7 stories you may have missed
The news can feel unrelenting: chaos in Washington, wars around the world, and a mayor's race in Boston that's heating up.
But a deluge of stories about politics probably means you're missing out on others. So I reached out to colleagues around the newsroom and asked them to recommend seven fascinating stories from the Globe that may have passed you by in recent days.
If you're looking for a reprieve from weighty affairs of state, I recommend taking a few minutes to dig into their suggestions. And if it's news about politics you want, never fear: You'll find that in the bullets further down.
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1. Food:
'This story by Alexa Gagosz, who covers the restaurant industry in Rhode Island, is a must read,' says Lylah Alphonse, who edits Globe stories from the state. 'It touches on both food history and Black history, noting that one of the first real restaurants in the Colonies was owned by a former slave.'
2. Sports:
'If the Westminster dog show wasn't on your radar, I don't blame you,' says Katie McInerney, who edits sports stories. 'But that means you didn't get to learn about Typo, Shelby-Cobra, and Amber McCune thanks to Kevin Paul Dupont's story. Come for the cute dog photos, stay for the training tips.'
3. Health:
Harvard is building an aquatic lab to study octopuses, squid, cuttlefish, and snails whose venom may one day yield lifesaving drugs, and the Globe's Anna Kuchment spoke to the researcher behind it. Hayley Kaufman, an editor on the express desk, called the headline that accompanied Anna's Q&A the Globe's best headline that day.
4. Books:
'I didn't know who Mel Robbins was until about a month ago,' says Heather Ciras, a deputy managing editor. 'But suddenly Robbins and her latest self-help manual — 'The Let Them Theory,' a guide to accepting others' behavior and focusing on what you can control — were everywhere: my Instagram feed, my friend group chat, and Oprah's podcast. So I did what I usually do when I'm confused about some cultural happening: talk to Globe writer Beth Teitell. Beth not only knew all about Robbins, but had written this story, a glimpse into a subculture searching for coping mechanisms that, when packed into Big Night Live, resembled a Christian revival.'
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5. Dining:
'You don't have to play or even like pickleball to savor Devra First's dining report on the four new eateries inside Neiman Marcus's old spot at the Natick Mall,' says Veronica Chao, a Living/Arts editor. 'Sound-proof (!) glass separates diners from the 21 pickleball courts that share the Bosse complex.' As Devra puts it, 'The effect is a bit like going to the zoo, only with better refreshments.'
6. Education:
'In recent years, the cost of building new schools in Massachusetts has escalated rapidly,' according to Melissa Taboada, who edits stories about educational inequity. 'The new projected costs to rebuild Madison Park Technical Vocational High School now stand at $700 million, the most expensive in state history,' as this story from the Globe's Christopher Huffaker explains. 'The school could end up costing even more, raising the question of whether this is the new normal for building or rebuilding school campuses in this state.'
7. Climate:
Finally, here's my recommendation: Warming weather over the past decade appears to have helped increase Boston's rat population by more than 50 percent. As the Globe's Claire Thornton wrote, higher temperatures give the rodents 'more days each year to forage, have offspring, and become unwelcome and potentially dangerous houseguests.' Claire's story also includes this insightful observation from a city official: 'Fertility, it's a real challenge with rodents, they're really incredible breeders.'
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POINTS OF INTEREST
Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel spoke during a press conference at the NFL football scouting combine Tuesday.
