The Boston Globe

Spotlight follow-up

New funding for controversial MIT and Whitehead Institute scientist David Sabatini draws divided reactions

Billionaire New York hedge fund manager Bill Ackman announced last week that he and an anonymous donor had pledged $25 million over five years toward a new research lab for Sabatini, who is accused of workplace misconduct and sexual harassment.

Spotlight: Fate and the fallen star

Lindsay Clancy, Duxbury woman accused of killing her children, ordered held; chilling details released in deaths

Lindsay Clancy allegedly strangled her three small children with exercise ropes in her Duxbury home Jan. 24 before leaping from the second floor of the residence in an attempted suicide, sustaining injuries that have left her paralyzed from the waist down, prosecutors and her lawyer said during her arraignment Tuesday.

THE GREAT DIVIDE

In court filing, BPS deflects blame for Mission Hill School bullying problems

The motion stands in contrast to an outside law firm’s report, commissioned by BPS, that found district officials knew Mission Hill was plagued by problems for years and failed to adequately act, endangering children.

Wendy’s employee in Lynn shot at drive-through window, police say

Jack Lepiarz performing at the Louisiana Renaissance Festival.

WBUR news anchor Jack Lepiarz signs off. His next act? Performing in the circus full time.

‘It’s kind of like shark CSI.’ Experts assess how frozen shark washed up on Cape Cod beach

The chamber of the House of Representatives at the Capitol in Washington. President Joe Biden will deliver his State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday.

State of the Union | 9 p.m.

President Biden to say in State of Union that US is ‘unbowed, unbroken’

The address comes as the nation struggles to make sense of confounding cross-currents at home and abroad — economic uncertainty, a wearying war in Ukraine, growing tensions with China, and more.

Here’s who Mass., R.I., and N.H. members of Congress are bringing to the State of the Union address

Thousands dead following earthquakes in Turkey and Syria as race to find survivors continues
Rescuers raced Tuesday to find survivors in the rubble of thousands of buildings brought down by a 7.8 magnitude earthquake and multiple aftershocks that struck eastern Turkey and neighboring Syria.

Mass. residents rush to help loved ones caught in devastating earthquake in Turkey and Syria

More than 150 patients evacuated from Brockton Hospital after 10-alarm fire there Tuesday morning
The fire broke out around 7 a.m. in a basement transformer room, and there were no apparent injuries, officials said.

Wellesley High School.

Wellesley High requires parent to accompany students to basketball game after racial taunts, officials say

The move comes after some students at Wellesley High School directed racial slurs at Black players of the Weymouth High School boys' basketball team during warmups last Friday.

Melanie A. DiVasta.

North End resident, 47, found dead on bench in Christopher Columbus Park in frigid temperatures

Melanie DiVasta was found unresponsive on a bench in the Christopher Columbus Waterfront Park at around 3:30 a.m. Saturday, the coldest night in Boston in decades.

Pete Reed, seen here in an ambulance in Ukraine, was killed near Bakhmut on Thursday.

Whenever a war-weary world needed a hero, Pete Reed showed up

“Pete couldn’t sit still when he knew someone was suffering, no matter where in the world that was.”

Bottles of Samuel Adams beer are displayed on a shelf at grocery store on May 10, 2019 in San Francisco, California.

Here’s a look at the Sam Adams Super Bowl commercial — and others — ahead of Sunday’s game

From beers to betting, here’s a sample of some of the witty television spots that have been circulating ahead of Sunday’s big game.

Labor Secretary Martin J. Walsh.

Martin J. Walsh poised to leave Biden’s Cabinet to take over as executive director of NHL Players’ Association

The former Boston mayor and current US labor secretary is expected to take the position soon, according to people close to Walsh.

Black History Month

Wellesley high school senior Maya McNeill (left) embraced spoken word and multidisciplinary artist Amanda Shea after Shea delivered a poem on resilience.

Boston must work to address its role in disparities, Wu says

“I have the chance to be surrounded by Black excellence, Black joy, Black brilliance, Black persistence, every single day here working for the city of Boston,” Wu said.

