By Brian R. Ballou, Globe Staff

After initially denying the 9-year-old daughter of a slain convenience store clerk a visa to attend his funeral, the US Embassy in Kathmandu, Nepal, issued the girl a visa today, according to a family friend.

Surendra Dangol

Dangol was working the counter of a Tedeschi Food Shop on Centre Street in Jamaica Plain the day after Christmas when he was shot to death.

Dangol had been hoping to be reunited with his wife, Kalpana, and daughter, Sunila. He had filed Immigration papers so they could live with him, relatives said.

By Globe Staff

State Police are investigating after two people died in two separate car crashes on the Massachusetts Turnpike today, one in Westborough and one in West Stockbridge.

Geoffrey Kennedy, 49, of Nashua was killed early this morning in the Westborough accident.

By Globe Staff

A bus caught fire on Interstate 93 northbound this afternoon, forcing the temporary closure of two lanes, but no injuries were reported.

The fire was reported at about 3:25 p.m. at Exit 33. A heavy-duty tow truck was summoned to tow the bus away, and the two lanes have since been reopened, said Sergeant Matthew Murray, a State Police spokesman.

By Globe Staff

Police in the town of Leicester are looking for the driver in an unusual hit-and-run accident -- one where the victim was a house.

At about 5 p.m, a Massasoit Drive resident called police reported hearing a loud bang and feeling the house shake, Leicester Police said in a statement.

The resident went outside and saw a male standing outside a pickup truck. The resident yelled, asking what had happened, and the man jumped into the truck and left the scene.

By Matt Viser, Globe Staff

Attorney General Martha Coakley raised more than $1 million over the past six weeks for her US Senate campaign, bringing her total haul for the race to $5.2 million, her campaign reported today.

Coakley, who faced three opponents in the Democratic primary, started the final stretch with less than $500,000 in her campaign account, compared with about $300,000 for her Republican rival, state Senator Scott Brown.

Coakley raised the $1 million between Nov. 20 and Dec. 31, the campaign said this afternoon. The campaign did not release donor lists or how much money the campaign spent over that period. Those details must be included in information that has to be submitted next week to the Federal Election Commission.

By Bryan Bender and John R. Ellement, Globe Staff

The mother of a Bolton native killed in a terrorist attack in Afghanistan that claimed the lives of seven CIA agents today mourned the loss of her youngest child, but also spoke proudly of his devotion to his family and his country.

Harold Brown Jr.

Brown's mother, Barbara Brown, said in a telephone interview today that her son told her he worked for the State Department. She said he had been deployed to Afghanistan since April, and that he was formerly an Army officer who specialized in military intelligence.

"He was a wonderful, caring person that wanted to help make things good for the world,'' said Barbara Brown, whose husband, Harold Brown Sr., is director of public works for Bolton. "I want the world to know my son was a good man.''

By Martin Finucane, Globe Staff

In the final chapter of a long legal saga, the state's highest court ruled today that an exchange of e-mails among Wayland School Committee members about the performance of the school superintendent violated the state's open meeting law.

The "private e-mail exchange ... violated the letter and spirit of the open meeting law," the Supreme Judicial Court ruled.

"Governmental bodies may not circumvent the requirements of the open meeting law by conducting deliberations via private messages, whether electronically, in person, over the telephone, or in any other form," the court said in a five-page opinion written by Justice Francis X. Spina.

The court rejected the School Committee's argument that "preliminary e-mail communications" between the school committee members were not considered "records of a meeting" and were not subject to the open meetings law disclosure requirements.

By Globe Staff

Drive carefully. That's the advice this afternoon from the National Weather Service, which says that the snow that is falling now will end by around 4 p.m. but not before making untreated roads snow-covered and slippery.

State troopers have responded to dozens of weather-related accidents across the state, said Sergeant Matthew Murray, a State Police spokesman. Troopers are currently responding to 10 or 15 calls right now, including one-car spinouts and multiple-car fender benders, he said.

"Today's just a good day to allow for plenty of time to get to your destination. Make sure you have a full tank in case you get stuck in a traffic situation. And allow for extra spacing between you and the car in front of you," he said.

By Shana Wickett, Globe Correspondent

Scores of people in Medford went without water Wednesday night and early this morning because of a water main break blamed on the city's aging infrastructure.

A small leak occurred on Harvard Avenue near Winchester Street around 4 p.m. Wednesday, followed by a larger leak across the street near Colby Street at about 9 p.m., said John Buckley, the city's public works commissioner. He said 100 to 150 customers were affected.

Crews worked through the night until water service was restored around 8 a.m. today, he said. Crews finished all repair work around 10 a.m.

Barbara Riley of Cambridge, who lost her 19-year-old son, Michael, to a drunk driver last year awaits her turn to speak during a news conference warning of the dangers of drunken driving Wednesday at the Liberty Hotel.

Essdras M. Suarez/Globe Staff

Jonathan Wiggs/Globe Staff

Keepers of the beat, Jose Feliz (middle) and other drummers rehearsed Wednesday for the Grand Procession.

By Globe Staff

Organizers are hoping that a million people will descend on Boston tonight for First Night Boston, the 34-year-old arts and culture celebration that has become a model for similar celebrations worldwide.

The festival offers more than 1,000 artists displaying their work in 200 exhibitions and performances at 35 locations, says First Night Boston spokeswoman Joyce Linehan.

The event kicks off with the 1 p.m. kid-friendly Fedex Family Festival at the Hynes Convention Center. There's additional programming in the afternoon, and then the Metro Boston Grand Procession begins at 5:30 p.m. in front of the Hynes with Mayor Thomas M. Menino leading the way.

By Globe Staff

A 24-year-old Falmouth man is facing domestic violence and firearms charges after allegedly holding his girlfriend and their young child against their will in a motel room for 24 hours, Falmouth police said today.

Michael James Finnegan allegedly had a gun and was holding the woman and child in a room at the Seven Seas Motor Lodge on Scranton Avenue. The woman went to the police station to seek help at 8:36 p.m. Wednesday, police said in a statement.

By John M. Guilfoil, Globe Correspondent

A Roxbury teenager was stabbed by his sister in an apparent domestic dispute Wednesday afternoon.

Police tonight said the 17-year-old was stabbed inside their home on 40 Wendover St. A police report earlier in the day had said the victim was stabbed outside the home.

The victim allegedly refused to answer the doorbell after he was asked to do so by his 23-year-old sister, who was cooking in the kitchen, according to police. She ran into the room he was in at the same time he ran toward the room she was in, and the brother was stabbed in the arm, police said. Police said they are not sure if the stabbing was accidental or intentional.

The knife apparently nicked an artery, and the victim lost a lot of blood, police said. He was taken to Boston Medical Center in critical condition but later was stabilized. He is expected to recover.

The victim’s name was not released. The sister was taken into custody, but police said they are unsure if they will pursue charges against her. The investigation is ongoing.

By John M. Guilfoil, Globe Correspondent

By Maria Cramer, Globe Staff

As law enforcement officials today announced a $25,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction in the killing of a store clerk in Jamaica Plain, the victim's relatives said they had learned the clerk's 9-year-old daughter in Nepal would not be allowed in the country for the funeral because US Embassy officials had denied her a visa.

Surendra Dangol's wife, Kalpana, had reserved three plane tickets to Boston to attend her husband's funeral -- one for her, another for Dangol's brother, and another for her daughter, Sunila. But on Tuesday, she was told that she could only have two visas to enter the country because US officials were concerned that if they provided them more than that, the family would try to stay in the country, her uncle Bimal Shrestha said in a telephone interview."

By Matt Viser, Globe Staff

Scott Brown is a Wrentham Republican running for US Senate in Massachusetts.

But Scott Brown is also a musician and web designer living in a seaside town in New Zealand.

The two men may never confuse voters on the streets of, say, Needham, or North Adams. But they have gotten mixed up a bit in cyberspace, namely on Twitter.

The New Zealander has a Twitter handle of ScottBrown. Our Scott Brown goes by ScottBrownMA.

"my apologies for any unwanted tweets, my election is over on Jan 19 ;)" the Senate candidate wrote to his online doppelganger on Tuesday.

"they are coming in thick and fast!" the New Zealander wrote back. "I have been letting people know what your Twitter account is."

The New Zealand Scott Brown describes himself as a "Designer, Musician, Husband, Father, Dharma Bum, Thinker, Writer, Underground Instigator." Needless to say, his tweets are of a different ilk than ScottBrownMA. To wit, this Sunday entry: "Tonight, we grill."

Globe photo/Josh Reynolds

Students at Pentucket Regional High School created a memorial to Matthew McCarthy at his assigned school parking space.

By Jonathan Saltzman and John R. Ellement, Globe Staff and Travis Anderson, Globe Correspondent

WEST NEWBURY -- Scores of students gathered at the Pentucket Regional High School today, mourning the stunning loss of a star athlete, hockey team captain Matthew McCarthy, who collapsed and died at practice Tuesday night.

"His life was about hockey, that's all he did,'' said Nate Natola, 17, and, like McCarthy, a senior at the regional school.

Natola, who said McCarthy, a 17-year-old from Merrimac, was one of his best friends since they met in eighth grade, described McCarthy as a "bubbly, goofy kid who was easy to get along with.''

By Shana Wickett, Globe Correspondent

Brenda Ferro of Burlington joked that she was getting punished for the way she celebrated Christmas this year.

Strong winds and cold temperatures that rocked greater Boston on Tuesday pushed a large pine tree into Ferro's house on Pontos Avenue where she has lived for the past 12 years.

"That’s what I get for not having a Christmas tree this year [for the] first time," Ferro said in a telephone interview today.

By Globe Staff

David P. Angel, Clark University's provost and vice president of academic affairs, was named the ninth president of the college today.

Angel, an expert in sustainability science and one of the primary architects of the Worcester university's liberal arts education initiative, will succeed John Bassett, who plans to leave Clark in July to become the president of Heritage University in Washington state.

Angel, 51, has served as Clark's provost since 2003 and first joined the faculty in 1987. He received his bachelor's degree from Cambridge University and his doctorate from UCLA.

Click here to read Clark's announcement of the appointment, and here for a previous Globe story about the college's partnership with the city of Worcester to revitalize a neighborhood through an innovative education program.

Boston fire department spokesman Steve MacDonald describes how a firefighter fell while searching a burning Jamaica Plain condo for occupants this morning. The firefighter suffered a broken collarbone and facial injuries. (Boston Globe video by Brian Ballou)

By John R. Ellement and Brian Ballou, Globe Staff

A Boston firefighter was injured this morning while fighting a fire inside a condo under construction in Jamaica Plain when he fell through a hole in the floor, landing on his face one floor below, a fire official said.

The two alarm fire was the latest to hit Sigourney Street where at least two arson fires have been discovered since Feb. 7, 2008. The cause of this morning's fire inside the three-story condo remains under investigation, said Steve MacDonald, Boston fire spokesman. A $5,000 reward for information was offered this March.

The firefighter from Ladder 23 was rushed to Brigham and Women's Hospital where doctors said he sustained a broken collarbone and facial injuries, said MacDonald.

"He is expected to recover,'' MacDonald said. He declined to identify the firefighter by name but said he has been on the force for about 20 years. "It is not life threatening.''

By Globe Staff

For the first time since winning the primary, Republican US Senate candidate Scott Brown today began airing a television commercial, a 30 second spot that invokes the words, images, and ideas of a Democratic icon, the late President John F. Kennedy.

The ad uses old black and white newsreel footage of Kennedy as he pushed for tax cuts in 1962 and then dissolves into Brown - who first is shown in black and white then fades into color - while he quotes from the same speech, according to Brown's campaign.

In a statement, the Brown campaign said the ad "makes the point that Kennedy and Brown are two different people, from different political parties and different eras, but with the same message: lower taxes will create more jobs.''

Brown and his Democratic rival, Attorney General Martha Coakley, have been sparring over tax policy in recent days.

Brown and Coakley are running to fill the Senate vacancy created this August when President Kennedy's younger brother, Edward M. Kennedy, died. Independent candidate Joseph L. Kennedy is also running.

Coakley has not aired any television ads in the general election campaign.

By Globe Staff

A 17-year-old high school hockey player died Tuesday, not long after he collapsed on the ice following a team practice, Haverhill police Lieutenant Joseph Florent said.

The player, who was identified as Matthew McCarthy of Pentucket Regional High School, collapsed while the team came to a circle in the center of the ice at Veterans Memorial Skating Rink in Haverhill. McCarthy, of Merrimac, was quickly tended to by coaches and rushed to Merrimack Valley Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Florent said Tuesday night that the death is under investigation, but that no foul play seemed to have occurred. He said the collapse did not occur after immediate physical contact, and that the player had no apparent injuries.

By Globe Staff

By James Vaznis, Globe staff

The House of Representatives appears poised to consider an overhaul of the state's most troubled schools next week, as members take up a bill that could represent a major setback for the state's teachers unions.

The House Ways and Means Committee, which is overseeing the drafting of the bill, sent out a version to committee members this afternoon for a vote. If the majority approves it, the bill will go to the full House next week.

By Shana Wickett, Globe Correspondent, and John R. Ellement, Globe Staff

By Noah Bierman, Globe Staff

By John Ellement, Globe Staff

Democratic US Senate candidate Martha Coakley today outlined a tax plan that she says would benefit the middle class and small businesses, and not the wealthy she argues have been unfairly helped by Bush-era tax cuts.

Coakley said she wants to make a $2500 college tax credit -- called the American Opportunity Tax Credit -- permanent for low- and middle-class families. She also wants to increase the child and dependent care tax credit to help offset the cost of day care.

In addition, Coakley proposed making permanent the federal Research and Development Tax Credit for companies and research institutes, as well as increasing money for microloans made by the Small Business Administration and enacting other tax credits for business who invest in hiring and training new employees.

"We must provide a targeted infusion of tax relief to the middle class and to small businesses to support them and continue to move us out of this difficult economy,'' Coakley, the state's attorney general, said in a statement.

Coakley used the opportunity to take a shot at her Republican opponent in the Jan. 19 election, state Senator Scott Brown of Wrentham.

"While Scott Brown supports the Bush-Cheney tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans that contributed to our growing national deficit, I believe we should be offering real tax relief to those middle-class families and small businesses who need it most," Coakley said.

Brown's campaign cited research from the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center showing that nearly three-fourths of families, not just the wealthy, are getting a tax cut this year from the two tax bills signed into law by President Bush in 2001 and 2002. His campaign also posted online a mock restaurant tab contending that some of the policies Coakley supports will cost taxpayers more than $2 trillion dollars by 2014.

By Brian Ballou and John R. Ellement, Globe Staff

A Nepalese immigrant did everything that an armed robber asked of him -  but still the man shot and killed him inside a Jamaica Plain convenience store, outraged authorities said today.

Boston police and Suffolk County prosecutors today released the surveillance video from inside the Tedeschi convenience store on Centre street showing how the thief entered the store, menaced the clerk with a pistol -  and how the clerk complied with every demand made of him.

Police did not release the final seconds of the video, which captured the shooting of 39-year-old Surendra Dangol.

"This is a very dangerous individual who committed a senseless and horrific crime,'' said Boston police Superintendent-in-Chief Daniel Linskey said during a press conference at Boston Police Headquarters today.

Dangol offers no resistance as the suspect who is dressed in a black coat, a black hat and what appears to be a black scarf over the lower half of his face. The suspect stands in front of the counter near the cash register and points a handgun directly at Dangol, standing about a two feet away.

Dangol is seen literally raising his hands and then stuffing a blue backpack full of cash from the cash register before he is shot.

 "There are jobs fraught with danger in this world. Police officers, firefighters, soldiers, and others know the risks of their duties, and so do their families,''Suffolk District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said at the press conference. "Surendra Dangol did not have one of those jobs."

Dangol, was 39 years old and was living in Somerville while he worked to raise money to bring his wife and child from his native Nepal, friends told the Globe.

By Meghan Irons, Globe Staff

They came with a list of names: All are priests. All have ties to Ireland. All are accused of sexually abusing children in the United States.

A Waltham-based group that has been chronicling the US clergy sex scandal unveiled today the names of 60 to 70 accused priests it says were either born in Ireland or are of Irish descent who came to the United States and re-offended. The group, BishopAccountability.org, demanded that Cardinal Sean P. O'Malley of Boston and Bishop Thomas J. Tobin of Providence to comb the records of their dioceses and make public the names of any credibly accused Irish priests who have worked there.

By revealing the names, the group said it hopes to highlight the issue of immigrant Irish priests who are known pedophiles and whose past histories of alleged abuse have long been "outsourced" to the United States.

Globe staff photo/ Bill Greene

By Shana Wickett, Globe correspondent

"Penguins," created by Donald Chapelle of Brilliant Ice Sculpture in Lawrence, is one of six large ice sculptures to be installed around Boston for First Night Boston, the annual New Year's Eve extravaganza. The sculptures have been popular attractions during previous First Nights and part of each Boston event since the annual event began 34 years ago.

"Only First Nights that have a particular climate can support ice sculptures, and I believe we have more ice sculptures than any other First Night, and I believe they are bigger," said Joyce Linehan, spokeswoman for First Night Boston, which includes 200 events featuring about 1,000 artists in more than 35 locations in Boston.

Linehan expects about 1 million people will attend, including many tourists in town for the NHL Winter Classic at Fenway Park on Jan. 1.

However, a Northeaster could crash the party. Charlie Foley, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Taunton, said the storm will move up from the Gulf of Mexico to the mid-Atlantic coast, but the track and severity of the storm is undetermined.

Globe photos/Yoon S. Byun

A security dog checking luggage at Logan today.

By Noah Bierman, Globe Staff

About an hour and 10 minutes before landing, the airline crew made an announcement that it was last call -- for the bathroom.

New security measures for international flights, which limit passenger movement up to an hour before landing in the United States, provoked the unusual message, and a line of about 10 to 15 passengers at the lavatory.

"It's just one of those things," said Olivia Crossey, an Irish-born Boston resident who was on the flight from Ireland to Logan International Airport this afternoon.

By Globe Staff

Fans of history and poetry are hoping the city of Methuen gets a $3,000 grant to preserve an attendance log that poet Robert Frost used when he taught grammar school more than a century ago.

The bound volume is in need of the care of preservationists and the city has applied for a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services for the money. The book is currently being stored in a city hall vault.

The volume was first discovered about 20 years ago by Michael Hughes, a Methuen High School history teacher, and handed over to the Methuen Historical Society where it was stored in the basement of the Masonic Lodge on Broadway. Mathew A. Kraunelis, chief of staff to Manzi and a Frost fan, rediscovered the volume earlier this year.

"It's very important,'' Mayor William M. Manzi III said in a telephone interview today. "It's actually more than a book just with a signature in it. It's actually in Robert Frost's hand."

By Globe Staff

Boston police searching for the killer of a convenience store clerk are asking the public's help in identifying a white car seen fleeing from the Jamaica Plain crime scene this weekend.

Police released two images of the white four door sedan, possibly Dodge or Chrysler make, that the shooter got into after attacking the clerk at the Tedeschi's store Saturday around 3 p.m.

The victim has been identified as Surendra Dangoi, 39, and of Somerville. He was working at the store in the 700 block of Centre Street when he was shot by a man heavily bundled in dark clothing.

The suspect was spotted getting the car, which fled toward the Jamaicaway.

Boston police asked anyone with information to contact the Crimestoppers line at 1-800-494-TIPS or texting TIPS to CRIME (27463). Homicide detectives can be reached at 617 343-4470.

By Brian Ballou, Globe staff

The man accused of causing a fatal wrong-way crash on the Mass Pike had a blood alcohol level nearly three times the legal limit when stopped by State Police, a Suffolk County prosecutor said today.

Philip Daniels wore a somber expression when he was arraigned today in Boston Municipal Court on charges of operating under the influence of alcohol, causing a motor vehicle homicide,  and operating under the influence of alcohol, causing serious bodily injury.

By Matt Viser, Globe Staff

State Senator Scott P. Brown blasted his Democratic rival in the US Senate race today for her support of a national health care plan that Brown says would raise taxes and fees on Massachusetts residents and businesses without providing any benefits.

"I could be the 41st senator that could stop the Obama proposal that's being pushed right now through Congress," Brown, the GOP nominee for US Senate, said at a news conference in the state Republican Party's headquarters in downtown Boston. "I could stop it and they could bring it back to the drawing board."

Dina Rudick/Globe Staff

Two police officers investigating the deaths left the apartment building where the bodies were found. Two bodies were found in this Mattapan apartment on Monday, December 28, 2009. Boston police believe the deaths of a man and a woman may be the result of a murder-suicide.

By Maria Cramer, Globe staff

Boston police believe the deaths of a man and a woman, whose bodies were found inside a Mattapan apartment this morning, may be the result of a murder-suicide.

Boston Police Superintendent-in-Chief Daniel Linskey said the investigation into the deaths remains ongoing. But he said detectives believe the killer is one of the two deceased people.

"At this point time we believe there was a domestic incident,'' he said. "We are not looking for any suspects.''

