LOCAL NEWS

Yancey: Community centers on losing side of budget cuts

When Rayney Odlum found out two weeks ago that the Madison Park Community Center was slated to be closed, she and her friends began collecting signatures and writing letters to Boston Mayor Thomas Menino asking that their center be spared to budget axe. More »

Local NAACP launches new initiatives

The Boston branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is reviving its traditional advocacy for victims of racial discrimination after a 15-year hiatus when such activism nearly disappeared amid low membership and inactivity. More »

UMass student provides 'second chance' for orphans

More than 50, once homeless, orphans on the streets of Sierra Leone now have a second chance at life thanks to a mere few hundred dollars and one man's passion to help. More »

Pub regulars in Boston proud of Obama's Irish link

Iron worker Peter Galvin expected a typical lunch last Monday when he walked into the Eire Pub in Dorchester, a deeply Irish neighborhood of Boston, and settled into the familiar place decorated in Irish flags and Boston Bruins championship memorabilia. More »

HBGC brings diversity to Boston's gay community

As Boston's gay community prepares to kick off its 41st annual Pride celebration, the Hispanic Black Gay Coalition (HBGC) hopes its presence in this year's festivities will add some new colors to the rainbow - black and brown. More »

Celebrating Charles Sumner's bicentennial

Few people may realize that the statue seated on the traffic island on Massachusetts Avenue in Harvard Square is a replica of Charles Sumner. Even fewer may know who Sumner was or appreciate his contributions to the abolition of slavery. More »

Patrick: Brown can be beaten in Mass. Senate race

Republican U.S. Sen. Scott Brown is "eminently beatable" in next year's Senate race in Massachusetts, Democratic Gov. Deval Patrick said Thursday. More »

Mass. economy brightening, except on Beacon Hill

After years of plummeting revenues and soaring jobless numbers, the fiscal dark clouds appear to be lifting in Massachusetts. The state's unemployment rate is at its lowest mark in two years, tax revenues are pouring in faster than anticipated and business confidence is up. More »

NATIONAL NEWS

Oprah still impacts personal spending

NEW YORK - Oprah Winfrey's impact on your finances won't end with her show. During its 25 years on the air, "The Oprah Winfrey Show" held enormous sway over how its audience chose to spend and save. Most notably, the show regularly counseled viewers on their household finances. More »

High court's ruling could lead to prison overhaul

ATLANTA - The U.S. Supreme Court decision that ordered California to drastically reduce its prison population to relieve severe overcrowding could encourage some states with bloated corrections systems to overhaul tough-on-crime policies that have led to stiffer sentences, law enforcement officials and experts said. More »

Spoken-word musician Gil Scott-Heron dies in NYC

NEW YORK - Musician Gil Scott-Heron, who helped lay the groundwork for rap by fusing minimalistic percussion, political expression and spoken-word poetry on songs such as "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised" but saw his brilliance undermined by a years-long drug addiction, has died at age 62. More »

WORLD NEWS

Obama: US must back democratic hopes despite costs

WARSAW, Poland - Capping an extensive trip to Europe, President Barack Obama said Saturday that the United States must always "leave room" to throw financial and moral support behind nations fighting for freedoms, even during times of employment troubles and high gas prices at home. More »

Cuba announces tax break for private businesses

HAVANA - Cuba announced new measures Friday to spur the island?s push into private enterprise, instituting a moratorium on payroll taxes for small business owners and loosening limits on the size of private restaurants. More »


HEALTH

Drug shortages make hospitals hunt for substitutes

WASHINGTON - A growing shortage of medications for a host of illnesses - from cancer to cystic fibrosis to cardiac arrest - has hospitals scrambling for substitutes to avoid patient harm, and sometimes even delaying treatment. More »

Census: US men narrowing the gender gap of old age

WASHINGTON - Women still outlive men, but the gender gap among U.S. seniors is narrowing. New 2010 census figures, released last week, show men are narrowing the female population advantage, primarily in the 65-plus age group. More »

US stops study of niacin to prevent heart attacks

WASHINGTON - The U.S. National Institutes of Health halted a major study of high-dose niacin, a type of B vitamin, more than a year ahead of schedule because of the lack of benefit. It was the latest setback in the quest to harness good cholesterol to fight the bad kind. More »