How the Spotlight Team got inside Massachusetts? secret court system

There?s an obvious obstacle to reporting on the inner workings of Massachusetts? ?secret court? system: It?s secret.

DAN SHAUGHNESSY

//c.o0bg.com/rf/image_90x90/Boston/2011-2020/2018/09/29/BostonGlobe.com/Sports/Images/shaughnessy-22751.jpg The Red Sox have frightened the AL all season. Now their fans are scared

Sometimes I wonder if perhaps they are the most-flawed 107-win team in the history of baseball.

Mookie Betts and the 2018 Red Sox have given us many wonderful moments.

Matthew J. Lee/Globe Staff/File

Bob Ryan

It?s not a failure if Red Sox don?t win World Series

The lack of a Fall Classic title doesn?t erase a summer?s worth of exceptional baseball.

Like he did with the Patriots, Danny Amendola isn?t afraid to go over the middle for the Dolphins.

Dolphins at Patriots | 1 p.m. (CBS)

Patriots miss Danny Amendola and Brandon Bolden

The former Patriots, who now play for the Dolphins, make their first trip back to Foxborough on Sunday.

//c.o0bg.com/rf/image_90x90/Boston/2011-2020/2018/09/30/BostonGlobe.com/Arts/Images/200_damon_as_kavanaugh.jpg Matt Damon really looked like Brett Kavanaugh on ?Saturday Night Live?

Damon?s appearance was the on-screen highlight of the show?s season opener.

//c.o0bg.com/rf/image_90x90/Boston/2011-2020/2018/09/20/BostonGlobe.com/Regional/Images/wiggs_storm_l237903-9129.jpg When the voice of the people is heard

Citizens? petitions are a tool residents can use to make changes at the local level.

Globe Magazine

//c.o0bg.com/rf/image_90x90/Boston/2011-2020/2018/09/21/BostonGlobe.com/Magazine/Images/cover0930aero.jpg The dude looked like Steven Tyler. And he ended up in an Aerosmith tribute band

For nearly 30 years, landscaper Neill Byrnes has played the part of the Aerosmith frontman in Draw The Line. For some hard-core fans, he?s just as good as the real thing.

//c.o0bg.com/rf/image_90x90/Boston/2011-2020/2018/09/30/BostonGlobe.com/Sports/Images/ba23e37473bd40f89453937bde0d4bbe-ba23e37473bd40f89453937bde0d4bbe-0.jpg Tennessee State linebacker in criticial condition after suffering head injury

Christion Abercrombie collapsed on the sideline during a game Saturday, and he later underwent emergency surgery.

//c.o0bg.com/rf/image_90x90/Boston/2011-2020/2018/09/18/BostonGlobe.com/Travel/Images/23disneya.jpg Surviving Disney (and learning to just let go)

I took a clue from all the happy grandparents around me and realized: If we were going to really enjoy this, I had to follow the kids? lead.

Ideas | Rachel Slade

//c.o0bg.com/rf/image_90x90/Boston/2011-2020/2018/09/26/BostonGlobe.com/Ideas/Images/AP_7709130251.jpg The man who designed modern Boston

Approach the city from the north, south, west, or the harbor, and you can?t miss Henry Cobb?s vision.

//c.o0bg.com/rf/image_90x90/Boston/2011-2020/2018/09/29/BostonGlobe.com/Sports/Images/922f44d1c8624998b10cf410c24f1f8c-922f44d1c8624998b10cf410c24f1f8c-0.jpg Strong-armed fan hits Yankees? Stanton with home run ball at Fenway

Giancarlo Stanton has been plunked plenty of times. But by his own home run ball?

//c.o0bg.com/rf/image_90x90/Boston/2011-2020/2018/09/28/BostonGlobe.com/ReceivedContent/Images/TimGensphoto.jpg Timothy F. Gens, 69, who helped shape health care reform

Among the talents Mr. Gens brought to the Massachusetts Health and Hospital Association was the ability to explain the inexplicable.

BEN VOLIN | SUNDAY FOOTBALL NOTES

//c.o0bg.com/rf/image_90x90/Boston/2011-2020/2018/09/28/BostonGlobe.com/Sports/Images/0167a3339fc642479e8678c8ca6480bd-0167a3339fc642479e8678c8ca6480bd-0.jpg Patriots are navigating uncharted waters

The Tom Brady-led offense is among the least productive in the NFL heading into Week Four of the season.

GARY WASHBURN | SUNDAY BASKETBALL NOTES

//c.o0bg.com/rf/image_90x90/Boston/2011-2020/2018/09/26/BostonGlobe.com/Sports/Images/Chin092518CelticsTrainingCamp_Spt11.jpg Al Horford?s focus is on the court ? not on next year?s opt-out

Horford believes the 2018-19 Celtics are the most talented team he?s ever played on.

Elizabeth Warren will ?take a hard look? at a 2020 White House run

US Senator Elizabeth Warren spoke at a town hall meeing in Holyoke on Saturday.

Michael Swensen for The Boston Globe

The US senator pointed at President Trump as one of the reasons she may run. ?I am worried down to my bones about what Donald Trump is doing to our democracy,? she said.

Analysis

//c.o0bg.com/rf/image_90x90/Boston/2011-2020/2018/09/29/BostonGlobe.com/National/Images/1042096638.jpg Brett Kavanaugh?s testimony took on a Trumpian tone

Speaking Thursday before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Kavanaugh displayed the very same combative, grievance-fueled thinking of which the president is so fond.

