Ex-pool officials will be charged
Two former state employees will face charges of reckless endangerment for what investigators describe as chronic mismanagement of a Fall River pool where the body of a drowning victim lay unseen for two days.
Iraqi threatens to abandon coalition
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s threat threw the country’s fragile democracy into further turmoil just days after the departure of American troops.
Probation officer charged with intimidating witness
Christopher Hoffman, who ran the probation office in Hampshire Superior Court, allegedly called one of his probation officers a “rat’’ for agreeing to talk to an FBI agent.
No surprise as Feeney chosen Hub city clerk
Former councilor Maureen E. Feeney was elected Boston city clerk, succeeding another former City Council member, Rosaria Salerno.
JESSICA RINALDI/REUTERS
Voter excitement scarce as Iowa caucus draws near
Interviews with voters this week and recent polls reinforce the sense that Iowans, with less than two weeks until their caucus, are uninspired by the Republican Party’s offerings.
Gift deliveries prove ripe for theft
The boost in online shopping may be a convenience for busy parents, but it’s a cash cow for thieves, who have been snatching parcels from porches.
Tech Lab
Google’s Ice Cream Sandwich is a tasty Android upgrade
Ice Cream Sandwich, the latest version of the Android operating system, will be rolled out free to Android phones and tablets. It’s an upgrade as significant as Apple Inc.’s recent rollout of its improved iPhone software.
‘‘We don’t have another Ronald Reagan, and I don’t think we’ll find one.’’
Lonnie Bauerly, a Tea Party activist
Inside The Boston Globe
Columnists
Metro
Grand jury indicts lifer in 1992 Lexington slaying
Craig Conkey, 45, was indicted by a grand jury yesterday on a charge of first-degree murder in the 1992 death of Kathleen Dempsey, who was 31 at the time.
Business
Calif. biotech moving to Mass.
Inspiration Biopharmaceuticals Inc., a California start-up working to bring a pair of hemophilia treatments to market, will be setting up shop at One Kendall Square.
Politics
Obama calls Boehner as payroll tax cut standoff continues
President Obama urged House Speaker John Boehner to work on passing a short-term extension while promising to work on a full-year measure.
Nation & World
Oldest, dirtiest power plants told to clean up
The Environmental Protection Agency announced new regulations yesterday that will force all power plants to control mercury and other toxic pollutants for the first time.
Sports
Teams have hit ground running
The Patriots just gave up 167 yards in a quarter to the Broncos, and now they’re getting ready to face the Dolphins and Reggie Bush, who’s coming off three straight 100-yard games.
Lifestyle
Gift ideas for drinkers of spirits and liquors
In the spirit of the season of giving, here’s a basic roadmap to help navigate the liquor store with suggestions for those who wish to splurge and those who wish to save.
Arts
BOOK REVIEW
‘Pogo: Through the Wild Blue Yonder’ by Walt Kelly
Years in the making, “Pogo: Through the Wild Blue Yonder’’ collects the daily and Sunday panels of the earliest years of Walt Kelly’s celebrated comic strip.
Best of the new
Best of the New
Boston’s best people and ideas of 2011
Safer neighborhoods, quieter commutes, and one really brainy historian.
Opinion
“A president who let opponents on the right convert ‘hope’ into ‘hopeless’ and ‘change’ into ‘socialism’ could lose.”
Joan Vennochi
Ideas
As tempting as it might be to imagine the Christmas trees we see today in public parks and central plazas as a quaint relic of small town life, it turns out that our modern public trees have politics woven right into their roots.
Leon Neyfakh