Legislative leaders to collect 3 pay bumps in 2019

State Senate President Karen E. Spilka is among the leaders in the state Legislature who will see three pay increases in 2019.

Lane Turner/Globe Staff/File

House Speaker Robert DeLeo and Senate President Karen Spilka are already among the highest-paid legislative leaders in the country.

//c.o0bg.com/rf/image_90x90/Boston/2011-2020/2018/12/28/BostonGlobe.com/Politics/Images/AFP_1BU831.jpg Shutdown solution seems unlikely before Dems take House

It?s looking increasingly like the partial government shutdown will be handed off to a divided government to solve in the new year as agreement eludes Washington.

12/23/2017 - Somerville, MA - Freezing rain encased branches and cars alike on December 23, 2017. Photo by Dina Rudick/Globe Staff

Icy morning commute makes way for balmy Friday

Sleet is expected in the Boston area early Friday, with the precipitation changing to rain before 8 a.m.

Rachael Rollins joined Nativity Preparatory School students during mock trials at the Moakley Federal Courthouse.

How much will incoming Suffolk DA Rachael Rollins shake things up?

The ascension of Rollins, who pledged to stop prosecuting low-level crimes, raised apprehension in law enforcement circles and excitement among advocates for reform.

The South Bay expansion has added apartments, shops, a movie theatre, and other stores.

Jonathan Wiggs/Globe Staff

Housing at a shopping mall? It?s becoming more common in Mass.

With estimates that one in four malls could close by 2022, older properties are following the mixed-use playbook to stave off obsolescence.

//c.o0bg.com/rf/image_90x90/Boston/2011-2020/2018/12/28/BostonGlobe.com/National/Images/28queensaliens.jpg The sky in Queens was lit up in an eerie blue light Thursday night. Here?s why

Despite the many comparisons to aliens and UFOs, officials had a perfectly normal explanation for the light.

EDITORIAL

Kevin Spacey got his day in open court ? and that?s important

Justice demands that public show-cause hearings ought to be the rule, not the exception for an out-of-town celebrity.

//c.o0bg.com/rf/image_90x90/Boston/2011-2020/2018/11/30/BostonGlobe.com/Metro/Images/2ffb1551d29b4cd894b40284709ac2b5-2ffb1551d29b4cd894b40284709ac2b5-0.jpg Mass. one of 6 states to report ?widespread? flu

Public health officials are urging people to get their flu shot in an attempt to limit the spread of the virus.

Galleries | Cate McQuaid

//c.o0bg.com/rf/image_90x90/Boston/2011-2020/2018/12/21/BostonGlobe.com/Arts/Images/DanielleM.Potwin__(Ir)repressable_.jpg The closest thing to skin

?Tense? is a show of fabric art at Fort Point Arts Community Gallery.

Lex Andre Daluz, owner of Marvelous Cuts, shaped up Amalex Veiga's hair.

Michael Swensen for The Boston Globe

Jeneé Osterheldt | Commentary

Revealing the barbershop for what it is: a black man?s safe space

The barbershop provides a safe space, a place to nurture solidarity, a place where black boys and men can let their guards down.

//c.o0bg.com/rf/image_90x90/Boston/2011-2020/2018/07/27/BostonGlobe.com/Lifestyle/Images/Rex_Turkey_witnesses_longest_lunar_e_9772315H.jpg A total lunar eclipse in January will showcase the ?super blood wolf moon?

Astronomy fanatics are in for a treat Jan. 20, when the eclipse coincides with a ?supermoon.?

//c.o0bg.com/rf/image_90x90/Boston/2011-2020/2018/12/27/BostonGlobe.com/Metro/Images/Walker_122718_feature_5113x.jpg As life expectancy falls across US, Mass. bucks trend

Life expectancy has slowly slipped nationwide, but here it?s inching upward. State health officials attributed the news to years of health promotion efforts and near-universal insurance.

Rockets 127, Celtics 113

//c.o0bg.com/rf/image_90x90/Boston/2011-2020/2018/12/28/BostonGlobe.com/Sports/Images/75b57e13ab6a4a36b0ba4f4309ad061d-75b57e13ab6a4a36b0ba4f4309ad061d-0.jpg Celtics overcome by Rockets firepower in Houston

Kyrie Irving?s 23-point night was not enough as James Harden went for 45.

