Published June 8, 2010

If you missed it: Sure, you could read Monica Brady-Myerov’s piece on the Threshold Choir, but you really ought to listen. It’s a powerful story. A singing group from Littleton visits hospital bedsides to ease the transition to the other side.

The singers rehearse by gathering around a person reclined in a lawn chair. For her story, Monica played the patient. She started recording, closed her eyes and floated away. (Watch the video.) Monica tells me if she were to choose, she would want to go out on “The Water Is Wide,” an old folk song.

• Bedside Choir Provides ‘Threshold’ Comfort

Published June 8, 2010

Elizabeth Warren, the consumer advocate and “Sheriff of Wall Street,” is worried that financial reform by committee will fail. “Herds” of lobbyists are picking apart the legislation. “And at the end of the day, we can all congratulate ourselves that we got something that has the right title and has no real impact.”

Warren was Tom Ashbrook’s guest at a special live recording Monday of On Point, which airs today at 10 a.m. and again at 7 p.m. Don’t miss the roundup on the On Point blog.

Meanwhile, Rep. Barney Frank told us Monday that the bill he pushed through the House was not tough enough. I took notes on that interview here.

Published June 8, 2010

The Boston Globe has redesigned its print edition to better accommodate its three remaining readers, The Onion reports. (Some language may not be work-safe.)

Michael Fisher, of Boston, Camille Kresge, of Quincy, and Buddy, a homeless man who sleeps near the Boston Public Library, will be able to read articles about the five or six topics that interest them, complete with personalized reminders of doctor’s appointments and a review of the movie that’s next up in Fisher’s Netflix queue.

Globe Managing Editor Tom McNally “heralded” the new focus and said the paper is working to increase circulation.

Elsewhere, the Chicago Tribune has switched to an All Beyoncé Photos & Coupons format. The Washington Post recently began printing its daily edition on hot pancakes and delivering them to its 35 subscribers with sides of bacon.

Published June 8, 2010

• Cardinal Sean O’Malley of Boston’s Catholic archdiocese is in the news again. O’Malley delivered a private message to the pope. What did it say? We’re trying to arrange an interview with the cardinal, but he is very hard to get.
• Ted Siefer is talking to lawyers filing suit over a real estate notice in the New Bedford Standard-Times declaring that only people of “the Caucasian Race” can purchase the property.
• Steve Brown is covering a state Senate hearing about the proposal to legalize gambling in Massachusetts.
• Lisa Tobin, Bob Oakes’ producer, is scheduling an interview with a robotics guy at iRobot, the local company (famous for the Roomba) using robots to measure the quantity of oil spilling into the Gulf of Mexico. I’m working on a tech explainer. (Robots!!)
• Adam Ragusea is reporting on the draft plan for zoning along the Greenway, which critics say does not allow for enough density to bring the park to life. WBUR will be doing a lot of reporting on this topic in the coming weeks.
• Bianca Vazquez Toness is attending a discussion with U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz about “civil rights efforts” at the Depart of Justice, including the prosecution of hate crimes and a new “Civil Rights Initiative” in Massachusetts.
• We’re sending intern Meghan Keane to the Scooper Bowl, where people eat ice cream to support the Jimmy Fund.
• I’m working on an explainer on the origin and meaning of the word “jake,” a synonym for firefighter that you often see on the Herald’s front pages.