Latest news

 

‘Heavy, wet snow’ blanketing region

A winter storm warning is in effect for most of the state, as well as a Boston parking ban, as a major storm arrived this afternoon.

Former President George H.W. Bush in March 2012. The 41st president was moved out of intensive care on Saturday.

Former President Bush moved out of intensive care

Former President George H.W. Bush’s condition continues to improve, and he has been moved to a regular hospital room, a family spokesman said.

President Obama plans to appear on “Meet the Press” on Sunday to press for an agreement before the deadline.

Senate leaders look for fiscal cliff solution

Just days away from the Dec. 31 deadline, Senate leadership searched for a last minute bargain that could win bipartisan support.

Fiscal cliff could cost Mass. 50,000 jobs

The state is one of the most vulnerable to the deep budget cuts because it receives a disproportionate share of federal defense, research, and development money.

Flu outbreak hitting Mass. early and hard

The level of illness has already surpassed the peaks of the last two flu seasons, officials said.

Tom Brady and the Patriots got off to a lackluster start last Sunday against the Jaguars, who came in hungry despite their poor record.

phelan m. ebenhack/associated press

Dolphins at Patriots | Sunday, 4:25 p.m.

Patriots seek fast start after early stumbles

Combining the starts of the last two games, Tom Brady and the Patriots have fallen behind by a score of 41-3.

Exclusive Sunday Preview

A sampling of stories from this Sunday's Globe.

 

Books

//c.o0bg.com/rf/image_90x90/Boston/2011-2020/2012/12/29/BostonGlobe.com/Arts/Images/BGlobe-Books-Main%202-1404.jpg The year in books

Among the plethora of new offerings in 2012, some truly sparkled. Our reviewers share their top picks.

//c.o0bg.com/rf/image_90x90/Boston/2011-2020/2012/12/12/BostonGlobe.com/Arts/Images/Homeland_212_1559-001.jpg A quiz for the pop culture mavens among us

Just how savvy are you about culture in Boston and beyond? Test your knowledge here.

Rose Island Lighthouse in Newport Harbor offers overnight stays — and even stints as a lighthouse keeper for up to a week.

Travel

18 things to do in New England in 2013

A rundown of ways to spend your time after the countdown.

Boston Globe ePaper

ePaper

Read the ePaper edition

The complete print edition, in its exact layout. Browse the print edition page by page, including stories and ads.

Globe Insiders

Photo Gallery | From the Archives

//c.o0bg.com/rf/image_90x90/Boston/2011-2020/2012/12/27/BostonGlobe.com/Special/Images/russ-256337[1]-028.jpg Bill Russell’s career

The Celtics legend defended personal dignity in the face of institutionalized racism in society as aggressively as he defended the basket on the court.

Globe exclusives

Oscar Epstein rides the Green Line to work at the state’s Highway Division.

Oscar Epstein, Mass.’s oldest employee, keeps on working
Scenes from the Disney classic “Pinocchio” and a century of other movies swirled across the ice at TD Garden.

Stage Review

In ‘Disney on Ice,’ a grand world, after all
The Tennant family has participated in study using DNA sequencing in a bid to understand preterm birth.

A tangled debate centers on newborns’ DNA

Interactive quiz

Biz Quiz 2012
Singer-songwriter Mieka Pauley started busking in Red Line stations and now plays clubs and lives in New York.

Mieka Pauley poised for a breakthrough
A curvy road sign was speckled with fallen snow on Chickataubut Road in the Blue Hills Reservation on Christmas Day.

Photo gallery

Globe photos of the week, Dec. 28, 2012
Chalk on the sidewalk on Bowdoin St. at the corner of Bowdoin Park

Opinion | The Podium

In Bowdoin-Geneva, community groups build hope

Sunday Preview | Ideas

2012: What ended
DAN PATRICK

Networks ratchet up challenges to ESPN
Deion Branch, left, and Tom Brady celebrated during the Patriots’ playoff win over the Broncos in January.