Police said one of the victims had stab wounds, but they said a cause of death won't be established until autopsies are performed by the state medical examiner's office.

The identities of the man and the woman were not released, pending notification of next of kin, police said.

A relative discovered the bodies inside the fourth floor apartment in the Fairlawn Apartments complex around 8:20 a.m. Police were notified soon afterward.

By Globe Staff

Authorities in Fall River are investigating the alleged murder of a man whose body was discovered wrapped in a carpet that two people were carrying out of a building.

According to Bristol District Attorney C. Samuel Sutter's office, a man and a woman are charged as accessories to murder after the fact and are scheduled to be arraigned today in Fall River District Court.

The two were identified as Angel Garcia, 27, and Neidy Mendez, 31. According to Sutter's office, Garcia and Mendez both live in a third floor apartment on Aetna Street in Fall River.

Around 2 p.m. on Sunday, police were alerted that two people were allegedly trying to carry a body out of the Aetna Street building wrapped in a carpet. Garcia and Mendez were intercepted by police and placed under arrest, prosecutors said.

The identify of the victim has not yet been confirmed. He was described as being in his late 20s or 30s.

Gregg Miliote, spokesman for Sutter, said this morning that authorities do not see any connection between the Fall River killing and the discovery last month in North Attleborough of a body wrapped in a carpet.

"That's just an odd coincidence,'' he said. "We don't believe any of the circumstances are the same in either investigation.''

The North Attleborough victim has been identified as Henry Octavio Campos Gutierrez, 32, a Guatemalan citizen who crossed into the United States in California six days before his body was found on Nov. 29.

The investigation into Gutierrez's murder remains ongoing.

By John M. Guilfoil and Taylor Adams, Globe Correspondents

Two people are dead after a string of suspected arsons in the quiet city of Northampton in western Massachusetts early this morning, according to police and fire officials.

Northampton Police Sergeant Dorothy Clayton said that eight fires, four in houses and four in vehicles, were started during a period of about one hour beginning just before 2 a.m. this morning. The victims have not been identified.

A state official with direct knowledge of the investigations, speaking anonymously because the preliminary investigation is ongoing, said this was one of the worst cases of arson officials have seen in recent memory in the state.

At least one person died in one of the house fires. It was not immediately clear how the second victim died.

By Peter Schworm, Globe Staff

Police today identified the body of a woman found dumped in an East Boston alley on Wednesday as Julienne Corrao, a 39-year-old Boston resident.

She was found stuffed in a large nylon bag, her wrists bound. Authorities did not say how she was killed, although two law enforcement sources previously said it appeared she had been beaten.

Corrao had lived in a number of places in Boston, a police spokesman said, declining to provide her last known address.

"We don't want to jeopardize the investigation," said Joe Zanoli, a spokesman for the Boston Police Department. Autopsy results are incomplete.

Tracy Jan, Globe Staff

While they have no official say over whether Massachusetts could open the state's first public law school, legislators on both sides of the issue are threatening to file legislation as pre-emptive strikes before the state Board of Higher Education makes its final decision in February.

State Senator Stanley Rosenberg is preparing legislation that would bar the proposed public law school at UMass Dartmouth from using state funds because he is skeptical of Chancellor Jean MacCormack's promise that no tax dollars would be used in creating or sustaining the law school.

Well, an eye for an eye, retorted South Coast members of the state House of Representatives. In response to Rosenberg, South Coast delegation members, who support the law school, shot back recently by saying they would file their own legislation requiring new academic programs at UMass Amherst to be self-sustaining. The legislation would also seek to equalize per-student state-appropriation funding within the UMass system.

"The law school has no intention to use state funds, but if Senator Rosenberg is going to offer a rule to UMass Dartmouth, the same rules should apply to graduate programs across the system," said state Representative John Quinn of Dartmouth.

Per-student state-appropriation funding at UMass Amherst, the system's flagship campus, was $10,020 in fiscal year 2009, while it was just $6,569 at UMass Dartmouth, according to Quinn, citing UMass data.

By Terri Schwartz, Globe Correspondent

A fire at a Quincy elderly housing highrise this morning claimed the life of a woman, according to city fire officials.

Firefighters responded to the call at 7:54 a.m. The cause of the two-alarm fire that started in the unidentified victim's third-floor apartment was under investigation, said Deputy Fire Chief Gary Smyth.

By Eric Moskowitz, Globe staff

Matthew J. Lee

By Emma Stickgold, Globe correspondent

Cardinal Sean P. O'Malley today expressed shock at the attack on Pope Benedict XVI just before the Christmas Eve Mass by a woman with apparent psychiatric problems, saying the incident highlights the need to tackle mental health.

"Mental illness is such a challenge," O'Malley told reporters before offering a prayer service at St. Francis House in downtown Boston.

Protecting a figure like the pope poses a challenge when it comes to crowds that can number in the tens of thousands, the cardinal said.

"Security is always very difficult whenever there's a large crowd."

By Jack Nicas, Globe Correspondent

By Michael Levenson, Globe Staff

By Maria Cramer, Globe Staff

Boston Police are investigating the death of a woman whose body was found in a large blue bag in East Boston Wednesday night.

Police are still trying to figure out the identity of the woman, who appears to be the victim of a homicide. The exact cause of death was not immediately available, but police expected autopsy results today.

By Michael Levenson, Globe Staff

US Senator Paul G. Kirk rose from the wooden desk where his predecessor and close friend, Edward M. Kennedy, had worked for 47 years and with Kennedy's widow, Vicki, looking down from the gallery, bellowed "aye."

With that pronouncement, Kirk cast one of the 60 Democratic votes needed to stop a Republican filibuster and complete his friend's lifelong mission of expanding health care coverage to the millions of Americans who don't have it.

Afterward, Kirk and his fellow Democratic senators signed a copy of Newsweek magazine with Kennedy on the cover and presented it to Vicki Kennedy for Christmas.

"It's not too much to say that Massachusetts really provided the 60th vote on the most important domestic legislation since Social Security," an emotional Kirk said today in an interview.

Kirk said that when he cast his vote, his fellow senators were nodding, smiling, and flashing the thumbs-up.

"It was clear they could feel his loss and the sense that he wasn't there to do it himself," Kirk said. "And it was congratulations to the guy who was lucky enough to stand at his desk and cast his vote for Massachusetts. It was a pretty emotional and historic morning."

By Jack Nicas, Globe Correspondent

A 66-year-old man was shot to death in his Lynn apartment today, Essex County prosecutors said today.

At about noon, police found Bennett Halprin suffering from multiple gunshot wounds in his second-floor apartment at 23 Atlantic St. He died later at NSMC Union Hospital in Lynn, the Essex district attorney's office said.

Lynn and State Police are investigating the shooting in conjunction with the district attorney's office.

Police are asking anyone with information to call their anonymous tip line at 781-477-4444.

Dina Rudick/Globe Staff

Passengers waited for shuttle bus service outside the station Tuesday night.

By Martin Finucane, Globe Staff

The MBTA says it has determined that a broken wheel caused the derailment Tuesday afternoon of a Red Line train leaving Alewife Station.

MBTA officials said one of the eight metal wheels on the fourth car of the six-car train cracked and a doughnut-shaped piece of steel fell off.

The officials said they have been moving quickly to try to figure out why the wheel broke and making widespread inspections to look for signs of possible similar problems. None have been found, said Anna M. Barry, director of subway operations.

By Globe Staff

A woman was seriously burned in a fire on Highland Street in Lowell this afternoon, police said.

The fire department responded at about 12:30 p.m. to the fire in a multi-unit apartment building, Lowell Police said in a statement.

The woman, whose name was not released, is being flown by helicopter from Lowell's Cawley stadium to a Boston hospital.

The cause of the fire is under investigation, police said.

John Tlumacki/Globe Staff

The cardinal served one client a piece of pie at the lunch.

By Meghan Irons, Globe Staff

Bill Robichaud used to have a job and a home.

Now Robichaud has space at the Pine Street Inn.

Today Cardinal Sean P. O'Malley blessed him with good health and a good future.
"It means a lot to me,'' said Robichaud, a former priest who is now homeless.

By Globe Santa Staff

The amount of money contributed to the 2009 Boston Globe Santa Fund went over the $1 million mark this morning and with the drive continuing until Dec. 31, it is possible that the total will exceed the $1,301,857.63 contributed in 2008.

Santa Fund director William Connolly, announcing the latest figures on the amount of money donated to the drive, expressed the "sincere thanks of Globe Santa" to the thousands of people who have made contributions.

Late tonight, Globe Santa and his many United Parcel Service "helpers" will complete the task of delivering gifts to 55,813 children 12 and under residing in some 180 eastern Massachusetts cities and towns. The total number of needy families provided with Christmas gifts for their children this year totaled 31,574.

This year marked the 53rd year of the Globe Santa program. Historically, Globe Santa has received considerable money during the week after Christmas, much of it from people "sharing their good fortunes of the season with others who were less fortunate."

John Tlumacki/Globe Staff

Police used spray paint on the snow to indicate how Moore's body fell after being hit.

By Brian R. Ballou, Globe Staff

Quincy police are looking for a hit and run driver after a 63-year-old Milton man was fatally injured by a vehicle in that city this morning.

Police say Paul Moore, 63, of Milton was found on the sidewalk near 68 Robertson St. with trauma to his upper torso.

By Andrea Estes, Globe Staff

Politicians around the state are angling for a shot at becoming the next Massachusetts attorney general, should Martha Coakley win the special US Senate election on Jan. 19. But one such candidate has taken himself out of the running, choosing instead the chance to work for Boston's other favorite pastime: baseball.

David Friedman, who has been Martha Coakley's first assistant since 2007, has accepted a job with the Red Sox.

A former Harvard Law Review president who served as counsel and chief policy adviser for former Senate president Robert Travaglini for four years, Friedman has been given a big title: senior vice president/special counsel. He will work on a range of matters, including the team's relationship with Major League Baseball.

"I'm a big fan and a member of Red Sox nation," said Friedman, 38. "I'm excited to join a team of smart, dynamic leaders who run a great organization."

Under state law, lawmakers have the power to choose Coakley's successor if she wins the Senate seat next month. Though the House has more votes than the Senate -- 160, compared with 40 -- the Senate president has the power to hold up the election, because it is up to her to call the joint session.

As a former Senate staffer, Friedman could have been an acceptable compromise candidate for Senate President Therese Murray. Anyone who would fill Coakley's seat would serve only until November, when several candidates are expected to run for attorney general.

By Globe Staff

Bill Greene/Globe Staff

By Maria Cramer, Globe Staff

A 7-year-old boy was rescued by school nurses and Boston Emergency Medical Services technicians after he apparently began choking on food earlier today, police said.

Just after noon, the boy, a second-grader whose name was not released, was celebrating at a holiday party with his classmates at the Josiah Quincy Elementary School in Boston, said Matthew Wilder, spokesman for the Boston public schools.

Suddenly, he became unresponsive and went into cardiac arrest, Wilder said. It is unclear what triggered the problem.

Dina Rudick/Globe Staff

John Piccinin with his daughter Hanna at their Bellingham home

By Brian R. Ballou, Globe Staff

A little girl who didn't know her father was coming home from Iraq for Christmas got a surprise gift today when he walked into her classroom at an elementary school in Bellingham.

As her kindergarten classmates stared, wide-eyed, at the fatigue-clad man, Hanna Piccinin appeared bewildered for a moment, then flashed a smile and leapt into her father's outstretched arms.

Moments after the reunion, National Guard Sergeant John Piccinin, holding Hanna in his arms, stood outside her classroom and said, "This is great.''

By Michaela Stanelun, Globe Correspondent

Two kittens found in a clothing donation box in Dorchester earlier this week are recovering with a foster family, the Animal Rescue League said today.

The kittens, named Dutchie and Tootsie and thought to be about 5 weeks old, are in good condition after being found in a freezing Planet Aid box on Blue Hill Avenue in Dorchester, said league spokeswoman Jennifer Wooliscroft. A Planet Aid worker called Boston Police and the Animal Control after finding the kittens. The boxes are checked every three to four days.

When found, the kittens appeared to be thin and bony, and authorities said they could have frozen to death or been crushed by objects thrown into the box.

Because the kittens are still very young, they are living with a foster family which has shown interest in adopting them. However, the Animal Rescue League will be providing veterinary care, including spraying/neutering and inserting microchips. To make donations, go to www.arlboston.org/donate or call 617-426-9170, ext. 615.

John Blanding/Globe Staff

Brown, Coakley and Kennedy at a debate last night. Brown wants more debates and would prefer that Kennedy not be included.

By Globe Staff

Democratic Attorney General Martha Coakley's campaign announced today that she had agreed to participate in three more debates in the race to fill the US Senate seat left vacant by the late Edward M. Kennedy.

But her opponent, Republican state Senator Scott Brown, criticized Coakley for not agreeing to more and for not agreeing to debate with him one-on-one. The two debates previously held and the three planned will all include the third candidate who will be on the ballot, independent businessman Joseph L. Kennedy.

By Andrea Estes, Globe Staff

Republican gubernatorial candidate Christy Mihos was knocked unconscious Tuesday night after slipping on the ice outside the Hyannis headquarters of his convenience store chain, Christy's.

Christy Mihos

He suffered cuts on his head, face, and left hand, and broke some teeth. An employee found him, though he said he can't remember the details. He drove himself to Cape Cod Hospital's emergency room, where he was admitted and put through a battery of tests -- all negative. He was discharged after a few hours.

"It was stupid for me to drive myself to the hospital," he said. "I don't remember what or how I got there. I don't remember much."

The employee who found him said she tried to roust him when he was on the ground. "I kept screaming 'Christy, Christy, can you hear me? He got up and was totally out of it,'" said the employee, who asked not to be identified.

After coming to, Mihos decided to drive himself to the emergency room. "I wanted to yank the keys but he wouldn't listen," the employee said. "He said, `I'm fine. Don't slip.'" Today, she said, her boss "looks like he was in a really big fight. I would have hid."

Mihos, who ran unsuccessfully for governor as an independent in 2006, is now vying for the GOP nomination against former Harvard Pilgrim CEO Charles Baker. State Treasurer Timothy Cahill, running as an independent, is also seeking to unseat Governor Deval Patrick.

Jesse Nunes/Globe Staff

A children's slide was one of the more creative space savers.

By Jack Nicas, Globe Correspondent

Boston public works crews are scouring the streets today for the odd items that people leave in parking spaces after snowstorms in an attempt to reserve their own private spots.

"We started collection this morning. We take what's out there and then they come out and put something else there," said Public Works Deputy Commissioner Elmo Baldassari. "It's an ongoing battle."

By Stephanie Ebbert, Globe Staff

A district court judge today tightened the home confinement conditions for state Senator Anthony D. Galluccio and set a hearing for Jan. 4 to determine whether the Cambridge Democrat should go to jail for failing breathalyzer tests this week that were part of his probation for a fleeing the scene of a car crash in October.

Cambridge District Court Judge Matthew Nestor agreed to a request by the probation department for a "lockdown" that would require Galluccio to stay in his home 24 hours a day until the hearing. Under the original terms of his probation, Galluccio was allowed to leave his home to cast votes in the Senate and attend church.

Galluccio said Tuesday that he set off a false reading on the machine by using toothpastes that contain the substance sorbitol. After today's hearing, he said, "I have and will continue to live up to every commitment that I have made and every agreement that I have made."

By Tracy Jan, Globe Staff

The chairman of Suffolk University's Board of Trustees, who has come under fire for comments defending the college president's heft pay package, will step down.

President David Sargent announced today that his long-time friend and law school classmate Nicholas Macaronis, who has served as chairman for nearly a decade, is retiring from the board in February.

By Globe Staff

The state's highest court ruled today that judges can impose a sentence of probation after a defendant is convicted of the crime of armed home invasion, saying the ruling "may seem contrary to common sense" but was necessary because of the ambiguous language of the law.

The armed home invasion statute currently says that anyone convicted of the crime "shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for life or for any term of not less than 20 years."

But the statute, in a previous version, had contained language that specifically barred a suspended sentence or probation for anyone who committed the crime a second time, the Supreme Judicial Court noted. And the removal of that language, the court said, raised questions.

By Globe Staff

Boston College campus police officers were acting within their rights when they searched a dorm room in 2007 and allegedly found marijuana, cocaine, and psilocybin mushrooms, the Massachusetts Appeals Court ruled today.

The appeals court overturned a lower court judge's decision to toss out the evidence seized in the case against Daniel Carr and John Sherman. The pair face charges of trafficking in cocaine, possession with intent to distribute psilocybin mushrooms, and possession with intent to distribute marijuana.

The court said that campus police operate under somewhat different rules from ordinary police when it comes to restrictions on searches under the Fourth Amendment of the US Constitution and Article 14 of the state Constitution.

By Michaela Stanelun, Globe Correspondent

A Halifax man who police believe struck a Plympton woman with his snowplow and then drove away will appear today in Plymouth District Court to face a criminal citation, police said.

Plympton Police Chief Matthew Clancy said Robert Savastano, 61, was taken to the police station for questioning late Tuesday night concerning Monday night's hit and run accident that left Mary Burke, 47, of Plympton in the hospital with serious injuries.

Clancy said investigators, working on "multiple tips," went to Savastano's home and executed a warrant and found a vehicle with damage that was consistent with descriptions of the snowplow.

Joanne Rathe/Globe Staff

Firefighters at the scene this morning

By John R. Ellement, Globe Staff

A four-alarm fire this morning heavily damaged a building at a school for special needs students in Weston, but no one was injured, officials said.

The fire broke out about 6 a.m. at the Gifford School on Boston Post Road, in the Fenn Center building, which includes a science center, kitchen, gym, and cafeteria, said Michael J. Bassichis, the school's executive director. No students were at the school and no one was injured.

"The best thing is nobody is hurt," he said. "We will survive. We will rebuild it."

Firefighters were still using a ladder truck to douse the flames shortly after 8:30 a.m., as a plume of light gray smoke continued to rise from the gray, wood-framed building. The right side of the building was totally destroyed.

SOUTH BOSTON -- Among the unusual things people left out to mark their shoveled-out parking spots after this weekend's snow was this lawn chair on East Eighth Street. The City of Boston has a policy requiring people to remove all the placeholders 48 hours after a snow emergency is declared.

CREDIT

By Globe Staff

Service is back to normal -- almost -- on the Red Line after a train derailed last night near Alewife Station.

The MBTA has issued two alerts this morning, saying that riders should expect 5- to 10-minute delays up to 9:30 between Alewife and Harvard stations due to a "switch problem" at Alewife.

The T also says on its website that the line is experiencing 15- to 25-minute delays from Braintree to JFK due to a "power problem."

Republican Scott Brown, Democrat Martha Coakley, and independent candidate Joseph L. Kennedy

By Matt Viser and Eric Moskowitz, Globe Staff

Democratic Attorney General Martha Coakley and Republican State Senator Scott Brown clashed tonight in the first televised debate of the US Senate race, repeatedly arguing over the traditionally partisan issues of taxes, the scope of government, and one-party rule in Washington.

Brown used nearly every opportunity to peg Coakley as a big-spending Democrat, even turning questions about donating to panhandlers and the rate of unwed mothers into opportunities to talk about high taxes and job creation.

Special section

Senate race coverage

Wendy Maeda/Globe Staff

Senator Anthony D. Galluccio at a November court hearing

By Milton Valencia and Andrew Ryan, Globe Staff

State Senator Anthony D. Galluccio failed several breathalyzer tests today, a possible violation of his probation just four days after he pleaded guilty to leaving the scene of an accident and began serving a 6-month sentence of home confinement.

But Galluccio immediately blamed the breathalyzer readings on his two toothpastes, saying they contained sorbitol that could generate false readings.

By Noah Bierman, Globe Staff

A Red Line train derailed at Alewife Station this afternoon, forcing a shutdown of the line between Harvard and Alewife, and it is unclear whether train service will return to normal Wednesday, the MBTA said.

The fourth car of a six-car train went off the track just south of the station at about 4 p.m., said T spokesman Joe Pesaturo. Sixty-five passengers were safely evacuated.

Buses are replacing trains in both directions until the car is put back on the rails and moved, Pesaturo said in an email. He suggested that T riders check mbta.com for information on whether service is back to normal.

By Jonathan Saltzman, Globe Staff

A New Bedford woman is in federal custody in Hawaii after calling the Boston office of the Secret Service and threatening to kill Michelle Obama as the president and his family prepared for a visit to Hawaii, according to the Secret Service.

Kristy Lee Roshia , 35, was arrested by the Secret Service Saturday and charged with threatening to kill a member of President Obama's family, said an affidavit filed by an agent Monday in Hawaii. She was also charged with assaulting one of the Secret Service agents at the agency's field office in Honolulu.

Roshia appeared in US District Court in Honolulu on Monday and is scheduled to return Wednesday for a hearing to determine whether she should be kept locked up until trial, said Elliot Enoki, a spokesman for the US attorney's office in Hawaii.

By Jack Nicas, Globe Staff

Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino expressed outrage today at "greedy" scalpers who scooped up bunches of free tickets on Saturday to skate at Fenway Park, effectively ruining the opportunity for a long waiting list of families.

