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Connaughton: Follow the money for key to Beacon Hill payroll blackout

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 13:22:00 GMT

Article V of the Massachusetts Constitution requires that the branches of government “at all times” be accountable to the people.But few state governments are less accountable to the people than Massachusetts. The latest evidence came when state senators rejected a proposed amendment to the Senate’s budget plan that would have required the state’s quasi-public agencies to post their payrolls on the state comptroller’s website.From DCR summer lifeguards to corrections officers, salaries are available online. Why shouldn’t that be the case for employees of the Massachusetts Development Finance Agency? Perhaps the answer can be found in the words of Senate Minority Leader Bruce Tarr (R-Gloucester), who sponsored the amendment.“The quasi-public entities have, in many cases, very highly compensated individuals and many of them … do not share that information with the comptroller’s office,” Tarr told the Boston Herald.He might have been referring to the fact that quasi-public agencies are...

‘The Eight Mountains’ soars as tale of friendship, discovery

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 13:22:00 GMT

MOVIE REVIEW“The Eight Mountains”Not Rated. In Italian and Nepali with subtitles. At the Coolidge Corner.Grade: AEngrossing and joyously rustic, “The Eight Mountains” comes from married Belgian filmmakers Felix van Groeningen (“Beautiful Boy”) and first-timer Charlotte Vandermeersch, who co-wrote the screenplay based on the best-selling novel by Paolo Cognetti. It begins when shy 12 year-old Pietro (Lupo Barbieri) from the city of Turino goes on a modest vacation with his mother (Elena Lietti) at the foot of the Italian Alps in a tiny (and getting smaller by the minute) Alpine village named Grana.The boy meets another boy his age, a rustic semi-brute named Bruno (Cristiano Sassella), whose father works as a bricklayer down among the flatlanders and is mostly absent. Pietro’s father Giovanni (Filippo Timi) is a science-minded company executive, who drives an Alpha Romeo, loves the mountains and takes the boys on climbs. Giovanni keeps track of their journeys on a map he has tac...

Local, small acts also shine on Boston Calling stage

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 13:22:00 GMT

It’s Boston Calling time again, which means that Harvard Stadium will be overrun with big names like Alanis Morissette and the Foo Fighters. But as usual, you’re not getting the full experience unless you show up early, roam the grounds and catch the best of the local and second-tier bands.The Philadelphia band Mt. Joy is a local favorite; they were one of the first to headline the new MGM Music Hall at the Fenway and will be back there in the fall. Their Boston Calling set promises to be shorter but punchier. “You’re playing in a place where the energy is different,” said frontman Matt Quinn. “You know that people still have a full day of music, so you don’t get too introspective on them. So we put together something that’s high energy, at least for us. When you condense it down to an hour, you can pick out the greatest hits and let it rip.”A Mt. Joy set can still go anywhere, with their originals flowing into cover tunes. Last year at the Fenway they played a tune by Phish —...

‘Little Mermaid” remake flounders

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 13:22:00 GMT

MOVIE REVIEW“The Little Mermaid”Rated PG. At the AMC Boston Common, AMC South Bay and suburban theaters.Grade: CThis new, live-action “The Little Mermaid” from Disney works on almost no level. It hardly has enough music to be a musical (and some of the songs are sung by off-camera voices), the underwater scenes are murky and look fake, and the lead actors have no emotional connection. Outside of exploiting nostalgia for the 1989 animated version, this new “Mermaid” directed by Rob Marshall of “Chicago,” is just another Disney live-action remake of an animated hit. The fact that it also comes across like a water-logged remake of “Cinderella” only makes it more dull.Ariel, the film’s fish-tailed protagonist, is played by the Grammy-nominated singer Halle Bailey, whose casting caused a racist backlash. Ariel is a mermaid, who once again sports a big, reddish mane of (CG?) billowing hair and for reasons I did not understand in either film, longs to become a part of the world...

