Thursday, October 7, 2021 View web version
Today's Headlines
Page one

Health

Mass. hospitals prepare to fire hundreds of employees who refuse COVID vaccine

Executives don’t expect the number of employees who lose their jobs over vaccination requirements to result in cutbacks to patient services, but they are intensifying efforts to recruit and retain workers just in case. Continue reading →

Boston Mayoral Race

WAKANDA II, other leaders of color come out for Michelle Wu in slew of endorsements reminiscent of 2013 mayoral race

Michelle Wu’s growing support among communities of color is reminiscent of how Black, Latino, and Asian leaders helped propel Martin J. Walsh to victory over John Connolly in the 2013 mayoral race. Continue reading →

Technology

‘This is a drug for the climate’: A new generation of Boston companies is trying to fight global warming

A new generation of innovators in Massachusetts has emerged, aiming their moonshot ideas at a climate crisis that has only gotten worse and made their task all the more urgent. Continue reading →

Politics

Senate nears agreement to stave off debt crisis until December

Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell told Democrats he would allow an emergency debt limit extension into December, offering a potential path to avoid a federal default. Democrats declared the offer at least a temporary victory. Continue reading →

Politics

Texas law puts Susan Collins back in abortion-rights spotlight

The Maine Republican is attempting to navigate an awkward path that offers a preview of the difficulty her party could face in next year’s midterm elections. Continue reading →

The Nation

Nation

White House proposes restoring key parts of landmark environmental law, reversing Trump

If finalized, the move to change how the government reviews pipelines, highways, and other projects would reverse a significant rollback by the Trump administration. Continue reading →

Nation

Troubled student loan forgiveness program gets an overhaul

The Biden administration is overhauling a student loan forgiveness program for public service employees that had become a notorious quagmire, introducing a sweeping set of fixes Wednesday that Education Department officials said would help more than a half-million people get closer to the relief they had been denied for years. Continue reading →

Nation

White House announces $1 billion purchase of rapid, at-home coronavirus tests

The actions will quadruple the number of tests available to Americans by December, according to Jeff Zients, the White House coronavirus response coordinator. Continue reading →

The World

World

A ‘historical event’: First malaria vaccine approved by WHO

The world has gained a new weapon in the war on malaria, among the oldest known and deadliest of infectious diseases: the first vaccine shown to help prevent the disease. By one estimate, it will save tens of thousands of children each year. Continue reading →

World

Nobel Prize in chemistry awarded to scientists for tool that builds better catalysts

The Nobel Prize in chemistry was awarded Wednesday to Benjamin List and David W.C. MacMillan for their development of a new tool to build molecules, work that has spurred advances in pharmaceutical research and allowed scientists to construct catalysts with considerably less impact on the environment. Continue reading →

World

As Lebanese got poorer, politicians stowed wealth abroad

A trove of leaked documents confirmed that, for years, Lebanon’s politicians and bankers have stowed wealth in offshore tax havens and used it to buy expensive properties — a galling revelation for masses of newly impoverished Lebanese, caught in one of the world’s worst economic meltdowns in decades. Continue reading →

Editorial & Opinion

EDITORIAL

Politicians, start unfriending Facebook

Virtual public meetings shouldn’t contribute to the irresponsible social media giant’s profits. Continue reading →

OPINION

Facebook must be stopped

The company’s faith in its own infallibility is arrogant, foolhardy, and dangerous. Continue reading →

LETTERS

Amid a diaper crisis, the cloth option should not be overlooked

The assumption that disposable is the default is what got us into this predicament in the first place. Continue reading →

Metro

Massachusetts

City to break ground at Roxbury park honoring Edward O. Gourdin, the state’s first Black Superior Court judge, Olympic medalist, and veteran

On Thursday afternoon, the city plans to hold a groundbreaking ceremony at a park in Roxbury that honors Justice Edward O. Gourdin and other Black veterans. Continue reading →

Metro

Judge denies motion for new trial in state drug lab case that could have led to thousands of dismissals

Suffolk District Attorney Rachael Rollins had planned to use Justino Escobar's case to throw out thousands of other drug cases based on evidence analyzed at the state drug lab in Jamaica Plain. But a judge said there was no evidence of misconduct in the handling of drug evidence in Escobar's case. Continue reading →

Metro

Social media as social poison

It’s easy to see why whistle-blower Haugen and others have compared Facebook to the tobacco industry. Continue reading →

Sports

PETER ABRAHAM | ON BASEBALL

Eduardo Rodriguez gets the start in Game 1, and the chance to make his mark in the postseason spotlight

The lefthander has a 2.11 ERA in his last five appearances and held opponents to a .638 OPS, but has made only one prior start in a postseason game. Continue reading →

TARA SULLIVAN

Xander Bogaerts, once again in the middle of everything, showed up when it mattered to captain Red Sox to ALDS

The best of the Red Sox good guys got up off the mat in a most dramatic way Tuesday. Continue reading →

ON FOOTBALL

Stephon Gilmore the latest asset the Patriots squandered on the way out

The Patriots practically invented the term, “Better to get rid of a guy a year too soon instead of a year too late,” but many of their more recent talent departures have been head-scratchers. Continue reading →

Business

Business

Here’s how to fix the Fed’s ‘culture of corruption’

The Federal Reserve should ban personal trading by senior officials and remake its leadership to reflect Main Street, not Wall Street. Continue reading →

Technology

Microsoft president Brad Smith on the cloud, tech outages, and Boston’s ‘extraordinary advantage’

The Microsoft executive was in town this week visiting the company's Kendall Square offices, MIT, and Harvard. Continue reading →

Business

Scandinavians curb Moderna shots for some younger patients

Scandinavian authorities on Wednesday suspended or discouraged the use of Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine in young people because of an increased risk of heart inflammation, a very rare side effect associated with the shot. Continue reading →

Obituaries
Arts & Lifestyle

Theater

Stagehand strike at North Shore Music Theatre forces cancellation of opening night

The stagehands were joined by fellow union members in the orchestra and cast, who vowed not to cross the picket line for Wednesday night’s performance of “Mamma Mia.” Continue reading →

DANCE

Music and movement carry equal power in uplifting ‘Path of Miracles’

ODC/Dance and the Boston Cecilia take audiences on an ancient journey along Spain's Camino de Santiago, which Global Arts Live is presenting at First Church in Cambridge Congregational, October 7-9. Continue reading →

Working on It

A guide to young adulthood

Rainesford Stauffer’s book is designed to help readers find their way and appreciate the ordinary. Continue reading →