Past Articles by Tovia Smith
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Markey, Gomez Vie For John Kerry's Senate Seat Veteran Democratic Rep. Ed Markey, who has been in office for 36 years, will face off against novice Republican Gabriel Gomez in the race to become the next U.S. senator from Massachusetts. |
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Markey, Gomez Vie For John Kerry's Senate Seat Veteran Democratic Rep. Ed Markey, who has been in office for 36 years, will face off against novice Republican Gabriel Gomez in the race to become the next U.S. senator from Massachusetts. |
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Boston Business Owners Allowed To Return To Bombing Site In Boston on Tuesday, residents and business owners on Boylston Street were allowed to return for the first time since last week's bombings. They returned to stores with windows blown out, restaurants with the remains of uneaten meals still sitting on tables and barricades to keep the public away from the scene. |
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As Support For Gay Marriage Grows, An Opponent Looks Ahead Maggie Gallagher is one of the nation's most public opponents of gay marriage. These days, she's thinking more about how to continue advocating for marriage between one man and one woman, even as society's views — and laws — are shifting rapidly. |
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Crime Lab Scandal Leaves Mass. Legal System In Turmoil Lawyers, prosecutors and judges across Massachusetts are sorting through thousands of cases that may now unravel. With a former chemist accused of falsifying more than 30,000 test results, hundreds of former defendants have already been released and police are bracing for an uptick in crime. |
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Judge Rules Texas' School-Funding Method Unconstitutional The judge ruled that the state's so-called "Robin Hood" scheme, which requires schools with more resources to share with those in poorer districts, is unconstitutional, both because the money is insufficient and because it is not distributed fairly. The decision is expected to be appealed. |
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Judge Rules Texas' School-Funding Method Unconstitutional The judge ruled that the state's so-called "Robin Hood" scheme, which requires schools with more resources to share with those in poorer districts, is unconstitutional, both because the money is insufficient and because it is not distributed fairly. The decision is expected to be appealed. |
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Kerry's Temporary Senate Replacement Doesn't Plan To Run For The Seat William "Mo" Cowan was named today as interim U.S. Senator from Massachusetts. Cowan replaces John Kerry, who resigned his Senate seat after he was confirmed Tuesday as Secretary of State. Cowan will serve until a new senator is elected in June to fill out the remainder of Kerry's term. |
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In Massachusetts, Race Is On For Kerry's Senate Seat With John Kerry stepping down from the seat he held for 28 years to become secretary of state, rumors are swirling about who his short-term replacement will be — and who will run in the special election in six months. Gov. Deval Patrick is appointing the replacement Wednesday. |
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Colleges Try To Curtail Flu Risk For Students As students return to class from winter break, campus health official are trying to avert an outbreak. Colleges in Boston are especially worried after the mayor's declaration last week of a public health emergency in the city. |
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Colleges Try To Curtail Flu Risk For Students As students return to class from winter break, campus health official are trying to avert an outbreak. Colleges in Boston are especially worried after the mayor's declaration last week of a public health emergency in the city. |
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'Whitey' Bulger's Lawyers Want Judge Off The Case Lawyers for the alleged Boston mob boss say the federal judge presiding over his murder trial is not impartial. The judge was a prosecutor when Bulger — then an FBI informant --had a corrupt relationship with other prosecutors. |
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Massachusetts Freshman Brings Kennedys Back To Capitol Hill When Rep.-elect Joseph Kennedy III is sworn in this week, he'll end a short gap in his family's service in the nation's capital. Last year had marked the first time in more than six decades that there was no Kennedy serving in elected office in Washington. |
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As Colleges Retool Aid, Can Entry Stay Need-Blind? For years, colleges have competed to attract diverse student bodies by offering students admission without considering their ability to pay. But as costs rise and student need increases, even schools with big endowments are beginning to acknowledge that their generosity is unsustainable. |
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Travel At A Near Standstill Along The East Coast Travel is at a virtual standstill along the East Coast because of Sandy. Up to 15,000 flights have been canceled, Amtrak service in the Northeast is shut down again today, and crews are just beginning to assess the extensive cleanup work needed to clear roads and tracks. |
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A123's Bankruptcy Reignites Obama's Green Critics A123 Systems has filed for bankruptcy. The company makes lithium ion batteries for hybrid and electric cars - or it did. The company's automotive assets are being sold, and the bankruptcy filing will likely be controversial. A123 received a $249 million grant from the government in 2009. |
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Crime Lab Scandal Rocks Massachusetts Details are still emerging about what officials call a "rogue chemist" who may have mishandled evidence in as many as 40,000 cases over 10 years. It could mean the unraveling of countless convictions. A convict sprung because of the scandal walked out of prison on Thursday. |
