Language Barrier

State Police are investigating hundreds of people who converted Arizona driver's licenses to Massachusetts licenses, according to a police spokesman, and since October the state has suspended the driving rights of 124 of them. Authorities said they have not found national security or identity fraud cases, but immigrants whose language barrier kept them from getting a Massachusetts license, so they traveled to Arizona to take advantage of more flexible options. The people whose licenses have been suspended have been called to hearings, said police spokesman David Procopio.

WHO Linkie Marais WHAT The North Attleborough pastry chef and cake decorator, 28, is one of 15 finalists on season eight of "Food Network Star. " Marais grew up in Cape Town, South Africa, and moved to Mississippi at 16. Two years ago, she and her husband came to New England, where she's been freelancing in bakeries. WHEN A two-hour "Food Network Star" premieres Sunday at 9 p.m. on Food Network. Q. What were your concerns entering the competition?

WHO Linkie Marais WHAT The North Attleborough pastry chef and cake decorator, 28, is one of 15 finalists on season eight of "Food Network Star. " Marais grew up in Cape Town, South Africa, and moved to Mississippi at 16. Two years ago, she and her husband came to New England, where she's been freelancing in bakeries. WHEN A two-hour "Food Network Star" premieres Sunday at 9 p.m. on Food Network. Q. What were your concerns entering the competition?

Be it "Margin Call," "The Company Men," "Wall Street 2," "Tower Heist," or a more generic release making passing mention of the lousy housing market, what movie these days doesn't have the economy on its mind? That also goes for the slyly titled import "Life Without Principle" ("Dyut meng gam"), in which brand-name Hong Kong director Johnnie To ("Election") reminds us that this truly has been a global economic crisis. To's story tracks the intersecting predicaments of three city dwellers amid an unsettling 2010 market plunge.

As parents, educators, and city leaders gathered at a Roxbury school Saturday morning to talk about revamping Boston's school choice system, the conversation kept turning to the sometimes dramatic inequalities among the city's schools. "Until we make every school equal, then we can talk about changing the school assignment process," said Karen Kast-McBride, a Roslindale parent who has two children in the system. Interest in neighborhood schools - and the notion that families sharing a nearby school might build a stronger community - has fueled a new discussion about changing the...

Be it "Margin Call," "The Company Men," "Wall Street 2," "Tower Heist," or a more generic release making passing mention of the lousy housing market, what movie these days doesn't have the economy on its mind? That also goes for the slyly titled import "Life Without Principle" ("Dyut meng gam"), in which brand-name Hong Kong director Johnnie To ("Election") reminds us that this truly has been a global economic crisis. To's story tracks the intersecting predicaments of three city dwellers amid an unsettling 2010 market plunge.

WATERFORD, Vt. -- Ginger Aldrich is home with her parents and recovering from what doctors said would be a fatal coma. She suffered carbon monoxide poisoning Jan. 30 at the Redstone Apartment Complex in Burlington, where she lived. Her boyfriend, Jeffrey Hill Rodliff, died, and eight others were injured in an accident that began when a boiler backfired and blew out a section of ventilation pipe, allowing carbon monoxide to enter apartments. When Aldrich awoke in April, doctors still had little hope for her. "They told me I was going to be a vegetable," she said.

By Jessica Bartlett, Town Correspondent Police are searching for suspects in an explosion that took place on a Quincy resident's front porch Wednesday night. According to police, an officer on patrol at an intersection was approached at 9:19 p.m. by an individual, who asked if the officer would follow him to an address on Water Street. The officer obliged and followed the man to the residence, where he spoke with the victim through the translator. According to the victim, a 60-year old Asian male who had not called 911 because of the language barrier, two individuals...

For Noorin Bhanji, a senior at Boston University majoring in public relations and advertising, study in Spain was a way to get a jump on a career in advertising. In Madrid, she took classes in the language and culture of Spain and participated in an internship at a research and consulting company called Grupo Consultores. “It was a fantastic opportunity to better learn the language and to see how advertising agencies are doing abroad,’’ says Bhanji. < “All students live with a variety of Spanish families.

Sixteen years ago, Esteban Paula's father noticed how much his 4-year-old son enjoyed watching baseball on television, and he signed him up for a youth league. He could never have predicted what an immense impact the sport would have on his son's life: It would eventually become the foundation of his success in a new country. On July 20, 2007, Paula moved with his mother and two younger brothers from the Dominican Republic to Lynn. Paula didn't know any English, but he had a passion for sports that would open up opportunities he wouldn't have imagined.

