Partners, Harvard Pilgrim discussing possible merger

If Partners and Harvard Pilgrim do move forward with a deal, they are likely to face scrutiny in a state where policymakers and consumer groups are focused on controlling medical costs.

ANALYSIS

//c.o0bg.com/rf/image_90x90/Boston/2011-2020/2018/05/03/BostonGlobe.com/National/Images/a1aaafdd2ede4ec3afd1acb6f6516c49-a1aaafdd2ede4ec3afd1acb6f6516c49-0.jpg Is it ever a good idea to admit to paying off a porn star?

Here?s a political riddle: Is it ever a good idea to stand up and admit to paying off a porn star to keep quiet about a sexual encounter?

//c.o0bg.com/rf/image_90x90/Boston/2011-2020/2018/05/04/BostonGlobe.com/Politics/Images/e18c67d0d6f8427d9257da818902b1d7-e18c67d0d6f8427d9257da818902b1d7-3115-kOvF--90x90@BostonGlobe.com.jpg Trump suggests Giuliani misspoke on adult film star

Despite pointing out that former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani only just started and will ?get his facts straight,? President Trump insisted ?we?re not changing any stories.?

Cambridge Brands, between Kendall Square and Central Square, is owned by Tootsie Roll Industries.

Scott Kirsner for the Boston Globe

INNOVATION ECONOMY

A factory in Cambridge makes 14 million Junior Mints a day. Why is no one allowed inside?

Cambridge Brands keeps a low profile, but it?s a big business.

Boston, MA - 5/1940: A view from the water of Gallops Island in the Boston Harbor, May 1940. (Boston Globe Archive/) --- BGPA Reference: 180501_MJ_008

Boston Globe Archive

Winter weather helped uncover a dark past on Gallops Island

Gallops Island is silent now, but traces of the tragedy that once cloaked this former quarantine station in Boston Harbor are resurfacing from its eroding soil.

Arthur Winn, chairman of Winn Properties, in 2009.

A wealthy developer is charged with assault, but he says he?s a victim of extortion

The prominent real estate developer was arraigned Thursday on charges that he choked his home health care nurse ? an accusation he claims she fabricated to extort him.

//c.o0bg.com/rf/image_90x90/Boston/2011-2020/2018/05/03/BostonGlobe.com/Metro/Images/comp-15576.jpg Bowing to pressure, Stanley Rosenberg resigns after 31 years

The Amherst Democrat, who has served as a legislator for 31 years and whose resignation will take effect Friday at 5 p.m., also expressed grief about the situation.

Pet boa constrictor fatally crushes small puppy in Amherst

Police shot and killed a 6-foot-long pet boa constrictor after it fatally crushed a small puppy in Amherst Wednesday afternoon.

Sponsored by Nova Scotia Tourism

Toast to a good time with locally brewed drinks along Nova Scotia?s Good Cheer Trail

Think you can taste all the microbrews, crisp wines, and fresh-pressed ciders this province has to offer? Grab your passport and make it happen.

This content was produced by Boston Globe Media in collaboration with the advertiser. The news and editorial departments of The Boston Globe had no role in its production or display.

Boston, MA: 5-3-18: The Celtics Jayson Tatum hangs around the rim after his slam dunk on a nice feed from teamamte Terry Rozier III brought the crowd out of their seats and gave Boston a 103-97 lead, on their way to a 108-103 victory. The Boston Celtics hosted the Philadelphia 76ers in Game Two of their NBA Eastern Conference Semi Final playoff series at the TD Garden. (Jim Davis/Globe Staff)

DAN SHAUGHNESSY

More than a win: The Celtics crushed the Sixers? souls

The undermanned Celtics again have made themselves the favorites because they have Brad Stevens and the Sixers don?t.

Left to right, Celtics owner Wyc Grousbeck, Gucci Mane, New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, and Meek Mill are pictured together during a timeout during the Thursday?s game.

Meek Mill, Gucci Mane, and Robert Kraft hung out at a Celtics game

Game 2 of the Celtics-Sixers series brought a unique crowd to TD Garden Thursday night, making way for an odd trio ? Gucci Mane, Meek Mill, and Robert Kraft.

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//c.o0bg.com/rf/image_90x90/Boston/2011-2020/2017/04/19/BostonGlobe.com/Sports/Images/tlumacki_NEPatriotsatBostonGlobe_sports168.jpg Trump to tap Bill Belichick for sports council

We may now have some insight into the reason behind last week?s lengthy call between the president Trump and the Patriots coach.