Celebrate Black-owned restaurants in Boston and beyond

Vice President Kamala Harris spoke during the funeral service for Tyre Nichols as the Rev. Al Sharpton listened at Mississippi Boulevard Christian Church in Memphis on Feb. 1.

Kamala Harris will never be good enough, will she?

With 2024 looming, the vice president’s critics are sharpening their knives again — not that they ever put them away.

From guns to climate, conservatives play Chicken Little

It takes advocacy, vigilance to remove ‘R’-word from our midst

IDEAS | BARBARA WALLRAFF

May I have a word: Parody-worthy job titles

To my fellow conservatives: Don’t hold the debt limit hostage

Women at a roped-off lunch counter stage a sit down to protest segregation in Nashville, Tennessee, March 26, 1960.

The Emancipator

Nashville’s historic Woolworth building is in trouble

The history of this site, where Rep. John Lewis’ first arrest in student-led sit-ins that helped lead to desegregation of restaurants across the country, is being erased by it’s new owners. These are stories that need to be preserved.

Special reports

photo illustration of David Sabatini. photo by Jonathan Wiggs /Globe Staff

Spotlight Report: Fate and the fallen star

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

Members of the 2001 Patriots team that won the franchise’s first title.

Darkness on the edge of the Patriots dynasty

More recent News

A housing development at South Shore Plaza seemed like a home run. Not so fast, residents say.
Residents have already begun to rally against a 495-unit apartment complex proposed at South Shore Plaza, highlighting the challenges state and local leaders face as they seek to dig out of the housing shortage.

Mayor Wu announces members of Boston’s reparations task force

The reparations task force would study Boston's part in the trans-Atlantic slave trade and make recommendations on potential repairs to the harm done through this practice.

Boston’s slavery ties deepened by findings at First Church in Roxbury

ANALYSIS | JAMES PINDELL

The US shot down a suspected Chinese spy balloon. What happens now?

After days of neck craning and debate, the Chinese balloon was shot down Saturday by an F-22 fighter jet. Now we're all left to ponder where that might lead.

Women's Beanpot | Northeastern 4, BU 1

Behind a star-studded top line, Northeastern is back in the Women’s Beanpot final after rolling past BU

Graduate students Chloé Aurard, Alina Mueller, and Maureen Murphy combined for seven points to lift the No. 5 Huskies.

Boston plans to launch pilot program offering free menstrual products in city buildings

Boston City Councilors want the city to add emergency contraception to its list of offerings in an upcoming free menstrual product pilot.

innovation beat
Do ‘Black-owned’ business labels work? Harvard study says yes.
A new study that focused on Yelp’s decision to introduce a “Black-owned” business label found that the feature led to a 30 percent increase in sales for those businesses.

Boston Globe Spotlight Team

Send The Boston Globe a confidential news tip
Do you have a tip about something that needs to be investigated? Do you have documents or data we should dig into? We want to hear from you.

Recommended reads

A contractor worked on a natural gas furnace in a home in Spanish Fork, Utah.

Are gas stoves worse than fireplaces? Here’s how some other appliances can also pollute your home.

Cooking appliances aren’t the only household items that run on methane gas. The fossil fuel also commonly powers furnaces, water heaters, and fireplaces. And like gas stoves, these appliances release pollution that can harm your health, and the environment.

The gas stove culture war, explained

In Holyoke, a young man — and his American Dream — are destroyed by a legal gun
When police officers reached the Holyoke Mall, they found shoppers streaming towards them. Some were screaming, according to police reports. It was, in many ways, a uniquely American tragedy.

‘Most plumbers aren’t even picking up the phone now.’ Burst pipes cause backlog after Boston deep freeze.
The extreme cold front this weekend brought extreme temperatures to Boston and resulted in pipes freezing across the region.

Local breakfast spots scramble to cope with egg costs and shortages
Egg prices were up by nearly 60 percent in December from the prior year, according to Consumer Price Index data, with the average price of a dozen eggs sitting at $4.25.

video

Culture & Lifestyle

Watching a good, emotionally honest show, like Michaela Coel's "I May Destroy You," can be a visceral, challenging experience.

Sorry, book snobs, you’ve come to the wrong place

Tilda Swinton in a scene from "The Eternal Daughter."

