Boston

Boston

This year, law enforcement officials in Boston put a greater emphasis on retail theft enforcement, leading to a dramatic increase in the number of shoplifting arrests. But as officials tout those year-end statistics, a City Council member is publicly calling for the police to step up enforcement efforts even more. In 2025, shoplifting arrests were up 261% compared to the five-year average, officials said at a community meeting focused entirely on retail theft that was held at the beginning of December.

"Yeah, I took a loss on it," said Frederic with a laugh. "Giving back to the community."

Two Brighton roommates were charged on Thursday with dealing meth out of their apartment, according to the Suffolk County District Attorney's Office. Vincenzo Porfino, 43, pleaded not guilty to trafficking methamphetamine of less than 100 grams. William Nagle, 46, pleaded not guilty to trafficking methamphetamine of more than 200 grams and class B possession with intent to distribute, according to court documents.

The city's restaurant scene has never looked better from the dining room, but behind kitchen doors, the industry is struggling with thin margins, labor shortages, and a culture of burnout. To survive, today's top chefs are reinventing everything-and their solutions might just save it all.

A confession: I did not know that Jordan Walsh, the Boston Celtics' young forward, was the second coming of Moses Malone. I did not realize that he could ably step into the shoes of Jayson Tatum, the Celtics' superstar forward, who went down with a ruptured Achilles tendon during the Eastern Conference semifinals against the New York Knicks last May. Salvation, it turns out, was already sitting at the end of the bench, averaging three minutes a game.

As you are aware, the Trump administration is dedicated to protecting the civil rights of all Americans. At your office's direction, however, city officials have set out to smuggle racial equity into every layer of operations in city government,' Trainor wrote, quoting Boston's website on racial justice initiatives. Trainor said his office is investigating whether the city violated federal laws prohibiting discrimination in housing sales or rentals based on race, sex or national origin.

I'm grateful that this defendant has been held accountable for some of the serious charges in this vicious attack, and I wish the victim a full recovery from the physical and psychological trauma she suffered," Suffolk County District Attorney Kevin Hayden wrote in a statement.

The historic, narrow streets are lined with local and family-owned businesses. You'll find pizza and pasta places aplenty, plus Italian regional specialities on many menus, and scores of traditional Italian desserts, too. There are multiple food tours here in the North End, and both tourists and locals line the sidewalks to get into must-try spots. However, most people don't mind waiting around because the area is incredibly charming.

The total money you need for a down payment and closing costs to purchase a condo in Boston depends on the purchase price and your financing. Closing costs generally range from 2% to 5% of the purchase price. The down payment can range from 3% to 20% or more, depending on your loan type. Loan Type: Government-backed loans like VA and USDA may offer 0% down payment for qualifying buyers, while FHA loans can be as low as 3.5%.

Brookline: In a Facebook post, FuGaKyu Japanese Cuisine announced that it was closing after 25 years in Coolidge Corner. The restaurant once had multiple locations around the city, and shared that the owner decided to cease operations due to personal reasons, effective as of Wednesday, November 5, writing that "this chapter may close, but it marks the dawn of exciting new journeys ahead for our team and family." 1280 Beacon Street

It's great that he's supporting another local business in what is now his hometown,

Fresh off a dominant reelection bid, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu is gearing up for a renewed test of her political capital. This week, Wu restarted her public push to shift more of the city's tax burden onto commercial real estate in order to provide savings for residential homeowners. This effort has been stymied by state lawmakers twice already. Now, Wu is hoping that the third time is the charm on Beacon Hill.

Opening statements will take place Monday in Brian Walshe 's murder trial. The case has drawn national attention since his wife, Ana, vanished nearly three years ago. Prosecutors accuse Walshe of killing her on New Year's Day 2023, dismembering her body, and discarding her remains in dumpsters across the region, including one near his mother's home. Investigators never found her body.

An alleged Ticketmaster typo had fans boiling after an upcoming Olivia Dean concert at Boston's TD Garden was priced more than 14 times the actual ticket cost. Ticketmaster has since apologized and handed out refunds after the typo inflated the ticket price from $53 to $753, according to a USA Today report. A concertgoer shared screenshots of the sky-high-priced tickets along with a view of the lengthy queue, which had them at number 24,161 in line.

There's one story on Boston's TV news stations that won't seem to go away: an exodus of on-air talent that has been depleting the ranks of local broadcasters in recent years. Big names including WBZ-TV's (Channel 4) Jon Keller and WHDH-TV's (Channel 7) Kim Khazei are just the most recent examples of the accelerating flight of journalists from the airwaves.

