Sean Cotter

1 week ago | bostonglobe.com | Sean Cotter

MALDEN — For years, the Asian-American population has thrived here, making up more than a quarter of the city. But for many community services geared toward this community — translation work, cultural celebrations, or just a permanent home for a local ping pong club — they’ve had to trek to Boston’s Chinatown or even all the way down to to Quincy. That’s about to change.

1 week ago | bostonglobe.com | Sean Cotter

Ferguson was arrested one day after the killings and has been in custody since. But the case against him has languished because for most of that time evaluators have deemed him not mentally competent. But now, after treatment at Bridgewater State Hospital and a run of psychotropic medication, the case against him can now move ahead, Judge Patrick Haggan found in a hearing on Friday in Middlesex Superior Court in Woburn.

1 week ago | bostonglobe.com | Sean Cotter |John R. Ellement

Responding to an online prostitution ad does not count as human trafficking, the state’s highest court ruled Friday, heading off an aggressive line of prosecution aimed at cracking down on “johns.”The case stems from a sting operation carried out by Massachusetts State Police, who posted fake advertisements selling sex in 2021, set up meetings with men who responded, and then arrested them when they arrived, according to court filings.

1 week ago | bostonglobe.com | Sean Cotter

The new head of the Massachusetts State Police made his first major shake-up on Thursday to an agency long beset by scandal and problems, directing an overhaul of the training academy where a recruit died last year under mysterious circumstances. Colonel Geoffrey D. Noble replaced the head of academy, commissioned an independent review of training practices, and, for the first time, split the incoming class of recruits into two smaller sessions.

2 weeks ago | bostonglobe.com | Tonya Alanez |Sean Cotter

On Saturday, despite cloudy skies and drizzling rain, over a hundred people gathered at Copley Square for the reimagining of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr’s 1965 Freedom Rally. The march began at Trinity Church in Copley Square and will head to Boston Common where a rally was scheduled for noon at the Parkman Bandstand. Speakers include King, Mayor Michelle Wu, and Representative Ayanna Pressley.