//c.o0bg.com/rf/image_90x90/Boston/2011-2020/2018/09/30/BostonGlobe.com/National/Images/AFP_19M147.jpg Trump urges voters to reject Democrats? ?outrageous? tactics

?[Democrats] don?t care who they hurt, who they have to run over to get power,? Trump said Saturday at a rally in Wheeling, W.Va.

//c.o0bg.com/rf/image_90x90/Boston/2011-2020/2018/09/29/BostonGlobe.com/Metro/Images/1041066658.jpg Once again, all eyes are on Maine?s Susan Collins

She?ll be a pivotal vote when it comes to confirming Brett Kavanaugh, and Mainers don?t know what she should ? or will ? do.

From left, sisters Reilly Carey and Katie Nivard, their grandmother Mary Ann Keyes, and mom Kelly Carey. The younger women have drifted away from the church their grandmother still loves.

Catholic Church?s conundrum: Bring back younger faithful

New generations are generally less observant regarding religion, but the problem is made worse for Catholic officials by new revelations of clergy abuse.

//c.o0bg.com/rf/image_90x90/Boston/2011-2020/2018/09/29/BostonGlobe.com/National/Images/b9c26cc783b24e56900791faa6a0eeaa-b9c26cc783b24e56900791faa6a0eeaa-0.jpg Settlement allows Elon Musk to stay on as Tesla?s CEO

Musk will pay a $20 million penalty to settle fraud charges brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission over his claims about taking the company private.

//c.o0bg.com/rf/image_90x90/Boston/2011-2020/2018/09/30/BostonGlobe.com/Metro/Images/IMG_5114.JPG Dorchester shooting victim expected to survive, police say

The man was shot late Saturday in Dorchester Center, and a police spokesman said the injuries ?probably? are not life-threatening.

//c.o0bg.com/rf/image_90x90/Boston/2011-2020/2018/09/27/BostonGlobe.com/Metro/Images/tlumacki_lawrencelawsuit_metro075.jpg Merrimack Valley residents say utility isn?t showing ?urgency?

Those affected by the Sept. 13 disaster say questions have gone unanswered and calls left unreturned in recent weeks.

Rami Elhanan (left) and Mazen Faraj hugged Saturday in Boston.

John Tlumacki/Globe Staff

For an Israeli and a Palestinian, their struggle for peace reaches across borders

For the past 13 years, Rami Elhanan and Mazen Faraj have told their stories together as they push for peace and reconciliation on both sides of the conflict.

Opinion & Ideas

Ideas | David A. Moss and Dean Grodzins

//c.o0bg.com/rf/image_90x90/Boston/2011-2020/2018/09/27/BostonGlobe.com/Ideas/Images/sqmoss.jpg A crisis for voting rights

The Constitution explicitly guaranteed African-Americans? right to go to the polls, but states just ignored it. What does it take to turn the law into more than just words on paper?

Special reports

//c.o0bg.com/rf/image_90x90/Boston/2011-2020/2018/08/02/BostonGlobe.com/Metro/Images/RinaldiDrama33.jpg The world, the stage, the way ahead

Lost and alone, Deb made a decision to reclaim the only home she?d ever had, whatever the risk.

Newsletters

//c.o0bg.com/rf/image_90x90/Boston/2011-2020/2018/06/25/BostonGlobe.com/Politics/Images/statehouse150-3271.jpg This Week in Politics

A convenient digest of the top political news of the past week, delivered every Saturday. Sign up now.

The Big Picture

Jessica Rinaldi/Globe Staff

Big picture

A drama unfolds in Peabody

Deb was still new to this high school in Peabody, and had found her way to the vaunted theater program, establishing a foothold in a realm that felt magical.

Real Estate

Home of the Week: Two-bedroom condo in a former school listed for $399,900

Built in 1931, it served as a school for decades before it was converted into a condo complex known as Academy Park. Search more Fall House Hunt listings at realestate.boston.com.

STAT

//c.o0bg.com/rf/image_90x90/Boston/2011-2020/2018/08/29/BostonGlobe.com/National/Images/GettyImages-3123228-1024x576.jpg Can genetic tests gauge how well antidepressants will work?

With more products aimed at gauging the effectiveness of mental health treatments, some say science is getting left behind.

Love Letters: The Podcast

//c.o0bg.com/rf/image_90x90/Boston/2011-2020/2018/08/29/BostonGlobe.com/Lifestyle/Images/200_love_letters_bonus.jpg Until next year, my sweetheart

In a special bonus episode, Meredith Goldstein explores what happens to summer romance when the summer ends, and ?Wet Hot American Summer? creator David Wain shares a girl-crazy memory from his own camp days.

Listen:   Apple Podcasts   |   Stitcher   |   RadioPublic

 

Real Estate

//c.o0bg.com/rf/image_90x90/Boston/2011-2020/2018/09/17/BostonGlobe.com/Metro/Images/millennials$medium.jpg Despite debt, millennials are the biggest home-buying generation. How?

Slightly more than a third of all home purchases were made by millennials over the past year.

Globe event

//c.o0bg.com/rf/image_90x90/Boston/2011-2020/2018/06/08/BostonGlobe.com/Business/Images/SeattleTimes_10kirsner02_biz.jpg Seattle?s mayor talks growing pains that offer some lessons for Boston

Seattle mayor Jenny Durkan spoke at a Globe event on how innovation is shaping our world, and she?s in high demand among the hundreds of mayors gathered in Boston.

Crossword

//c.o0bg.com/rf/image_90x90/Boston/2011-2020/2017/08/21/BostonGlobe.com/Business/Images/crossword.jpg Play the crossword

Puzzled? Keep trying your hand at our interactive crossword and see if you can triumph.