By Lauren Dezenski, Globe Correspondent

A high pressure system gliding eastward will bring a much-needed dry and sunny day to southern New England, the National Weather Service said. Fine weather is set to continue, as the region finally breaks out of a stormy weather pattern through early next week, in a promising start for summer, which officially begins Friday.

By Milton J. Valencia, Shelley Murphy and John R. Ellement, Globe Staff

Hit man-turned-government-witness John V. Martorano said today he decided to testify against James “Whitey” Bulger after he learned that Bulger was an informant for the FBI and also because he did not want to face the death penalty for murders he committed in Oklahoma and Florida. Martorano is on the witness stand for the third straight day in the long-awaited US District Court trial of Bulger, a fearsome figure who prowled Boston’s underworld for decades and then went on the lam for 16 years before being captured in 2011.

By Travis Andersen and Jaclyn Reiss, Globe Staff and Globe Correspondent

NORTH ATTLEBOROUGH -- State and local police descended on the upscale home of New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez on Tuesday night, one day after a body was found in an industrial yard in town. North Attleborough police stood guard on either side of Hernandez’s home as troopers passed in and out of the residence and a crowd of onlookers and media milled outside.

By Haven Orecchio-Egresitz and Lauren Dezenski, Globe Correspondents

Powerful and fast-moving thunderstorms swept through the region Tuesday, producing pea-sized hail and flash flooding from Worcester to Boston and areas south. The heaviest rain fell in Southern Worcester County, Southern Middlesex County, and Northern Norfolk County, according to Alan Dunham of the National Weather Service.

By Wesley Lowery, Globe Staff

Almost a month after he was shot and killed by a Boston FBI agent, Ibragim Todashev's body was loaded on a 5:40 p.m. flight to Russia on Tuesday, concluding his family’s nearly monthlong process of getting his body home. Todashev's family has attempted to ship the body back to Russia since it was released by the Florida medical examiner the week after the shooting on May 22. However, according to family members and friends, the FBI has yet to release his green card and passport, both confiscated during their investigation, making booking a flight difficult.

By Shelley Murphy, Milton J. Valencia and John R. Ellement, Globe Staff

Coolly and calmly, former hit man John V. Martorano today continued to lay out a grim parade of murders in horrific, cinematic detail in his testimony in the trial of notorious gangster James “Whitey” Bulger in US District Court in Boston, Martorano has confessed to 20 murders but served only 12 years in prison after agreeing to tesitfy for the prosecution.

By Javier Panzar, Globe Correspondent

Stacey Monahan, director of the state’s Department of Transitional Assistance, went before a legislative committee and offered updates from a broad 100-day plan to reform the embattled agency. The agency has enduring months of heavy criticism over extensive reports of welfare fraud. Monahan, who was named director last week after serving as interim director since the February resignation of Daniel Curley, detailed new initiatives such as tougher requirements for those who request a fourth replacement of their EBT card.

By Lauren Dezenski, Globe Correspondent

A former personal banker has been sentenced to two years in prison and ordered to pay full restitution after stealing more than $100,000 from an elderly man and concealing her income to receive rent subsidies, Suffolk District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said. Before her indictment in January, Eden Cato, 29, used her position as a personal banker at a Bank of America to issue herself a debit card on a 73-year-old customer’s account, prosecutors said in a statement. She then used the card to tap the account, making 173 ATM withdrawals over nine months, collecting $103,253.50.

By Todd Feathers, Globe Correspondent

A Northeastern University student accused of sexually assaulting a woman at knifepoint in the Mission Hill neighborhood Saturday was charged today in a second assault that occurred less than an hour later, prosecutors said. Patrick Barry, 21, is set to be arraigned on assault with intent to rape charges in West Roxbury District Court today in connection with the second attack. Both assaults occurred near Huntington Avenue early Saturday morning within a mile of Barry’s apartment, according to police.

By Todd Feathers, Globe Correspondent

In an attempt to connect with a Roxbury community already stung by a summer surge in violence, Boston police officers will join YMCA staff Friday for the first in a series of hot dog cookouts they hope will attract the neighborhood’s young adults, the YMCA said today. The weekly cookout, from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. every Friday at the Roxbury YMCA branch at 285 Martin Luther King Blvd., is part of the city’s wider strategy to engage youth in troubled neighborhoods through large social events and acclimate them to police.