//c.o0bg.com/rf/image_90x90/Boston/2011-2020/2017/08/18/BostonGlobe.com/Metro/Images/allenstown2-3-9879.jpg Golden State Killer investigator says N.H. serial killer investigation inspired him

A California detective who worked on the Golden State Killer case told the New York Times that he was inspired by the way investigators solved a New Hampshire cold case.

Pier 4 model home interiors with two different styled kitchens and view of Boston Harbor.

In Boston?s ultra-luxury condos, you live in the city without dealing with city life

Even more than the views ? which are heartbreakingly fabulous, don?t get me wrong ? what today?s luxury developers are selling is lifestyle.

Photos

Hawaii?s Kilauea Volcano erupts

Ash plumes climbed into the sky and molten lava chewed its way through forest land and bubbled up on paved streets during the eruption.

Many Caribbean beaches, such as this one in Martinique were untouched by hurricanes in 2017. Still, the Caribbean stands to lose $3 billion over the next four years.

Christopher Muther/Globe staff

Christopher Muther

Despite a speedy recovery, the Caribbean is poised to lose billions of tourism dollars

The Caribbean could see losses totaling more than $3 billion during the next four years until visitor rates climb back to 2016 levels.

Video

//c.o0bg.com/rf/image_90x90/Boston/2011-2020/2018/05/04/BostonGlobe.com/National/Images/tripping1-6520-kc0H--90x90@BostonGlobe.com.jpg Watch as a man literally trips up an armed suspect outside this Ohio library

Police watched as a bystander?s fancy footwork outside a library tripped up an armed suspect?s efforts to flee from officers.

//c.o0bg.com/rf/image_90x90/Boston/2011-2020/2016/12/27/BostonGlobe.com/Lifestyle/Images/GettyImages-607402204.jpg Heathrow Airport gets into the ?May the Fourth? spirit

It?s ?Star Wars? Day. And at Heathrow Airport, the 16:05 flight to Alderaan is cancelled.

//c.o0bg.com/rf/image_90x90/Boston/2011-2020/2018/05/04/BostonGlobe.com/Metro/Images/2015-01-05T193002Z_795546465_GM1EB1609MM01_RTRMADP_3_USA-LAWSUIT-BRITAIN-ROYALS-15615-kaWE--90x90@BostonGlobe.com.jpg Alan Dershowitz consulting for Harvey Weinstein?s legal team

In a court filing, Dershowitz said he?s been hired by a lawyer for Weinstein.

Dinner With Cupid

//c.o0bg.com/rf/image_90x90/Boston/2011-2020/2018/05/03/BostonGlobe.com/Magazine/Images/cupid0506comp.jpg Blind date: ?Punctuality is important to me, (and) she showed up before I did?

Will these analytical singles figure out they want the same things in life?

Love Letters: The Podcast

Love Letters Podcast

//c.o0bg.com/rf/image_90x90/Boston/2011-2020/2018/05/01/BostonGlobe.com/Lifestyle/Images/17283_LL_Podcast_HP_Episode_7_Tease.png Can you really get back together?

It?s tempting to think you can undo a breakup. And maybe you can, but odds are you?ll need time, distance, and lots of life in between.

Listen:   Apple Podcasts   |   Stitcher   |   RadioPublic

 

Opinion & Ideas

Dante Ramos

//c.o0bg.com/rf/image_90x90/Boston/2011-2020/2018/05/04/BostonGlobe.com/Ideas/Images/ramos-1414.jpeg Take the low road in Allston

If we don?t make smart investments now, future generations will wonder: What on earth were they thinking?

Newsletters

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Start the day with early-morning business, tech, and economic news Monday through Friday. Sign up here.

Breaking News Alerts

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Get the latest news ? from weather to Trump to local happenings ? delivered via Facebook messenger.

Special reports

STAT

//c.o0bg.com/rf/image_90x90/Boston/2011-2020/2018/05/04/BostonGlobe.com/National/Images/Trump%20tweets.jpg Can Trump use the bully pulpit to lower drug prices? Don?t bet on it

There are already suggestions among some administration officials that the political climate created by the president has helped keep prices in check.

Globe must-reads

?Tully? stars Charlize Theron as a New Jersey wife and mother expecting her third child.

Movie Review | ? ? ?

