The Boston Globe

The Boston Globe

Steward crisis adding to stresses on hospital care, as state scrambles to contain fallout

Nearby hospitals are finding that even as Steward’s eight hospitals in the state remain open for patients, the “level of intensity of care is clearly declining,” one state official said.

Biden approves flooding disaster declaration for Massachusetts, reverses earlier denial by FEMA
President Biden Wednesday night approved a disaster declaration for parts of Massachusetts which suffered major flash flooding last September, reversing an earlier denial from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the White House announced.

Colin Albert, key witness in Karen Read murder trial, testifies

Albert, the 20-year-old nephew of the couple who owned the home where O’Keefe’s body was found on the front lawn, spoke at the trial on Wednesday.

Here's how Wednesday's testimony unfolded Tracker: Who has testified and what did they say?

‘I don’t know if it’s a solution.’ Mariano casts doubt on tax on high-dollar real estate sales, a key priority of Healey and Wu

Massachusetts House Speaker Ron Mariano suggested Wednesday that lawmakers are reluctant to allow cities and towns tax high-dollar real estate sales. “It’s not as popular as I thought it might be,” he said.

Rhode Island to remove residents from St. Mary’s Home for Children ‘as soon as possible’

Officials are calling an urgent meeting Thursday with foster care agencies and other groups to determine new placements for children currently living in the state-run facility.

Biden and Trump agree to a pair of debates. Is this for real? What you need to know.

Maybe pencil in the dates, but don’t write it down with a permanent marker. We've been here before.

Biden and Trump agree to two debates

Seven Providence postal workers charged in mail theft ring

Mass. man who owns Conn. strip club indicted on prostitution, tax fraud charges, US Attorney says

Celtics center Al Horford reacts after he put the nail in the coffin with a killer 3-pointer late in the fourth quarter.

Gary Washburn | On basketball

Al Horford, the Celtics’ elder statesman, delivered vintage performance in Game 5

The Celtics pulled away in the second half to punch their ticket in the conference finals.

The Celtics fed off Al Horford’s vintage performance in beating the Cavaliers

Al Horford will be playing in his fourth Eastern Conference Finals with the Celtics (fifth overall), while Jayson Tatum is already in his fifth.

Let’s take a moment to fully appreciate six Eastern Conference finals trips in eight years

There will be time to nitpick, but for now let's acknowledge the many encouraging, even inspiring, developments for the Celtics in Game 5 and series.

‘I have to convince you I’m not evil’: Some Israeli students feel shunned on college campuses
They fear some classmates and professors will always view them as personally compromised by the actions of their country’s government.

New study claims Israel is committing genocide in Gaza

After end of pro-Palestinian MIT encampment, students march to the president’s home

Palestinians across the Middle East mark their original ‘catastrophe’ with eyes on the war in Gaza

Senator Elizabeth Warren teamed up on a bipartisan remedy with an unlikely ally, Republican Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri.

When Biden’s new airline refund rule hit legislative turbulence, Warren swooped in to help save it

The White House had sold airline refunds as "automatic" but the legislation coming out of the Senate initially said something different.

YVONNE ABRAHAM

When good grades get a boost
All too often, some sky-is-the-limit valedictorians crash up against hard and immovable ceilings.

From 2019: Read the Valedictorians Project

Jose Siri (right) scored one of the Rays' three runs in the sixth inning.

Rays 4, Red Sox 3

Red Sox can’t recover from Rays’ three-run sixth, lose at Fenway

The teams complete the four-game series Thursday night at Fenway Park.

The Patriots will open their season against Joe Burrow and the Bengals.

Analyzing the Patriots 2024 schedule, which opens at Cincinnati Sept. 8

The Patriots will play the Jaguars in London, a Thursday night game vs. the Jets in Week 3, enjoy a Week 14 bye, and, as of now, play zero Sunday or Monday night games.

Patriots to face Jaguars at London’s Wembley Stadium during 2024 season

Musician David Byrne, left, speaks during a "Sing for Science" podcast interview taped live at the Museum of Science on May 9.

Live from the Museum of Science: It’s David Byrne ... talking about eels

The Talking Heads frontman appeared last week for a live taping of the podcast "Sing for Science."