Michael Conroy/Associated Press
Boston and New England
His turn:
When Mike Vrabel talks football, you can't help but perk up. His confidence is
Rejected:
The Mass. education board denied KIPP Academy's second attempt to
Consequences:
The select board of Harvard, Mass.,
Trump Administration
Spoils of war:
Ukraine agreed to give the US profits from its natural resources. Ukraine's president had rejected an earlier proposal, sparking a row with Trump, who insisted on a deal. (
Eeny, meeny, miny, moe:
The administration said it will choose which reporters can cover presidential events. The White House Correspondents' Association, which currently coordinates that coverage, said the change 'tears at the independence of a free press.' (
Seguro aquí:
Mayor Wu told Spanish-language radio listeners, in Spanish, that Boston
Deadline:
The Trump administration has less than two days to release billions of dollars in foreign aid, a judge ruled, accusing it of not complying with his previous order. (
Not saving the children:
Relatedly, US nonprofits that make a treatment sent by USAID to help starving kids abroad say the distribution process is in chaos. (
The Nation and the World
Close call:
The FAA is investigating after a Southwest Airlines plane landing in Chicago narrowly avoided a private jet
Try the oatmeal:
Denny's is joining Waffle House in adding a temporary surcharge to meals that include eggs because of soaring prices. (
Apple keeps DEI:
Even as shareholders voted to retain diversity policies, CEO Tim Cook said a changing legal landscape may require some changes. 'But our north star of dignity and respect ... will never waver.' (
Inside the tent:
MSNBC star Rachel Maddow publicly blasted the network's decision to shake up its programming Monday night, including the cancellation of a show hosted by Joy Reid. (
Crypto heist:
North Korean hackers apparently stole $1.5 billion in cryptocurrency from Dubai-based exchange Bybit, by far the biggest theft of digital loot ever. Here's how they did it. (
BESIDE THE POINT
🖼️
MFA loan:
The beloved Boit sisters are leaving the building. The 19th century Sargent portrait, crown jewel of the Museum of Fine Arts, is heading to the Met in NY and the Musée d'Orsay in Paris for a year. (
🍻
Cheers:
How Allagash White, brewed in Maine, went from 'couldn't give it away' to the world's
🐟
Food alert:
Micro- and nanoplastics are getting into our food, and the effects could be pretty harmful. Here's how to minimize your risk. (
📷
Pictures perfect:
The finalists in the annual Sony World Photography Awards have been unveiled; here's a selection of remarkable images. (
🦖
De-extinction:
Dorchester native Ayo Edebiri will write a live-action movie based on the children's show 'Barney & Friends.'
📵
Screen break:
Block the internet on your phone for two weeks and you could be among the 91 percent of people who felt much better. (
🐶
'Puppy mountain':
This cliffside in China resembles a resting dog. It's become a viral sensation and is already attracting tourists. (
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😫 Gliding to pain relief:
There are no teeth involved, but 'nerve flossing' could help tight or stuck nerves slide more easily, easing pain and inflammation. (
🔥
Suckerfest:
The disaster that was the Fyre Festival of 2017 is getting a sequel, this time in Mexico. The organizer who spent time in prison for fraud is behind it. (
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UPI
2 hours ago
- UPI
Florida religious leaders ask Gov. Ron DeSantis to pause executions
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks at the 2024 Republican National Convention in Milwaukee in 2024. Religious leaders across Florida have penned a letter asking DeSantis to pause executions. File Photo by Tannen Maury/UPI | License Photo July 2 (UPI) -- Religious leaders across Florida have penned a letter asking Gov. Ron DeSantis to pause executions after more prisoners were put to death in a single year since the death penalty was reinstated half a century ago. The letter will be sent to DeSantis on July 8, when hundreds of faith leaders are expected to gather at First Presbyterian Church in Tallahassee before marching to the State Capitol to deliver the letter. The demonstration will be livestreamed beginning at 11 a.m. local time. The demonstration comes after Florida scheduled its eighth and ninth executions for the year. Last month, Florida executed its seventh prisoner of the year, Thomas Gudinas, who was convicted for the 1994 rape and murder of a woman outside an Orlando bar. "We ... are deeply troubled by the expansion of Florida's death penalty and the pace of executions under your administration. We stand together to call on you to pause the signing of death warrants and make space for dialogue around whether the people of the State of Florida are being served by the current pace of executions," the letter reads. "Though we come from different backgrounds and spiritual traditions, our shared belief in the sacred value of every human life unites us. Our faiths teach us that no person is beyond redemption and that true justice must reflect both accountability and compassion." The religious leaders said that Florida's death penalty system "is plagued by racial disparities" and that its processes can retraumatize families. They also said that Florida has a "troubling history of wrongful convictions." "Florida leads the nation in death row exonerations -- proof that the risk of executing an innocent person is not hypothetical but real," the letter reads. "Executions also inflict moral injury on correctional staff and divert resources away from the kinds of investments that truly improve public safety." The letter was signed by 82 faith leaders from various Christian faiths, including more than 40 Catholic leaders, some 25 mainline Protestant leaders, about five from evangelical or non-denominational churches, two from Quaker congregations, a Mennonite leader and several interfaith leaders. They represented churches throughout all of Florida's major cities. "Florida cannot claim to be a state that values life while it continues to carry out executions," Demetrius Minor, the preacher at Tampa Life Church, said in a statement. "As someone who serves on Gov. DeSantis' Faith & Community Initiative and is a supporter of many of his policies, I urge Governor DeSantis to honor life by pausing executions."
