HAVERHILL — The city will receive $10 million from the federal government to replace the old railroad bridge across the Merrimack River — but it is too little money to do the job. U.S. Senator John Kerry and Congresswoman Niki Tsongas said this week federal transportation officials are awarding the $10 million for the bridge, which connects the western end of downtown to Bradford. Some city councilors have said they fear the bridge, built in 1919, is in such poor condition it will collapse. State officials said it is safe. Local officials are calling the $10 million a welcome down payment Continue reading >>>

Drawing on its new parent company’s resources, Genzyme Corp. plans to grow over time in Massachusetts and increasingly apply its business model to drugs that serve larger patient populations, its new chief executive said yesterday. Genzyme, formerly the largest biotechnology company based in the state, was sold in April to the French pharmaceutical giant Sanofi SA. The $20.1 billion deal set off alarms at Genzyme’s Cambridge headquarters about its future in Massachusetts. Genzyme pioneered a system for developing drugs that treat rare genetic disorders, such as Continue reading >>>

Bruce Lerch checks in with an opening-night tribute to a coaching legend by one of his former players: Wednesday night was most certainly not your typical opening hockey night at the Ed Burns Arena in Arlington. Visiting Wakefield was looking to get started on another run that could take it at minimum back to the Div. 1 state championship game, if not contending for a Super Eight bid. Host Arlington played its first game as a member of the Middlesex League and welcomed back one of its own as former AHS and Princeton star John Messuri stepped behind the bench for his debut as head coach. But Continue reading >>>

With the 2011-12 Somerville High winter season about to begin, Somerville Patch will be previewing all seven of the Highlander teams. Unsure how the Highlanders did last year? Want to know who might impact the upcoming season? Just want to know when the first game is? Read on and find out. Boys Ice Hockey 2010 record: 11-8-1 overall; 4-2-0 in Greater Boston League The Highlanders came up a game short in the Greater Boston League championship last season, then lost to Triton in the first round of the playoffs. With 19 players returning this season, boys ice hockey coach Chuck Allen is looking for Continue reading >>>

Community Servings’ annual Thanksgiving fundraiser Pie in the Sky this year raised $538,000 to benefit the organization’s home delivered food and nutrition program for the critically ill, including those living with HIV/AIDS. Sponsored by Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage and Digitas, Pie in the Sky sold a total of 15,689 pies to community members during the 19th annual fundraiser. More than 150 of Greater Boston’s best chefs and over 800 volunteers donated their time, talents, and resources to the fundraiser. "This year, Pie in the Sky’s success will allow Community Servings to provide Continue reading >>>

+ enlarge image John Rosen receives some last-minute pointers from Allyson Gall before succeeding her as director of the American Jewish Committee’s New Jersey Area. Photo by Robert Wiener Advertisements by Robert WienerNJJN Staff Writer December 14, 2011 As he prepares to become the next director of the American Jewish Committee’s New Jersey Area, John Rosen is intent upon continuing the interfaith and multi-issue outreach of his predecessor, Continue reading >>>

Rising income inequality, a decade of stagnant job and wage growth, and deep-rooted racial and ethnic disparities threaten Massachusetts’ economic future, according to two reports released independently this week. One study calls 2000 to 2010 a “lost decade” for the Bay State, according to non-partisan think tank MassINC and Northeastern University’s Center for Labor Market studies. It was the first 10-year period since World War II that Massachusetts ended with fewer jobs, a drop of 143,000 positions, the report said. Despite an increasingly educated and productive workforce, wages Continue reading >>>

A Harvard education purports to teach its students the skills they need to make the world a better one. We are encouraged to think critically about social problems, to create our own innovative solutions to them, and, as a result of this education, to demonstrate the individual responsibility we each have to society.But there is a dangerous disconnect between the principles that guide the University’s socially beneficial education and research, and those that inform the investment strategies of the Harvard Management Company, which manages Harvard’s current $32 billion Continue reading >>>

The message from new Genzyme CEO David Meeker: We’re back. In an exclusive Herald interview this week, the Vermont native who took over in October at the Cambridge-based biotech discussed new parent company Sanofi, the departure of longtime CEO Henri Termeer and the manufacturing problems that forever changed the company. “That was a devastating moment for Genzyme,” said Meeker, a pulmonary critical care specialist who joined Genzyme in 1994. “The inability to supply patients with the medication they need was something that affected us profoundly and, obviously, has and continues to be Continue reading >>>