The Boston Globe

The Boston Globe

Patriots 26, Broncos 23

Bill Belichick was as animated as ever on the sideline in Denver coaching his four-win Patriots.

Why would the Patriots fight to the end instead of tanking? Their coach would expect no less.

Tank? Bill Belichick? Not a chance. It’s not in his DNA. The coach and his team play on. This win showed it.

‘That was a wild game’: What Bill Belichick had to say after the Patriots’ dramatic victory

BETWEEN THE HASHMARKS

Patriots kicker Chad Ryland unwraps redemption with winning field goal
On the heels of missing a field goal and an extra point, the rookie kicker came through from 56 yards with two seconds left.

Ben Volin | Instant Analysis

Imagine where the Patriots would be if they just had a competent kicker and average quarterback play?
They’d probably be knocking on the door of the playoffs instead of vying for the No. 1 draft pick.

shirley leung

‘This I became a beggar for’: Millions in donations pour into a Catholic school in Lawrence
Six years ago, the dilapidated school launched a Hail Mary attempt to raise millions of dollars to build a new urban campus. What’s happening now feels nothing short of a miracle.

Clemency was a political third rail for decades. Healey and other governors are starting to embrace it.
Governor Maura Healey's move to pardon 13 people is positioning Massachusetts among a growing number of states where chief executives are again embracing clemency.

Nate Smith moved into her new condo in July after a multiyear search for something she could afford, fulfilling a lifetime dream of homeownership. She received down payment assistance from the city of Boston and the state.

For these first-time buyers, a new meaning to being home for the holidays

Nate Smith planned to host her first Christmas in a space that is truly her own. She is among more than 230 families and individuals who received assistance from the city of Boston to purchase a home for the first time in 2023.

Egypt floats ambitious plan to end Israel-Hamas war and create transitional Palestinian government

A senior Egyptian official and a European diplomat say that Egypt has put forward an ambitious proposal to end the Israel-Hamas war.

Israel says it is intensifying its campaign against Hamas

Money, Power, Inequality

OneUnited Bank president Teri Williams talks Black-owned banks, closing the racial wealth gap
The longtime executive has steered the institution through recessions and evolving banking habits.

Claudine Gay turmoil forces Harvard’s secretive ‘corporation’ into spotlight

Harvard’s powerful board has backed its president and said little else, yet a member privately said “generational change” may be needed.

Who are the members of the Harvard Corporation?

Late Mayor Menino’s family gives out gifts to families on Christmas Eve
This year marked the event's 30th anniversary.

Gun-wielding woman shot by police on Friday expected to survive, officials say

What’s open and closed on Christmas Day

Stuart share podcast

Listen to the podcast

Presented in association with HBO, 'Murder in Boston: The untold story of the Charles and Carol Stuart shooting' is available wherever you get your podcasts.

Read chapter one of ‘Nightmare in Mission Hill’ Read the full series

Frank Agresti visited the grave of his wife, Lorene, for the first time since he had a "porcelain portrait" of them permanently fixed to the headstone at the Wildwood Cemetery.

A snapshot, a headstone, and a final wish realized

At age 95, Frank Agresti has finally fulfilled a final wish: to have a smiling photo of him and his late wife made into a “porcelain portrait” and permanently fixed to the headstone where he will someday be buried.

Joe Mazzulla sat down for a wide-ranging conversation with the Globe on the Celtics' four-game road trip.

‘I’m learning how to be emotionally open.’ A 1-on-1 with Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla on surrender, family, and a championship quest

Mazzulla sat down with the Globe for an honest and wide-ranging conversation.

Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow has plenty to do as the offseason continues.

The market for free agent pitchers is heating up, and the Red Sox have a number of possibilities

With Tyler O’Neill representing the team’s biggest acquisition of the offseason, there is plenty for the Red Sox to do.

Beyond the Gilded Gate

The $600,000 problem. Why does it cost so much to build housing in Boston, and what can we do about it?

Many forces drive the housing crisis here, and the sky-high cost of construction is one of the most powerful.

Calculator: How costs affect construction of an apartment building

Explore the project

Opinion

Red Heart offers Gen Z tips to get hooked on their "grandma era" with crocheting tips and designs.

Why boomers should give Gen Z a break

Maybe those of us in the older generation should be a notch less critical and two notches more humble.

I was unjustly targeted in the college admissions scandal. This is my story.

The empty seats at the table

Ethan Carr and Stephen Gray

The Action Plan for Franklin Park offers the best vision for Boston

The wonderful life of ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’

More recent News

A plane stuck for days in France for a human trafficking investigation is leaving for India
French authorities are still investigating the aim of the original flight, en route from the United Arab Emirates to Nicaragua, and two passengers have been detained.