Mayor Thomas M. Menino

"It's outrageous," Menino told the Globe. "This was done for the right reasons: to give someone who can't afford to go to the hockey games the opportunity to skate in Fenway Park. Now people are using it for their own personal gains. It's very, very sad."

Menino vowed to stop as many illegal scalpers as possible during the two Sundays of skating -- Jan. 3 and Jan. 10. Plans are to spot-check skaters; if the registered ticketholder is not present (four tickets are assigned to one holder) then the skaters will be turned away, he said.

"We're going to have checkers for people coming in with the tickets," Menino said.
I want to make sure that for those individuals who want to beat the system, we beat them before they get into the park."

But some city residents who waited hours in the cold Saturday morning, such as Jim Cloherty of Hyde Park, had plans to give the four-pack of tickets as a Christmas gift.

By Globe Staff

By Globe Staff

The old televisions, empty garbage cans, and broken laundry bins saving parking spots face deadline early this evening to be removed from city streets. This container of Premium Ever Clean Clumping Cat Litter holding a space in South Boston, for example, should be gone by 4 p.m.

According to city rules, space savers are supposed to be removed 48 hours after the end of a snow emergency. The most recent snow emergency ended at 4 p.m. on Sunday, according to the mayor's office. Violators can be reported to the Mayor's 24 Hour Constituent Service hot line at 617-635-4500.

Have a creative or stubborn space saver on your block? E-mail a picture here with a precise description of the location.

By Michaela Stanelun, Globe Correspondent

The New England Aquarium may not have six geese a-laying, as the old Christmas carol dictates, but it does have six new penguins a-swimming.

Six female rockhopper penguins were released into the penguin pool today in time for the holiday, arriving from SeaWorld Orlando.

New England Aquarium spokesman Tony LaCasse said the six newcomers, which are native to southern Argentina and Chile, were adapting well in the their new home.

"They just went into the exhibit this morning with little disruption,'' LaCasse said. "Everyone's figuring things out.''

Aquarium officials hope the addition of the six females, which range from 1 to 9 years old, will spark romantic interest in the male-dominated tank and bolster the population there.

By John R. Ellement and Andrew Ryan, Globe Staff

By Globe Staff

Bill Greene/Globe Staff

By Noah Bierman, Globe Staff

Repairs to a 40-foot wall panel at Porter Square that was in danger of coming loose from water leaks caused rush-hour delays Monday evening, said Jeffrey Mullan, state transportation secretary.

MBTA engineers and state transportation officials assessed the wall and subway crews cut off power near the station around 7:30 p.m. on the northbound line. As a result, trains ran in both directions on the southbound side between Harvard and Alewife, causing some slowdowns in service.

MBTA spokesman Joe Pesaturo said crews made repairs to the wall and train service resumed on the northbound side last night.

By Matt Viser and Andrea Estes, Globe Staff

The two major candidates for US Senate, Democrat Martha Coakley and Republican Scott Brown, faced off tonight in their first debate of the special election, squabbling over health care, climate change, and the effectivness of Ronald Regan's presidency.

Coakley, who came out on Sunday in support of the US Senate compromise on health care, defended her position. She had voiced reluctant support for the plan even though it contains some restrictions on abortion, which she opposes, and does not feature a government health plan, which she wanted.

"I'm very disappointed by this bill. It does a lot of good stuff, though," she said. "If the goal of health care reform is getting people covered and getting costs down, I think the Senate bill is an effective first step ... We're going to have incremental progress."

During the Democratic primary, Coakley opposed a House version of the bill, on the grounds that it restricted abortion coverage. The Senate plan, she said, differed enough to be acceptable.

But Brown lambasted Coakley over her support for the Senate proposal, accusing her of shifting her position for the general election.

"During the primary Martha basically took a principled decision, and I commended her for that," he said. "But she's already abandoned that principle."

By Globe Staff

The two major candidates for US Senate, Democrat Martha Coakley and Republican Scott Brown, face off tonight in their first debate of the special election campaign, appearing together at 8 p.m. on Dan Rea's show on WBZ Radio. Independent candidate Joe Kennedy is also participating.

By Jonathan Saltzman and Michael Levenson, Globe Staff

Globe photo/ Bill Greene

Horologist David Hochstrasser adjusting the hands on the clock at the Old South Meeting House.

By Jack Nicas, Globe Correspondent

After two timeless years, the Old South Meeting House clock began ticking again today.

New gold-leafed, 4-foot hands were affixed to the 243-year-old clock, ending an extensive 11-month restoration that removed the entire mechanism out of the building for the first time since it was installed in 1770.

Just before 1 p.m., Horologist David Hochstrasser cranked the shiny brass gears he had tirelessly scrubbed clean, giving life to the 7-foot pendulum hanging below.

"It's gorgeous, isn't it," asked David Webb, a craftsman who restored the South-facing dial and recreated the North one.

By Andrew Ryan, Globe Staff

By Bryan Marquard, Globe Staff

The pain Paula Brown felt was at once hauntingly familiar and frighteningly new, rekindling memories of when she was diagnosed with polio at 2.

"The first time it really affected me was when I could not lift my grandchild," she told the Daily Item of Lynn in 1989.

"My daughter was her first grandchild," Faye Brown of Minneapolis said in an interview. "I remember she had a lot of difficulty holding her. My mother's arms really hurt and she cried, saying, 'I can't pick her up.' "

In July 1985, Mrs. Brown had opened The New York Times Sunday Magazine to an article about people who had survived polio as children, only to be afflicted by similar pain decades later. "Medical professionals have begun to refer to the condition as 'post-polio syndrome,' " she read.

By Globe Staff

By Andrew Ryan, Globe Staff

(Joanne Rathe/Globe Staff)

Bill Greene/Globe Staff

By John M. Guilfoil, Globe Correspondent

Due to the weekend storm, the Boston public schools will close tomorrow in "an abundance of caution," said Matthew Wilder, a schools spokesman.

"We just want to make sure all our students are safe," Wilder said in a phone interview. "That's our first priority."

Most other schools in the Boston area will open today, though many schools on the Cape and South Coast -- those hit hardest by the storm -- will not.

"We obviously have a different set of circumstances -- a lot more students and different geography," Wilder said. "Discussions in City Hall and with the superintendent occur before a decision like this is made."

By Eric Moskowitz, Globe Staff, and Jeannie Nuss, Globe Correspondent

HYANNIS -- A foot of snow blanketed much of Cape Cod early this morning, transforming beach towns into winter wonderlands and keeping many residents nestled inside.

Fat snowflakes began whirling into Hyannis after 10 last night coating everything from Christmas lights and trees to a few lone souls dashing to shelter.

The wind -- 31 miles per hour gusting to 45 -- whipped through the empty streets of Hyannis early this morning.

But as the snowfall lightened through the morning across the coastal part of the state, the winds began to ease up, and the blizzard warning that had been in effect for large swaths of Massachusetts and Southern New England was downgraded to a winter storm warning, except for the Cape and Islands, said Neal Strauss, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Taunton.

Whiteout conditions remained across Cape Cod and the islands and portions of Plymouth County, as of early afternoon.

"We're looking at an intensifying coastal storm located southeast of Nantucket this morning, and this system is transporting moisture off the Atlantic Ocean," with gusting winds along the coast, Strauss said. "Across the South Shore area, where they've been hit the hardest, the snow will continue until the afternoon, and out on the Cape it may not taper off till early this evening."

By Patricia Wen, Globe Staff, and Julie Balise, Globe Correspondent

Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino has declared a snow emergency starting at 10 p.m. tonight, which means parking will be banned on all traffic arteries so plows can clear the streets during the season's first major snowstorm, which is expected to blanket the city with up to a foot of snow.

Airport spokesman Phil Orlandella urged travelers to check with their individual airlines to see if their flights have been affected by the storm that has slammed into the eastern seaboard. He said flights heading for other parts of the United States may not be affected by the storm.

As of 4:30 p.m., the National Weather Service said, light snow was falling in Danbury, Conn., and rain and snow were reported on Nantucket. Snow was expected to spread north during the next few hours, reaching the greater Boston area between 8 p.m. and 9 p.m.

Weather service meteorologist Kim Buttrick said the area near the Cape Cod Canal could be the "bull's-eye" of the storm.

By Kathy McCabe, Globe Staff

State officials are on high alert for the season's first major snowstorm, a northeaster that's expected to blanket the state in up to 20 inches of snow, with the highest accumulations in southeastern Massachusetts.

"We are ready," Governor Deval Patrick said in a late afternoon conference call with reporters. "We are prepared."

Just under 4,500 pieces of equipment will be plowing roads and highways. About 600 state transportation workers are on call. "It is in the interest of public safety to have all hands on deck," Patrick said.

David L. Ryan/Globe Staff

Rescuers tended to a person on a stretcher in the debris-strewn road.

By Sean Teehan, Globe Correspondent

A two-car accident on Interstate 93 in Quincy resulted in minor injuries this morning, State Police said.

Lourene Scott, 49, of Hyde Park, the driver of one car, was transported to Boston Medical Center for treatment of minor injuries after the accident at 11:41 a.m.

James Sullivan, 56, of Medford, the driver of the other car, was uninjured. However, he was issued a civil citation for possession of marijuana, Sergeant Matthew Murray, a State Police spokesman, said.

The cause of the accident is still under investigation. Traffic cleared roughly 20 minutes after the incident.

John Tlumacki/Globe Staff

Firefighters used a ladder to gain access to the area where the fire started at the rear of the church.

By Jeannie Nuss, Globe Correspondent

A fire broke out at St. Peter Lithuanian parish in South Boston this morning after a staffer lit incense that then ignited some other combustible material, the Boston Fire Department said.

The church on Flaherty Way sustained $100,000 in damages, mostly from smoke, which still hung in the air two hours after the fire began about 11:30, said spokesman Steve MacDonald.

"The firefighters didn't want to break any of the windows because they're beautiful stained glass," MacDonald said.

By Kathy McCabe, Globe Staff

On Cape Cod, residents changed plans and made preparations this afternoon, in advance of a storm that is expected to hit there the hardest, producing blizzard conditions and dumping up to 20 inches of snow.

Yarmouth Police postponed a food collection drive scheduled for Sunday, and officials prepared to use the Dennis-Yarmouth Regional High School as an emergency shelter.

"We have no idea if we'll need it, but we'll be ready," said Yarmouth Police Sergeant Christopher McEachern. The shelter would open if residents experienced a loss of power, heat or other hardships, he said. 

By Matt Viser, Globe Staff

Governor Deval Patrick announced today that the state had reached an agreement with nearly 8,000 union workers on revised contracts that will save the state $28.5 million over the next three years.

Governor Deval Patrick

Wendy Maeda/Globe Staff

Senator Anthony D. Galluccio at a November court hearing

By Andrew Ryan, Globe Staff

State Senator Anthony D. Galluccio pleaded guilty today to fleeing the scene of a car crash in October and was sentenced to six months home confinement with two notable exceptions: The Cambridge Democrat, who has been convicted twice of driving under the influence of alcohol, will be allowed to leave home for church on Sunday and to cast votes in the state Senate.

Galluccio will be barred, however, from attending legislative meetings at the State House, and he resigned his posts on seven committees, including his chairmanship of Higher Education and his seat on Mental Health and Substance Abuse.

"I cannot overstate how regretful I am," Galluccio told reporters after a hearing in Cambridge District Court, according to the Somerville Journal, adding, "I made a firm decision that there will be no alcohol in my life."

By Jack Nicas, Globe Correspondent

A winter storm will wallop eastern Massachusetts this weekend, dumping 6 to 8 inches of snow in Boston and as much as 20 inches on some areas of Cape Cod, the National Weather Service said this afternoon.

The weather service has issued a blizzard watch for southeastern Massachusetts from Saturday afternoon through Sunday morning. High winds and snow falling at 1 to 2 inches per hour could create whiteout conditions for at least three hours in Plymouth and Barnstable Counties, the forecasters said.

In Boston, snow will begin at about 9 p.m. Saturday and continue into late Sunday morning. Winds could reach up to 35 miles per hour in the city during the brunt of the storm from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. Sunday, said Weather Service meteorologist Charlie Foley.

John Tlumacki/Globe Staff

An odd juxtaposition -- some of the greatest names in Bruins history stood on the rink set up at the storied home of the Red Sox. The First Skate event today featured Bruins legends and youth hockey players from Somerville.

By Globe Staff

Love the Red Sox and love to skate? Now's your chance.

The city of Boston is offering 3,000 tickets Saturday on a first-come, first-served basis to people who would like to skate on an ice rink set up inside the Red Sox' hallowed Fenway Park on two Sundays at the beginning of the year.

The tickets will be given away to Boston residents at the Boston Public Library and at 15 other locations around the city.

By Eric Moskowitz, Globe Staff

State Senator Scott Brown, the Republican US Senate hopeful, hasn't aired any TV ads yet, but he hit the studio recently to film a light-hearted clip with his daughters that quickly became a hit last week on YouTube, at least by the modest standards of political campaigns. Brown's video with his daughters -- Ayla, a former "American Idol" semifinalist and Boston College senior, and Arianna, a freshman at Syracuse University -- has attracted nearly 2,900 views in its first three days.

By comparison, the top Coakley clip had attracted 1,974 views as of Friday afternoon. (It was her "Jane's Story" ad about going after a predatory health insurance company, which has been seen on YouTube -- and, of course, on television -- since Nov. 3.)

In Brown's video, he is flanked by Arianna and Ayla, a senior guard on the BC basketball team. Ayla attempts to introduce them all but flubs her delivery a couple of times, prompting her to apologize and jump up and down in frustration -- "shootshootshootshoot," she says -- while her dad grins and bites his tongue. Then her younger sister takes over.

"We're supporting our father, Scott Brown, to run for United States Senate, because he'll be there for you," Arianna says -- "like he's been there for us," Ayla continues, before Brown finishes with a plug for his campaign site.

By Shana Wickett, Globe Correspondent

A Coast Guard cutter and the disabled Gloucester-based lobster boat it is slowly towing through the wintry seas are expected to reach land by Saturday morning.

The cutter Escanaba is towing the Michael and Kristen about 50 miles offshore, Coast Commander Edward Westfall said in a conference call with reporters this morning.

The 77-foot Michael and Kristen, which had five people aboard and was nearly 200 miles southeast of Nantucket, reported engine power loss around 3:30 p.m. Wednesday.

Globe photo by David Kamerman

Dan Wadleigh (left) and his son David found a tree to their liking at Pierce's Tree Farm in Lunenberg.

 By Amy Bracken, Globe Correspondent

MARLBOROUGH -- On a bright, cold recent Saturday, cars jammed the parking lot at The Tree Farm. Families and couples entered a makeshift basement gift shop, where they were greeted by owners Jen and Jay Field and their friendly black lab.

The customers checked in and set out past the chicken coop and into the snowy woods, on a hunt for the perfect Christmas tree. Whatever they felled would cost them $55.

A one-minute drive down the road, Walmart was selling 9-foot Balsams from Nova Scotia for $20. The supply had clearly been depleted, but on this afternoon the pen of bundled cut trees on the edge of the vast parking lot felt abandoned.

In Massachusetts, a growing number of Christmas tree buyers are shunning the more common imported trees in favor of locally grown ones. According to the US Department of Agriculture's farm census, taken every five years, Massachusetts growers sold some 76,000 Christmas trees in 2007, up by more than 3,000 since 2002.

Photos courtesy Jim Wyland

The wood-shingled home slipped down a bank and into the ocean Monday. Below, how it looked before.

By Jack Nicas, Globe Correspondent

Jim and Donna Wyland closed up their Nantucket beach house for the winter on Dec. 7. They had laid down sandbags, locked the door, and said good-bye until next year.

But on Monday, they were back. The Atlantic Ocean had already shredded the front of the home and swallowed their refrigerator, sofas, and television. They scurried to salvage what they could as the waves kept crashing.

'"The front of the house was gone," Jim Wyland, 58, said from his Ohio office Thursday. "It was empty; it was sand; there was nothing. The waves just totally stripped everything. We were in shock."

The Wyland's wood-shingled home slipped down a bank and into the ocean Monday, the fifth dwelling in the past decade lost to erosion off Madaket, the southwestern end of the island, officials said.

Wyland said that after hearing of his home's precarious position, he had asked a construction company that specializes in protecting beach-front properties from erosion to move the building over the weekend. The move was scheduled for Monday; but instead of pulling the house onto a neighbor's lot that day, the work crew was reduced to dodging waves and pulling possessions from the ruins.

By Frank Phillips, Globe Staff

Initially, the thought of having to face Christy Mihos in next year's Republican gubernatorial primary produced some teeth-gnashing in Charles D. Baker's camp. But the thinking among Baker advisers has shifted: They now believe that having Mihos in the race could be a good thing, in part because a primary fight would give Baker a good tune-up for the general election next fall. They say they have no plans to try to keep Mihos off the primary ballot.

Whether that's a smart move remains to be seen.

Though Baker is the favored candidate of the GOP establishment, Mihos has millions of dollars at his disposal to spend on a campaign. When he ran as an independent in 2006, he used $4 million of his own funds, though he captured only 6 percent of the vote. Mihos also has a certain populist, anti-government appeal that could play well against the Ivy League-educated Baker among some GOP primary voters.

''Anybody who underestimates Christy's political prowess does so at their own peril,'' said Kevin Sowyrda, who was Mihos's communications director until last month.

His campaign team, including well-known Republican consultant Dick Morris, has been trying to get Mihos to pour as much as $15 million into this race, starting immediately. But Mihos has yet to pull the trigger.

US Coast Guard Photo

Members of the Escanaba's crew stood on the deck as the cutter approached the fishing boat today.

By Globe Staff

A Coast Guard cutter is towing a Gloucester-based lobster boat back to land after its engines lost power.

The cutter Escanaba is towing the Michael and Kristen slowly through 10-to-15-foot seas and 38 mph winds, the Coast Guard said in a statement tonight.

By Eric Moskowitz and Matt Viser, Globe Staff

BEDFORD -- Trying to build momentum before the holiday lull, the nominees for US Senate today stood shoulder to shoulder with reliable constituencies, with Republican Scott Brown touting the endorsement of military veterans and Democrat Martha Coakley receiving the blessing of big labor.

Brown, appearing at an American Legion Hall here, touted a "Veterans for Brown" coalition and used the event to blast Coakley on national security, namely her support for President Obama's proposal to prosecute suspected terrorists in civilian courts.

"Our tax dollars should pay for weapons to stop these terrorists, not lawyers to defend them. And I hope you all agree with me on that," said Brown, a state senator from Wrentham, drawing applause and cries of "Here! Here!" from a phalanx of veterans with him on stage before a giant American flag. "Our Constitution and laws exist to protect this nation and its citizens -- they do not grant rights and privileges to enemies in war time."

Coakley, the state attorney general, was nearby in Arlington receiving an endorsement from the state's largest labor union. The Massachusetts AFL-CIO, which was neutral during the Democratic primary, voted unanimously to endorse her in the Jan. 19 election. The move was largely expected, though Brown was endorsed by the AFL-CIO in his re-election campaign for state Senate last year.

By Jack Nicas, Globe Correspondent

An MBTA Transit Police sergeant talked a suicidal man away from the electrified third rail and out of a Back Bay Station train pit Wednesday night.

"He came within two inches of sitting down on the third rail," Sergeant Brian Carey said of a 50-year-old Burlington man who threatened to electrocute himself in the Orange Line pit. "I told him nothing's worth dying for."

Carey, 47, of Weymouth, said he responded to a possible suicide call at about 9:20 p.m. to find a distraught man on the T tracks with more than 50 onlookers on the platform. Two fellow Transit Police officers were attempting to move the audience away from the scene.

Immediately, Carey said, he engaged the man in conversation from the platform, trying to distract him while MBTA workers shut off the tracks' power.

Globe File Photo

Young people working in 2007 at the computer center at the Boston Public Library's main branch in Copley Square.

By Globe Staff

Boston will receive $1.9 million from the federal government to provide upgraded and expanded computers and computer training in 26 public libraries, 11 public housing developments, and 16 youth and family centers, officials said today.

The idea is to help close the digital divide -- the gap between those who have access to computers and those who don't. The computers could be used by people hunting for jobs, kids seeking to further their educations, and immigrants who want to hone their English language skills, officials said.

"The grants the city is receiving today will make it possible for kids to go to a nearby library or community center and access the same technology that kids in more privileged suburbs receive without thinking twice," US Senator John F. Kerry said in a statement announcing the grant.

David L. Ryan/Globe Staff

Fantasy clashed with reality this morning as pedestrians on Commercial Street in Boston hunched against the cold.

By Michaela Stanelun, Globe Correspondent

Just when you thought it was safe to remove some of those layers -- the National Weather Service says temperatures will plunge tonight to near zero in the suburbs and maybe even dip a little below that.

"I think it's going to flirt with around zero," said meteorologist Charlie Foley.

The season's first blast of arctic air will probably make tonight the coldest night of the season so far, he said.

