Budget boosts for schools, jobs, but questions remain

As it is with most municipal budgets, there's good news and bad with Boston's fiscal year 2009 budget when it comes to money and programming aimed at the city's youth and schools. More »

Senate delays vote on same-day registration

With formal legislative sessions set to end in just days, local lawmakers are leading an 11th-hour effort to revive a bill, stalled in the state Senate's Ways and Means Committee since February, that could give thousands of Massachusetts citizens the chance to register and vote on Election Day. More »

Sickle cell fight is in Dot family's blood

Sickle cell disease affects millions of people all over the world, including about one in 375 African American infants in the United States, according to the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. More »

Patrick tries to imagine new economy for Mass.

Hanging high in the chambers of the Massachusetts House of Representatives is the wooden sculpture of a cod fish - a silent reminder of what was once the backbone of state's economy. More »

Researchers: Menthol used to attract young smokers

WASHINGTON - Tobacco companies deliberately changed the menthol levels in cigarettes depending upon whom they were marketing them to - lower levels for young smokers who preferred the milder brands and higher levels to "lock in lifelong adult smokers," researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health concluded. More »

Haiti food aid lags while hunger deepens

DESCHAPELLES, Haiti - Every inch of Rivilade Filsame's body hurt, from his swollen, empty stomach to his dried-out, wrinkled skin. The 18-month-old had been crying for so long in the hospital's malnutrition ward that his mother no longer tried to console him. More »