By Lauren Dezenski, Globe Correspondent

Troopers have shut down the left northbound lane of Interstate 395 in Webster after two people were seriously injured in a crash early this afternoon, State Police said. The car crashed at 12:20 p.m., State Police said. Local firefighters worked to free the two victims, who were trapped in the car, troopers said.

By Milton J. Valencia, Shelley Murphy and John R. Ellement, Globe Staff

In an intense and sometimes bizarre verbal battle with defense attorneys for James “Whitey” Bulger, ex-hit man John V. Martorano insisted today he is “a nice guy’’ who should not be considered a serial killer, even though he has murdered 20 people. “Were you a serial killer?” defense attorney Henry Brennan asked Martorano as the cross-examination of Bulger’s former henchman got underway in US District Court today. “No,’’ Martorano replied “Serial killers kill until they get caught or stop. I confessed my murders. Serial killers kill for fun. They like it. ... I never liked it. I never had any joy.”

By Colin A. Young, Globe Correspondent

Two rock climbers from the Boston area were injured when one of the climbers and a guide fell more than 20 feet off a cliff, landing on the other climber, in Acadia National Park near Bar Harbor, Maine, officials said. After the fall on Sunday, the injured climbers waited for more than three hours at the base of the seaside cliff as rescuers worked to remove them without causing further injuries. Bar Harbor Fire Chief Matt Bartlett said the injuries appeared to be serious but not life-threatening.

By John R. Ellement, Globe Staff

The death of a man whose body was found Monday in an industrial park in North Attleborough is under investigation by Bristol District Attorney C. Samuel Sutter Jr.’s office. The body was found around 5:30 p.m. Monday. Sutter’s office would not release the name of the street where the body was found and would only say it was discovered in “an industrial park in North Attleborough.’’

By Brian Ballou and John R. Ellement, Globe Staff

A 21-year-old Northeastern University student allegedly attacked a woman near the Boston school on Saturday, leaving her bleeding after he tried to cut off her clothes with a knife and threatened to rape her, an Suffolk prosecutor said today. Patrick Barry was arrested Sunday and was arraigned today in Roxbury Municipal Court, where he pleaded not guilty to assault with intent to rape. Bail was set at $30,000 cash.

By Lauren Dezenski and Martin Finucane, Globe Correspondent

Cautioning residents about the possibility of high winds and large hail, forecasters issued severe thunderstorm warnings this afternoon for various areas of Massachusetts as powerful storms swept east across the state. Weather service radar late this afternoon showed a string of storms rolling towards the Boston area from Western Massachusetts. “Keep an eye on the sky,” said weather service meteorologist Bill Sipson.

By Colin A. Young, Lauren Dezenski and Todd Feathers, Globe Correspondent

A man and woman were shot in a car near Devon Street and Vaughan Avenue in Dorchester this afternoon, but a baby sitting in the back seat was unharmed, Boston police said. Authorities received a call for shots fired at 1:57 p.m., police said. All three in the car were hospitalized, Boston EMS spokeswoman Jennifer Mehigan said. The man is in serious condition and the woman was in stable condition as of 2:30 p.m.

By Shelley Murphy, John R. Ellement and Milton J. Valencia, Globe Staff

Former hit man John Martorano today became the first witness in James “Whitey” Bulger’s federal trial to tie the notorious gangster to a murder. Martorano testified that he fatally shot Alfred “Indian Al” Notorangeli from a car in 1974, while Bulger rode in a second car, ready to cut off anyone who tried to interfere with the killing.

By Lauren Dezenski, Globe Correspondent

Police believe that a Beverly woman who claimed she was kidnapped and locked in the trunk of her car had made the episode up, and she will now face a charge of falsifying a police report, Beverly police spokesman Mike Boccuzzi said. Around noon on Monday, criminal investigators were in the process of interviewing Maria Brayfield about the alleged carjacking when they determined she made up the story, Boccuzzi said.

By Todd Feathers, Globe Correspondent

Police have identified the two men shot to death Sunday in an apparent murder-suicide in Swansea that allegedly escalated after an argument over money, State Police said today. Swansea police and State Police responded to a report of shots fired on Stephen French Road around 6 p.m. Sunday and found Mitchell Stevenson, 37, of Tiverton, R.I., fatally shot in a car, State Police said.

