Panel to urge fewer tax breaks in Mass.

A group of state leaders has concluded that Massachusetts needs to overhaul its tax system to eliminate many breaks that siphon billions of dollars from public coffers.

44 killed in Iraq attacks ahead of Arab summit

Bombings across Iraq killed 44 people, striking at police and Shiite pilgrims in a torrent of violence that officials had dreaded in the run-up to next week’s Arab League summit.

The vital records include the intention to marry filed by John Adams and Abigail Smith on Feb. 25, 1764, with a note that the ceremony was performed Oct. 25.

Bay State’s historical records enter new era online

Millions of birth, marriage, and death records from Mass. dating back to 1620 will become available online today on Ancestry.com, thanks to the work of DeLene and Jay Holbrook.

Romney’s Medicare plan could create gap for seniors

By raising the eligibility age while removing a new safety net for the ailing to obtain affordable health insurance, Mitt Romney’s plan would result in more uninsured seniors.

Elise Amendola/Associated Press

NCAA finds enthusiastic audience in Boston

Above all, Boston sports fans embrace big, potentially history-making events. That helps explain the draw of the NCAA East Regional, which starts Thursday at TD Garden.

http://c.o0bg.com/rf/image_90x90/Boston/2011-2020/2012/03/20/BostonGlobe.com/Metro/Images/20salempic--90x90.jpg Mother pleads not guilty in attack on children

Tanicia Goodwin, 25, who is accused of slashing her two children’s throats and setting fire to her apartment, told authorities she was trying to protect them.

Historic church could avert foreclosure, specialists say

OneUnited Bank plans to auction Charles Street African Methodist Episcopal Church in Roxbury on Thursday, but the church has a number of options it can use to forestall the move.

Cambridge panel OK’s Google’s expansion

Cambridge City Council voted to approve a plan for Google Inc. to increase its Kendall Square office in an expansion that would halve a public rooftop garden.

“I did what I had to do to protect my children. I’m sorry.”

Tanicia Goodwin,  who allegedly tried to kill her children

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

G cover

Life lessons in Central Square

album review | POP

Shins still shining under Mercer’s lead

Jon Lester is Red Sox’ Opening Day starter

album review

Spalding hones her pop-crossover chops

Daily Dose

Skinnier versions of your favorite cocktails

Reality shows vying for Southie’s attention
The GOP’s Richard Tisei is expected to give eight-term Representative John Tierney (above), a Democrat, a tougher race than he faced in 2010.

GOP sees Tierney as wounded, beatable

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
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

Metro

Tags in this section:

Pregnant Medford woman killed by car in Florida

An out-of-control car plowed into a poolside cabana and killed Alanna DeMella, who was seven months pregnant, and her unborn son.

Business

Tags in this section:

Kiva Systems’ robots shuttled merchandise around a Gilt Groupe distribution center in Shepherdsville, Ky.

Amazon buys robot maker Kiva for $775m

Amazon.com Inc. has agreed to buy warehouse robot maker Kiva Systems Inc. of North Reading, in the second-largest acquisition ever made by the giant e-commerce firm.

Columnists

Kevin Cullen

Let’s give sexual abuse justice time
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

Nation & World

Tags in this section:

US to investigate killing of black teen in Florida

The United States has opened a civil rights investigation into the shooting death of an unarmed black teen by a white neighborhood watch captain at a gated community in Florida.

Politics

Political Notebook

With Republicans locked in an extended primary, President Obama’s team has tried to build a large 50-state operation that will help it register new voters, bring back past supporters, and boost turnout.

President Obama raises $45 million in February

President Obama collected $45 million for his reelection bid in February ahead of an oncoming spending blitz by GOP-leaning outside groups.

Sports

Tags in this section:

Celtics 79, Hawks 76

Celtics guard Rajon Rondo drove around Hawks guard Jeff Teague (0) and center Zaza Pachulia in the first half of Boston’s win in Atlanta.

Celtics hold on in Atlanta

The Celtics ran away from the Hawks in the fourth quarter, and then had to hang on as the Hawks closed to within one point in the waning seconds.

Arts

Tags in this section:

Music Review

A muscular soloist in the recital hall

Those looking for gleaming and muscular virtuoso violin playing got plenty of it at Vadim Repin’s Jordan Hall recital.

Lifestyle

Tags in this section:

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.

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

“Over the last 30 years, more than 100,000 Irish people have been granted permanent residency in the US. That’s 2 percent of the Irish population.”

Farah Stockman 

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