Two localities are worlds apart
With their different economic pictures, Sherborn and Springfield illustrate the growing financial inequality in Massachusetts.
Interactive graphic
How median income has changed in Mass.
In some localities, income has shown impressive gains, while in others income has declined. This interactive graphic shows changes from 1979 to 2009 across the state.
House Republicans won’t support payroll tax cut
House GOP members said today they want a longer version of the tax cut than what the Senate passed yesterday.
AP
Broncos 13, Patriots 7 | 1st quarter
A wild-west shootout?
The Broncos scored fast for their second touchdown of the game in a drive that covered 82 yards in four plays.
Yoon S. Byun/globe Staff
Bus 19
Brothers seek a way up and out
George and Johnny Huynh want a better life — and they believe they can get it through school. They have to. It’s the only thing in their control.
Chelsea’s housing boss was rarely on the job
Michael E. McLaughlin, who abruptly resigned as Chelsea housing director last month after his $360,000 salary was revealed, put in only 15 full workdays in Chelsea all year.
globe magazine
Best Boston diversions of 2011
Spas for adults, activities for kids, a planetarium to put stars in your eyes, and a place for modern art. The Boston area’s diversions are expansive.
“They’re living on the side of a cliff, and any moment they can slip.”
Emmett Folgert, a mentor to Dorchester teens George and Johnny Huynh
Inside The Boston Globe
Columnists
Metro
Final ride at Santa’s Land
After 54 years, the Christmas theme park of colorful cottages, zoo animals, and retro attractions that has hosted generations of children and their families, is closing today.
Business
ON THE JOB
The pop-up store: retail’s proving ground
Mika Nakafuji, a native of Japan, is testing the market in Boston for handmade, ethnic home accessories while fulfilling a dream of being her own boss.
Politics
Mitt Romney endorsed by Des Moines Register
The endorsement from Iowa’s largest newspaper could help Romney in central Iowa, an area where he didn’t fare as well four years ago.
Nation & World
Czechs, world leaders mourn Vaclav Havel
Havel was a playwright who led the 1989 revolution that toppled communism in the former Czechoslovakia. He died today in Prague.
Sports
Patriots at Broncos, 4:15 p.m.
Patriots’ keys to a Week 15 victory vs. the Broncos
The Boston Globe breaks down the X’s and O’s for the Patriots’ Week 15 matchup with the Broncos and offers a prediction for who will win.
Books
Best poetry books of 2011
A good epic poem is hard to come by these days, and it’s not just due to our kitten-like attention spans that there aren’t more of them out there.
Travel
EXPLORE NEW ENGLAND
5 family-friendly New England trips for winter break
Here are a few places where you can keep the whole family amused next week.
Arts
Steven Spielberg on the making of ‘War Horse’
After reading the book and then seeing the award-winning play, the acclaimed director purchased the rights to “War Horse,” his new movie opening Christmas Day.
Opinion
“Keeping a safe distance from the Occupy movement may be smart politics, but it isn’t brave or far-sighted politics.”
Joan Vennochi
Ideas
As tempting as it might be to imagine the Christmas trees we see today in public parks and central plazas as a quaint relic of small town life, it turns out that our modern public trees have politics woven right into their roots.
Leon Neyfakh