By Don Aucoin, Globe Staff The ever-climbing price of theater tickets is a chronic problem that keeps many people from setting foot inside local playhouses. In what is described as an attempt to “remove the cost barrier’’ of seeing live theater, the Huntington Theatre Company on Tuesday announced an initiative called the Community Membership program that will enable Greater Boston residents of “limited income’’ to purchase a ticket to “any available seat� at a Huntington performance for $15. The program, whose lead financial supporter Continue reading >>>

The Museum of Fine Arts' Director Malcolm Rogers recently showed me around the new 17th-century Dutch and Flemish gallery, which takes visitors back into the Golden Age of painting. The gallery has seven portraits by Rembrandt, including the famous "Portrait of Aeltje Uylenburgh," a delicate depiction of old age on loan from Marblehead residents Eijk and Rose-Marie van Otterloo, who in the past have let the Peabody Essex Museum use their collection, too. There are a total of about 30 landscapes, still lifes, portraits and decorative objects by the Dutch masters.  Continue reading >>>

Tuesday, June 25, 2013, 11:50am Citizens Bank and the Citizens Bank Foundation are awarding $275,000 in grants to support workforce development and youth summer jobs programs in Boston and Springfield. Through its Citizens Helping Citizens Strengthen Communities initiative, Citizens is awarding grants to the Black Ministerial Alliance of Greater Boston, Boston Private Industry Council, the Boys Girls Clubs Continue reading >>>

No Published Caption Sun staff photos can be ordered by visiting our MyCapture site. Mystic Brewery is known around the Greater Boston area for making some of the most eclectic American farmhouse ales around, but this beer goes in a different direction. Behold, Auerbach's Rauchbier. I've discussed several children of the Bamberg method of malt-smoking before, but I've never discussed Mystic. Therefore, it is with great excitement that I tackle a new bottle from their first batch of smoked dark ale! Pouring an intensely deep brown with no visible head despite somewhat fervent decanting, this beer Continue reading >>>

Department of Justice agent James Marra was the only witness in the James "Whitey" Bulger trial on Monday. He summarized for jurors Bulger's 700-page FBI informant file, which had information about the Mafia and rival criminals, according to WGBH's Adam Reilly, who was in the courtroom.  The defense dismissed the informant label, Reilly said, arguing that Bulger paid for information and protection but didn't snitch on anyone.  Continue reading >>>

TEN MILES north of Boston, the parking lots scattered around Winchester’s train station might not look like they can help solve the region’s housing crunch. But if the Legislature passes a long-needed overhaul of the state’s zoning laws, it could help turn those parcels — and many others like them across the Commonwealth — into the new housing that Greater Boston desperately needs. Tidy downtown Winchester, just 20 minutes by train from North Station, should be a prime target for new development. According to one recent study, Greater Boston may need 19,000 new housing units every year Continue reading >>>

The Supreme Court agreed Monday to review a Massachusetts law that prohibits protests within 35 feet of abortion clinics, extending a prolonged legal battle that could have implications for other buffer zone laws across the country. To the surprise of many observers, the court decided it will hear a challenge to the state’s 2007 law from a group of abortion opponents, who say it unlawfully restricts their free speech rights. In taking the case, the court appears poised to weigh two competing, strongly held rights: freedom of speech and the ability of women to seek abortion services. Supporters Continue reading >>>

Zoe Cohen of Wayland was among 41 teenagers who recently graduated from YWCA Boston’s yearlong Youth Leadership Initiative. Known as “InIt,” the selective, 10-month teen development program engages high school students with peers from different racial, religious, socioeconomic and geographic backgrounds, and builds them into a network of student leaders who can affect change in the world around them. The 250-plus hour program included meetings with key city officials, community service projects, and the completion of the participants’ community action plans that Continue reading >>>

  Hospice of the North Shore Greater Boston (HNSGB) is pleased to recognize Hospice aides Cynthia Berry and Lorraine Tracchia of Danvers during the 36th annual celebration of National Assistant Nursing Week in June.  “Our Hospice aides are loved by patients and families for the tender loving care they provide,” said Hospice of the North Shore Greater Boston President Diane Stringer. “We are grateful to all our Hospice aides for their hard work, loyalty and invaluable support they provide to each patient and family they serve. They are the unsung heroes of hospice Continue reading >>>

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Heading Home, Inc., one of the Boston area’s largest agencies devoted to helping the homeless, announced that it received gifts for more than 500 families and 150 individuals through its annual holiday gift drive. Heading Home’s mission is to end homelessness in Greater Boston by providing a supported pathway to self-sufficiency that begins with a home, together with critical services such as life skills, financial literacy, and job training. With assistance from generous donors and volunteers, Heading Home was able to provide meaningful holiday presents for homeless families Continue reading >>>