By Todd Feathers, Globe Correspondent

Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino announced today that the city will begin staffing eight pools and one beach seven days a week in preparation for the end of the school year and a hot summer. This is the first week during which the pools will be open all seven days. The hours for the pools will vary Monday through Saturday; opening and closing times are available on the city’s website. On Sundays, all the pools are open from 11:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m., Menino said in a statement.

By Peter Schworm, Globe Staff

Donations to The One Fund Boston have topped the $50 million mark, as fund administrators begin reviewing some 212 compensation claims from victims of April’s Marathon bombings.

Payments will be distributed at the end of the month. All donations received before June 27 will be distributed to survivors and families of victims. Fund officials expect to receive additional claims over the next couple of days. The deadline to mail claims was June 15. The fund - which now totals $51 million - will remain active after initial payments are made, and no deadline has been set for accepting donations.

By Matt Rocheleau, Globe Correspondent

Two people were found shot to death — one inside a car and the other in a nearby home — in Swansea on Sunday evening, authorities said. Shortly after 6 p.m., town and State Police surrounded an area of Stephen French Road after receiving a 911 call that gunshots had been fired and someone had been shot, according to a statement from the Bristol district attorney’s office. Police said they found a person inside a car who had been fatally shot. Witnesses said the shooter had fled into a nearby home, the statement said. Soon after, a single gunshot was heard. Inside the home, officers found the body of a male who had died from an apparent gunshot wound to the head, authorities said. No one else was inside the home. No other injuries were reported.

By Jaclyn Reiss, Globe Correspondent

A head-on collision between two cars on Route 9 in Leicester Sunday evening left one person dead and another with non-life threatening injuries, according to the Leicester Police Department.

By Jaclyn Reiss, Globe Correspondent

Two separate fires in Dorchester buildings Sunday evening caused a cumulative $425,000 in damage and displaced one family, according to Boston fire officials.

By Katherine Landergan, Globe Correspondent

A man who was shot Sunday afternoon in Springfield has died, according to Springfield police officials. Captain Cheryl Clapprood said that police responded to the area of 14 Montcalm St. at 5:20 p.m., where they found a man suffering from a gunshot wound. Clapproad said several shots were fired during the incident, and the man was shot at least once. The victim was taken to Baystate Medical Center, she said. The State police crime scene unit also responded to the scene. Clapprood said police found several shell casings on the ground, and that they were “canvassing the area for any witnesses.” The incident is under investigation by the Springfield police detectives bureau.

By Jeff Fish, Globe Correspondent

Hingham police are asking for the public’s help in finding a man they say tried to run down a police officer with a truck and crashed into another vehicle before escaping on foot, according to the Hingham Police Department. Police have identified the man as 30-year-old Bruno Brauer, of Brazil, who was staying at a motel in Saugus at the time of the incident. His previous residences were in Somerville, Malden, Medford, and Everett, according to a statement from the Hingham Police Department.

By Colin A. Young, Globe Correspondent

A man and a women were found suffering from gunshot wounds around the same time early Sunday morning in Dorchester, about a half-mile apart, according to Boston police. The two are recovering in “critical but stable condition,” said Police Officer Katherine Shea, a Boston Police Department spokeswoman Although the two locations are so close, Shea said officers are investigating the shootings as separate incidents.

By Jeremy Fox and Todd Feathers, Globe Correspondents

Boston police responded to two separate shootings in the city’s neighborhoods late Saturday night.

A man with gunshot wounds was found outside a single-family home at 321 Wood Ave. in Hyde Park, according to Boston Police Superintendent Kevin J. Buckley. The victim was taken to Boston Medical Center with non-life threatening injuries, he said.

Buckley said a sports utility vehicle was sprayed with a round of gunfire near the scene and a suspect may have been seen heading down River Street away from the scene.

Meanwhile, one person was shot in Dorchester late Saturday night, Boston police said. Police did not immediately have information on the gender of the victim or the extent of the injuries.

By Noah Bierman, Globe Staff

Senator Elizabeth Warren on Saturday night called Syrian President Bashar Assad’s use of chemical weapons “reprehensible,” but warned that without clear goals, America could risk getting bogged down in another Middle East war.

Warren, a Massachusetts Democrat, made the comments in a written statement to the Globe, a day after the newspaper made several requests to learn her view of President Obama’s decision to help the rebels with arms.