In ?Tully,? she is messy, but she?s Charlize
LOID: 8.4.1687094744 Item Name: 30futureexecs(2) Content Folder: Business Asking a question is Urmi Samadar, of MIT, from left, Terelle Brown, volunteer, and Laura Koller of MIT at Daena Giardella's MIT Sloan sexual harassment workshop, training future business leaders on how to deal with/prevent sexual harassment, especially as more women get MBAs. Rose Lincoln for the Boston Globe

Tackling workplace sexual harassment before it starts
Braintree?s mayor is eager to see significant development on the nearly 20 acres that currently serve as a parking lot for people who ride the shuttle service to Logan Airport.

Braintree shuttle lot awaits development

Delays plague the Red, Green lines in rush-hour commute
Neither a team of outside attorneys, nor lawmakers themselves, could find one formal Senate rule Stanley Rosenberg actually broke.

Stanley Rosenberg didn?t break any Senate rules. Now the Senate is considering changing them
Senator Elizabeth Warren

Names

Elizabeth Warren says she has a crush on an action film star
Stormy Daniels (left) and President Trump.

A timeline of the Stormy Daniels-Donald Trump saga
Boston?s once-grubby waterfront has come a long way in the five decades since Boston Harbor Cruises first docked its fleet at Long Wharf.

Talking Points

Boston Harbor Cruises in fight with its Long Wharf landlord
Castle Island?s Summer Beer Garden will debut beneath the Southeast Expressway.

BOTTLES

Here are five Boston-area beer gardens to start enjoying in May
FILE - This April 26, 2017, file photo shows the Twitter app on a mobile phone in Philadelphia. Twitter is advising all users to change their passwords. The company said Thursday, May 3, 2018, that it recently discovered a bug that stored passwords in an internal log in an unprotected form. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)

Twitter urges users to change their passwords after discovering a bug that revealed them internally
An artist?s rendering shows what the Winthrop Square tower (center) would look like on the city?s skyline.

Winthrop Square tower design finally approved
A boy leaned against a fence as he watched firefighters battle the blaze in Chelsea on Wednesday.

Six-alarm fire in Chelsea causes $1.5 million in damage and leaves 57 people homeless

Sports

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ARLINGTON, TX - MAY 03: David Price #24 of the Boston Red Sox reacts after giving up two runs against the Texas Rangers in the bottom of the third inning at Globe Life Park in Arlington on May 3, 2018 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images)

RANGERS 11, RED SOX 5

An ugly loss leaves Red Sox just one game up on Yankees

David Price allowed nine runs, and Boston dropped the opener of a 10-game road trip.

Metro

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Christopher Love stood on the porch of his home, overlooking the parking area where he was arrested.

Cambridge couple sues city and police for 2015 arrest, claiming excessive force, racial bias

The suit also claims that the city of Cambridge did little to train officers in racial bias and failed to address the concerns of minorities.

Real Estate

Cambridge home strikes balance between urban edge, pastoral calm

The property, which fronts a busy street but has a pastoral view out back, represents the best and worst of urban living.

Politics

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FILE - In this June 13, 2016, file photo Rev. Patrick Conroy, chaplain of the House of Representatives, delivers an interfaith message on the steps of the Capitol in Washington for the victims of the mass shooting at an LGBT nightclub in Orlando. Conroy, a Roman Catholic priest from the Jesuit order, has been forced out after seven years by House Speaker Paul Ryan after complaints by some lawmakers claimed he was too political. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

House chaplain wins job back after scalding letter to Paul Ryan

The embattled chaplain accused a top Ryan staff aide of telling him ??something like ?maybe it?s time that we had a Chaplain that wasn?t a Catholic.???

Cars

Search This Week's Specials

Tesla CEO Elon Musk's peculiar conduct causes angst on Wall Street

His conference call behavior was labeled bizarre by some investors.

Columnists

UMass Boston has gleaming new buildings and dorms ? as well as hefty debts.

shirley leung

Should Boston run UMass Boston? The mayor thinks it?s an idea worth discussing
An Airbnb advertisement for a room in South Boston.

adrian Walker

$36 for an Airbnb in Southie. But it?s in a public housing unit
Lambert Nieme grew up in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and as a boy, helped his father on the family?s sheep farm near the capital city of Kinshasa.