Cardinal O’Malley calls peace a ‘shattered dream’ in Christmas message
O’Malley planned to deliver the remarks at midnight on Sunday.

Bruins limp into holiday break needing better effort, consistency
Coach Jim Montgomery's team has gotten away from their typical fight and physicality, leading to losses in six of their last eight games.

Christmas Eve fire in Roxbury displaces one resident
A 'quick, aggressive attack' brought the flames under control.

Gunfire erupts at a Colorado mall on Christmas Eve. One man is dead and 3 people are hurt.
One adult male was dead at the scene with a gunshot wound, and two more, each of whom had been shot at least once, were taken to hospitals in serious condition, police said.

LOVE LETTERS

Can I follow them on social media?
We never made it to a date.

Globe Santa

Half a century of remembering Globe Santa
Joseph A. Milano, president of Boston’s Union Oyster House, has many titles and many interests, but an initiative that’s particularly close to his heart is Globe Santa.

Donate to Globe Santa

Globe Santa is a program of the Boston Globe Foundation and exists solely to deliver joy to children.

Recommended reads

A Green Line train in Somerville.

The MBTA’s new Green Line extension has a long history of trouble. It’s still not fixed.

“There’s a lot of hiding at the T, of keeping secrets, of not passing along bad news,” said Thomas P. Glynn, the chair of the T's oversight board. “It’s part of the culture.”

BEST BOOKS OF 2023

Here is a list of 55 books we loved in 2023
Boston Globe book critics give us their favorites from a year of great titles

Painkillers without addiction? Vertex hopes its experimental pill can be first in a new class of drugs.
Vertex wants to interrupt pain signals before they reach the brain, and because its non-opioid drug would bypass the central nervous system, it would provide pain relief without the risk of addiction.

‘Bernard was the very best of Cambridge’: The bond between the Palestinian family behind Brookline Lunch and their Jewish lawyer
A pivotal meeting in Central Square was the start of a lasting friendship, one that would unite two families — one Palestinian and one Jewish — in affection and now in grief.

Culture & Lifestyle

From left: Krystina Alabado, Reneé Rapp, Kate Rockwell, and Erika Henningsen in the Broadway production of "Mean Girls," an adaptation that transformed Tina Fey's screen comedy into a musical. Now a film version of the musical is set for release on Jan. 12.

From screen to stage and back to screen, this time trying to carry a tune

Michael O'Donnell, a BC Law School grad, has written a novel about a father and son hiking and hiding in New Hampshire.

In Michael O’Donnell’s debut novel, a father and son hide from danger in the White Mountains

Rapper Clark D performs during the 2023 Boston Music Awards at Big Night Live Wednesday night. He won album/EP of the year for “Propaganda.”

Boston Music Awards show dazzles with diverse, dynamic, and defiant performances

Left to right (from top): “Written in Their Soul: The Stax Songwriter Demos,” various artists; “The Songs of Bacharach & Costello,” Burt Bacharach and Elvis Costello; “History Kinda Pales When It and You Are Aligned: The Days of Wine and Roses 40th Anniversary Edition,” The Dream Syndicate; “In Utero: 30th Anniversary Super Deluxe,” Nirvana; “The Journey, Parts 1 and 2,″ The Kinks; John Coltrane with Eric Dolphy, “Evenings at the Village Gate”; Drive-By Truckers, “The Complete Dirty South”; Wes Montgomery/Wynton Kelly Trio, “Maximum Swing: The Unissued 1965 Half Note Recordings”; The Velvet Underground, “Loaded: Fully Re-Loaded Edition.”

The Velvet Underground, Nirvana, Stax soul, and more: 9 great album reissues of 2023

Special Projects

Photo Illustration

Boston thrives off the dreams of young people. But can they make it here?

Baby boomers and Gen Xers benefited from economic conditions that do not exist for millennials. And by many measures, the path ahead for Gen Z is even more fraught.

Boston, MA—12/14/2022 - Commuters wait for the T to arrive at Ruggles Station. (Jessica Rinaldi/Globe Staff)

Boston doesn’t work if the T doesn’t work

With the MBTA engulfed by issues, everyday riders are feeling the pain.

Brittany Tee, Soomaiiah Quraiishi, and Reina Morales Rojas are among thousands of people thought to be missing from Massachusetts.

How the missing become the uncounted

Inside the government’s flawed approach to finding missing persons.

Two Weeks in America

Two Weeks in America

We sent a dozen journalists on the road across this complex country. They found it’s better than you think.

FROM OUR PARTNERS

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Opinion, ideas, and commentary

A researcher poured a water sample into a smaller glass container for experimentation as part of drinking water and PFAS research at the US Environmental Protection Agency. The chemicals are found in many common consumer goods.