Los Angeles Times
2 hours ago
- Los Angeles Times
Ritchie Valens died too young. His legacy will live on forever
This essay is adapted from Merrick Morton's 'La Bamba: A Visual History,' published by Hat & Beard Press. 'Dance!! Dance!! Dance!! to the music of the Silhouettes Band!!' read the handbill. The Silhouettes featured Ritchie Valens — 'the fabulous Lil' Richi and his Crying Guitar!!' — at a 1958 appearance at the San Fernando American Legion Hall in Southern California. He was 16 years old. The Silhouettes was Ritchie's first band, and they launched him into history. But a silhouette itself is an interesting thing: You can see the general shape of something while you hardly know the figure casting the shadow. Valens' musical story begins with the Silhouettes, and we have been filling in his story, and projecting ourselves onto it, ever since he left. A founding father of rock 'n' roll, he would lose his life barely a year later, when the plane carrying members of the Winter Dance Party Tour — Buddy Holly, the Big Bopper and Valens — crashed on Feb. 3, 1959, in an Iowa snowstorm. A Chicano icon. A stranger. Ritchie was a kid playing his guitar to make money for his family and one song he played was a version of 'Malagueña.' The number was rooted in centuries-old Spanish flamenco music that had spread in all directions, becoming a classical music melody and a Hollywood soundtrack go-to by the 1950s. In his hands, it became a catapult for guitar hero god shots. 'Malagueña' communicated experience and rico suave flair to his audience. Meanwhile, his mom was selling homemade tamales at his shows in the American Legion Hall. This guileless 17-year-old, Chicano kid from Pacoima found a way to introduce himself to America by taking something familiar and making it feel like nothing you had heard before. From the beginning, Ritchie heard the possibilities in turning a familiar sound forward. He saw, even as the teenager he will forever be to us, how in reinventing a song, you could reinvent yourself. Listen to 'Donna,' the heartfelt love ballad that felt familiar to Chicano ears, listeners who for years had tuned in to Black vocal groups. In the process, he cleared the way for so much great Chicano soul to come in the next two decades. Most of all, of course, listen to 'La Bamba.' A centuries-old song from Veracruz, Mexico; the tune has African, Spanish, Indigenous and Caribbean DNA. In the movie, he encounters the song for the first time when his brother Bob takes him to a Tijuana brothel, but however he first heard it, Valens viewed it as a prism, a way of flooding all that was in front of him with his voice and guitar. The music he made came from Mexico, and it came from Los Angeles, where 1940s Spanish-language swing tunes, Black doo-wop sounds and hillbilly guitar-plucking were mashed together in a molcajete y tejolote. Most of all, it came from the radio, which lined up sounds that were not like the ones that came right before and blasted them out on AM stations from corner to corner across the Southland. Radio devoured difference and transformed it, and if Ritchie is now regarded as a pioneer of Chicano music, he was in his own, brief time, a product of AM democracy, a silhouette with a spotlight shining on him. Danny Valdez knew all the songs. In the early 1970s, the artist and activist had released 'Mestizo,' billed as the first Chicano protest album put out by a major label. The singer-songwriter and his buddy Taylor Hackford would drink beer, belt out Ritchie Valens songs and make big plans. They talked about someday shooting a movie together, with Valdez playing Ritchie and Hackford directing. 'Neither of us had a pot to piss in,' said Hackford, 'so we never made that movie.' But years later, after Hackford had a hit with 'An Officer and A Gentleman,' Valdez called him and raised the idea once more. There were many steps to getting 'La Bamba' on the screen, but it began with an understanding that it would be about the music. That meant they had to make the music feel alive — namely the handful of recordings produced by Bob Keane that Ritchie left behind. The owner of Del-Fi Records, Keane was a guiding figure in the singer's life, recording his songs, urging him to mask his ethnicity by changing his name from Richard Steven Valenzuela and giving him career advice. Keane booked Gold Star Studios, cheap at $15 an hour, and brought in great session musicians as Ritchie's backing band, including future Wrecking Crew members Earl Palmer and Carol Kaye. But the recordings he made were not state of the art, even in their own time. 'They weren't high-quality,' said Hackford, comparing them to the early Ray Charles sessions for the Swing Time label. 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I don't think we could have found other musicians to cover him. They come from East L.A., they're all Chicanos. They were paying an homage. We happened to be in the airport together when they got the news that 'La Bamba' had become number one in the national charts.' 