DEVILS 5, BRUINS 2

//c.o0bg.com/rf/image_90x90/Boston/2011-2020/2018/12/28/BostonGlobe.com/Sports/Images/tlumackibruinsdevils838.jpg Bruins fall behind early, lose to Devils

The Bruins allowed first-period goals to Damon Severson and Kyle Palmieri and could never recover.

In this Aug. 28, 2018 photo, software engineer Nicholas Otero, of Woburn, Mass., speaks with a colleague about features on a Centaur robot, right, at Endeavor Robotics in Chelmsford, Mass. The Army is looking for a few good robots. These robots won?t fight, at least not yet. But they will be designed to help the men and women who do. The companies making them are waging a different kind of battle. At stake is a contract worth almost half a billion dollars for 3,000 backpack-sized robots that can defuse bombs and scout enemy positions. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

Army looks for a few good robots, sparks industry battle that includes Mass. robotics company

The Army is looking for a few good robots. Not to fight, but to help the men and women who do. Massachusetts-based Endeavor Robotics is on the short list to provide those robots.

18 of the biggest Greater Boston stories of 2018

Tragedy and triumph, fresh faces, notable departures, and new challenges. As 2018 draws to a close, here is a look at some of the top local news stories from the year.

Editorial

//c.o0bg.com/rf/image_90x90/Boston/2011-2020/2018/12/27/BostonGlobe.com/EditorialOpinion/Advance/Images/Clipboard-0247.jpg Wanted: Diverse pool of applicants for Boston School Committee

There?s only a week left to apply for the Boston School Committee, which will pick a new superintendent in 2019.

Opinion | Giles Li

//c.o0bg.com/rf/image_90x90/Boston/2011-2020/2018/12/27/BostonGlobe.com/EditorialOpinion/Images/f29789ce8f9546c79e6647771b2d322c-f29789ce8f9546c79e6647771b2d322c-0.jpg Giles Li: Migrant families depend on the humanity of citizens

Today?s headlines are not the first to illuminate the role that politics plays in the treatment of immigrant communities.

The Big Picture

BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP/Getty Images

The Big Picture

The year 2018 in pictures: Part II

Photographs from July to December on a range of topics from around the world.

Special reports

Shannon Goyette (left) and Cynthia Pierce became friends when their children were in kindergarten. Both mothers lost a son to suicide.

Jessica Rinaldi/Globe Staff

After suicides in Acton and Boxborough, a communion of sorrow

The unthinkable has been an all-too-common companion in two small neighboring towns, where six young people took their lives in the short span of 30 months. The questions keep coming: What is happening? Why? When will it stop?

Podcasts

//c.o0bg.com/rf/image_90x90/Boston/2011-2020/2018/12/18/BostonGlobe.com/Metro/Images/gladiator%20pic5.jpg Aaron Hernandez and Football Inc.

The story of a profoundly troubled young man and the ugly underside of America?s most popular sport.

Newsletters

//c.o0bg.com/rf/image_90x90/Boston/2011-2020/2018/12/17/BostonGlobe.com/Sports/Images/basketball-25069-U831060564319fkD--90x90@BostonGlobe.com.jpg Court Sense

Follow the Celtics? quest for a title and other NBA news both on and off the court. Sign up here.

Cars

Search This Week's Specials

Lexus looks to be at the forefront of cutting-edge car design

To walk the aisles of DesignMiami/, a global design forum for creators, curators, collectors and critics, is to be amazed. Want to buy a new chair? How about one made of chain link or flat slabs of wood? If that?s not your choice, perhaps you?d prefer one made of foam and decorated in what could [?]

Business

Specialist Stephen Naughton works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Thursday, Dec. 27, 2018. Wall Street's wild Christmas week goes on, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average slumping 300 points at the open Thursday, a day after notching its biggest-ever point gain. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Dow closes up 260 points after late-afternoon rally

US stocks staged a furious late-day rally to close with gains, erasing a 600-point drop in the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

STAT

//c.o0bg.com/rf/image_90x90/Boston/2011-2020/2018/12/21/BostonGlobe.com/National/Images/New-York-Newsstand-Bernice-Abbott-1024x576.jpg We wish we?d written that: our favorite stories of 2018

It?s been a busy 2018 at STAT, but we still have found the time to see what other journalists are writing ? and get jealous we didn?t do it ourselves.

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 Love Letters: 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