The Boston Globe

Patrick targets local aid to help cover budget gap

Governor Patrick announced an array of cuts to help cover a $540 million shortfall, including a further reduction in the money local communities receive.

Casino bidding could expand in Southeastern Mass.

The gambling panel discussed a proposal to accept applications from commercial developers even as the Mashpee Wampanoag continue to pursue a casino.

Residents can pay parking tickets and tax bills, get a library card and dog license, even register to vote, at a van dubbed “City Hall To Go.”

Jim Davis/Globe Staff

With new truck, City Hall services go mobile

Residents can pay parking tickets and tax bills, get a library card and dog license, even register to vote, at a van dubbed “City Hall To Go.”

Brian McGrory

Bridge is lighting the way forward

Look for the newly lit Leonard P. Zakim Bridge by next Friday, not only a symbol of a new Boston, but a sign that government can get good things done.

Mass. in pursuit of an arsonist

State and local fire officials are hoping to put a quick end to the random torching of vacant buildings, homes, and sheds across Southeastern Mass.

George Rizer for The Globe

The latest fire, ruled an arson, happened late Monday night in a vacant outbuilding at the old Raynham dog track.

ARAM BOGHOSIAN FOR THE BOSTON GLOBE

On Nov. 27, a fire was started at a home on Quincy Avenue in Quincy.

ARAM BOGHOSIAN FOR THE BOSTON GLOBE

On Nov. 27, a building on Main Street in Hanson was destroyed.

Brown students decode Roger Williams’s shorthand

Lucas Mason-Brown, 21, of Belmont, is part of a small team of students that cracked a previously undeciphered shorthand used by the founder of Rhode Island.

GOP deduction cap would hit the comfortable

House Republicans’ proposals to cap or even eliminate itemized deductions would exact a bigger toll on upper- to high-income earners in the professional classes.

derrick z. jackson

Fracking is the new gold rush

The new, heady pursuit of oil, thanks to the reserves unleashed by fracking, raises the question: What will happen when the rush is gone?

Partners leading in genetics-based medicine, services

Partners HealthCare System, the region’s largest hospital and physicians network, is positioning itself to become a national leader in the emerging field.