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Teacher Evaluation Dispute Echoes Beyond Chicago One of the sticking points in the Chicago teachers' strike is how teachers should be evaluated - and the role student performance should play. Districts are grappling with the issue nationwide, but there's little agreement on how to implement such a system well. |
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In Chicago, 'Perfect Storm' Led To Teachers' Strike The issues at stake in the Chicago teachers strike have already been encountered in hundreds of school systems around the country, but few, if any, have led to strikes. In Chicago, it was a combination of personalities, politics and local issues that brought the situation to a boil. |
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Ann Romney Adds Fire, Faith To Husband's Campaign The wife of GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney has overcome serious illness and a severe aversion to politics to campaign for her husband. Ann Romney is now passionate about her role promoting and protecting her husband on the campaign trail. |
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The Law - And Reality - Of Gun Access Federal law bars certain people with mental illness from buying or owning guns, but the recent shootings - including one in Colorado - and an incident in Maine underscore how difficult it is to actually keep guns from those who are most likely to be dangerous. |
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To Prevent A Tragedy, How Much Can A School Do? Many are asking if University of Colorado officials should have known that former student James Holmes, the suspect in the Aurora, Colo., shootings, was potentially dangerous. Schools nationwide are evaluating how they respond to threats, and grappling with limits on what they can do to prevent such tragedies. |
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When Hyphen Boy Meets Hyphen Girl, Names Pile Up The practice of hyphenating last names upon marriage was particularly popular in the 1980s and '90s. Now that the "hyphen generation" is marrying and parenting, many couples are struggling with which names to keep, and which to pass down to to their children. |
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Online Classes Cut Costs, But Do They Dilute Brands? More colleges are using online classes as a way to cut costs and maximize registered students. But the quality and benefits of an online education have come into question, since universities such as Stanford, Harvard and MIT offer their courses online free of charge. |
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As Deadline Nears, Students Worry About Loan Hike Congress has a matter of days left to work out a compromise or interest rates on some federal student loans will double. That's left many students concerned their heavy debt burden will only grow. |
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Romney's Views On Gay Marriage: Also Evolving? President Obama said his position on gay marriage "evolved" over time, and a case can be made that GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney's views on gay rights have changed as well. Though Romney says his position has been consistent; activists don't see it that way. |
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Pledge Holds Attack Ads At Bay In Mass. Senate Race It was no surprise when outside groups started launching attack ads in the high stakes U.S. Senate race in Massachusetts between Republican incumbent Scott Brown and Democrat Elizabeth Warren. But an unlikely pact between the candidates to halt those attack ads is working - at least for now. |
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Warren-Brown Pledge Keeps Attack Ads At Bay It was no surprise when outside groups started launching attack ads in the high stakes U.S. Senate race in Massachusetts between Republican incumbent Scott Brown and Democrat Elizabeth Warren. But an unlikely pact between the candidates to halt those attack ads is working - at least for now. |
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Economy Puts Value Of Liberal Arts Under Scrutiny Small, private liberal arts colleges are looking at changing economic realities and beginning to worry about how they will survive. Small classes and close relationships with faculty mean high tuition. And it's tough to defend the value of English and philosophy degrees in a tight job market. |
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A Century Of Joy And Heartbreak At Fenway Park The nation's oldest ballpark is turning 100. Boston's Fenway Park has been home to the Red Sox through some of baseball's greatest highs and most heartbreaking lows. It may be an act of the baseball gods that the park narrowly escaped the fate of similar old stadiums that were torn down. |
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Fenway Park Celebrates 100 Years Of Baseball The nation's oldest ball park is turning 100. Boston's Fenway Park has been home to the Red Sox through some of baseball's greatest highs and most heartbreaking lows. The park also narrowly escaped the fate of similar old stadiums that were torn down. |
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In Bullying Programs, A Call For Bystanders To Act A growing number of anti-bullying programs have emerged in recent years, and the focus of many has shifted from stopping bullies to encouraging bystanders to act. But in an industry where anyone can peddle virtually any kind of program, initiatives vary in their quality and effectiveness. |
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Girl Scouts: 100 Years Of Blazing New Trails One hundred years ago Juliette Gordon Low gathered together a group of girls to take them out of their isolated home environments and introduce them to community service and the open air. A few things have changed since then for today's girls. |