Warren, in her carefully worded statement, did not specifically condone or condemn the actions. He spokeswoman did not immediately respond to a request to clarify.

By Gal Tziperman Lotan, Globe Correspondent

A 21-year-old Army ranger from Dudley died during a training exercise in Georgia Thursday, a spokesman for the 75th Ranger Regiment said. Rangers found Private First Class Christopher P. Dona unconscious on the ground with no pulse after jumping out of a C-17 aircraft at Fort Stewart, the straps from his parachute around his neck, said Lieutenant Colonel Brian DeSantis, a public affairs officer for the 75th Ranger Regiment. They tried to revive him, but were not successful.

By Jeff Fish, Globe Correspondent

Two women have been arrested and a third has been identified in an attack on an MBTA bus in Boston in which the suspects allegedly threw bleach on a man’s face and then robbed him, according to the MBTA Transit Police Department.

Police have arrested 22-year-old Lai Lawnnie Douglas of Boston and an underage suspect, and have identified a third suspect, according to a statement from Transit Police. The incident occurred around 2 a.m. on June 9 on a Route 28 bus on Blue Hill Avenue.

By Jeff Fish, Globe Correspondent

A house fire in Quincy displaced five people Saturday and sent two of them to the hospital with burns, according to the Quincy Fire Department.

When firefighters arrived at the two-story, two-family, wooden house on Hanna Street at about 7 a.m., they encountered heavy fire and smoke, but everyone was already out of the house, said Quincy Fire Captain Dan Gorman. The conditions of the two injured people are unknown but Gorman said they are not life-threatening.

By Gal Tziperman Lotan, Globe Correspondent

State officials advised people to stay away from a brook in Shrewsbury and two ponds in Northborough until at least Monday as a precaution after a sewage system overflowed with rainwater. Water from the week’s rainstorms dislodged a manhole cover, and untreated sewage mixed with rainwater spilled into Hop Brook in Shrewsbury, which flows to Smith Pond and Thayer Pond in Northborough. Drinking water should not be affected, said Ed Coletta, a spokesman for the state Department of Environmental Protection.

By Chris Stuck-Girard, Globe Correspondent

Witnesses reported seeing the man exchanging fire with another vehicle, said Officer Neva Coakley, a Boston police spokeswoman. The victim , whose name was not released, then crashed into a parked car, Coakley said. At about 12:49 p.m., officers responded to the area of 88 Wellington Hill St. and found the man suffering from gunshot wounds, according to a statement posted on the Boston Police website this afternoon. The man was pronounced dead on the scene.

By Javier Panzar, Globe Correspondent

A New Hampshire man was arrested and charged with manslaughter this morning in the death of 2-year-old Noah York in Somersworth, N.H., Friday night, state authorities said. Jared Pope, 30, of Somersworth is expected to be arraigned Monday in Dover District Court, said Geoffrey Ward, an attorney in the criminal bureau of the state attorney general’s office.

By Dan Adams, Globe Correspondent

Boston Police are investigating the attempted sexual assaults and non-life threatening stabbings of two women in separate incidents near Mission Hill early this morning. In both incidents, the women were attacked from behind by a man with a knife, but both were able to escape their attackers despite being stabbed. Police said the incidents may be connected and are asking for the public’s help in identifying a suspect.

By Chris Stuck-Girard, Globe Correspondent

A 65-year-old man who used a motorized wheelchair was killed in a hit-and-run accident in Somerset late Friday night, police said. At about 11:43 p.m., police found James Moore, of Somerset, apparently knocked out of his wheelchair, lying on Read Street close to Southway Drive, about a quarter mile from his residence, police said in a statement released this morning. Moore was pronounced dead at 12:55 a.m. today at Fall River’s Charlton Memorial Hospital, the statement said.

By Travis Andersen, Globe Staff

The town of Wellesley has hired an outside consultant to review operations at Morses Pond, which has been closed since a 10-year-old boy from New Hampshire drowned there two weeks ago.

In a letter to residents posted on the town’s and Police Department’s websites Friday, Wellesley officials said that an “aquatics safety professional,” who was not named, is reviewing the pond’s emergency action plan, staff qualifications, and rescue equipment, among other factors.

“The Pond has remained closed to allow time for the Wellesley Police Department to complete their investigation,” the letter said.

“During this period the Town has also taken steps to ensure the safety of all residents and other guests who visit the Pond in the future,” including commissioning the outside review.

