

Mariners prep for playoff push with trade for Reds’ Luis Castillo

Seattle dealt four prospects for Castillo, who may be the best starting pitcher traded at this year's deadline.

Brewers shortstop Willy Adames (left) is safe at fist by half a step on Red Sox starting pitcher Austin Davis (right), who was covering the base while taking the throw from first baseman Franchy Cordero (not pictured) in the first inning Friday night at Fenway Park.

Brewers 4, Red Sox 1

Scoring opportunities squandered as Red Sox stumble in late innings in loss against the Brewers

Red Sox tied it, 1-1, in the sixth, only to give away the lead in the seventh and the game in the ninth after the Brewers broke it open with two runs.

Taylor Pendrith forges a one-shot lead over Tony Finau at Rocket Mortgage Classic

Red Sox notebook

Rich Hill encouraged by his productive rehab start in Double A Portland

Cleveland QB Deshaun Watson continues to work while awaiting word on his potential NFL discipline

Business

Allergan reaches tentative $2.37b deal to settle opioid suits

The proposed settlement is a companion agreement to a $4.25 billion deal in principle announced earlier in the week from Teva Pharmaceuticals.

Amazon shrinks staff by 100,000, joining Netflix and Google in hiring slowdown

With recession fears mounting—and inflation, the war in Ukraine and the lingering pandemic taking a toll—many tech companies are rethinking their staffing needs, with some of them instituting hiring freezes, rescinding offers and making rounds of layoffs.

US plans September COVID booster push after Moderna order

Paul English sells his podcast startup Moonbeam, to fund Boston venture studio

magazine

An in-camera double-exposure photograph of Kate Price overlaid with the woods of a Pennsylvania rest area, where she remembers being taken as a child.

Kate Price remembers something terrible

As a senior, I wanted to fight ageism. I had to look in the mirror first.

He wanted a divorce after 26 years of marriage. Now, he wants to reconnect.

Spanish tortilla with roasted red peppers

Recipes: Pull together a tasty dinner of Spanish favorites

metro

John O'Hurley played Elaine's boss, J. Peterman, on "Seinfeld"

The actor behind J. Peterman on ‘Seinfeld’ returns to his old R.I. stomping grounds

Baker signs abortion rights expansion bill into law

SJC allows sex abuse suit against diocese to proceed

sports

Tight end Jonnu Smith signed a big contract last year, and on Friday, he signed a jersey for a fan at training camp.

Patriots tight end Jonnu Smith unconcerned with matching stats to paycheck

Minor league baseball isn’t what it used to be, and that is a shame

Red Sox fans should be aware that this might not be a bridge year, and other thoughts

business

An attendee works on a laptop computer during the MarketplaceLIVE Hackathon.

Harvard publication sued for defamation in ‘misinformation’ dispute

Project Bread says pilot program reduced food insecurity for some in Mass.

Apple, Alphabet earnings fuel megacap stock recovery

politics

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi spoke at a news conference as Democrats push to bring the assault weapons ban bill to the floor for a vote, at the Capitol in Washington, on Friday.

House passes bill banning certain semi-automatic guns

Trump using presidential seal on items at golf course

No need for tensions if Pelosi visits Taiwan, White House says

Nation

Homeland Security watchdog halted plan to recover Secret Service texts, records show

House passes semiautomatic gun ban after 18-year lapse

Jan. 6 texts missing for Trump Homeland Security’s Wolf and Cuccinelli

World

Secretary of State Antony Blinken sits with Linda Thomas-Greenfield, United States ambassador to the United Nations at United Nations headquarters, on May 18, 2022.

US envoy: Russia intends to dissolve Ukraine from world map

Blinken presses Russia to free Brittney Griner, Paul Whelan

China accuses US of ‘navigation bullying’ in South China Sea

opinion

Lisa Benlon, a former state legislator, goes door to door as a volunteer in Merriam, Kan., on July 13, 2022, on behalf of opponents of a proposed amendment on abortion.

The matter with Kansas

Bring them their flowers now, while they’re living

How we can save the monarch butterfly

lifestyle

New books about gardening for every type of reader, and every type of green thumb.

A summer reading list for gardeners and green thumbs

I need to get over a crush on an old friend

Will Smith apologizes to Chris Rock on Instagram, breaks silence since Oscars slap

food & dining

Spicy chicken karahi at Flavor Boom!

Flavor Boom! puts a global, gourmet spin on fast food

Cheesesteaks come to High Street Place; Boston Public Market gets a beer truck

Something new for travelers is popping up all over

travel

See "the world’s largest rubber duck,” according to organizers of Michigan’s 2022 Fest of Sail, running Aug. 12-14 on the shores of Lake Superior in Marquette. Mama Duck (pictured here) weighs 31,500 pounds and measures 61 feet high, 69 feet wide, and 79 feet long.

Art in Brattleboro, music and laughter in Portland, and the world’s largest rubber duck in Michigan

My Turo rental was repossessed with valuable items inside

Pedaling his message: Conn. cyclist is riding 10,000 miles to raise awareness about distracted driving

Arts

Great Barrington, MA--6/20/2022 - An exterior view of Hunt Slonem’s Great Barrington estate. (Jessica Rinaldi/Globe Staff)

‘They’re like artworks of mine’: Hunt Slonem collects estates that inspire his work

When Andrew Wyeth imagined — and rendered — his own funeral

An ‘alleged’ Faberge egg was found on a seized Russian yacht. If authenticated, it could be sold with proceeds going to Ukraine

Books

Illustration for review of "The Viral Underclass: The Human Toll When Inequality and Disease Collide" by Steven W. Thrasher. 0731Viral; Books; 7-31-22

The virus of inequality in ‘The Viral Underclass’

Caring for one who didn’t care for you

Related Reading: A city of one’s own

Movies

Will Smith at the 2022 Academy Awards after winning the best actor Oscar for his role in "King Richard."

Will Smith apologizes to Chris Rock on Instagram, breaks silence since Oscars slap

‘You can’t go up to Mark Wahlberg’: The do’s and don’ts of being a movie extra

‘DC League of Super-Pets’: when (guinea) pigs fly

Television

Steve Martin (left) and Martin Short in "Only Murders In The Building."

On TV, it’s a new old story

Alia Shawkat’s quiet force adds a layer of depth to FX’s ‘The Old Man’

Kate Winslet and HBO: A marriage made in prestige-TV heaven

music

Celisse performs at the sixth annual Love Rocks NYC benefit concert.

At the Newport Jazz Festival, 10 exciting boundary-stretchers

Watch: Dancers hurt when giant screen falls during Hong Kong concert

Why Joni Mitchell’s return at the Newport Folk Festival mattered to so many of us

Theater/Dance

Taylor Stanley in "Redness," choreographed by Shamel Pitts, performed in "Dichotomous Being: An Evening of Taylor Stanley."

Ballet star Taylor Stanley explores new territory at Jacob’s Pillow

The new Boston Tap Party brings four days of fancy footwork to town

Julianne Boyd is departing Barrington Stage to the strains of ‘A Little Night Music’

globe local

Public school enrollment falls in Mass. amid pandemic, high housing costs, and aging suburbs

Should Massachusetts high schools lock student cell phones during the day?

Police officers step in and provide roadside assistance

Obituaries

Phyo Zeya Thaw arrived at the Myanmar parliament in Naypyitaw, Myanmar, on Aug. 19, 2015.

Phyo Zeya Thaw, Burmese pro-democracy rapper, executed at 41

Bernard Cribbins, British actor known for ‘Doctor Who,’ is dead at 93

James Lovelock, whose Gaia theory saw the Earth as alive, dies at 103