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Schools Get Tough With Third-Graders: Read Or Flunk There's little dispute among educators that kids aren't reading as well as they should be. Now, a growing number of states are taking a hard-line approach, requiring that third-graders who can't read at grade level be automatically held back. But some worry that will do more harm than good. |
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Should Valets Be Responsible For Drunk Drivers Too? A Boston city councilor wants to enlist the help of valets in keeping drunk drivers off the road. "They are literally our last line of defense," says Rob Consalvo. But critics say that's too much responsibility for valets who, unlike bartenders, are not trained to spot intoxication. |
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Should Valets Be Responsible For Drunk Drivers, Too? A Boston city councilor wants to enlist the help of valets in keeping drunken drivers off the road. "They are literally our last line of defense," says Rob Consalvo. But critics say that's too much responsibility for valets who, unlike bartenders, are not trained to spot intoxication. |
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Same-Sex Marriage May Hinge On Supreme Court Three states are set to consider legalization while two states will vote on a constitutional ban. All the while, legal challenges are pushing the issue closer to getting an opinion from the U.S. Supreme Court. "Some of the justices don't like to have the law be too far ahead of where the public is," says one opponent. |
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Would-Be First Ladies Bolster Husbands-In-Chief Spouses can play an important role for a presidential aspirant. Often, they humanize the candidate. Sometimes, they serve the campaign as powerful surrogates. Other times, they turn off voters. |
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New England Fishermen Brace For Cod Restrictions Three years ago, scientists found plenty of cod in the region but data this season indicates just the opposite. Federal regulators say stocks are at such dangerously low levels, cod fishing might need to be shut down. Fishermen say they don't believe the reports. |
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Mass. Senate Race A Battle Over Who's More Populist Republican Scott Brown won what he called the "people's seat" in 2010 by casting himself as the opposite of the Kennedy dynasty. Now, Democrat Elizabeth Warren, a Wall Street watchdog, is raising Democrats' hopes they can win the seat back. So far, both campaigns are competing over who is the "real" populist. |
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Romney Stance On Gay Rights? It's Complicated Mitt Romney's position on gay rights doesn't quite lend itself to a bumper sticker. Depending on whom you ask, it is either too thoughtful and nuanced or too inconsistent and politically expedient. Either way, it's definitely got the GOP presidential candidate on the defensive. |
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For Mill Town's Youth, 'It Can't Get Any Worse' East Millinocket, Maine, used to be a booming paper mill town that offered residents what was basically a guaranteed ticket into the middle class. But today young people are scrambling to find a new path. "It's a little scary because it's going to be tough," says high school senior Jared Lyons. |
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Daughter Channels Sept. 11 Grief Into Film, Activism Carie Lemack, who lost her mother on Sept. 11, says she will never quit trying to prevent that kind of tragedy from happening again. Ten years later, Lemack is still on that mission - and she's not only founded two nonprofits, she's also made an Oscar-nominated documentary and is on a first-name basis with Sen. John Kerry. |
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Next In Line For The TSA? A Thorough 'Chat-Down'   Boston's airport will be the first in the U.S. to require all passengers to go through behavioral profiling screening, where officers look for involuntary micro expressions as a reaction to casual questioning. It's intended to find high-risk passengers, but some doubt that the TSA is up to the task. |
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New Police Scanner Raises 'Facial Profiling' Concerns Using an iPhone attachment, police can scan suspects' irises, faces or fingerprints and compare them against a database to verify their identity. Police around the nation will receive the scanner starting in September, but the technology has some privacy advocates worried. |
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One Woman's Struggle To Shed Weight, And Shame Kara Curtis is one of 70 million obese Americans, and the issue dominates her life. Curtis, 37, has seen every dress size from 26 to 6. Despite countless diets and untold resources spent on fitness, she says, "I'm morbidly obese. And it's just overwhelming." |
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Summer Heat Puts Stress On New England Power Grid As temperatures continue to rise throughout the East, so does the demand for power - and New England's elderly infrastructure could face overloads. But utility operators say they are taking precautions to ensure a steady power supply. |
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Gay Divorce A Higher Hurdle Than Marriage Nearly three years ago, Rhode Island resident Lisa Lunt split up with the woman she married in Massachusetts. Without a way to legally divorce in her state, she's been trapped ever since. |
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Mrs. Mallard Celebrates 70 Years Of Safer Streets It's the 70th anniversary of the classic children's book Make Way for Ducklings. Now years after the ducklings put their lives on the line by asserting their right to share the road, the Mallards have inspired others to make it safer to walk - or waddle - across city streets. |
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Lesbian Couples Boosting Gay Marriage Numbers Demographer Gary Gates says lesbian couples are twice as likely to get married as gay men. Eventually, same-sex and straight couples' marriages rates will be about the same, he says. |