MATTHEW GILBERT | 'SNL' SHOWDOWN

Globe readers voted Kate McKinnon as the best "SNL" cast member of all time.

Kate McKinnon wins our best ‘SNL’ cast member bracket

Who’s the best "Saturday Night Live" cast member of the past five decades? We asked readers to decide.

Kate McKinnon and John Belushi are the two finalists in our "Saturday Night Live" bracket to determine the best cast member of all time.

A pair of ‘SNL’ finalists with nothing in common — except that they’re very funny

John Belushi and Kate McKinnon represent different eras, genders, and comedic styles. But both were over-the-top performers who brought big energy to the “SNL” stage.

Opinion

Karen Read arrived for court with her defense team attorneys at Norfolk Superior Court in Dedham on May 13.

Karen Read trial: How the bland and mundane morphed into the dark and dangerous

For the most part, this is a story of ordinary people caught up in an extraordinary situation.

How did DCF fail to notice their social worker was attending high school?

The lawyer who led the case for marriage equality in Massachusetts

A cynical Washington Post tells Biden: Nothing matters more than beating Trump

Ronald J. Mariano and John J. Lawn Jr.

Health care in Massachusetts is in need of reform

AAPI Heritage Month

Anne Nishimura Morse, the William and Helen Pounds Senior Curator of Japanese Art, sits for a portrait in one of the newly renovated galleries at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

MFA reopens its Arts of Japan galleries after six years of closure

Amy Tan, pictured here in a park near Harvard Square, was recently in Cambridge on a book tour for her latest work, "The Backyard Bird Chronicles."

Amy Tan reflects on her new nonfiction book. ‘Birds were fun ... fiction writing is torment.’

The oxtail pho with bone marrow at Le Madeline in Quincy.

Eight restaurants to eat at for AAPI Heritage Month

Jeannie Salomon speaking at the Cultural Society for Entrepreneurship, Bilingualism, Resources and Inspirations' May 4 AAPI Heritage Month Celebration.

COMMENTARY | JEANNIE SALOMON

This AAPI Heritage Month, it’s time to get serious about teaching AAPI history in Rhode Island

More recent News

Massachusetts gambling helpline saw increase in calls last year; many from people wanting tech support for sports betting apps
“The total call volume was the highest from February through June 2023 (2,069 calls), potentially due to the launch of sports wagering in Massachusetts," the report found.

Right whale spotted in Cape Cod last month now seen entangled in fishing gear off Canada coast
“Shelagh,” the female North Atlantic right whale who was spotted in Cape Cod Bay last month, was recently found tangled in fishing gear in Canada, according to the New England Aquarium.

Boston University offers striking PhD students 12-month stipends if they work summers
The strike by graduate student workers has impacted classes and university life since late March.

Great Barrington teacher files federal lawsuit over police search for ‘Gender Queer: A Memoir’ in her classroom
In the 33-page lawsuit filed Tuesday in US District Court in Springfield, Arantzazu Zuzene Galdos-Shapiro claims the police search, which drew national media coverage, began after a “homophobic bigot” custodian claimed the book was obscene and falsely alleged that a student had been seen sitting on the teacher’s lap.

Slovakia’s populist prime minister shot in assassination attempt, shocking Europe before elections
A suspect was in custody, and an initial investigation found “a clear political motivation” behind the assassination attempt, Slovakia's interior minister said.

Who is Robert Fico, the populist Slovak prime minister wounded in a shooting?

Jimmy Carter’s grandson says former president is ‘coming to the end’ after receiving hospice care for over a year
Jason Carter, the 39th president’s grandson and chair of The Carter Center governing board, gave a brief update on his grandfather’s health on Tuesday.

Recommended reads

A view of the stern of Royal Caribbean's Icon of the Seas. The ship, which is the largest in the world, was designed by Wilson Butler Architects in Boston.

CHRISTOPHER MUTHER

Meet the Boston architects who designed the largest cruise ship in the world

From a small office in Downtown Crossing, Wilson Butler Architects has been quietly changing the way people cruise for more than two decades.

A Cambridge City Council panel’s proposal would legalize six-story buildings. Everywhere.
The ambitious proposal, designed to tackle the city’s housing crisis, would essentially scrap the current neighborhood-by-neighborhood zoning scheme.

