The battle between those who would replace decrepit MCI-Framingham and those who don’t think it should exist at all has kept its inmates in limbo for years, Jesse Singal writes. Massachusetts imprisons people less often than any other state. Activists say the conditions are perfect for a radical experiment.
A Jewish organization helped him escape Nazi Germany as a teen. Years later, as a US soldier, he returned to Germany and made an extraordinary rescue, his daughter Claudia M. Gold writes.
When Globe Santa stepped inside the world of comic strips
Peter Hotton, a beloved editor at the Boston Globe for half a century and the writer of a popular column, was a newspaperman of the old school. His voice boomed across the newsroom as he took calls from perplexed homeowners needing fix-it solutions: “Handyman on CALL‚” he’d answer.
Hotton loved Globe history. He loved old news photos. He loved bringing his kids to Morrissey Boulevard to watch the presses roll. And he loved the paper’s charity, Globe Santa, founded in 1956 to provide holiday presents to needy children. When Hotton died in 2015, his family asked that donations in his memory be made to Globe Santa.
Hotton also had a rare collection of what might be called Globe Santa-bilia: original cartoon strips created in the 1960s and ’70s by some of America’s best-known cartoonists, including Al Capp, creator of Li’l Abner, Hank Ketcham of Dennis the Menace, Mell Lazarus of Miss Peach, Bil Keane of Family Circus, and Al Smith of Mutt and Jeff.
Globe Santa appeared in every framed image of Hotton’s dedicated home gallery. He showed up in Li’l Abner’s Dogpatch, Miss Peach’s school room, and Mutt and Jeff’s madcap universe.
Prop bets in sports are dangerous. If only we’d been warned.
In 2023, Cleveland’s Emmanuel Clase wound up and delivered a not-so-fearsome pitch that spiked the dirt between Red Sox outfielder Jarren Duran’s shoes and the plate, Jason Schwartz writes. An associate of Clase won $58,000 by betting that the pitch would be both a ball and slower than 94.95 miles per hour. This scandal is just one of several to afflict big-time sports since the widespread legalization of sports betting.
After unearthing a gold class ring five years ago from a chest of silverware in the depths of her family home, Kelly Broder wore it through countless occasions — her driving test, high school graduation, and family milestones. Then she learned about the ring’s original owner, her grandmother Betsy.
Sour grapes
When you’re treating your friends to dinner, should you pick up the tab for their expensive wine selection, too? Miss Conduct shares her tips.
LOVE LETTERS
Alone together
After five years together, this letter writer’s girlfriend isn’t interested in sex or living together. What does Meredith think?
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