Anteing up for the arts

Massachusetts is a world-class laggard when it comes to public support of the arts, and things could get even worse.  The Massachusetts House just cut funding for the Mass. Cultural Council (MCC) by $2 million, to $12.2 million. (Originally, House Ways & Means  had tried to cut twice than amount.) There's still time for the Senate to restore the MCC to …

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Bathroom bill looms in Massachusetts

I have a friend. Let's call her Suzannah.  She is over six feet tall, blue-eyed, platinum hair in a page boy. Terrific set of gams, as my father would say.  She's married to a smart and talented guy.  But here's a problem.  It's the bathroom law, currently in effect in North Carolina and Georgia and under consideration …

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Red Sox: hope springs eternal

There's a 4" x 3" piece of paper held by magnet on my refrigerator door. The paper is yellow. It's the American League standing from the first days of the 2015 season.  Boston was at the top of the East division, with an .800 record.  It had won four and lost one game. The scrap was …

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A fan’s lament

I feel as if I’ve been hit by a truck. Hung over, despite the fact that I had no alcoholic beverages yesterday or all of last week. The Patriots have let me down. Me. Personally. It was hard to get out of bed this morning. If only the Pats had beaten lowly Miami in their …

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Marty Walsh hitting his stride

Halfway through his first term, the Mayor of Boston and the city are looking good.  Both Marty Walsh and the city have grown significantly over the past two years, as reflected in his State of the City speech on Tuesday. Walsh's laundry list of accomplishments is real: record housing starts, including record affordable units; violent crime …

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Some headlines for 2016

Each year, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette editorial page editor Tom Waseleski prepares for the New Year an aspirational list of headlines.  Each year, I shamelessly borrow the idea and herewith present my own suggestions, with precious little expectation that we will see them atop newspapers, magazines or teasing newscasts in 2016.  Please send your own in the comments section below. …

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Year-end movies stir annual debate

It's that time of year: movie time.  The industry wants its best products out before the New Year to compete in the Oscars. The only question for my husband, my sister and me is whether to go to the theatre or wait for the video to come out.   I'm not Ty Burr or Joyce Kulhawik, but …

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Cellphones and cars: a lethal mix?

Not long ago, I was exiting Route 128 for Route 30 on the Newton/Weston line. Cars merging into Route   128 are supposed to yield (note to Massachusetts drivers: that means give the other driver the right of way). My path was about to cross that of a paneled truck belonging to a Portugese bakery. Not surprisingly, …

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Tom Brady weasels out on important issue

Tom Brady, who can execute with finesse virtually any move a quarterback could dream of, apparently can't make the most basic of all moves, standing up and taking a position against domestic abuse.  Asked in his weekly WEEI interview about Dallas tight end Greg Hardy's beating up his girlfriend, Brady executed that famous insider sidestep, telling …

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Globe short-changes National Hall of Fame honoree

Today's Boston Globe  reports on the naming of former Olympic Gold Medal winner Tenley Albright to the National Women's Hall of Fame.  Albright's is a wonderful story of accomplishment, from polio victim to champion ice skater to Harvard Medical School-trained surgeon to brilliant innovator and tackler of societal challenges in health and medicine. (Plus, she is a …

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