The temperature at Logan International Airport reached 22 degrees this afternoon, but the wind made it feel colder. In Boston tonight, the mercury could drop to about 8 degrees, he said.

By Andrew Ryan, Globe Staff

A grand jury indicted a Worcester woman today on a murder charge for allegedly killing a pregnant woman last summer and cutting an 8-month-old fetus from her womb.

Julie Corey, 35, had previously been charged with kidnapping the 4-pound baby, which she allegedly showed off as own. Police found the mutilated body of the mother, Darlene Haynes, 23, decomposing in a closet in her home on Southgate St. in Worcester on July 27.

The indictment handed up today by the Worcester County grand jury includes charges of murder and kidnapping, according to a press release issued by the Worcester District Attorney. An arraignment date has not been set in Worcester Superior Court.

Defense attorney Louis P. Aloise said that his client continues to maintain her innocence, but he said he could not be more specific because prosecutors have not said what proof they have that Corey killed Haynes.

"There were a number of people in and around Ms. Haynes at and around the time of her death," Aloise said. "I know the police when investigating the case referred to suspects as plural."

By Jonathan Saltzman and Michael Levenson, Globe Staff

Mayor Thomas M. Menino's liaison to East Boston was arrested today on federal drug charges.

John M. Forbes, 31, of East Boston, appeared in US District Court this afternoon on a two-count indictment for possession with intent to distribute Oxycontin and possession with intent to distribute marijuana.

Forbes was brought into the courtroom in handcuffs while wearing jeans, a dark blue long-sleeved T-shirt and sneakers. Speaking barely above a whisper, he told Magistrate Judge Marianne B. Bowler he understood his rights during the brief hearing.

By Martin Finucane and Shelley Murphy, Globe Staff

An alleged member of the Mafia's Colombo crime family and three men in the "crew" he headed were indicted today on federal racketeering charges in Boston.

"What we're seeing here is the Colombo family has grabbed a foothold in this area," Warren Bamford, the special agent in charge of the Boston FBI office, said at a news conference at the US Attorney's office.

The members and associates of the crew allegedly engaged in drug trafficking, extortion, and loansharking, in Massachusetts, Arkansas, Rhode Island, New York and Florida, according to the indictment.

Also named in the indictment were Franklin Goldman of Randolph; Edmond Kulesza of Somerville; and George Wylie Thompson of Cabot, Ark.

By Michaela Stanelun, Globe Correspondent

Three residents were injured as a wind-driven two-alarm fire spread through a three-family home early today in Malden.

By Michaela Stanelun, Globe Correspondent

Two people were seriously injured in a multi-vehicle accident that temporarily shut down Interstate 495 South in Middleborough this morning, State Police said.

Police said a preliminary investigation by police indicated that a 2002 Volkswagen operated by 23-year-old Matthew Wirth of Randolph was traveling on the highway shortly after 8 a.m. when it struck the rear of a tractor-trailer stationary in the breakdown lane. As a result of the crash, a 2007 Toyota Corolla operated by 41-year-old Terrence Brady of Falmouth went off the roadway and into a wooded area.

By Globe Staff'

Salem police officers who opened a pill bottle in a man's car and found cocaine could not justify the search by saying they were concerned that the bottle might contain a tiny weapon, the state appeals court ruled today.

By Stephen Smith, Globe Staff

By Globe Staff

A Roxbury man has been charged with a fatal shooting in Dorchester in 2006 that killed an 18-year-old whose body went missing for almost a week.

Guiliardo M. Rodrigues

Manuel "Junior" Dasilva, 22, is scheduled to be arraigned today on a murder charge in Dorchester District Court. Dasilva is accused of fatally shooting Guiliardo M. Rodrigues on Draper Street early on April 1, 2006.

Rodrigues died from his injuries, but his body was not discovered until the afternoon of April 7. A resident a block away from the site of the shooting called police to say there was a body in her yard.

In 2006, the Globe reported that Rodrigues's disappearance coincided with a drive-by shooting on April 1 on Draper Street, which he fled on foot with a cousin to escape the gunfire, according to his family.

State Attorney General Martha Coakley, the Democratic candidate in the special election for US Senate, released the following public schedule for Thursday, Dec. 17, 2009:

11:30 a.m.

Martha Coakley is expected to receive the endorsement of the Massachusetts AFL-CIO after a vote of the executive board this morning. The AFL-CIO encompasses over 750 affiliated unions directly representing 400,000 working men and women across the state. The endorsement will be announced at a press conference today following the vote.

Ristorante Olivio, 201 Massachusetts Ave., Arlington

State Senator Scott Brown, the Republican candidate in the special election for US Senate, released the following public schedule for Thursday, Dec. 17, 2009:

11:00 a.m.

Scott Brown receives the endorsement of veterans, including Congressional Medal of Honor winner Tom Hudner.

American Legion Post, 357 Great Road, Bedford.

Anne Weber braced herself against the cold on Wednesday while working under a focusing cloth with her field camera on West Dedham Street in the South End. Weber is working on a documentary, shooting portraits of local residents.

(John Blanding/Globe Staff)

By Globe Staff

By Globe Staff

Here is the text of the University of Massachusetts Boston statement released tonight.

The University of Massachusetts Boston has entered into a preliminary agreement with the owners of the Bayside Exposition Center, LNR/CMAT, to purchase the property to help meet the university's space needs over the next several years as it begins to develop new campus facilities and renovate outdated existing facilities.

UMass Boston recognizes that the 20-acre Bayside site holds great potential. UMass Boston's acquisition of the property, in addition to meeting immediate space needs, would initiate a university-led planning process to create a vision for redeveloping the site to further university and local objectives. UMass Boston would work with the City of Boston, its redevelopment authority, the state, Columbia Point neighbors, and the surrounding communities to develop a plan that realizes the potential of the site, stimulates economic activity, creates jobs, and brings greater activity and opportunity to Columbia Point and the region.creating jobs and generating significant economic impact.

Pat Greenhouse/The Boston Globe/File

The Bayside Exposition Center is on Boston Harbor not far the UMass Boston campus.

By Globe Staff

By Globe Staff

In many schools around Boston, it's a given that you'll find kids getting up and reciting Shakespeare monologues they've memorized. 

Predictably, recent champions in the state's Shakespeare competition come from schools like Weston High or The Winsor School.

But at Codman Academy, a charter school in Dorchester, half the students enter the ninth grade reading at the fifth-grade level, about a third don't speak English at home, and many of them deal with such immense dysfunction at home that it's a superhuman achievement for them just to show up every morning.

But, as you can see in the video above, that doesn't stop them from giving some of the most impassioned and accomplished speeches you're likely to experience from high school students.

To read Yvonne Abraham's column on the school's Shakespeare competition, click here.

By Noah Bierman, Globe Staff

The Massachusetts Port Authority, which will lose possession of the Tobin Bridge and its toll collections beginning next month, plans to shed about 25 workers, authority managers said.

The layoffs, targeted to save $3 million a year, are expected to start next month, and could be reduced if employees leave the agency before then, said John Pranckevicius, chief financial officer for the authority.

By John R. Ellement and Andrew Ryan, Globe Staff

QUINCY – A judge set bail at $500,000 today for the son of a prominent developer who allegedly shot an off-duty Milton firefighter during what police have described as an incident of road rage.

Robert P. O'Connell, 40, is accused of shooting Joseph Fasano, 30, in the abdomen on Saturday night with a .45-caliber handgun after the two men pulled over on Commander Shea Boulevard to exchange words.

Quincy District Court Judge Mark Coven set bail for O'Connell at $500,000 cash or $5 million in surety, while ordering that if O'Connell did make bail, he would be placed under 24-hour home confinement.

The judge said at a dangerousness hearing that there was probable cause to believe that O'Connell had committed the crime, and there was no clear and convincing evidence that any other type of confinement would work.

John McGlone, O'Connell's defense attorney, said he expected his client would spend the night at the Norfolk County jail, but the O'Connell family was scrambling to raise the bail money so he could be released as soon as possible.

"Right now we are looking at this as a road rage incident," said Chief Paul Keenan of the Quincy Police Department.

O'Connell's father ran for mayor a few years ago in Quincy, Keenan said, and his family helped build Marina Bay, a landmark luxury development on the waterfront. O'Connell has been charged with assault, attempted murder, and discharging a firearm within 500 feet of a building.

By Globe Staff

Three men have been charged with murder in the slayings of two brothers in Lowell in October, and two others are being sought in the same case, the Middlesex district attorney's office announced today.

Joshua Silva, 23, Ariel Hernandez, 21, and Timothy Brown, 21, all of Lowell, were each charged last night with two counts of first-degree murder. Prosecutors said warrants were also issued for Karon McDougal, 28, and Jamal McDougal, 26.

Luis Delgado, 34, and Hector Delgado, 37, were found shot in the early morning hours of Oct. 23 in their home on Marshall Terrace in Lowell.

By Martin Finucane, Globe Staff

A bank robbery suspect in Cambridge took to the rooftops today in an attempt to elude the police that were pursuing him.

Police said that after the robbery on Massachusetts Avenue in Central Square the suspect ran through the nearby neighborhood, chased by police through various backyards until they lost sight of him.

The suspect was found in a house on Norfolk Street, where he went to the roof in an attempt to evade the police. After crisis negotiators spoke to the suspect through a second-floor apartment window, he came down from the roof and was taken into custody, police said in a statement.

By Globe Staff

A Boston Fire Department employee accused of perjury and obstruction of justice in a federal pension fraud investigation was convicted today in federal court, prosecutors said.

Erika Boylan, 31, a human resources clerk who was responsible for processing disability pension applications, was indicted in October on a charge of lying to a grand jury when she denied that firefighters had asked her to help them collect more pay by stalling the processing of their applications.

John Blanding/Globe Staff

Ted Gartland, a dayside photo editor at the Globe, has been taking pictures in Greater Boston since 1971. Each weekday, he highlights an outtake that did not appear in the morning paper. To view the work of more Globe photographers, click here. To watch Gartland's weekly segment on NECN, click here.

The P.J. Bandit got his moniker because of the puffy jacket he has worn to several of his heists, the FBI said.

By Martin Finucane, Globe Staff

By Michael Levenson, Globe Staff

The Boston City Council unanimously approved a measure today that would ban texting while driving, potentially making the city the first in the state to prohibit the dangerous practice.

The home-rule petition, which has the support of Mayor Thomas M. Menino, must be approved by the Legislature. City councilors said they hoped their vote would lead to a statewide ban.

"We've taken a real bold step today,'' said the sponsor of the measure, Councilor John M. Tobin Jr., who called himself "a reformed texter while driving.''

By Noah Bierman, Globe Staff

The attorney for suspended MBTA safety director Cynthia Gallo said today that the punishment was a punitive response linked to a complaint Gallo lodged with the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination.

By Globe Staff

A Lowell man was killed when he was struck by a car along Route 2 in Concord shortly after midnight Wednesday, State Police said.

Timothy McClaren, 49, was struck by a 2004 Mazda A31 driven by Christine Carney, 34, of Ashburnham. The accident happened at about 12:05 a.m. near Old Road to Nine Acres Corner.

Photo/Nantucket Conservation Commission

By Jack Nicas, Globe Correspondent

Work crews on a Nantucket beach today removed remnants of a home that slipped into the Atlantic Ocean this week, the fifth dwelling in the past decade lost to erosion on the southwestern end of the island, an official said.

"The house is, as we speak, being removed from the beach in pieces, right into a dump truck," Dirk Roggeveen, head of the island's conservation commission, said this morning. "It didn't just tilt forward; it fell over the bank and onto the beach."

The 1,144-square-foot, wood-shingled home was built in 1978, according to a recent assessor's report. With the house teetering on the edge of a 10-foot bank, the Ohio homeowners had been searching for another lot to move the building, Roggeveen said.

By Michael Levenson, Globe Staff

The Boston City Council narrowly defeated proposals today that would have imposed term limits on the office of mayor and on the City Council.

Councilors voted 7-6 against a proposal that would have limited the mayor to two four-year terms. Members voted the same way against a plan to limit the mayor to three four-year terms. They then voted 8-5 against limiting councilors to six two-year terms.

The vote followed a vigorous two-hour debate as they recalled their own experiences while running for elective office. Proponents had argued that term limits would serve to check the power of incumbency and encourage new faces to get involved in politics.

By Globe Staff

House Minority Leader Bradley H. Jones Jr. said today that Democratic lawmakers have only themselves to blame for the more than $350,000 in legal bills stemming from the federal investigation of former House Speaker Salvatore F. DiMasi.

"House Democrats who are angry after the discovery of a Sal DiMasi defense fund being paid for by taxpayers have no one to blame but themselves," Jones said in a statement. "The Democratic majority has allowed this to happen by relinquishing power and control to the office of the speaker, and finally the other shoe has dropped."

The current House Speaker, Robert A. DeLeo, backed down on Tuesday under pressure from dissident Democrats and agreed to hire a private lawyer to review the taxpayer-funded legal bills. FULL ENTRY

Animal Rescue League

Turtle getting some much-needed sleep.

By Abbie Ruzicka, Globe Correspondent

A severely wounded and hypothermic dog, believed to be a "bait dog" used to test other dogs' fighting instincts, was found abandoned and motionless near a busy Hyde Park road Monday night, according to the Animal Rescue League of Boston.

The dog, a female pit bull around 3 years old, was found by an animal control officer, curled in a ball and shivering with open wounds all over it, next to Smithfield Road near Turtle Park Parkway around 10:30 p.m. Monday.

By David Abel, Globe Staff

TAUNTON -- The story smacked of religious bias during the Christmas season: An elementary school allegedly suspended a second-grader, it went, and required the boy to undergo a psychological evaluation after he drew a picture of Jesus Christ on the cross.

But today, Taunton school officials challenged the account, first reported in the Taunton Daily Gazette and later repeated by the boy's father. The reports have created a media frenzy in this city south of Boston.

Julie Hackett, superintendent of Taunton Public Schools, said the student was never suspended and that neither he nor other students at the Maxham Elementary School were asked by their teacher to sketch something that reminded them of Christmas or any religious holiday, as the newspaper reported and the father suggested.

She said it was unclear whether the boy -- who put his name above his stick-figure portrait of Christ on the cross -- even drew it in school.

"The inaccuracies in the original media story have resulted in a great deal of criticism and scrutiny of the system that is unwarranted," she said.

By Matt Viser and Eric Moskowitz, Globe Staff

US Senate candidates Martha Coakley and Scott P. Brown today had their most bitter exchange of the campaign to date, sparring throughout the day over whether Brown had changed his position on environmental policy and whether Coakley's views would damage the economy.

The dispute marked the first time since the Dec. 8 primary that the two candidates have engaged in a substantive debate, and injected new life into the quiet race to fill the seat held for 47 years by the late Edward M. Kennedy.

By Globe Staff

Massachusetts House Speaker Robert A. DeLeo's office said today that he would appoint an independent attorney to review the hundreds of thousands of dollars the House spent on legal services related to the federal indictment of former speaker Salvatore F. DiMasi.

House Speaker Robert A. DeLeo

Miami Seaquarium

Ilya before his release today

By Jack Nicas, Globe Correspondent

After a long, strange trip that took him up and down the East Coast, with stops in Cape Cod, New Jersey, and Maryland, the famed manatee Ilya is home for the holidays in the warm waters off of Florida.

A crane at the Miami Seaquarium lifted the 1,100-pound mammal into Biscayne Bay this morning.

"It went really smoothly. He was great," said Dr. Maya Rodriguez, a Seaquarium veterinarian and manatee specialist, who helped rescue Ilya in New Jersey just before Halloween. "Before he took off, he stopped and turned and took a breath for everybody."

The last time Ilya dipped a flipper in the 77-degree Florida waters, he was just another 10-foot male in a pool of 3,800 manatees. But when he ventured north in July (in a quest to get a mate, scientists speculate) he became an aquatic celebrity.

By Milton Valencia, Globe Staff

In what police called a rare occurrence, two women allegedly robbed a bank in Brighton this morning but were quickly arrested.

Police said they were investigating to see if the women are tied to any other crimes in a recent rash of robberies.

"It is rare, it is very rare," Boston Police Superintendent William Evans said. "But [officers] found evidence that tied the two females to the robbery that occurred."

Awa Nafi Ly, of Dorchester, and Lisa Juanita Sims, both 44 and from Dorchester, face charges of armed robbery related to the incident.

By Jack Nicas, Globe Correspondent

Two Boston police officers were injured in a car accident in Hyde Park today, police said.

Two officers were taken to Brigham and Women's Hospital after their cruiser crashed near 1249 Hyde Park Ave. at 4:30 p.m., police said.

No further information was immediately available.

Peter Pereira/The Standard Times via AP

Stanley Dudek, left, returned the book, which was nearly a century overdue, to library director Stephen Fulchino.

By Michaela Stanelun, Globe Correspondent

A few days, yes. A week, sure. A month, maybe. Plenty of overdue books are returned to libraries around the country. But 99 years?

A 75-year-old man from Mansfield walked into the New Bedford Public Library on Monday to return a book that was due in 1910.

Audio: Late book return

Stanley Dudek talks about returning a book 99 years overdue.

Source: Martin Finucane / Globe Staff

Stanley Dudek returned the book, "Facts I Ought to Know about the Government of My Country" by William H. Bartlett, which was due on May 2, 1910. Dudek said he had found the book in his mother's possessions after she died in 1998 and didn't realize it was a library book until last year.

"I didn't feel I should keep it any longer. It belongs to the people and city of New Bedford, the government. felt it was my duty to get it back to the library," he said.

Fortunately for Dudek, the fine on the book -- about $360, he said, or a penny for each day overdue, which was the charge way back when -- was waived.

"My blood pressure will probably go down now," Dudek said.

By Noah Bierman, Globe Staff

The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority's director of safety was suspended with pay on Thursday, according to a state transportation official who requested anonymity because the matter remains under investigation.

The official would not explain why Cynthia Gallo was suspended, other than saying the investigation involved "misrepresentation regarding an employment matter" and that it was not related to a recent review that was critical of the MBTA's ability to pay for needed safety improvements.

By John R. Ellement, Globe Staff

Six days after a Guatemalan man walked into the United States at a California border crossing, his body was found wrapped in a rug on a dirt road in North Attleborough, authorities said today.

The man's body was discovered Nov. 29 in a housing development under construction. It was only today that local police and Bristol District Attorney C. Samuel Sutter's office have publicly identified him -- as they asked for the public's help in reconstructing the 3,000-mile journey that ended with the man's death.

Police identified the man as Henry Octavio Campos Gutierrez and said he was a Guatemalan citizen who crossed into the United States through the San Ysidro border crossing Nov 23.  Gutierrez arrived with what is known as a B1/B2 visa provided to tourists or someone with plans to conduct business in the US, officials said.

By James Vaznis, Globe Staff

MALDEN -- Dozens of parents and staff from a Lowell charter school turned out for a state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education meeting this morning, in an attempt to prevent their school from closing.

The crowd from Lowell Community Charter Public School stood silently in a corner of the small meeting room while Mitchell Chester, the commissioner of elementary and secondary education, formally asked the board not to renew the school's charter because of poor academic performance.

"It is with considerable regret I bring this recommendation to you," Chester told the board, but added "This is a school where performance is low and there is no sign of an upswing."

The recommendation was one of two Chester made this morning to close a charter school. The other involved the Robert M. Hughes Academy in Springfield, which follows a state investigation that found widespread cheating among adults on the MCAS exams this spring.

By L.E. Crowley, Globe Correspondent

A 64-year-old Norwell woman was killed Monday night when she was hit by a car while pushing a shopping cart along Route 53 in that town.

The victim was identified as Jane Small.

Deputy Police Chief Jack Suurhans said the driver, a 76-year-old man from Scituate, was traveling south toward the intersection of Routes 53 and 123 when Small was struck at about 7:30 p.m.

By Jack Nicas, Globe Correspondent

A pink, heart-shaped Disney toy with a cryptic note attached led to a two-hour evacuation of Gloucester City Hall this morning, police said.

"Nobody knew what it was, where it came from," said Gloucester Police Chief Michael Lane. "And people always have gripes with the city. So if something suspicious is outside city hall, you have to err on the side of caution."

The State Police bomb squad X-rayed the toy and found wires inside, Lane said. "They then blew the device up as a precaution," he said.

Matthew J. Lee/Globe Staff

Ted Gartland, a dayside photo editor at the Globe, has been taking pictures in Greater Boston since 1971. Each weekday, he highlights an outtake that did not appear in the morning paper. To view the work of more Globe photographers, click here. To watch Gartland's weekly segment on NECN, click here.

By Michaela Stanelun, Globe Correspondent

Two women were hurt this morning after an alleged drunk driver crashed into their SUV on Route 128 northbound near Beverly, causing both vehicles to roll over, State Police said.

Trooper Thomas Murphy said the accident occurred at 6:45 a.m. near the Route 1A exit.

