Ideas

How Boston City Hall was born
An architectural rendering of Boston City Hall, which was the subject of an unusual design competition in the early 1960s.

Globe File

Fifty years after a groundbreaking competition, two architects look back at the project that polarized the city — and gave it a new lease on life.

Weddings

John loves John

A Vermont wedding with elegant style--the scenery! the dinner jackets!--to spare.

Editorial

Tim Murray’s patronage politics show deeper problem in Mass.

Lieutenant Governor Tim Murray and other elected officials need to be far more forthright in declaring that the system of rewarding political supporters with jobs is morally wrong and damaging to the credibility of the state government.

Sprinter Gay reins himself in even as Olympics beckon

In his recovery from hip surgery, Tyson Gay understands the real fight is between himself and his body, in resisting the urge to do too much too soon.

A girl who soared, but longed to belong

Elizabeth Warren grew up amid the infinite expanse of Oklahoma, the finite expectations of her place and time, and financial pain at home. The lessons of those years still drive her.

Whitney Houston’s death overshadows Grammy awards

The Grammys began under a pall after the death yesterday of Whitney Houston, one of the biggest names in pop music.

http://c.o0bg.com/rf/image_90x90/Boston/2011-2020/2012/02/12/BostonGlobe.com/Metro/Images/12chelsearo1.jpg Auditors noted, then ignored, McLaughlin pay

State auditors did nothing about former Chelsea Housing Authority chief Michael E. McLaughlin’s salary until the gap between his disclosed and true paychecks reached $200,000.

US judges balk at rigid child porn sentences

A battle between policymakers, prosecutors, and public defenders is bound to play out as judges defend their sentences for distribution and possession of child pornography.

Aspiring Kennedy welcomed at a party caucus in Newton

Joseph P. Kennedy III, who is considering a bid for the congressional seat being vacated by Democrat Barney Frank, shook hands and met potential supporters.

“I couldn’t go off to OU. I couldn’t maintain the fiction anymore, not at OU, not there, not with kids living in dorms and buying formals for dances.”

Elizabeth Warren 

Globe Insiders

Globe Talks | Feb. 15, 6 p.m.

http://c.o0bg.com/rf/image_90x90/Boston/2011-2020/2012/02/01/BostonGlobe.com/Special/Images/greenhouse_movies2_business[1].jpg Talk movies with Ty and Wesley

Join the Boston Globe’s movie critics, Ty Burr and Wesley Morris, for a conversation about this year’s Academy Awards.

Inside The Boston Globe

A dream exactly as old as Fenway

Weddings

Boston wedding venue guide

Top 10 love letters of the year
Boston, Mass.-5/19/2011-Boston red Sox vs Detroit Tigers- Red Sox David Ortiz reacts after flying out in the 4th inning. Boston Globe staff photo by John Tlumacki (sports)

Sunday baseball notes

The Ortiz case, from both sides of the plate
An architectural rendering of Boston City Hall, which was the subject of an unusual design competition in the early 1960s.

Ideas

How Boston City hall was born

Sunday hockey notes

Thomas needs a save to restore his legacy

Brandeis professor traces efforts to reshape health care

DESTINATIONS

Bands meet the middle, bowling meets punk
TELEVISION SHOWS 2012: DOWNTON ABBEY -- In an undated handout picture released by TMC – NBC Universal on December 8, 2011 British actress Maggie Smith plays her role as Violet, Dowager Countess of Grantham in a scene of the hit British television series Downton Abbey. The popular period-drama series Downton Abbey, that centers on the Crawley family and their servants in the years leading up to the start of World War I, will hit screens in France on December 10, underlining the popularity of this

The Word

Linguistic gotcha at ‘Downton Abbey’

Romantic inns in New England

Patrick’s budget would cut senior meals

99 Bottles

In the beer world, spring has sprung early

Columnists

Yvonne Abraham

Playing with women’s rights

Jeff Jacoby

A second look at ‘The Third Jihad’

Joan Vennochi

The ‘Mad Men’ era of contraception
Milton, MA 022511 Dave Portnoy (cq) is the publisher of Barstool Sports empire which he puts out his Milton office. He and his blogger / vlogger Jenna Mourey (cq) were photographed at his office on February 25, 2011. (Essdras M Suarez/ Globe Staff)/ MET

Joanna Weiss

The Barstool podium

Adrian Walker

Rethinking the Esplanade

Opinion | LAWRENCE HARMON

A visit to the ‘friends and favors’ office

SCOT LEHIGH

Money, machine, but no message

Bob Ryan

Lakers’ win nothing to get nostalgic about
Josh Bekcett and the Red Sox will begin spring training next week.

Tony Massarotti

Josh Beckett must take responsibility

Edward L. Glaeser

Gaffe gives Romney chance to redesign safety net

Opinion | Brian McGrory

I’ll take Tom, and hold the Mayo

Joan Wickersham

A valentine to Ella

Metro

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Dunkin’s Cruller lovers have a hole in their lives

The French Cruller, with its distinctive twisted ridges and airy interior, disappeared three years ago from North Quincy to Falmouth, and its followers were left bereft.

Business

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Friendly’s Ice Cream warming up to supermarket sales

Friendly’s, the famed maker of Fribbles, is switching from scoops to supermarkets as a way to boost its struggling ice cream business and expand its brand.

Nation & World

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Iran says it will announce nuclear program advances

Iran will soon unveil “big new’’ nuclear achievements, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said yesterday while reiterating Tehran’s readiness to revive talks with the West.

Politics

Mitt Romney wins Maine caucuses

Mitt Romney pulled out a narrow win in the caucuses in Maine today, averting an embarrassing defeat in a state he won handily in 2008.

Sports

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On basketball

Doc Rivers

Celtics need to adjust their attitude

The Celtics face Chicago twice in the next five days, and for them to avoid being totally outclassed, they desperately need a better mental approach.

Travel

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travel

Making tracks at a Chinese Nordic skiing extravaganza

Vasaloppet China is the 10-year-old cousin of a historic Swedish ski race.

Books

BOOK REVIEW

‘Thinking the Twentieth Century’ by Tony Judt with Timothy Snyder

Unpacking a mind: Dying from ALS, Tony Judt reviews his life and that of modern Europe.

Arts

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REVIEW

Old friends show their wares across the pond

London’s great art institutions have lined up a series of ambitious exhibitions for 2012.

Magazine

The cover for the February 12 2012 issue

Boston wedding venue guide
The cover for the February 5 2012 issue

What if the lights go out?
The cover for the January 29 2012 issue

Reversing a restaurant curse
The cover for the January 22 2012 issue

Mother worries about her Occupy Wall Street protester son

Opinion

“When it comes to sexual assault on campus, it’s amazing how little has changed over the years, and how wrongheaded some rape-prevention messaging remains.”

Joanna Weiss 

Ideas

“In the 50 years since the competition, architects have declared Kallmann and McKinnell’s City Hall one of the greatest buildings of the 20th century. Yet its relationship with the people of Boston has remained uneasy, even hostile.”

Leon Neyfakh on Boston’s City Hall