Globe Magazine

An identity thief stole $5,000 from me. I spent two years tracking down how.
When a stranger got $5,000 of my money from a bank teller, it sent me on a two-year odyssey to figure out who was impersonating me and how.

Watch: When the journalist becomes the subject

Graphics

Mass. graduation rates dipped. See how your school or district did.
Graduation rates declined statewide but remain near all-time highs. See if that’s the case in your school or district.

Culture & Lifestyle

Musician David Byrne, left, speaks during a "Sing for Science" podcast interview taped live at the Museum of Science on May 9.

Live from the Museum of Science: It’s David Byrne ... talking about eels

Jennifer Mogbock, portraying the title character in "Toni Stone," rehearses a scene from Lydia R. Diamond's play about the first Black woman to play professional baseball.

With ‘Toni Stone,’ Lydia R. Diamond tips her cap to a baseball trailblazer

Julie Delpy and Ethan Hawke in "Before Sunrise."

Ethan Hawke ‘hated’ the Gen X label in his 20s. Now, ‘I’m kind of proud of it,’ he says.

Joan Jett continues to inspire women rockers.

On Joan Jett Night, a celebration for women who love rock ’n’ roll

Special Projects

Ashfield, MA 06/13//2023, At Sanderson Academy, books in a fourth-grade classroom.

Suzanne Kreiter\Globe staff

Lost in a World of Words

Learning to read is the greatest gift a school can give a child. And yet, in Massachusetts, outmoded teaching methods leave thousands of students struggling to gain this critical skill.

Beyond the Gilded Gate

People in and around Boston are being challenged, in ways never before, to address the region's unprecedented housing crisis.

stuart landing page illustration

Nightmare in Mission Hill

The story of how a murder in Mission Hill — the Carol Stuart shooting — terrorized and wounded a community of innocent people.

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.

FROM OUR PARTNERS

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Opinion, ideas, and commentary

Stephen Miller, who shaped former president Donald Trump's immigration policies, joined Senator Mike Lee of Utah, left, Representative Chip Roy of Texas, and Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, as they talked to reporters about requiring American citizenship to vote in national elections, as they introduced the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act, in Washington, D.C., on May 8.

MARCELA GARCÍA

Noncitizen voting is already illegal in federal elections. Here’s why Republicans are still pushing the issue.

Then-Chief Justice Margaret Marshall asked a petitioner to explain a point during arguments before the Supreme Judicial Court, in Boston, May 2, 2005, on a petition to halt same-sex couples from marrying until voters could weigh in on the issue.

Margaret Marshall and the judicial decision that changed the nation

IDEAS | DIANE JOSEFOWICZ

The unexpected healing powers of learning how to tap dance in middle age

The AIDS Action Committee marches down Beacon Street during Boston's 13th annual Lesbian and Gay Pride Day on June 18, 1983.

How far has the stigma around AIDS really faded?

The Tobin Bridge framed Broadway as traffic moved in downtown Chelsea in 2021.

Legislature should pass health equity bill

Heather Hopp-Bruce/Globe staff; Adobe

Blueprints for a new downtown Boston

Metro

Biden approves flooding disaster declaration for Massachusetts, reverses earlier denial by FEMA

President Biden Wednesday night approved a disaster declaration for parts of Massachusetts which suffered major flash flooding last September, reversing an earlier denial from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the White House announced.

Right whale spotted in Cape Cod last month now seen entangled in fishing gear off Canada coast

“Shelagh,” the female North Atlantic right whale who was spotted in Cape Cod Bay last month, was recently found tangled in fishing gear in Canada, according to the New England Aquarium.

Photos: Celtics oust Cavaliers, advance to Conference Finals

The Boston Celtics hosted the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 5 of the NBA Eastern Conference semifinals on Wednesday, May 15, 2024.

Colin Albert, key witness in Karen Read murder trial, testifies

Albert, the 20-year-old nephew of the couple who owned the home where O’Keefe’s body was found on the front lawn, has been named as a possible assailant by defense lawyers who say he allegedly fought with O’Keefe and fatally injured him.