IFFBoston screening a ‘Mothers + Daughters’ trilogy at Somerville Theatre

Baritone Aaron Engebreth and soprano Aliana de la Guardia starring in "The Thrilling Adventures of Lovelace and Babbage," presented by Guerilla Opera, the MIT Center for Art, Science and Technology, and MIT Music and Theater Arts.

‘Lovelace and Babbage’ opera is a sincerely funny alternate history

Valentine's Day in Boston will include many different types of events, from speed dating to drag shows.

Activities around Boston to celebrate Valentine’s Day

Special Projects

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.

Top Spots to Live in Greater Boston in 2022

A guide to 36 Greater Boston communities where demand — and prices — are surging.

Jeneé Osterheldt

A Beautiful Resistance

Black joy, Black lives, as celebrated by culture columnist Jeneé Osterheldt.

‘On the Street’: The changing face of Greater Boston neighborhoods

The changing face of Greater Boston neighborhoods.

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Opinion, ideas, and commentary

One reader's colleagues saw him as a Grandmaster of Nothing (they really understood). The bespoke sign on his desk put that rather more interestingly.

IDEAS | BARBARA WALLRAFF

May I have a word: Parody-worthy job titles

President Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.

To my fellow conservatives: Don’t hold the debt limit hostage

President Biden delivered the State of the Union address during a joint session of Congress on March 1, 2022.

The State of the Union should be a memo, not a speech

President Biden walked with US Border Patrol agents along a stretch of the US-Mexico border in El Paso on Jan. 8.

MARCELA GARCÍA

Biden’s State of the Union on immigration? Not great.

Rodney Wells, stepfather of Tyre Nichols, speaks at a prayer gathering at the site where Nichols was beaten by Memphis police officers, and later died from his injuries, in Memphis, Tenn., on Jan. 30.

Raising the financial cost of bad policing for municipalities

Grandmother and trained mental health counselor "Gogo" Shery Ziwakayi, right, sat in conversation with client "Muzukuru" Choice Jiya during a private counseling session at a Friendship Bench in Harare in November.

IDEAS | KIM SAMUEL

A group of grandmothers in Zimbabwe is helping the world reimagine mental health care

Metro

Wellesley High requires parent to accompany students to basketball game after racial taunts, officials say

The move comes after some students at Wellesley High School directed racial slurs at Black players of the Weymouth High School boys' basketball team during warmups last Friday.

New funding for controversial MIT and Whitehead Institute scientist David Sabatini draws divided reactions

Billionaire New York hedge fund manager Bill Ackman announced last week that he and an anonymous donor had pledged $25 million over five years toward a new research lab for Sabatini, who is accused of workplace misconduct and sexual harassment.

Boston plans to launch pilot program offering free menstrual products in city buildings

Boston City Councilors want the city to add emergency contraception to its list of offerings in an upcoming free menstrual product pilot.

RI TRANSPORTATION

R.I. transit advocates marking Rosa Parks birthday are skeptical of plan to move downtown bus hub

The event, called Transit Equity Day, was held at Burnside Park in Providence, looking out on the Kennedy Plaza bus hub that has served generations of riders.

Sports

Tom Brady’s knowledge of the game is one of the reasons Fox is excited for his potential as a commentator.

Those at Fox are OK with waiting another year for Tom Brady to join the team

Perhaps Brady wants to keep the door open for the 2023 season, just in case he gets the itch to take the field once more.

Woburn girls' basketball coach Steve Sullivan helped guide his rusty team to a 36-33 Middlesex League home victory over Winchester. The rusty Tanners (13-0) returned to the court for their first game in 11 days after the settlement of the Woburn's teachers strike.

HS girls' basketball: Woburn 36, Winchester 33

After enduring a teachers’ strike, the Woburn girls’ basketball team grinds out a Middlesex League win vs. Winchester

Sophomore Shannon McCarthy paced the No. 7 Tanners (13-0) with a career-high 17 points, including 10 in the second half, in a 36-33 victory.

Wellesley High School.

Wellesley High requires parent to accompany students to basketball game after racial taunts, officials say

The move comes after some students at Wellesley High School directed racial slurs at Black players of the Weymouth High School boys' basketball team during warmups last Friday.