10 best Boston sports wins of 2012
Matt Damon stars as Steve Butler and John Krasinski stars as Dustin Noble in the 2012 film

Movie Review

‘Promised Land’: more promised than delivered
Gray seals have been blamed for attracting sharks and cutting fishermen’s catch.

Scientists hope to help seals and humans better coexist

Sports

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Rajon Rondo (center) and his teammates had to face the ugliness of Thursday’s rout in LA.

Celtics still looking for winning combination

Are they a contender in the Eastern Conference or a team that will fight for a bottom playoff seeding? Right now, the Celtics are the latter.

Metro

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Ian and Graham McKay dismantled the damaged beachside deck on the family home.

On Plum Island, another punishing storm

Crews were dismantling decks from four beachfront homes heavily damaged in this week’s storm and preparing to erect a large sandbag barrier.

Columnists

Mayor Menino greets children at the Catholic Charities Teen Center Monday.

Lawrence Harmon

Second career for Menino: Working with kids

Boston Capital

Manager took mutual fund from beaten up to best

Opinion | Joan Wickersham

Schoolyard roulette

Joshua Green

Holiday kudos for Congress

Derrick Z. Jackson

Wistful hopes for US offshore wind energy
Boston Mayor Thomas Menino greeted children on Christmas Even at the Catholic Charities Teen Center in Dorchester.

Joan Vennochi

Respect for Menino and the status quo

Edward L. Glaeser

College debts but no degree? Reform the Pell grant program
Speculating about Marco Rubio already?

JEFF JACOBY

The endless presidential campaigns
Robbie Parker carried his daughter, Madeline, 4, following funeral services for his 6-year old daughter Emilie Parker, a victim in the Newtown shootings.

FARAH STOCKMAN

The crucial act of forgiveness
Nintendo Wii U gaming console

Tech Lab

Minor flaws keep Wii U from being stellar
Robert Moldenhauer, 14, getting his dialysis treatment at Children’s Hospital in the run up to Christmas.

Kevin Cullen

Family looking for a place to stay

JULIETTE KAYYEM

The year in numbers

Nation & World

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Vladimir Putin signs ban on US adoptions

The Russian president signed a law banning Americans from adopting Russian children in response to a US law targeting Russians deemed to be human rights violators.

Politics

Rep. Ed Markey, who plans to run for John Kerry’s Senate seat if it becomes available, helped Elizabeth Warren campaign.

Leaders in party support Markey

Top state Democrats threw their weight behind Representative Edward Markey in what appeared to be an effort to avoid a divisive primary.

Business

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Boston’s port would have been affected by a threatened strike, which has been postponed.

Strike at ports in Boston, elsewhere averted

A threatened strike by dock workers that would have closed much of the Port of Boston and other East Coast ports has been put off for at least 30 days.

Arts

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In season of resolutions, parents line up to fess up

Did I care more than my son did if he made the middle school basketball team?

Magazine

The cover for the December 23 2012 issue

Bostonians of the Year: Raisman and Harrison

The cover for the December 16 2012 issue

Best of the New: Diversions
The cover for the December 9 2012 issue

The drug lab scandal: Who’s cleaning it up?
The cover for the December 2 2012 issue

5 inspired rooms

Opinion

“The GOP says voters want smaller government and lower taxes. But if conservatives genuinely believe they are in sync with public sentiment, they should be forthright about spelling out the specific program cuts their vision will require.”

By Len Burman and Joel Slemrod 

Ideas

For all the good they think they’re doing, James Greiner argues, legal services providers are working off untested assumptions and operating largely in the dark

Leon Neyfakh on the case for testing legal aid 

“If you’re screening a child at a young age, you might be identifying conditions that don’t manifest until they’re much older. What do you do with that information? That’s why we want to set up pilot studies.”

Tiina Urv,  program director at the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development