fiscal cliff

Obama says he will sign fiscal cliff bill
President Barack Obama spoke after the House of Representatives passed legislation intended to avoid the

Jonathan Ernst/REUTERS

President Obama said he would sign the measure, passed by the House of Representatives after the Senate approved it less than 24 hours earlier.

//c.o0bg.com/rf/image_90x90/Boston/2011-2020/2013/01/01/BostonGlobe.com/National/Images/biden-858.jpg Senate deal prevents tax hikes, delays cuts

The Senate compromise prevents income tax hikes on nearly all working Americans while raising taxes on the wealthiest, and briefly delays spending cuts.

Vice President Joe Biden arrived late Monday for a closed-door meeting with Senate Democrats to urge them to support the fiscal cliff bill.

Senate compromise: How it happened

The agreement in the Senate was the result of a rekindling of an old friendship, secret offers, and legislative muscling.

Political fighting could still threaten US economy

Rising taxes will likely diminish economic activity, and the standoff has added to uncertainty — with the prospect of another standoff yet to come over the debt limit.

Avery Bradley

Bradley to return to Celtics, Rondo uncertain

Guard Avery Bradley is coming off surgery on both shoulders and hasn’t played in seven months.

//c.o0bg.com/rf/image_90x90/Boston/2011-2020/2013/01/01/BostonGlobe.com/Metro/Images/picknelly_01--90x90.jpg For two casino groups, a dispute over investor

Casino developers in Palmer and Springfield are arguing over which project may claim Peter Picknelly, who invested in Palmer before joining Springfield.

L Street Brownies

Hundreds plunge into frigid Boston Harbor

The water temperature was just above 40 degrees for the annual L Street Brownies New Year’s Day plunge.

At The Farm School in Athol, student farmer Sarah Habeck of Middletown, N.J., fed hay to Patience, a Jersey cow, during a morning milking in October.

Erik Jacobs for the Boston Globe

Dina Rudick, the wife of Erik Jacobs, squirted milk into the coffee of student farmer Sarah Habeck of Middletown, N.J., while helping out with milking chores.

Erik Jacobs for the Boston Globe

Erik Jacobs split wood for the farm's wood-fired boiler last month.

Erik Jacobs for the Boston Globe

Farm School staff member Josh Buell demonstrated how to use an angle grinder.

Erik Jacobs for the Boston Globe

Student farmers cleaned garlic.

Erik Jacobs for the Boston Globe

In November, a staff member held a slaughtered turkey in a killing cone to let it bleed out.

Erik Jacobs for the Boston Globe

Tess Morningstar (left), of Hopkinton and Eliza Homes of Orange harvested kale for CSA customers at The Farm School in Athol in October.

Erik Jacobs for the Boston Globe

exclusive wednesday preview | g cover

Letter from Farm School

A city dweller gets lessons in planting, harvesting, milking — and in the meaning of life.

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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

Editorial Event | Jan. 19, 2 p.m.

//c.o0bg.com/rf/image_90x90/Boston/2011-2020/2012/12/27/BostonGlobe.com/Special/Images/brooklyncastle_onesheet_final_27x40_alt.jpg Exclusive Screening of Brooklyn Castle

See the film and participate in a talk with cast members, moderated by Boston Globe movie editor Janice Page.

Globe exclusives

Top row: Kevin White, Helen Gurley Brown, Phyllis Diller, George McGovern. Middle: Mike Wallace, Nora Ephron, Rodney King, Dave Brubeck. Bottom: Chuck Colson, Whitney Houston, John Silber, Don Cornelius.

Remembering those lost in 2012
Jimmy Craig (left) and Justin Parker. The duo behind Fatawesome, who have been friends since high school, had a viral hit with the video “Cat-Friend vs. Dog-Friend,” which spurred some national attention.

G Cover

Trying to ride viral videos to wider fame
Brenda Van Der Merwe, a real estate agent, says she is not making any resolutions. “You should already be doing it,” she said.

Many not making New Year’s resolutions
Jane Greer and Robert Mitchum in a scene from the 1947 film noir ‘’Out of the Past,’’ directed by Jacques Tourneur.

Critic’s Notebook

Let us now praise (not quite) famous men

Books

The year in books

Hometown Heroes: the best local albums of 2012
Irving Berlin is one of a large group of Jewish composers who made it big on Broadway.

Television Review

Jews amid the culture of the Broadway musical

G Cover

Practical tips for a healthier 2013
Defense lawyers want separate trials for former state probation commissioner John J. O’Brien (left) and his codefendant, former Treasury aide Scott S. Campbell.