The driver of a Toyota RAV4 SUV, Kathleen Olivero, 57, and her passenger Tracy Olivero, 34, both of Beverly, were taken to Beverly Hospital with minor injuries after being struck by a GMC Sierra pickup driven by James Dexter, 19, of Danvers. Neither Dexter, now his passenger, Eric Banks, 19, of Danvers, were injured.

Murphy said Dexter was arrested and charged with operating under the influence. He was also charged with use of motor vehicle without authority because the truck did not belong to him.

By Globe Staff

A 46-year-old man hospitalized for psychiatric issues jumped out of the back of an ambulance last night in Boston, stole a bread truck, and led police on a chase that ended early this morning with a standoff at his home the North Andover.

William Matthews, 46, was not harmed during the 10-hour ordeal, which ended when a police SWAT team broke down his door at 392 Massachusetts Ave., according to Lieutenant Paul Gallagher, spokesman for the North Andover police.

State Attorney General Martha Coakley, the Democratic candidate in the special election for US Senate, released the following public schedule for Tuesday, Dec. 15, 2009:

11:00 a.m.

Martha Coakley will tour the Polartec facility in Lawrence and give remarks on her plan to promote job creation. Coakley will be joined by Stephen Pagliuca, Managing Director, Bain Capital.

Polartec Headquarters

46 Stafford St., Lawrence

State Senator Scott Brown, the Republican candidate in the special election for US Senate, released the following public schedule for Tuesday, Dec. 15, 2009:

2:00 p.m.

Scott Brown continues his "Jobs are Job One" tour at Electric Time, a manufacturer of custom clocks. Holds a media availability at the end of the tour.

45 West St., Medfield

By Bryan Marquard, Globe Staff

Quick with a quip, Joseph M. Tierney was ready when reporters asked how he eked out a slender victory in 1984 for the fourth of five one-year terms as president of the Boston City Council.

Emerging from South Boston's Old Colony housing project as the first of his family to attend college, he worked his way through undergraduate studies and law school, then impressed council colleagues with his governmental knowledge and facility with the parliamentary process. He also could be counted on to tell the right joke at any moment and engage in repartee that was razor sharp.

Mr. Tierney, who served 16 years on the City Council before falling far short in a bid to unseat Mayor Raymond L. Flynn in 1987, died in his Hyde Park home Sunday of cancer. He was 68.

"Boston has lost a leader," Mayor Thomas M. Menino said. "Joe Tierney personified what elected officials are all about: He cared about people and made a difference in the community."

By Tracy Jan, Globe Staff

Houghton, 73, led the university's 2006-07 presidential search that resulted in the appointment of Drew G. Faust, Harvard's first female president. A 1958 graduate of Harvard College, Houghton joined the Corporation in 1995 and became its senior fellow in 2002.

By John R. Ellement, Jonathan Saltzman, and Andrew Ryan, Globe Staff

PLYMOUTH -- A man accused of sexually assaulting a 3-year-old girl in Kingston this weekend had been charged this summer with raping another child. But Joseph Gardner, 26, had been released on $10,000 cash bail and was free when he allegedly attacked the second victim on Friday, according to police and court records.

The Plymouth District Attorney's office had asked for bail as high as $200,000 after Gardner was accused in August of breaking into the home of someone he knew and raping a 5-year-old girl as she slept. But prosecutors did not ask for a dangerousness hearing, which could have allowed a judge to keep Gardner behind bars until his trial. Bail is designed to guarantee that a suspect returns to court and is not a mechanism to keep a suspect incarcerated.

By Jack Nicas, Globe Correspondent

Nearly three dozen students at an East Boston school were taken to the hospital today after complaining of nausea and dizziness as a gas odor swept through the building.

Authorities evacuated about 200 students from Excel Academy Charter School for more than three hours. Thirty-four students, between 9 and 12 years old, were taken to area hospitals for evaluation, said Jennifer Mehigan, spokeswoman for Boston Emergency Medical Services.

Several other students who were treated at the scene went home with their parents, she said. There were no serious injuries.

Authorities believe the odor came from natural gas. It leaked into the school about 10 a.m. through the roof, where a maintenance man worked on the school's heating system, said East Boston District Fire Chief Richard Hartnett.

By James Vaznis, Globe Staff

(Gretchen Ertl for The Boston Globe)

State education officials have concluded there was "pervasive, systemic cheating" among adults at a Springfield charter school on the MCAS, prompting the commissioner to recommend its closure, according to a memo obtained this afternoon by the Globe.

The state began investigating the Robert M. Hughes Academy after noticing that MCAS scores on this spring's English and math exams skyrocketed at one of the fastest rates in the state. Details on how the cheating took place were not immediately available this afternoon.

By Maria Cramer, Globe Staff

A 36-year-old Boston man wanted on 13 warrants -- one of them for drug trafficking -- tried to keep police from finding him by mutilating his fingers to conceal his prints.

Francis Viliar told State Police over the weekend that he paid someone $400 to cut his fingers vertically, from the fingertip to the knuckle joint, so his prints would be unreadable, said David Procopio, spokesman for the State Police.

(Photo courtesy of Lexington police)

By Jennifer Fenn Lefferts, Globe Correspondent

Lexington police say a historic plaque commemorating the site of the Old Belfry was stolen last week from Battle Green, where the first shots of the American Revolution were fired.

Lieutenant Manuel Ferro said the incident took place sometime before Friday, Dec. 11.

The bronze 20-inch by 20-inch plaque reads: ''The site of the Old Belfry from which the alarm was rung, April 19, 1775. This tablet was erected by the Lexington Chapter Daughters of the American Revolution 1910.''

By Michaela Stanelun, Globe Correspondent

A truck rolled over shortly after 12:30 p.m. on Interstate 93 southbound, tying up traffic through the tunnel, State Police said.

The accident happened just before exit 23 in the Southeast Expressway tunnel. State Police Sergeant David Mahan said he did not know whether there were injuries, but ambulances were on the scene.

"People coming up to it should take an alternate route," Mahan said.

A Globe reporter who drove past the accident said a white SUV was lying on its hood in the left lanes, with a woman being placed on a stretcher.

By Robert Gavin, Globe Staff

Jennifer Peter, the paper's city editor, will succeed McGrory, who will relaunch his column in early January. In a memo to the staff, Baron said a new publication schedule for the Globe's local columnists, including Yvonne Abraham, Kevin Cullen, and Adrian Walker, has yet to be determined.

State Attorney General Martha Coakley, the Democratic candidate in the special election for US Senate, released the following public schedule for Monday, Dec. 14, 2009:

2:30 p.m.

Martha Coakley will receive the endorsements of the Massachusetts Chapter Sierra Club and Massachusetts League of Environmental Voters

IBEW Local 103 Headquarters

256 Freeport Street, Dorchester

State Senator Scott Brown, the Republican candidate in the special election for US Senate, released the following public schedule for Monday, Dec. 14, 2009:

7:35 a.m.

Scott Brown is a guest on the FOX25 Morning Show

5:15 p.m.

Scott Brown greets commuters at Boston's North Station.

Three-year-old Thalianny Farmin showed an unmistakable fear of strangers when she met Santa Claus on Friday at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute. Santa and his elves offered cheer and comfort to the more than 300 children expected to visit the clinic for treatment before Christmas.

(David L. Ryan/Globe Staff)

Ted Gartland, a dayside photo editor at the Globe, has been taking pictures in Greater Boston since 1971. Each weekday, he highlights an outtake that did not appear in the morning paper. To view the work of more Globe photographers, click here. To watch Gartland's weekly segment on NECN, click here.

(Suzanne Kreiter/Globe staff)

By John M. Guilfoil, Globe Correspondent

A 40-year veteran Boston firefighter is being called a hero this afternoon after he pulled a homeless man out of a burning warehouse in South Boston.

Firefighter John Smith, attached to Rescue Company No. 1, was one of the first firefighters to enter the burning building at 205 West 1st Street, the corner of West 1st and C Streets. Inside, he found the man, who h ad been squatting in the building, and pulled him from the two-alarm blaze.

The victim, whose name was not released, was being treated at an area hospital but is expected to recover.

Fire officials said the man was one of up to several dozen squatters living in the warehouse. Inside the building, which officials said had electricity, an intricately organized squatters? residence could be seen with several beds, televisions, microwaves, and even a stocked kitchen setup, complete with a spice rack.

In a brief interview at the scene of the fire, Smith said he and his crew were only doing their jobs.

In firefighting, the "Rescue" unit typically goes into a fire without a hose line. They bring tools and air masks and enter a blaze with the sole intention of searching for and saving people who may be trapped.

"They did a fabulous job," said Boston Fire Department District Chief Gregory Mackin, who was in charge of firefighter safety at the blaze. "They went in there, there was a heavy fire condition, no visibility, and they pulled a man out."

Boston Fire spokesman Steve MacDonald said the call came in around 2:30 and took about an hour to put out.

John M. Guilfoil can be reached at jguilfoil@globe.com.

Boston.com staff

Service in the area has been suspended, however shuttle bus service is operating on the Green Line.

AP Photo/Gillette, Phelan M. Ebenhack, File

Tiger Woods helped to launch the Gillette Fusion Power Gamer razor during the Gillette-EA SPORTS Champions of Gaming Finals in Orlando, Fla. In February 2009.

By Johnny Diaz, Globe Staff

Looking to preserve its clean-cut image, Boston shaving company Gillette became the first major sponsor to bench Tiger Woods as its pitchman, a day after the golfing icon publicly acknowledged that he's had extramarital affairs.

The company, which has featured Woods as the centerpiece of its ad campaign "Gillette Champions" since 2007, said today that it would immediately limit the golfer's presence in its print, television, and online ads. Woods, who has made headlines in the last week for allegedly cheating on his wife with 13 different women, acknowledged his infidelity on Friday on his website and said that he was taking a break from professional golf.

Gillette spokesman Mike Norton said that while the company's decision to reduce Woods's role in its marketing was a direct result of Woods's announcement, Gillette, a unit of Procter & Gamble Co., is not severing all ties with Woods.

"Tiger is still part of Gillette,'' Norton said. " We support him as he takes a break from his professional career and that's why we're supporting him by limiting his role in our marketing programs."

Valerie Larsen Photography

Mike Downing posed with his wife, Dawnalee, volunteers from Cape Cod Lumber, and Homes for Our Troops founder John Gonsalves (kneeling) today in Middleborough.

By Jeannie Nuss, Globe Correspondent

Hundreds of contractors, students, and other volunteers are turning out in Middleborough this weekend to build an accessible home for a veteran who lost both legs in a roadside bomb explosion in Afghanistan.

Homes for Our Troops, a Taunton-based non-profit group, organized a three-day building brigade to raise a house for Staff Sergeant Mike Downing.

The house will have wider hallways and accessible doors to allow 43-year-old Downing to get around in his wheelchair. The kitchen will feature lower cabinets and the bathrooms will have roll-in showers.

"Even when it comes down to things as simple as doing the laundry, everything is set up so that I have access to it," Downing said in a telephone interview.

Downing, a father of four, lost both legs after an improvised explosive device (IED) detonated in Afghanistan in September 2008.

By Milton Valencia, Globe Staff

The Lynnfield man accused of killing his wife during a November trip to the Virgin Islands spoke out for the first time today, declaring his innocence and saying a polygraph test will show he played no role in his wife's death.

By Hannah McBride, Globe Correspondent

A 53-year-old Medway man died Friday night after being struck by a car in Millis, town police said.

Joseph Crump was hit in front of 407 Village St. just before 9 p.m, according to a police statement.

Crump was taken to Milford Regional Hospital. He was later taken to University of Massachusetts Medical Center in Worcester, where he was pronounced dead at 10:30 p.m.

Millis Police and the Massachusetts State Police Collision Analysis and Reconstruction Section are investigating the accident.

David L. Ryan/Globe Staff

By Globe Staff

Cold weather didn't seem to bother the participants in today's Santa Speedo run, as they sped with hardly any clothes on through Boston streets.

The event, which started in Boston in December 2000, was run this year to benefit two local charities making a difference in the lives of youth statewide, according to organizers of the run.

Rob Brogna

Guns collected today. Organizers say 85 guns were collected in the first three hours.

By Emma Rose Johnson, Globe Correspondent

In a program that Worcester doctors and police hope will reduce injuries from gun accidents, residents of that city can turn in guns today and next Saturday in exchange for gift cards.

The UMass Memorial Medical Center, in conjunction with the Worcester Police, is holding its eighth annual Goods for Guns buyback program. The program allows gun owners to relinquish their guns at the police station in exchange for Wal-Mart gift cards of up to $75.

The hope is to limit the accidents in which weapons kept for protection accidentally injure family members or friends. Dr. Michael Hirsh, the program"s founder, said he sees the aftermath of such accidents in his role as chief of pediatric surgery and trauma care at the hospital.

"We're not saying that gun owners are bad people," he said. "We just know that many don't know how to store guns safely in their home. This gives them an opportunity to take care of the gun safely, and makes the community safer overall."

John Blanding/Globe Staff

Lobsterman Tony Gross used his boat "Sandollar" this morning to cautiously break up the ice that formed overnight on Lobster Cove in the Annisquam section of Gloucester. Gross, who docks his boat in the cove, wanted to make sure his boat would not get iced in if the cold contnues and the ice thickens.

By Christopher Girard, Globe Correspondent

If you're planning to be out and about this afternoon, better bundle up and grab a hot beverage or some soup to warm your bones. It's only going to get colder as we head toward sunset.

In the Boston area, cold temperatures will persist throughout the afternoon with a high near 30 and a slight breeze, creating a further cooling effect, Alan Dunham, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Taunton, said today. Overnight, the mercury will dip to the 20s near the city and to the teens in the suburbs.

Rain is expected in Boston Sunday with a rain-snow mix to the north and northwest, in northern Worcester County and in the upper Connecticut River Valley, Dunham said. The precipitation is expected to arrive in the Connecticut River Valley around 6 p.m. and around 9 p.m. in Eastern Massaschusetts, forecasters said.

The precipitation is expected to clear up late Sunday night: "It's not going to be a big deal," Dunham said.

Monday looks nice, Dunham said -- mostly sunny, highs in the mid-40s. And snow/rain showers will sprinkle the region Monday night into Tuesday.

By Hannah McBride, Globe Correspondent

Boston Police are continuing to search for a suspect in an attack on a mail carrier in Dorchester earlier this week.

The man is described as a 6-foot-tall, clean-shaven black male with medium-brown complexion, weighing 200 pounds and wearing a black jacket, white shirt, and clothing stained orange.

The Dorchester letter carrier was attacked Wednesday afternoon around 2:20 p.m. and knocked to the ground by the suspect.

The suspect, believed to be in his mid-20s, pinned her down using his knee. He had a knife in one hand and demanded money.

They struggled, and the mail carrier attempted to grab the knife with her glove-covered hand, police said. She used her US Postal Service-issued pet repellent, spraying the suspect in the face. He ran off, and she rushed to a house on Mount Bowdoin Terrace for help.

The victim suffered a small laceration from the attack, police said. The Postal Service is offering a reward of up to $50,000 for information leading to an arrest and conviction.

Jonathan Wiggs/Globe Staff

Farewell to all that -- Northeastern football players walking off the field after the program's last game this fall at the University of Rhode Island.

By Tracy Jan, Globe Staff

One beneficiary of Northeastern University's recent shutdown of its football program: the Boston Public Schools.

The city's high schools are slated to receive thousands of dollars worth of football equipment, including helmets, pads, balls, jerseys, blocking sleds, and kicking tees.

The deal was made between mayor Thomas M. Menino and Northeastern President Joseph Aoun during a recent visit Aoun paid to Menino's house.

The equipment will be donated to the "Red and Blue Foundation," a new non-profit set up to funnel charitable items to the public schools.

Northeastern announced last month that it was ending its program after 74 seasons, saying it was unwilling to invest the millions of dollars needed to improve the team to meet the school's ambitions.

By Tracy Jan, Globe Staff

Could Harvard University, which has imposed layoffs and construction delays and cut hot breakfasts in the last year, be loosening its purse strings?

Michael D. Smith, dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, announced that the university's largest school would end a year-long salary freeze. Starting in July, faculty and staff will be eligible for small, merit-based raises averaging 2 percent; graduate students will receive a 3 percent increase to their stipends.

"I hope that these decisions provide some reassurance -- to both our community and the outside world -- that the FAS is beginning to emerge from the effects of the global financial crisis and to define a robust path forward," Smith wrote.

Smith will present an updated financial picture in January. The FAS still needs to close a $110 million budget gap projected for the next fiscal year.

Road closures and other transportation advisories for the week of Dec. 13:

Two to three lanes of Interstate 93 South will be closed approaching and through downtown Sunday through Thursday from 11:30 p.m. to 5 a.m.

Two to three lanes of I-93 North through downtown and Charlestown will be closed Sunday through Thursday from 10:30 p.m. (11:30 p.m. Thursday) to 5 a.m.

I-93 North Exit 27 to the Tobin Bridge (Route 1) will be closed and detoured Sunday from 11:59 p.m. to 3 a.m.

By Matt Viser, Globe Staff

Governor Deval Patrick received an invitation to speak at the all-male Clover Club two months before the event, and a copy was also sent to his chief of staff, according to a copy of the invitation.

Governor Deval Patrick

The invitation, dated Oct. 9, was sent from club president James T. Brett and addressed to the governor and copied to Arthur Bernard, the governor's chief of staff. A Patrick spokesman said Bernard never saw the invitation, and it was sent immediately to the governor's scheduling office.

Patrick last week abruptly canceled an appearance before a black-tie dinner hosted by the  Clover Club, saying that he would not speak there because the club does not accept women.

But the letter draws into question the claims by Patrick aides that they did not realize that the club only allowed males. While the letter does not explicitly state that women are not invited, it makes numerous references to men.

"Throughout its long history, membership has generally consisted of successful Boston and New England area men who were linked with a common affection for the land of a thousand shades of green," it reads. The letter also states its constitution as saying the association is one "of congenial and clever men."

By Globe Staff

A man who has played the role of "Pat Patriot," the New England Patriots football team's mascot, has been arrested in a Rhode Island prostitution sting.

Robert Sormanti, 47, of Warwick, R.I., was one of more than a dozen people arrested, the Providence Journal's website reported today.

Rhode Island State Police had no immediate comment this evening.

"The Patriot mascot costume is worn by multiple people. All are held responsible for their actions. The individual in question has been suspended," Patriots spokesman Stacey James said in a statement. He had no further comment.

Sormanti didn't immediately return a telephone message seeking comment.

By Shelley Murphy, Andrew Ryan and David Abel, Globe Staff

A grand jury has indicted a 98-year-old woman on a second-degree-murder charge for allegedly killing her 100-year-old roommate in a dispute over the room they shared at a nursing home in Dartmouth.

Elizabeth Barrow celebrated her 100th birthday on Aug. 21. (family photo)

Laura Lundquist, who prosecutors believe is the oldest person ever charged with murder in Massachusetts, has been charged with strangling Elizabeth Barrow in the Brandon Woods Nursing Home on Sept. 24.

"The investigation revealed that Ms. Lundquist harbored hostility towards Ms. Barrow because because she believed Ms. Barrow was taking over the room they shared at the nursing home," Bristol District Attorney C. Samuel Sutter said.

Lundquist was sent today to Taunton State Hospital for a competency evaluation prior to being arraigned. Defense attorney Carl S. Levin filed a joint motion today in Bristol Superior Court with prosecutors requesting the psychiatric evaluation for Lundquist. The motion says that Lundquist's medical records show she "has a long standing diagnosis of dementia and exhibited other erratic behaviors."

The evaluation could last up to 20 days and a court date has been set for Jan. 5.

"It is my expectation that she will be found not competent," Levin said this afternoon in a telephone interview from his office in Providence, R.I. "It's a very sad event," Levin said. "My client's family -- without acknowledging her responsibility for this act -- they feel great sadness for the family of Ms. Barrow."

By Matt Viser, Globe Staff

In the Democratic primary, the candidates were falling all over themselves to claim the mantle of the man they sought to replace, Edward M. Kennedy, making constant references in debates, ads, and campaign appearances to the legendary senator.

Now, even the Republican candidate, state Senator Scott Brown, is getting in on the Kennedy reference game. In a TV interview Thursday night, Brown suggested that he drew lessons from the too-short lives of John F. Kennedy Jr. and Princess Diana.

"What makes me tick is I like to work hard," Brown said during an appearance on NECN. "I live every day like it's my last. Especially when JFK Jr. passed away and Princess Di. They're powerful, handsome, rich people, and they're dead. And they can't make a difference while I still can."

Brown contined, "I can work every day and try to make a difference. I'm type A, thoughtful, conscientious hardworking person, a loving father and husband. And I'm just trying to do the best I can to save people money in this great state."

By Matt Viser, Globe Staff

LYNN -- US Senate candidate Martha Coakley suggested today that she would not agree to debates unless long-shot candidate Joseph L. Kennedy is included, a strategy that appears to be an effort to make the contest a three-person affair.

"I think it's very important at this stage in the game that everybody on the ballot be involved in these debates,'' she said this afternoon. "The campaigns are in the process of talking about that now, but there are three candidates and everybody who?s going to cast a ballot on Jan. 19 should know that.''