By Milton J. Valencia and Shelley Murphy, Globe Staff

Two former bookmakers from the 1970s and 1980s told a federal jury Friday that they were forced to make payments to James “Whitey” Bulger and his crew, and that the gangster and his cohorts had a reputation for hurting anyone who did not follow their demands. “I had heard about them because their reputation preceded them. They were very capable,” said Richard O’Brien, 84, who ran gambling rackets for years and said he was forced into a meeting with Bulger in the mid-1970s.

By Brian Ballou, Globe Staff

Living at the end of River Street in Natick, with the Charles River literally a stone’s throw away, residents here are aware of the danger of flooding. It happened in 2006 and 2009, when the Charles crested and covered the land around several residences, and boats were the only way to reach them. The river swelled again overnight and reached the patio steps of several homes. It is expected to rise just a bit more through Saturday before receding. “Of course, I’m worried, but at least the ducks are happy,” said Anastasia Karakasidou, an anthropology professor at Wellesley College.

By Todd Feathers, Globe Correspondent

A Providence man was charged with negligence today in the death of a 4-year-old girl who was ejected from a car he was driving after he crashed through a guardrail on the northbound lane of Interstate 495 in Bellingham, State Police said.

By Todd Feathers, Globe Correspondent

MBTA Transit Police have arrested a girl and have secured an arrest warrant for a 22-year-old woman who allegedly threw bleach in a man’s face and then robbed him. Transit Police have only identified the juvenile as a Boston resident. The 22-year-old has been identified as Lai Lawnnie Douglas of Boston.

By Martine Powers, Globe Staff

Almost two months after being shot while pursuing the alleged Boston Marathon bombers and nearly dying, MBTA Transit Police Officer Richard Donohue departed today from Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital for his home in Woburn, 20 pounds lighter but grateful for his recovery.

By Sean P. Murphy, Globe Staff

Sentencing has been postponed for Michael E. McLaughlin, the former executive director of the Chelsea Housing Authority, who has admitted to concealing his inflated $360,000 salary from the state and federal agencies that funded and oversaw his office. The postponement comes after prosecutors told US District Court Judge Douglas P. Woodlock that McLaughlin told a former employee in 2012, a year after he was forced to resign, to destroy time cards that may have been used to justify his pay. The new allegation could add to his sentence. The judge today set a hearing for July 17 on the obstruction of justice allegation.

By Maria Cramer, Martin Finucane and Lauren Dezenski, Globe Staff and Globe Correspondent

A 41-year-old New Bedford man died this morning after being shot by a state trooper during an altercation on Route 28 in Quincy near the Randolph line, authorities said. A trooper from the Milton barracks fired his gun in a “violent confrontation” with the driver of a car that had been reported to be operating erratically, said Colonel Timothy Alben, head of the State Police.

By Peter Schworm and Todd Feathers, Globe Staff and Globe Correspondent

In the town he called home, in the church he attended as a child and where he later brought his family, more than 500 people gathered today to pay their respects to former Massachusetts governor Paul Cellucci, who was struck down by Lou Gehrig’s disease Saturday at the age of 65. He was remembered as a “family man of faith who tried to make the world a better place” in a homily by Ronald Calhoun, the pastor at St. Michael Parish in Hudson.

By Todd Feathers, Globe Correspondent

One person was hospitalized with burns after a fire broke out early this morning in a single-family home in Wilmington, Fire Lieutenant John Brown said. Information about the severity of the person’s injuries was not immediately available.

By Bryan Marquard, Globe Staff

A writer, philanthropist, and activist, Joan Parker was also a muse extraordinaire to her late husband, mystery writer Robert B. Parker, and the inspiration for Susan Silverman, the fictional girlfriend of Spenser, the private investigator who was her husband’s greatest creation. Mrs. Parker, who died Wednesday, was 80 and lived in Cambridge.

By John R. Ellement , Globe Staff

The man shot and wounded by police during a confrontation in South Boston with Boston and State Police Wednesday night was armed with a pellet gun and was shot after he appeared to fire on police, authorities said today. The man was identified as Kenneth Connelly, 53, of South Boston. He is currently in critical condition at Boston Medical Center, State Police spokesman David Procopio said in a statement. Authorities said the use of deadly force against Connelly remains under investigation by Suffolk District Attorney Daniel F. Conley.