'They called themselves the spiritual inheritors of Ritchie Valens,' says Hackford. 'And they went in and re-recorded Ritchie's songs plus several that he had played in concert but never recorded.' Now Hackford had his own album of old tunes that turned in a forward direction. Next, Hackford made sure there were roles for modern performers to play the classic rockers from the Winter Dance Party Tour. He cast contemporary performers who could re-record their material too: Marshall Crenshaw as Buddy Holly, Brian Setzer as Eddie Cochran and Howard Huntsberry as Jackie Wilson. Then there's the surprise of the first song heard in the film — a rumbling version of Bo Diddley's 'Who Do You Love?' that had Carlos Santana, hired as a soundtrack composer, playing with Los Lobos, and Bo himself offering a fresh vocal over everything. 'We were so happy to have the touch of Carlos Santana as part of Ritchie's story,' said Luis Valdez. 'It's his guitar that underscores a lot of the scenes and he had a theme for each of the players. We screened the whole movie for him first and he was very moved by it and ready to go right away once he saw it without his contribution. He was alone on the soundstage at Paramount, where we recorded his soundtrack, doing his magic with his guitar. He became a great friend as a result of that. It's incredible what an artist can do.' The original soundtrack recording topped the Billboard pop charts and went double platinum. Hackford loved pop music; his first feature film, 'The Idolmaker' (1980), was a rock musical. Releasing hit music became a key promotional element of the package. In advance of 1982's 'An Officer and a Gentleman' came 'Up Where We Belong' by Joe Cocker and Jennifer Warnes. It went to No. 1 a week after the opening. For 1984's 'Against All Odds,' he selected Phil Collins to sing the title cut, a song released three weeks before opening; the song soon went No. 1. 1985's 'White Nights' had two No. 1 songs, Lionel Ritchie's 'Say You Say Me' and Phil Collins and Marilyn Martin's duet 'Separate Lives.' One looming problem for 'La Bamba' was that the 1987 moviegoing public was not familiar with the name Ritchie Valens. Hackford had ideas for that as well. He set out to introduce him to contemporary audiences — convincing the studio to fund a unique teaser trailer to run weeks before the official movie trailer went into theaters. The producer assembled a parade of familiar faces to reintroduce Valens. The short film included Canadian hitmaker Bryan Adams and Little Richard talking about the icon. There was also the vision of Bob Dylan in a top-down convertible riding along the Pacific Coast Highway. The 17-year-old Dylan was present at a Valens concert in Duluth, Minn., just days before the plane crashed; he popped up talking about what Valens' music meant to him. 'You bet it made a difference,' said Hackford. After the 'La Bamba' soundtrack became a hit (there was also a Volume Two), Los Lobos made the most of their elevated success. They had experienced head-turning celebrity with 'La Bamba,' and they followed it up with 'La Pistola y El Corazón,' a gritty selection of mariachi and Tejano songs played on acoustic traditional instruments. They had banked cultural capital and directed their large new audience to this music that many had never heard before. 'La Pistola y El Corazón' won a Grammy in 1989 for Mexican-American performance. The 'La Bamba' soundtrack helped set a precedent for the crossover global success of Latin music, which has become a major force in mainstream pop culture. From Ricky Martin and Jennifer Lopez to Shakira, Bad Bunny, Peso Pluma, Becky G, Anitta, J Balvin, Karol G and Maluma, among others who are dominating the charts, racking up billions of streams, headlining massive tours and festivals. Does Hackford think 'La Bamba' helped set the table for subsequent Latino pop star success? 'I think the one who set the table was Ritchie Valens. He recorded a song in Spanish, a rock 'n' roll version of a folk song, and he made it a huge hit. 'I challenge you, any party you go to — wedding reception, bar mitzvah, whatever it is — when 'La Bamba' comes on, the tables clear and everybody gets up to dance. That's Ritchie Valens; he deserves that credit. We came afterwards.' RJ Smith is a Los Angeles-based author. He has written for Blender, the Village Voice, Spin, GQ and the New York Times Magazine. His books include 'The Great Black Way,' 'The One: The Life and Music of James Brown' and 'Chuck Berry: An American Life.'
Chicago Tribune
2 hours ago
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Gov. JB Pritzker's running mate is a fellow Chicagoan, but says he will ‘represent all of Illinois'
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