On Tuesday, Coakley won the Democratic nomination and state Senator Scott Brown won the Republican nomination.

Kennedy, who is no relation to the famed political family, is a Libertarian who launched an independent bid for US Senate. He is the only candidate not in a major party who turned in the 10,000 signatures needed to get on the ballot.

Having a three-way debate would help Coakley, the front-runner in the race, and would make it harder for Brown to clearly differentiate himself from Coakley. As a libertarian, Kennedy is also more likely to pull votes from Brown than he is from Coakley, so giving him broad exposure on a televised debate could hurt Brown's chances.

The Berkshire Eagle/AP

A firefighter sprayed water on the blaze this morning.

By Shana Wickett, Globe Correspondent

A historic inn in the Berkshires was destroyed in a five-alarm fire early this morning.

The Egremont Inn, which stood on the site more than 200 years, was on the National Register of Historic Places, said State Fire Marshal Steve Coan.

"It is a tremendous loss for the community of Egremont and will have an economic impact on southern Berkshire County," said Coan.

The blaze broke out about 5 a.m. and by the time the firefighters showed up, the three-story wood-framed building was consumed by flames.

Wendy Maeda/Globe Staff

One of the state's existing waste-to-energy plants, the Wheelabrator facility in Saugus

By David Abel, Globe Staff

After a year-long review as part the state's effort to revise its solid waste master plan and reduce the 1.5 million tons a year of trash exported from Massachusetts, environmental officials announced today that they will continue a 15-year-old moratorium on expanding or building new incinerators.

State officials had sparked a storm of controversy this year as they held public meetings around the state to consider revising regulations that have banned the expansion of existing plants since 1994. New incinerators have been banned since 1990.

"Focusing on incineration and landfills is the wrong end of the waste equation," Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Ian Bowles said in a statement. "While Massachusetts is ahead of the national average in recycling and some communities like Nantucket are leading the way, there is a lot more we can do to increase recycling and reduce disposal of useful materials."

The decision to extend the moratorium was hailed by environmental groups.

By Globe Staff

Boston Police are searching for a 42-year-old woman who has been missing since last week.

Tatyana Chernaya of Boston went missing from St. Elizabeth's Hospital at about 6 a.m. on Dec. 2, police said in a statement.

Chernaya's mother said her daughter had failed to show up for a doctor's appointment.

The mother told police Chernaya is on medication, has a history of mental health issues and has a history of running away.

Chernaya, who speaks Russian and English, is described as 5-feet-4, with a slim build, brown hair, brown eyes, and a scar on her neck. She was last seen wearing a black coat, black sweater and gray pants, police said.

By Globe Staff

By Globe Staff

By Matt Carroll, Globe Staff

Small towns had the lowest jobless rates in October in Massachusetts, while industrial cities had the highest, a breakdown of community unemployment numbers shows.

The numbers released by the state for individual communities show that Lawrence, New Bedford, and Fall River had the highest rates in the state -- 17.3, 14.3, 14.2.

The seasonally adjusted Massachusetts unemployment rate fell from 9.3 percent in September to 8.9 in October. The numbers for individual communities are not seasonally adjusted.

To see the entire searchable list of towns, click here.

"I frankly don't make much of a living, but I make a hell of a life. I really don't look too far down the road, and I imagine I'll do what I'm doing now until the day I die." -- Jack Gartside

That nicely sums up what Gartside, master fly-fisher and fly-tyer, was all about. As Bryan Marquard's obituary of Gartside notes, he worked a series of jobs to support his passion -- driving a Boston cab and making caskets, among other tasks.

Read the obituary here and some nice tributes (including recollections of how Gartside's fly-ties landed specific catches) on his website here.

For friends and fans, he always said: I'm the richest man I know.''

State Attorney General Martha Coakley, the Democratic candidate in the special election for US Senate, released the following public schedule for Friday, Dec. 11, 2009:

12:30 p.m.

Martha Coakley will tour the Lynn Community Health Center and talk about the importance of real health care reform.

Lynn Community Health Center

269 Union Street, Lynn

By Globe Staff

Leah Rodriguez

Kenmore the cat before he was rescued. Now, his new owner says, he thinks he's in heaven.

By Emily Sweeney, Globe Staff

Kenmore the cat is settling into his new digs in Roslindale.

After living in the MBTA's Kenmore Station for months, the striped stray tabby was rescued by T employee Michael Dionne last week.

Kenmore has since been adopted by T trolley operator Karen Ingraham.

Kenmore recently went for a check-up at Animed Pet Hospital in Dedham, where he got neutered, received his vaccinations, and got his nails clipped and groomed.

"He just had some fleas. Other than that, he's OK," said Ingraham.

Now he's just making himself at home. Ingraham says Kenmore seems to be getting along well with her 9-year-old cat, Lucky.

By Matt Carroll, Globe Staff

State Senator Scott Brown, the Republican candidate in the special election for US Senate, released the following public schedule for Friday, Dec. 11, 2009:

10:15 a.m.

Scott Brown is endorsed by Barbara Anderson, the state's leading taxpayer advocate.

1 Cranberry Hill Road

Lexington.

By Maria Chutchian, Globe Correspondent

A 21-year-old Roxbury man admitted today to fatally shooting a popular dance instructor two years ago, Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said in a statement.

Siraaj Abdulnur pleaded guilty to the voluntary manslaughter of Shawndel Mitchell, then 22, and was handed a 16-to-18-year prison sentence as well as a concurrent 4-to-5-year sentence for unlawful possession of a firearm, Conley said.

Prosecutors said Mitchell and friends were socializing around the Mission Park Housing Development in the early hours of Oct. 7, 2007. Abdulnur, who did not know the victim or his friends, approached Mitchell and punched him in the face, and the two got into a physical altercation. Abdulnur then pulled out a gun and shot Mitchell once in his chest.

By Tracy Jan, Globe Staff

The University of Massachusetts Board of Trustees this morning approved a plan to open the state's first public law school.

UMass president Jack M. Wilson

"This is a major step forward for public higher education in Massachusetts," said UMass President Jack M. Wilson. "The creation of a public law program will afford the citizens of the Commonwealth the same opportunity that exists in 44 other states. The University of Massachusetts exists to serve the citizens of the Commonwealth, and this action opens the doors of opportunity to students seeking an affordable, high-quality legal education."

The proposal, which previously received the backing of two UMass board committees, was approved on a vote of 14 to 4.

By Jack Nicas, Globe Correspondent

A mail carrier making her rounds in Dorchester Wednesday was attacked from behind, police said.

About 2:20 p.m. on Mount Bowdoin Terrace, a man knocked the 41-year-old victim down from behind and pinned her to the ground, postal officials and police said. The victim told police the assailant had a knife.

"He put his knee in her back," said US Postal Inspector Bernadette Lundbohm. "After a brief struggle, she was able to turn around and get a look at him."

Police said the suspect stood over the woman and demanded money. The victim then sprayed the man with pepper spray and he ran off.

By David Abel, Globe Staff

For the first time in three years, taxes for single-family homes in Boston are set to rise as the city tries to make up for declining property values, officials said today.

The average bill will increase by $173 in fiscal 2010, and the tax hike will be reflected on bills residents receive this month. The overall bill for the average home, now valued at $372,138, will climb to $2,935 for those who live in their homes and receive the residential exemption of $1,486.

"With the reduction in state aid, the property tax is critical in maintaining city services," said Ronald W. Rakow, commissioner of the city's Assessing Department during an interview in city hall.

By Tracy Jan, Globe Staff

Harvard President Drew Faust formally announced today that the university would halt construction of its state-of-the-art science complex in Allston in early spring after the first phase winds down.

"The altered financial landscape of the university, and of the wider world, necessitates a shift away from rapid development in Allston, and thus requires a simultaneous commitment to a program of active stewardship of Harvard properties,'' Faust wrote in a letter to the community today.

The Harvard Corporation, the university's governing body, reviewed options for the complex this week, and decided to delay the next phase of construction while continuing to examine future possibilities, Faust said in her letter. The first phase of construction -- completing the foundation and bringing the structure to ground level -- is expected to be finished by spring 2010.

The below-grade structure encompasses 8,000 tons of structural steel and spaces for laboratory support and power generation. Street-level concrete deck is nearing completion, Faust said.

"The delay will in no way slow Harvard's significant momentum in the life sciences," Faust wrote.

Stem cell researchers who were scheduled to move into the science complex by the original 2011 opening have been relocated to renovated laboratory space on Harvard's Cambridge campus. While the university is trying to lease its vacant properties in Allston -- amid criticism from neighbors who accuse Harvard of landbanking and leaving the area pockmarked with empty lots and storefronts -- Faust admits that Harvard must do more.

Harvard is committed to converting the number of its properties, currently reserved for construction support, to leasable buildings, and investing in improvements to make them more attractive to prospective tenants, she said. It will also offer more long-term lease options, up to 10 years.

(Photo courtesy of Harvard University: A current view of the construction site.)

Pat Greenhouse/Globe Staff

Matt Penkul held up the scorecard at the lanes where he accomplished (unofficially) his amazing feat.

By Jack Nicas, Globe Correspondent

Matt Penkul bowled a once-in-a-lifetime score in Peabody Tuesday night, tying the candlepin world record for a three-round match. But a technicality will keep the record off the books, officials said.

Penkul, 31, of Lynn, scored 514 points in the match, rolling consecutive scores of 155, 161, and 198. Professional bowlers score 125 in an average set.

"A 400 is considered excellent for three strings; a 514 is truly magnificent," said Penkul's teammate, George Cavalieri, 59, of Peabody. "You never see anything like that."

Steven Senne/AP

Governor Patrick led the applause as McGovern was introduced at a news conference today.

By Globe Staff

The governor has appointed the first woman superintendent of the Massachusetts State Police, picking a veteran officer with more than 30 years on the force.

Deputy Superintendent Marian J. McGovern will replace Colonel Mark Delaney, the governor's office announced today.

"Throughout her broad career on the road, as a detective, at the crime lab, and supervising the Division of Standards and Training, she has demonstrated an unparalleled work ethic, exceptional leadership skills, integrity, tenacity, and compassion," Patrick said in an email to State Police personnel.

"As the deputy superintendent she has shown her grasp of the complexity of the department. I am confident that she is ready to lead the State Police forward," the governor said.

David L. Ryan/Globe Staff

The crumbling facade

By Michaela Stanelun, Globe Correspondent

Part of the facade of a building on Warren Street in Roxbury collapsed this morning.

Boston Inspectional Services Department spokeswoman Lisa Timberlake said the department was notified around 9 a.m. of the collapse at 276 Warren, which is the location of a liquor store.

"We sent a building inspector out, and he issued a violation saying the building was unsafe and dangerous," Timberlake said.

The inspector asked the owner to submit an engineer's report on the structural integrity of the building. No one was injured.

By Globe Staff

The former acting head of the state government's computer department has agreed to pay a $3,000 penalty for violating the state conflict of interest law by asking a computer company seeking a state contract to help sponsor a golf outing.

Bethann Pepoli, the former acting chief information officer at the state's Information Technology Division, solicited the $1,300 sponsorship from Cognos Corp., which was seeking a $15 million contract, the State Ethics Commission said today.

By Globe Staff

By Maria Cramer, Globe Staff

By John R. Ellement, Globe Staff

The state's top judge today offered a personal review of fictional crime shows surfacing in real courtrooms -- forget about it.

Margaret H. Marshall, chief justice of the Supreme Judicial Court, expressed frustration from the bench while hearing a first-degree murder appeal where the defense claims a fatal error was committed by a judge when he referenced the television show "CSI."

Prosecutors in Massachusetts and across the country have contended for years that the CSI television shows, which focus on forensic work by crime scene investigators, have created unrealistic expectations among jurors about forensic evidence in real courtrooms.

Marshall noted from the bench that a 2006 Yale Law Journal study had concluded the "CSI effect" was legal fiction and that jurors were not influenced by the popular series. Still, she said today, talk about CSI should be banned in Boston and other courtrooms across the state.

"I am just saying however we resolve the issue in this case, it's not the first time that it has come up," Marshall said from the bench. "We should just keep television out of criminal trials."

By Brian C. Mooney, Globe Staff

Will Keyser of Stephen Pagliuca's campaign took issue with the Globe's characterization of his candidate as waging the state's most costly self-financed campaign on a cost-per-vote basis. On one level he has a point.

For comparison purposes, the Globe used only tallies from previous statewide campaigns to arrive at the conclusion that Pagliuca would spend about $100 per vote of his own money, far exceeding the nearly $40-per-vote cost when Christopher F. Gabrieli spent almost $9.9 million of his own cash in losing the 2006 Democratic primary for governor.

Keyser, who was Pagliuca's spokesman, says Gabrieli should still be considered the record-holder, but for another race -- in 1998, when he spent $5.09 million of his own fortune to finish sixth in a 10-way Democratic primary contest to succeed Joseph P. Kennedy 2d in the 8th Congressional District. Gabrieli received 5,740 votes out of 88,145 cast. That comes to about $886 per vote, primarily because of the cost of advertising on Boston television in a district that constitutes only one-tenth of the state's population.

By Donovan Slack, Globe Staff

A Boston Fire Department employee accused of perjury and obstruction of justice in a federal pension fraud investigation now plans to plead guilty to the offenses, court documents show.

Erica Boylan, a human resources clerk who was responsible for processing disability pension applications, notified officials at US District Court in Boston that she intends to change her not-guilty plea, the records filed on Wednesday show.

Boylan was indicted in October after she allegedly lied to a grand jury when she denied that firefighters had asked her to help them collect more pay by stalling the processing of their applications. Two former firefighters were indicted at the same time and charged with mail fraud after they allegedly faked on-the-job injuries to get disability pensions.

(John Tlumacki/Globe Staff/File)

By Andrew Ryan, Globe Staff

The state announced today it will release $5.5 million to reimburse 165 cities and towns crippled by the devastating ice storm a year ago, one of the most costly natural disasters in the history of Massachusetts. 

The state is repaying communities for emergency work, debris clearance, and recovery efforts from the storm Dec. 11-12, 2008 that left more than a million homes and businesses without power and cost tens of millions of dollars, according to Lieutenant Governor Timothy Murray, who made the announcement today in Fitchburg.

"These communities that were hit hard are literally still recovering from the storm last year," said Murray, adding that the funds will be wired next week as municipalities begin digging into deleted budgets for snow and ice removal. "Having this money on hand obviously helps."

Republican Scott Brown walked through his US Senate campaign headquarters on Wednesday after kicking off the general election race by signing a no-tax pledge. The state senator is facing state Attorney General Martha Coakley in the race to fill the seat held for 47 years by the late Edward M. Kennedy. 

(David Ryan/Globe Staff)

Ted Gartland, a dayside photo editor at the Globe, has been taking pictures in Greater Boston since 1971. Each weekday, he highlights an outtake that did not appear in the morning paper. To view the work of more Globe photographers, click here. To watch Gartland's weekly segment on NECN, click here.

By Globe Staff

Boston Police are looking for a 14-year-old autistic boy who was last seen Tuesday going to an after-school program in Central Square in East Boston.

Jeffrey Cooper

He was last seen wearing glasses, a navy blue sweatshirt with a Warren/Prescott School patch, a black winter coat, black sneakers and a green-and-white Celtics hat.

Police asked anyone with information on his whereabouts to call Area A-7 (East Boston) detectives at 617-343-4234.

By Jack Nicas, Globe Correspondent

Seven cats were abandoned near the MSPCA headquarters in Jamaica Plain in eight days, including one left in a taped-shut box 100 yards from the building during Saturday’s snowstorm.

Tinsel was one of those rescued

By Globe Staff

Moving to address troubling issues raised in an independent review, the MBTA said today it had inked a contract with a consulting firm to study how the agency evaluates and prioritizes capital projects.

"It's become very clear that the MBTA needs to develop and implement a better system for examining requests for capital spending," Acting General Manager William Mitchell said in a statement.

The contract with Transportation Resource Associates of Philadelphia will cost $180,000, said MBTA spokesman Joe Pesaturo.

By Globe Staff

A 31-year-old South Boston man has been cited for crashing into a parked car while arguing with his girlfriend on a cellphone, Boston police said.

Brendan Klaes was issued a citation for unsafe passing and impeded operation of a motor vehicle due to the use of his cellphone after the accident at 572 Washington St. at about 11:55 a.m. Monday, police said in a statement.

Cecil Stoughton/White House/JFK Library

President John F. Kennedy on a visit to Dunganstown in 1963

By Martin Finucane, Globe Staff

Saying the late US Senator Edward M. Kennedy had been one of the best friends Ireland ever had on Capitol Hill, the Irish finance minister said today the government would provide funding for a new visitor attraction at the ancestral homestead of the Kennedy family.

"Today, in a modest way I would like to honor the memory of a great man from a great family. The government will provide funding for a project at the Kennedy Homestead in Dunganstown, County Wexford, from which his forefathers emigrated in the early nineteenth century," Finance Minister Brian Lenihan said in the text of his budget speech posted on the Web by the Irish Times.

"The development of this important visitor attraction will be a welcome boost to tourism" in the area, Lenihan said.

By Globe Staff

A 44-year-old man was convicted today of killing his father in 2006 in Mattapan.

Brian Lee was convicted in Suffolk Superior Court of first-degree murder in the death of 70-year-old Edward Lee on Oct. 28, 2006, the Suffolk district attorney's office said in a statement.

Prosecutors said Brian Lee beat his father to death in his father's home, decapitated him, and then used a power saw to dismember him.

By Michaela Stanelun, Globe Correspondent

Word of the Boston College athletic department's decision not to send marching band members to the Emerald Bowl at the end of the month spread quickly throughout the Eagle community. And marching band alumni are now speaking out against the decision.

"I think the team will suffer without any band there," said Ryan Schiel, a 2008 graduate, who is originally from Toledo, Ohio, e-mailing his criticisms from Afghanistan, where he is currently serving in the Army. "I know personally from talking to players throughout my tenure at BC that the band pumps up not only the crowd but also the team."

School officials have cited funding and the timing of the game, which is the day after Christmas. On Tuesday, BC spokesman Jack Dunn said, "Given the timing of the bowl, over the Christmas weekend, the decision was made so as not to impose on band members to miss Christmas with their families." The bowl game is taking place at AT&T Park in San Francisco on Dec. 26 versus the University of Southern California Trojans -- who are bringing their marching band.

By Eric Moskowitz, Globe Staff

Stephen Pagliuca launched his US Senate campaign almost three months ago like the NBA owner he is: with lots of sports analogies, rhetoric about teams and titles, an arena-friendly soundtrack, and hopeful references to the Boston Celtics' 2008 championship season.

Stephen Pagliuca

At his campaign party Tuesday night, Pagliuca, in a six-minute speech, made a point of mentioning the Celtics, who at that moment were putting the finishing touches on a victory over the Milwaukee Bucks across town at the Garden.

"So I'll be one for two tonight," he said. "Although I feel like I'm a huge winner because it's just been a wonderful journey -- working with you all, working with the people of Massachusetts, and getting the message out there that Massachusetts can be a leader."

In an interview with reporters, Pagliuca again chose athlete-speak when he dodged a question about whether he would run for office again.

"As in sports, take it one day at a time," he said.

Despite spending millions of his fortune to come in fourth, Pagliuca said, he had no regrets.

"We didn't come up winning this time," he said. "But we've also lost a lot of basketball games, and still won a championship in the end."

(John Tlumacki/Globe Staff)

By Andrew Ryan, Globe Staff, and Michaela Stanelun, Globe Correspondent

A sloppy winter storm turned entirely to rain this afternoon but not before dumping up to a foot of snow.

The heavy rain is expected to taper off early this evening after washing away much of the snow that piled on sidewalks and driveways. Downpours have been heavy enough to cause minor street flooding, especially in the southeast part of the state.

The temperature spiked well into the 40s this afternoon in Boston, with warm air off the sea making for much more rain than snow. Colder temperatures further inland has the opposite effect, with 11 inches of snow accumulating in part of Worcester and Franklin counties, according to the National Weather Service in Taunton. Just over the border in New Ipswich, N.H., a foot of snow fell.

By John R. Ellement and Kathleen Burge, Globe Staff

An 18-year-old Peabody woman who had allegedly been kidnapped used her cellphone to help State Police locate her and used her memory of the kidnapper's unusual name to help police track him down.

Willian Vieira, 21, was arrested in a Natick apartment complex around 8:30 p.m. Tuesday night. The Natick man is accused of holding the woman, who he had met on some sort of a date in Peabody earlier Tuesday, against her will, according to State Police spokesman David Procopio.

By Alex Beam, Globe Staff

I developed a taste for political loser parties when I showed up at Michael Flaherty and Sam Yoon's non-celebration, the night they lost the Boston Mayor's race to Tom Menino in an epochal landslide. It was fun! The Venezia restaurant offered a couple of open bars, and its huge event hall exuded an irreverent, anti-Menino vibe. When the mayor's face flashed on the wide-screen monitor, claiming victory, the "Floon" crowd booed heartily, then cleared the way for their candidates to march to the podium and concede the election.

