The Boston News Stories You’ll Be Reading about in 2020
That we know of, anyway.
Brady photo via Getty, Encore photo provided, Lori Loughlin photo via AP
While the start of the new year is the perfect time to ring in the new, there are some things that don’t change when the clock strikes midnight. While 2020 will certainly bring brand-new wacky laws, controversies, and transit mishaps, it’ll also bring us the next phases of some of the biggest stories that made headlines this year. So, whether your New Year’s resolution is to read more news, or you’re just brainstorming some small talk topics to whip out at the rest of your holiday parties, read on for all the news stories Bostonians should keep an eye on in 2020.
AP Photo/Stephan Savoia
Jasiel Correia Trial
Over the course of 2019, Fall River mayor Jasiel Correia was arrested, recalled, reelected, arrested again, challenged by his own city council, and finally, voted out. How’s that for a year in review?
While Correia is currently on a leave of absence from his post, and school committee member Paul Coogan is waiting in the wings to take on the title of mayor, this isn’t the last we’ve seen of Correia. He still has to face the music for the charges against him, which include defrauding investors in his startup and extorting marijuana vendors in Fall River. However, we may have to wait a while yet—while his trial date was initially set as February 24, 2020, he and federal prosecutors have agreed to delay the start of the proceedings.
Courtesy photo by Barbara Kraft
The Saga of the Encore Casino
The glimmering gambling palace on the banks of the Mystic opened to great acclaim, with tens of thousands making the trek to Everett to gawk at the Encore’s spacious hotel rooms, over-the-top décor, and buzzed-about dining destinations. The opening statistics were impressive: In its first eight days of operations, the casino raked in nearly $2 million a day. But after, Lady Luck seems to have left the building. The Encore was hit with a lawsuit, its president stepped down, some pretty tepid reviews started popping up in the casino’s Google results, and after its first quarter, the place had lost $41.7 million. Will the Encore’s luck change in 2020? Safe to say it’s a crapshoot.
Photo courtesy of the Suffolk County DA’s Office
The BC Texting Suicide Case
District Attorney Rachel Rollins shocked the city when she announced that she was charging 21-year-old BC student Inyoung You with coercing her boyfriend into suicide on his graduation day. Text messages between the couple, released shortly after You was charged, paint a picture of a deeply disturbing, abusive relationship—but You maintains her innocence, and entered a not guilty plea at her arraignment earlier this year. Her trial date has been set for November 9, 2020.
Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images
Tom Brady’s (Maybe) Last Stand
Will he or won’t he? Even if you were able to block out the chatter about Brady’s odd contract negotiations and impending free agency and ignore the sale of his Brookline mansion, you have to admit—Brady’s making some very strange moves. Most recently, the QB stepped down as honorary co-chair of the Best Buddies Challenge, the charity event he’s been involved with since 2003. Does this all signal that he’s on his way out? One thing’s for sure: His every move will come under increasing scrutiny in the upcoming year. Because as we all know, prognosticating on the symbolism behind everything Tom Brady does is practically a sport of its own.
AP Photo/Steven Senne
Lori Loughlin’s Varsity Blues Trial
It was the year’s most mind-blowing scandal. In March, U.S. Attorney Andrew Lelling stood in Boston federal court and announced that he was charging 50 people, including a handful of Hollywood stars, for their participation in a sweeping college admissions scandal that involved doctoring photos, bribing athletic coaches, and editing standardized test answers. Since then, 30 of the charged have pleaded or will plead guilty, and some have already done their time (see: Felicity Huffman’s 14 day prison sentence). For those who are fighting the charges, however, the scandal will stretch into 2020. One of the famous faces preparing for trial? Full House actress Lori Loughlin, one of the most high-profile of the accused.
