All of the headlines from today's paper.
Sunday, February 13, 2022
Today's Headlines
Page one

Business

They qualified for unemployment benefits. Then the state asked for the money back.

Months after approving their jobless claims, Massachusetts began telling people that they may need to return the money. Here are the stories of people battling with the Department of Unemployment Assistance. Continue reading →

Arts

What does a concertmaster actually do? Our critic pulls back the curtain as the BSO searches for its next leader.

This essential role is part fiddler-in-chief, part virtuoso, part diplomat — and all-important to the life of an orchestra. Continue reading →

THE GREAT DIVIDE

Most of Boston’s schools lack fully functioning libraries. The superintendent vowed to change that — but will her successor?

In Boston, after years of decline in library access, a school library with regular hours, dedicated staff, and an up-to-date collection has become an extra bonus amenity, found at exam schools and campuses with robust parent fund-raising efforts — and hardly anywhere else. Continue reading →

Social Justice

A month after the tents were cleared in Mass. and Cass, signs of tumult, and hope

More than 154 people who were living in the encampments have transitioned to temporary housing, in what officials say it is the first step toward long-term recovery for the individuals, and for the neighborhood. But, daily signs of vagrancy persist. Continue reading →

Climate

How two strong-willed Cambridge moms are working to wean Mass. utilities off fossil fuels

Two activists, who joined forces over a common fear of how climate change would affect their children, have a plan to get the state off gas. Utilities are finally listening. Continue reading →

The Nation

Nation

Tennessee parents, teachers push back against ‘Maus’ removal

“My father was of Jewish descent; I'm of Jewish descent. There is nothing more personal to anybody than our heritage,” Cockrum said. “This is very disturbing.” Continue reading →

Nation

Teachers tackle Black History Month, under new restrictions

Republican-led legislatures in several states passed laws last year to ban or limit schools from teaching that racism is infused in US institutions. Continue reading →

Nation

Rand Paul urges truckers to disrupt Super Bowl and come to D.C.

When Paul was asked about his thoughts on the convoy and the potential for it to spill over into Los Angeles, home of Sunday's Super Bowl, or into Washington D.C., he said "it'd be great" if the anti-mandate demonstrators came to the United States to "clog things up." Continue reading →

The World

World

US battles Putin by disclosing his next possible moves

After decades of getting schooled in information warfare by President Vladimir Putin of Russia, the United States is trying to beat the master at his own game. Continue reading →

World

Afghans protest US order to give $3.5B to 9/11 victims

Demonstrators in Afghanistan’s capital Saturday condemned President Biden’s order freeing up $3.5 billion in Afghan assets held in the United States for families of America’s 9/11 victims — saying the money belongs to Afghans. Continue reading →

World

Fleeing drought, hunger, thousands trek to Somalia’s capital

This week the United Nations World Food Program warned that 13 million people in the region, including parts of Ethiopia and Kenya, face severe hunger in the first quarter of 2022. Continue reading →

Editorial & Opinion

EDITORIAL

NFL’s Super Sunday super mess

League owners can’t punt this time on charges of racism. Continue reading →

OPINION

Cuba’s dictatorship, not the embargo, is what needs to go

If commerce and tourism had the power to undo Havana’s repression, they would have done so by now. Continue reading →

OPINION

Fried chicken, watermelon, and the origins of racist food stereotypes

How some foods have been weaponized against Black people. Continue reading →

Metro

Massachusetts

For sports fans in New England, watching the Super Bowl will be different this year

Legions of Patriots loyalists will take to sports bars and at-home watch parties as they have in years past, only with the stakes much lower this time around. Continue reading →

Black History Month

Joseph ‘Wally’ Walcott brought jazz icons to Boston and created a proving ground for the next generation

Walcott, founder of Wally's Jazz Club in the South End, was the first Black man in New England to own a nightclub and the first in Boston to receive a liquor license. Continue reading →

Politics

Boston’s city workforce became slightly more diverse over the past year

Last year, 4 percent of city workers identified as Asian compared to 5 percent this year. The percentage of Black employees also increased by 1 percentage point during a 12-month period, from 29 percent to 30 percent. Continue reading →

Sports

On Football

Bengals and Rams both bring firepower at wide receiver

Joe Burrow and Matthew Stafford may get most of the attention, but neither would be playing in his first Super Bowl without his horses on the outside. Continue reading →

Bruins 2, Senators 0

Jeremy Swayman’s shutout helps Bruins bounce back with win over Senators in Ottawa

Trent Frederic and Curtis Lazar scored first-period goals for Boston that held up. Continue reading →

Christopher L. Gasper

Matthew Stafford has set the stage for a Hollywood ending during Super Bowl LVI

Recast as the leading man of the Los Angeles Rams, Matthew Stafford, 34, is one win away from a script re-write worthy of this entertainment epicenter. Continue reading →

Business

Business

They qualified for unemployment benefits. Then the state asked for the money back.

Months after approving their jobless claims, Massachusetts began telling people that they may need to return the money. Here are the stories of people battling with the Department of Unemployment Assistance. Continue reading →

Ideas

IDEAS

What are they hiding on Beacon Hill?

The State House is closed to visitors — an apt symbol for the lack of transparency in Massachusetts’ government. Continue reading →

IDEAS

An inventor that isn’t human

Stephen Thaler says artificial intelligence deserves credit in patent filings. Most countries are rejecting the idea — for now. Continue reading →

Obituaries

Obituaries

Gloria Rojas, trailblazing Latina broadcaster, dies at 82

Billed as New York City’s first Latina broadcast journalist when she was hired by WCBS-TV in 1968, Gloria Rojas went on to work as a journalist for every major network affiliate in the city for 23 years. Continue reading →

Obituaries

Patricia Moreno, spiritual fitness leader, dies at 57

Patricia Moreno, who injected a dose of spirituality into the world of fitness and created a popular exercise program called intenSati, which became a staple at some Equinox gyms and a presence on YouTube, died Jan. 22 at her home in Los Angeles. She was 57. Continue reading →

Obituaries

John Wesley, an artist who couldn’t be pinned down, dies at 93

Through the years, critics would describe him variously as a “surrealist secret agent,” a sly eroticist, a latter-day manifestation of rococo, a renegade color field artist, and a “Greek vase painter by way of Aubrey Beardsley.” Continue reading →

Arts & Lifestyle

Arts

Inside the BSO’s concertmaster auditions

How some 40 candidates are winnowed down to one Continue reading →

MATTHEW GILBERT

You say you want miniseries that aren’t traumatizing? Here are some that stand out.

Most of these shows aren’t light romps, exactly, but they’re entertaining and aren’t here to address social ills. Continue reading →

Music

BMOP celebrates 25 years of searching for the new

On Feb. 18, Gil Rose and the Boston Modern Orchestra Project kick off anniversary festivities with a free concert in Symphony Hall. Continue reading →

Travel

TRAVEL

Historic Harris Hill Ski Jump celebrates 100 years with a winter carnival

The site of 18 national championships to date, Harris Hill is part of a yearly circuit of event sites for Olympic hopefuls. This year, all five of the US Olympic ski jumpers competing in Beijing have jumped at Harris Hill. Continue reading →

TRAVEL

Spirit and Frontier are merging, but what should the new airline be called? We have ideas.

Using customer reviews, we’ve come up with a list of suggested names. No need to thank us, Spirit and Frontier. These are yours to use, free of charge. (Foreign concept to you, we know.) Continue reading →

Real Estate