For more honorable mentions and the winning Bostonians of the Year, click on the drop-down list at the bottom of this article. In early May, during a meeting on genome engineering at the Broad Institute, a visiting researcher named Eugene Koonin mentioned that some obscure bacteria might have an unrecognized talent: to cut DNA in a way that biologists had never seen before. Even to many scientists, that might seem like the most trivial of trivial observations. But Feng Zhang isn’t like most scientists. At 34, the MIT professor is one of the world’s most Continue reading >>>

The city is rolling out a new policy to deal with the record-high homeless population that will include a daily canvas of every block from Canal Street to 145th Street. It will also be assigning case mangers for each person. At the Bowery Mission, Imran Prentic, 30, lined up recently for clothing and a shower. He's been homeless for nearly four years and usually camps in parks, subway stations and under bridges. He's exactly the kind of person the city will be targeting, which he said is a good thing. "We need as much help as we can get, it's cold. We need more people not to give up but try to Continue reading >>>

After shrouding his identity in secrecy for nearly a year, the man behind the Boston Yeti mask revealed himself in an interview with The Improper Bostonian, finally putting an end to the mystery that kept Boston lying awake at night throughout the winter of 2015. The man who earned international attention for gleefully running around snow-covered Boston in a yeti costume last winter has come forward as John Campopiano, a 30-year-old from Somerville who works as a digital records manager and archivist for WGBH-TV’s “Frontline.” He said he’s seen the yeti’s image used in ads and Continue reading >>>

For a West Coaster, Jeremy Renner was a pretty convincing Bostonian in The Town—so much so, he landed an Oscar nomination. So really, should we be surprised that he’s up for taking another stab at it? Or, should we say, jab? Variety reports that Renner will star as Rocky Marciano, the former heavyweight champion from Brockton, Massachusetts (aka, the other Rocky). Marciano is still the only heavyweight champion to retire undefeated at 49-0. He held the heavyweight title from 1952 to 1956. Marciano died in a plane crash in 1969. The movie is the first authorized biopic on Marciano’s Continue reading >>>

City health officials say initial testing has shown the presence of norovirus at the Cleveland Circle Chipotle where several Boston College students reported eating before becoming ill.The illnesses led to the temporary closure of the restaurant in the city's Cleveland Circle neighborhood."We do not have any evidence to suggest that this incident is related to the previous E. coli incident", Chipotle spokesman Chris Arnold said in an email. "There are no confirmed cases of E. coli connected to Chipotle in MA".Since the investigation regarding this outbreak is now underway, officials from the Massachusetts Continue reading >>>

Josuf Pryce

Josuf Michael Pryce Josuf Michael Pryce LANCASTER COUNTY, Pa. – A Philadelphia man is behind bars charged in a strong arm robbery Wednesday night at the Clarks Bostonian outlet store in the Tanger Outlet complex. East Lampeter Township Police responded to a call from the store at about 7:21 pm. Witnesses told officers that a black male, wearing glasses, had gone behind the sales counter and took some cash out of the register. He assaulted a female employee, who suffered a minor injury during the altercation. The man was seen Continue reading >>>

For more honorable mentions and the winning Bostonians of the Year, click on the drop-down list at the bottom of this article. With the Patriots clinging to a 4-point lead over the Seattle Seahawks late in Super Bowl XLIX, an anticipatory despair had begun to percolate in New England. The Patriots had lost their last two Super Bowl appearances in the final moments. Both times astonishing catches by opposing receivers had aided the winning drive.Now it was happening again. With 1 minute, 6 seconds remaining, Seahawks receiver Jermaine Kearse leapt in unison Continue reading >>>

For more honorable mentions and the winning Bostonians of the Year, click on the drop-down list at the bottom of this article. To human traffickers and employers who don’t play fair with immigrant workers, a word to the wise: Do not mess with Lydia Edwards.Armed with two law degrees, a sharp intellect, and an activist’s heart, Edwards has taken on bankers, lawyers, and foreign officials who flout US labor laws. And whether it’s fighting for a live-in nanny’s overtime pay or helping a woman who’s had to escape abusive employers, Edwards is fired up. Advertisement Continue reading >>>

It was a topic that consumed us for the better part of this year: whether Boston should host the 2024 Summer Olympics.But it wasn’t meant to be. On a hot July morning, a somber Boston Mayor Marty Walsh called a hastily arranged press conference to tell the world that he wasn’t ready to bet taxpayer money to guarantee the Games. The Boston bid collapsed before the day was done. Advertisement As 2015 comes to a close, it’s worth asking: What was the point of all this? Will our collective hand-wringing amount to anything? With our official bid and the Continue reading >>>