One trial in lottery job case, judge says
The Appleton Tracy pocket watch, serial number 50141, was a rare size 20, rather than the more common size 18.

Lincoln, a watch, and a link to history
Michelle Kosilek, a convicted murderer, sued for a sex change operation. Her defense team is seeking legal fees.

Challenges to inmates’ gender cases costly to Bay State
The Mighty Mighty Bosstones performing at the House of Blues during their Hometown Throwdown on Saturday.

Music Review

Bosstones throw down at House of Blues

Sports

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Dan Shaughnessy

Peyton Manning and Tom Brady could face each other again in the AFC Championship game.

Get ready for Tom Brady vs. Peyton Manning for AFC title

Manning and the Broncos are the only folks with a chance to keep the Patriots from a return trip to the Super Bowl in New Orleans.

Metro

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L Street Brownies

Hundreds plunge into frigid Boston Harbor

The water temperature was just above 40 degrees for the annual L Street Brownies New Year’s Day plunge.

Columnists

Boston Capital

Economy to grow if politics abate
A dancer performs in a New Year’s Eve celebration in Bali Monday.

James Carroll

A new year of pluralism
Bobo’s device measures heart rate.

Innovation Economy

A heart rate sensor that’s easy to wear

Tech Lab Plus

Meet the scale that talks to your phone
Peyton Manning and Tom Brady could face each other again in the AFC Championship game.

Dan Shaughnessy

Get ready for Brady vs. Manning for AFC title
Rob Gronkowski scored a touchdown for the Patriots in the fourth quarter against the Dolphins.

Christopher L. Gasper

Worth the risk to play Rob Gronkowski
President Barack Obama greets Chief Justice John Roberts before delivering his State of the Union Address on Capitol Hill in Washington in 2012.

Joan Vennochi

Bipartisan bright spots, met with derision
Congressman Ed Markey won’t be facing the name power of Ben Affleck—who announced he won’t be running—but he still has the chance to act like a star.

Joanna Weiss

Ed Markey needs to find his inner celebrity
In recent years, Boston has reveled in championships by the Bruins, Red Sox, Patriots, and Celtics — but it certainly appears that this widespread “golden era” is over.

Bob Ryan

State of Boston’s sports teams in 2013
The Super Bowl is exactly 11 years after the Pats won their first title.

Christopher L. Gasper

Patriots tough enough to make it back to Super Bowl

JEFF JACOBY

Kerry’s ‘realist’ approach slips into callousness

INNOVATION ECONOMY

Early adopters could give Boston entrepreneurs a boost

Nation & World

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Twenty-six stars were installed on the roof of the Sandy Hook fire station to commemorate the shooting victims.

Sandy Hook students set to head back to school

Classes resume Thursday for pupils of Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., nearly three weeks after the shooting rampage.

Politics

Hillary Rodham Clinton was also treated for a blood clot in 1998, while her husband was still president.

Hillary Clinton still hospitalized for blood clot

The secretary of state continues to recover in a New York hospital where she is being treated for a blood clot in her head.

Business

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A bad year for car recalls due to defects did not slow down sales during 2012.

Sales of vehicles helped save US economy in 2012

Vehicle purchases by consumers alone accounted for roughly 30 percent of all economic growth in the first half of the year.

Arts

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Music Review

Lee Fields and the Expressions covered a broad spectrum of soul Monday night that stretched from the pain of loss to playful joy.

Soulful master marvelously runs the emotional gamut

Lee Fields and the Expressions covered a broad spectrum of soul Monday that stretched from the pain of loss to playful joy.

Food & dining

Culinary chef Jesse LaMontagne, left, with his mom, Michele Holbrook, right, posed for a picture in the 'Poparazzi' popcorn bucket set up for customers to take fun pictures, inside her business, Michele's Sweet Shoppe in Epsom, N.H.

Kernels of gourmet goodness are popping up all over

At least five specialty popcorn stores opened this year in Massachusetts and more are sprouting around the country.

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 human future is full of possibility — because wondrous, once unimagined possibilities have already been realized.”

James Carroll 

Ideas

“An ending has more life in it, more story in it, and is far more instructive than a beginning.”

James Parker, on the things, phenomena, and ideas that ended in 2012 

“I have lived in BHA housing all my life, and if you want the BHA, or someone, to do something, you have to call; otherwise it’s not going to happen.”

­Rebecca Davila,  a 34-year-old mother of three