Massachusetts should ban PFAS in consumer products

Fueled by wars in Gaza and Ukraine, the 2024 presidential election, and Donald Trump blatantly channeling Adolf Hitler, holiday gatherings will make the verbal fights about COVID-19 protocols and vaccinations in 2021 seem like polite parlor patter.

At this year’s holiday table, heated debates will be on the menu

The minaret of a mosque appears behind the domed towers of the Russian Orthodox Church of the Holy Forefathers and Monastery of the Holy Trinity in Hebron, in the occupied West Bank.

IDEAS | OMER AZIZ

What Christmas means to me as a Muslim

Holiday vibes in Hong Kong

Vibe check on 2023

Worst Santa ever!

Worst Santa ever!

When accidents happen: True stories from an ICU

Ernesto Barbieri and Jess Ruliffson

When accidents happen: True stories from an ICU nurse

Metro

5 tech startups and apps to watch in Rhode Island in 2024

Check out these young entrepreneurs who are finding new ways to innovate.

What’s open and closed on Christmas Day

Here’s a list of what’s open and closed on the holiday.

For these first-time buyers, a new meaning to being home for the holidays

Nate Smith planned to host her first Christmas in a space that is truly her own. She is among more than 230 families and individuals who received assistance from the city of Boston to purchase a home for the first time in 2023.

Christmas Eve fire in Roxbury displaces one resident

A 'quick, aggressive attack' brought the flames under control.

Sports

Bill Belichick and the Patriots have two more games left this season.

‘That was a wild game’: What Bill Belichick had to say after the Patriots’ dramatic victory

Even a coach as experienced as Bill Belichick had to acknowledged the reality of the Patriots’ Christmas Eve win.

Ezekiel Elliott hurdled Ja'Quan McMillian en route to a 15-yard TD reception in the third quarter.

Ben Volin | Instant Analysis

Imagine where the Patriots would be if they just had a competent kicker and average quarterback play?

They’d probably be knocking on the door of the playoffs instead of vying for the No. 1 draft pick.

Chad Ryland (right) and punter/holder Bryce Baringer celebrated Ryland’s 56-yard field goal to win the game.

BETWEEN THE HASHMARKS

Patriots kicker Chad Ryland unwraps redemption with winning field goal

On the heels of missing a field goal and an extra point, the rookie kicker came through from 56 yards with two seconds left.

Why would the Patriots fight to the end instead of tanking? Their coach would expect no less.

How it happened

Patriots withstand Broncos’ comeback bid, win on last-minute field goal by Chad Ryland

DOLPHINS 22, COWBOYS 20

Dolphins lock up playoff bid by booting Cowboys on field goal as time runs out

Business

5 tech startups and apps to watch in Rhode Island in 2024

Check out these young entrepreneurs who are finding new ways to innovate.

The secret life of gift cards: Here’s what happens to the billions that go unspent each year

Americans are expected to spend nearly $30 billion on gift cards this holiday, according to the National Retail Federation.

The year of social media soul-searching: Twitter dies, X and Threads are born, and AI gets personal

Furnace explosion at Chinese-owned nickel plant in Indonesia kills at least 13 and injures 46 others

magazine

The 29 best photos of 2023 taken by Boston Globe photographers

Comedian Lenny Clarke remembers being a kid getting presents from Globe Santa.

Actor Lenny Clarke’s best ever childhood Christmas came unexpectedly

Fran and Tom on their Dinner With Cupid blind date.

Dinner with Cupid

Blind date: ‘We shared our food, which was a big plus for both of us’

My relative wants to compare what we all got for gifts. Help!

metro

Norwood Police were involved in a shooting on Morse Street Friday afternoon after a woman allegedly pointed a gun multiple times at officers and herself. According to an update on Sunday, Norwood Police Chief William Brooks said the woman is expected to survive her injuries.

Gun-wielding woman shot by police on Friday expected to survive, officials say

Cardinal O’Malley calls peace a ‘shattered dream’ in Christmas message

Late Mayor Menino’s family gives out gifts to families on Christmas Eve

sports

Matthew Slater was felled last Sunday in a loss to the Chiefs.

Special teams ace Matthew Slater a surprise inactive for the Patriots

Baker Mayfield-Mike Evans connection scores first-place Buccaneers another victory

The market for free agent pitchers is heating up, and the Red Sox have a number of possibilities

business

An electric vehicle charging station in London, Ohio. Broad availability of chargers is critical for the Biden administration’s goal of getting EVs to make up half of new car sales by 2030.

Slow rollout of national charging system could hinder EV adoption

A snapshot, a headstone, and a final wish realized

Painkillers without addiction? Vertex hopes its experimental pill can be first in a new class of drugs.

politics

Volunteers answer phones and emails from children around the globe during the annual NORAD Tracks Santa event on Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado Springs, Colo.