Sports

Al Horford takes an uncontested 3-pointer, one of six he would make in Game 5 against the Cavaliers.

Celtics 113, Cavaliers 98

The Celtics fed off Al Horford’s vintage performance in beating the Cavaliers

The veteran left his mark on the game, finishing with 22 points, 15 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 blocks.

Celtics center Al Horford reacts after he put the nail in the coffin with a killer 3-pointer late in the fourth quarter.

Gary Washburn | On basketball

Al Horford, the Celtics’ elder statesman, delivered vintage performance in Game 5

Horford finished with 22 points, 15 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 blocked shots as the Celtics won Game 5, 113-98, to close out the series and claim their third consecutive berth in the Eastern Conference Finals.

Mavericks forward Derrick Jones Jr. used every bit of his length to get this shot off over Thunder center Chet Holmgren.

GAME 5: MAVERICKS 104, THUNDER 92

With a 30-point triple-double Luka Doncic powers Mavericks to 3-2 series lead over Thunder

Derrick Jones Jr. scored a playoff career-high 19 points and P.J. Washington Jr. added 10 points and 10 rebounds for Dallas.

Watch: Al Horford, Joe Mazzulla talk Celtics’ closeout Game 5 win over the Cavaliers

GAME 6, PANTHERS AT BRUINS, 7 P.M., FRIDAY

Set a reminder for 7 p.m. Friday, that’s when the Bruins will host the Panthers in Game 6

Business

Benson to become top AARP official in Mass.

Stories you may have missed from the world of business.

Harvard’s crackdown on Gaza protest violated US labor law, union claims

The United Auto Workers filed a US labor board complaint over Harvard University’s handling of protests, claiming the university violated graduate students’ rights as employees.

A second scourge is battering Brazil’s flooded south: disinformation

More investors assail Exxon’s climate conduct

magazine

Marcia Kadish (left) and Tanya McCloskey celebrate after being married on May 17, 2004.

Marcia Kadish recalls the day she made same-sex marriage history in Cambridge

Harissa Potato Salad With Mint and Lemon

Harissa potato salad and other bold takes on standard picnic sides

On Sunday, take part in the the Somerville Bike Pageant.

Your Week Ahead

Five things to do around Boston, May 13-19

From left: Leah Ellis of Sublime Systems, Sarah Hodges of Pillar VC, and Lily Lyman of Underscore VC

Tech Power Players 2024

The Globe’s 2024 Tech Power Players include more women in leadership in the startup scene

metro

Eitan Moore, an Israeli student at MIT, said, “There’s been vilification of Jewish, but mostly Israeli, students on campus to the extent that no other group has faced.”

‘I have to convince you I’m not evil’: Some Israeli students feel shunned on college campuses

Rhode Island to remove residents from St. Mary’s Home for Children ‘as soon as possible’

When good grades get a boost

sports

Like the Bruins before them, the Avalanche trailed their series 3-1 and survived to play a Game 6 on Friday night.

Cale Makar scores twice as Avalanche bury Stars in Game 5 to stay alive

Softball roundup: Becca Harris (HR, 4 runs) powers No. 13 Tewksbury in Merrimack Valley takedown of No. 6 Central Catholic

It’s Bruins vs. Panthers in the second round of the NHL playoffs. See the schedule and results here.

business

Norwood Hospital remains closed amid Steward's troubles.

Steward crisis adding to stresses on hospital care, as state scrambles to contain fallout

Billionaire Frank McCourt says he’s putting together a consortium to buy TikTok

Boeing at risk of prosecution for breaking deal over crashes

politics

In reaching an agreement on their own, President Biden and Trump sidelined a commission that aims to set neutral rules and provide a forum that’s simultaneously broadcast on all major networks.

The Commission on Presidential Debates faces an uncertain future after Biden and Trump bypassed it

When Biden’s new airline refund rule hit legislative turbulence, Warren swooped in to help save it

In Maryland and West Virginia, GOP posts strong Senate candidates

Nation

The Detroit skyline.

Census estimates: Detroit population rises after decades of decline, South still dominates US growth

California college professor to stand trial in death of pro-Israel protester last year

Hawaii study shows almost 75 percent of Maui wildfire survey participants have respiratory issues

World

Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, gestures while speaking to Chinese President Xi Jinping during the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, on Sept. 16, 2022.