So on the night of the special Senate primary, I resolved to attend the Democratic loser parties and take the temperature of the campaigns that got their clocks cleaned by Martha Coakley.

By Globe Staff

Boston Police and the FBI are wondering if the same man committed two robberies that were reported within two hours of each other this morning at Sovereign Bank branches in two different city neighborhoods.

"We're looking at the possibility that these two were the same perpetrator," said Officer Joe Zanoli, a police spokesman.

The first robbery happened at 9:01 a.m. at the branch at 61 Arlington St. in the South End. Bank personnel told authorities that the robber was a white male in his mid-20s, who was 5-feet-8 with brown hair and wearing a light gray sweatshirt and black gloves, Zanoli said.

By Eric Moskowitz, Globe Staff

NEEDHAM -- Standing before a "Jobs are Job One" banner, Republican Scott Brown began the first day of the general election campaign by signing a pledge not to raise taxes and challenging Democratic nominee Martha Coakley to do the same.

Related

• No suprises: It's Coakley vs. Brown in Senate race
• Full Democratic results
• Full Republican results
• Democrats already warning of GOP nominee’s strengths
• Photos The results roll in
• Photos Scenes from the polls
• Senate race coverage

( Globe file) State Senator Scott Brown

Massachusetts residents have endured a package of tax increases on the state level, Brown said, and they will not be able take more hikes from their next senator in Washington. Brown cited his legislative experience and repeatedly described himself as an "independent thinker and voter" as he appealed for support beyond the state's small Republican Party. Coakley did not make a single proposal during the debates in the primary, Brown said, and she has not suggested a way to save Massachusetts taxpayers a single dollar.

"There is a very clear and distinct choice here," Brown said, saying that as a senator Coakley would "almost be robotic in the way she'll be in lockstep with Harry Reid and the special interests and the president."

By Matt Viser, Globe Staff

Stalwarts in the Democratic Party rallied today behind their new US Senate nominee, Attorney General Martha Coakley, in an effort to project unity in keeping a seat long held by the late Edward M. Kennedy.

Attorney General Martha Coakley

Coakley now faces state Senator Scott Brown, the Republican nominee, in the Jan. 19 special election.

Indicating the strong position Coakley feels that she's in, she barely uttered Brown's name during the event at the Omni Parker House Hotel in Boston and has no further plans to campaign today. After the rally, Coakley went back to her campaign headquarters to make phone calls and regroup with her staff.

It was a festive affair, with House Speaker Robert A. DeLeo joking about Senate President Therese Murray's dancing the night before (“I think she’s ready for dancing with the stars,” he said). Some still couldn’t pronounce Stephen Pagliuca’s name properly, inserting the silent G when they mentioned him.

Coakley readily dispensed hugs, sometimes stopping people before they were finished with their remarks.

Given the timing of the bowl, over the Christmas weekend, the decision was made so as not to impose on band members to miss Christmas with their families.

-- Boston College spokesman Jack Dunn

The bowl is the day after Christmas, so I can understand not getting the entire band to go for logistical reasons, because some students had already made plans for Christmas. But to not send any sort of ensemble is embarrassing to the university, especially when people are willing to go.

-- Junior trombonist Stephen Bohlman

Martha Coakley savored the spotlight on Tuesday night after she won the Democratic nomination for the US Senate seat held for 47 year by the late Edward M. Kennedy. Coakley will face Republican Scott P. Brown in the general election on Jan. 19.

(John Tlumacki/Globe Staff)

Ted Gartland, a dayside photo editor at the Globe, has been taking pictures in Greater Boston since 1971. Each weekday, he highlights an outtake that did not appear in the morning paper. To view the work of more Globe photographers, click here. To watch Gartland's weekly segment on NECN, click here.

By Globe Staff

The Red Line is running 10 to 15 minutes behind schedule today between JFK-UMass and South Station stops because of signal problems, according to the MBTA's website.

A signal crew has been dispatched to the scene to address the problem, according to MBTA spokesman Joe Pesaturo.

By Matt Viser and Frank Phillips, Globe Staff

Attorney General Martha Coakley easily captured the Democratic nomination for the US Senate tonight and took a giant step toward smashing the state’s political glass ceiling, as she parlayed her straightforward style and strong appeal among women into an overwhelming victory against a trio of male opponents.

Martha Coakley

With 99 percent of precincts reporting, the 56-year-old Coakley led her closest rival, US Representative Michael E. Capuano, 47 percent to 28 percent. City Year cofounder Alan Khazei had 13 percent of the votes, and Boston Celtics co-owner Stephen G. Pagliuca won 12 percent.

"We knew there were plenty of skeptics out there," Coakley said in her victory speech at the Boston Sheraton, referring to those who doubted her ability to raise money or to win as an attorney general, a move that others before her have failed to make. "They said that women don't have much luck in Massachusetts politics -- we believed that it was quite possible that that luck was about to change! And change it did tonight!" Coakley shouted, spurring enthusiastic applause and chants of "Martha."

By Brian Mooney, Globe Staff

Attoney General Martha Coakley may have run a less-than-scintillating campaign, but she started this sprint of a special Senate primary campaign with too many advantages for a trio of white male Democratic opponents to overcome in a short period of time.

The only candidate to have run statewide before, she started with astronomically high favorability ratings and low negatives. Throughout a generally genteel three-month campaign, that didn't change. Her rivals succeeded in improving their own images, but neither they nor the news media tarnished hers significantly. In the end, there was never a cogent argument for those voters who started the campaign liking Coakley to abandon her at the end.

She won by huge margins across vast swaths of the state today.

By Michael Rezendes, Stephanie Ebbert, Eric Moskowitz, Andrea Estes, Michael Levenson, and Martin Finucane, Globe Staff

7:30 p.m.

Secretary of State William F. Galvin said turnout had been "very light" and speculated that the election was drawing only people from the Democratic and Republican parties and not independents. "My instinct is that the independents are not participating," he said. He said he expected turnout of 500,000 to 900,000 voters out of the 4.1 million registered voters and it would be "closer to the 5 than to the 9."

8:01 p.m.

It's all over but the counting. Polls closed across the state at 8 p.m. Now the results will trickle in, bringing some candidates joy and others pain.

8:04 p.m.

Just a few dozen people gathered at the party for supporters of Boston Celtics co-owner Stephen Pagliuca at the Ben Franklin Institute of Technology. But the venture capitalist put out a nice spread – shrimp lo mein, sushi, teriyaki skewers, and five kinds of cheese.

8:11 p.m.

The first results arrived just after 8 p.m. Nine of the first votes appeared to have come from the town of Gosnold, a chain of islands off the south coast of the state.

8:21 p.m.

At the party at the Copley Fairmont Plaza Hotel for supporters of US Representative Michael Capuano, 65 to 80 people assembled, many of them cautiously optimistic. "We're hoping for him to win," said Maria Rodrigues, who has lived across the street from the candidate for 25 years. "We think it's going to be tight."

By Michael Levenson, Globe Staff

NEWTON -- State Senator Scott P. Brown, a telegenic triathlete and military lawyer who has won nine consecutive elections since the mid-1980s, tonight won an easy victory in the Republican primary for US Senate, launching him on an uphill battle to become the first Republican to represent Massachusetts in the United States Senate in 30 years.

Brown, one of just five Republicans in the 40-member state Senate, faces significant challenges: he is less well-known than the Democratic nominee, Attorney General Martha Coakley; he is a Republican in an overwhelmingly liberal state; and the six weeks until the final election include the Christmas and New Year's season when it will be difficult to get voters' attention.

Just 11 percent of the state's registered voters are Republicans. But Democrats are taking nothing for granted.

"He’s an attractive, articulate, moderate Republican who could tap into some of the unrest among voters,'' said Philip W. Johnston, a former chairman of the state Democratic Party. "It would be a terrible mistake for Democrats to assume that this election is in the bag on Jan. 19. These are not normal times. There are treacherous winds blowing and Democratic candidates have to be aware of that."

(Joanne Rathe/Globe Staff)

Stephen Steele stood in a voting booth with his 4-year-old daughter Nicole today at John Glenn Middle School in Bedford.

By Matt Viser, Andrew Ryan, Michael Rezendes, and Noah Bierman, Globe Staff

With the clock ticking down towards the close of the polls at 8 p.m., some communities reported low voter turnout in the special primary elections for US Senate.

(David L. Ryan/Globe Staff)

"No one's really paying attention," said Maria Tomasia, an election official in New Bedford, which had anemic early turnout. "I'm very disappointed. I thought it would be large turnout considering it's Kennedy's seat. I thought in his honor, his memory, they'd go out in larger numbers, but they're not."

By 6 p.m, 52,653 ballots had been cast in Boston, a mark that represented less than 15 percent of the city's registered voters. The main branch of the Boston Public Library in Copley Square was typical: Several precincts vote there, but this afternoon the library was as empty as a church at midnight on New Year's Eve.

2007 Globe file photo

BC's "Screaming Eagles" band has performed at bowl games each year over the past decade.

By Michaela Stanelun, Globe Correspondent

When Boston College's football team takes on the University of Southern California Trojans in the Emerald Bowl on Dec. 26, the BC squad will do battle without its loudest, most-dedicated supporters: the college's marching band.

Members of the 180-strong "Screaming Eagles," who have cheered on BC during each of the school's past 10 post-season appearances, will not make the trip to the San Francisco bowl, band director David Healey said in an e-mail to members Monday night. He cited financial constraints as well as the timing of the game over the Christmas holiday as reasons for the Athletic Department's decision.

The decision stunned band members. Like football players, they see a bowl appearance as a reward for their hard work and sacrifice throughout the season. Not sending the band, said junior trombonist Stephen Bohlman, suggests that BC "doesn't care about the game experience."

College spokesman Jack Dunn said today said that none of the band's recent bowl appearances had occurred so close to Christmas.

(Joanne Rathe/Globe Staff)

Democrat Michael Capuano cast his ballot early this morning at the Department of Public Works in Somerville.

By Eric Moskowitz, Globe Staff

SOMERVILLE -- Nancy and Felix Iovanni walked to the Dante Club this afternoon to cast ballots for Michael Capuano, the local congressman who grew up a few houses from the home where they have lived for half a century in the Spring Hill section of this diverse, formerly working-class city.

They were surprised to find a clear path to the door of the social club-turned-polling place, unfettered by campaign workers or other voters.

"I thought there'd be more, I really did. Especially here. I mean, this is Capuano's hometown," said Nancy Iovanni, recalling the days when the US Senate candidate was just one of the kids in the neighborhood.

"Oh yeah, good boy," added Felix Iovanni, reflecting on the whole Capuano family. "Good people."

By Jack Nicas, Globe Correspondent

Commuters, expect a slushy slog Wednesday morning.

Snow will blanket most of the state outside Route 128, leaving several inches by 7 a.m. in many areas. And heavy rain and high winds will greet commuters coming into Boston, forecasters said.

“There will be an inch or two of snow [in Boston], and then it will turn over to rain,” said Eleanor Vallier-Talbot, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Taunton. “It could cause some major problems for the morning commute.”

Inland areas, from Worcester County to the Berkshires, should get two to six inches of heavy wet snow by the afternoon, she said.

By Tracy Jan, Globe Staff

It’s not exactly the MCAS, but it’s the closest Massachusetts’ public colleges and universities have come to setting standards of what students should know upon graduation.

In a new report presented at today’s Board of Higher Education meeting, the state outlined the key skills that undergraduates should acquire during their years in school.

It’s not enough to simply become experts in an academic discipline or two, said an advisory group of higher education, civic and business leaders. Colleges need to define and assess what and how college students are learning to produce better workers and citizens.

The top three areas: Well-honed written and oral communication skills, knowledge and practice of ethical behavior, and the ability to work well with others. Students should also be adept at scientific and quantitative reasoning, critical analysis and logical thinking. And they should have a broad knowledge of human cultures, civic and social responsibility, and be able to negotiate and solve interpersonal conflicts, among other competencies.

The advisory group recommended that the state discuss how to hold public colleges across the state accountable for progress towards the goals, and consider participating in national and international initiatives to measure Massachusetts against other states and countries. The report will also be shared with private institutions of higher learning in the Bay State.

By Jack Nicas, Globe Correspondent

Voter turnout is relatively high in Barnstable, where residents are choosing the successor to a late local favorite, the long-time US Senator Edward M. Kennedy.

At 2 p.m., about 15 percent of the 31,000 registered voters in Kennedy’s hometown had cast a ballot. By comparison, less than 10 percent of Boston voters had cast ballots by 3 p.m.

“He used to come upstairs here to vote,” said Town Clerk Linda Hutchenrider from the Barnstable Town Hall. “You know, it’s sad. The whole thing is sad.”

By Globe Staff

A 23-year-old Boston man is facing a murder charge in the August shooting death of a young woman in Dorchester.

An arrest warrant has been issued for Amos "Ace" Don charging him in the death of Erica Field, 29, of Lewiston, Maine, the Suffolk district attorney's office and Boston police said.

Don is in custody in Maine on unrelated charges. Investigators will now seek to have him returned to the state to face the murder charge, as well as an additional count of armed assault with intent to murder for wounding a second victim, authorities said in a statement.

By Michaela Stanelun, Globe Correspondent

A man was killed while fixing a disabled truck in the breakdown lane on the Mass. Pike this morning, State Police said.

The accident happened on the westbound lanes in Grafton. State Police spokesman David Procopio said preliminary evidence suggests the victim, who works for a private company, responded to service a disabled truck in the breakdown lane. The victim, who was not immediately identified, was standing near the cab of the disabled truck when he was struck by another passing truck.

Two westbound lanes are closed for the accident investigations, Procopio said.

By Jonathan Saltzman, Globe Staff

Another routine criminal conviction in Massachusetts has been overturned because of a recent US Supreme Court ruling that held that criminal defendants have a constitutional right to cross-examine forensic experts who prepare laboratory reports.

The state Appeals Court today reversed the conviction of Deniz DePina for trafficking cocaine in a school zone because the defendant's lawyer did not have an opportunity to question the state laboratory about its conclusion that a bag contained about 14 grams of crack cocaine. Boston police seized the bag on Feb. 8, 2006, from an apartment at 59 Burrell St. in Roxbury where the defendant allegedly sold drugs.

The reversal followed a controversial Supreme Court ruling on June 25. The nation's highest court held, 5-4, that the Sixth Amendment guarantee of a right to confront witnesses extended to forensic analysis, such as a laboratory report identifying seized powder as cocaine. The decision stemmed from a Boston drug case and invalidated a Massachusetts law that allowed prosecutors to present such evidence without allowing defendants to cross-examine the experts.

Since the ruling, the state Appeals Court has overturned a handful of gun possession convictions because ballisticians were not available to testify that the guns worked when they were test fired, according to attorneys and officials.

By Globe Staff

On most election days, voters approaching the polls encounter a colorful array of candidates’ signs. This morning, that scene was absent many polling stations across the state, an odd sight even for a primary election.

At the O'Connell Public Library, in East Cambridge, which usually sports a scrum of placards on voting days, not a single candidate sign waved as of 9 a.m.

Ditto for the polls at Winthrop High School. "I have not had a single person outside with a sign," said election warden Michael Diluiso, a Winthrop police dispather.

The scene stood in sharp contrast to previous Winthrop elections, when voters have had to run a gauntlet of signs touting various candidates for local and state offices. Indeed, after a brief 7 a.m. rush, when the polls opened, the 10 poll workers set up at folding tables in the school auditorium outnumbered voters for much of the morning.

There were a scattering of signs at polling stations in the region.

Outside the Foley Apartments this morning in South Boston, a lone sign holder hoisted a Michael Capuano placard on a wooden stick. A month ago during the municipal election, more than a dozen campaign workers jockeyed for position outside the polling place, forming a gantlet of campaign literature and stump promises.

It was unclear whether candidates and their supporters decided to put there energy elsewhere today or they simply had trouble mustering sign-bearers in the chilly weather.

(Pat Greenhouse/Globe Staff)

By Michael Levenson, Globe Staff

Mayor Thomas M. Menino, making his first public appearance since his election and debilitating knee injury a month ago, garnered warm applause from the city’s business executives when he ambled slowly on crutches into a Chamber of Commerce breakfast this morning, an aide at his elbow to steady him.

A brace on his left leg concealed under a dark suit, Menino settled gingerly into a chair on stage at the Intercontinental Hotel, and spoke for about 15 minutes before three Cabinet members completed the details on his remarks. The mayor used his speech to call for new ideas to replace the hole in Downtown Crossing where the Filene’s building once stood, to urge business leaders to support charter school legislation, and to announce a new chief of staff.

(Joanne Rathe/Globe Staff)

Former governor Michael S. Dukakis (right) introduced commuters this morning to US Senate candidate Michael Capuano outside the Government Center T stop.

Dukakis endorsed Capuano last month and has campaigned with him during the final push.

On Monday, Dukakis joined Capuano for a visit to a union phone bank in Natick.

By James Vaznis, Globe Staff

Superintendent Carol R. Johnson

In grade 8, Boston was topped by just three other cities -- Austin, Charlotte, and San Diego -- on the National Assessment of Educational Progress exam. Boston scored an average of 279 out of 500 possible points, which was eight points higher than the average score for the 18 large urban districts included in the study.

In Grade 4, Boston scored an average of 236, compared to a big city average of 231. Boston was beat out by just three other districts -- Charlotte, Austin, and New York City -- while tying with three other cities, Houston, Miami-Dade and San Diego.

The candidates on the ballot in today's special primary election all cast their votes early this morning. They are vying to run in the special general election on Jan. 19 to fill the US Seat left vacant by the late Edward M. Kennedy

(David L. Ryan/Globe Staff)

Democrat Alan Khazei voted at Brookline Town Hall with his 7-year-old daughter, Mirabelle; his wife, Vanessa Kirsch, and their 17-month-old daughter Reece Khazei.

Boston Celtics Brian Scalabrini played the game Jenga on Monday with Colin Mason (left) from Quincy and Taui Francis from Boston. The 13-year-olds are patients at Boston Medical Center's Pediatric Hematology Program.

(Matthew Lee/Globe Staff)

Ted Gartland, a dayside photo editor at the Globe, has been taking pictures in Greater Boston since 1971. Each weekday, he highlights an outtake that did not appear in the morning paper. To view the work of more Globe photographers, click here. To watch Gartland's weekly segment on NECN, click here.

By Globe Staff

Sunny but crisp weather is expected for today’s special primary election, with temperatures predicted to crest in the upper 30s or low 40s.

Voters will head to the polls under “bright sunny skies across the entire state with a fairly light wind,” said Alan Dunham with the National Weather Service in Taunton.

A winter storm that may drop a considerable amount of snow in the interior of the state is expected to hold off until after midnight, long after the polls close at 8 p.m.

The storm predicted for Wednesday may leave up to 8 inches of snow in the Worcester hills, according to the National Weather Service. Boston is expected to receive a half inch of slush, with much of the snow changing to rain.

“Just in time make the morning commute not so enjoyable,” Dunham said.

A winter storm watch is in effect for Wednesday in central and the northeast interior of Massachusetts.

Globe photo/Yoon S. Byun

Attorney General Martha Coakley greeting voters at South Station this evening.

By Brian C. Mooney and Matt Viser, Globe Staff, and Jack Nicas and Matt Rocheleau, Globe Correspondents

For three months, the candidates for US Senate have been trying to create voter excitement for a primary election that often seemed off the public's radar. On Tuesday, the campaign organizations will pull out all the stops to get those voters who were paying attention to come to the polls.

Democratic hopefuls scrambled to reach late-deciding voters today by every means possible -- by airwaves, telephone, in person, and via the Internet, and then turned the campaigns over to their ground games at the polls.

Bay State Senate seats open up about once in a generation, and the frantic schedules of the Democrats dashing around the state today, the last full day of stumping, served as a metaphor for a campaign whose erratic rhythm was dictated by the compressed calendar set by state law.

All the Democratic candidates -- Attorney General Martha Coakley, US Representative Michael Capuano, Celtics co-owner Stephen Pagliuca, and City Year cofounder Alan Khazei -- have poured significant resources into their ground games, in which organizations identify supporters by telephone and Internet and then work to make sure they get to the polls.

Secretary of State William F. Galvin said turnout will probably be light because of the off-season timing of the election and a weather forecast of cold temperatures in the upper 30s. He projected it could be in the range of 500,000 to 600,000 voters out of 4.1 million eligible to cast ballots. About 37 percent are Democrats, 11.4 percent are Republicans, and 51 percent are independents who may vote in either primary.

Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m., and the winner of the Democratic race will face off against the winner of the Republican primary, state Senator Scott Brown or Duxbury businessman Jack E. Robinson, in the Jan. 19 special election for the seat of the late Edward M. Kennedy.

By Michele Morgan Bolton, Globe Correspondent

A week after a shooting at Brockton High School, the city's new school chief said today he will hand over temporary control of the district's 9-member police force to the Brockton Police Department while an independent review of safety and security is conducted.