As parents, educators, and city leaders gathered at a Roxbury school Saturday morning to talk about revamping Boston's school choice system, the conversation kept turning to the sometimes dramatic inequalities among the city's schools. "Until we make every school equal, then we can talk about changing the school assignment process," said Karen Kast-McBride, a Roslindale parent who has two children in the system. Interest in neighborhood schools - and the notion that families sharing a nearby school might build a stronger community - has fueled a new discussion about changing the...

State Police are investigating hundreds of people who converted Arizona driver's licenses to Massachusetts licenses, according to a police spokesman, and since October the state has suspended the driving rights of 124 of them. Authorities said they have not found national security or identity fraud cases, but immigrants whose language barrier kept them from getting a Massachusetts license, so they traveled to Arizona to take advantage of more flexible options. The people whose licenses have been suspended have been called to hearings, said police spokesman David Procopio.

NORTHBRIDGE - A 43-year-old Uxbridge man drowned and his 6-year-old son was in serious condition last night after the pair were pulled from Meadow Pond yesterday afternoon, police said. Police Chief Walter Warchol identified the drowning victim as Sarwat Hanna, 43, of Uxbridge. His son, Yousef, 6, was in serious condition last night at UMass Memorial Medical Center-University Campus in Worcester, Warchol said. The father and son, unconscious and in cardiac arrest, were pulled out of Meadow Pond shortly after 3 by emergency responders, and by two men...

By Jessica Bartlett, Town Correspondent Police are searching for suspects in an explosion that took place on a Quincy resident's front porch Wednesday night. According to police, an officer on patrol at an intersection was approached at 9:19 p.m. by an individual, who asked if the officer would follow him to an address on Water Street. The officer obliged and followed the man to the residence, where he spoke with the victim through the translator. According to the victim, a 60-year old Asian male who had not...

Sixteen years ago, Esteban Paula's father noticed how much his 4-year-old son enjoyed watching baseball on television, and he signed him up for a youth league. He could never have predicted what an immense impact the sport would have on his son's life: It would eventually become the foundation of his success in a new country. On July 20, 2007, Paula moved with his mother and two younger brothers from the Dominican Republic to Lynn. Paula didn't know any English, but he had a passion for sports that would open up opportunities he wouldn't have...

For Noorin Bhanji, a senior at Boston University majoring in public relations and advertising, study in Spain was a way to get a jump on a career in advertising. In Madrid, she took classes in the language and culture of Spain and participated in an internship at a research and consulting company called Grupo Consultores. “It was a fantastic opportunity to better learn the language and to see how advertising agencies are doing abroad,’’ says Bhanji. < “All students live with a variety of Spanish families.

NORTHBRIDGE - A 43-year-old Uxbridge man drowned and his 6-year-old son was in serious condition last night after the pair were pulled from Meadow Pond yesterday afternoon, police said. Police Chief Walter Warchol identified the drowning victim as Sarwat Hanna, 43, of Uxbridge. His son, Yousef, 6, was in serious condition last night at UMass Memorial Medical Center-University Campus in Worcester, Warchol said. The father and son, unconscious and in cardiac arrest, were pulled out of Meadow Pond shortly after 3 by emergency responders, and by two men who jumped into the water to...

Ali Selim's "Sweet Land" is a lovely , old-fashioned farm romance quietly doubling as a comment on immigration and American identity. While that might sound heavy, the movie isn't, and its lightness is part of its charm. Set predominately in 1920 and told in flashbacks from 2004, the film concerns a young woman named Inge (Elizabeth Reaser) who arrives in northern Minnesota from Europe engaged to be married to Olaf (Tim Guinee) , a Norwegian farmer, whom she's never met. She comes with a suitcase or two, an enormous...

Searching for a way to visit Colombia without ignoring US State Department warnings, we came across a Royal Caribbean cruise from Colón, Panama, to Cartagena and Santa Marta, Colombia, and from there to the Netherlands Antilles’ “ABC’’ islands, Aruba, Bonaire, and Curaçao. Nearly buried on the website was the brief note that the cruise is sold almost exclusively to Latin Americans, designed to meet their tastes in entertainment, food, and beverages. Spanish would be the primary language aboard ship.

The newest and most celebrated member of the Red Sox revealed a million-dollar smile -- multimillion-dollar, actually -- in the face of a flurry of flashbulbs yesterday. The cameras recording the official coronation of Daisuke Matsuzaka lit up his Fenway Park press conference like a swarm of fireflies. Matsuzaka didn't appear to be the least bit uncomfortable; in fact, he looked downright elated. Wouldn't you be? He is worth $52 million, eclipsing Hideki Matsui as the most handsomely compensated Japanese player in the major leagues.