A body was found Monday morning in the water off Castle Island in South Boston, according to police. Boston police officers were notified around 9:34 a.m. that the Massachusetts Environmental Police had recovered a body in the water off Castle Island, police said. The body was taken by the medical examiner's office for an autopsy and homicide detectives were notified, according to police. Police have not released information about whether they believe the death was suspicious.

It's difficult to conceive of something more tragic than a child being born and then ignored to the extent it leads to death by malnourishment and sheer neglect.

Generations of New Englanders will never forget that Tom Brady wore No. 12 (thanks also to his relentless branding efforts) or that David Ortiz wore No. 34 when he helped the Red Sox break the curse. Yet there are so many other examples of New England sports stars becoming linked with the number on the back of their jersey, to the point that some numbers are even retired by teams to honor those players.

Zuniga wrote in response to a scathing letter Jackson penned last month, which alleged Cox had been "caught in a lie" in his remarks about a former officer whose explosive testimony made headlines during Read's second trial. Speaking to reporters on July 10, Cox denied pressuring then-Boston Police Officer Kelly Dever into changing her testimony and claimed he didn't even know she was associated with Read's high-profile case - a statement Jackson decried as "patently false" and "a bald-faced lie."

I have been fascinated with technology since I was around seven years old or so. I was curious how the Internet worked and eventually how IT systems at my high school were run, and then went to study engineering in college. Computer science became very popular during the pandemic due to the promise of high new grad salaries and many job openings, but I graduated in 2018 and was more driven by the fact that I simply liked to solve hard engineering problems.

Still hounded by conspiracy theories months after Karen Read 's acquittal, several witnesses from the high-profile murder case are denouncing Read's coverup claims as "a vile work of fiction." The "outlandish" frame job allegations were part of Read's "scheme to defame and wrongly malign" prosecution witnesses and evade responsibility for the death of her boyfriend, John O'Keefe, lawyers for Brian and Nicole Albert, Jennifer and Matthew McCabe, and Brian Higgins argue in a new brief recently served on Read's legal team.

In the Happy City Index 2025 by the Institute for Quality of Life, Boston ranked 38th globally, placing it as the second happiest city in the U.S. and the top city in the "silver list" (cities ranked 38-100). In a separate U.S.-focused study by in March 2025, Boston was ranked 45th among American cities. Another U.S. list from May 2025 ranked Boston 131st.

Some residents and community leaders view plopping a strip club onto a main thoroughfare as another burden the neighborhood would have to bear. They are concerned about noise and drunken buffoonery, they say, but they also worry the move could represent a backslide to a time they would rather forget. But for employees of the downtown nightlife staple, they don't see the fuss.

The Animal Rescue League of Boston (ARL), a female-founded animal welfare organization that has operated since 1899, received a $2 million donation Nov. 13 from Arthur and Paula Rabe, the Boston Business Journal reported. The gift will support the ARL's construction of a new three-story facility in the South End, which is expected to cost $48 million.

SOMERVILLE - Below Davis Square, the outreach center the Somerville Homeless Coalition has used for 40 years is a refuge. The coffee is hot and a free breakfast awaits, as does help getting into a home. Above ground, it's often a different story. And as more of the region's homeless show up here, locals say increased violence and drug use are pushing the neighborhood to a breaking point.

Local News Photos shared by the fire department show first responders wading through waist-deep water toward the woman. Manchester-by-the-Sea police and firefighters on Wednesday rescued a woman stuck in a swampy area in the woods off Route 128, officials said. A middle-aged woman who was walking in the evening "lost her way and became disoriented," Fire Chief James McNeilly told Boston.com. After following sounds of traffic from nearby Route 128, the woman was led into a swamp area, where she called 911, McNeilly said.

A game recap of Wednesday's 131-95 victory, published on Celtics.com and NBA.com, praised Boston's leading scorers Payton Pritchard and Derrick White, in that order.

When over-the-top (OTT) streaming providers like YouTube TV, FuboTV, and DirecTV first entered the market, they promised to give viewers more flexibility to pick and choose the channels they wanted - like NESN, the official broadcaster of the Boston Red Sox and Boston Bruins - all while saving money on their cable bill in the process. Instead, these OTT providers and the broadcast rights holders keep raising their prices and getting into contract fights,

The Boston Fire Department battled a two-alarm fire at a multi-family home in Dorchester, which displaced two residents Tuesday. The fire at 25 Train St. started around 8:30 a.m. in the rear of the second and third floors, the fire department posted on X. In a video posted by the department, heavy flames are seen moving out of the second-story windows and spreading to the second- and third-floor back porches. Debris and ash can also be seen falling from the home.