Superintendent Matthew Malone held a lengthy morning meeting with Brockton Police Chief William Conlon, Mayor-elect Linda Balzotti and others to discuss the incident in which a 17-year-old Brockton High dropout, now living in Quincy, was shot in both legs after a dispute near the high-school gym.

The crackdown comes at the same time officials citywide are pledging to work together to quell growing youth and gang violence.

Brockton Police Captain Leon McCabe will take over command of the School Police and serve as the liaison between law enforcement and the schools, Malone said. McCabe will help to identify ways school officials, police and community groups can work together to help kids.

"Prevention is the best service we can provide the community, and I see this is a very positive step,” Conlon said.

Two community security coordinators will also be hired to patrol the high-school grounds from 2 p.m. to 9 p.m. on weekdays, while principals at all schools have clearance to walk trespassers off the property, Malone said.

All schools will conduct more frequent emergency and security drills and Emergency Response plans and notification lists will be updated.

“When the safety of children is at stake, every policy and procedure, every security measure and preventive plan must be regularly reviewed, reassessed and revamped,” Malone said.

Balzotti said she has asked her transition team to look into ways to strengthen community programs and a staff member has been assigned to work solely on youth issues, she said: “We can't afford to delay our response to youth violence,'' she said. "We have to work together to do better for our kids.”

By Tracy Jan, Globe Staff

What does a college president do when one of his closest friends and supporters publicly disses his law school faculty for criticizing his salary?

Sargent

Suffolk University President David Sargent issued a short statement to the entire law school community today in response to comments that Nicholas Macaronis, chairman of the Beacon Hill college's Board of Trustees, made to the Globe.

In a story published Saturday, Macaronis chastised the law faculty for commenting on the terms of Sargent's contract, sight unseen.

“I’d like to know how many people examined this contract and are sophisticated enough to understand what’s in it,’’ Macaronis said. “I don’t think one of these 44 people would stand up to scrutiny if I were to sit down with them and examine them.’’

Sargent tried to soothe any possible hurt feelings by disassociating himself from the remaks. In a message e-mailed to the law school's faculty, he wrote that he has "nothing but the greatest respect" for them.

"Our faculty members are among the finest legal scholars and teachers in the world, and their abilities continue to withstand the highest scrutiny," Sargent wrote.

Macaronis' comments were "unfortunate and unfair to our distinguished faculty members," he continued, "and are completely the opposite of my own assessment."

A national survey by the Chronicle of Higher Education named Sargent the highest-paid private college president, with 2006-07 compensation of $2.8 million. In October, the survey said he was the second-highest compensated in 2007-08.

By Jack Nicas, Globe Correspondent

An inmate serving a 20-year sentence for attacking two correctional officers more than a decade ago was sentenced last week for attacking another guard in 2004, stabbing him in the eye and partially blinding him.

A Norfolk Superior Court judge Thursday tacked on an additional 36 to 40 years on mayhem charges to Joseph Clark’s existing sentence, making him eligible for parole in 2068, when he would be 104 years old, according to prosecutors.

In 2004, Clark attacked two prison guards at MCI Cedar Junction as they were delivering special meals for the Muslim holiday of Ramadan. Clark, 45, pushed his cell door open after damaging the frame through repeated kicking and punched one guard in the face while holding a prison shank.

The sharpened pen punctured the guard’s eye, rendering him permanently blind in the eye, according to prosecutors. Clark then cut the other guard several times on the face and body before he was subdued.

By Andrew Ryan, Globe Staff

The biting wind and dreary gray sky seemed appropriate this afternoon at the Charlestown Navy Yard for a simple and somber ceremony marking the 68th anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.

In the shadow of an antiaircraft gun on the deck of the USS Cassin Young, a few dozen veterans and National Park Service rangers sang the National Anthem, listened to brief remarks about sacrifice, tossed a wreath into the cold water, and saluted the American flag as it flapped in a steady breeze.

By Jonathan Saltzman, Globe Staff

Four record labels that were awarded a total of $675,000 in damages after a Boston University graduate student illegally downloaded and shared music online have lost their bid to get a federal judge to order the student to stop promoting such activity.

US District Court Judge Nancy Gertner today granted the labels' request that she order Joel Tenenbaum to destroy the 30 songs that a federal jury found he downloaded and to not commit further copyright infringement. But she rebuffed their request to bar him from encouraging others to break the law.

``The word 'promote' is far too vague to withstand scrutiny under the First Amendment,'' Gertner wrote. ``Although plaintiffs are entitled to statutory damages, they have no right to silence defendant's criticism of the statutory regime under which he is obligated to pay those damages.''

On July 31, a federal jury in Boston found that Tenenbaum had infringed on the copyrights of songs such as Nirvana's "Come As You Are'' and Green Day's "Nice Guys Finish Last'' and awarded damages. A few weeks later, the playlist of the songs he was sued over ended up on The Pirate Bay, a Swedish file-sharing service, as ``The $675,000 Mixtape'' next to an image of Tenenbaum as "DJ Joel'' and the phrase ``Approved by the RIAA.'' That was a reference to the Recording Industry Association of America.

There was no evidence that Tenenbaum was responsible for putting the playlist on The Pirate Bay. But the labels accused him of defiantly promoting further illegal downloading by linking to the service directly from a website created for his defense. The labels asked Gertner to order him to stop promoting illegally activity, which she rejected.

"She categorically confirmed my First Amendment rights, and I'm thrilled about that,'' said Tenenbaum, a 25-year-old doctoral student in physics, who acknowledged criticizing the RIAA in interviews with news outlets and online. "I'm just very pleased I can speak freely without the court having to come down on me for it.''

Also today, Gertner formally entered the judgment against Tenenbaum for the copyright infringements. Tenenbaum has until January 4 to file a motion for a new trial or to ask Gertner to slash the award, both of which Tenenbaum said is likely.

Gertner has made no secret of her sympathy toward high school and college students who view file-sharing as a fact of life on the Internet and her distaste for the lawsuits that record labels have brought.

In one of her written rulings today, she wrote that she was "deeply concerned by the rash of file-sharing lawsuits, the imbalance of resources between the parties, and the upheaval of norms of behavior brought on by the Internet.''

But she said Tenenbaum's lawyer, Harvard law professor Charles Nesson, had mounted a ``truly chaotic defense,'' missing deadlines, ignoring rules, and tape-recording opposing counsel and the judge at pretrial hearings and legal proceedings without permission.

Cara Duckworth, a spokeswoman for the RIAA, said the association was pleased that Gertner had entered the judgment and ordered Tenenbaum to destroy all illegal music files and to "refrain from further theft of our music.''

Saltzman can be reached at jsaltzman@globe.com

By Michaela Stanelun, Globe Correspondent

Fifteen sea turtles suffering from a myriad of problems, including hypothermia and malnutrition, have been rescued from Cape Cod beaches since Sunday afternoon, New England Aquarium officials said today.

Of the 15, two found on beaches from Dennis to Wellfleet had died by the time they arrived at the aquarium in Boston for treatment and rehabilitation.

Aquarium spokesman Tony LaCasse said the sea turtles, which include endangered Kemp's Ridley turtles, often are stranded on Cape beaches during their migration south. Sometimes, they fail to heed rapidly falling water temperatures, throwing off their schedule.

By Brian Ballou and Andrew Ryan, Globe Staff

The Boston City Council, which is exploring whether to ban texting or typing on a mobile phone while driving in the city, heard from proponents of a ban today at a public hearing.

Councillor John Tobin is crafting the measure, and expects his fellow councillors to sign off on it and send it to the mayor by Dec. 16. Today, Tobin and Councilor Stephen J. Murphy, both members of the council's Committee on Public Safety, listened to representatives from AAA of Southeastern New England, the Safe Roads Alliance, and the Boston Police Department, all of whom were in support such a ban.

Tobin said a person who texts while driving is 23 percent more likely to get into an accident than someone who is slightly intoxicated.

"I don't think we can wait any longer,'' he said during the hearing. He said that he used to text while driving but stopped doing so after watching a graphic public service announcement created in Britain on the dangers.

Democrats Coakley, Capuano, Khazei, Pagliuca

By Globe Staff

The four Democrats and the two GOP contenders for US Senate are fanning out across the state today in a final push before the primary on Tuesday.

The candidates' schedules can be found below.

Democrats

Alan Khazei

8 a.m. - 9 a.m.
"Big Citizenship Tour," Stops for Breakfast with Local Supporters and Undecided Voters
The Haven Café and Bakery
8 Franklin St., Lenox

NEWTON -- Momo the dachshund and her fellow teamsters attended a rally Sunday at the Newton Community Service Center for Martha Coakley. The primary is on Tuesday for the special election to fill the US Senate seat once held by the late Edward M. Kennedy.

(Suzanne Kreiter/Globe Staff)

Ted Gartland, a dayside photo editor at the Globe, has been taking pictures in Greater Boston since 1971. Each weekday, he highlights an outtake that did not appear in the morning paper. To view the work of more Globe photographers, click here. To watch Gartland's weekly segment on NECN, click here.

By Matt Viser, Globe Staff

Attorney General Martha Coakley has earned a key voice of support: Former president Bill Clinton has recorded a telephone message that will be blasted out tomorrow to 500,000 voters urging them to elect her.

"Martha Coakley will go to Washington to fight every day to create good jobs with good benefits and to get health reform with a strong public option," Clinton says in the message. "You can trust her to get results in the Senate just as she has as your Attorney General. This election is very important to Massachusetts. So don't forget to vote tomorrow and please vote for Martha Coakley."

By Terri Schwartz, Globe Correspondent

Lowell Police and Massachusetts State Police are investigating the death of a man whose body was found about 2:30 a.m. Sunday in Lowell.

Carlos Rivera, 25, of Lowell was found at the intersection of Union and Linden streets suffering from gunshot wounds after Lowell Police responded to reports of a shooting. He was transported to Saints Medical Center, where he was pronounced deceased.

By Stephen Smith, Globe Staff and Emma Stickgold, Globe Correspondent

A woman with severe blows to the head was found dead Saturday night in a Dorchester apartment, prompting an investigation by homicide detectives, a Boston police spokesman said.

The woman, who has not been identified, appeared to be in her mid-40s, said Boston police spokesman Joe Zanoli.

Officers were summoned to 7 Vassar St. at 7:09 p.m. Saturday by a caller reporting a body. When police arrived, they found the woman's body in the second-floor apartment and no one present.

National Weather Service

By Michael Corcoran and Terri Schwartz, Globe Correspondents

Boston received about three inches of snow overnight according to the National Weather Service, which was on the high end of forecaster's estimates.

Ashfield, in Franklin County, received the highest accumulated snowfall with an estimated total of seven inches. Some other heavy-hit areas were Shelburne with around six inches, Milton and Topsfield with about five inches, and Goshen, Framingham, Wakefield and Norwood with about four and a half inches a piece.

According to the National Weather Service unofficial estimates, the majority of the state received between two and four inches of snow.

Today's daytime temperatures are expected to remain well above freezing, with plenty of sun, so much of the overnight accumulation is expected to vanish by sunset.

By John M. Guilfoil, Globe correspondent

CAMBRIDGE -- A two-alarm fire gutted a commercial building containing an auto repair shop on Monsignor O'Brien Highway late Friday night.

The call came in around 11:15 p.m., and the first responding fire crews quickly called for additional units. The fire destroyed a Meineke Car Care Center and several cars inside the shop. An SUV could be clearly seen still on a hydraulic lift, burned where it stood.

Fire crews acted quickly, and prevented the fire from spreading to a gas station located some 10 feet from the fire's most intense spots in the auto shop. Crews from Somerville aided Cambridge firefighters at the scene.

By Michael Levenson, Globe Staff

With the election just three days away, the four Democrats vying to succeed the late Edward M. Kennedy in the US Senate crisscrossed the state today, making their final pitches to voters.

(clockwise from top left) Coakley, Capuano, Pagliuca, Khazei

Pagliuca worked the crowd, shaking hands with hundreds of people, as downpours did little to mar a parade in Fall River. His son carried the Celtics' 2008 championship trophy, and excited people queued up to have their picture taken with it.

Pagliuca, whose green tour bus is painted with the slogan "Jobs Express," talked with residents and small business owners about jobs and the economy.

By Globe Staff

Towards the end of every year, when snow and ice arrive in Massachusetts, it seems like some people have forgotten how to drive in winter conditions. They spin out, they get in fender benders, they speed down slick highways at unreasonable speeds. It could happen tonight.

This temporary outbreak of "winter driving amnesia" has been observed in many different places. Is it a real phenomenon? Maybe it's just a perception.

But for anyone who needs a refresher, here are some winter driving tips from the State Police:

John Tlumacki/Globe Staff

Six-year-old Kaitlyn Kelley of West Roxbury couldn't bear to watch her brother Kyle, 8, get a swine flu shot. Her other brother, Cameron, 4, didn't mind so much.

By Meghan Irons, Globe Staff

About 260 people formed lines, filled out questionnaires, and got shots or nasal sprays today to inoculate themagainst the HINI virus during the first hour of a flu clinic in Hyde Park.

Health officials said they were prepared to vaccinate 5,000 people today in the Hyde Park High School gym, and 5,000 more tomorrow in West Roxbury.

The weekend effort is part of a community vaccination drive throughout the city. Health officials have been offering the vaccine at neighborhood health centers. To make the wait easier, officials were providing updates and reminders on Twitter.

By Emma Rose Johnson, Globe Correspondent

Two people were hospitalized after a seven-car accident this afternoon on Interstate 93 in Boston, state police said.

One car reportedly slid into the others, causing a pileup near Exit 15 at Columbia Road at around 3:45 p.m. Two people were injured, but their injuries were not life-threatening.

The road has not been closed, although the accident has slowed traffic.

By Kathy McCabe, Globe Staff

A team of researchers convened by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security began a series of tests today at 20 MBTA stations to determine how airborne contaminants would spread in a terrorist attack on Boston's subway system.

"But we know by their very nature that subway systems are vulnerable to a terrorist attack," MacMillan said during a press briefing today at Haymarket Station. "This will help us prepare -- and improve -- our response plan."

Globe File Photo

Liam Clancy in performance

By Emma Rose Johnson, Globe Correspondent

In pubs all across the Boston area, members of the small, tight-knit community of Irish folk musicians are mourning the death of one of their icons.

Liam Clancy, who died Friday of pulmonary fibrosis, was the last surviving member of the Clancy Brothers folk band. The band's renditions of Irish rebel songs and ballads epitomized the Irish character and influenced the current Irish folk scene in Boston.

Larry Reynolds, a fiddler and founder of the Boston Chapter of the Comhaltas Ceoltoiri Eireann, an organization for Irish musicians, said Clancy’s loss is a huge blow to the art form.

“He performed quite a bit in this area, and he had a great impact,” Reynolds said. “He meant an awful lot to the people here.”

Road closures and other transportation advisories for the week of Dec. 6:

Two to three lanes of Interstate 93 South will be closed approaching and through downtown Sunday through Thursday from 11:30 p.m. to 5 a.m.

Two to three lanes of I-93 North through downtown and Charlestown will be closed Sunday through Thursday from 10:30 p.m. (11:30 p.m. Thursday) to 5 a.m.

The underpass from Storrow Drive eastbound to I-93 North and the Tobin Bridge will be closed Monday from 1 a.m. to 5 a.m.

By Hannah McBride, Globe Correspondent

A 17-year-old West Falmouth resident was pinned underneath his overturned pickup truck for more than an hour after an accident on Route 28 this morning, the Falmouth fire department said.

Around 8:55 a.m., Michael Williams flipped his silver pickup while traveling south on Route 28 in Falmouth, Fire Captain Michael White said.

"The passenger side, the roof was crushed," White said. "He was very fortunate, considering the extent of the damage to the vehicle."

By Hannah McBride, Globe Correspondent

A New Hampshire college campus is on edge after an overnight assault in one of the school's dormitories, university police said.

A female student at the University of New Hampshire was reportedly grabbed from behind as she entered her room on the seventh floor of Stoke Hall, which houses primarily undergraduates, at the school's campus in Durham, said UNH Police Sergeant Steven Lee.

The suspect, described as a college-aged male with short hair, pushed the victim onto the bed but she fought off the attacker, who then fled.

He’s gone - G-O-N-E.

-- Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino four months ago, after hearing of the racist e-mail allegedly written by Officer Justin Barrett

I’m frustrated by the process. ... As egregious as this conduct is and as upset as everyone was about it, we want to make sure that [the hearing] is done properly and that it holds up in appeals.

-- Police Commissioner Edward F. Davis

By Martin Finucane, Globe Staff

A Red Line subway train attendant was fired and the train operator was suspended for 10 days without pay after an incident last month in which a woman's handbag got stuck in the door of a subway car and she was pulled along the platform at South Station, MBTA officials said.

"When I was appointed acting general manager four months ago, I made it very clear that matters of safety will be my top priority for as long as I serve. The behavior of the train crew in this incident was inexcusable, and won't be tolerated," Acting MBTA General Manager William Mitchell said in a statement.

By Globe Staff

Better check the garage and find those snow shovels. While the Boston area is only expected to get a dusting, some sections of Massachusetts may get as much as five inches of snow on Saturday, forecasters said this evening.

Two to five inches of snow could fall in the interior, said Nicole Belk, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.

By Andrew Ryan, Globe Staff

The dusting of snow expected on Saturday night in Boston may bring a meteorological milestone: The latest first frost in some parts of the city in at least 137 years.

Frost coated a fallen leaf last month in Marlborough, about 35 miles inland from Boston. (AP Photo/Bill Sikes)

The weather observatory at Logan International Airport has not recorded a freezing temperature yet this fall, breaking the all-time record since data-keeping began in 1872. The previous high mark was in 1975, when it did not frost until Dec. 2, according to the National Weather Service. On average, the temperature dips to freezing by Nov. 4.

Just a few miles inland, away from the warming influence of the sea, frost has been a more frequent visitor. At the Arnold Arboretum, for example, it hit 32 degrees on Oct. 20 and dropped to 31 degrees on Nov. 8 and Nov. 19.

On Saturday night in Boston, the temperature is expected hit 32 degrees at Logan, changing rain to the season's first snowfall in coastal neighborhoods in the city, according to Jeremiah Pyle, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Taunton.

"We are expecting a dusting," Pyle said.

By Globe Staff

State police used an infrared camera mounted in a helicopter to search a night-shrouded forest in the northwestern part of the state and locate an injured hunter.

The 62-year-old hunter had entered the forest in Savoy at about 2 p.m. Thursday. His wife became concerned when he was not home by dark and reported him missing to state police in Cheshire at 5:50 p.m.

By Abbie Ruzicka, Globe Correspondent

A female was shot during a home invasion today on Chase Street in the town of Somerset, police said.

Police are searching for the suspect, who is described as a possibly Hispanic male standing 6 feet tall, wearing a tan or brown hooded sweatshirt and dark baggy pants. The suspect may be armed and dangerous, a police dispatcher said.

No further details were immediately available.

David L. Ryan/Globe Staff

Anjali Patel, a junior at Wellesley College, got comfortable today and had plenty of room for expansive thoughts as she studied calculus in Pendleton Hall.

By Globe Staff

A man who met with an undercover Worcester police officer and agreed to pay for sex with her fictitious 4-year-old foster child should not have been convicted of attempted rape of a child, the state's highest court ruled today.

The Supreme Judicial Court said, in a split decision, that Kerry Van Bell had essentially not come close enough to committing the rape. Van Bell was arrested in March 2004 after the vice squad officer, who was conducting a "sting" operation, told him to follow her so he could meet the child and he began driving his car out of the parking lot where they had met.

"Although the evidence in the instant case is sufficient to show that the defendant intended and prepared for the rape of a child, it is not sufficient to show that he undertook an overt act that put him so near -- in time or ability -- to the completion of the crime as to be guilty of attempt," the court ruled in a 4-3 decision.

By David Abel, Globe Staff

Money from a tax settlement agreed to this week by the state Department of Revenue and slightly higher-than-expected tax collections will allow the state to close a budget gap of $120 million without further cuts, Governor Deval Patrick announced today.

The additional revenue will allow the state to scrap plans to cut funding for the homeless, saving as many as 500 shelter beds and a raft of programs, advocates said.

“We had some unexpected good news this week, and it gives us some breathing room,” Patrick said in a statement. “At best we can do better by homeless individuals and families with the winter coming.”

The administration will use $82 million from the one-time tax settlement and an unexpected $37 million increase in revenue collections. State officials would not disclose the overall size of the tax settlement or name the company.

By Noah Bierman, Globe Staff

The Patrick administration is taking a $9 million footbridge next to Gillette stadium off its list of federally funded stimulus projects, but remains committed to finding other public money for the project, an administration official said this afternoon.

The bridge, and two other previously approved projects, were removed from the stimulus list because officials worry they will not proceed quickly enough to meet "shovel-ready" deadlines set by the federal government.

"I commend the state for making what appears to be the right decision at least for this moment," said Marc Draisen, who raised questions about the project as a member of the Metropolitan Planning Organization for Greater Boston.

(David L. Ryan/Globe Staff/file January 2009)