Women's college basketball notebook

After dealing with an injury-plagued slump, Merrimack’s Diamond Christian gets a handle on her health and her game

Patriots owner Robert Kraft hints at future tributes for Tom Brady

The Celtics could still make a move at the NBA trade deadline, but things are quiet for now

Business

They loved the coffee, so they bought the shop

Gray’s Daily Grind, a local attraction since it started brewing in 2012, is pure New England charm, with scuffed wooden floorboards and just enough room for a glass case of pastries.

Germany, Denmark, Netherlands pledge Ukraine Leopard 1 tanks

The announcement followed Germany agreeing last month to allow deliveries of the more modern German-made Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine.

General Electric picks smaller digs for its new headquarters

Airline safety system that failed must wait to 2030 for fix

We’ve heard a lot about ‘commitment’ to DEI. Where’s the follow through?

Double-Chocolate Cake With Honey-Rosemary Syrup

Recipes: Show your valentine some love with homemade chocolate cake or pudding

The Parenting Issue

My son once taught me a lesson about fatherhood. Here it is, comic-book style.

Check out Winter Nature Photography: Intro to Smartphone Photography on Saturday.

YOUR WEEK AHEAD

Five things to do for fun in and around Boston, Feb. 6-Feb. 12

metro

Boston Public Schools defended itself in a lawsuit brought by families from the now-shuttered Mission Hill School in Jamaica Plain alleging administrators there improperly dealt with student bullying and sexual abuse.

In court filing, BPS deflects blame for Mission Hill School bullying problems

Whenever a war-weary world needed a hero, Pete Reed showed up

R.I. legislators raise concerns about McKee’s gas tax proposal

sports

Maureen Murphy (left) and Chloe Aurard were crucial as Northeastern rolled past BU.

Behind a star-studded top line, Northeastern is back in the Women’s Beanpot final after rolling past BU

Martin J. Walsh poised to leave Biden’s Cabinet to take over as executive director of NHL Players’ Association

49ers name Steve Wilks defensive coordinator

business

A person worked on a ferry boat near shipping containers stacked on a container ship at the Port of Los Angeles on Tuesday in Los Angeles, Calif.

America’s trade deficit surged in 2022, nearing $1 trillion

Fed’s Powell: Strong hiring could force further rate hikes

The people onscreen are fake. The disinformation is real.

politics

The chamber of the House of Representatives at the Capitol in Washington. President Joe Biden will deliver his State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday.

President Biden to say in State of Union that US is ‘unbowed, unbroken’

Caught in GOP’s crosshairs, Mayorkas faces political showdown over border crisis

The US shot down a suspected Chinese spy balloon. What happens now?

Nation

An impromptu memorial for Tyre Nichols, who died after a beating from a group of officers, on the corner where his encounter with police took place in Memphis. As Tyre Nichols sat propped against a police car, bloodied, dazed, and handcuffed after being beaten by a group of Memphis police officers, one of those officers took a picture of him and sent it to at least five people, the Memphis Police Department said in a document released by the state on Tuesday.

Memphis officer texted photo of Tyre Nichols after beating

Illinois gun-ban incites challenges to legislative shortcuts

How US-China tensions could affect who buys the house next door

World

Rescue workers combed through the wreckage of a collapsed building in Iskenderun, Turkey, on Tuesday.

Rescue teams fight ‘weather and the earthquake’ as toll surpasses 7,700 dead

Germany, Denmark, Netherlands pledge Ukraine Leopard 1 tanks

Thousands dead following earthquakes in Turkey and Syria as race to find survivors continues

opinion

Striking teachers marched on Woburn Common in Friday's cold weather. Students and teachers returned to classrooms Monday morning after a Sunday deal put an end to a strike that canceled classes for nearly 4,300 students last week.

Holding teaching up as a higher calling is how we keep teachers down

Two differing views of Harvard hockey coach who’s come under fire

A call to Easton police for a wellness check ends with death

lifestyle

From left: Estelle Getty, Rue McClanahan, Betty White, and Bea Arthur in "The Golden Girls."