THOMAS FARRAGHER

He tended sheep in Congo. Now, he?ll tend souls in Boston
Boston, MA: 4-28-18: The Celtics Al Horford (left) and the 76ers Joel Embiid battle for position under the boards in the second half. The Boston Celtics hosted the Philadelphia 76ers for Game One of their NBA Eastern Conference Semi-Finals playoff series at the TD Garden. (Jim Davis/Globe Staff)

DAN SHAUGHNESSY

Celtics-76ers rivalry could be just like the good old days
Boston, MA--4/30/2018-- A visitor to the Harvard School of Public Health's mock safe injection site checks out the items on the demonstration table set up underneath a tent on the quad near the medical school in Boston. (Jessica Rinaldi/Globe Staff) Topic: 01nestorSafeInject Reporter:

Nestor Ramos

A practical plan for fighting overdoses ? but not in Massachusetts
Mount Ida College

Yvonne Abraham

A hard lesson at Mount Ida
Longtime residents who see the city?s renaissance hanging in the balance want MGM to finish the $960 million casino job.

THOMAS FARRAGHER

Springfield wants MGM to stay ? badly
The Wynn Boston Harbor Resort Casino is under construction in Everett.

Shirley Leung

Will Wynn blink first in showdown over Everett casino?
The Celtics? Al Horford brought the TD Garden fans out of their seats after hitting a 3-pointer to give Boston a 77-70 lead.

CHRISTOPHER L. GASPER

It got hot on the court, but Al Horford kept his cool
Former U.S. Ambassador to the UN John Bolton speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), Friday, Feb. 24, 2017, in Oxon Hill, Md. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

SCOT LEHIGH

The great deal-breaker takes on the Iran accord

Renée Graham

Use your white privilege to fight racism
Indian boy Montu Das, 11, collects leaves from a tree that will be dried for use as cooking fuel from a forest in Gauhati, India, Monday, April 22, 2018. April 22 is observed as Earth Day every year as a tool to raise ecological awareness. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)

JEFF JACOBY

Earth Day and the doomsters

Nation & World

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A San Francisco Police Department wanted bulletin and copies of letters sent to the San Francisco Chronicle by a man who called himself Zodiac were displayed Thursday in San Francisco.

DNA match sought to Zodiac Killer after break in other case

Northern California detectives say they hope to try the same DNA-tracing technology recently used to arrest a suspect in the Golden State Killer case.

Business

An artist?s rendering shows what the Winthrop Square tower (center) would look like on the city?s skyline.

Winthrop Square tower design finally approved

Plans for the 690-foot-tall building must next go before the Boston Planning & Development Agency.

Arts

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Ali Wong is at Medford?s Chevalier Theatre Friday and Saturday.

COMEDY

Belly laughs are Ali Wong?s specialty

The comic, who comes to Medford for four weekend shows, has recorded two Netflix specials while pregnant.

Movies

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Bill Murray in ?Caddyshack.?

Ty Burr

So what are the best sports movies?

?Caddyshack? is on the list. So are ?Raging Bull? and ?Eight Men Out.?

Lifestyle

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From left: Richard Jenness, Anne Healy, Chrissy Barrows, Robert Sack and the writer work together in an escape room adventure, set in London, at Skeleton Key in Lynnfield.

Skeleton Key brings upscale luxury to the escape room experience

Escape rooms are popular and popping up all over. Maybe that?s because in an increasingly online world, we are longing for in-person, interactive experiences.

Real Estate

Address

//c.o0bg.com/rf/image_90x90/Boston/2011-2020/2018/04/06/BostonGlobe.com/Lifestyle/Images/stan-fellows-home-nest-illustration$medium.jpg Spring House Hunt: Should parents buy property in a college town?

As the spring house hunt gets underway and National College Decision Day nears, thoughts are turning to campus housing.

The Big Picture

Jonathan Wiggs/Globe Staff

The Big Picture

Globe staff photos of the month, April 2018

Here?s a look at some of the best images taken by Globe photographers last month: a funeral for a fallen police officer, the Boston Marathon, and a new home for a lost dog.

Crossword

//c.o0bg.com/rf/image_90x90/Boston/2011-2020/2017/08/21/BostonGlobe.com/Business/Images/crossword.jpg Play the crossword

Puzzled? Keep trying your hand at our interactive crossword and see if you can triumph.

Magazine

The cover for the April 29 2018 issue

The cover for the April 22 2018 issue

The cover for the April 15 2018 issue

Through Rough Seas
The cover for the April 8 2018 issue

Boston is the nation?s college capital. Here?s how to keep it that way