Gallery: Celtics win Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Finals 110-97

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 13:22:00 GMT

The Boston Celtics beat the Miami Heat during Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Finals at the TD Garden

Franks: Wishing a happy 100th birthday to Henry Kissinger

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 13:22:00 GMT

It would be difficult to find any living American who has had a greater impact on world events over an ever-growing period – stretching decades – than former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, who turns 100 on Saturday.In my Forrest Gump-like life, I had the high honor of getting to know Dr. Kissinger during the 1990s. After my successful campaign for Congress, I was left with a sizeable campaign debt. Then-Vice President Dan Quayle and Kissinger were the first to call to offer help with retiring that debt. They were each featured speakers at fundraising events. Kissinger and I became friends.Kissinger repeated his support for my other campaigns as well, including when I ran for the Senate eight years later.Besides always being able to draw a paying crowd, I learned a great deal from this statesman. As a lover of history, I could sit and listen to Kissinger for hours. Where do you start? The Vietnam War, opening doors to China, former President Richard Nixon’s resignation, I could ...

Carroll: Medicaid rates standing between addicts and recovery

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 13:22:00 GMT

My recovery journey began on March 3, 2014 after hundreds of failed attempts over the course of nearly two decades. From the outside looking in I was at the height of my career as an actor and musician but my personal life and health began to deteriorate rapidly. Emergency room visits became routine and I learned how little success meant if you could not show up as a sober husband or father. I was losing the things that really meant something.To be brought to the light after being in the darkness for so long is an amazing experience. To rebuild one’s life from a place of disrepair to one that is full of purpose and gratitude is about the most beautiful thing I can think of. This is the great promise that recovery can deliver. Life can be filled with hope, connection and meaning. Mine is today.But for too many in Massachusetts, recovery is out of reach and hope is dim, if not gone altogether, because of a lack of resources. We are in the middle of an epidemic – a humanitarian c...

Formulaic ‘Kandahar’ misfires as spy action thriller

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 13:22:00 GMT

MOVIE REVIEW“Kandahar”Rated R. At the AMC Boston Common, AMC South Bay and suburban theaters.Grade: C “Kandahar” is the latest action film from actor-producer Gerard Butler and his G-BASE company (“Plane,” “Den of Thieves”). It’s also the second recent film about a Western fighter in the Middle East and his bond with his local translator (the other one is Guy Ritchie’s overrated dud “The Covenant” with Jake Gyllenhaal).Directed by Ric Roman Waugh, the director of Butler’s previous efforts “Angel Has Fallen” and “Greenland,” and written by former Defense Intelligence officer Mitchel LaFortune (instant winner of best spy-name contest), “Kandahar” features Butler as Tom Harris, some kind of Middle East CIA operative whose specialty is – oy, that again? – doing jobs no one else can pull off in between visits to his beloved 17-year-old daughter Ida, who lives with his estranged wife back home in the UK.“Kandahar” stretches credulity from the get go. In openin...

Dear Abby: Obsessed woman stalks BF’s ex online

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 13:22:00 GMT

Dear Abby: I’m a 45-year-old woman who has been dating “Ben” (53) for two years. We have known each other for more than 20. He treats me like a queen. Prior to our dating, he had a girlfriend he used to confide in me about. I was very jealous of her. She knew we were friends, so she made a point of posting lots of pictures of their PDAs on his social media, since we did not follow each other.Fast-forward two years: Abby, I cannot stop obsessing over her! I think about her constantly and compare myself to her. I stalk her social media page. Ben has never given me a reason not to trust him, so why am I still bothered by her?She has moved on and is in another relationship. How can I finally quit obsessing about her and move forward? I don’t feel this way about his other exes, but for some reason, this one gets under my skin. I don’t want him to find out what I have been doing. I really need help. Any advice? –Insecure in PennsylvaniaDear Insecure: In...

Conroy: Celtics suddenly feeling the Red Sox’ 2004 vibe

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 13:22:00 GMT

Asked what his team’s mindset was going into Thursday’s Game 5 against the Miami Heat, Celtics coach Joe Mazzula was succinct in his answer.“Just win or die,” said the first-year coach.Well, the Celts are a long way from living the life they should be, but they are not dead yet.Maybe it’s the fact that the pressure is momentarily off them. Perhaps it’s a matter of pride kicking after being rag-dolled by their notoriously forgiving fan base after their pathetic no-show performance in Game 3 down in Miami that put them in an 0-3 hole. Or maybe they’ve finally come to the realization that they are the better team.But it’s a series now, and suddenly the Celtics have that 2004 Red Sox vibe. There is belief now that the Celts can make history like their baseball brethren and become the first team in NBA history to climb out of the 3-0 series deficit, getting it back to 3-2 with a 110-97 victory at the Garden.Jayson Tatum of the Boston Celtics celebrates...