PACs fill cash gap for GOP candidates

The political action committees known as super PACs are stepping forward to bear most of the cost of advertising as the campaign shifts to the South.

Michelle Obama’s star turn

The First Lady will visit Boston today, as she continues to travel to promote the president’s record and drum up money for his reelection campaign.

Bay State GOP chief taking some heat

In an election year characterized by voter resentment of the wealthy, some GOP critics see symbolic danger in Robert A. Maginn Jr.’s ties to Mitt Romney.

Brian McGrory

The politics of panic

Democratic strategists from all across this great land have their sweaty palms lingering over the panic button in the Massachusetts Senate race.

Winter’s waning days glow bright in Boston

The temperature soared to 68 degrees on Thursday, beating Boston’s all-time record for the day, set in 1995, at 67 degrees.

Aram Boghosian for The Boston Globe

In era of cuts, students in Somerville play on

At a time when dozens of schools around the state have cut music education, Somerville is aiming to raise $100,000 to help launch a music-themed charter school.

New Hampshire seeks to rein in loud motorcycles

A battle is being waged between denizens of scenic and often tony towns who want quiet in their backyards and bikers who say the roads belong to everyone.

Companies scramble to use Pinterest

Just as many businesses have figured out how to use Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and even Google Plus, along comes Pinterest, whose traffic has taken off recently.

JetBlue’s ‘Monster’ has its own quirks

The New Wall at Fenway South isn’t identical to the Old Wall. It’s higher, has seats inside, and there is no way to manually change the numbers from inside the scoreboard.

“For anyone who thinks this isn’t life-changing, consider that more than 90 percent of the kids at East Somerville Community, where we’ll start our El Sistema, are recipients of the free instruments.”

Joanne Sadler,  teacher in Somerville

Globe Insiders

Globe Talk | March 21, 6 p.m.

http://c.o0bg.com/rf/image_90x90/Boston/2011-2020/2012/03/02/BostonGlobe.com/Special/Images/lennyclarke copy-018--90x90.jpg Boston, a Comedy Capital

Join Dave Russo, Anthony Scibelli, Tony V, Jimmy Tingle, and Lenny Clarke for a talk about the city’s comedy scene. Laughs guaranteed.

Inside The Boston Globe

Movie Review

In ‘John Carter,’ sci-fi goes back to its roots

GLOBE 10.0 VIDEO

Will Tom Brady suffer Peyton Manning’s fate?
The sun erupted with one of the largest solar flares of this solar cycle Tuesday.

Solar storm hits Earth
Senator Olympia Snowe spoke at a news conference in Maine last week.

Olympia Snowe endorses Scott Brown

Syrup makers toil this winter
Rick Santorum (right), stood with Hawkeye Industries owner Bryan Hawkins in Tupelo, Miss., on Wednesday.

Santorum’s faith isn’t driving vote of Catholics

No snow for snow removal companies

Walpole firm’s software aids illicit deals

Globe South

Finland Steam Baths keeps an Old World tradition alive

MLS Preview

Jay Heaps was born to coach Revolution

Wynn renews push for Foxborough casino
90mm

Apple’s king, for now

Metro

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Siblings Shane and Colleen McGloin surveyed the damage after wind-driven flames destroyed four beachfront homes on Humarock Beach Road in Scituate Thursday. High gusts intensified other fires around the state.

Blaze consumes 4 Scituate houses

A three-alarm fire stoked by high winds destroyed four beachfront homes in Scituate on Thursday and injured three firefighters, the town’s fire chief said.

Business

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State gained fewer jobs than thought in ’11

Mass. added only about 9,000 jobs in 2011, far below earlier estimates, according to revised data from the US Department of Labor.

Columnists

SCOT LEHIGH

Maybe it’s not Mitt’s fault
John Barros is both a School Committee member and head of a nonprofit which supplies school services.

LAWRENCE HARMON

A little too close for comfort

Boston Capital

Markets rebound. Now what?

Brian McGrory

The politics of panic

JOAN WICKERSHAM

Ghosts of artists past

Joan Vennochi

Taking measure of health and wealth

Juliette Kayyem

Ocean planning and Massachusetts

Tech Lab

New Windows has a different touch
The Penn bench - including Dau Jok (standing) - watches a chance at an Ivy League title (and NCAA berth) slip away in a loss to Princeton.

Bob Ryan

Penn falls to Princeton, leaving Harvard on top

Jeff Jacoby

Apologize like you mean it, Rush

Scot Lehigh

Releasing fuel could pump economy

Dan Shaughnessy

Dan Duquette returns to Fort Myers with Orioles

Nation & World

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US urges greater efforts to curb teenage smoking

More needs to be done to keep young Americans from using tobacco, including smoking bans and increased taxes, the US Surgeon General’s office reported.

Politics

political notebook

Pipeline proposal blocked in Senate

Under pressure from the White House, the Democratic-controlled Senate blocked a GOP bid Thursday to speed approval of an oil pipeline from Canada to Texas.

Sports

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Bruins 3, Sabres 1

Bruins act on a good tip to beat Sabres

The 3-1 win over the Sabres came only 48 hours after Tuesday’s triumph in Toronto, giving the Stanley Cup champs their first back-to-back wins in two months.

Movies

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Movie Review

In ‘Silent House,’ you can hear yourself think

It’s horror movie in which Elizabeth Olsen does a lot of hiding under tables and shivering in corners.

Arts

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television review

Ed Harris is John McCain and Julianne Moore is Sarah Palin in HBO’s “Game Change.’’

‘Game Change’ more complex than a caricature of Palin and McCain

HBO’s portrayal of the Republican side of the 2008 presidential campaign isn’t a Sarah Palin hatchet job. But it’s no love letter either, writes Sarah Rodman.

Magazine

The cover for the March 4 2012 issue

Putting college degrees to work
The cover for the February 26 2012 issue

24 hours in Kendall Square
The cover for the February 19 2012 issue

Renovated Newport firehouse is calm, cool, and collected
The cover for the February 12 2012 issue

Boston wedding venue guide

Opinion

“Unless the GOP is suicidal, [Mitt] Romney will ultimately persevere, and with good reason: He’s the only remotely plausible president in this field.”

Scot Lehigh 

Ideas

“The story of St. John’s University reflects the power — and the threat — that such an education still represents to a proud nation that nevertheless hungers for new ideas.”

Patricia Wen  on the lost liberal arts university of China