GOP sees Tierney as wounded, beatable

Dogged by his wife’s legal troubles, Representative John Tierney is facing perhaps the most competitive House election this year, observers say.

Pregnant Medford woman killed after car hits Fla. hotel

Alanna Demella, 26, and her unborn child were killed when a car smashed into a poolside cabana.

Salem children in critical condition; mother identified

Police said Tanicia Goodwin, 25, allegedly slashed the throats of her two children, ages 3 and 8, and set fire to her apartment.

Apple CEO Tim Cook

Apple to pay dividend, buy back $10b in stock

The world’s most valuable company, which for years had resisted calls to reward shareholders directly, is introducing a quarterly dividend of $2.65 per share.

Four dead, one hurt in shooting at Jewish school in France

A rabbi, his two small sons, and one other child were killed by a gunman who escaped on a scooter after randomly firing at people.

Scientists look for cause of lobsters’ shell disease

Researchers at the New England Aquarium are concerned that the combination of warmer waters and human-generated pollution are triggering the disease.

Video

Lobster mystery

Scientists investigate why lobsters are getting shell disease.

Murray steals show at Saint Patrick’s breakfast

Lieutenant Governor Timothy P. Murray, wearing a NASCAR helmet and racing jacket, poked fun at his car crash at the annual roast.

Jon Lester to start Opening Day

Lester will be on the mound for the Red Sox when the season begins April 5 in Detroit. Josh Beckett will start the home opener on April 13.

“In order to do our job well — the main job of making decisions on up to three casinos and a slot parlor — we have a huge amount of work to do.”

Stephen Crosby,  Massachusetts Gaming Commission

Globe Insiders

To Grammar’s House

http://c.o0bg.com/rf/image_90x90/Boston/2011-2020/2012/03/16/BostonGlobe.com/Special/Images/SPRINGCLEANING2.jpg Spring cleaning for grammar rules

Grammar’s House can get a bit cluttered sometimes, often with rules that are capricious, spurious, or flat-out erroneous.

Inside The Boston Globe

Reality shows vying for Southie’s attention

Mass. casino law filled with tight deadlines
Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney has vowed to commit at least 4 percent of the nation’s gross domestic product to defense spending.

Mitt Romney’s defense budget target is lofty

Debo Band branches out from Boston roots
Yvette Freeman as the singer title role of Huntington Theatre Company’s “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,’’ a play by August Wilson.

STAGE REVIEW

Wilson’s voice rings clear, strong in ‘Ma Rainey’

G Cover

Challenges behind prenatal exams
Wynton Marsalis (center) performs with his Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra at Symphony Hall.

MUSIC REVIEW

Marsalis, elite jazz orchestra missing a spark

Daily Dose

Skinnier versions of your favorite cocktails
Josh Crary (left) will run one leg of the Marathon with guide Doug Trudel.

Runners in it for the long haul

At Fort Point studios, artists feel betrayed

For the Kennedy clan, he is Generation Next
Stone tools were found at the Meadowcroft Rockshelter in Pennsylvania that could be 15,000 to 17,000 years old..

Did the Solutreans settle America first?

Metro

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Tens of thousands of revelers descended on the streets of South Boston on Sunday for the annual St. Patrick’s Day parade.

Saint Patrick’s Day parade brings peaceful party

Green was on every street corner Sunday as tens of thousands of revelers thronged South Boston for the annual Saint Patrick’s Day Parade.

Business

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New York Mets owner Fred Wilpon

Mets owners, Madoff trustee settle for $162m

The New York Mets owners have agreed to the settlement just before they were due to go to trial for allegedly ignoring the fraud.

Columnists

Will Bill Belichick spend his draft picks this year on defenders to help support Tom Brady?

Tony Massarotti

Still no answers if Patriots have improved

INNOVATION ECONOMY

Start-up charts speed of 3G wireless carriers
A glass tunnel connects the new Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum wing to the original Gardner mansion.

Juliette Kayyem

Gardner’s narrative of resiliency

Bob Ryan

Kentucky’s run came out of the blue
Encyclopaedia Britannica editions on display at the New York Public Library.

JAMES CARROLL

An era, shelved

Yvonne Abraham

The road to wisdom

INNOVATION ECONOMY

Not all was lost when Apple bought Quattro

Joanna Weiss | Whitey Bulger: Living large?

Zest up the memoir

Joan Vennochi | Whitey Bulger: Living large?

DiMasi should be so lucky

Gareth Cook

Why do nations fail?

opinion | Jeff Jacoby

On mandate, Romney plays both sides

Love Letters

Should they get engaged before the move-in?

Nation & World

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Charges against soldier are expected this week

Charges against an Army sergeant accused of killing 16 Afghan civilians could be filed within a week, and a potential trial would be held in the United States.

Politics

POLITICAL NOTEBOOK

Mitt Romney said President Obama had wanted energy prices to go up, but only recently had ‘‘an election- year conversion’’ to push them down.

Mitt Romney urges firing of energy officials

Romney not only blamed President Obama for the rising gasoline prices, but said that the president should fire three of his Cabinet members who oversee energy issues.

Sports

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Red Sox Notebook

Bobby Valentine said the decision on Ryan Lavarnway is getting tougher, but as far as giving him a spot on the team, “I’m not quite there yet.’’

Ryan Lavarnway impressing Red Sox

Bobby Valentine loves what he’s seen from the catcher, but he’s not quite ready to give him a roster spot.

Health and wellness

G Force

“Physical exercise works for many, many depressed people and seems to have lasting effects, especially if the exercise regime is continued,” said Dr. Irving Kirsch.

The placebo effect and depression

Dr. Irving Kirsch is associate director of the program in placebo studies at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School.

Arts

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Playing at full volume at South by Southwest

More than 2,200 bands played official showcases at the music festival, not including all the ones who showed up to play day parties and anywhere else with an electrical outlet.

Magazine

The cover for the March 18 2012 issue

Grover Norquist: Emperor of no
The cover for the March 11 2012 issue

Stoughton’s Lori McKenna is writing her heart out
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

Opinion

“If the founding of the printed Encyclopaedia Britannica was a milestone of human improvement, its passing is even more so.”

James Carroll 

Ideas

“If the Solutrean hypothesis becomes widely accepted, it would mean that the sea played a central part in human expansion. And in the matter of ‘who came first,’ it would mean that all the Americas have a new origin story to contend with.”

Gareth Cook