Globe South best bets

EVENTS Braintree: Dogs, cats, and other pets (and their owners) can have their pictures taken with Santa at the South Shore Plaza during the final special Pet Photo night Tuesday at 5 to 8 p.m. 781-848-1417. Hingham: “The Bigger Picture: paintings by Lisa Daria Kennedy’’ will feature works of various sizes by Hingham artist Kennedy. Through Jan. 7. South Street Gallery, 149 South St. 781-749-0430, www.southstreetgallery.com. Norwood: A Holiday Evening Continue reading >>>

Critic’s picks: Classical music

MUSIC FOR FOOD Violist Kim Kashkashian (above) has organized a series of one-hour benefit chamber concerts with musical friends and colleagues. This month’s program features Brahms’s G-Major Viola Quintet and Bartok’s Duos. Attendees are asked to bring cans of food or a donation by check to the Greater Boston Food Bank. Dec. 19, 8 p.m. Brown Hall, New England Conservatory. 617-585-1260, www.necmusic.edu BOSTON BAROQUE Under Martin Pearlman’s direction, the veteran period instrument band offers its annual pair of New Year’s performances, Continue reading >>>

Casino rivals gauge support

A marketing researcher has been polling voters in several communities around Suffolk Downs to measure local support for a casino project at the track and to identify the public officials who wield the greatest influence among the people, according to residents polled. Suffolk Downs officials confirmed yesterday that they are behind the recent surveys in Boston, Revere, Winthrop, and Chelsea. “We can never do enough listening to the local community,’’ said Chip Tuttle, chief operating officer. He said Suffolk Downs has polled “periodically’’ to help inform Continue reading >>>

Radio contest seeks Roslindale stories

By Kim Foley MacKinnon, Town Correspondent Roslindale is one of four communities in the spotlight this month for a new literary series and writing competition sponsored by WBUR’s Radio Boston and The Drum Literary Magazine called “Zip Code Stories.” Four zip codes are chosen each month and anyone can submit an original 500-word short story or essay about that area for consideration. Writers do not need to live in the town they are writing about and the stories can be fiction or non-fiction. In this third round in the series, Roslindale (02131), as well as Gloucester (01930), Brockton Continue reading >>>

Malden boys cross country repeats as champs

Ten days after finishing up their second-straight unbeaten Greater Boston League season with a win over Medford, the Malden High School boys cross country team dominated the GBL championships by taking five of the top ten spots en route to a 29-39 triumph over second-place Cambridge Rindge and Latin in late October. “Our goal coming into the day was to have five to six runners finish in the top ten,” said Malden coach David Londino. “Last year we got three of the top four spots. After 2011 senior captains Andrew Terenzi and Patrick Keough graduated we knew we’d have to win it this year Continue reading >>>

Barbara Anderson: Coalition offers thanks for Bill of Rights, chairman’s timing

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press: or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances. First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution On Dec. 15, 1791, the Bill of Rights became part of the United States Constitution. A vote of three-quarters of the states is required to change these first 10 or any subsequent amendments to the country's founding document. On that date 220 years ago, Virginia became the 11th of 14 Continue reading >>>

Tifereth Israel is gateway to richer Jewish experience

Print this Article Email this Article Buy This Photo "; aryZooms[imgCounter] = "javascript: NewWindow(870,625,window.document.location+'Template=photosimg="+imgCounter+"')"; var ap = /ap/.test(""); var associated = /Associated/.test(""); var contributed = /Contributed/.test(""); if (ap==true || associated==true || contributed==true || ""==""){ document.getElementById('purchasePhoto').style.display = "none"; } bolImages=true; NEW BEDFORD — Jews Continue reading >>>

Contact voters in Foxborough and near Suffolk

A marketing researcher has been polling voters in several communities around Suffolk Downs to measure local support for a casino project at the track and to identify the public officials who wield the greatest influence among the people, according to residents polled. Suffolk Downs officials confirmed yesterday that they are behind the recent surveys in Boston, Revere, Winthrop, and Chelsea. “We can never do enough listening to the local community,’’ said Chip Tuttle, chief operating officer. He said Suffolk Downs has polled “periodically’’ to help inform Continue reading >>>

Milton resident to speak about Irish immigration

Milton resident Thomas O'Grady will deliver a keynote presentation about Irish immigration at the National Archives in Waltham. Dr. O'Grady is a published poet and a professor of English at the University of Massachusetts, Boston, and a specialist in Irish literature and poetry.  His expertise in this matter will be on display during his presentation, "Going Into Exile: Poems of the Irish Diaspora."  O’ Grady’s presentation is part of a program "They Came From Ireland" which will also feature Walter V. Hickey, archivist/genealogist from the National Archives will discuss researching Continue reading >>>