TODAY: Dr. Malissa Wood (“Smart at Heart’’) reads at 3 p.m. at Concord Bookshop . . . Brunonia Barry (“The Map of True Places’’), Randy Susan Meyers (“The Murderer’s Daughters’’), and Ilie Ruby (“The Language of Time’’) read at 4 p.m. at Paul Pratt Memorial Library, 35 Ripley Road, Cohasset (tickets and information, 781-383-1348) TUESDAY: Hank Phillippi Ryan (“Drive Time’’) reads at 6:30 p.m. at Flora Restaurant, 190 Mass. Ave., Arlington . . . Sophie Flack (“Bunheads’’) reads at 7 p.m. at Porter Square Books . . . Jessica Keener (“Night Swim’’) reads Continue reading >>>

Every week, it seems another company lands in Western Massachusetts to join in the fight over the casino license that will be up for grabs in that region. The race for the Greater Boston license generates headlines almost every day, as Bob Kraft and Steve Wynn try to charm the reluctant folks in Foxboro while outmaneuvering proposals in East Boston and Milford. But it sure has been quiet lately in the Southeastern Massachusetts area where a third resort casino could be built under the state’s new gambling law. The reason? The state Legislature gave the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe a head Continue reading >>>

Eastern Massachusetts outpaces much of the nation in heroin-fueled emergency room visits and admissions to state treatment programs for painkiller addictions, according to two recent federal reports on substance abuse. And while overdoses haven’t necessarily spiked in Arlington, those findings came as no surprise to local paramedics, police and medical professionals, who say that abuse of heroin and prescription drugs such as OxyContin continues to be elevated and problematic in the community. “I think that [the rate of drug overdoses in Arlington] remains steady,” Police Captain Richard Continue reading >>>

For Malden Catholic to get five goals from its top line of Ryan Fitzgerald, Brendan Collier and Michael Iovanna should come as no surprise. For the Lancers to get two from third-line right winger Patrick Wrenn, however, is a different story. The sophomore from Charlestown had a goal in each of the first two periods, tying the game each time and paving the way for the Lancers to beat BC High, 7-4, in a Catholic Conference showdown at Valley Forum II in Malden yesterday. “He had some great goals, and it carried us for two periods,” Malden Catholic interim coach John McLean said. “I didn’t Continue reading >>>

Editor’s note:  First in a two-part  series on heroin addiction and the vise-like grip it has had on the region for more than a decade. The scourge of heroin abuse continues unabated in the greater Brockton and Taunton region, according to two recent federal reports on substance abuse. And the problem, as first reported by The Enterprise in its ongoing series “Wasted Youth,” now extends to all of Eastern Massachusetts, which outpaces much of the nation in heroin-fueled emergency room visits and admissions to state treatment programs for painkiller addictions, the studies say. During Continue reading >>>

Sixteen members of Winchester Hospital’s medical staff were honored as top-rated doctors in their respective specialties in the December edition of Boston Magazine. The issue featured the 2011 list of “Top Docs” in Greater Boston. In all, 650 physicians were selected for recognition by their peers in 57 specialties. Winchester Hospital’s honorees are colorectal surgeon Dennis Begos of Commonwealth Surgical Associates in Stoneham; ophthalmologist David Gendelman of Burlington Eye Associates; plastic surgeon Jonathan Hall, who has a Stoneham Continue reading >>>

The Danvers Committee for Diversity will present its Drum Major for Justice Award to four individuals and four organizations at its annual Martin Luther King Jr. Awards dinner from 5:30 to 9 p.m. on Jan. 16 at the Danversport Yacht Club. The individual recipients are Juliet Sithole-Berk, Emily Jones, Georgianna Melendez, and Paul and Donna Pepper. The four groups are the Prep@Pingree Program and its founder, Malcolm Coates; Eastern Bank; North Shore Bank; and Students United for Acceptance. The event will include a keynote speech by Melendez, a Peabody Continue reading >>>

Pharmacies in Concord were notified in late December that the Board of Health officially voted to ban the sale of tobacco products in health care institutions in town beginning Feb. 14. On Dec. 20, the Concord Board of Health voted 5-0 to ban the sale of tobacco products in healthcare institutions and in retail establishments that operate or have pharmacies or drug stores within them, making Concord the 25th town in Massachusetts to adopt the regulation. Out of the three pharmacies in town: Rite Aid, West Concord Pharmacy and CVS, the West Concord Pharmacy is the only pharmacy that currently Continue reading >>>

THE HOUSE AND SENATE. There were no roll call votes in the House or Senate last week. The Legislature convened the 2012 session on Wednesday and most of the activity was ceremonial. Beacon Hill Roll Call has obtained the official list from the state treasurer’s office of the “per diem” travel, meals and lodging reimbursements collected by the Legislature’s 39 state senators from Jan. 1, 2011 to Dec. 31, 2011. The list reveals that senators have collected a total of $63,918. Under state law, per diems are paid by the state to senators “for each day for travel from his place of Continue reading >>>

It was hard to know where to start: He only knew one artist, his school art teacher. He found others by searching illustrators and artists on the Web, contacting artist associations, through referrals from Reach Out and Read, and by shooting for the stars. He wrote, for example, to glass artist Dale Chihuly, whose work he’d seen at the Museum of Fine Arts. (“If he wanted to do a glass tree, Isy was all there for it,’’ said his mother, Becky Behar.) He wrote to Michelle Obama. She isn’t an artist, but she’s big on children’s literacy, Isy explained.