Phillip Martin

Ibragim Todashev shared many things with Boston Marathon bombing suspect Tameran Tsarneav: a passion for mixed martial arts, the same gym in Brighton and a common Chechen culture.

I jumped on my own bike and found out that, even as an experienced cyclist, I have some old habits I need to break.

Defying all expectations, Republican Gabriel Gomez, a former navy seal and businessman, surged in recent days to overcome an early deficit in the polls to win his party’s nominate for U.S. Senate Tuesday night.

By now you’ve seen the headlines: "CAPTURED!!!" read one. "The hunt is over,” read another. And a cop is quoted: “The search is done. The terror is over. And justice has won. Suspect in custody."

Investigators have made little headway — at least publicly — in finding the person or persons responsible for the twin bomb blasts that killed three and maimed dozens on Patriots Day in Boston.

A day after twin explosions killed three and maimed dozens at the Boston Marathon finish line, we find ourselves waking up in a much-changed city. Gov. Deval Patrick says this morning expect major delays, possible police searches of bags on subways and access to some buildings closed to the public in the areas surrounding Copley. At this point law enforcement officials either have very few leads or are keeping key information close to their chest.

In Massachusetts, the economy is growing and some companies are reaping record profits. But not all is going well. Look at your paycheck. Wages today are like disco and leisure suits in the '70s; they're frozen in time.

With Frank Sinatra’s “My Way” playing in the background, Mayor Thomas Menino walked slowly to the low stage with the assistance of a cane and his family by his side.

Thomas Menino, after 20 years as the mayor of Boston, is expected later today to announce that he will not seek a sixth term. So what is the legacy of Boston’s first Italian-American mayor -- and its longest-serving?

U.S. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi marked the 20th anniversary of the Family & Medical Leave Act in downtown Boston Monday.

The FBI announcement that it knows who stole 13 works of art from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in 1990 comes as a surprise to many.  But not to some who have been following this case for years. The FBI has traced the theft to Philadelphia organized crime, and that leaves several questions unanswered.

Lawyers for reputed gangster James “Whitey” Bulger got Thursday what they were looking for: the removal of the federal judge presiding over the case, U.S District Judge Richard Stearns. Bulger’s defense team had argued that Stern’s background as a former federal prosecutor serving at the height of the crime lord’s reign in Boston would create the appearance of bias, and the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals agreed. The decision is not sitting well with some who worked on tracking the long elusive fugitive.

I’m on the grounds of the Fall River Archdiocese. Cardinal Sean O’Malley presided over this working class city for 10 years as a bishop, putting out the fires of the church abuse scandal, taking in the protests of the aggrieved and saying mass at local parishes over disillusioned Portuguese, Cape Verdean and other immigrant congregants.

Robert Frost — a name so clearly apt for the season — romanticized winter in his poem

“Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening.” In these two lines, admittedly out of metaphoric context, he wrote: “The only other sound’s / The sweep /  Of easy wind / And downy flake.” 

But after a winter of snow, Mike Tracey, shoveling a sidewalk full of flakes is not feeling the romantic side of winter.

Former state Treasurer Timothy Cahill will pay a fine of $100,000 and serve as long as four years probation after making a deal with Attorney General Martha Coakley, according to her office.

Whoever succeeds Benedict faces challenges that will impact New England's large Catholic community.

I’ve just entered the cavernous vestibule of the Holy Cross Cathedral. At this hour, there are two different masses being held, in two different languages, two visions for the future. In the upper church, a Mass hymnal in English; in the basement chapel, another in Latin.

“No compromise with slavery! No union with slaveholders!”

-- William Lloyd Garrison, in the preface to "Narrative of the Life of Fredrick Douglas"

In WGBH News' eight-part series, Underground Trade, senior investigative reporter Phillip Martin interviewed people in the U.S. and Asia who are working to end human trafficking where they live.

Phillip Martin visited with some folks at Logan Airport during the blizzard -- at least, the ones he could find.

Massachusetts is underfunding police training, especially in the areas of juvenile justice and in dealing with sexual assault, according to a new report to be released later today, obtained by WGBH News.

The dust has settled from a historic week in Massachusetts politics. And as we start a new week, Secretary of State John Kerry and his successor William "Mo" Cowan begin their new jobs in Washington. But in less than three months, Massachusetts will hold a primary, which is a step toward electing a new U.S. Senator.

It’s on:

What's behind Scott Brown's decision not to run for John Kerry's U.S. Senate seat?

Individuals can take heroic steps to stop human trafficking, like the cab driver in Saigon who rescued 11- and 12-year-olds enslaved in garment factories.

If you think slavery ended in 1865, think again.

Human traffickers have picked up where Jim Crow left off. If that seems far-fetched, just listen to Luis CdeBaca at the U.S. State Department.

Sometimes it’s hard to imagine this thing we used to call “shame.” In the era of reality TV and YouTube, where almost anything goes, shame seems like a social anachronism.