Some residents are complaining about the smell and steam coming from work on sewer lines and manholes in South Brookline.

While neighbors say they find the work disruptive, they understand it has to be done.

Brookline has about 100 miles of sewer lines, according to the town’s water and sewer director, Jay Hersey. The sewer system dates back over 100 years, so maintenance is crucial, Hersey said.

“It helps keep all that clear water out of the system, which people have to pay for,” Hersey said...

Everything fell into place after Debbie Hatzieleftheriadis saw an ad in the paper.

The ad was recruiting people for the Brookline Police Department. At the time, the mother of five was coaching her kids’ sports teams and serving as the president of Brookline High School’s Parent Teacher Organization. 

“I thought, ‘Maybe I could do it,’” Hatzieleftheriadis said. “I didn’t take it seriously.”

After passing the police entrance exam and becoming an officer in 1998, Hatzieleftheriadis participated...

Emily Williams’ father was the best French chef there was, by her standards. Williams’ favorite recipe of his was pulled from a Julia Child cookbook — the tarte aux pommes, or apple tart. It features a shortcrust pastry base, glazed apple slices and lots of butter.

“Every time we make a French dish, I think of him,” Williams said.

Williams’ father died when she was a young adult, after a fall in his rural Maine home. He was 76.

“If you’re an isolated adult and you’re kind of in trouble,...

Federal funding for heat assistance has been restored after a 43-day government shutdown, but money won’t arrive in Massachusetts for another four to six weeks, leaving many Waltham residents wondering how they’ll heat their homes in the meantime. 
Massachusetts received $144 million for the program last year. More than half of the 159,000 residents who received assistance last year were seniors. Ten percent of families had a child younger than the age of 5.
Ann Sirois, chief planning and...

Ten-year-old River Bernstein owns a car. 
It’s a classic 1906 Orient Buckboard – manufactured by the Waltham Manufacturing Company under the leadership of Charles Herman Metz – and a recent gift from his grandparents, Frank and Linda Bernstein. 
But the sixth grader at Gideon Welles Middle School in Glastonbury, Conn., says his classmates are skeptical of his story. “So I say, I have a car. They say, ‘No, you don’t, you’re too young to have a car.’ And I say, ‘Look, I’ll show you a picture...