Mass. unemployment rate falls to 6.5% in March, down from 6.9% in February

The Massachusetts economy gained jobs for the fourth consecutive month in March as as the state unemployment rate fell to the lowest level in more more than three years.Massachusetts employers last month added 8,700 jobs, after increasing payrolls by 7,200 jobs in February, and nearly 14,000 in January, the state Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development reported Thursday. The unemployment rate fell to 6.5 percent from 6.9 percent in February. The state unemployment rate, now at the lowest level since November 2008, remains well below the national jobless rate 0f 8.2 percent in March

This undated photo provided by the Greenland Police Dept. shows Chief Michael Maloney. An official with knowledge of the investigation says Greenland Police Chief Michael Maloney was the officer killed during a drug bust-turned-shootout Thursday April 12, 2012 in New Hampshire that also left four other officers wounded. Maloney was due to retire in less than two weeks. (AP Photo/Greenland Police Department)

Thousands expected at memorial service for N.H. police chief

Michael Maloney, who was killed last week during a drug bust, will be remembered today at Winnacunnet High School with a noon service.

Blasts in Baghdad, northern Iraqi cities kill 30

The bombings are the first major attacks in Iraq in nearly a month. Extremists launched 12 attacks in the Iraqi capital and other cities, officials said.

//c.o0bg.com/rf/image_90x90/Boston/2011-2020/2012/04/19/BostonGlobe.com/Business/Images/19carney_photo2--90x90.jpg President’s exit stirs fears on hospital’s fate

Community leaders are worried about the future of Carney Hospital after last week’s abrupt departure of its president.

New York sues Sprint for $300m over alleged tax fraud

The New York attorney general’s office alleges the third-largest US wireless carrier deliberately didn’t pay sales taxes for seven years.

The Great Fire swept through Chelsea on April 12, 1908. At right, schooners and other fishing vessels were tied up in Chelsea Creek. Carried by strong winds, flaming embers set fires 25 miles away on the South Shore. The fire cut a mile and half long swath through Chelsea with losses totaling over $12 million dollars.

Associated Press

From the Archives | Photos

The Great Chelsea Fire of 1908

Swirling winds drove the flames quickly, and soon a huge swath of Chelsea was consumed. Nearly 3,000 buildings were destroyed and 19 people lost their lives during the Great Chelsea Fire of April 12, 1908.

MIT physicist leads effort to scrap the penny

Jeff Gore, who has become an unlikely national spokesman for efforts to eliminate the penny, is gaining fresh hope that the United States might finally dump the coin.

//c.o0bg.com/rf/image_90x90/Boston/2011-2020/2012/04/19/BostonGlobe.com/ReceivedContent/Images/19bunny3--90x90.jpg Tick explosion is the price of mild weather

Winter’s warm temperatures have yielded an unusually robust bounty of springtime ticks that have attached themselves to pets and people in Massachusetts.

Yvonne Abraham

2012, how I miss thee

US Senator Scott Brown and Mitt Romney, the presumptive GOP presidential nominee, have taken half the population for a ride in the way-back machine.

Metro

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 The victim of a shooting sought help at a Target in the South Bay shopping center in Dorchester on Wednesday, police said.

Store staff aids wounded man

A man bleeding from a gunshot wound walked into the Target store in the South Bay shopping center and asked for help.

Nation & World

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On Baseball

Bobby Valentine oversaw a sullen group after lifting Franklin Morales in Wednesday’s loss.

Injuries are killing the Red Sox

Ailments have taken too much firepower out of the lineup. The only hope the Red Sox have is to hang in there until players begin to come back.