10 classic, streamable Valentine’s Day episodes to fall in love with all over again

Michigan woman began walking to work after her car died. One day on the walk, she found $15,000.

Should I continue these coffee dates?

food & dining

Sarah Delano, the owner of Gray's Coffee Shop, at the Westport cafe on Jan. 20.

They loved the coffee, so they bought the shop

Recipe: Fudgy brownie filling in a flaky crust makes a sinfully delicious pie for your Val/Gal/Palentine

Recipe: Delight your Val/Gal/Palentine with these salted, ultra-crisp chocolate cookies

travel

Beach goers watch the sun set on Jan. 25, 2023, in Fort Myers Beach.

If you go . . . Fort Myers

These are the most budget-friendly amusement parks

The multiple personalities of the Florida Keys

Arts

A still from Mimi Bai and Sam B. Jones’s “Hide and See,” 2022. Film, 22 minutes. This film is part of the exhibit “Mimi Bai: Hide and See” at the Boston Center for the Arts's Mills Gallery.

Mimi Bai plays ‘Hide and See’ at Boston Center for the Arts’s Mills Gallery

Wu Junyong’s exhibit at the MFA explores different cultural traditions

Abelardo Morell travels ‘In the Footsteps of van Gogh’ at Krakow Witkin Gallery

Books

Salman Rushdie’s ‘Victory City’ is a grand epic about a magical city — and a triumph over censorship

Leila Philip on flash fiction and beavers

Thomas Mallon’s ‘Up With the Sun’ is a fictional biography of real-life actor Dick Kallman, replete with murder and celebrities

Movies

Viola Davis speaks onstage during the 65th Grammy Awards at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles.

Celebrating Viola Davis, a voice like no other

At AMC theaters, tickets will cost more for good seats

Melinda Dillon, actress who played crisis and comedy, dies at 83

Television

Bottles of Samuel Adams beer are displayed on a shelf at grocery store on May 10, 2019 in San Francisco, California.

Here’s a look at the Sam Adams Super Bowl commercial — and others — ahead of Sunday’s game

‘Station Eleven’ should appeal to ‘The Last of Us’ fans

An AI-generated ‘Seinfeld’ parody was gaining popularity online — until it was banned for transphobic jokes

music

Mr. Thomas (second from left) joined other rock 'n roll stars, including from left: Little Joe Cook, who sang "Peanuts" in 1957; Dennis Yost, of "The Classics IV" and Frank Maffei, of "Danny and the Juniors" as they sang the classic hit "At The Hop" during a news conference in Boston in 1998. The performers, who were household names in the 1950s and 60s, were in Boston to bring attention to their battle to protect their identities from being used by younger performers and to meet with members of the Boston City Council, which was considering an initiative to prevent imposters from using the older performers identities.

Charlie Thomas, a Drifter nearly all his life in song, dies at 85

Ben Affleck, looking miserable at the Grammys, becomes a meme yet again

‘Lovelace and Babbage’ opera is a sincerely funny alternate history

Theater/Dance

BalletX premiered “Become a Mountain,” “Credo,” and “Exalt” as part of Global Arts Live's Winter Dance Fest at the Cutler Majestic Theatre on Saturday.

BalletX transports and transcends with ‘Become a Mountain,’ ‘Credo,’ and ‘Exalt’ at the Cutler Majestic

BalletX is out to prove that ballet is not an elitist artform

As StageSource prepares to shut down, theater artists lose a partner

globe local

Dorothea Jones, Mayor Michelle Wu, Na’tisha Mills, and George Chip Greenidge Jr., during the ceremony introducing the reparations task force.

Mayor Wu announces members of Boston’s reparations task force

Newton announces three finalists for school superintendent

Boston’s slavery ties deepened by findings at First Church in Roxbury

Obituaries

Mr. Harris, speaking at the University of California San Diego in 1971, was an in-demand speaker of the antiwar movement.

David Harris, leader of the Vietnam draft resistance movement, dies at 76

Charlie Thomas, a Drifter nearly all his life in song, dies at 85

A ‘larger-than-life figure,’ Trinity Rep’s founding artistic director Adrian Hall has died