A North American military command is tracking Santa’s every move and kids can follow along

Trump asks appeals court to toss election case on immunity grounds

How Russian and Chinese interference could affect the 2024 election

Nation

The lawsuit, which alleges excessive force, says an officer began firing into the car after the traffic stop.

Woman who was shot in the head during pursuit sues Mississippi’s Capitol Police

Gunfire erupts at a Colorado mall on Christmas Eve. One man is dead and 3 people are hurt.

A man is killed and a woman injured in a ‘targeted’ afternoon shooting at a Florida shopping mall

World

Smoke rises following an Israeli bombardment in the Gaza Strip, as seen from southern Israel, Sunday, Dec. 24, 2023. The army is battling Palestinian militants across Gaza in the war ignited by Hamas' Oct. 7 attack into Israel. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

Egypt floats ambitious plan to end Israel-Hamas war and create transitional Palestinian government

At least 68 killed in central Gaza in airstrike, adding to weekend’s bloodshed

A plane stuck for days in France for a human trafficking investigation is leaving for India

opinion

"On the spot . . . my life and its aims did a 180 degree turn, flopped over, said a new start was in order."

I found my muse as a writer at Boston College 70 years ago

In this season of hope, a year of sorrow ends for the trans community

Vibe check on 2023

lifestyle

Can I follow them on social media?

Hush Club’s TikTok strategy went viral — it’s anything but cheesy

Dating during perimenopause

food & dining

Ashley Taveras, an assistant event stylist at Easy Entertaining, sorts dishes.

‘I feel abandoned’: Restaurants remain burdened by Washington Bridge closure in Rhode Island

Scared of the T? Hop aboard Mothership instead

A new Turkish restaurant near Watertown Square is already popular

travel

Passengers waited in line at Dulles International Airport on Dec. 21, 2023, in Dulles, Virginia.

Busiest holiday travel season in years is off to a smooth start with few airport delays

We took a girlfriend getaway to Savannah. Plenty of other women had the same idea.

This Booking.com reservation is fake! Will the company pay up?

Arts

A person removed a piece of art work by Banksy, which showed what looks like three drones on a stop sign, at the intersection of Southampton Way and Commercial Way in Peckham, London.

Banksy stop sign taken from London street soon after it appears

Forgotten women of the American landscape

A model subject gets his close-up in ‘Chuck: Photographs by George Platt Lynes’

Books

Justin Torres, author of “Blackouts."

For Justin Torres, reading is about finding the sweet spot between poetry and prose

Local bestsellers for the week ended Dec. 17

In Michael O’Donnell’s debut novel, a father and son hide from danger in the White Mountains

Movies

(L-R Clockwise) Film stills from “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” “A Charlie Brown Christmas,” “How the Grinch Stole Christmas!,” and “The Year Without Santa Claus."

Holidays got you down, Charlie Brown? Take our quiz on classic Christmas specials for a hit of holiday cheer.

Michael Mann’s ‘Ferrari’ fails to rev up

Oscars shortlists revealed: Here are the films one step closer to a nomination

Television

From left: Sarah Lancashire, Anne Reid, Derek Jacobi, and Nicola Walker in "Last Tango in Halifax."

From across the pond, a steady stream of excellence

Minnie Driver remembers Matthew Perry’s ‘wealth of soul’

How Celtics owner Wyc Grousbeck’s family situation inspired a new NBC sitcom

music

The Felice Brothers

Before coming to Cambridge, the Felice Brothers hatch a surprise for their fans

Boston Music Awards show dazzles with diverse, dynamic, and defiant performances

The Velvet Underground, Nirvana, Stax soul, and more: 9 great album reissues of 2023

Theater/Dance

Darrel Bailey stars in the solo show "Yippee Ki Yay," a "Die Hard" spoof that also tells a parallel story about an exhausted husband and father.

A ‘Die Hard’ diehard creates ‘Yippee Ki Yay,’ and the Huntington gets in on the action

There’s life after COVID for Jamaica Plain’s 147-year-old Footlight Club theater

Midwinter Revels serves up a frolicsome ‘Feast of Fools’

Health

A CVS pharmacy in Miami.

CVS to launch new pharmacy reimbursement model aimed at simplifying drug pricing

Many Americans ration insulin to save money. One nonprofit is trying to make the life-saving drug more affordable.

In R.I., there’s a lack of dentists caring for patients with special needs. This program is trying to change that.

Obituaries

Baltimore Orioles' third baseman Ryan Minor dove at a ball hit by Detroit Tigers' catcher Brad Ausmus during the fourth inning of a baseball game Aug. 8, 1999, at Camden Yards in Baltimore.

Ryan Minor, Orioles 3B who replaced Cal Ripken at the end of his record-setting streak, dies at 49

Influential people we lost in 2023

Robert M. Solow, celebrated economist and Nobel laureate, dies at 99