Monday, January 31, 2022 View web version
Today's Headlines
Page one

Politics

Mayor Wu brings her policy — and personality — to social media

The @WuTrain account at once presents a staid public servant, a modern day influencer, and a one-woman rapid response team. Continue reading →

Business

In the region’s booming biotech industry, workers are in short supply

The market for biotech talent in Massachusetts has long been robust, but lately the crunch has turned critical. “You can’t walk two blocks around Kendall Square without receiving a job offer,” said Jeanne Gray, chief people officer at Relay Therapeutics in Cambridge, only half-kiddingly. Continue reading →

Higher Education

Mental health a top concern for colleges as students return for spring semester

Some college mental health departments have begun to shift away from a singular focus on therapy and toward an effort to help students form friendships and to foster a more supportive campus culture. Continue reading →

Politics

Baker seeking to halt probation and parole fees in ‘progressive’ proposal

Governor Charlie Baker is seeking to end the monthly fees Massachusetts charges those on probation and parole, targeting levies that court officials, lawmakers, and advocates have argued unnecessarily burden people trying to reenter society and do little to ensure the public is safe. Continue reading →

Health

‘Game changer’ COVID-19 drugs trickle out to patients amid challenges

Only 429 patients have received the drug in Massachusetts — using up just one-sixth of the available supply — as providers scramble to set up systems to manage distribution. Continue reading →

The Nation

Nation

Campaigning to oversee elections while denying the last one

Nearly two dozen Republicans who have publicly questioned or disputed the results of the 2020 election are running for secretary of state across the country, in some cases after being directly encouraged by allies of former president Donald Trump. Continue reading →

Nation

Trump says he would consider pardons for Jan. 6 defendants if elected

The promise to consider pardons is the furthest Trump has gone in expressing support for the Jan. 6 defendants. Continue reading →

Nation

Trial to resume for cops accused of violating Floyd’s rights

Evidence about Minneapolis Police Department policies and training is expected to be the focus as testimony resumes for a second week in the federal trial of three former Minneapolis police officers charged with violating George Floyd’s civil rights. Continue reading →

The World

World

US allies retake control of prison in Syria, subduing Islamic State fighters

Kurdish-led forces regained full control of a prison in northeastern Syria on Sunday after a battle that spread to surrounding neighborhoods in the most intense urban combat involving American soldiers in Iraq or Syria since the self-declared Islamic State caliphate fell in 2019. Continue reading →

World

North Korea’s latest missile test appears to be its boldest in years

North Korea on Sunday carried out what appeared to be its boldest ballistic missile test in years, raising the stakes in a flurry of launches that analysts said were meant to put pressure on President Biden. Continue reading →

World

Living by the code: In China, COVID-era controls may outlast the virus

The pandemic has given Xi Jinping, China’s top leader, a powerful case for deepening the Communist Party’s reach into the lives of 1.4 billion citizens, filling out his vision of the country as a model of secure order, in contrast to the “chaos of the West.” In the two years since officials isolated the city of Wuhan in the first lockdown of the pandemic, the Chinese government has honed its powers to track and corral people, backed by upgraded technology, armies of neighborhood workers and broad public support. Continue reading →

Editorial & Opinion

OPINION

To end homelessness, start by looking inward

We have thinned out safety nets to their frayed ends and expected those without boots to pick themselves up by their own bootstraps, to paraphrase Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Continue reading →

EDITORIAL

Cut Mass. residents who owe unemployment some slack

Thousands of people got an unexpected notice from the state government that they would have to repay pandemic unemployment benefits, even though they had followed the program’s rules. That’s not right. Continue reading →

OPINION

What’s next for Massachusetts’ climate policy?

The state has lost critical tools to fight the climate crisis, but new solutions are within reach. Continue reading →

Metro

Metro

‘Marvelous’: Mass. researchers prepare for experiments with new James Webb Space Telescope

Researchers in Massachusetts are preparing to begin research with NASA's James Webb Space Telescope, which launched from French Guiana on Dec. 25, 2021. Continue reading →

Marijuana

With Mariano’s backing, Mass. Legislature advances marijuana reforms

Lawmakers and their aides said they expected the Legislature’s joint committee on cannabis policy to approve three bills by the end of Friday. And perhaps more importantly, House Speaker Ron Mariano said he supports the measures, significantly boosting their chances of passage. Continue reading →

Weather

Mass. residents dig out, crews clear roads after Saturday’s bomb cyclone

Battered by a Saturday blizzard that hammered parts of eastern Massachusetts, people spent a sunny, chilly Sunday digging themselves out from a storm that left tens of thousands without power, while crews cleared roads and transit lines ahead of Monday’s commute. Continue reading →

Sports

Bruins notebook

With Erik Haula landing in protocol, Bruins reunite Perfection Line in flurry of late line changes

Bruce Cassidy had to mix-and-match lines after already deciding in Dallas he would pull Craig Smith off the No. 1 line in hopes of sparking the struggling forward. Continue reading →

Patriots

Raiders hire Patriots’ Dave Ziegler as GM, reportedly set to hire coordinator Josh McDaniels as head coach

McDaniels is headed for Las Vegas, according to a report, leaving the Patriots with gaping holes on the staff. Continue reading →

Christopher L. Gasper

Josh McDaniels departing for Vegas is a loss for the Patriots — and for him

McDaniels, who passed on multiple second chances to be a head coach, finally makes his jump ... and it's to one of the most unstable and unrealistic organizations in all of pro sports? Continue reading →

Business

Business

In the region’s booming biotech industry, workers are in short supply

The market for biotech talent in Massachusetts has long been robust, but lately the crunch has turned critical. “You can’t walk two blocks around Kendall Square without receiving a job offer,” said Jeanne Gray, chief people officer at Relay Therapeutics in Cambridge, only half-kiddingly. Continue reading →

INNOVATION BEAT

LogMeIn founder wants to tame the stock market with new startup

Michael Simon's latest venture, Boston-based NDVR (pronounced "endeavor"), employs 50 people and aims to offer comprehensive investing advice. Continue reading →

Business

Deal between CSX and Amtrak could help pave the away for East-West Rail

Amtrak is using regulatory scrutiny of the CSX-Pan Am Railways merger as leverage to ensure it can expand passenger service in the CSX corridor, west of Worcester, when the time is right. Continue reading →

Obituaries

Obituaries

Robert C. Hayden, prolific author of books about Black history, dies at 84

A former METCO executive director and former president of Boston's NAACP branch, Mr. Hayden was a historian and educator. Continue reading →

Arts & Lifestyle

MUSIC REVIEW

Christophers, Handel and Haydn Society weave a brilliant tapestry on ‘Theresienmesse’

Harry Christophers is marking the end of his tenure as H&H artistic director by drawing on his long career of choral music and his more recently found love of Haydn, leading two of the composer’s landmark pieces for chorus and orchestra. Friday's performance was the first. Continue reading →

OPERA REVIEW

BLO’s ‘Svadba’ ultimately fails to synch up

Ana Sokolović's score suggested an emotional landscape: the visuals said ‘cottagecore Pinterest board.’ Continue reading →

Arts

Howard Hesseman, star of ‘WKRP in Cincinatti,’ dies at 81

Howard Hesseman, who played the radio disc jockey Johnny Fever on the sitcom “WKRP in Cincinnati” and the actor-turned-history teacher Charlie Moore on “Head of the Class,” has died. Continue reading →