Xi meets Russia’s Putin on a state visit to China that’s a show of unity between the allies

What to know about Vladimir Putin’s visit to China

Ukraine fights to hold off fierce Russian assaults in northeast

opinion

May I have a word: Conversation stoppers

How far has the stigma around AIDS really faded?

Margaret Marshall and the judicial decision that changed the nation

lifestyle

A phone with an App Store selection of the dating app Bumble.

Bumble ran billboard ads that sneered at celibacy as an alternative to dating. Then it backtracked and apologized.

My husband is on Tinder

Juli Min’s ‘Shanghailanders’ transports readers to the root of one family’s fractured relationships

food & dining

A group of curious juvenile ostriches were seen at HorseFeathers Ostrich Farm in Webster, N.H. New Hampshire farmer Monte Cossette is making a pitch to Granite Staters: ostrich meat is a healthier and more sustainable red meat than beef.

Move over filet mignon, meet the man who wants to make ostrich meat a staple

Grasshopper in Allston — a vegan pioneer — is closing. We went for one last meal.

What it’s like to be a small brand in a big sea at Expo West food show

travel

A view of the stern of Royal Caribbean's Icon of the Seas. The ship, which is the largest in the world, was designed by Wilson Butler Architects in Boston.

Meet the Boston architects who designed the largest cruise ship in the world

Here are five fun ‘Western’ foods to eat in South Korea

‘I’ve witnessed people at their worst on airplanes.’ Globe readers react to advice on aviation etiquette.

Arts

Suffragist Caroline Wellington memorialized in bronze in LexSeeHer's "Something Is Being Done" monument.

In Lexington, unveiling a monument to women who shaped history

Museum of Science to unveil major renovation in mid-2026

Magician Asi Wind is up to some new tricks

Books

Alice Munro posed for a photograph at the Canadian Consulate's residence in New York in 2002.

Alice Munro, Nobel literature winner revered as short story master, has died

Juli Min’s ‘Shanghailanders’ transports readers to the root of one family’s fractured relationships

Jamaica Kincaid’s primer on colonialism’s flora resonates with history behind Aimee Nezhukumatathil’s honeyed memories

Movies

Still from "We Will Not Fade Away."

‘You can illuminate this darkness’: Global Cinema Film Festival of Boston returns

Netflix adaption of Judy Blume’s ‘Forever’ films on Martha’s Vineyard

John Krasinski’s kids’ flick ‘IF’ follows a 12-year-old girl on an imaginative adventure around New York City

Television

Globe readers voted Kate McKinnon as the best "SNL" cast member of all time.

Kate McKinnon wins our best ‘SNL’ cast member bracket

Netflix adaption of Judy Blume’s ‘Forever’ films on Martha’s Vineyard

Netflix will air NFL’s Christmas games, a major step for streaming service

music

Country musicians, from left, Luke Combs, Megan Moroney, and Morgan Wallen.

The Academy of Country Music Awards are here; Luke Combs leads the nominations

Live from the Museum of Science: It’s David Byrne ... talking about eels

On Joan Jett Night, a celebration for women who love rock ’n’ roll

Theater/Dance

Jennifer Mogbock, portraying the title character in "Toni Stone," rehearses a scene from Lydia R. Diamond's play about the first Black woman to play professional baseball.

With ‘Toni Stone,’ Lydia R. Diamond tips her cap to a baseball trailblazer

George Clooney to make his Broadway debut in ‘Good Night, and Good Luck’

Boston Dance Theater reaches for the ‘Pinnacle’

Health

What we’re starting to learn about H5N1 in cows, and the risk to people

Centurion Foundation was the ‘only viable’ buyer for Roger Williams, Fatima hospitals, CEO says

Agent Orange exposure damages the brain in ways similar to Alzheimer’s disease, new study says

Obituaries

Dr. Shapiro in 1990

David Shapiro, who gained fame in poetry and protest, dies at 77

Alice Munro, Nobel literature winner revered as short story master, has died

Dr. Cyril Wecht, celebrity pathologist who argued more than 1 shooter killed JFK, dies at 93